Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1904-06-03
Shoreham,

are shown by the internal revenu
records to contain liquor sellers. An
in some of these, certainly, as show
by returns TO the secretary Of state
and in two | have found where sucl
returns We're neglected by the tow
clerks, these sellers We're mediclna
druggists. At the very least the traffic
has been wiped out in SO towns,
The number of United States spec
ial taxes paid Is always close APP
Proclamation to the number of sellers
because Uncle Sans facilities by
means of his control of distillers
brewers and wholesalers, for tracing
and catching the dealer are such that
very few will risk his severe penalties
our state penalty, not less than $500
besides Imprisonment, Is also severe
and the chance of being caught, be-
tween the license boards, the police re-
ports required by law, and the self
interest of dealers who have paid their
! licenses to protect themselves from
unlicensed competition, so great, that
the would-be seller is doubly afraid.
The result is that there have been on
ly three prosecutions in the U. S. court
for this district for selling without
paying the special tax during the past
year, where the year before there were
five. Under prohibition, besides the
town agents, there were over 500 deal
ers who wouldn't take any chances
against Uncle sam but would and did
against the state law. They have now
been reduced TO some dozen In license
towns and some 60 in no-license
towns.
The two distinctive features of i'm
provement in our law above those of
other states are the druggist license
and the requirement of quarterly re-
ports under oath from every police Of
ficer, sheriff and constable whether
they have received any information
or observed any indication" of unli-
censed or Illegal selling.
The druggist license was designed
to take the place of the town agency
for strictly medicinal traffic In either
license or non-license towns. There
were IS of these licenses last year, so
far as can be learned from secretary
Of states records, from county clerks
and from selectmen of a few towns
that did not report to the secretary.
have only succeeded in getting the
igures OF the sales reported in nine Of
he II counties, covering 81 OF these
licenses. They show average sales
If s30.l1 monthly, under each license.
n at the rate of 500, 800 per year for
he whole number in the whole state, |
rhe town agency sales for the fiscal |
ear 1902 We're s356622.20, which We're |
16,5S49l larger than the year pre-
'ious Such a contrast as this ought F
o be instructive 10 the good folk who /
the prohibitory system to be
eally a temperance one.
OF all the returns under these drug
list licenses there We're only two /
owns, and these of course no-license
owns. that showed suspicious ag- I
regate of sales and in one OF these, /
.ewport. the physician who operated 1.
, make a farce of the law has taken f,
le laws medicine i'm the shape of
200 fine. with guaranteed curative /
overs for him and others that may f,
,el like him. {
In the last year of prohibition there /
ere 80 town agencies. with sales I
lnging all the way from sl56 in I
TO $4,000 In Montpelier /
sS,696.96 each, or over ten 8
mes as much as under each medicin- I
drug license. Is
The police provision is securing the
suits expected from It, The theory b
as that while the average man may h
dge his duty when it is only neces- d
ry for him TO say nothing, or to take IN
aggressive action, that when ii II,
comes necessary for him to per- 81
re himself In order to dodge, he Il
Il come up TO the mark ali the @
ore when he knows he is at the O
,rcy, for 5000 fine and perhaps Ii
prisonment, OF any citizen who has W
zen him information which he fails 5,
give to the license board. Some of al
2 license boards report that there m
$ been difficulty in getting these ca
icials to appear and make reports, ea
/ when that was overcome and the mn
,orts made, they We're very effective tn
good. II was by means of them ac
II the dealers were brought to A
ok for selling to minors in Brattle- st
% and a lesson so severe admins 60
ed that there is no danger of to
re being any more such sales In
/ town. az
Enquiries were addressed to the ar
Iirman of the license boards of de
various towns bringing replies an
m about two-thirds. as to working co
the new law and asking-besides ..h
above statistics: TIL
10 Are you having any trouble tn,
m unlicensed selling? From lat
hen dives? If So how much? tic
'ine- tenths of the replies say loo
J." and like Bennington. that be,
chen dives have been absolutely err
continued" In Barre there has at
n some trouble. but small in
lparison with prohibition" Wells as
nd II done at one private mousse. the
lnton had one case early, but hal
t 1t out of commission at once" en-,
had some trouble from got
ket peddling or furnishing" to of
klisted men, but ended it by ed
ling several offenders TO the house pre-
correction. Island Pond had seven the
SITS for furnishing with one con- CHI
ion while two of the offenders cor
the state. Arlington had one ar pro
and one conviction. Bethel has res
too much" unlicensed selling.
aral towns say they have had =
re or less" trouble on this score.
the offenders are hard to
h." NJ.