750 



VERMONT. 



broken-hearted wives and mothers, driven to de- 

 spair by all that makes life dear: we recognize in 

 their prayer a ery to the all-merciful Father for re- 

 lief from a burden greater than can be borne, a cry 

 to which our hearts respond in the deepest syampa- 

 thy ; we recognize in every effort of women for the 

 promotion of temperance a work of love, and realize 

 the necessity for renewed effort. 



Resolved, That we, as wives, sisters, mothers, 

 daughters, pledge ourselves anew colaborers as co- 

 sufferers to bring to our work all the strength of 

 our great love, with all the courage, perseverance, 

 of a mother defending her young. 0r courage 

 shall equal our great necessity; our perseverance 

 shall be measured only by our love ; fully believing, 

 if we use all the means the good God has given us 

 to remove the temptation, which is the open gate to 

 all crime, that our prayers will be answered, and 

 our dear ones will not be led into temptation too 

 great for them, and we shall be delivered from evil, 

 and thus shall we cast up the highway by which his 

 reign and kingdom shall come to us. 



Resolved, That all reasons urged in favor of a li- 

 cense law are equally applicable to law referring to 

 every vice and crime. 



Resolved, That prohibition is the only principle 

 consistent with Christian law ; it is the " tnou shalt 

 not" of every one of the ten commandments to the 

 liquor-seller and his victim ; its perfect enforcement 

 is the fulfilling of the law of love, not only to women 

 and children, but to every member of the community. 



Resolved, That we, in behalf of the women of 

 Vermont, present our sincere thanks to the good 

 and true men who have fought and are still fighting 

 the battle of prohibition, and to those who have in 

 any way done service against our common foe. 



Resolved, That we reiterate our protest against 

 the election of intemperate men to seats in our leg- 

 islative halls or to political offices ; we ask, for our- 

 selves and for our children, and in the name of jus- 

 tice and humanity, that our legislative halls be not 

 desecrated and our State disgraced by drunken law- 

 makers. 



Resolved, That we deem the poisonous wine com- 

 monly used at the communion service a means of 

 temptation, therefore an unfit emblem of the Sav- 

 iour's precious blood, and would urge every tem- 

 perance union to labor to secure the use of unfer- 

 mented wine at this service in all the churches in 

 our State. 



Resolved, That we most heartily approve the posi- 

 tion taken by the faculties of our colleges on the 

 subject of boat-racing ; we recognize the measure as 

 a conservator of morals. 



A meeting of the State Board of Agriculture 

 was held at Ludlow on the 1st and 2d of De- 

 cember, at which papers were read and discus- 

 sions carried on upon topics of interest to farm- 

 ers. At the close of the meeting the following 

 resolutions were adopted : 



Whereas, The Legislature of Vermont has, in its 

 wisdom, seen fit to create a Board of Agriculture for 

 the benefit of the farming community, and as said 

 board has held a very interesting meeting in this 

 place : therefore 



Resolved, That we earnestly recommend the board 

 to the farmers in the sections where meetings may be 

 held, knowing that they will reap great benefits in 

 attending them. 



Resolved, That we cordially invite the board to 

 hold a meeting here in December of 1876. 



The State Grange of the Patrons of Hus- 

 bandry held its annual session at Burlington 

 on the 14th and 15th of December. Among 

 the resolutions adopted were the following : 



Whereas, The cost of transporting the products of 



our country to market is, in many instances, so oner- 

 ous upon the producer that he receives nothing be- 

 yond the cost of production, and thus the industries 

 of the country become paralyzed ; and 



Whereas, The superiority of water to rail transpor- 

 tation is universally admitted ; and 



Whereas, By the enlargement of the Welland Canal 

 now in progress, only the connection of the waters of 

 the St. Lawrence (the grand river of the North) with 

 Lake Champlain is requisite to enable New England 

 and the West to interchange their commodities : 

 therefore 



Resolved, That in our opinion the speedy construc- 

 tion of the Caughnawaga Ship-Canal is of vital impor- 

 tance to, and imperatively demanded by, the welfare 

 of the people, both East and West, and we earnestly 

 urge our brethren throughout the whole country to 

 assist, by all means in their power, in the perform- 

 ance of so grand and beneficent an undertaking. 



Resolved, That we approve of the design of the Na- 

 tional Grange to make a museum of the products of 

 each State, and we hereby instruct the Executive 

 Committee of the Vermont State Grange to make such 

 collection of the products and minerals of Vermont 

 as will show, in a creditable manner, samples of our 

 mineral wealth, our woods for various purposes, 

 wools, grasses, pnd grains; and that no money be 

 used from the State Grange treasury in making the 

 collection, but the expense of sending the samples 

 may be paid from the treasury of the State Grange, 

 to the amount of twenty-five dollars. 



Resolved, That each subordinate grange in the 

 State of Vermont set apart one day in May for setting 

 out trees and flowers, thus adorning and beautifying 

 our home. 



What has been accomplished by the Grange 

 was thus stated in the annual address: 



It has established agents for the sale of products 

 and for the purchase of goods, so that there is but 

 one commission between producer and consumer. It 

 has inaugurated a system of economy in all business 

 matters which is gradually coming on to a cash basis. 

 It has created a spirit of inquiry among farmers, so 

 that they endeavor to ascertain the amount of surplus 

 products they have to sell, and compare them with 

 the probable demand. It has brought farmers nearer 

 to each other socially and for business purposes. It 

 has opened the eyes of the public to the fact that 

 States through their Legislatures have the right to 

 regulate by statute the rates of transportation and 

 fares over railroads and cauals ; that railroads are 

 public highways, whether owned by the State, by 

 corporations, or by private individuals. It has inau- 

 gurated a reform which will take years to complete, 

 but the revolution has commenced, and millions 

 have been saved to the people. It has set the great 

 mass of agriculturists to thinking, and in some sec- 

 tions their thoughts have crystallized into great and 

 beneficial results. 



A case was decided at the fall term of the 

 United States District Court at Rutland, which 

 resulted in awarding damages to the amount 

 of $15,000 for false imprisonment. The plain- 

 tiff, who had obtained money as a broker for 

 obtaining certain substitutes for men drafted 

 into the army in 1864, which substitutes had 

 immediately deserted and escaped to Canada, 

 was arrested by a provost-marshal under a 

 military warrant, and kept in prison without 

 trial several months, and finally turned over to 

 the civil authorities by orders from Washing- 

 ton, when no indictment was found against 

 him. The court decided that the arrest and re- 

 tention of the plaintiff were altogether illegal. 

 There was no martial law in the State at the 



