Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1902-10-24

Fletcher (Republican) bills provide
for none and the Clement bill, very
loosely, for 800 licenses for house of
80 beds and 500 for each 80 additional
| The Democratic bill treats as sum
mer hotel only those having % fur
nished bed rooms and in justice to
townsmen makes the license free pro
rata, according to duration, with that
of other licenses.
The Russell bill gives one fourth the
revenue from licenses to the state treas
ury; and the Fletcher bill all of 1t,
three fourths for highways and one
fourth for the general fund, which
means that it will be wasted The
Clement and Democratic bills divide
half and half but the latter strictly
limits the states half to only go to
the construction of permanent high
ways SO certified by the state commits
sioner of Highways.
There are many members also that
insist that the whole revenue should
90 to towns. The line of good policy
is to give as much to towns as fair
ness will allow to secure local inter
est not to have the { ees too low
or the traffic too loose; the Fletcher
plan tends to complete local inditfer-
ence. Justice, however, requires some
part to go for the benefit of nolicense
towns; their money contributes to it ;
such pauperism and crime as abuses of
the traffic creates burdens them, though
not so much perhaps as the home town,
and expenses are made to the state,
beyond any recovery in costs, IN en-
forcing the law, though not so great as
hulf IiyiS
fore is as near fair as possible, consid-
ering that about one-tenth Oh the aver
age will come back to license towns
and that they, usually trade centers,
will participate in the benefit of per
manent roads, from which the small
towns, nevertheless, would get most
good in permanent reduction of taxes.
This division would be unjust only in
case the fines and penalties, all going
to towns, less the costs, prove to be
large item. But the theory of the bill
is that they will amount to practically
nothing, because no one will dare to
violate the license.
There are many minor differences in
the bills that space will not permit to
be enumerated.
Judge Ross bill to continue and en-
large the present town agency syst I'm
under prohibition need not be consid
cred. 1t is wise, it is only American
and only civilized, in abolishing the in
junction monstrosity but it is to be
remembered that it is just this mon
strosity, only consistent with law
that errs in its fundamental conception,
that has given to prohibition what eff
ticacy it has. The venerable judges
bill is also wise in its guards at the
top of the system, but necessarily defec
tive at the bottom, leaving all the moral
perjury and mockery of law that char
acterizes nine teuths of town agency
sales and really brings more moral en-
feeblement and civic Generalization
than even free rum would.
The people have decreed local OPP
ion system and it Is conceded, after
careful examination If all the license
laws existing in this country, that
either the Republican or Clement bills
on the whole would be superior to any of
them: and | regard the Fletcher bill as .
the best of he three.
But the question is confidently b. .
mitted to the people of Vermont: Isn't .
the Democratic bill, in its stringency, 7
its CELEBRITY and certainty of enforce
ment, and its basic justice of principle,
far superior to any of them, and with .
some improvements of detail already
seen to be necessary or deslrableJ best
promotiye of real temperance, which it
ought to be the aim of all good citi
.enship to seek in such legislation.
{. II. Davenport.