St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1900-10-17
UNION TEMPERANCE MEETING.
Excellent Addresses by Senator Ross
and Rev. George w. Hunt.


and Rev. George w. Hunt.
A public meeting of the Anti Saloon
League was held in Music hall Sunday
evening In all the churches the evening
service was omitted and the various con-
gregations united in the temperance
meeting. Rev. Edward T. Fairbanks
presided and the South church choir fur
nished music. The clergymen of the vii
lage occupied seats on the platform.
Rev. DR.. Pickells, of st. Andrews church
read the scripture lesson and Rev. J. A.
Lynch, of st. Aloysius church, offered
prayer. The first speaker of the evening
was Senator Ross.
The Senator spoke at length upon his
recollections of the temperance question
under the old license law, and later I'M
der local option, and since the adoption
of the prohibitory law. The speaker re-
ferred to the times when every store
keeper was licensed to sell Intoxicating
IlQuOls liz odlu ludl III IuOoS hcyo II
was customary for farmers to furnish
liquor to their help. Two of the occa-
sions which demanded good supply of
liquor were haying and heep-shearing
time. In the first case liquor must be
had because the weather was so hot, and
in the second case because the water was
so cold. The speaker said he remembered
the time when it was thought impossible
to have successful raising, or in fact to
conduct any enterprise OF the kind, with
out furnishing supply of liquor. Sew
eral incidents were related showing how
the question was looked upon in those
days.
Along in the early '40s the temper
ance question began to be discussed in
public, meetings were held and the mat
ter became one of the issues of the day.
The speaker remembered how Gov.
Erastus Fairbanks visited Waterford
and delivered a temperance address,
illustrated with charts showing the effect
of alcohol on the human system. About
the year 1945 local option law was
adopted. This law was never satisfac-
tory from the fact that while one town
might vote no license it was little protec-
ton, because some bordering town would
vote license, and there was an abundance
of LIQUOR to be had. The situation was
the same as it is in our towns which
border on the surrounding license states.
The dissatisfaction with the law re-
suited, in the iall of 1852, in the adop-
ton OF the prohibition law which has
been in force since that time. This law
passed the senate by quite large major
ity, but the majority in the house was
one vote The bill was signed by Gov.
Erastus Fairbanks.
Mr.. Ross then spoke upon the work.
ings of the law as he had seen it during
% years upon the supreme bench. He
said the greatest difficulty was that the
people relied too much upon the law tc
/ suppress the liquor traffic; what was
needed was public sentiment. The speak
er referred to the great changes in the
character of the bar under the present
law. He stated that in his opinion that
at present there was not one-tenth az
much liquor used by the attorneys OF th'
state as in the early days OF the law
=, Senator Ross then spoke Of several muir
der cases which had been tried before him
and said that the cause of the majority O
all criminal and divorce cases could b
!. traced directly to the use of alcohol. d
t the whole the present law is a successful
one. 1t is said that it does not prohibit
:, 1t is true that it does not in all cases
i there is law against stealing, but
does not prevent theft altogether, We
who would be in favor of repeating tn
law. In closing, Senator Ross read LEI
3 ter and circular which had been receive
- in town from firm in Kentucky, adve1
e Using whiskey in bottles designed espet
s. tally for campaign purposes.
Senator Ross address was an interest
= ing one and closely followed by thos
d present.
The other address of the meeting wa
b. by Rev. George W. Hunt ofGrace Methc
s. dist church, who spoke upon local optic
II VS.. the prohibtory law. Mr.. Hunts r
Il marks were brief but stirring. He e:
i'd planned the meaning of local option, AT
r of the workings of that law in cities
Massachusetts where he had reside
He said that the adoption OF u local o