The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-03-06
Number of Cities and Towns
Voting Yes Reduced from
Is Last Year to 10
TWO TOWNS CHANGE
FROM DRY TO WET
Cities of Burlington and St. Adams
Change to No-Iicense-Franklin
County Dry for Second Time Since
Local Option Law Went into Effect.

MONTPELIER, March 6.-With
women exercising full municipal suf-
frage for the first time in Vermont town
meeting day yesterday resulted on the
face Of unofficial returns, in reducing
the number of communities voting for
license to 10, compared with IS last
year. With all bat few small towns
heard from, which generally vote
dry, 235 communities voted against
the licensed sale of liquor.
Women are credited With turning
Burlington and ST. Adams, from the
wet to the dry column
IN many of the cities and towns the
percentage Of enrolled women voters
who east their ballots was remarkably
| high. In Burlington. for instance.
where approximately 500 women were
enrolled, about 90 per cent of the wom
Ell Went to the booths and the margin
of 400 votes in favor of license last
year was wiped out, making Burlington
! dry for the second time since the local
/ option law went into effect in 1908.
All OF Franklin county, i'll which St.
Adams is located, went dry for the
first time in many years. 1t was St.
Adams s second experience III the dry
column since the local option law be
came effective. The percentage of en-
rolled women voters turning out here
was virtually the same as in Burling-
ton and the margin against license was
273.
On the other hand, while so per cent
Iof the women voters turned out IN Rut-
land, the city voted to retain license
by the usual majority. The same situa-
ton prevailed in Colchester, in which
the large village of Winooski and Fort
Ethan Allen are located. 4 brisk cam
Ipaign had been waged there to close
up the saloons in view Of the number
of troops ar the famous military sta
tion, but with more than 80 per cent of
fthe women voting, license was retained
The town also turned down the offer
of $4,000 from the National War
Work Council for q community house
conditional upon the appropriation of
81 900 b. the town.
The cities and towns voting in favor
of license are:
- Nergennes, Bennington, Colchester
NntiDuEnt, ! dStittolI, I d1E maven, NtSl
J Rutland. Rutland, Barre and st. George
All except Richmond and st. George
were in the wet column last year
But all towns voting wet are granted
: licenses, however, the law providing
against this in places where the popu
lation is widely scattered as it is IL
some of the hill towns.
+ Qualification at the manner in which
the women generally turned out to vote
was expressed tonight by Mrs. Z. H
Read, president of the Equal Franchis,
league of this city, and eXsecretar1
OF the Vermont State Suffrage associa
ton.
1--WE are highly gratified with thu
manner in which the women have gon
!. to the polls today in the city ant
S state. - she said Comfy 80 per cent 0
; those registered would have been con
sidcred a good showing, but the fac
that 80 or 90 per cent turned out is evi
/ dence that the women of Vermont wer
I willing and eager to exercise their new
~ acquired privilege of citizenship
Il ''It augurs we'll for the future o
e suffrage III tho state, especially in vleN
i Of the fact that although the women
e votes had been looked upon fayorabl
= by the no-license people the questio
e had not been made an issue with til
e sufiragis themselves.