Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1904-06-22
DRINK AND POLITICS
AN UNUSUAL TEMPERANCE LECTURE
BY A TAMMANY SENATOR.

: George w. P1unkitt Says No Drink.
p ing Man Can Make II Lasting Sue
o cess In the Political Game-Teeto-
J.. falism as a Business Proposition.
t The Boston Transcript reports a
rather unusual temperance lecture CIV
en- by Senator George w. Plunkitt in
the county courthouse New York. in
which he tells what men must do if
they wish to succeed in politics. The
whole Of it might be summed I'D in
two words, Don't drink" but his talk
was so full of incident and Illustration
and withal so sound from a business
standpoint that we quote a part of il
In his own fOrceful though not elegant
language:
mo matter how well you learn TO
play the political game, you won't
make lastin' success of il if you're q |
drlnkin' man. never take a drop of |
any Kind of intoXicatin liquor. | amt |
no fanatic. Some of the saloon KEEPERS
are my best friends. But as matter
of business leave whisky and beer
ana the rest of that stuff alone. It's
matter of business too. | take for nv
heutenants In my district men who
don't drink. l tried the other kind for
several years, but it didn't pay. They
cost too much. For instance. | had n
young man who was one of the best
hustlers in town. He knew every man
IN the district, was popular everywhere
ana could induce a half dead man TO
come to the polls on election day. But
regularly two weeks before election he
started on a drunk, and | had to hire
two men to guard him day and night
ana keep him sober enough to do his
work That cost lot of money. and S
dropped the young man after awhile.
Maybe you think I'm unpopular a
Win the saloon keepers because | don't iC
rink. You're wrong. The most sue II
essful saloon keepers don't drink them al
elves, and they understand that my CT
einperance Is business proposition ii
Ke their own. A drinkin' man I'll
COULDN'T last two weeks as leader of ca
ammany Hall. Nor can a man man. til
&c an assembly district long If he in
INKS. He's got to have q clear head 70
the time. l could name ten men m,
no In the last few years lost their an
Up in their districts because they be- nu
n drinkin'. to
JUST take as examples Big Tim and av
lttie Tim Sullivan. They're known va
over the country as the Bowery bel
ders. and there's nothin' but saloons has
the Bowery; people might think tw'
1t they are hard drinkers. The fact 7
That neither of them has ever touch self
a drop of liquor in his life or even nur
oked a cigar. TIL
Look at all the Tammany heads of the
departments. There's not real ten
1kln man in the lot, although ave
re saloon keeper or two. Oh. YES. The
re are some prominent men in the the
who drink hard some cept
es, but they suit the men who have FL
'er They're ornaments. fancy rieti
'kers and all that, who make a fine resu
" behind the footlights, but amt in bees
men it comes to directin' the CITY gree
and the Tammany organi- ture.
,n."
:. Piunkitt closed his address after
ing the soft drinks ordered by the Mu
many leaders the night before freqr
Or Van Wyck was declared elected spots
aging: laid
efOre midnight we were oil IN bod to TIN
next mornin we were I'M brqbt cred
early attendin' to business, while cog
other men were nursiu' swollod little
J. Is there ANYTHING wrono with points
erance as Il business proposition?" prolor
6rn N