The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1908-03-19
Richmond News Leader.

Richmond News Leader.
Governor Glenn of North Carolina,
when he was here n few weeks ago,
made quite IL hit by saving that he
had been threatened that his polti-
cal career would be ended if he favor
ed prohibition. He told his Rich
mond audience that his reply to that
was that he would rather go back to
his little farm on the Dan and stay
there always than to oppose pro-
hibition. 1t sounded rather heroic
and impressive. We mourn to OBJ
serve, however, that this ringing and
thrilling proclamation of personal
/ independence has become little
threadbare over in North Carolina.
The Statesville, n. c., Landmark, in
discussing the Governor is e,rtles s
enough to remark:
Ever since he has been governor
he has, in all or nearly all of his pub
lie addresses, proclaimed earnestly
for State prohibition; and on this
point he usually makes some such
statement as this: Men have said to
me, Glenn, advocacy of prohibition
will hurt you politically; and l have
answered that ! would stand by the
women and children, the churches
and the schools, to free the State
from the accursed liquor traffic if !
never held another office and had
to spend the balance of my days on
my little farm in old Rockingham.
The splendor of the Glenn attitude
on this subject is more or less tarn-
ished 10y the fact that in North Caro-
lima there is prohibition wave and
that the Governor is mounted on the
crest OF it. The truth is the man
who fights prohibition in that State
commits political suicide. For q
statesman to get on to the strong
end OF a proposition and then to ask
attention with tremulous lips to the
valor of his performance is hardly
edifying.
In the last thirty-five years we
have seen various boOms and waves
and have observed the statesmen
who rode in on them. Just after the
| war there was q tremendous feeling
in favor of the negro and against
the rebels and the Southern white
people. Many, many politicians got
and held office byit. Where are they
now? Where is the little white cloud
that hung about the mountains s
brow? Where is the bloody shirt
and Southern outrage oratory that
! once split the welkin everywhere?
Then when the greenback craze
came along politicians of all grades
jumped into it like grasshoppers 60
ing over n fence to a field of young
wheat Where are they3 Since then
we have had the free silver ground
swell and populist tidal wave and
the farmers alliance avalanche, with
the knights of labor tornado on the
side. Most of us can recollect how
the politicians leaped into the Farm
ers' Alliance and how they rode and
whipped and spurred that unfortu-
nate organization. What has be-
come of them?
Now we have this prohibition wave.
Various statesmen, perhaps distrust-
ful of their own intrinsic strength,
are leaping on it hoping to be swept
into higher office. They are calling
for tears and applause, for the moist
kerchiefs of women waved in the air,
the voices OF children and the ac-
claiming whoops OF the populace.
Probably some OF these statesmen
are sincere and Others are very much
otherwise. We must say, however,
that the man we admire and trust is
the man who now and then has the
nerve to stand against great popu-
lar movement and to proclaim aloud
what he believes to be common sense
and honesty and to go on doing it
even If he is swept down in the rush.
Any kind of II chump can run ii boat
with the tide. 1t takes a man to
pull the laboring oar upstream be-
cause he believes heis right.