The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1878-03-28
ALEGIsLATOR WHO DRINKS.
And Isn't Ashamed to Tell Everybody About It.
Speech in the New York Assembly by William
Jones, of Oneida, Republican farmer
of SavnntV YnarSl

And Isn't Ashamed to Tell Everybody About It..
Speech in the New York Assembly by William
Jones, of Oneida, a Republican farmer
Of Seventy Years.
Mr.. CHAIRMAN-I ask the indulgence
ofthis honorable committee to say very
few words. am in favor Of this bill be,
cause in my district the present law is
not enforced, and l know it. l claim that
the inhabitants of Utica are as moral, as
honorable, as humane, as philanthropic,
as any people on the earth; and yet in
that city there is no attempt whatever to
enforce the law. took the trouble last
Sunday to travel twenty~seven miles
through the rain so as to see what was
going on in my county so that | could vote
intelligently in this House on this ques~
ton, and in every tavern | set my feet |
drank glass Of ale. did it because |
wanted to know for certainty what was
there, and those communities are as NOR
al as any you can find. Now, / want to
give this body little of the experience
ofan old gray,headed man. l was born
in tavern. The first l remember |
drank ale, and have ale and whiskey
and brandy from hat time to this Laughs
ter and am not ashamed to own it.
When started from home young boy,
seventeen years of age, my father told
me, "Bill, wherever you go, act so that
you won't be afraid to go back, and |
have done so; and am not ashamed to
own up that am drinking man. tell
you another thing, believe it is good.
Laughter. Wouldn't drink it except |
believed SO. Laughter. have gone
through variety of circumstances prob>
ably that no gentleman in this house has
gone through with. have gone from
the top to the bottom, and from the bots
tom to the top, physically. Now, sir, l
have travelled by sea and by land. Ihave
worked by day and by night. have
travelled three times around the globe in
going to and returning from my work,
and have done the work that other men
do, Some gentlemen here say that all
this liquor is poison. Have | been pos =
oned. Laughter. No, sir; am the
grandfather of ten children laughter
and am the great grand father of four
children laughter and | hope, with the
help of little liquor,t to live to be great
great,grandfather. Long continued
laughter. Irell you people talk nonsense
about liquor, and l know it. Laughter
There was something said here the 9th.
er day, that if Christ was to come down
on earth to>day, he would be in sympa-
thy with temperance folks. l deny it.
Christ associated with publicans and sin>
ners, and publicans in my county means
tavern,keepers. Laughter. Not in one
instance is it recorded that He associated
with the orthodox people of that day. By
the by, want to say another thing be-
fore l forget it. The pharisees of that
day are precisely, in every respect, on
all points as the pharisees or the orthodox
people of to-day believe. The only diff
ference is that the pharisees of that day
believed there was Christ to come, and
the pharisees of the present day believe
that Christ has come. Now | do not
want to make any assertion that l have
not some proofto sustain. (Reading from
the Bible. "And it came to pass as
Christ sat at meat in the house that many
publicans and sinners sat down with Him
and His disciples" Publicans and sim
ners sat down with Him. Now, then, the
great charge against that moralist or re-
former-though He never called Him.
self reformer, l believe laughter the
charge against Him was that He actually
associated with publicans and sinners.