The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1902-12-17
CAMPAIGN AGINsT LICENsE e.

from various parts of the State met in
this city on Wednesday, to formulate a
campaign against the adoption of high
license-local option laws by The PEG 'le
at the February referendum. 1no
meeting was the result of two calls,
one by the pastors at Barre to the
Methodists, Baptists and Congrega-
tionalists asking for a delegation of
five ministers and seven laymen from
each and one by the Congregational
pastors at st. Adams and Burlington,
directed to the churches of that de-
nomination alone. 1t was purely by
chance that the meetings were called
at the same time and place, and as
their purposes were identical, the
delegations worked together. The
afternoon meeting was held at the Y
NJ. @. A. rooms, Rev. e. NJ. Fuller
of Barre was elected president and
Rev. f. A. Poole of Barre, secretary,
of the meeting. A subcommittee
was appointed to formulate some plan
of procedure and through it's chair
man, Rev. Jonn L. Sewall of st. AL
bans, a report was rendered which,
with few changes made by the
whole committee, is as follows:
We, citizens of Vermont, deeply in
terested in all that pertains to the
sobriety and prosperity of her inhabit-
ants, hereby associate ourselves in
the endeavor to secure n popular vote
against the high license bill at the
coming referendum, and declare our
belief in the following statement of
principles:
J. The evils of incompetence today
are more than question of religious
faith or personal morals; they men,
ace the integrity of the home, weaken
| the effectiveness of the church, and
attack the industrial, commercial and
civic life of our land We therefore
regard it as p ssible, aud reckon it
duty, for all who are interested in
their fellow men, as individuals and
as sharers of our social order, to lay
aside all prejudice of religious or po-
| litical craftsmanship; to ignore differ
ences of conscientious views as to total
! abstinence; and to meet on the COM
mon platform of an aroused and unset
fish citizenship for the defeat of the Ii
cense law, lately passed, at the ref
erendum next February.
III. We understand the modern
| liquor saloon to be any place where pri-
waite capital in the hope of large re-
| turns seeks to carry on dram selling
in connection with social resort and
| for the conservation of political pow
err Its only endurable feature is the
satisfaction of a craving for social
pleasure, which can and should be
met in other ways. A long and varied
experience with the saloon, IN our
own and in other lands, has demon
strated the truth of the following po-
sitions The saloon is pernicious in
| its essential character and in its in
evita Die influence; it causes the de-
! probation of surrounding property,
withdraws money from legitimate
avenues of trade, increases drunken
ness and crime, and is the parent of
pauperism it fails to suppress IL
legal sales or ottle-drinking; and
| by reason of it's intrenChment under
legal protection it partially wells it's
viciousness by a grab of respectable
| ity, finds ample means of resisting
wholesome restrictions, defies the
laws, debauches officials and defeats
all efforts to remedy the abuses dis
covered in its practical operations.
LII. In the license law enacted by
the present Legislature, to go into
effect at such date as the people may
determine, we recognize the result of
patient and conscientious labor on
the part of able men who have done
their utmost to accomplish the impos-
sible task of legalizing the saloon and
at the same time protecting the State
from its ravages. We therefore de-
clare that this new law is a perilous
and needless remedy for whatever
unwise legislation has hitherto ex-
listed; sure to bring ills far greater
than any we now suffer, and giving
no assurance of relief from those
which we now feel. We affirm that
il is the duty of the present hour to
thoroughly organize all voters who
thus believe, and to ceaselessly agi-
tate from now until February 3, next,
in every town and city Of Vermont,
in order to thoroughly expose the es-
sential errors and many unfortunate
details of this license law. To this
united work we invite all believers
IN the prohibitory system, whether
in its present or in some modified
form; all who desire to see the Nor
wegian or dispensary system to any
similar alternative receive more care
full thought; and all who may dis
cover in the proposed law features
which make its rejection desirable.
We utter an urgent warning against
experimenting with that which, when
OiNO dhoiuOu AOSdi PiOtCNtiOb, ID SulC
to find sufficient corrupt and corrupt
ing agencies for maintaining itself,
even against the desires of majority
of our citizens. In urging the defeat
of the submitted law we do not COM
init ourselves to the unqualified APP
prevail of every provision of the pro-
hibitory law, nor contemplate the in
definite continuance of present con-
ditions. If we are defeated at the
polls, we pledge ourselves to continue
our organization until its principles
triumph; and if victorious, we assert
our willingness to undertake the in
itiative in proposing such legislation
as experience and study may demon
strate to be best adapted for promot-
ing the interest of true temperance
in Vermont.
1t was the sense of the meeting that |
the work be placed in the hands of a
State committee consisting of fifteen
members. with power to appoint other |
committees as they deemed expedient
@. p. Smith of Burlington, S. A. An
drews of Johnson, aid Rev. j. Ed