The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1885-08-30
SENATOR C0KE'S SPEECH,
HE DEFINES HIS POSITION
"n .Ae Au-A bsSrbing Prohibition Qros.
uon-Ths Question Not a Local
One But of state and EatIons,
nportancs-An Able and
Eloquent Address

tended the snti-prohibition barbecue
lS'day' Congressman Roger @. Mills
made short speech, but was too nm.
well to dwell at length upon his tonic.
senator Coke commenced his adj.
Dress Immediately after dinKer. and
| congratulated his audience on the nrn-
| lound interest, manifest ON all
| sizes, IN the question. He said !.
mo issue OF such paramount impor
vance 10 our social and governmental
bollcy hsd arisen in the last 20 wears
ino question was not local ono,
snouSh IL came in that guise,
puG was state and national In its
character and resalts, and necessarily
lhVolVsd an issue in tho government
as 70 neeslsit2to an alignment to a
great extent upon IL. 1t could not be-
felegated to the domain OF morals, but
was polltloal, in that 1t involved an
ISSUE Whloh must 90 settled by the
| peoplo at the polls. Affecting, az IL
did, most materially the commerciai
sud financial policy OF the sale, snd
the civil and political liberty OF every
one, II is shame and 4 pretense
10 attempt to disguise the issue
under tho cloak OF moraIs.
H. is Daid by some min
islers thst the reason thew
discuss 1t il because Il
IL non-political question.
All, my fellow citizens, whenever
your preachers go Into politics
scourRe them back, lCheers.l. Our
| iorefa,hers were driven tOthis country.
seeking freedom OF consciene5
Against the persecution OF State
religion, aad shall we now compine
church and State here? God forbid
| mat we should. Shouts and cries of
No! Mol The worst signs of
the timos that l can pereeiye
10 so be found in The delivery OF stumn
| speeches from Gods puIpit.
Lonnd cheersl. Give Us tho
nlOle in us purity; give ia
| the gospel IA II comes 70 us from
the inspired fathers ofoli. Let IL be
Taught and proclaimed in our Sunday
schools ana churches. Let these be-
sanStuaries whore we can 20 and eHiov
peace and immunity from the tnf-
moua aud strife of the world. DeplOr-
able as have been the abuses OF liauor.
church, Sc run by the State, has
shed more blood, made more widows
ana orphans, more rags aud totters,
more starvation and want, more hui.
Ihan wos snd misery-forty times more
msn" 49, "
-sonasor Coke then took up the adj.
oress OF Rev. DIR. Carroll.
which has been made The
leading campaign document OF ths
prohibltionists in the county, and
characterized 1t as a political
speech, delivered from tho
pulpit Of the church on q Sabbath
evening under circumstances which
preclude any reply Or interruption. Ia
0ther words, shot from q
bomb--PrOot: He divided tho idea
OF DR.. Carroll, spending cOlumn
and = halt Of printed mat.
tor IN discussing the oaustltutionslity
OF local option, when no one
hsd questioned 1t, and attributed tho
weakness OF tho argument solely Ia
tho legal and political gentleman
who had promul gated the address,
| o campaign document, conformity
with Mr.. Carroll, who seemed 10 be
his seli.cOnstituted "GeJ nursev i'm
legalimat.org. was Wholly Indifferent
whether tho exercise of tho power of
the state was the exercise Of the po-
lice powor,,o or some other. The state
had exercised IL and placed
u IN her constitution, and that
ended the discussion; but when the
people Of any locality were called upon
70 discuss the eNpsdlenoy of giving
ocA option in their local.
llyi 10 was the privilege Of
every citizen TO determine. his
course Looking az the proposed
measure rom this standpoint, no had
/ no diilonlty in determining
Tor himself that tho measurs
was sumptuary ia it4 ohArseter
and came Within the dsuupcinii5o of
cur national Democratic pletiorni.
aud having reached that conclu'
sion, his course, Us Democrat.
was plain. 10 is heggnring
tho question to say that
local option IL police regulation
and therefore not sumptuary; be-.
cause a police regulation may be
sumptuary aud sin DO q police
| regulation. Tho definitions OF "sump.
tuAry,' quoted 50 extensively by he
0thur side, to-wlt: That there
are Ruoh laws "a relate IN
the expense ofindividunls, or to their
nod or dreSg, have no applicability TO
inc present issue. There IL political
hud popular uuderstauii uE " the term
when furnishes its own definition,
The expense OF individuals, or tboir
dross and food have never beon ar
lssu@ in American politics. and
long since have ceased to
Ne regulated by tho law In
European lands. Tue Democratic
party Processes, in its platform,
to deal with living issues, aud
any denunoiation OF sumptusrv
legislation, which would only Include
laws relative to private expense
IN food or clothes, would
DO ridiculous. BY a denunciatlon
OF sumpiuSry Legislation, the Demo-
cratic par could only refer to prohi-
tlon, Tor that was the only possiblo Ia
sue OF this character before tho people;
aud II the Democrat megningheedod
further elucidauon, IL was abundantiy
furnished by tho national prohi-
bition platform, which denoun-
ctS the former for oppress
ing prohibition under the falgo
assumption that q was sumptuGry,
Both political prr ios--the Democrats
and tho prchibitionists ---' fully
understood 10 what Inc
term 'sumptuary rofers in our Plat
forms, and tho lattar-day converts to
prohibition In Texas should, hot
Ia their zeal, seek Go confuse
Tho public mind by narrow and
contracted definitions framed before
prohibition became an ISSUE. aud
which arc coutredictod by the official
utterances OF tholr own political. plat.
i0rm.n
The senator next referred to
the declaration OF DR.. Carroll
THAT there never had D0eu
any such laws IA the
blue laws, aud that they were q
myth, aud produced u copy OF
from IL. He read from Il
the Judgment OF tho court sentencing
Roger Williams to Punishment
and sald he was not surprised
~ tho statement OF Or. Carroll