The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1907-11-14
FERGUSON STRIKES BACK
Head Of Anti-saloon League Pays Re
spects TO Editors.
To the Press OF Vermont

To the Press OF Vermont
Gentlemen: Your kind and other
wise suggestions concerning the Yer
mont State AntiSaloon League and its
superintendent have come so thick
and fast Of late that, having few reg
ular duties to perform in order to earn
my salary | have been unable to de-
vote the necessary time to make IN
diyidual or separate acknowledgment
and | will therefore ask your maui,
gence in punching the expression OF
our appreciation.
The suggestions kind are always APP
preciated by the superintendent, the
league and the churches which we try
to serve in the field of temperance and
Anti-Saloon effort. OF the suggestions
otherwise | will make little comment
lest | fall into the same error win
them. The temptation is great
confess. | dare say most OF our edl-
tors will acknowledge that ! have no
monopoly or corner on impertectlon.
am about the state of Vermont per
haps as much as any other man.
20 into every hamlet and town ana
city. speak in all the churches, save
half dozen only, of eight religious de-
nominations in the state, and thus
have great opportunity for observat-
ion and to hear what people are say
ing on certain important questions.
Among the questions frequently men
toned Is the question of the editor
ship of the newspapers Of the town
or city, and | would be as poor stu
dent on editors as some OF you would
make me out to be on the saloon prop
lem if didn't learn at least enough
about editors so that | could get on
something about as genteel as the toi
lowing ignition, which one of your
number fired about me. | am sure he
will be proud Of his gems. for they are
so rare, you know" | therefore quote
with credit: How long are the sen
sible temperance people OF the state
going to allow their cause TO be dam
aged by the hamboyant iioundering
of a flub like Ferguson? '-l}rattleDoro
Reformer. Again | quote from some
temperate authority. In speaking OF
the Baptist state convention passing
their temperance resolutions, Fergus
on and his funkies triumphed.' The
Itltlltu " "tiN 49,
A. DAWSON, d. D., Vermont Baptist
state convention superintendent OF
missions; Rev. F. ID. Penney, ID. d.
pastor of the First Baptist church'
Burlington; Rev y. Thomas Hafer'
Baptist state evangelist, Rev. I. A.
Howard of Whiting and about nity
other prominent Baptist clergymen
and laymen who wanted to speak on
the same side and all but seven OF the
rest of the convention who did speak
on the same side when they came 70
the vote. OF course they did II
without thought" Oh. ye Baptist
"flunkies' of Vermont how ye have
departed from the traditions OF the
fathers of We. The newspapers say
We no longer think for yourselves,
but are being led astray by 'blatent
hireling." We should join the earth
~" celestial company who are sing
ing the songs of freedom from the
bonds of prohibition. Why are ye 80
blind that We will not see?'
But We can take some comfort in the
thought that Vermont Methodists and
Vermont Uniyersalists and Unitarians
and Vermont Free Baptists and YER
mont Sunday schools OF all religions
are as thoughtless as We are. us
pretty good sized crowd YOU are in
who fail to think for themselves II
all these would just think enough and
no more than to teach the children
| i'm the Sunday and weekday schools
the evils of intemperance. and hight
! for your lives on election day to save
your town from the saloons. you would
greatly oblige some OF our friends, the
| editors. Ii is true that under such Ell
forts alone the breweries and dlstlller-
] les and saloons have increased thelr
| sales in the last forty years from TWO
| to nineteen gallons per capita IN your
/ country. but the amount OF the liqupr
consumed is OF little consequence so
/ long as local option is the law. The
license towns are annually decreas-
| ing and that is the cure-all notwith'
standing there are and always VIII De
so long as town local option prevails
in Vermont enough of them wet TO
wet the whole state as shown by the
figures submitted by the directors or
| the state workhouse TO the last legls-
lature, giving admission to that mstl'
tuition I'm biannual periods for the last
fourteen years, ten OF prohloltion ana
four of local option license. Those
figures show that the most reckless
year under state prohibition brought
only sos prisoners to the workhouse,
while the first two years of license
there were 1881 and the second two
wears l404 but IL doesn't matter If the
number of second offense' DRINKS
sent to the workhouse does double the
average of prohibition years, we are
having local option and the wet towns
should not be disturbed in their right
to damn the dry ones and the state at
large.
And, dear editors. this merciless in
crease of drunkenness tfor Superinten
tendent Morgan says drunkenness is
responsibility rs manifested at the
house of correction is wholly unlawful
for no man holds or has held n license
in the state of Vermont which author.
lied him to sell one drop to one OF
those second offense' DRINKS who ap