St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1902-08-13
LOCAL OPTION RALLY.
Addresses by MIR. Bailey of Montpelier
and Rev. sam Small.

The Howe opera House was CTOWueu Oh
Friday evening to hear the speakers adver
tised for tie local option rally and there
was plenty OF enthusiasm and frequent
applause. Music was furnished by the St
Johnsbury band and Charles A. Calder
wood presided ami gracefully introduced
the speakers.
F. A. Bailey Of Montpelier was the
first speaker and began by briefly sketch
ing the origin of the prohibitory law.
He said since its adoption fifty years ago
no chance had been given the people
to change it, by the same means that 1t
had been first adopted, and most OF the
changes by the different legislatures had
been pernicious. Regardless of the pro-
hibitory law and its savage features,
there is as much intoxication and Illicit
selling and as much misery, as statistics
will show, as anywhere else in the world.
The Montpelier liquor agency only sells
$50, 900 worth OF liquor year. and any
honest man knows that S25, 900 OF this
is sold for a beverage. The operation OF
the prohibitory law is fraud and
farce.
We Offer in exchange local option.
This does not mean free rum. 1t means
that the state OF Vermont will place the
responsibility of selling the liquor upon
the man who sells it, instead OF letting
the town sell it. 1t means that every
town can say whether it wants prohibl-
ton or license. The speaker then urged
all who believed in the principle of local
option to vote for every local option can
didate that had been nominated and IN
closing characterized Procter's withdraw
al from the convention as unfair and SAID
the reason Mr.. Clement was a candidate
was because the Clement party was
howed down at the state convention and
that since the adoption of the referendum
plank in the republican convention two
county conventions had repudlated 1t,
indicating, he claimed, insincerlty on the
part OF the republican party.
Rev. Sam Small of Georgia followed
and Tor an hour and one half spoke of the
advantages of local option as against
prohibition. He began with tiowery
introduction and closed with one OF
those perorations for which Southern
orators are famous. His lecture was
literally spced with both new and old
stories. He declared he was just as much
a prohibitionist as be was IA years ago
when he addressed St. Johnsbury audi
ence and hecould heartily endorse tonight
all he said then. lam a prohibitionist
from tip to toe and the enemy Of liquor
traffic. | have been so consistently for
the past II years since was saved from
drunkard's grave. | have fought the
liquor traffic too strenuously to be mis-
understood and bear on my head the
scar OF liquor dealers knife and on my
throat the mark of a bullet fired at me
by an Indiana liquor seller half an hour
after had denounced his nefarious bust
ness Mr. Small said the governor of
Georgia recommended him to Mr.. Glenn
ent and he came to Vermont by Mr..
Clements invitation to tell the people
how local option worked in Georgia.
"Once was prohibitiouist in party
sense and worked to establish a national
party, but when the question presented
itself to me in Georgia whether to sup
port state prohlbitory law or a local
option law | became convinced that if
were to be true to the best interests o
my fellow citizens it was my duty tC
work for prohibition through loca
option. | stumped the state in every
county for local option governor anC
we have elected him for two years
Your prohibitOry statute is as rank anC
damnable fraud as was ever perpetra
ted upon the state and have this FAC
demonstrated by senator's and congress
men from your state, by members OF tn
W. {. T. u, LAWYERS, editors and bus
ness men. The best argument l cou
use in my campaign was to tell tn
Georgians how the prohibitory lax
worked in Vermont"
Mr. Small then read from the report {
the internal revenue commissioner i
which it appeared that Georgia had 125
retail liquor dealers licenses and with
population of 2,2t6 331, that gave on
liquor dealer to 1854 inhabitants. We
mont has, he SAID, COS retail liquo
dealers licenses and Ii Wholesale liquo
dealers licenses. With a population
343, cal that gives one liquor dealer t
every sos people. Mr. Small then rid
culed the state for having such a reCor
and asked if anyone could recommen
that Mississippi with one liquor seller t
every 1914 inhabitants should have pre-
hibition la Vermont. In Mississippi
there are only six of the Sc counties thf
have licensed saloons. The whole stat
of Georgia is held in absolute prohibitio
except s out of the 1877 counties. ALI
bama IS more than tWo-thirds prohih
ton and Texas has refused to adoI
the prohibitOry constiton and adopte
the Georgia local option law AS a r
suit two-thirds Of its organized couuti
are prohibition.
In closing Mr.. Small urged all to vo
for Mr.. Clement as the one candida
who stood for the local option primo
pie and for the county senators WI
were on the fusion ticket.