The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1907-06-13
FIRST GUN FOR
LOCAL OPTION
Anti-SalOOn League Organized
Officers Elected.
SPEECHES BY PROMINENT CITIZENS

The first gun of the proposed local |
option election in the city at "A date TO be /
named in the near future. as expressed by |
Mr.. I. '. II. Conway, one of the speakers. /
was held at the court house Monday i
night, where had ass. mbled about one /
hundred and fifty gentlemen ana fifty /
ladies To organize an anti--aloon league
he meeting WAS presided over by Rev.
}. II. Light and Mr. Nelson Decker WAS
made secretary. II was opened with
prayer 10y Rev. MIR. Richardson. secretary
of the Anti-SalOon League for n il divis-
ION OF the State, which WAS AN earnest |
appeal for the salvation Of the souls of |
the liquor dealers and hat the traffic in 1
which they engaged may be swept from /
our midst.
Mr. Light stated the meeting was held /
m accordance with u previous meeting /
when u committee had l+en appointed |
to recommend officers for "a local Anti |
Saloon League; that the committee. alter |
much thought, had named officers forthe |
league. which he would present later for |
ratification; that before this action WAS
taken the audience would be addressed |
10y some gentlemen VINO he had invited. |
who had the confidence of the good PEG |
pie of fredericksburg
Mr.. ;. W. SOmerville was the first |
speaker. He said he desired To give pub |
lie testimony To his interest in the work |
of Temperance; that IL was, like "A tidal
wave, sweeping over the country; that
he wanted the saloon swept from our
midst; that the saloon was the ce-spOol
oi inlqulty, that IL was hard to down be- |
cause II was part aud parcel Of politics.
but let the Christian men and women
bind themselves together and the force
would be- 81 irresistible that the evil
would be overcome; that lac would a.
soon cast his vote To license gambling a.
the saloon; that revenue from "a saloon
II AN abomnatiOn in the sight of God.
that the abolition OF the saloon will not
impede progress. but help It,
! Mr. NJ. g. Willis-"Iou know am no
speaker; | am worker. / want to
stand up and be counted for Temperance.
| | was raised IN "A temperance home and
deserve no credit Tor my views The sa-
/ loon has no place in the home The
/ home Il Gods institution. The home of
the sober man is generally happy. There
can he NO happiness in the home of the
/ drunkard. The revenue derived from the
saloon II dear revenue. We have no
right TO debauch homes for the sake of
| revenue. Hope the time is near when
the saloon will be thing of the past in
fredericksburg. Pledge my hearty CO.
operation in the work"
Mr.. L. V. ID. Conway said: "Mr. Con
ways gets In trouble when lac goes in a
meeting. | have been fighting whiskey
all my lie. II is evident we are on the
verge of a local option election. We
must be prepared for il. IL takes time.
work and mOney to win the fight 1t
will be silly to repeat the experience of
the last election, although now We are
seeing that the seed of that election are
/ laos n ia l..
enter the fight there il no retreat We
may be defeated again. but the time will
come when We will win. There are men
who are interested in this cause who are
conspicuous 10y their absence here tonight
They arr lodging, but they must come
out In the open and show their hand
The churches are not united. II they
were we could sweep the saloons OFF the
lace of the earth. Members Of the
churches try To conciliate the saloon
Keepers. Get IA young. active. deter
mined man To lead this fight and you will
win. am too old To do it, Talk about
revenue, why We send away $4,000
each year Tor liquor and get 8 900 reve-
nue.. Il that "A business proposition
Get together, perfect your organization,
raise money, appoint committees. go to
work and win"
Mr.. J. Willard Adams-"lf there Is an
occasion Tor oratory this il one. | am
fairly and squarely on the side of tenn
peranoe. Temperance means the sup
preston and uutlawing the saloon
Temperance is a protection TO the weak
Christian voters of our city must bear
the responsibility OF the continuance of
the saloon. Each Christian must be- for
or against the saloon. There Is no mid
die ground. The saloon gives nothing:
II receives all. Ii is different from every
! other class of business Why IL il the
Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and
| other organizations will not admit So
loon keepers in their order? IL is not the
man, but the business he follows.
stand Tor the suppression and outlawing
the saloon He cited an incident of re-
cent date picturing Il mother bowed
| down with grief over the death Of IA son,
| the victim of drink
Mr.. ". l.. Brannan-"Out OF the full
ness of my heart | stand ready to east
IA ballot for the betterment of our city.
! am engaged in "a Sunday school work
| that must rebound To the cause of tenn
perance and elevation of morals Eighty
| -FOUR young men Were lined up in my
class Sunday and hope there will be 81
/ votes for temperance. Many young men
who | have solicited in Sunday school
work tell me they have not the courage To
stop going To saloons and go to church.
| want to see the saloon 20 and the
poisson sold put out of our community.
The suppression of the sale of liquor
means more money for the women and
children"
Rev. r. A. Williams-"Glad of privilege
of speaking a word for the cause Never
have seen a reason why the saloon
should exist and there are many reasons
why il should not exist. The sup
preston of the saloon in Louisa, where
lived, meant the salvation of the town.
Ii has resulted in granoithic sidewalks,
new courthouse, more business, In
creased prosperity and higher morals
Drive out the saloon and build new
fredericksburg over the ashes of the old
Arp heart and soul in the cause"
Rev. Mr.. Money does not
count when you are fighting "a bar-room.
| The only way to fight IA barroom il to fight
1t. The people of fredericksburg need
waking up and believe they are awak-
ing. The saloon cannot succeed without
robbing the wife and children. OF the
"a .OOO,O 900 people in the South 1000
600 live in districts where there are no
| saloons"
Mr.. Richardson gave an interesting
talk on the work done 10y the Anti-Saloon
League, which was attentively listened
| to.
Mr.. Light then gave an opportunity
Tor those who desired to join the organi-
zatiOn to sign cards of membership,
which resulted in many signatures.
He next submitted the report Of thu
committee recommending officers of Tho