Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1877-10-05
The Liquor Question Once More.

The Liquor QuestiOn Once More.
The arguments of the Vermont Record and
Farmer in favor of the enforcement of the pro-
hibitory liquor law in this town, have been so
often repeated i'll its columns, during the past
three or four MONTHS that we are in no wise
| surprised that, in once more rehearsing them
last week, in an attempted reply to our article
of the week previous on THE Liquor Prose-
cutions," no new facts or logic were brought
out In accordance with our unvarying Gus
tom, we pass entirely by all presumably per-
| sonal thrusts and all attempts at abusive
writing which this article contained, from
whosesoever pen they may have come. While
by no means presuming to believe that our
''opinions" on this subject ARE of any greater
value than those of other men" of average
mental capacity, we do confess to a certain
| degree of pride i'll the fact that our 'convic-
tons" on the question of temperance were
born in us of temperance parents, that we
nursed them in our mothers milk, that we
have strictly and unvNryingly abided by them
in our daily life up to this time, and that in
our mature years they have been broadened
and confirmed by fair degree of experience
i'll the affairs of the world and by contact with
men and things in different communities. We
may also add that We take to ourselves no
special credit that we have had the courage to
| give candid expression to convictions thus
formed and sustained, even at the expense of
being written down. under any mans would
be domineering finger tips, as planted
squarely against prohibition, and in favor of
open and bold defiance of the law" LET this
fact be remembered"
If we were to attempt an expression of our
estimate of the result arrived at by the writer
in the Record, we should say that it was all
summed up in this one sentence: "A mans
convictions upon a disputed question depend
upon which side he takes" It would hardly
be possible to condense more bigotry into n
like number of words than is here given ex-
preston to, and this spirit, we regret to say, is
at one with the animus which has seemed to
be at the bottom of the movement now under
| discussion. We refer to the fact that an at
tempt has been made, in many cases, to stig-
Matte men who did not believe in this method
of temperance work, and had the courage to
say so, as rum men," foes of temperance
and friends of liquor sellers, while, i'll many
cases, the men thus dealt with have been life
long in their adhesion to temperance princi-
pies, and earnest and outspoken in promoting
the temperance cause by what seemed to them
good and proper means. What we wish to
urge, and believe it to be our duty to urge in
this connection, is that there may be honest
differences of opinion between honest and
earnest men on an important subject like this,
and it is neither wise nor manly for either side
to attempt TO write the other down as destitute
of principle, or given over to evil because
there cannot be an agreement as to methods
of work.
And just at this point suitable opportunity
presents itself to speak of the article on The
Brattleboro Method" which seems to have
stood like n bugbear in the path of the Record
man ever since its reproduction in our columns
Immediately after its appearance in Scribner',
Monthly. The writer of that article, whose
fairness and correctness have never been sue
cessfully called in question, is a man of mature
years, and of candid and impartial Judgment
who is, or has been, literally and veritably al
extremist in the temperance cause. man OF
leisure and of wide learning and research
for years he made careful study of the sub
ject, for years he was an earnest advocate Of
and believer in prohibition, and at successiv,
sessions of the Legislature he used all the in
huence at his command to secure what he
conceived to be necessary prohibitory legisla
ton in this State. But gradually he saw tina
prohibition did not prohibits he became dis
couraged in the work, and was 'at sea, as Sc
| ,NI,a
how the great evil of intemperance SHOULD
be remedied or controlled. About this tim,
the reunion of the Vermont Veterans wa
held here and Mr.. Bliss, in company will
Gen. Walbridge, attended the exercises. Ac
customed to critical observation, he saw, wha
was, indeed, patent to everybody, that, al
though the strangers in town numbered hun
dreds and thousands, and many of them wer
of class who are always ready on such an oc
casion to go to any length of tippling and ca
rousal, there was almost no drunkenness, eli
ther on the streets or in corners and by-ways
while upon closer scrutiny and enquiry h
found that the liquor traffic was so managed
and controlled that there was little or no OBJ
portunity for anybody to carry the use of in
toxicating drinks, as dispensed at the publ
bars, to excess. He was naturally struck witt
such to him new order of things, and S
much was he impressed with what he say
that, during the following winter he retune,
and spent a week here in careful study AM
examination of what he was pleased to ca
> the "Brattleboro Method" He saw that on
I. plan was productive of better practical result
than any that he had before witnessed, he be
came a convert to our method of local super
vision, and the result of his observations wa
duly recorded in the article referred to. VIVA
Mr.. Bliss saw was precisely what we stated il
our article of fortnight since, that the loca
J 1 authorities kept the control of the bushes
steadily within their grasp" and we may add
: moreover, that this traffic is and has been s
t much within the grasp" of the bailids tina
s every dealer in this village feels himself III
8 der compulsion to comply with the request
G | NJ fhasa oficara ae IN tho hours ~ ,yhf.h IL