Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1922-01-13
FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 1922
WHY Jump ADDISON?


as coming to the office of the secretary
of state from the Vermont Anti-SaloOn
league in which Superintendent Albert
E. Laing refers to Serious booze condi-
tons in Addison county" 1t is further
reported that Mr. Laing is Investigate
ing these conditions,
There are some cases in Addison
county where the condition of booze is
indeed serious, in fact the condition
is so low as to be a matter Of utmost
alarm. We refrain from naming spe-
cific instances
But the serious and energetic super
intendent apparently refers to the
abundance, and not the scarcity, OF the
danger-liquid as it pertains to this par
ticular section of the state. Just how
serious are the local conditions in Adj
olson county in regard to booze we are
not in a position to say. However,
relatively speaking, we do not feel that
conditions are any worse than i'll other
sections or counties of the state. To be
sure, liquor, Canadian liquor, can be
purchased in Addison county, just as
it can III Chittenden county, Franklin
county, Rutland or any other place.
To be sure, home brewed hooCh OF
doubtful quality can be bought on the
back roads in Addison county, just as
it can in the suburbs of lily-white st.
Tohnsbury, peaceful Guildhall or noisy
Granitevlle. To be sure, poison-booze,
concocted in a nelghboring county and
sneaked in while no one was looking,
has been bootlegged in Addison county,
but the offender was caught and pro-
perry dealt with by the municipal
court judge before any caskets were or
dered
Oh, there IS no question that we peo-
pie of Addison county are not in
position to call ourselves blameless or
to profess innocence with respect to
violations of the Eighteenth amend
ment. But the question is, are we so
much worse than the other l3 counties
in the state that we should be selected
for special investigation on the part OF
the Anti-Saloon league? We do not
believe 50. 1t is reported that a man
was arrested in Burlington for steal
ing booze out OF a gentlemen's club
rooms If this is so, it seems that
this is a rather serious booze question
right in the home town of the Superin-
tendent. We are not aware that a
gentlemen's club is within the law when
it has booze in its quarters to steal
or to drink, either We have been told
bv someone, and for obvious reasons
it would not be best to give his name,
who claims to have tried them all,
that there are q separate and dis
tinct places in Rutland county where
one can buy booze good, bad and lndii-
ferent, if he has the price. Rutland
county, if we recall rightly, houses the
state prohibition director
Conditions are bad, woefully bad
here, there and everywhere when it
comes to violations of the bone-dry
laws, and they are bound to be just
as long as the present attitude OF law
defiance and hypocrcy exists and the
present inadequate enforcement meth
DDS prevail 1t is altogether too big a
Job to handle with the resources and
equipment at our command. Intimida-
ton alone, when whole-hearted public
sympathy for the law is indeed doubt
full, will not answer the enforcement
requirements.
The Anti-Saloon league in its com
plant against Addison county no doubt
has told the truth-but not the whole
truth Alphabetically speaking, why
not say that booze conditions are bad
from Addison to Windsor counties?
Addison county has not been so much
more hayward than her sister counties
as to warrant a special pointing of the
finger of shame.
"a ~