Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-02-05

Impossible for him TO obey the law to the
letter, b" Is ct the mercy of cycry one
who Is willing to stoop to graft and in
triguc to get a share Of the profits of the
business Every blood sucker in the COM
munity ir ready to fastcn upon him.
tn" trouble begins with the getting OF
Ia hccns'. Tho man who is willing 10 run
"a liquor saloon is not usually 81 person
lof great Influence in the world lie must
have the help Of mon higher up" And
tho men higher up" the men who do
have influence, are longheaded enough to
begin at the beginning. It is one of the
absurdities, to use no harsher word, of our
license law that the assistant Judges of
the county court, are given the duty OF
appointing the license commissioners and
so practically control the granting of
licenses. That Is, the men who will often
be called upon to act judicially upon viola
tons Of the law make the appointments
of the men who come before them for
Judgment. When an attempt was made
In the last Legislature to change this law.
the change being earnestly advocated by
some Of our superior Judges, the charge
was openly made, ana no one denied it,
that in = ddison, Chittcndcn and Rutland
counties scandalous political Influences
had been used to secure licenses TO- GER
tain parties through the assistant Judges.
The process ia a simple one The right
men are nominated and elected as assist
ant judges They appoint the right men
az commissioners, and in due time they
grant the licenses to the mon who have
secured the influence OF the men "hlgher
up Il may not be possible to say how
or whore the influence is exerted which
brings about this result, but It Is not for
one moment to he supposed that all this
manipulation OF political wires is done
eratuitousv 4nd OF mere good will for the
licensees who profit by it. such genclos-
ity is unthnkabe
But having secured his license at a cost
known only to those IN the inner circle the
Intending saloon keeper must have a place
IN which to do business Not every one
will rent him a suitable stand And those
who will, are not apt to be generous in
the matter of terms. They know the difii-
Guilty Of getting place, they know the
prospective profits, and they want their
share a little store that would perhaps
rent for SO n month as a grocery costs Il
saloon keeper $1G0 \ store and basement
unfayorably situated for any other bust
ness brings $500 or more ga a second
class saloon.
once IN MS place OF business It is not
easy tor the saloon keeper to move Many
techucaliucs woL'd hinder He therefore
becomes an easy mark" for his landlord.
Al inc end OF the year if an increase of
rent ls proposed p" has nothing to do but
10 submit. V Is much ~" same IT. so'Vr-
.n' ''rtnn''r. lie t1'1t NV. nan
VINO IS talrlN honest and sober But such
men 90 not work in such places without
EooP pay IN snort the profits and dis
''putaoIeheSS Of the business together
produce situation in which every Kind
OF political intrigue graft and hla ''imsil |
gro" r. h2tu'" L. ana abundaltlT a. dis /
ease germs breed In " foul damp cellar. /
me business becomes tholouIhlv rotten /
ana u j. so in burlington to-day from
TOP Ia bottom
or To pursue another line of thought |
license can not be secured 10 engage in
TINS Immensely profitable business with !
out the consent of majority Of the vo- |
tiers OF the city. But ma iOrity of the I
voters know perfectly we'll that il is not
for their own interest, or the interest Of
their families or OF the community to have
20 saloons operating in the city. The only
way in which the necessary majority can
be obtained is by debauchng the clecto- 4
rate, and tamperinS with tho returns /
The ballot box which is the Foundation of
our free institutions, our most precious
hertag' from centuries of struggles
againt oppression is made the tool Of
diSrcpGtablc and dcmOralizing traffic