The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-02-18

| It WOulQ De rulnOuS from Il pOlIlcai
| standpoint
But the Watts |bill covered the salient
features of. the London bill in that it
PROMPTS the manufacture and sale OF
| hquor outside of incorporated towns.
mere IS no objection whatever to that
! from moral standpoint, freeing the
people Of the rural districts from an
| eVll that they have on Bonded knees
begged US to free them from.
| AS to the argument that it discrimi-
mated, the bill was drawn to discriminate
| against the liquor traffic in the country,
gust as it would be Disseminated against
IN the towns, # the moral side only of
inns House Were involved. He called
| upon the people of the rural districts to
| reIule that charge. He referred the gen.
tlemen OF the opposition to the number
| iesS peutlons now on file with the Com
hIttee on propositions and Grievances.
lheSe people are unprotected. They
| nave not the power of police protection
behind them. They have nowhere 10
turn to seek protection To these peopIe
| outside OF the towns absolute protection
| is given, the very thing they ask for
| But the other side asks. why not have
absolute prohibition? That would suit
| | would
be what we all want But it is impos-
| sible
The last feature of the bill docs not
prohibit the manufacture and sale of IL
| qu0r in the towns. 1t does not disturb
any of the existing laws in any town. It
| does not confiscate the property of the Ii
quor men, unless it should be so deter
mined by those who have property to
/
| the people of the community to prevent
the traffic when they desire to do So
| He believed that if the name London
till were to be inserted in place of Watts.
that this bill would meet the warm sup
port of the advocates of the London bill.
This was applauded
| He said he knew the industries of the
| State We're diversified, and that the
habits and customs of the East differed
| widely from those of the West. But nc
believed that this bill met the require
ments of all sections. He knew that the
| section concerning the country distllery
| principally affected the West, and from
| conversations with representative men OF
| western counties, he had found that this
would be for the bctterment Of all class
| es Of these counties. by quitting the dis
| tilleries, the faithful guardians of the
| Republican party, into the towns, where
| they can no longer debauch the morals
| of the crowd of h2ngers-on or manufac-
| ture Republican voters along with the
| ioice of the corn into whiskey; and the
| distillers feared this law because they
| knew that within the confines of incor
| porated towns they could not contrive
to demoralive the young men of unpro-
| tected communities, in order to make
| Republican voters of them.
| Mr.. Doughton's amendment he said,
made all the sections of the bill abso-
lutely consistent, by allowing brandy as
| we'll as wine, manufactured from fruit
grown On the land of the distller, to be
sold in original packages of not less than
| five gallons.
| But he feared the amendment of the
| gentleman of Union, Mr.. Simpson, to
substitute one gallon instead of five, for
| the ordinary drinker could consume Il
quart, and thus four men could buy
| gallon and drink it all
He paid a splendid tribute to the mag
| nificent speech of the gentleman from
| Onslow, and considered that he had gal
lantly stood fer the desires of his poo-
pie, doing his duty nobly. But he knew
|
| thought personally, that gentleman would
say "Guion, l agree with you"
| Mr. Guion then went on to protest
| against the bad taste displayed by the
gentleman from Wilkes the other day
when he said that under this bill it might
| be we'll for the Governor and Senator
| Simmons to open still in Raleigh, and
| appoint our Governor storekeeper and
inr,r
| no slurs cast by the majority, and il
was to say the least, extremely bad taste
on the part of the minority to make such
a remark as that.
AS to that, Mr.. Guion said he would
assert that the Democratic party, from
| its storekeepers and gaugers, could
furnish men who were fit to be Governors
| and Senator's; but the Republican party
could not from its Governors and Sena-
tors furnish men who were fit to be
storekeepers and gaugers. (Applause.)
1t had been said that this movement
would kill the Democratic party. If sup
porting a measure that was of great
| moral benefit to the people of the State
would kill the Democratic party then let
it die. He did not entertain any fear
that morality would kill the Democratic
party.
Continued applause greeted Mr. Guion
IS he took his seat.
Mr.. Price, of Stanly, sent forward IN
amendment that the act should not take
effect until November 1st, 1903.
Mr. Mcneil sent forward an amend
ment to correct clerical error
MR.. SMITH.
Mr.. Smith said it seemed to be lost
sight of that there was a substitute for
the Watts bill and all amendments to
it, and the question came up first on that
substitute. But in reading the bill as
amended, he noticed that several sec
lions had been taken word for word from
his substitute He was even thinking Cf
entering suit for infringement of copy
right.
Mr.. Watts said that he wanted to ex-
press his thanks to Mr.. Smith for the
use of his substitute.
Mr.. Smith said he appreciated the
compliment and was glad to see that
he had incorporated one of the main fea-
lures of his substitute, not only the let
ter, but the spirit of it.
MIR. Smith then went on with great
narnpStDpSc IN Ike NJ