Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1902-10-03
The License Law.

draft the license local-Option law that
the voters of Vermont are to put into
operation as soon as they get chance
at 1t.
The Reformer does not believe that
any one man should do it, or any group
of men. 1t hopes to sec dozen local.
option bills presented to the legislature
representing ideas and phases. The leg
lslature should also be provided with the
existing statutes in those states where
the liquor traffic appears to be most in
diligently handled-notably such states
as Massachusetts, Iowa, Florida, South
Carolina, Minnesota, Nebraska and
others.
A committee composed of intelligent,
conservative local-option men-with per-
haps one radical and one prohibitlonist
thrown In to look out for weak spots
should take these bills and from them
evolve measure to be presented in both
House and Senate at the same time.
Here the discussion should be full and
free, no matter how long 1t may take,
and in this way the weak spots may
be eliminated and the strong ones made
stronger.
As to the provisions that the new
license law should contain, 1t can do no
harm to present opinions, and the Re-
former hereto subioins some of those
things which it considers desirable or
essential
In the first place the license fee should
be large enough and the licensee COM
PEELED to furnish bonds heavy enough to
compel the business to be carried on by
responsible men.
The number of licenses in town
should be strictly limited.
Every common drunkard and every
person who makes a use of liquor that
renders him menace to the quiet or
safety of any person should be listed by
the probate court and list furnished to
, every licensee and every employee of a
, licensee, and If any such listed person
: shall thereafter secure liquor at any
licensed place there should be cause for
taking away the license and the forfeit
, ure of bis bonds.
Every licensed place should 'be closed
from l p. m to q. IN. and on all Sun
days, holidays and election days.
, No licensed place should be allowed to
exist within 800 feet of any school or
library, but there should be no restric-
lions against their being located near a
church, as no church should hesitate to
get next to its duty and opportunity, as
furnished by saloon
Each licensee, bondsman and owner of
real estate where a saloon is located
should be held liable for any injury or
damage done or sustained by any patron
of such licensed place directly traceable
to overndulgence in Intoxicating liquor
at such licensed place.
Some officer should be provided whose
+, duty it should be to go occasionally to
/ every licensed place when they are not
expecting him and secure samples of
liquors sold and send them to the state
laboratory for testing. Any licensee
!; found selling impure or adulterated
iIJuOlc NC lucu anu IL lIlt OlItUSt
is repeated his license should be taken
/ away from him.
, The decision as to whether a town
should license bars should be made by
petition and not by ballot. That takes
the saloon out Of politics and has proved
] highly satisfactory In Iowa, where it is
t in force. The way it is done is for the
! authorities to appoint official canvassers
TO see each voter in town and get his
/ preference stated, for license or for no
} license. The record is then placed on
file at the town or city clerks office and
is always open to the public. If at any
, time man wishes to change his support
from license to no license, or vice versa,
he can go to the clerks office and have it
= done. So long as the list of voters in
= favor of license contains more than 30
; per cent of all 'the voters listed license
| shall be Issued according to law. I'm
Iowa ii requires SO per cent in towns and
t 81 per cent in the cites.) If at the end of
, the first canvass or at any subsequent
time the no license list contains ma or
ity of the names, no licenses shall be
e issued, or those out shall be revoked
within a certain number of DAYS and no
e more issued as long as the recorded lists
} stand in the same relative positions. In
= this way the desire of practically all the
: voters is secured and put on record, and
) the question of license or no license is
not brought into local elections, where
1t Is always sure to do harm.
/ If. after elaboration, the legislature
q should decide to enact dspensary law,
as Col. Battell and others favor, it will
= prove an experiment for this part of the
D country that the future might uphold
n The dispensary system, which is simply
selling liquor by the employees of the
e town or state, returns all the profits Ia
Y the public, and In that way is a good
Y thing. But, if dispensary law should
4 be enacted, we believe that substantial
Y improvement can be made on the one In
f force in South Carolina.
! In South Carolina all liquors are
q sold in packages of half pint or
0 more, not to be drunk on the premises
5 This leads to bottle drinking and some of
! the worst abuses Of liquor. However,
] If the state can sell liquor by the bottle