The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1910-02-03
The LIQUOR Law

federal law requiring all packages Of
alcoholic beverages in transit be-
tween states TO be plainly marked as
such is destined to do more harm
than good. The real abuses Of drink
will not care a pieayune about the
marks so long as they get the goods,
while those who need or require liq-
uors for absolutely necessary purpO-
ses or who use them without public
knowledge or personal injury will re
frain from ordering them lest a lot
OF hangers on about the railroad sta
ton spread the ,intelligence-wh
is not always limited TO the actual
dimensions of truth. AS broad |
principle, it is either right or wrOn1 !
TO ship liquor. If right there is no
more reason why it should be mark
ed than why any other freight or ex-
press package should be. If wrong /
il ought to be prohibited altogether |
The whole thing looks like a stage |
play to the galleries done at the be- |
hest Of fanatics. Randolph Herald |
and News.
The contemporary puts the whole |
question in a nutshell when it says It |
is either right or wrong to ship liz
uor, also, if it is right to ship it at
! all. II should not bear distinguish
ing mark any more than any other
merchandise
The Messenger takes peculiar
| pleasure in reproducing this concise
and spirited argument from its Ran
dolph friend because the Herald and
News has always taken a conserva-
/ tive position with regard to any chan
ges in Vermont's liquor law. If this
same thing had been said by the Mes
senger. for instance some of our fel-
/ low citizens would Immediately as
cribe the sentiment and the motive
for its utterance to this papers de-
tplorable devotion to the demon rum,
because the Messenger was among
those that striyed for years to bring
about the repeal of the prohibitory
llaw. But such a sentiment coming
from a newspaper that saw the
change from state prohibition with
reluctance and consented to the local
Ioption substitution only after its mer-
its hid been demonstrated by expert
: ence should appeal to the consider
ate judgment of some of our friends
that distrust the honesty of purpose
of men and newspapers that do not
accept their temp rance standards.
In this connection it will be of in
terest to read the following from the
news columns of the Montpelier Ar
gus:
, The railroads are particular how
boxes containing liquors are marked
or they will not deliver the packages
all this being necessary under the
new federal law. An agent of one
of the out Of state concerns in the
city recently, was obliged to mark
certain packages before they were
turned over to the man for whom in
tended. The law is not liked by the
man who wants to use gum shoes
when he sends in his order to Bos
ton houses The other day custom
er approached a local merchant t
see if he could order through hin
and have his goods come in his name
and thus have them delivered at hi
house. The man who likes his bit
ters but still desires to retain hi
membership in the temperance clul
~ very IluNt OppoStl W TIC leu TAP
methods Of Uncle Sam.
The workings of the federal lax
is making many yes converts i
Montpelier, and there is a feeling eN
O listing in certain quarters that tn
> town is going yes this year. Thi
is an early guess, and in fact Il is
guess INDUCED in by many from yea
. to year, only to see the town votin
V no by reduced majority each yea
= However. there are many who thin
that il will be closer this year tina
ever.
III the city votes license there wi
be no revenue in it for the city, sine
the state gets all the fees under tn
present law. Because OF the inclini
ton Of towns voting for license sha
ing the minimum fees the state is M
getting any more revenue than it di
when the money was divided b
tween the city and state. It is fe
by many that the law ought to
changed by the next session so Thu
towns which vote for license ma
have something substantial to met
the additional expense of police pr
lection and the proper enforcemel
] Of the law"
There is food for thought in the!
two articles for all men and wOmC
=. earnestly interested in temperate
II reform but just as honestly anxiol
Ct, that the laws by which it should
no promoted snail be sensible, practic
&c and not by showing forth the big
We try of an intolerance, tend to defe
"n their own purpose. The Messeng
with others as repeatedly warn
its sometimes over Jealous brethr
that their continued pin-holing of 4
local option law would in the el
to bring about very much the sar
we scandalous condition of affairs tn
nd humblCd the latter years of sta
prohibition 1t may be deemed hi
moral strategy to seek year by ye
insidiously to undermine a law III
|. cannot be repealed outright but,
our friends will study the eXperien
of our own state and of other stat
(. with laws of this character they "
- find that II became an axiom of C
T les that legislation beyond the sti
} dard or above the level of comm
II everyday public sentiment, is woI
4 because it replaces what might be
practical law, binding some to exp
iency rather than to break outrig
with a law that is dead letter a
only covers by scandalous prefer
the still more scandalous living
pious phrases only mock.-St. Alb,
Messenger.
A What Every WOmanIy