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

0 ''rumors but unable TO get proof"
= All the rest report no trouble o
. this score after the first few weeks G
5 the law.
"a "or for sales on Sunday or |
other prohibited llnes?"
The testimony is practically unani
nous TO the contrary. one licens
has been revoked at Underhlll 70
! Sunday sales Careful watch q
Swanton discloses no dlsobedlence o
the law In this respect, while unde
prohibition the greatest sales were OF
Sunday" At Bennington the officer
specify that on Sundays there Is IA
less trouble than formerly"
(5) What do your police officers
sheriffs and constables report abou
this and the working OF the law gen
erally?"
Without exception every reply say,
that the reports are favorable. Ever
the chairmen who say they do moi
themselves believe In the law, admit
the favorable reports from the police
Several towns like Manchester FIND
this police provision great feature
of the law.
(6) Each inquiry asked the best
judgment of the board as to the work
ing of the law generally, and in point
of sobriety and good order, In compar-
ison with prohibition.
Five of the replies only are unfavor-
able. Troy says bad: Barton--a nc
| town-that more liquor is used and
lots more drunkenness seen on the
streets; Essex very bad, with 80
to 100 per cent more drunkenness" I;
Bethel radically wrong and should be
repealed; Middlebury that 1t works
as we'll as any license law could" but
police expense is much increased, and
give me prohibition every time" In
deed all these five chairmen admit
that they never believed in anything
but prohibition anyway. on the other
hand the Williston and Shoreham
chairmen, while themselves preferring
prohibition and hoping for the repeal
of the present law, say, the former
that there is mo marked difference"
in results and the latter that he don't
see any more drunkenness than under
prohibition" while admitting that the
police reports were favorable.
The rest of the reports range from
that at Poultney cant see that we
are any worse off" to wonderful i'm
provement" at Bennington. Barre finds
"sobriety about the same but order
better" Al Milton 'at first there was
considerable excess. but II soon clear
ed away fairly Well" At Brandon I'M
der prohibition there was no restric-
tion and selling to minors. drunkards
and on Sundays went on all the time
at ten places. besides pocket-p eddling,
while now there are but three places"
At Fairhaven there is ION the whole a
gain in the point Of sobriety and good
order. Dives have gone out OF bust
ness and the traffic IL conducted openly
and under wise restraints At
Middlesex 1t Is the unanimous testi-
mony of the officers that drunkenness
and disorder have decreased" At |
Bennington there was at first some |
isobedience. as all did not exactly |
understand the law. but dealers have |
since been obeying the law" And so I
N.
All this evidence has striking cor
from the various county /
curt records. where nine out OF IA \
ounties from which I have succeeded 4
n getting reports. there have been
My % cases docketed the past year
or violations of the law. while in the
asst year of prohibition there were
8 such cases docketed in these coun- /;
les besides lis that did not get be-
ond justice courts.
prima facie, as shown by the table
Glow the new law would seem to
ave brought a so per cent increase in
The total number of
quor offenses. including those of sell
RS, which have greatly decreased, as
lown by bills of cost at the State =
easurer's office was 34l3 against
20 the year before. The committee I
fifty, in their report on "Legis-
We Aspects of the Liquor Problem"
ell observe that conclusions from
lch figures are very unsafe because
rests for "drunks" are so much
after Of police caprice that anything
n be proved by them" SO l asked
ch license board in reporting the i
lmber of arrests to state whether -
ere had been any change in police :,
tion TO account for the difference. i
| but seven report much greater
ringency under the new law, and
morally that orders have been given
arrest every drunk on sight"
Besides, the drunk" is now very
t to be out of doors where he can be
while under prohibition the n,
aler would smuggle him out of sight, =.
d until he had been prosecuted and :
nvicted once and in that way an
acklisted" there was little chance tn
1t the seller would refuse sale to
, excessive drinker. Moreover, the s
ter was very likely to have the no.
n at first that the new law meant
SEEMING of all restraint: he has fast
IN getting over ii and his vote gen.
lly went to swell the mo" column
March meeting.
Sut il is working out all right and ]
was expected. These arrests for
last quarter were but little over
ling Aug. 81, after the new law had
fully into operation, and in seven
the counties the figures now reach
are better than the average Under
hibition, while in at least three of
others that show the other way,
ttenden. Rutland and Washington,
tanning nearly 400 rumselers under
hibition, it is obvious that the ar
IS then were no sort of measure of I