Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1916-01-19
PERRY ACT AND THE DOCTORS
An Open Letter

Vermont Local Option League,
White River Junction, VT.
Nv Dear Mr., Trainor:
Your letter Of the 23d uIt addressed
to the Physicians of Vermont regard
ing the Perry Prohibition Referendum
bill and local option, and asking their
views regarding the two measures at
hand. You are asking the physicians.
whether they are opposed to or in
favor of, statewide prohibition that
would eliminate alcohol and liquor
from their consideration in their prac-
tice of medicine and take from them
cases." You also mention quite an
impressive list of USES for which the
Perry act forhiGs the sale of liquors
Just what the Perry act says and all it
says prohibiting the sale of liquors
without elaboration is as follows: "No
person shall furnish. or sell, or expose
or keep with intent to sell any intoxi
eating liquor" All the rest of the
bill relates to the Interpretation, moGi.
fcation. and administration of the
foregoing sentence from the bill
do not find anything in the bill that
refers directly to any Of the uses Of
liquor mentioned in your letter or that
interferes in any way with the right of
a physician to direct its use in proper
cases
Go not find anything in the bill that
fOrbjds any person from procuring,
having, and using liquor for any pur-
pose for which they can now USE it
It simply eliminates the trstic in
liquor, which to all intents and pur-
poses means the local option saloons.
Both Whiskey and brandy are dropped
as internal medicines from The forth
coming edition of the United States
Pharmacopoeia. the national standard
for medicinal substances. The period
of alcoholic internal medication by the
medical profession morally has
passed Alcohol is used somewhat eX-
ternalIy as palliative and can continu-
to be used if the Perry bill passes, If
intoxicating liquors were positively
necessary in medical practice, as once
thought to be, it would by no means
be necessary to have the local option
saloons in order to secure them. There
is no evidence that alcoholics increase
the longevity of the people bot on the
contrary their use materially sho. tens
life and has a pernicious influence
transmitted to the children of drinking
parents.
Kansas for many years has had
rigid state prohibition law that il en-
dorsed by all the political parties in
the state, and the health Of the people
is such that the death rate is only one
per cent of the population annually,
Local option is claimed by your
league as temperance measure to be
superior to state prohihition Our
former prohibitory law was said 10 be
fail Ire. We admit that its admins
tration was very elastic. The number
of persons committed to all the jalis in
Vermont under that law during The
last four years of it's existence for in
toxication was 2175 altogether too
ma 1y-but under the local option law
the So called temperance measure
during the first four yeats of its exist
ence the number Of persons so commit
ted for drunkenness YVES 555I, an
increase of 155 per cert under l0ca.
option. That Is the way 1 cpe a.ed as
temperance measure. There ale
more statistics Of the same nature.
The facts show that even poorly en-
forced state prohibition results every
where in less drunkenness than any
form of license.
The internal use Of alcohol is not
recommended in tfe teaching Of pres
ent day medical colleges or medical
literature, but opposej. We have not
heard of any opposition to the Perry
bill by the medical profession of Yer
mont, though possibly an occcasinOa.
physician may UppOSe it The writer
old not hear the Perry bill mentinneG
either in or out Of the sess ions al the
recent meeting OF the Vermont Medcai
society W. feel that the medical pro
fession Of Vermont can be trusted t.
work out its own alcoholic problem
Neither has the public manifested
apparent anxiety about liquor fof
medical use IS only seven of the 22G
no-lIc4nse cities and towns voted for
the druggist license even when Ihe
Perry bill was pending IN. the Iegisls-
tura, which leaves 222 towns voluntarily
IN Ser the provisions of the Perry act
now, as the Perry act is exactly ike
the present law with the licensed
sa Don privileges cut out because the
saloon is public evil and no public
evil should be IegaliZe5
1t is the local option saloons of the
license towns that supply most of the
DRINKS for the jails and we are cre6ibly
Informed that majority Of the dipso-
nauiacS sent to tie state asylum for
treatment come from the four towns
most noted for sal Ons. Burlington,
Rutland, Bennington and st Adams,
which have 81 of the 81 saloons IN the
state.
1t seems to be the sole mission OF
the Vermont Local Option league tc
save the local option saloons by defeat.
irg the Perry bill. 1t is the mission
of the workers for the Perry Prohibi.
tion bill to save humanity and the
state from the blight Of the local option
saloon in Vermont.
These are a few of the reasons why
We feel it to be tie duty of every
voter in Vermont. who cares for the
welfare of his fellow creatures, to
vote Yes for the Perry Prohibition act
on the 7th day of March next, before
three o'clock in the afternoon and to
vote No on liquor for his town
N w. if we are in error, we desire
TO tie shown wherein
Yours FOR Humanity.