Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-03-14

ton of the majority and minority re-
ports of the committee on temperance
on the bill relating to re-submission,
was taken up. line pending question
is upon the acceptance of the major
ity's report ought not to pass.
| Mr.. STAPLES of Knox: Mr.. Presi-
| dent, l regret, this morning, that as
approach the discussion of this ques-
/ ton l feel myself physically unable al
most to go on. But as this matter has
laid upon the table for some days, and
owing to the lateness of the session,
do not feel at liberty to ask any
further delay of this matter. | assure
you that l will be as brief as possibly
can in the discussion of this question.
1 believe it, today, to be the paramount
/ question in the State of Maine. 1t is
a question that has agitated the peo-
| pie from one end of the State to the
| other-a question that comes home to
us not only as temperate men, but as
moral men. l place this thing upon a
| higher plane than that of dollars and
| cents. 1t reaches out to the home and
to the fireside; and it is a question to
| us whether the youth of today snail
| be debauched as they have been in
times passed. l rejoice in one thing
| l think we are beginning a great po-
litical revolution in Maine. l am glad
to notice that the shackles of political
partisanShip, or the mantle of political
| craftsmanship, is resting more lightly
upon the shoulders of the people than
it ever has BEFORE. The people are
seriously considering the great prob
lens that confront us. Those great
problems, Mr.. President, are several.
Among them is the question of NUM-
cipal ownership, the question of equal
taxation, and the question of the great
referendum. In times past the COM
mon people have allowed party leaders
to build their platforms, and they have
generally followed in their lead without
asking the reason why. l see signs
coming here from one end of this
State to the other that show to me that
they are now throwing off the shackles
of party and are determined in the fu-
ture to be guided by their own judg-
ment and their experience in the every
day walks of life. Therefore l discern
through the darkness of the present
the dawn of Il new life The time will
surely come, and l hail the day. The
great question of the referendum is a
question for the common people. 1t is
the safeguard of the people. Our fore
fathers learned that at Saratoga, at
Yorktown and at Bunker Hill. 1t has
always been the safeguard of the peo-
pie. The people may stife it for
awhile, but the irresistible tide that is
coming will sweep from power any
party that stands as "a barrier to its
success. Our forefathers learned the
great principle of the referendum in
bloody battle. The people can be
trusted. But you tell us the people
do not want resubmission. In 1854 the
people did not want to abolish slavery
in this country, which was inconsistent
with our constitution and the, decla-
ration of Independence; and the peo-
pie, when they boosted of equal, rights
to men, We're living in frank and bliss
full falsehood; but that little band of
patriotic people, who appeared to have
divine inspiration, by the result of
their agitation and the self sacrificing
agitation of millions of patriotic men
rejoiced, in 1865, at the freedom of
three millions of human beings. 1t
took years to accomplish that result.
but it made the names of those agita-
tors to adorn the brightest pages of
American history. And unborn mil
lions in the future will rise up and
call them blessed. l am one of those
that believe there is a hand of provi-
dence that controls the minds of men.
Unseen agencies always have and al
ways will be found working and guild
ing the thoughts of mankind. We
may not succeed at once. The great
problem of how best to handle and
control the sale of intoxicating liquors
will be solved by the conservative, by
the sober minded, temperate men of
our State, and not by cranks, politi-
clans or fanatics. The saying of that
noble type of American manhood,
Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, was:
You can fool some of the people all of
the time; part of the people part of the
time: but you cannot. fooi all of the
people all of the time. For so years
we have had the prOhibitory law up
on our statute books and during all
that time liquor has been sold as much
in the State of Maine as in any other
state in the union. There is no use to
deny it. From our earliest recollec-
ton down to the present time-and
do not except in the statement but
what today in the city of Augusta,
which they claim is a dry city-you
can have driven it out of the respecta-
BILE places, but it has found lodgment
in less respectable places in the city of
Augusta. They tell us that Portland
is a dry city. The records of the, po-
lice court refute that assertion. l
stand aghast at it's history. Those
who believe in the prohibitory law will
let me say to them that they have
something to answer for. l approach
the question as a temperate man.
approach it because / believe in tenn
perance. l would guard the young
man and protect him against the ny
pocrisy and deceit that the prohibitory
law teaches. l say it is a deceit and
hypocrisy; and the Republican party of
the State of Maine know it today when
they put into their platform-their
leaders. | mean, because / say here
publicly that the most of the Repub-
lican party are just as honest as the
Democratic party, to which l have the
pleasure to belong-do not misunder-
stand mel believe that the common
man that belongs to the Republican
| ;e honact IN b;c cOnVictiOn-hut