St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1901-05-01

on all legitimate business and honest in
dustry. 1t thrives upon the assassina
ton of the human body, the destruction
of the mind, character, moral stamina
and business capacity. 1t engenders dis
ease most fatal to body and soul. 1t is
the school of pauperism, vice and crime
and finally, it destroys the Christian
Sabbath, robs the church of her pillars
and heaven of its jewels.
What shall we do with such an insti
tuition 1t may be said there are three
ways to deal with it,-by education, by
moral suasion, by statutory enactment
We are to discuss the third Of these WAYS
this evening.
Rum affects man in his twofold life-in.
dividual and social. The government
can only interfere with man in his asso-
ciate character, and at this point many
good men err. They count interferences
with the citizen man an unwarranted in
reference and infringement of the rights
of the individual man. But the whole
philosophy of society and government
utterly refutes this charge.
In European countries the car, the en-
peror, the king or the queen are the gov
eminent, but in America the people are
the government, because it is of, for and
by them. In this fact there turks great
danger in the degradation of the individ-
ual. The aggregation of the individual
is the government. In just the proper
ton that the individual is degraded, the
government is degraded. If all the
people were intoxicated the government
would be drunk. The safety and perpet-
uity of the American government depends
upon the intelligence and morality of
the people. The saloon enters our home
and takes the very elements that civilize
and christianize our country.
The drunkard voter OF today was the
tempted innocent boy ofyesterday. The
state must, therefore. deal directly with
the drunkard factory and, my Christian
friends, we are the state.
What law then is best calculated to
deal with the liquor traffic? If you want
the traffic to continue to its satisfaction,
then repeal all existing statutes which
apply to it and make no more. If you
want the traffic to continue, but under
some restraint, and to make it reimburse
the government in some measure for the
waste which always results from its exis-
tence, and are willing to suffer the great
er part OF the results yourselves; if you
are willing that the temptation shall
stare Vermont youth in the face; il you
are content to place the future in the
hands of such men as carry on the liquor
traffic, then would most confidently
recommend to your favorable considera-
ton some form OF license law. But, on
the contrary, if the end desired is as near
as possible to stop the traffic in intoxica-
ting liquors, l beg to say that the only
method known to logic, reason and COM
mon sense is to prohibit it.
The traffic keeps up an incessant cry
that prohibition don't prohibit" and
therefore we should have law suscep-
tible of enforcement. And some good
people are deceived thereby and come to
advocate the same theory.
But this is one of the most illogical and
nonsensical claims ever put out by the
prince of liars and rehearsed by saints
and sinners. No law ever yet made by
man or God, or man and God, absolutely
prohibitive in its terms was absolutely
prohibitive in practice, but no one is so
ioolhardy as to advocate their repeal on
that account except in this one in
stance. Let them be consistent and de-
mand for the same reason the repeal of
the prohibitory law against larceny,
robbery, pocket picking; against arson,
rape, bigamy, murder; against perjury,
against obscene literature. Let US IL
cense a few lotteries, few gambling
dens, few houses of i'll fame. Not one
thing can be claimed for the liquor traffic
that cannot with equal force be used in
favor of these institutions, concerning
which the mere suggestion of license is a
shock to decency. Let US license the sale
OF diseased meats, its effects are less in
furious to men, it carries no more dis
ease, and it creates no appetite for more
of it's kind. Now, some one will say
crank, fanatic, fool, but that is not a
very strong argument against these doc
trines, Let them prove to us that liquor
traffic has claims upon us for perpetuity
not possessed by these other institutions
and we will be convinced; until then
their calling us names will only indicate
desperation.
contend that have the same moral
right, the same personal liberty, and
ought to have the same legal right to
get gain by lottery, by gambling, by sci
ling bad beef, as | have to do so by sell
ling Intoxicating liquors.
The national government compells vac
cination to protect the well. There is no
local option to it. What an infringe
ment of our personal liberty to catch and
have the yellow lever and smallpox. If
we contract contagious diseasein spite
of the governments precaution we are
quarantined, cut off from friends and
loved ones. Again our personal liberty
is trampled upon with IMMUNITY. No
one disputes the government right to
protect society in these matters, but the
governments rights, yes and obligations
to stay the disease resulting from the
liquor business are every whit as great.
Indeed greater in proportion to the
greatness OF the evil. Between 1872 and
1882, 81 1884 people died of yellow fever.
During the same period 650,000 people
died OF alcoholism. Against one the ma
tional government put every possible
prohibition and spent its treasure to
stay. The other is licensed to continue
in ever increasing fury.
During ten years prohibition Vermont
had two murders in 1000 population.
Prohibition New Hampshire rs in 1000.
Prohibition Maine 2.6 in 1000. We will
not ask them to compare those figures
with licensed Colorado's so in 1000, or
licensed Nevada's IS in 1000, for we
want to be fair, but with our neighbors.
New York, 7 in 1000; licensed Connec-