The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1909-04-29
vermonl's Peculiar Crime

meui. he gives drinks" brought
before him for the drst time their
choice beiween signing over 10 their
wives their pay for whole year, or
taking a term 10 jail This man ~
getting warm" a. the Children say N
their games he Is getting somewhat
uear the practical phases Of lhl- per
picking problem The righteous ind,e.
nAiiun ~ ma ultra moral society thai
never geis drunk itself lpablirlyl IL
rniher Inclined Ia vent the wrath oi
the outraged majesty 81 the common
wealth not only upon the miserable
Wretch taken Ia drink hat upon his ia.
noeent wife aud children whose daily
bread Is supposed 10 earn. To punish
the fearful crime Of taking a drink too
much. says scandalized virtue. We viii
take away the support Of woman and
children that have already Suffered
enough Mt the hands OF their husbands
and father without additional wrong
from society AZ large. The Pennsyl-
wanna Judge does not permit intense
moral prejudice TO blind his eyes to a
serious sociological problem that APP
peals 10 higher law than mere man
made morals. st, Adams Messenger
II is a matter of history that Yer
mont has established peculiar erin.
insl standard in everything where the
consumption of Intoxicating liquors Is
concerned. IL is not so very long ago
when il was possible, under the exces
sive severe laws of the state, TO place
a man in penal servitude for the rest
OF his natural life for selling a certain
number of drinks of liquor. II was
possible TO hold Il man in prison and
solitary confinement until his death II
he should refuse, when overtaken in
his cups, to disclose the source of his
supplies. Happily such days are past
but the singular emphasis which we
place on intoxication as a crime still re-
mains part Of our police practice.
Ii was demonstrated beyond much
question, short ago, when Rutland
family man, having very foollsbly
yielded TO too numerous invitations,
found himself wandering homeward
with an armful of groceries, his gait
unsteady and his vision blurred by his
potations. Arrested by an argus-eyed
policeman, he was arranged and fined.
He was not allowed TO deliver his pur-
chased supplies of food, He was not
able to pay his fne. Consequently, he
was sent over the river and his family
left to shift for itself. Triumph of vir.
tuel Noble vindication of the lawl No
one punished but the Innocent
Meanwhile, hundreds of men sit
down to well. laden board and eat too
much heavy and stimulating food. They
are habitually Incorporate in their eat
ing, and diseased tissues, broken
nerves, dyspepsia, rheumatism and ear.
ly decay follow just as surely upon the
trail of over-indulgence in food as af-
ter alcoholic lntemperance. Such men
are poisoned by toxic impurities secret
ed by undigested food; the drunkard
is poisoned by alcohol which his sys-
TEN is unable to throw off. The glutton
is almost as dangerous rs the drunk
ard, much more unkindly, an affection
to his family and associates from which
there is no escape. He is not arrested;
the drunkard is. The family of the
offender is punished in both eases while
the real criminal is not. Beautiful
social adjustment! Admirable equity!
Discussing these questions recently
a victim of excessive drinking said
II had the question asked me; why
don't you let liquor alonef My dear
and sisters, why don't you let
tea, coffee and some other things alonef
And my dear sisters, particularly, why
don't you let dope alonef ! mean
morphine, cocaine and the whole class
IF narcotics. Perhaps they work more
real mischief than Intoxicating liquors
aver did,"
Right here comes the sublime and
,rowning inconsistency of the whole
system. We surround the traffic in
liquors, light, dark, mild and powerful,
with al! sorts of singular and extraoi-
iinary safeguards. We make Of the
,itizen, unfortunately overtaken in
liquor, a special and peculiar criminal.
II he commits an offense against the
aw, other than intoxication, his condi-
ion is no defence; it is rather an ag-
yravation. And yet we have made a
precedent that man rendered ire.
,ponsible by morphine shall not be
as a criminal, but found mot |
,ui.ty."
What a strange perversion OF justice
s here. Two active poisons, one a
tlmulant, the other a narcotic, create /
conditions of disease. The alcohol vic 5
i'm is criminal. The opium victim is 5
lot. One goes TO prison at hard labor
n to the gallows. The other is confin-
d at the pleasure OF the court and may
PRESENTLY be released. c
Such situation is impossible. We :
must either treat the morphine victim 4
s criminal or excuse the alcoholic /
ictim. We cannot dlfferentiate.
1t is high time that Vermont began
0 have common, everyday, woodehuck
nd jackrabbit sense about some things.
he aforesaid condition is one of them.
. Rutland Herald