Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-03-01

perance and one who would like to an
initiate liquor from the face of the
earth. l am a radical as far as tenn
perance is concerned because / do not
believe liquor is necessary as a bever-
/ age or for mechanical or medicinal
purposes. If it were to be annihilated
from the face of the earth, science, with
| the aid of that grand master of the
universe, would originate something
J that would be better for the people of
{ Maine. Therefore Mr. President upon
| this question ] stand as temperance
! man. A great many petitions have come
, in here many Of them from the ladies
and some from the c!ergymen Of the
| State but I say to you that they know
the workings of prohibition theoretical
/ ~ only. They know nothing about its
I practical workings in the State of
Maine. / want the amendment annulled
so that we may have something else
and / will be frank. standing here IN
! ny Tl2ce in the Senate i want some
thing else beside prohibition. | want
something which will be for the inter-
Csts Of the people Of this state, which
Will be uplifting to the young men Of
tie state. AMI for that reason
say to you, that I stand here
| f1aENIY confessiuc to You that / am
| OpI,rSfd Ia Tic rrohihitoTy liquor law.
Why? Because il does rot prohibit. The
| tenn GRANGE people OF this State say that
| am not correct when | make the as
Selti0n that there is more intoXicati0n
, Ii the state Of Maine today and more
| Gebauchery Of our young men than
| there las been since l came upon the
stage nf action. do assert it and | say
| We must do something. Let us throw
away oil politics in this matter. Let us
appeal to our own consciences. Let us
rot deceive ourselves. l do not care
whether one party goes up or another
goes down. If you will prove to me, Mr..
President and senators, that you can
| have a better system of temperance I'M
Ger prohibition than anything else ]
will gladly vote with you. You have
tried prohibition for so years in the
state of Maine and you have not pro-
hibited. I have all respect for the ladies
who have signed the petitions. L know
they are honest. I have not any doubt
that they believe today that prohibition
prohibits. You and l, fellow senators,
know better. We have tried it for 30
years and what is the result l appeal
to you for the young men Of this State.
Prohibition has slain it's tens of thou-
sands-yes, its hundreds of thousands.
Can anything else Go more? I would
have in its place local option. l would
try that. [ would try anything, all
means and then I will be satisfied. If
under local option You cannot have
better temperance element in this State
and cannot control the matter better,
why then go back to prohibition and ]
will support you'll will support any
party, l don't care what party it may
be. that Will convince me it can ar
range a better system for controlling
the liquor traffic Of the State of Maine.
I will admit. Mr.. Chairman--I have
admitted it before upon the floor Of this
Senate and I say it again-that there
is no curse today upon the people of
the State of Maine so CALLING and ter
rihle as the curse of intempcrance. If
i had my way l would vote it out of eX-
istence. 1t causes more scalding tears
and aching hearts, ruined homes and
iiresidcs than any thing else in the
world. In the State Of Maine today We
find debauchery upon every cross road
and in every town in the State of
Maine. 1t is no use to deny it.
In the town where I live they used
to have hotel where they sold it mod
erately. They did not have debauchery
then. I am not in favor of selling Ii
quor you understand. If you can control
it, control it. But my idea is to control
it in the best POSSIBLE way. If We have
the curse among US let US control it in
the best possible way. Governor Bell of
Vermont ell his lifetime was in favor
of prohibitory law until he was con-
WINGED Of its workings in the state of
Vermont: and 1 quote him for mo-
ment when 1 say that, after he had
tried prohibition for a great many
years lie changed over in favor of local
option and his remarks as to why he
changed We're these: He says: "Under
local option We get a greater measure
o. prohibition than YOU do under the |
old prohibitory law" The temperance
people tell us in these hearings that
Vermont today has a grand system and |
if You will take pains to investigate it |
you will find there is less intemperance
i'll the State of Vermont under local |
option than under prohibition.
| want it prohibited in some way or |
restrained in some way, so as to save
the young men of the State that are |
going down to ruin every day.
Why. you tell me that You are in ia
vor Of q high license. If high license |
does better than prohibition I am in |
favor Of it. When the saloon keepers of |
the State Of Maine almost every one of |
them. are in favor of a prohibitory Ii
quor law. l think there is somethingl
wrong about it somewhere. When the
wholesale dealers in Boston. are in IA
vCr of prohibitory liquor law rath-
er than any kind Of q law we can put
on our statute book. / am afraid of it.
In the way prohibition is managed in
the State of Maine it amounts to a low
license and not a high license Take the |
city OF Bangor in Penobscot county.
They have had high license there for
the last 20 years to my knowledge 1t is
so in almost every county in the State.
and still they toll us that prohibition