The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-03-23
An Englishman's View of Pro-
hibition.
nEPwoR1n DINoN's VISIT TO ST JOHNS.
BURY.

nEPwoRTn DINoN's VISIT TO ST JOHNS.
BURY.
W. Hcpwtrth Dixon, popular Eng.
lsh writer and lecturer. visited st. Johns.
bury last November and wrote 10 an Eng
lish paner n worry in.a-4@s;s5 lvtter. II
seems that this was the first time he ever
witnessed the effects of prohibtory policy,
and it is curious to see how it impressed
one who had been accustomed to see Ii.
quor everywhere, and whose countrymcn
seem to regard it as one Of the necessarics
of life. The letter is quite long, but we
make room for extracts which embrace
most of his ideas
Sr. JonysBURY. W., Nov. 1874.
"What are the secrets of this artisan s
paradise Why is the place so clean, the
people so well housed and fed? Why
are the little folks s. hale in the face, so
smart in person, and so neat in dress :?
All voices reply to me that their desira.
Bile condition springs from strict enforc-
ment Of the law prohibiting the sale of
intoxicating drink.
"The men of Vermont, like those Of
other northern States, have adopted that
public act which is known to English
testers and good fellows under the oppro-
brious title of the Maine Liquor Law,
which is carried out in parts of the New
England States with the unAnching rigor
of an arctic frost.
80 far as | can see,in St. Johnsbury.
/ nt II Of hn
purchased openly by a guest to whom
wine and beer arc portions of his daily
food. No citizen is allowed to vend in.
toxicating drink on any pretext or to any
person.
mo bar, no dramshop,no saloon de6les
the place Nor is there, am told a
single gaming-hell or house of i'll repute.
So far as meets the eye this boast is true.
Intoxicating drinks are classed with poi.
sons, such as laudanum aud arsenic but
as poisons may be needed in a civilized
country, under scientific system of med.
icine. laudanum and arsenic are permitted
to be sold in every civilized State. Such
is here the case with brandy, beer and
wine. The town lays 10 a stock of bran.
dy, beer, and wine, which is carefully
registered in books and kept under lock
and key. These poisons are doled out, al
the discretion of an officer, in small guam
titles, very much as deadly night.shadt
aud nux vomica arc doled out by Lon
don druggist. Cannot you get bottle
Of cognac for your private use? ask
Colonel Fairbanks. Il can send my or.
DER he replies, for pint OF cognac
it will be sent to me, Of course but my
order for it will be filed, and the delivery
entered on the public books for every ont
to see. You find that system rather
inquisitorial, do you not p We'll, no
it is intended for the common good of all
We freely vote for the law, and freely
keep the law But for myself the rule
is dead letter, since no intoxicating
drink enters my house"
"In going through the mills, | noticed
the several classes of artizans Five hun
dred men are toiling in the various rooms
The work is mostly hard in some dc
partmen:s very hard The heat is yer,
great From seven o'clock until twelve
ir om one o'clock until six - ten hour
each day-the men are at their posts
I The range OF heat aud cold is trying, fol
q the summer heat is fierce, the winter fros
! is keen. Your ordinary citizen canno
live through the summer heats without
trip TO Lake Champlain and the Adiron
: dack mountains But the men engage
. in these manufactures of scales are sal
to drink no beer, no whisky and no gin
: Drinking and smoking are not allowed o
the premises. Such orders might be or
ly meant for discipline, but am tol
tha. these FIVE hundred workmen reall
never taste drop OF either beer or giI
Their drink is water, their delight is tel
n Yet everyone assures me that they wor
It well, enjoy good health, and live as Ion
It as persons Of their class employed @
d farms These men, ask, who raL
D the furnaces, who carry the burning mo
d ais, who stand about the crucibles-ca
y they 80 oo oil day without their beer
K They never taste a drop, and never as
3 to have drop. There is can of wat,
near them they like the taste Of wat
II better than the fumes Of ale, and do the
rs work more steadily without such iume,
le In fact, / lind that these intelligel
le craftsmen are the warmest advocates
le the prohibiiive liquor law. They vote
O. for it 10 the outser they have voted Il
le it ever since. Each year OF trial max,
as them more ianatical in its favor sim
the act came into force new clauses ha
70 been added by the State Legislator