The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-04-23
An Experiment In Prohibition.

Under this heading the Popular Science
Monthly for May publishes an article
which is devoted to the Vermont prohib-
itory liquor law. The writer, MIR. Edward
johnson, sketches the history of the law
from its passage by the legislature, in
1852 down to the latest amendment by
which its supporters have sought, in
thirty years of legislation upon the sub
ject, to increase its thoroughness, severity
and efficiency. The original enactment
was a structure of wood compared with
the iron-clad fabric which now fills an
entire chapter in the Revised Laws and
embraces eighty sections. Mr.. johnson
briefly outlines the provisions of the exist
ing law and exclaims: "But the prac-
teal operation of this severe and sweep
ing law--there is the rub 1t is fact
which cannot be controverted or denied,
that for all practical purposes the law is
an absolute dead letter. According to
the returns of the United States revenue
officers, the government tax on the manu-
facture and sale of Intoxicating liquors in
the state amounted last year to fourteen
thousand dollars in round numbers"
The writer then gives the statistics of
the number of places in the state holding
United States licenses to sell, originally
published in THE WATCHMAN about a
year ago. These were four hundred and
forty-six for 1888, four hundred and
twenty.six for 1882, and four hundred and
nine for 1881. The writer argues from
these figures that there is marked in
crease in the number of drinking places.
In Burlington" he says, "there are
about three-score places where liquor is
sold, and in all the larger towns a proper
tional number; and in every village in
the state, with the exception of a few in
considerable hamlets, there is at least one
such place." GA large proportion of the
dram-shops," Mr.. johnson continues, " are
located upon the principal streets, and
there is no concealment, or attempted
concealment, of the illegal traffic con-
Quoted within them. As these facts and
figures sufficiently indicate, the law,
broadly speaking, is not at all enforced.
The sale of liquor, it is hardly too much
to say, is almost as free and open as
though there were no such thing as pro.
hibitory law" The writer speaks of
"spasmodic attempts to enforce the law
in the larger places, and the fining of
liquor dealers on what are termed dis
Closures" but finds that "such cases
serve no effective purpose in REFRESHING
the liquor traffic." He concludes that the
result of Vermonts thirty years expert
ence of the prohibitory liquor law is I'M
satisfactory, and says: "One might go
still further and speak of the perjury,
and subornation of perjury, for which
the lawsis, in a sense, responsible; of
the disregard and contempt for all law
which the operation of this law tends to
foster and encourage, and Of cognate
matters which will occur to the reflective
reader" The cause of the failure of the
law, the writer finds, is that it 4" is not
sustained by public sentiment" that the
world cannot be dragooned into virtue"
If prohibition is failure in moral, God
fearing community like Vermont, there
would seem to be no reason why the pro-
hibitory system should be successful any
where in the United States, is the conclu-
sion of the whole matter which the writer
reaches. There is some truth in his
statements of the practical workings of
the law in this state, but that they are all
true we are not disposed to grant. 1t is
not true that "the law is an absolute
dead letter." In many towns-if not, in
deed, majority-chishy the smaller COM
munities, but embracing also some Of the
larger ones, the law is living spirit, ef-
fectually preventing the free and open
sale of liquor. OF the four hundred and
forty-six places which the revenue report
for 1883 shows had been licensed to sell, a
very large proportion are druggists.