Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1895-01-15
NO UNION.
Committees Confer and Agree
to Disagree

The Prohibition and Peoples Party
Committees Confer and Agree
to Disagree.
The county executive committees of
the Prohibition and Peoples parties
of Lincoln county met in joint confer
ence at the court house last Friday,
Jan. 18th, pursuant to the joint call
issued by their respective chairmen.
The object of the conference, as stated
in the call, was to consider, agree up
on and recommend such a basis for
union of reform party men in the en-
suing campaign as would be mutually
satisfactory to the members of both
parties. The idea and intention was
for the committees to formulate and
agree upon platform or ba sis of union,
submit this to mass meeting to be
held hereafter by their respective par
ties for ratification or rejection, and if
ratified by both parties the action was
to be binding and the union proceed
upon the basis thus outlined.
A quorum of both committees was
present at the meeting. Chairman
John M. May, of the Peoples party
committee, was elected chairman of
the conference and Chairman B. r.
Hobbs, of the Prohibition committee,
secretary. After the object of the
meeting had been fully explained, up
on motion, joint committee consist
ing of A. w. Smith and w. A. Hodges,
for the Peoples party, and E. p. Doug
lass and j. f. Greer, for the Prohibi-
tionists, was appointed by the chair
to draft and submit an agreement on
which the two committees could unite.
b. L. Hobbs read the outline Of plat
form to unite upon and asked that it
be referred to the special committee for
consideration in making up their re-
port, which was done.
After being out over an hour the
special committee made their report
The first section of the report follow
ing the preamble, and the one the sub
committee had spent most of it's time
in an effort to agree upon, was the anti
liquor section, which was as follows:
l. The election of legislative candi-
dates pledged to Statutory and Consti-
tutional Prohibition of the sale of all
alcoholic liquors for beverage pur-
poses, and provision for the sale of
such liquors for medicinal, scientific
and mechanical purposes only, under
proper restrictions.
1t was decided by the conference to
consider the report by sections, and
discussion on this section at once be-
gan, as it was understood if the confer
ence failed to agree on an anti-liquor
plank all the rest of the report went
for naught. Messrs. Douglass, Greer
and Hobbs spoke in favor of its adop-
ton, and Messrs. Ellzey, A. w. Smith,
Hodges, johnson, Brister and Moak
against. All the opposing speakers
expressed themselves as friendly to
Prohibition, but they contended that
the adoption of Prohibition plank
would cost their party votes by Of
Tending thesliquor..element in it, and
this at the expense of financial reform,
which the Peoples party regarded as
of paramount Importance. Or, to eX-
press the truth in different form, a
considerable element of the Peoples
party, are more concerned about TAX
ing care of the liquor traffic, than for
either financial reform or Prohibition.
In other words, they took exactly the
position of the old parties of sacrific-
ing for party expediency great re-
form which all admitted was right in
principle and would prove of inestima-
BILE value if carried into effect as a gov
ornamental policy.
At the close of the discussion it was
proposed by Mr.. Hobbs that the ques-
ton of it's adoption be left entirely to
the members of the Peoples party
committee, the Prohibition members
of the conference not voting. The
vote was then taken in this way and
the resolution rejected by the Peoples
party men without single dissenting
voice, and the conference dissolved.
1t is understood that this ends all
effort on the part of the two parties to
get together, and that in the coming
campaign each will have its Own ticket
and paddle it's own canoe"
Business Enterprise.