The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-02-24

1e5s i0At the Democratic party would /
aot do tina: with which they were ch2rg-
81 But then the legislature after 5has
ala the very thing that / promised wosl1
rot be done Therefore / did not sup
port il in this House. and l took the
stump. telling the people I could not
support tE- measure. They understood
me and said ! was right. and elected me
TO this HOUSE ~ the biggest majorltv
ever given TO mortal man IN tho counts
Of HYDE. fApplause)
Then Mt Lucas was telling o. tho
unanimity Of the country people for pro-
hibiuon. When Mr.. smith asked him Why
he objected TO leaving i 10 p vote. IL
the people would pass il anyhow
Mr Lucas SAID that would cause too
much confusion. as one county would
vote for il. another against IT ana SO
en-. He asked Mr.. smith what good hat
would d..
MIR. Smith said il would he decided
then by the sovereign people. according
tc the great principle OF the party.
Mr.. Lucas. You want the rum-suci-
ers to have a whack at il. and il is
from fear Of them that You are taking
the stand you are. You are "A psoh.-
b~itionist at heart. l know YOU
Mr.. smith declared cmphatically that
no fear had ever %actuatci hin in any
Vote he had ever cast.
Mr.. Morton referred to Mr. Lucas.s
offer Of $500 for every man from the
country who would come up here and
say he wanted a vote on the matter. and
said that 5000. would be too little f1
the people in his county.
Mr.. Lucas: = could buy them whiskcy
~fellers for a drink; for a shilling or i
short"
Mr.. Lucas then paid his respects to the
talk about the rights OF the people,,
saying it was the old demagoguc idea.
Why said he to Mr.. Morton. you
know Butler landed in the Senate on tina
talk. Do you want a joo like that"
Mr.. Morton, Il never departed 50 far
from my party as to go against its
fundamental principle"
Mr. Lucas: You needn't be afraid
You'll never be elected to the Senate"
Mr.. Lucas closed with great ~eloQuence
and was loudly applauded.
Mr.. Morphew then showed that the
amendment made it more difficult to get
a vote than The Code did in its present
form.
JUDGE GRAHAM.
Judge Graham next made a brief ar
gument against the Watts bill. lie said
it had been argued that the Constitutions
al Amendment had been passed by the
Legislature as an arbitrary measure.
Surely these gentlemen forgot that that
great question had been left to a vote
of the people, even though the negroes
themselves voted at that time.
We should not, he said, be carried
away by the eloquence of the gentleman
from Hyde, or the beauty in the gallery.
We should be guided by common sense
and a sense of justice.
H. ,~rooI u;+h " ..:2l 49, u
Watts bill Disseminated against eighty
two per cent of the people of the State
The petitions from $1,000 people did not
constitute the wishes of a majority OF
a population of about 1900, O00. What
should we do about the people who had
not signed petitions, but who W. Were
supposed to represent?
Vermont, that rock-ribbed Prohibition
: State, had recently repealed her law
New Hampshire was about to annul
hers, and in Maine it was violated with
oron consent all we the State.
Mr.. Watts said he had hocn Informed
last December by the ScnasO.a from the
States of Maine and New hampshire thai
those States prohibited liquor in the
country, and only allowed t in towns by
a vote.
Judge Graham replied that his infor-
t~hS - 4'1'ihC N'iAL
from business men with whom he was
associated, and nc knew what he had
said about Maine to be the absolute faCt.
Mr.. Morton Informed Judge Graham
that a friend of his had found by con
, sulting Dunn's Agency that there wore
60 wholesale whis&cy houses in Maine,
and about 500 open bar-rooms.
MR.. STUBS.
MIR. Harry Stubbs, of Martin, next got
the floor. He said this was a movement
Of the supremcst Importance TO him.
1t was an hou: when sentiment and pas
sion should give way, and reason and
justice hold sway. Three times in tins
last four years had great questions con
fruntcd the Legislature, ana always j,
: had had the courage to settle them for
the best good of the State.
He realized that, ranged on orc side
of this question the great tenn erance
2 leaders and prominent men of the
neral forces and of the State had come
5 here or been represented upon this great
5 issue. But he realized also that the
E great majority of the white voters OF
this State, in their cabin homes, were
l at work, trusting that this Legislature
/ would not take from them their funda-
; mental rights as citizens of North Caro-
lina. even though they had sent no dele
| cations to the General Assembly.
He declared that the bill of the gen
tleman from Iredell did clearly diGcrim-
, mate between the people of the country
and the people of the towns. We were
, no better than the people that sent Us
here.
] The enmity of the country peo
pie toward the town people. that spranf
up and became apparent at the time o
the coalition between tho Populists anC
Republicans is nov dying out, but tn
passage of this bill would kindle anew
the dying embcrs of this destructive fire
We had no legal or moral right to pass
this bill.
The voters Of the State had trusted
their representatives never to disfran
4 chisc any of the white men Of the
state, upon their solemn pledge rot t
do 50.
Now he saw a Democratic Legislature
about to pass a measure that would dis
\ eliminate in the franchise against tn
= great mass of our poorer citizens.