Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1902-11-28
THE LEGISLATURE.
The Liquor License Bill Passed
both Houses Last Friday.
Adjournment to Tuesday, Dec. 2, Fol-
lowed-DetaiIs Of an important
Days Work.

passed the niBn license ioNdi ppAivh
liquor bill last frlday. and an ADJOURN
ment was taken to tuesday, Dec. ?. in
accordance with the terms OF a Joint
resolution adopted by both houses. The
only point of difference in the measure
as passed by the two houses is that the
Senate adopted an amendment so as to
give one-half of the proceeds of licenses
to the towns granting them, and one
half to the state This amendment
the House refused to adopt, and the
House bill gives only one-fourth the pro
ceeds to the towns and three-fourths to
the state leaving the bill in this respect
just as il was reported by the COM
mittee
Final passage of the bill took place in
the Senate at the afternoon session.
only one vote was cast In opposition,
that of Senator Emery OF Orange county.
The House devoted three sessions, morn
' ing, afternoon and evening, to discussion
OF the measure, and il was finally passed
by a viva voce vote The minority,
which favored the Battell bill, opposed
the passage of the license bill at every
step. and the yeas and nays We're taken
six times during the day. as various points
of contest arose. The fate of the m assure
was not decided, however, in accordance
with the personal views or preJudices OF
the members, for many strong believers
i'm prohibition voted for the license bill
in order that the pledge of the Republ
people given "A chance To cast their
votes for or against the principle of
license
The discussion OF the bill attracted
large crowd of spectators. particularly
to the House All day Friday the gal
lery. the lobby and every bit of floor
space was occupied by these spectators,
and it was with the greatest difficulty
that order was preserved. In fact. at
the evening session. Speaker Merrifield
found il necessary TO have the rule read
which provides that i'm case of disturb
ance or disorderly conduct in the gallery
or lobby the sergeant at arms may be
ordered to cause them to be cleared.
This served to make the audience less
demonstrative.
The principal speakers at the morning
session in the House were Mr.. Battell.
who strongly supported his own bill, and
Mr.. Dixon of Hardwick, who also faV-
ored this measure. During the dis
cusson. Mr.. Bailey of Newbury again
emphasized the fact that the minority
of the joint committee on temperance
repudiated wholly any connection with
Rev. G. w Morrow of the Anti-Saloon
league, or having submitted to any dicta-
ton from him
Mr. Conland of Brattleboro opened the
afternoon discussion, saying that every
member had come with wel-detined
views on the subject There is no differ
ence of opinion as to the disastrous eff
fects of excessive liquor drinking. He
believed open saloons might be prefer
able to hidden ones, as they could be
watched and regulated. The Battell bill
established open saloons as much as the
other bill Between the two it was a
mere distinction, without difference.
Mr.. Wheeler of Rockingham said dis
cusson would not change votes. He was
personally pledged to stand by a high
license local-option law. with referen-
nor in his message, and the only refer
endum discussed or thought of during
the campaign.
Mr.. Goodhue of Westminster said that
his father had aided in the passage of
the prohibitory law SO years ago. being
chairman of the Senate temperance COM
mittee. He thought it not true that
Vermont is behind other states with
respect to temperance legislation. Ex-
perience and observation In Massachu-
sets for many years led him to believe
il to be not true. as had been charged.
that the situation is worse and more
liquor is sold in Vermont than in other
states; rather. the reverse He did not
think the people of the state had under
stood the referendum proposed to mean
the kind of submission proposed in the
majority bill. 1t is an unfair referen-
dunn, carrying the act into effect what
ever the vote. Mr.. Abbey of Essex also
spoke in favor of the Battell bill.
Mr.. Dart of Springfield, supporting the
Battell bill. discussed the question OF
constitutionaiity of referendum vote
The decision. he said of Judge Redfield
in the a6th Vermont reports simply COW
cred the kind of a referendum that
brought in the prOhibtory law. Judge
Redfield's decision upheld that referen-
DUN, but IL did not imply that a direct
referendum would not be equally consti-
tutionai: rather the reverse, as the read
ing the decision will show Mr.
Dart deprecated the influence of the
saloon, and appealed to the veterans OF
the civil war to defend the home at this
juncture as they did the flag in 81.
Mr.. OSuiiivan of st. Adams city spoke
on the referendum question. saying what
was wanted was safe referendum. and
il for this reason alone that the
form of referendum provided in the ma
jority bill had been adopted. Mr. OSul-
Ivan made one of the strongest and
most telling speeches of the day in sup
port of the majority bill.
Mr.. Dunklee of Vernon said that as
a Republican he was ready to vote for a
license local option law, with such ref
erendum as the platform called for
which he considered to be the referendum
of the Batteil bill. He thought the refer
endum of the majority bill unfair one
because. if the people vote no upon IL
the prohibitionists will then be put on
the defensive. and will have to elect both
houses OF the next assembly to repeal
the act SO that it will not go into effect
in 1914 The minority referendum, on
the contrary. is a fair one. because the
vote settles the question definitely.
Up to this time, 4 o'clock in the after
noon when vote was demanded the
discussion had been on motion to
amend by substituting the Battell bill for
the majority license bill The yea and
nay vote resulted: yeas "a. nays LAG, and
the motion to substitute was lost. On
this vote Dunkiee of Vernon, Eddy OF
Stratton. Kingsbury of Windham, Os-
good of Brookline. Robinson of Wards
boro, and Tudor of Somerset voted aye
The votes of other Windham county
members were cast with the nays. ex-
cept that Goodhue of Westminster and
Willard of Townshend were among those
recorded as absent or not voting"
Mr.. Bailey of Newbury then moved
TO amend the bill by substituting the
referendum Of the minority bill for that
of the majority bill. and demanded a
roll call There was a brief but spirit
ed discussion of this amendment The
vote when taken stood yeas 102 nays
l27, and the amendment was disagreed
to- OF the Windham county members
Adams of Marlboro. Dunklee of Vernon
Eddy of Stratton. Goodhue of Westmin-
ster, Kingsbury of Windham Osgood OF
Brookline. Robinson of Wardsboro. Rob-
bins of Dummerston and Tudor OF
Somrset voted yes. Willard of Towns
bend was among those absent or not
voting"
this naint adiourauaanf x..a.