The Ronan pioneer. [volume] (Ronan, Mont.) 1910-1970, 1916-05-19
LIQUOR QUESTION IN VERMONT.

LIQUUh QUCOIjUN IN vEhmUNI,
Vermonts decnation of the invitation of the
Anti-Saoon League, that had caused the passage
by the Legislature of the PERRY law" to join the
column of prohibition States has occasioned con-
siderable surprise in various direetons The en-
Phasis of it, as shown in the figures of the vote on
the question as submitted to the voters is surpris
ing to even the Green Mountain people; In the the
last presidential election Vermont cast 62,607
votes of which 1854 were for the prohibition can
didate. In the last election for Governor in 1914,
the prohibition candidate received 1914 votes.
In the special election early this month"; on the
liquor question in real earnest; there was total
of 50606 votes, of which 80, 13l were against pro-
hbOn and Is, 475 were for the measure.
AT the same time there was an election on di-
rect primary which carried by small majority.
The election on prohibition drew out 5000 more
votes than that on the direct primary: Only As
out of the 246 TOWNS, as the voting districts are
called, gave prohibition majorities. Most de-
cidedly Vermont has concluded to retain The local
ority of 729 in the whole State to take The place of
the original prohibition law, following The Maine
liquor law of 1916 and 1851, to which this State,
in 1852, gave majority of 1,170 votes.
Considerable interest attaches to the course
first State admitted to the Union under the Fed
eral CONSTITUTIONAL Holland was the first
State not only to abolish what little African
slavery there was within it's own borders but was
also the first to oppose that institution in other
States
Significance connected with this election and
the positive result of it lies in the fact that there
was no special effort on the part of the liquor in
terest in opposition to that Of the Anti-Saloon
League. Only one county out of the fourteen,
that of Orleans, which touches the Canada line,
gave majority for prohibition Evidently the
large ma jority of the voters believe in home rule
by towns counties in this business.
The people of Vermont were generally mod
crate in the use of stimuants but under prohibit
ton they inclined to wink at infractons of the law.
Many of them believed in personal liberty in the
use of rum brought in from the Atlantic States
and of the white whisky from Canada. Lager
beer was unknown to them in those days. On
certain occasions the sturdy farmers managed to
get their esg-noS. Tom and Jerry or something
straight, as at town meetings county fairs, but
without much excess. And today, in the districts
wet by local option, there are not to be seen many
evidences of over-indlI gence.
Comment from Montpelier tells us that it had
been generals supposed that Vermont would go
dry and there, as elsewhere in that State, people
still engaged over anal ysis of figures and CON
lecture as to conditions to account for the formid-
able resistance there presented to the wave of
statewide prohibition sweeping over the country.
One of the weak assigned is that the pro-
posed law made no provision for of alcohol for
either medicinal or mechanical purposes. A bet
ter one is perhaps found in the fact that the peo-
ple as WHOLE prefer local option; that the
counties or towns should attend each to it's own
busness.-C Cincinnati Enquirer.
(Adv. Paid for by
s