The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-11-17
Shall Vermont Endorse the Saloon
for a Price!
ABSTRACT OF A SERMON BY REV. J.
EDWARD WRIGHT.

| AboIhAOT OF y SERMON BY REV. j.
EDWARD WRIGHT.
! him unto you?-Matthew XVI 49,
The question between license and nrohi-
! bition is simpfied If we consider it las /
propose to do) with reference to our own
| state merely-a state containing no large
! cities hopelessly dominated by the liquor
| interest.
! |. as 10 the "intringcment on Personal lib
| erty" by pr0hibHion. 1t is an axiom in iurs-
prudence that "the safety of the people is
the highest law" In a social state the lib
| erty which the individual might enjoy in
barbarism must often be curtailed; so that
even in land of freedom like this 1--WE
| belong to society" more literally than we
are apt to think, and we have no right to
exercise our liberty in such way as to
| imperil, or iniu re, another or others Our
experience under taxation, under the infiic-
! ton of penalties for crime, under the perls
of war, makes us familiar with the truth
! that even here mans property is his own,
his freedom is his own, his life is his own,
| to do what he pleases with them, Only Bithin
certain limits
1t is admitted that the free sale of intOxi-
eating beverages is attended by enormous
and multiplied wastes, evils, dangers and
wrecks. :" We have suffered more in our
time from intemperance than from war;
pestilence and famine combined, those three
| great scourges of mankind" said Mr.. Glad
stone in the House of Commons. No fault is
found with the restriction of personal lib
erty when the protection of society against
many lesser evils is aimed at: witness, the
laws concerning the storage of gun-powder,
and fireworks, the laws against the carrying
of concealed weapons, etc, etc.
If, then, society may thus protect itself
against minor mishaps and infrequent evils,
how much more may it be justified in pro-
! tecting itself against this hydra-headed
monster. intemperance! That society has
this right, learned Judges have decided over
and over again: The principle of prohibit
ton has always been vindiCated
and sustained by the highest civil tribunals
of our land"
II. 1Sto the objection, " You can't make men
moral By ld'o" Admitted; and still legisa-
ton may remove certain hindrances to good
| conduct and temptations to evil courses
And, if we should leave the moral element
entirely out of the account, prohibition
would yet be justified on the ground of pro-
tecting society from serious dangers, and
enormous burdens now incurred in support
ing the paupers, the insane, the criminals
made by intemperance.
III. We are tOld "Prohibition does not pro-
MbH." We admit that it does not prevent
all sales of liquor, and that its enforcement
is rather the exception than the rule in
some of our largest towns; but we affirm
that over large portion of Vermont proh-
btion is very effective.
The most reliable statistics obtainable
| show that Vermont and Maine use far less
liquor, per capita, IMAM 90 tIe Incense states,
| indeed, there was time when Maine used
only Ohe-thirteeHM of the average amount
throughout the country. And further,
there is silent, but benefcent, work which
the law is all the time doing, and which de-
mands recognition. 1t is an important edu-
Gator in regard to the character of the drink
traffic. 1t stands before the people as an
| expression of their moral sense on this most
vital subject; and in regard to it, is to the
| community what conscience is to the indi-
oil M ny,nlx of ltxTnt hat
science requires of u.s. We may, and do,
fall short of our ideal; but would We there
fore, abolish that ideal? :" The morality of
no people can be maintained above the mo-
rality of their laws" said Judge Sprague. If
so, il must be important to have the laws
express what the peoples consciences de-
clare, even though their conduct may not
have attained that standard. Another pOr-
ton of the silent efficacy of prohibitory
law is to he found in the deterrent power of
its frown and threat upon those disposed to
engage in dram-sellng. These know that
! while its execution may not be thorough
as to send all transgressors to the house of cor
rection, it does keep them all the time mem
tally in the pillory, where they feel the con-
slant pressure of the reprobation of the best
men and women about them.
The law an utter failure? Ask the liquor
sellers themselves. They, almost to a man,
want such laws repealed. Witness the recent
Brewers Congress, in which high license in
more c0hducire to their interests, land their
interests are in the line of increased sales.)
| Witness the National Convention of Liquor
Dealers just held in Chicago, assailing pro-
hibition and prohibtionists in its resolu-
! tons, and endorsing the license system.
| These men are not blind. They know what
diminishes their trade and profits; and their
words and deeds encourage us still to with
! hold any endorsement of license. What
| then want lCe do not want.
To-, t.
hibition and license. Can it be shown that
| license laws have been thoroughly enforced?
| 1t is notorious that their restrictive pro-
visions are commonly overridden, and
| rarely have licensed dealers sought to bring
! to punishment the unlicensed Moreover,
! the encouragement with regard to license
! laws is well founded, for they, in great
variety, have had sufficient trial-four hun
dred years in England, two hundred years
on these shores-while prohibition has been
tested in Vermont for only about genera
ton, and not much longer in Maine. 1t is
too soon, therefore, to pronounce it fail
ure Nor does public opinion, broadly
viewed, so regard it. Though such legisla-
ton has been frequently repealed, still it is
| a fact that prohibition has "A wider endorse
ment to-day than ever before. 1T is
fact" says Rev. Daniel Dorchester, ID,
that large masses of people-a large ma
| jorty in Kansas; 10000 majority in Iowa.
10000 majority in Maine; 1913 900 voters in
]
of the South; the majority in numerous
| local option districts and several prohibition
states in the North; a majority of all the
counties in the British Dominion in North
America; 1000 parishes in England, and
many districts in the far-otf colonies of
Great Britain have adopted the
principle and policy of total prohibition,
/ either in constitutional, or statutory, or
| local option form" And this statement
| concerns only the expressed opinion of
men-roterS. What grand additional EN-
| phass would be given to it, if the opinions
| of women could be embodied in it, And let
it be remembered that one should not as
sumo to speak of populdr sentiment without
including the opinions of both sexes
", But zee are toid "Prohibtion is lCaStefid.
II tets slip large rerenue lchich licenses
ooould bring H." The folly of it! Does the
state gain when it permits for fee what
brings upon it expenses ten-fold greater
than the fee? And license means some-
thing more than tax; il means a sanction.
! Under it the rumseller claims his business
is respectable. The overhanging sword is
removed the brand is taken from his lower
| ing brow, and he once more walks with
head erect among men engaged in honor
able pursuits. The community receives
certain fees, it is true, and a new danger
! turks under these fees-the danger that
they will blind the Judgment as to the mag
nitude of the evils incurred 1t is a hazard
ous thing to have ones supposed interests