The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1896-05-15


long been saying. II shows that not all rum
sellers, and not the powerful rumsellers, are,
disreputable red-nosed men behind bais,
Barkeepers are not usually intemperate--if
they were they could not keep bars-and they
are as rule hardly more responsible for the
selling than are the glasses they handle.
They are poor men working for small pay.
The real rumseler-the man who really man
ages the business and gets the moneys
somewhere behind them, and is perhaps never
heard Of And again, a second real rumseller
Is not infrequently behind both, Ia the person
of the land owner who gets an eXorbitant
rent because of the nature of the traffic and
the risk he runs. Hotel keepers and drug
gists are also usually rumselers and good
citizens to boot-and still the prohibitionists
howl away about the "rumseller" rs II he
were mysterious monster whom civilized
people never saw, Some of the hest men IN
every community, in Vermont and all over
the world, are rumsellers. Burlington Is IN
this respect like other towns. \
1t Is now in order for the Burlington Free
Press to retract its statements.
From the Rutland Herald for August IL,
lS95.
A Letter From Gov. Woodbury..
estate of Vermont,
Executive Department,
Burlington,
August I, 1895.
"Editor Of the R@tiaRd Herold:-
81 am much surprised at the editorial IN
today's issue of your paper headed Gov
ernor Woodbury. AS a Rumseller.' | have
owned the Van Ness house Tor IA years and
during TIM, time there has been no intoXi-
eating liquor kept in or about it, nor have
during that time been engaged directly or in
directly in the liquor traffic in the Van Ness
to- thn, al thn gf
the Van Ness house have persuaded any of
my employees to act as their agents to pro-
cure liquor for them such employees must
have obtained it outside of the Van Ness
house, and they acted upon their own re-
sponsibility and at their own peril. You ac-
cuse me of owning tlCO rumholes and run
ming one You designate me as "Rumseer
Woodbury." and in other words accuse me of
being a common criminal. | am willing to
endure in silence ordinary newspaper criti-
cisms, but my personal self-respect and my
respect for the high Office in which the good
people of the state of Vermont have placed
me, and my desire that the fair name of Yer
mont should not be traduced and discreditcd
abroad, forbid my passing in silence the
highly libelous article referred to. | there
fore ask you to make complete and i'm
mediate retraction in your paper, failing in
which Shall adopt legal means to bring you
u dCCOuHI tOl NOul outl llDcl'
"Gours very truly,
"URBAN A. WOODBURY."
The HERALD finds this letter rather puz-
zlng. Gov. Woodbury. says that he is not
rumSeller and demands retraction of the
HERALD'S statement that he was, and at the
same time speaks of rumselling by his SER
wants as if he would not deny the truth of
the charge that they were guilty. The HER
AID never charged anything but selling by
servants. 1t offered proof in certain cases,
and charged that the otlenses had been long
continued. Now, if Gov. Woodbury. will
admit the truth of this-if he will admit that
his servants have sold liquor as the HERALD
says they dd-there is nothing left to dispute
about. His letter goes to show that he is
ready to admit that, or. at any rate, that he
will not undertake to deny it. n local article
from the Burlington News. printed else
where, which is likely enough TO have had
the governors sanction, speaks in the same
way.
Assuming that the selling by servants is
admitted, how does the case stand? Here is
the Vermont statute covering the point
''If person by himself, clerk, servant or
agent, sells. furnishes or gives away, or
owns, keeps or possesses with intent to sell
furnish or give away, Intoxicating liquor or
cider, in violation of law, he shall forfeit for
each oflense to the state, upon the first con-
yiction not less than five nor more than
one hundred dollars, and may also be i'm
prjsoned, in the discretion of the court, not
.more than thirty GAYS. .uuon the sacendaa,.
each subsequent conviction, not less than ten
nor more than two hundred dollars for each
otIense, and shall also be imprisoned not less
than one month nor more than one year"
Now, this statute is simply tremendous in
its terms. 1t was intended to reach precisely
such cases as we have under consideration,
4 .l,,, hu,rn al Il
punished for selling liquor when they were
in intent and act as innocent AS unborn
babies. 1t is not necessary for man to
know that his servant makes the sale or to
direct or approve the selling. The sale itself
ends the worsted. OF course the servant acts
at his peril and may be punished, but so the
master nav also be punished. If the SER
want, acting as a servant, sells rum, both SER
want and master are rumsellers under the
law.
OF course it is easy to imagine cases in which
a servant at the Van Ness house sold liquor
without putting any moral responsibility up.
on the landlord, and perhaps without creating
any legal responsibility in that direction
But the cases charged by the HERALD are
different. We charged, and proved in detail
that servants in the ordinary performance OF
their work furnished rum to guests withtu
| demur, and that repeatedly. When a CUBS
| IL
lord. The landlord answers in the regular
way, by boy, and the boy takes and fills ar
| order for liotor. Taking an filling orders il
| that way is a part of the regular duty of hote
| servants all over the world and he would be
/ A queer LAWYER who said that the LANDLORD
was NOT responsible for the regular. ordinar,
| action of a servant in such case, even i
| there were no special statute concerning it
And the same thing is true with regard tc
| liuuor served at the tabes-the servants
represent the house-the landlord. Tn,
Van Ness house has had bottles of liquoI
opened in the dining room aud served t
guests as openly as tea and coffee are served
| and that a great MANY times
Gov, Woodbury. saws that liquor sold mus
have been obtained out of the house. Unles
| he had wine press and a distillery and
| brewery on the premises that must be true
| Rut If makes not the smallest ditferenc,
| whether the liouor is brought in by the ounce
| or hopsbead.
GOV Woolhury,s letter sounds as if HI
.tbouoht we had CHARGED him with per sonall
| hnving and selling and handling liduor. w,
never intended To- intimate ANYTHING OF tn
sort We ebaroed that his servants ha,
furnished louor 10 cuests in their rooms an,
on The nnhlic tables. and thar not once q
tnico hnt co,tinnalIv and wear after veor
Tf Gov Woodbury. will admit the truth 4
that az bis letter indicates he NAV. we bay