The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1904-04-25
Rev. F. A. Poole Adyo-
Gates Additional Options
TO PRESENT LICENSE LAW
Believes People Should Have Right to
Say How Liquors Shall Be
Sold.

At the congregational church last even
Ing the Rev. i. A. Poole gave the conclud-
ing address In a series of three, on sPOs-
sIble and Practical Temperance Reform. =
The address dealt particularly with the
possibilities Of reform Ia Vermont. The
speaker stated that he thoroughly believes
In local option aud that the local option
BY each community should 60 further
and say IN what manner liquor should be
soid-pr0vided the town votes t'ves'i--
whether by individuals or communities or
companies with the element 0f gain elm
mated.
Mr.. Poole spoke 10 part as follows At
the outset we meet this question, Is the
policy Of Vermont settled with respect to
the liquor tFafiic2 Is the local option sys
tenn with prohibition and high license as
the two alternatives, TO be permanent sys-
tenn in the state2 And If not, what are
the other possibilities?
There IL one feature Of the present law
that Is good 1t should be perpetuated
Local option is democratic aud American
It IS government BY the people. 1t is home
rule. And upon this question Of the sale
of liquor as beverage, every community
should have the chance to express itself,
yes or no. And the speaker urged the
advantage OF local prohibition. A decisive
no-llcense victory, agressively used, will
give, perhaps, the best conditions pos
sibe.
Local option is good so good in fact,
that we should have more of IL. Trust the
community, BY all means, to deal with the
liquor traffic And not in part but Ia full.
It ia a very limited option that Is now af-
f0rded u.s. We determine whether or not
liquor shall be sold in the town, but when
It comes to the matter OF saying how the
/ liquor shall be sold, in what manner, we
have no voice ut all. One possibility,
therefore, is that Of extending the local
option.
There are three great sources Of intem-
perance. The first and most fundamental
is the appetite Of men, the abnormal crav-
ing for alcohol The second Is the incen-
tive Of gain. There Is money In the liquor
business The fortunate man who gets the
special privilege Of a license has rare
chance to make money. And be sure he
will improve it. He win push the sale OF
liquor. In this country the liquor business
I - = EACHHAAQAH 0AGs VIZ AsStFAbftt AAfEGtN4
is enormous. Every effort therefore Is
made to create and enlarge a market for
| Its goods.
The third source OF intemperanee Is the
social instinct in man. The saloon has
found way TO minister to 1t. 1t is So
eial center as well as a liquor bar. And
the combination Is effective In promoting
intemperanee.
Now each and all of these sources should
receive attention. The drunkard should
be helped to overcome his appetite. The
incentive of profit should be eliminated
from the liquor business. Shut the sa-
loon up, II you can, IL you can't, remove
the incentive of gain, A great step
forward in the line of reform has
surely been taken when the sale of liquor
has lost the motive Of gain And again
the craving for social fellowship should be
satisfied. Some institution other than the
saloon should cater to the social instinct,
inteligently, effectively, acceptably.
Al,ng the lines then, Of the elimination
of private profit and the provision of So
cial substitutes for the saloon, there are
reform possibilities Ia Vermont And we
ought To have a local option freed from the
! present limitations, with chance afforded
! To put these possibilities to the test
| Here, then, Is my proposition for q
more extended local option. Once year,
as we do at present, let US vote upon the
question whether or not liquor shall be
sold. And then, on the assumption that
| the town votes ''yes, as q second express
/ sion OF the local will,a a further option to be
given the community, let as say how the
1 liquor shall be sold In other words, let
local option determine whether private in
dividuals who receive the licenses shall
conduct the business for their own em0lu-
ment, or whether the sale Of liquor shall
be in manner that removes private gain.
4 And here there are two alternatives The
municipality can establish retail saloons,
OF q company of disinterested citizens can
be organized for the purpose. In either
case, and this provision is vital, the prof
| its Of the traffic shall be used 10 provide
/ substitutes for the saloon.
The better way as separating the bust
ness most completely from politics, will be
| to put the trafiie Ia the hands OF a COM
pany. The current rate OF interest could
| be paid on the capital invested, and all
surplus profit could be devoted to proyid-
| ing a social rendezvous With many attract
I I've features
The saloons OF this company would be
conducted in general as those Of the Peo
ples Refreshment Association in the
United Kingdom are. The manager, who
should be man Of character, would be
paid a fixed salary, and given a commits
sion on the food and temperance drinks
which he should SELL And while the man
who asked for beer or whiskey would be
served without unpleasantness, he would
not be allowed to drink TO excess. No
minors would be served, and every rea-
sonable effort would be made 10 reduce in
temperance. There would be no motive