The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1908-04-20
METH0D|STS WANT
PR0H|b|T|O n
ONCE MORE
Vermont Conference Demands
Change in Law
ALSO ENDORSES FERGUSON
Accuse the License Supporters OF
Buying Votes In Some Towns In
Vermont.

Barre, April 1S.-This was an ex-
ceedingly busy day for the Vermont
Methodist conference and large
amount OF business was transacted.
The morning session was preceded. by
an evangelistic service.
The annual temperance report was
presented by the Rev. W. X. Daven-
port and was as follows:
THE Vermont conference will take
no backward step in the cause OF tenn
perance. As always in the past, we
still believe that the open saloon is
vicious In principle and disastrous In
practice. 1t is blot on the nation,
disgrace to the state disaster to the
community, curse 10 the individual
II has not one redeeming feature and
no reforms contemplated by its spon-
sors can save IL from condemnation at
the bar of public opinion Like Baby
lon OF old, its cup of iniquity is full
and its destruction has long been de-
creed by man. Gods thunderbolts are
hot, and it is for us to hurl them at
the serried ranks of the enemy until
the present retreat becomes a rout and
tut ltsdiiLtu IluuOI tTdlHt Is uTlNtu
on the American continent.
Therefore we reiterate our purpose
to do our very utmost to secure the
enforcement of every law now on the
statute books, pledging to the regular
town, city, and county officials our
utmost cooperation in the work of
preventing all illegal selling, and Sc
curing the arrest of all drunken per-
sons preambulating the streets
I'VE also call upon our entire con.
stituency to exhaust every resource to
carry every Vermont municipality
against license at the March elections
so long as the present law remains
on the statute books. In most places
this can be. done if the temperance
people rally their ranks and cast their
ballots. A clear cut plan, consist
ent campaign. and a complete round
ing up at the polls will usually carry
the day.
Nevertheless there are some sec
tons of the state where the pur-
chasable vote is so large and the grip
of the forces of evil so strong that an
educational campaign of years will
have to be carried on before the ma
jority sentiment can be permanently
aligned against the saloon
Therefore. we insist that the mme-
date and supreme temperance duty of
the hour Is 10 secure the repeal of the
present local option liquor law and
the substitution therefor of sane.
sensible, up-to-date statewide prohi
bitiOn law. We take this ground. not
only because the promises of the pro-
motors of the present law have fail
ed to materialize, but because any law
that permits the beverage sale of liq-
nor Is condemned by the book which
pronounces a woe upon the man who
putteth the bottle to his neighbor's
lips and maketh him drunken From
these two viewpoints we reach the
decided conclusion that the whole H.
cense system should be 'hewn down
and cast into the fire.
I'VE also endorse the Vermont An
ti-SalOOn League and its able and elo-
quent superintendent, c. j. Ferguson,
and pledge 1t our support and cooper
alton
we further plead for more gen
eral effort to secure signatures to to-
tai abstinence pledges and coopera-
ton with all efforts to educate public
sentiment on the evils of the drink
habit
1--WE also endorse the recommends
ton of Bishop Mallalieu to modify to
some extent the existing custom of
celebrating our national anniversary
and hope that some of the enthusiasm
generated on each July may be
turned toward civic betterment,"
These resolutions were adopted by
the Rev, Fl. f. Howard an Endorsement
of the Vermont Issue was made part
of the resolutions.