The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-02-21
UNDER tho Dome

I
boro, in the city last night and had a
conversation with him about the dis
pensary controversy now going on in
Greensboro, and which will be voted on
in the Senate this morning. The re-
porter regarded Mr. Cone as one of the
leading opponents of the dispensary, and
spoke of him as such: but Mr.. Cone
said he did not claim to be the leader in
it; that he might be more active in his
opposition than many of the others, but
he thought great many of the lead
ing business men of Greensboro were
opposed to the dispensary as strongly as
he was, if not more so. He said that
he did not think the primary last Thurs
day was in any sense a fair expression
of the sentiments of the people: that it
was called upon a five days notice-one
of the days being Sunday, and in the
midst of the blizzard. with snow twelve
inches deep on the ground. The oppon-
ents of the dispensary did not think
the primary ought to have been called.
because they were not organized and
had made no preparations for such Il
contest, and could not make the prepara-
ton in such weather; while the friends
of the dispensary We're thoroughly or
ganiZed, had their committees appoint
ed, and had been holding meetings for
weeks. Such Il contest, under these
conditions, ought not to have been forced
upon the people, and the opponents of
the dispensary decided not to participate
in it, nor to be bound by it, because they
had not consented to it. nor had they
even been consulted about it. The
friends of the dispensary worked very
hard on the day of the primary. They
sent carriages for absent voters. and
apparently did their level best, and they
secured the votes of five hundred and
thirty-one voters out of about fifteen
hundred white voters in the town. They
had all the time claimed to have three
fourths of the white voters on their
side. When the time came to vote, the
advocates of the dispensary got but Il
trifle more than One-thrd of the votes
and less than half the number Of votes
polled in Greensboro last November for
Mr.. Wilson.
Mr.. Cone said that many of the lead
ing business men of Greensboro, such
men as Levi NJ Scott. John w. King,
r. r. King, Frank Dalton, II. Percy
GRAY. Milton l.. Shields. Caesar Cone,
]. Henry Phipps, w. s. Hill, Tyre
Glenn, DIR. George A. Mebane, w. j.
Cleary. w. r. Sergeant. II. ID. Sher-
wood. f. l.. Gilmer, A. d. SimnsOn, ID.
Schenck, Jr.: w. 7. Kase. f. II. Fish
blate. J. NJ Wolf, r. Lindheim. DR.. ].
w. Griffith, Z. i. McAdoo, John j. Mel
son, H. G. Berger. p. ID. Price. J. ID.
Farriss. John II. Whit. c. \. McAdoo,
NELL Ellington. l.. c. Howlitt John n.
Dick II. M. Reese Thomas WoOdroffe,
G. T. Vanstory. X. J. Marks. John j.
Phoenix, Cornelius Mebane. NJ. 5. JEFF
freys. S. Is. Norris, IL. Bendheim, Il.
Frank Mebane, are as strongly opposed
to this bill as he is. and he believes that
to-day more than half the white men
of Greensboro are opposed to the passage
of the bill. and he is confident that more
than half the white men of Guilford
county are against it. In the town of
High Point five hundred out of eight
hundred white voters have signed petit
ton gailist the passage of the law, and
petitions are being ,numerously signed
elsewhere in the county. He said he
regretted this local fight very much; that
while he was not a resident of Green's
boro, there was no man who had its in
terest and welfare nearer at heart than
himself. and had induced a number of
other persons to invest largely in the
town, and he regretted TO see any step
taken which he thought would check the
prosperity of the town or make the men
who recently had invested in the town
dissatisfied with their location.
Mr.. Cone said he noticed recently he
had been criticized for opposing the dis
pensary. and it had been thrown ut him
that he was not a North Carolinian and
lived. perhaps, in New York. He said he
thought it was the policy of North Caro-
lima to welcome citizens of other States
to come and make investments III this
State, and that as fast as he could make
a dollar himself, or could influence any
body else having dollar to do so. he
had the same invested in some enter
prise in North Carolina; that he was in
terested ut Greensboro, Leaksville, Glib
sonville, Asheville, and other places in
the State, and is now preparing to build
a summer home near Blowing Rock, i'll
Watauga county, and is establishing
there the largest apple orchards in the
South. He believes that the mountain
section of North Carolina will make the
finest of apples, and he believes his farm
in few years will be big advertising
card for the State. After investing his
property, and using all his influence
to bring other investments into this
State, Mr. Cone regretted that any
people should throw up TO him the fact
that he did not live in Greensboro, when
he had such vital interest in the well
fare of that town.
The reporter asked Mr.. Cone what his
politics were. Mr.. Cone said:
II was born in East Tennessee. My
parents were Democrats, and L have
always been a low tariff Democrat III
spite of the fact that / am manufac-
turer. In the last campaign | did every
thing that I knew how to do to help
redeem North Carolina. / exerted all
my influence for the Democratic party,
and did everything / was asked to do
by any of the Democratic authorities.
used my personal influence, and ! CON
trbuted to the campaign funds, ana |
am proud to say that at my precinct
every white vote was cast Tor the l,ehlo-
cratic ticket, and for Senator wilson.
If any one doubts the interest TOOK III
the last campaign, / will refer them to
Chairman Simmons. as he knows some
fthe work that | did.