News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1896-05-14
HISTORY OF THE CASE.
Brief Statement of the Facts Before the
Trial.

Brief Statement of the Facts Before the
Trial.
The $4,000 libel suit brought by Gov.
Woodbury. against THE RUTLAND HERALD
has become well known in general way
very widely Its history is brief.
The whole trouble grew out of what is
known as the GLOVE case" B. G. Howe, a
prominent citizen of st. Johnsbury, was
sentenced to the house of correction for vio-
lating the prOhibitory law and strong petit
tion was presented to Gov. Woodbury. ask
ing for his pardon, which was refused. The
HERALD had been printing editorial articles
urging that, under the terms Of the Vermont
prohibitory law, reputable and respected citi-
zens all over the state were in fact offenders
and it repeatedly referred to this GLOVE
case" in support of its argument. In doing
this it printed two paragraphs, as follows:-
Suppose that the st. Johnsbury experience
were repeated in other places all over the
state-hOw would the house of correction
look Who keep and own the hotels in Rut-
land and Burlington and Bennington and
Middlebury and Vergennes and st. Adams
anu NEWPORT anu NlUUIDbllbI anu w UOuSlOGk
and BrattlebOTo and so on! Rum Is sold in
every one of them every day in the year and
many times day, and every keeper and
owner il rumseller in fact and under the
law p Rutland HERALD, July II, 1896.
"GOv. Woodbury. himself owns the Van
Ness house at Burlington and has owned 1t a
long time. We believe that he also owns the
building across the street which contains
drug store. Nobody thinks the worse of him
for that--of course not--and all over the
state men highly esteemed and universally
trusted have similar interests Rutland
HERALD, July Is, 1880"
The responses to these paragraphs, with
results, appear in the following articles from
the HERALD
From the Rutland Herald for August s, 1885
Gov. woodbury. a RumseIIer-Pre-
liminary.
"THE RUTLAND HERALD has been for
many years the constant opponent of the pro-
hibitOTy law and the leading organ of the
rumselers in and out of Vermont, who
would like to see this state opened to the
free sale of liquor. Its vapOrings and vitu-
peration have had no appreciable effect in
Vermont in the direction of any weakening
of the law but they often serve to hold the
state up to unjust contumely in other com
munities.
1.-THE democratic and mugwump papers
pretty generally hate our state because of It's
political steadfastness and are glad TO print
anything, true or false, to its discredt.
Whskey organs everywhere of course do the
same: and the HERALD's ISLANDERS of good
citizens and Of the people of Vermont thus
get much wider circulation in other states
than in our own.
1.-THE recent sentence Of a st. JOhnsbury
hotel keeper for numerous violations of the
law, aud the refusal of the governor to par
don him, have stirred the HERALD up to
fresh Outbursts of malignant SANDER. II has
gone to the length Of declaring that If the
prOhibtOry law of Vermont we impartially
enforced half of the prominent citizens of
the state, including the governor, would be
in prison. A weekly paper in Rutland en-
larged upon this by asserting that "nO man
in Vermont has made more money out of the
liquor business than our present governor"
and that she owned two hotels where ele-
giant bars were run night and day and Sun
days" The paper took back the statement
in its next weekly issue; but the correction
will never overtake the original lie, and this
will circulate, no doubt, for many years, in
the barrOoms and in the columns of organs OF
he 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 in
stance, here is an extract from a recent
editorial in the Washington, D. c.. POST
snow II the editor of the Washington Post
will come to Vermont or seek information
from responsible and truthful sources he will
see that he has printed as outrageous a SLAM
der concerning the state Of Vermont as ever
was circulated concerning any decent and
well-ordered community. The assertion
that nearly every man or any means In the
state of Vermont is n rumseller is rdicu-
lousy false. The man who makes It should
not stop there, but should 90 on and say that
every third person In the state is a thief, and
every fourth man murderer, and one state
ment would be rs true as the other. If the
exact facts 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 10 any
civilized country on the globe. The assertion
that the governor of Vermont Is a rumseller
and a lawbreaker Is also false and out
rageOuS libel. Among the various buildings
owned by Gov. Woodbury. in this city Is a
hotel; but 1t has no bar. Liquor is not sold
10 II and never has been during his owner
ship of 1t. The governor has political and
other opponents, who would be very glad II
they could have the hotel he owns prosecuted
for violating the prohlbitory law. No such
NTOhttullOu has OttulIbuy DbCHubb IltTb HIS
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 il
its chief magistrate and as part Of the same
campaign Of SANDER.
Furthermore the enactment and support
, OF the prohbltory law In this state IL by no
\ means the work of any radical minority.
! Il has the steady, unfinChing support Of the
great majority of the order.loving and tenn
perate citizens, because they have found It &c
he the most effective statutory measure fol
the repression of crime and pauperism thai
has been tried In this state. The law pro
vides for the legal sale Of alcohol and liquor
for necessary and proper purposes, medicina
aNd otherwise, In every town. IL Furnishes
Drunkenness and the traffic which make,
&rSNkards and paupers. IL may not be thu
&.sasM for every state or city, In The
1ogreaondltions Of society-though tn,
pahy staAms to be toward prohibition ii
tow Of En- the Union and In some coun
years, ani sR--but for this state or rura
cfoeij,l p1l, toNyillages II has proved, In A
'"'eh' rcsGHore practicable and NOR,
non Of the sale Of intOxi