The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-02-02
WH|SKEY WON'T DOWN
Interviews on the Situation
in Cumberland.
Senator McNe and Representative Mcclellan
Give Their Views on License and
Prohibition.
(staff Correspondence

Fayetteville, n. c., Feb. 1--Whiskey
won't down here. Rather an odd way of
putting it. but the question here is an
ODD one. Because of this fact the eyes
of the State have been made to turn on
Cumberland Hence l concluded to inter-
view her members of the Legislature. /
found Senator J. D. Mcneil in his office
at The Merchants Mills" with the
millers mark, bright and busy, as usual
though willing to stop and talk over the
situation with your reporter. Asked as
to his opinion on the business situation
he said that while the very unfayorab bile
crop season last year, together with the
low price of cotton, will necessarily chr
tail the volume of business, until the
next harvest, that he can only see good
TO come from the lesson that has been
taught our farmers from the misguided
policy of neglecting food crops for cotton
as they did last year. Already the good
result of that lesson is shown in the
enormous increase of small grain that
has been planted for the coming harvest
The crop of wheat has been increased
five fold and the present prospects are
Tor large yield of wheat oats and rye.
to replace the short corn crop and carry
us through the summer"
AS to politics, the Senator IS
such veteran true blue that
he is always optimistic as to
democratic prospects. He says che has
nothing to regret in the past but be-
heves In letting the dead bury the dead
and in always looking to the future
Like Senator Vance. he thinks ''Democra
ey Is immortal" but says she has no.
ticed that generally speaking, the Lord
helps them that help themselves He
THINKS that education" good roads"
and clean government should be the
State issues and that national issues
viii certainly develop to show the neces-
slty of Democratic unity, which can
only mean Democratic success In local
affairs he is equally as sanguine, as he
expresses the utmost confidence in the
capacity Of the liberty loving Scotch
citizenship of old Cumberland to prop
erly settle all local questions. He was
an outspoken opponent of the former dis
pensary. from. he says "a moral. poll
teal and financial standpoint. and voted
for total prohibition in the Legislature
in order to abolish it. so that the cues
ton OF prohibition or license might be
submitted to a popular vote at the next
election He does not want any party
friction, but expects to see the issp
plainly made and positively settled by
square, honest vote of the people re-
CARELESS of their political views on other
questions. He gives it as his personal
opinion that the vote "for license will be
so decisive as to settle the question for
some time to come, as he does not be-
lieve the voters of Cumberland county
will sustain any law that is daily and
openly converting naturally Law abiding
people into community of conscious
law-breakers.'' Like Bishop Potter. of
New York, he looks upon prohibition as
an utter failure" and hopes to see pro-
vided in Fayetteville the same system of
high license that the combined expert
ence and brains that control such things
in Raleigh, Charlotte Greensboro Colds
bOro and similar places have proven to
be the more beneficial and satisfactory
method of controlling the liquor traffic.
For Fayetteville he sees only the
brightest prospects, with the Cape Fear
Improvement plans adopted, which now
seems so very probable, giving her eight
feet Of navigable water at her wharf
the year round, with a fine system of
county roads leading into and connecting
Cumberland with Robson, Bladen,
Sampson, Harnett and Moore counties.
with Seaboard and quite probable Nor
folk and Western railroad connection,
which will almost certainly follow the
river Improvement, and with the Cape
Fear Power Company's electrical devel-
opment a finished success, there seems to
be nothing to prevent the most rapid de-
yelopment in the next few years. He
says that it is now the place for the fell
low with capital to quickly pick up few
bargains
Representative Mcclellan. who drew
and introduced the Cumberland Prohik
ton bill in tho House, being interviewed,
said: Prohibition in Cumberland is the
result of combination of peculiar cir
cumstances. It was neither anticipated
nor planned The way seemed to be
strangely prepared for it, and then it
originated and was passed practically on
it's own merit and motion: and Just as it
passed the Legislature so do | expect it
to be ratified and maintained by the peo-
pie OF our county. 1t is thought by many
that the bill originated with the saloon
men. This is not true. When the Samp-
son and Bladen Prohibition bills passed
the House, l saw that if similar bill
was not introduced at once for Cumber-
land that the whiSkey stills driven from
these two counties would Immediately
Jump our border, where, removed from
police interference, they would give the
greatest trouble; thereupon, without soil
citation or advice, l prepared and intro
duced the bill This was day or so be-
fore the dispensary fight in the House.
and l was told that it was not believed
that | could get it through. even though
had exempted Fayetteville from Its
provisions. Then came the old tussle
over the dispen sary. in which we at
tempted to cut the gordian knot with
white primary. I stood committed to the
result. which would have been followed