Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1922-07-05

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Cleveland's Vanishing surplus" The
law made provision for certain excep-
tons which made it possible for in
dividuals to have stocks in their cell
lars and so on. Home brew is pos
sible, but that mysterious concoction
is rapidly losing it's attractions.
AS to the latest developments in
the raids on rum-running from Cana
da and the enforcement of the law
the Bennington Banner says:
"The change in the office of prohi-
bition director has been made and
Bert S. Hyland of Rutland has sue
ceeded Collins M. Graves Of Benning
ton. Mr.. Graves resigned the posi-
ton because the work is disagreeable
from every point of view. The di-
rector has no friends. The opponents
of prohibition sit up nights to fight
the directAr and his agents while the
friends of prohibition do not back up
the efforts at enforcement and are al
ways grumbling because the work is
not more effective.
'In spite of the difficulties the work
of prohibition enforcement has been
made more effective than could have
| been deemed possible year ago.
During the past four weeks the writ
er has visited every county in Yer
mont and, except at Rutland, two or
three other points where local con-
! ditions are bitterly unfriendly, it is
declared without hesitation that the
sale of liquor in Vermont is less than
ever before Residents along the
: Canadian border say that less than
quarter as much booze is being
brought in from Canada as was COM
! ing a year ago. At the same time
/ the home manufacture is gradually
falling off, not so much on account of
the vigilance of the officers as be-
cause most of the stuff made is vile
and more or less poison and only the
| hardest of hard drinkers are willing
to take chances with it.
'''The enforcement officers in Yer
mont under Mr.. Graves have made
better record than those of most
states and have succeeded so well
that much of the rum-running has
been driver out by making it unpro-
ftable. The bootleggers, themselves,
have helped enforcement to some de-
gree by robbing each other at every
chance and by dealing mostly in
| adulterated and often poisoned Ii
\ quors. Prohibition is far from COM
plete yet but the evidence seems to
indicate that it is making progress
rather less slowly than at first"
/ We think this statement by Editor
Howe of the Banner will be accepted
as an entirely fair and unbiased
statement of the situation in Yer
mont. Even the Banner has intimat-
ed that Rutland is in the "wet belt''
and things may be expected there
which would not be looked for else
where. Under these circumstances
Rutland must not complain if people
elsewhere take it for granted that the
local environment will be antagoniS-
tic to prohibition enforcement. The
burden of proof is on that community
as headquarters of prohibition en-
!, forcement for Vermont.
i No law enforces itself. Burlington
tolerated notorious dives in the north
part of the city for decades, but no
body thought of asking for repeal
of the law against brothels. Today
I the authorities would not wink at the
conditions that long prevailed in Bur-
4 lington. So with other laws. Prog
ress is being made in all directions.
4 If we turn to conditions elsewhere,
we find similar encouraging progress
being made. sn
4 An effort was recently made to
show Professor Fisher of Yale was
J talking anti-prohibition. He wrote
; the Chicago Tribune that there is a
large and increasing element among
the Yale students in favor of the law
! and added:
Personally I have been in favor of
: prohibition for several years and
more so now than ever before. While
it is undoubtedly difficult to enforce
at present in large cities, where
there is still strong hangover SEN
! timent against it, believe President
Harding has hit the nail on the head
when he said, lin another generation
l believe liquor will have disappeared
not merely from our politics but from
our memories | base this opinion
on three sets of facts:
"First, so far as / can discover pro-
, hibition has succeeded far more than
, it has failed and is increasingly ac-
cheney, poverty, thriftlessness have
: decreased, according to statistics, and
, the efforts to excite the public against
, the law have been surprisingly small
. and futile.
/ Second, the history of opinion in
regard to state prohibition. Rather
uniformly the history has been after
prohibition has been established a
!. conversion to it by those formerly
against it.
j Third, study of the alcohol prob
! lem convinces me that prohibition is
the right and proper way of dealing
with it. Some years ago I estimated
that prohibition would add to. the in
:, come of the people of the United
States something like $5,000,000, 600
and the recent experience with saw
ings bank deposits and other induces
lead me to think that this was under
the mark. My prediction is that pro-
!. hibition will bring converts to it and
very rapidly"
Il We believe Professor Fisher has
!. stated the situation as it appeals to
the great mass of right-minded men
and women throughout the country.
Every little while, however, the ma
ton is confronted by some wet who
tries to throw a monkey-wrench into
the enforcement machine.