The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1896-01-22
A Rallying Cry.

An old enemy to the welfare of the
human race is spreading its wings pre-
paratory to flight am d the green hills
and peaceful dales of Vermont, having
already organized its beligerent forces
for an attack by counties upon the tenn
perance fortitica ions of the state.
The plan of campaign will doubtless
be announced later; but, for the pres
ent, it is sufficient for the temperance
workers to acknowledge it's presence
and prepare as best they may to meet
the insidious foe, which is as old as sin
itself and as rife with nefarious sche mes
for the wholesale destruction of sou
and body. The stale argument that
"less liquor will be sold under license
than under prohibition" is enough to
weary even Job himself. That the per-
son who is selling liquor to-day as an
outlaw, and knows for surety that, il
discovered, the workhouse i, his por-
ton, will sell less liquor when protected
by law that will place both himself
and his business upon respectable basis
in the community,-this argument car
ries so plain fraud upon the face of it
that no one will be deceived who does
not wish 10 be, either for the gratitica
ton of appetite or the advancement of
pecuniary interest.
The recent meeting of the Vermont
Dairymen's Association was held in u
city we'll known as the paradise of high
license advocacy, having an organ for
disseminating its doctrines, whose odor
of sanctity is 30 all-pervading, and its
conscientious seruples Qor other peo-
pies morals) 90 intense, it cannot en-
dure the thought of the dishonest deal
ing in neighboring towns and cities,
under the present relentless and cruel
prohibition law of Vermont. In the
two days stop in Rutland saw more
drunkenness than l ever saw in all the
towns and cities where have attended
the state conventions of many organ
izations; and it was the first meeting 1
ever attended in Vermont where it was
necessary to call the police to keep an
intoxicated person in order. If the
public sentiment for high license is
productive of such a condition underline
prohibiiory law, what may we expect
when the sentiment and the law are one?
1t is the CRY of high-lcense advo.
cates-"O, we will shut up the small
rum holes" Yes; in the same way
the large fish swallow the smaller
for their own selfish greed. How
long would it take the poor rumseller,
under the enormous gains of rum
selling, to pay his license fee? and
credit for the sum could readily be OBJ
tanned from interested parties. The
small dive on the corner would then
become, in its own class, the peer OF
the palatial hotel, since both are work
ing for the same cause and protected
by the same law.
The pressure of public sentiment, de-
handing prosecutions for liquor-selling
has resulted in the organized movemen,
of the would-be rumsellers. Now what
are Vermonters going to do about It'll
Will the wonderful progress that tenn
perance has been making in the last
few years halt at the first challenge OF
the enemy? Shall we sit tamely down
and submit to the dangers of an open
bar to our boys and young men in the
hotels of the state, or shall we, with
heart and soul, strive to turn the tide
setting strongly toward license, ano
work out, with all the strength of com
bined effort, the temperance salvation
of Vermont? LUNA s. PECK.