Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1895-08-01
Slandcring Vermont.

years the constant opponent of the pro
hibitory law and the leading organ O
the rumselcrs in and out of Vermont
who would like to see this State opene
to the free sale of liquor. It's vaporing
ana Vituperation have had no appreciate
effect in Vermont in the direction of an,
weakening of the law; but they Otter
serve to hold the State up to unjus
contumely in other communities.
The democratic and mugwump paper
pretty generally hate our State hccaus,
of its political steadfastncss and are gla,
10 PRINT anything, true or false to it.
discredit WhislIey organs everywher,
of course do the same; and the Herald,
ISLANDERS Of good citizens and of the poopl,
OF Vermont thus get much wider circu
lation in other states than in our own.
The recent sentence of St JohnsburN
hotel keeper for mum ,rous violations al
the law, and the refusal of the governor
to pardon him, have stirred the Herald
up to fresh outbursts of malignant Sian.
der, 1t has gone to the length of dcclar.
ing that if the prohibitory law of Vernon,
were impartially enforced half of the
prominent citizens of the State. including
the governor, would be in prison. =,
weekly paper in Rutland enlarged upor
this by asserting that mo man i'm Yer
mont has made more money out of tho
liquor business than our present gov
ornor,' and that "he owned two hotels
where elegant bars were run night and
day and Sundays The paper took back
the statement in its next weekly issue
but the correction will never overtakc
! the original lie, and this will circulate.
no doubt for many years. in the bar
rooms and in the columns Of organs of
the liquor traffic.
This is not the worst of it, Papers which
have no political or business interests to
serve accept these ISLANDERS as true. For
instance, here is an extract from recent
editorial in the Washington, d. c., Post:
| THE State of Vermont has generally
been regarded as a pattern of morality
Her people are intelligent, prudent. and
well-to-do. Few of them are very rich
or very poor Their churches prosper and
their schools are literally sustained
Having no large cities the State has no
slum population. But the Rutland Herald
makes some remarks about the people
of that State which do not present them
in an enviable light. Referring to the pro-
hibitory law and its practical operation
the Herald shows that half of the prorn-
inent citizens in that State would be in
prison if the laws were really enforced
for a single week. Even his cxcellcncv.
the governor of that model common
wealth, would be with the imprisoned
half for according to the Herald. he
owns buildings in which liquor is illegally
sold, and nearly every man in the State
OF any means is rumseller, more or less
directly, and very large proportion of
them are guilty under our law"
The Springfield Republican makes these
comments on the Rutland EDITORS state
ments:
This is serious indictment, which
has its absurd side. If the governor of the
state is a lawbreaker, what becomes of
his oath of office? And if there is such
a demand for strong drink in Vermont as
to require the use of "A large part of the
real estate for its disposal, Kentucky
would better look out for her laurels."
So the State poses before the
country in the disgraceful attitude of a
commonwealth, half of whose prominent
citizens would be in Jail if the laws were
honestly enforced. 1t holds this position
not through inattention, not through neg
lect to wipe an obsolete act off the statute
book, but from deliberate design and
choice. The radical minority of the ruling
party holds the balance of power and
utilizes it to make the State ridiculous,
as the Rutland Herald clearly shows"
Now if the editor of the Washington
Post will come to Vermont or seek infor-
nation from responsible and truthful
sources he will see that he has printed as
outrageous a SANDER concerning the State
OF Vermont as ever was circulated con-
corning any decent and well-ordered COM
munity. The assertion that nearly every
man OF any means in the State of Vermont
Is rumseller, is ridiculously false. The
man who makes it should not stop there,
but should go on and say that every third
person in the State is Il thief, and every
fourth man murderer, and one statement
would be as true as the other. If the
exact iacts could be obtained, we have no
doubt that they would show that
there are fewer persons engaged in. or
connected directly or Indirectly, with the
traffic in Intoxicating liquors in Vermont.
than in any other community of the same
numbers, in any civilized country on the
globe. The assertion that the governor of
Vermont is rumseller and breaker
is also false and outrageous libel Among
the various buildings owned by Gov
Woodbury. in this city is a hotel; but it
has no bar. Liquor is not sold in it, and
never has been during his ownership of it.
The governor has political and other
opponents, who would be very glad if they
could have the hotel he owns prosecuted
for violating the prohibitory law. No such
prosecution has occurred, because there
has been no violation of the law on
which to base it.
These are the plain facts-known to
every intelligent person here Our State
Is maligned and its governor is slandered.
because he is its chief magistrate and as
part of the same campaign Of Islander.
Furthermore the enactment and SUD-
port or the prohibitory law in this State
Is by no means the work of any radical
minority" 1t has the steady, unlinching
support of the great majority of the
order-loVing and temperate citizens, be-
cause they have found it to be the most
effective statutory measure for the
repression of crime and pauperism that
has been tried in this State. The law pro-
vides for the legal sale of alcohol and
liquors for necessary and proper purposes
medicinal and otherwise, In every town.
II Furnishes drunkenness. and the traffic
which makes drunkards and paupers.
1t may not be the best law for every
state or city, in the present conditions of