Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-03-06

commemorate the moral sentiments
and moral force of Brother Berry
not of coalse grained granite, nor o
dull cold marble. but of more appro
pirate monumental brass.
| Mr.. Speaker ! am well aware tina
| anv man or woman who ventures t,
oppose the views of prohibitionists vii
| be the victim of Islander and misrepre
| sentation. When this resolution wa
| before the House FOR reference | stated
! that prohibition was first tried in tn,
! garden of Eden and had proved f;
| failure. In. it's next issue. the organ O.
| the prohibitionists of Portland re.
feredyto me in these words. was i,
! quite polite in him, or kind to hi.
allies in the movement against Pro
hibition in Maine. to intimate that
thelr position upon comparatively
| modern and local issue necessarily i'm
plies disapproval of the prohibitions
IN the ancient and cosmopolitan
decalogue? Mr.. SWEET should remem-
her that that code is held in high re-
spect by many who will work with him
for the repeal of Prohibition in Maine. .
In my remarks | made no reference
to the decalogue. My words as taken
down by the stenographer of the House
and as printed in the Record were as
follows.
Mr.. Speaker. AT a proper time and
when the matter is properly before the
House | desire to offer some facts and
hSureS bearing upon this question.
don't believe in the prohibitcry law. /
believe that 1t has been a detriment TO
the advanC ement of the State of Maine
morally and materially. Prohibition
was first tried IN the Garden of Eden.
As far as | am able to understand. il
proved a failure there and has proved
a failure ever since. l do not propose
to go into a discussion of the question
at this time. My object in rising is
merely to secure such a reference of
thls matter as may properly bring it
before the House in due course Of time
that gentlemen may have an opportun-
ity TO present their.views upon it,
That was what ] said and all | said,
yet the editor of the prohibition organ
has printed in his editorial column this
false and libelous statement
Representative SWEET of this CITY
-lvors resubmssion because, as ne
says Prohibition, decalogue and all is
d failure. Although his attention was
promptly called to the libel, by the
leading Republican paper of Portland,
Sc has never had the fairness or de-
cency to recall it, but has sent it
broadcast in his paper which he claims
has the largest circulation of any paper
in Maine. The eGitor of another paper
has devoted about two-thirds of a COL
II tn hD ha
be 4 whitening sarcasm in the course of
-fich he says, 1T matters not that
Mr.. Morrill,. Mr.. Blaine, Mr. Hamlin
Mr.. Dingley, Mr.. Frye and many
others have expressed the opposite
opinion; the statesman from Portland
has views Of his own Well sir, he is
right in that assumption. it matters
not to my convictions that other men
hoid other opinions, any more than il
matters to the editor that George
Washington, John Adams. Thomas
Jefferson. James Madison. James Mum
roe. John Quincy Adams. Andrew
jackson. Martin Van Buren,. William
Henry Harrison, John Tyler. James X.
Polk. Zachary Taylor, Willard Fillmore,
Franklin Pierce. James Buchanan.
Abraham Lincoln, L. S. Grant, Chester
A. Arthur Benjamin Harrison, Will
liam Mckinley. Theodore Roosevelt.
Thomas b. Reed. Bishop Potter. Chas,
w. Elliott Seth Low and ninety nine
out of every hundred of the greatest
and most Industrious Americans that
ever lived We're not prohibitionists and
never believed in prohibitory liquor
law
10 bn Il It,.
thousand greatest men who ever lived.
can anyone name prohibtionist
among them? Go to the Hall of
Fame" that magnificent structure
erected on University Heights in New
York City. in which are to be inscribed
the names of Americans deemed the
greatest in their respective fields; au-
thors and editors. business men, educa-
tors inventors. missionaries and eX-
plcrers, philanthropists and reformers,
preachers and theologians. scientists.
engineers and architects, lawyers and
judges, musicians, painters and sculp-
tors physicians and surgeons rulers
and statesmen, soldiers and sailors.
men and women outside
those classes; can you point to the
name of prohibitionist among them?
Not one. If the prohibitionists have
ever produced a single great intellect
they have hidden it under bushe.
Mr.. Speaker. Last October the Wo-
mans Christian Temperance Union
held its annual National Convention in
portland. 1t is reported to have been
one of the largest and most successful
conventions in the history of Portland.
| attended several Of it's meetings and
have read the reports of all of them
which We're printed ut length in the
newspapers of the day. The convention
was held in the largest and finest thea
tire east of Roston, and in many re-
spects was the most remarkable per-
Torrance ever seen on that or any
other stage The theatre was brilliant
with electric lights and beautifully
decorated with flags and streamers, the
ladies were beautifully costumed and
the cast included many veteran star
performers. The program was inter-
esting and amusing. There was a long
address by the President and by Lady
Henry Somerset. who had crossed the
ocean from London to be present.
There was singing and dialogues, gym
nastics and calistnenics, there We're
many presentations of bouquets, much