The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1895-10-11

The Attitude or Our State Press Toward
the Prohibitory Law.
Editor OF Reformer;
sir, The success or failure of prohibition IN
any state depends largely upon the support oi
non. support which II receives from the rress,
Is the Press of our state giving the prohiDliory
law the support II gives TO the enforcement OF
law generally. Prohibition Is the law OF the
state and as such II should have the earnest sup,
port of all parties, even of people VINO may pc
In favor of some other way of c0ntrollhg the
liquor traffic. Democrats, republicans ana pro,
hibitionists should unite together with cordial
fraterna feelings In an honest, determined 81
fort TO enforce the law IN Rlnd, hr'l III" I'M
partial manner.
ject more than II does. This Is especially the
duty of the leading journals In our larger towns
and cities. Although prohibition has been the
law of the state of Vermont now for more than
40 yeais, yet Il has never had fair chance 10
| indicate itself because II has never been en-
forced with regularity and strictness. y seems
to me that the press Is too generally apnthetic on
| the subject Of temperance and especially OF pro
hbtioli. We naturally look to the organs OF the
Republican party, which has control of all the
| machinery OF our state government, to be bold
| and decided advocates In the enforcement, or the
| laws but with rare exceptions they are either ST.
| lent on the subject or they speak IN the most
| guarded and cautious manner. .,.- :,
In our larger towns and cities the press IS
often manacled, more or less, by the strong IN
many of them, found among saloon bosses ana
men given to drink and consequently unfavor
able to a fair and impartial enforcement OF lhe
law 1t is the natural tendency of political par
ties to cater for the rum vote since u Is large
and influential, especially In the great towns
where the foreign population is a large percent
OF the whole.
This accounts In great measure for the
apathy of our leading journals toward prohibi-
ton
In the country towns the rum traffic Is carried
on secretly; but none the less II Is carried on TO
some extent in the most OF them where It Is IN |
troduced from the larger towns by pocket ped
oilers and by boxes labeled glass; shoes, sugar |
and other light innate articles of merchandise.
The country editor has greater temptations
than the city editor or the editor
of journal of large town to
papder to the vitiated tastes the community
for which he writes. His circulation is small
and is limited to n small area OF the surrounding
country. In the country there are fewer CLASSES
than In the cities and larger towns, and business
enterprises are far less varied. These circum-
stances combine to limit the freedom and indie
pendence of the country editor. IL he Is a man
of experience and settled moral habits, he will
be tower of strength to every good cause, a
guiding star in the narrow path OF every
moral reform; "but woe-worth the day" when
the country editor is young man of loose moral
habits and weak convictions. He may start of
with good intentions perhaps; but the trcmen
dous pressure to write VIII pleases the few in
tiuential patrons of the paper prevails in too
many cases. Little by little he drops down to a
lower standard, till finally the community with
Its selfish interests anu pTtNtftcu Views OF UutN |
is leading him instead OF his leading the commu.
. ity. Policy and not principle is governing him.
W Whatever he does say for temperance and rclig.
ion is said with an eyeto the main chance;
said 18th fear and trembling lest some rich sup |
porter, the head OF Il great corporation or mo
nopoly may be offended. II this patron and
others Ike him are favorable to rigid enforce
ment of prohibitory law upon their employees
well and good, our "rimes" serving editor win
favor it but If not the small, country editor will
'ay Perhapsr after al the best way is to let
because 1t does not pay him to support 1t. When
he advocacy of prohibition pays 1t has plenty of
The great difficulty Is to find men
who will advocate II from pure principle when
does not pay except as the satisfaction of Il ,
rood conscience pays.
The next step In the down grade of our coun
ry editor Is to become the plianttool OF men
Who have their political axes to grind and are
Wiling to pay him for grinding them In many
ases these political aspirants are prof"ssedly
n favor of prohibition and the enforcement of
he law, but the saloonists are privately in.
ormed not to fear, "for II we are elected you
viii be duly informed whenever the temperance
e0ple urge Us to action" So our country eii. |
or becomes, unconsciously perhaps to him.
ELI the man Friday for some other man more
intelligent than he-the servile mInion of a
Official ring or church. cque--a real moral
urden to the town instead of moral support |
pack arduOus to be borne by the best Of the
eop.e who witness with sorrow golfen Oppor
inites thrown away. Our young editor has tl
eally sold himself out soul body and estate to RI
he enemies OF the law. lie becomes an adept .,
the use OF political slang and abusive epithcts
the perversion OF facts and the classifying OF CT
nth to please his masters. He fooishly mag tl
hes that his skill In saying mean, dirty things =,
i'll pass tor journalistic talent. He has his adj. :,
irers among the lower classes who laugh and X
lucklc over his low-lived drivcl, but the true lie
lends of temperance he has wounded and
! enated. Here Is true pen picture of more
ian one country editor who at first hal first c;
ass opportunity to do good, creditable work
n temperance and other good causes in the | a,
irving village of some New England town. y.
he success of our prohibitory law depends III
cry largely upon the moral support given II by
II country editors as well as upon that given
by the leading journals of the state Our
'unfry papers are numerous and they have a
rye constituency. They read by the great
alority OF our voting population and the peo
e VINO support these papers have right 10 re
lire that they be edited by men capable of
riting their own editorials and who IN editorial
airs will not be like stray shots in empty flour
'rrels-men who are not tools and mop sticks
r ambitious politicians. thu
Temperance laws will never fully succeed in alI
IL or any other state until the press OF all par. an
+ Is united and enthusiastic IN supporting an
tin