Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1902-11-21
NO. AZ.
Hear the Conclusion Of the Whole
Matter"


Matter"
The fairest and completest summary
and review of the present liquor law
situation which. has appeared in print
is given this week on the editorial
page of the Randolph Herald and
News. Mr.. Johnson, the editor of the
Herald and News, is one of the ablest
and most luminous editorial writer's in
the state, and as the official reporter
of the House in the present legisla-
ture, on the ground throughout the
| session, and familiar with all the pro-
| ceedings, he has unusual facilities for
arriving at just and intelligent judg-
ment of the whole situation He
writes from the standpoint of a man
who believes in the strictest possible
control of the liquor traffic.
In his article Mr.. Johnson frankly
declares his endorsement of the Bat
tell bill and his belief that, every
thing considered, it offers the best
method yet devised for the control of
the liquor traffic in Vermont But he
then proceeds to review all of the po-
litical events from the appearance Of
Mr.. Clement in the field as a regular
candidate for governor, and afterward
as bolting candidate, and the senti-
ment expressed by the people up to
and including the September election,
and reaches the conclusion that
neither in the final interests of the
temperance cause nor in the fulfilment
of the pledge of the Republican plat
form, would it be either wise or right
for the present legislature to submit
the Battell bill to referendum vote
of the people, as fulfilment of pre-
election pledges. These are his con-
clusions as expressed at the end of an
article three columns long. To us
they are conclusive, and we believe
they will be conclusive to every friend
of temperance who takes broad and
fairminded view of the situation, look
ing not to this present time alone, but
to what might and probably would
happen in two years from now were
prediction pledges to be violated:
Now the Republican party is not bound
to pass just the kind of local option
measure that suits the most radical views
in that direction. II can submit such
an act as the majority decide. But that
act, to discharge the convention pledge,
must be essentially license-local op-
ton act, and recognizable as such. In
our opinion, the Battell bill is not. And
much as we admire 1t and desire to see
it enacted we do not think it properly
falls within the scope of the pledge. and
therefore it ought not to be submitted
as the local option act which the party
promised. We understood, and we think
that the great mass of voters understood,
that when the party promised last sum-
mer to submit a local option act it
meant such an act as is commonly des-
cribed by that term, such, for instance,
as the Massachusetts, law. To twist that
pledge now and try to make it mean
something else will not be right or fair,
and we fear that neither the party, the
state, nor temperance itself will be served
by this course.
What would be the result, IL the Bat
tell bill were to pass and be submitted
to the people? Judging by every present
indication. it would be rejected by large
majority. The prohibitionists would not
be apt to support it, for it does not rep
resent their principles, and they would
prefer to stand by their own law, which
would be the other alternative presented.
The license men, dissatisfied with the
measure submitted and convinced that 1t
represented a breach of faith, would
leave it to its fate and bide their time.
Prohibition would continue two years
longer. but it's enforcement would be lax
and attended by unprecedented embarass-
ment. Two years hence, we fear, there
would be a political revolution that
would sweep out all elements of stabilty
and conversation and enthrone the most
iroa ha
has ever seen. The resulting liquor law
would be as "wide-open' as it could pos
| sibly be framed, and the greatest injury
| to our people would ensue. Cheap poll
| ticians could fish with high promise OF
success in these troubled waters. Rath-
| er than take this step, 1t would be much
better for prohibitionists to agree to
square submission now, when they can
| present their case on Its merit. The
course marked out would mean the root
| ing of a deep-seated prejudice in the
minds of the voters that would not listen
| to argument for years to come.
So while abating no part of our faith
| in the Battell system and regretting that
| conditions do not seem to make possible
its adoption at this time. we register
our opinion that the plain duty of the as
sembly is to pass the majority local
option bill, in unequivocal performance OF
the party pledge. Whatever the result
of submission, we believe that sentiment
will grow in favor of direct state control,
and that the future and final solution OF
the vexed question will be along the lines
of the Battell BILL
The gist of the whole matter to be
borne in mind as 1t seems to us, is
in this one sentence quoted above.
1--WE understood and we think
that the great mass of voters un-
derstood that when the party
promised last summer to submit
a local-option act 1t meant such
an act as is commonly described