St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1890-07-17
Tbe CALIFORNIAN,
> Bloomsbury, Thur-day, July ~, 1890
PROHIBITION CONVENTION.

The state convention of the pro-
hibitory party was held at burning
ton last Thursday Wendell +. Stat
ford, chairman of the state COM
mittee. called the meeting to order
and w. l. Pearl Of st. Johnsbury
was the chairman on nominations.
Wendell p Stafford said the cam
paign two years ago was conducted
with considerable life, since which
time little had been done. He
thought that at present situated, the
enemy the prohibitionists had to
contend with was high license. He
said: I'VE stand for the principle of
prohibition as against ali other
theories 1t has been stated that
half loaf is better than no bread.
The complete and perfect answer Is
that no prohibitIonist refuses such Il
law. What we object to i'll any law
is the principle OF license. Let 1T be
prohibition, be that small or great,
but let it never be license. The most
frequent stumbling block is the
United States license. The question
Is How can Vermont make 1t Il crime
which the United States has licensed :
You can't get it out of the heads oi
the people that license makes it right.
and that conclusion is reached by no
illogical process. The reason the
whisky organs prefer license is that
prohibition makes their property I'M
safe and their calling disgraceful.
Every saloon in Nebraska is fighting
for license The liquor dealers
disaster is our victory; their defeat
our success When the bar says
Amen to the pulpit the preacher
should stop and ask himself what he
would have said to please rumsellers- y
William L. Pearl said he had been
told the prohibition party was dead,
but it was in the same condition as
the Irishman'S snakc-It is not
sensible of ii.
Mr. Pearl said, Unlike other CON
ventions we have come here on our
own hook and have paid our own
bills He quoted from a paper
which said there are 100, 900 rum
sellers in the democratic party, and
90, 500 in the republican party. He
believed the prohibition party was
called of God to set this nation right
on the liquor question. The repub-
lican party is like the girl who had
the man arrested and admitted to
thecourt that she sat Ill his lap when
he stole her affectiOnS-1t has sat IN
the lap of the traffic for many years
and allowed itself to be carcSScd by
the monster until now she dare not
scream for fear he might let go. The
liquor traffic still has his arm around
the old lady's waist"
Rev Chester Brown of Hardwick
said: ours IS Il government OF rum
sellers, for rumscllers and by rumscl
lers- Foreign criminals rule the cOun-
try, and will rule it until the sale 81
rum is stopped We are III great
danger of the passage of a high
license bill this fall 1t will be done
if we are not very careful, and hIgf
license il not Il temperance move
ment No states in the Union are Sc
prosperous as are Maine, Nebraska
and Kansas
At the opening of the afternoon
session w. l.. Pearl reported the fol
lowing state ticket:
For governor, Z. L. Allen of Fair
haven.
Lieutenant-governor, Gardner S
Fassett of Enosburgh.
Treasurer, E II. Field of Charlotte
Secretary of state, w. +. Stafford
of St. Johnsbury.
Auditor, H. c. Barnes of Swanton
The report was accepted and the
nominations were made individually
In secOnding the nomination of Mr.
Stafford Mr. Pearl said he was smart
enough to fill any position.
The committee on resolutions re
ported the following:
The prohibition party of Vermont, this day
convened, in humble reliance upon Almighty
God. affirms its allegiance to the nationa
prohibition party and declares the following
principles:
First-That the traffic in Intoxicating
drinks being the great cause of crime ant
pauperism, adding largely to the burdens O
taxation, 1T should be prohibited by stat
and national constitutional amendments
Sccond-That high license in itself wherevc
tried has proved to be an unSa tISfactor-
measure, not lessening the amount of iquo
sold nor doing away with the evils of tn
traffic, acting besides as a bar to prohibition
Third-We affirm that the greatest vita
issue ofthe day is the Suppression of the lquo
traffic, and as n question of political ecOnOm
it out-valucs all others, and if the none
spent for drink and on account of its sal
turned INTO Cns4unclS OF I1sluC II WOnl
insure US great national prosperity
Fourth-We take issue with certain jour
mails of our state, which, in their efforts t
cham pion high license, affirm that the enforce
mcnt of the law increases the burden of taXa
ton W hen Hon. l.. IL. Powell, State Auditor
discIOseS his own signature that tn
fines collected exceed the cost of proSecutio
from So, 900 to $50, 900 annually
Fifth-That we favor the Australian ballO
system. or its equivalent
SiXth-That the work of the Woman
Christian Temperance Union receives ou
lIsa<Yr ~ llaaT 4 a
Seventh-We declare against all combin;
tiOnS of capital to increase the cost of proc
uctS for popular consumption
Eighth-We declare that the recent Ill
broken package decision of the United State
Supreme Court makes prohibition diStin
lively national question
The following telegram was sent
Mrs. Clinton B. Fisk, 175 Yves
5Sth street, New York: The prohib
tionists of Vermont, in state CONVEX
ton at Burlington, greet You wit
their deepest sympathy They Tee
yourloss and sorrow as their own.
WENDELL p. STAFFORD, Chairman.