News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1922-12-20
Timely Comments by the Press
Sentiments from Localities Mentioned in Free Press Arti
cles on the Booze QuestiOn-AH Uphold Law Enforce
ment but Demand Facts First.

tician, if he wants to make an hon.
est investigation, that not only dc
they see no signs of intoxicatior
among the students of Middlebury
College, .but that they never have
fears of riots, mobs or disturbances
nor do restaurant patrons dodge be.
hind counters, fearful lest pies will
be crammed down their unwilling
Threats.
Shifting from f1orid description to
raucus accusation, the Free Press
boldly asserts that a political ring
centering in Middlebury has the
whole county in hopeless grasp, and
that it is organized for purposes of
! plumber and the protection of "booze'
dealers. Responsible citizens are said
to be authority for such a charge.
This is a statement as serious as it
is sweeping. Come through with the
facts, please. Show up this cor
ruption among the officials of Addi-
son county, and do it now.
To serve cunning purposes the
Free Press makes use of figures that,
in themselves, mean very little, but
which, when properly manipulated,
show an appalling increase in intoxi-
cation in Addison county. 1t is
stated that in the period from May to
November, 1922, arrests for intoxica-
ton increased 900 percent over the
corresponding period in 1918. True.
But why not give all the facts? The
truth is that during the last strenu-
Gus days of the war, from May to
November, 1918, when four million
American men were in France, and
when all hands at home were putting
heart and soul into the struggle,
there was one case of intoxication in
Addison county municipal court.
During the same period in 1922, there
were nine arrests and convictions. Of
these nine, two were first offenses
and two hardened habituals from Mid
dlebury, one from Ripton, one from
Vergennes, one from Lincoln, one
from Monkton, and the other a visitor
from Schroon Lake, whose belt was
already stretched with his cargo when
he landed. These are the figures.
Why didn't the Free Press tell just
how they doped out that startling
900 percent that glares so boldly in
the head lines? Get this, reader, one
case in one period, nine in the other.
Addison county is in a precarious
position, we'll admit, located as it is
in a direct path from Burlington,
where, since the old days of prohibi-
ton and McCarthy's, it has always
been possible to get a real thirst
quenched. But we are as yet far
from inundated and Middlebury Col
lege is still composed of sober young
men, Notwithstanding the allegations
of the Free Press.
The Free Press has plenty of room
for study of booze conditions right at
home, before it leap-frogs into Add
son county and spreads a string Of
statements that are not backed by
facts, or shows up Middlebury Col
lege, through the trickery of an inter-
view that grossly misrepresents its
president, in light that is absolutely
false.
1t would be a good plan for the
Free Press to get Burlington's family
troubles a little nearer settlement be-
fore tackling other peoples.
1t would be a good plan for the
Free Press to continue its grooming
of sweet things about beautiful Bur-
lington or the glories of Vermont's