The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-02-11
Heated Debate On Ward
Liquor Bill.
Continued from Page OncD

DS the laSt legislature, ilfIltlnG the
size Of towns that shall manufacture
whisl<ey. in the Ward bill is held up
Ia the State. There is no principle
which will justify the States saying
ii town having "a certain number of
inhabitants shall not manufacture
Whiskey. but Il little larger town may.
| seems to me that the gentlemen
who are favoring that bin have not
got the courage and manhood to fight
openly Shore and Williams and Myrtle
and other like towns.
In the last election the Democrats
received such a rebuke that we should
take warning, and ii ought to tcacn
" lesson to the state. 1t has bcch
circulated that I am an anti-Ward
law man, and elected as such. Every
word of that statement is false. |
have declared mysClf for every word
OF the Watts law. and in tho campaign
| told my people that it was Just ANA
right. as every township and county
in Pitt county may control the manu-
facturc and sale of LIQUOR as ii wishes,
Aud | further declared that the pro-
visions Of the London bill were = dis
elimination. Pass At bin that viii get
ut the guilty towns of the State. but
not one that VIII affect the innocent
places, and defeat the Democratic
party. The Ward bill will ieopardIzc
tho Democratic uarty, and for Gods
sake don't pass it.
Mr.. Ward, author of the bill. owing
10 physical disabilities. said he was
unable to speak as ne wished but said
when Mr.. Fleming posed as the cham
pion of the temp eTance forces and
the advocate of the Democratic party
and the spokesman for the Senate, he
was mistaken and scif-deluded. His
own bill had been pending great
many days. and every ncWSpape in the
state had favored it, not one WORD had
been spoken i'll opposition to it.
The Fleming substitute is a miser-
able failure. and it was introduced II
kin the Ward bill, But if Mr..
Fleming has made promises 10
the distilleriee of Pitt coun-
~. he has performed his duty
we'll. and Mr.. Fleming has used in
temperate language with all his intel
lcctual and physical power MI.
Fleming has called ii 4 fraud. un-
democratic and against the principles
of temperance. | yield 10 no man i'll
allegiance to Democracy. The essen
tiai principle of democracy is
equal privileges to all ana
special privileges to none. Nj.
Fleming SAYS he will vote to re-
peal the charters of Shore. Williams.
Advance. Myrtle. but democracy says
do not single out towns. but give The
State Il general law that will strike Pitt
county as well as Yadkin. To SinglH
out one man and attack him. l. not
the purpose of this bill but to affect
every diStillnry in every county il!
North Carolina. Ny measure is demo-
cratic and | DEW the violent ana in
temperate assertions of the Senator
from Pitt. The Democratic party has
said ii will give adequate police protec-
ton wherever liquor is manufactured
and sold. No single distillcry in North
Carolina althO il has invested n Few
dollars in this business, is no reason
why it should stand in the grand
progress Of TEMPERANCE. The still is
Il more powerful factor for evil than
the saloon and should be placed in
towns where it can be controlled. y
limit must be fixed for the size of the
towns. I would not nave assumed or
arrogated 10 myself to have drawn a
bill for the people of North Carolina.
but ii VAS drawn at Il conference of
the leading Democrats of North Caro-
lima. and the chairman of the Demo-
cratic Executive Committee was pres
emit and Mr.. Fleming calls these men
So-Called Democrats. and one Of them
was the gentleman who for three cam
paigus has delivered the state for tho
Democratic party. Does the nov
leader of the temperance forces in
North Carolina, the gentleman from
Pitt. call him a So-calicd Democrat%
Why is this Self-Styled leader with
out Il following? Why has absolutely
none given this sclf-made leader "a
voice Of a~',rubation? The people
know that the Fleming substitute is
no substitute. and can work no good,
as is desired by the peoplc.
My bill provides that to manufaC-
turc WhiSl<cy a town must have 1000
population; to sell whisky al town
must have police rejection: and that
n person having i'm his possession ii
Federal liquor license. this fact shah
be Drima fIcic evidence of that per
sons guilt
Mr.. Mclean. of Scotland, said Mr.
Fleming seemed to be casting Il slur
upon all who differed from him IN
regard 10 this measure. North Caro-
lima is more indebted to the women
than has been Acknowledged to them.
Vet the rcntIeman's remarks were
against them. Mr.. Mclean read the
Democratic platform on the whiskcy
question adopted at Greensboro, aud
declared Mr.. Ficming'S arguments
were dashed to pieces by the platform;
and that the Ward bill was simply an
amendment to the Watts law. He
asked that the Fleming substitute be
Killed.
Mr.. Williams said ii appeared that
the Watts law was not being enforced.
aud the Senate would act in bad faith
to pass the Ward bill or Fleming sub
Stitute, when the other legislation was
not made effective. An lncOnSfucr-
able minority cannot be enforced 10
obey Il law unless il SympathiZcS with
tn" law Morals cannot be lcgiSHtCd.
stand still until moral sentiment is
educated to til" degree that it will
obey the statutes already enacted. BE
careful lest the measure recoil on the
heads Of the party. II measure is
right. do it well. in spite of democracy.
] think IL is not the time to enact
either the bill or the substitute. l be-
licvc in temperance. but we cannO5
bc radical. We must stand by what
we do, therefore we must be conSer-
vatiVc, considerate and careful. Don't
let us be carried off our heels by II
clamor. that this is temperance. ana
is what the majority of tho people
want. | warn YOU. 1t was a serious
question at Greensboro as to whether
We would endorse the Watts law, but
oar legislature had passed it. and we
were forced to endorse. but we warned
that further legislation be gone into
carefully. and ii was asserted that no
general legislation should be made at
all. The moral forces of the State do
wrong and unWiSe when they ask for