The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1902-11-12
TEMPERANCE HEARING.

| The public hearing before the joint
committee on temperance on Thurs
day evening drew small attendance
as compared with the former public
hearing before this committee. Sen-
alto; Emery, the chairman, introduced
| Hon. John Young of Newport AS one
qualified to s1eak upon the question
of the refe MUM Mr. Young spoke
briefly of the evils of the liquor
| traffic and of the evident intention
and desire Of the people of Vermont
to restrain as far as possible the sale
of intoxi"ants In this come 'tion he
said that the sale of liquor i'll Vermont
was rather matter of policy than of
morals Just at present, as the recent
election had plainly shown public SEN
| timent upon the matter of our liquor
| laws A majority of the courts of last
resort had held that a referendum wa
unconstitutional under our form of
government. In submitting to the
people a matter which applied to the
| whole State, on referendum, there
was danger that the policy of the
State would not be uniform in voting
upon the same.
He spoke of the Goth Vermont Re-
ports, and of the great ability of
Judge Isaac Redfield, who said that
it was complimentary to the Legis-
lature to let the people decide for
themselves whether or not they want
ed law, and whether or not they
were in condition and able to en-
| force it, ~
Horace W. Bailey, member of the
committee, Intercepted Mr. Young
81 would like to ask the gentleman
il he considers either form of local
option to which he has referred, the
vote by towns for the acceptance Of q
measure or the submitting Of ques-
ton to the whole people of the State,
if he considers either form consti.
tutional?" Replying, Mr.. Young said {:
"Today the decided weight Of auth
GRITTY by the courts Of last resort in
this country is in favor of the legality
and constitutionality of "a local option
law; that is, acts depending upon
acceptance or rejection by the voters
of section of the State. That class
of legislation today is held constitu-
tional by the majority of the courts
of last resort in this country"
In concluding Mr.. Young said my
conclusion is this-that a referendum
law properly framed which affects the
people of whole State may Just as
|
whole State as local option law may
be submitted to town to say whether
it will have license or not in that
town. / say that no distinction of
| principle can be drawn between the
two propositions. 1t is conceded by
all courts today that a local option
law is constitutional whether it re-
lates to the sale of liquor or to any
other question. Mr.. Young was
warmly applauded as he finished.
Rev. John l.. Sewell was introduced
by Senator Emery and spoke in favor
o. House bill l04, relating to the sale of
| liquor, spoken of as the Battell bill.
The speaker referred to the intense
feeling that exists between the license
and prohibition advocates and said he
believed that the recent election
showed a wish upon the part Of the
people for different form Of law
whereby the use and sale Of intoxi-
cants should be governed. He main
tanned that "every successful attack
madeupon the prohibitory law is an
argument" and that the prohibition
lists must acknowledge that serious de-
fects exist in the present law. He
favored the Battell bill on account of
the distribution of the profits accru-
ing from the sale Of liquor, believing
that "human avarice" would be les
sened under that bill. He said that
the dispensary system "gives absolute
prohibition from sunrise to sunset"
and that the Battell bill is license
bill and local option bill without a
saloon" He favored the Battell bill
upon the ground that statistics had
shown that the system adopted by Mr..
Battell, in his bill, had tended to
minimize drunkenness In closing the
referred to the demands made by
prohibitionists and license men and
said 1.-The Battell bill is a compromise
and it is my earnest hope that this
committee look favorably upon the
same"
"a Gro