The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-09
WALTER n. HILLS SPEECH.
Joins the PopaIisfs for the sake of
Prohibition.


/ Hon. Walter y. Ein Of Macon. In which
be formally aMsned himself with the
/ poru.ist party. IS considered 20 have been
one % the features o. the poDuiist con-
I vcntion on Friday. lie said.
Ny Fellow Countrymen. am very
| sorry that my good friend. DR.. GambreI.
] is not present 70 speak Tor the friends
/ Of the anti-barroom BILL
/ Like him. o. / once heard him say, II
! was born a democrat and "a sinner"
| Inc fact that ia this convention you
] call each other brother D." and tnat you
] dwell together in such wonderful unity
/ - purpose. tcmpts me TO give in little
I OF my experience"
! Ia May. lsss. / had the honor to be sent
| 10 tho general conference OF the church
/ OF which ] am member. That confer
/ ence, which g. the highest iawmaking
/ body in the church, unanimously adopted
/ this strong declaration:
| The license system IS a sin against
| society; Its essential immortality cannot
/ be affected boy the question whether that
/ license be high or low"
The very next month the democratic
I party, or which I was then also a mem
/ Der. raet Ia convention at 81. Louis. and
/ under the misleading phrase Of de-
| nOuncing "sumptuary laws" and affirming
the previous utteranccs OF the party on
| that subject, d. pledged itself 20 uphold
| and maintain the very system which the
! Methodist general conference had declar-
/ ed 10 be sin against the community and
TO be essentially immoral.
| Nov, ] had to quit either that church
/ or that party.
! do not pretend TO Judge the conduct
] OF any one else who sees that situation
! differently AS good men as / can ever
| hope to be saw their duty otherwise but
| 10 me the alternative OF quitting the one
| or the other was Enthusiastically plain
| and Inevitable. / could not see how 1
! could be democratic prohibitionist in
] politics and an anti-prOhibition Metho-
! "A democratic M
/ dist 3i days in the year and a democratic
! anti-Methodist on election day.
shall Away thank God that I quit the
/ democratic party and stayed In the Meth
| odist Church. Never have / taken step
! in life which the approval Of conscience
/ has 80 richly rewarded.
| Well where was ] TO gO2 I have read
! Of "a man without a country" 1 was
| man without party.
! The republican party held out its invi-
| tation to those Of my convictions to ioin
! It's ranks. That invitation was cOuched
| In these words in its platform and by
| the way, the same words in substance,
occur in its platform this year.: I'VE
| cordially sympathize with all wise and
| well directed efforts for the promotion of
| temperance and morality"
| But saw at once that this phrase need
| ed construction. and, in point of fact,
that it was being construed to mean two
| exactly opposite things-whch is, in fact,
| the usual intention of political platform
| makers For instance, the backbone Of
| and east Is the Methodist church of those
| sections Without its vote that party
| could not carry a single state, that
church has declared "the liquor traffic
| can never be legalized without sin, and
| total prohibition Of that traffic is the duty
| of civil government" Now, a republican
| manager would go to a preachers meet
ing and say, Dear brethren, / hope you
are all with US in this campaign" They
| would ask, What is the position of the
party as to prohibition" "Plain enough"
says the manager; 1t favors all wise
and we'll directed EFFORT to promote
| temperance ana morality Is not prohi-
| bition a wise and well directed effort to
promote temperance and mOrality?' Ger
| tainly," reply the ministers, our church
has so declared" Very we'll" replies
| the manager, I'VE are for IT,; that Is ex-
actly where we stand" He then hurries
off to caucus of saloon keepers and
says. Boys, of course you are with us
in this campaign" But how does the
party stand on prohibiton2" plain
| enough; IL says that it favOrs all wise
and well directed efforts for the promo
ton of temperance and morality Do you
think that a fanatical prohibition law is
a wise and we'll directed effort for the
promotion of temperance and morallty7'
why, certainly not" Is the unanimous
chorus of replies well, then" says the
manager, 1--WE are against 1T; that is ex-
actly where we stand"
This cross-eyed craftsmanship, which
looks with one eye at the church and the
other eye at the saloon, reminds me of
Bob Taylor's story. An old German had
a son whose future he was anxious to
forecast He placed upon table in a
room a Bible and a bottle of whisky and
contrived to have his son go in. He stood
behind a curtain to watch the result. He
said TO himself, If mine boy dakes de Bl-
bic, he will be a preacher; if he dakes de
| whisky, he will be a sport" The boy
came in, put the Bible in one pocket and
the bottle of whisky in the other. mine
Gott," exclaimed the old man, he is go
| m hp a
A prohibitionist then could not afford
to leave the democratic party on account
of its avowed hostility to his principles for
the meaningless, or rather the double
meaning declaration of the republican
platform. / am rejoicing to know, how
ever, that among the republicans in Geor-
gia there are some as sincere prohibition
lists as can be found in any party.
| There was then no peoples party in ex-
istence; and so the only thing I could dc
was to join that little Gideon's band of
national party prohibitionists who every
four years without hope of electing their
candidates. had stood up to be counted
and have pOlled their half million votes
in the hope that they might elect their
issue into national attention and promi-
nence and either develop into great and
powerful party or else force some other
great and powerful party to espouse their
principle.
Consistency will require, of course. that
in national politics 1 shall continue to
act with this party, certainly so long as
no other party IN its national platform
indorses the principle of prohibition The
platform of this national party embodies
that principle alone and expressly leaves
} its members free upon other issues. II
has never had or attempted in Georgia
any state organization.
But in state politics I can say withou,
irreverence that I thank God I am no
longer a man without a party. 1 can
stand with both feet upon every plank
of the platform, which embodies your is.
, sues in state politics.
AS l see 1T, the main issues are:
/. Reform in the election laws
t Old Ben Johnson wrote this epitaph
upon a lawyer:
l God works a wonder now and then:
> Here lies a lawyer and an honest man"
Now, 1 admit that I am a lawyer. and
1 claim to be an honest man las 1 be.
leve most lawyers are), and I VIII stand
upon the proposition that there is moi
an honest man in Georgia that does mo-
favor free ballot and a fair count OF
its citizens votes.
2 The termination of the convict
leases and the establishment of a juve.
nile reformatory.
, I do not think that I have any maud