Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1882-08-16

for home or country will engage in the
traffic. OF the S03I legalized dram shop
iu New York city all but 205 are kept by
foreigners. OF the 5000 kept by women
only one is kept by n Yankee woman,
Americans consider the business disgrace
fu Some thought the evil could be
remedied by having only iirst-olass men
as rumSel'ers. Bat the supervisors were
limited rs to their choice. lie could select
wife from the whole United States, a
governor could be selected from any
where in II whole state, bu. rumsellers
could be selected only from the ward in
which they resided Moreover the choice
was to be made from the applicants and if
the angel Gabriel was summoned from
heaven and given power to examine the
true character Of the applicants he would
return with the report that thev we're all
equally bad. The Old Testament taught
total abstinence. The mother of Sampson
was enjoned TO eat nothing tn came of
the vine nor to drink any strong drink.
The Rechabites were commanded to
abstain from that which could intoxicate.
Ihe New Testament taught total absti-
nenee and its whole teaching was, Touch
NOT, taste not, handle not" however much
pesslmstlc divines might say about the
original Greek in the dc-ul 1lIuu vi tue
wedding at Cana. Five hundred physi
clans once wrote essays on the use of
liqu0r rs medicine, whether necessary
or not. The successful essay declared
that out OF 800 gallons of liquor there
were only ten ounces of nourishment,
hence there was no need for physicians to
prescribe liquors in case of illness. We
should carry the temperance question into
politics and shall never succeed until we
do, Our enemies gain the dav while we
are Indifferent. We allow them 10 pack
the caucuses and control the nominations.
This should not be. No wire pulling
should be allowed by our enemies. The
election should be fair, every one voting
with his eyes open. When people see
things rs they really are they will see that
we might as well license man to sell the
itch for $1,000 and then prohibit men from
scratching as to enact some laws that
have disgraced out statute books. We
should carry the war into Africa" and
make every politician feel that the price
of our support was uncompromising
hostility upon his part to the traffic in
every form. Then can we hasten the day
when our land shall be free from the curse
which now carries sixty thousand to a
drunkard's grave each year. England is
setting us good example in some re-
spects, $4,000 out of the 10000 clergymen
of the established church are total abstain
ers and 4 100000 members of the same
church have already enrolled themselves
among the ranks of the teetotalers.
THURSDAY MORNING.
Rev. p. N. Granger presided and Rev.
f B. Phelps of East St. Johnsbury offered
prayer. Gen. Neal Dow of Portland, Me-.
was the speaker He first spoke of the
magnitude of the evil which we had to
put down. Gladstone approvinglv quoted
the London Times as saying that England
suffered more from intemperance than
from war, pestilence and famine combined
No more terrible Indictment of the traffic
has been made than that of John Wesley
in which he said that drink drives people
to hell and that all who engage in
the traffic are men of blood. We deter.
mine the value of anything by the amour,
of good it brings as compared with the
amount of evil it produces. Every one
knows that this traffic produces all manner
of evil and even its upholders can point tc
no good it accomplishes. DR.. Lyman
Beccher said, II defy any man to say that
liquor sellers are not murderers.n As
Lot Morrill, said in congress, liquor selling
is the crime of all crimes. Murder is {
part of the System Of the traffic Just n.
much as the commissarv department OF
the sanitary department are q part of thu
system of a campaign and do their par
toward killing the enemy. What consti
tutes crimep The doing of that which
is Inconsistent with the general good
Measured by this standard liquor selling
is the crime of all crimes. Larceny is
crime but we would rather men woulC
steal our money than our self-respect anC
manhood. Grand larceny is crime bu
even rum seller would rather a mar
would break open his house. rifle its con
tents, set it on fire so that its flames shoult
consume his only son than to have tina
same son die drunkard's death. Murde
is a crime. yet we would rather see ou
brothers throat cut from ear to ear thar
to see him die of dclirium tremens. The
traffic being 50 criminal we propose to pu
ii down, and to put down all who stand il
the way even though it be the gentlemanll
DR.. Crosby Of New York. He then spoke
at length Of Dir. Crosby's plans, showed
their utter fallacy from the standpoint o
common sense and practical use, anC
completely demolished the theory of TIN
gradual extinction of the traffic through
the medium of high toned saloons. Thur
low Weed wrote letter to the TriJunc il
/ which he said that prohibition in Main
! was an abortion and failure. Tn
, venerable statesman was for onco talkin,
of what he knew nothing about. Th
Maine law had been u success in tn
highest sense of the word. Enacted il
1851 it had since reduced the amount @
liquor sold nineteen-twentieths Formerl,
Maine was the worst state in the Unio
for intemperanCe, spending tho entir
value of their taxable property for drin
every twenty years. Before this law Their
were seven distilleries in Portland alone
Now there is not distillery or brewery il
, the whole state, and the little liquor tha
is sold is disposed of in the most secre
, manner. Prohibition has been financa
success in Maine. Formerly the state wa
in debt, now it has money to lend. Busi
ness of every kiud, as he had learned b
actual investigation has largely increase,
since the present law has been in force
Mane's proportion of the national drin
bill wonld be thirteen millions, it reall
is only one half million so the annua
saving to the state is twelve millions direc
ly and the same amount indirectly, as a
admit that the actual cost of the liquo
sold is but one half the rest cost to th
country In the days of Tippecanue an
, Tyler it was said that if they were electe
every man would have roast beef and tw
dollars day. That time has already com
, for Maine as whole True a little liquor
still sold in the cities, but the temperate
} men propose to secure constitutions
amendment and stop even that so that
may be II clean state. In closing he urge
the temperance men of Vermont to awak
to sense of their need and their powe
and follow in the steps of Maine, Kansa
and Iowa.
, THURSDAY AFTERNOON.
At o'clock occurred the annual mee
ing of the association. The followin
, officers were elected: President, w.
johnson; vice presidents, Rev. Il. /
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