Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1906-03-02
why worn .'Yns" Nnxr TUESDAY,
some Considerations tina, rev H. H. Miles
Overlooked,

Editor NJ Rriormrr H.. -
Berans. Il will mean the hest iof nal
,enp.rancs. through control o. irAmr thA'
Is now entirely beyond our eenifat
because now the liquor traffic Is al OF the
Kind that All students of the subject lefok
nIFe 10 he the very worst passible-lfsh'e
by the bottle and In Quantllies-whleh W
turn means mainly whiskey and 'hara
liquors instead ~ beer which CONSTITUTES
four, hfihs 81 the sales ever hat
because IN getting II into better ah. l a,,,s
the tax burden ON our own people peA'uss
adding an equal amount 10 The permahrm
roads fund, through the state treasury M
stead of contributing II all TO other towns
and other states. The 10 cent addition y"
the town tax. which the selectmen report 70
be- necessitaied by last spring vote u
worth thinking Of In this connection
II a mo" vote could mean real prohib''
lion, Il would be q very different question
For a while after the refusal Of the New
Hampshire commissioners 10 renew ihe "
land license there was hope Of such result
HUT their refusal became farcieal when
cense was granted TO the same parties 70
operate from Ilinsdale village ana ihelr "
press was established with It's Nauoh
just where the old brewery was whero
an anyone has to do is TO pay their money
aud take their stun, without any wait for u
10 come from Hinsdalc, or longer than u
takes 10 hand II out--the only difference be-
Ing that now, instead of drink, the pur'
chaser must take boiileful. Morally ihe
situation must prove worse than when tue
Island establishment was running ~ a "a
loon because, selling by the glass the "a
loon. keeper could, II he chose. restrain drunk
enness: when the customer takes away PM
or a quart there il no possible way 81 pre-.
venting q had use II Is worse than the old
demoralizing town agency system, because
then there was prctcnse 81 limit for mcdi'
ciual use; now IL Is only question OF price
The destined effects are already appear
ing here in a marked increase Of drunken
ness The writer saw two cases on the siree'
Tuesday II Rev. Mr.. Miles will himself %
some watching IN the depot neighborhood, II
will decidedly change his view Of the con
dtion, II not his theory.
The trouble with his statistics OF ar
rest for drunkenness is twefold, In me
first place there is very different ponce
policy. Instead Of improving every sem
bance Of a chance officer Warren makes no
arrests unless public safety requires; u he
can induce an intoxicated man to go quietly
home. he does 50. and even helps him. instead
Of thrusting him into the lookup. But even
more important, Mr. Miles hgnfes TOT lhe
six months from May 10 November last are
mainly for period very different from the
present after the licenses here and on the
island had both ceased, and before the 'eN.
press scheme had got fairly into operation
Since then It is quite another story.
Considering both these factors, II cannot
be claimed that there Is less drunkenness
than in the latter period Of license. And now
the situation is steadily and Enthusiastically
growing worse, where according to Mr. Miles
himself. Il steadily grew better under license
through the steadily increasing operation
Of its features Of exclusion Of abnsers OF
lquor-cutting down the prosecutions by
considerably more than half, or from II to
81. as between the first and second years
Of license
II needs but little scrutiny beneath the
surface Of things to discern the inevitable
meaning and tendency. The practical ques'
ton is whether several thousands Of the tax
payers money shall be thrown away for lack
Of such scrutiny. Tax Payer.