The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-11-15
Democratic State Chairman
Stokes Jackson Denies He
Stated He Favored Immed-
late Repeal of the Law.
"STICK TO PLATFORM"
HE TELLS THE EDITORS.
Possibility of Law Being Re-
peaIed as Some Republican
Senators Say the People
Desire This Action.
BY Ellis Searles.

Indianapolis. Ind, Nov. l4.-Accord-
ing to Stokes jackson of Greenfield.
democratic state chairman, the demo-
Gratis are hoping that the local option
question will not be agitated until af-
ter the legislature meets. Jackson
says he expects, of course. that some
member of the legislature will offer a
bill to either repeal the county local
option law or to amend it. but he
thinks there should be no agitation in
advance of the session.
Jackson stated his position at a
meeting of the executive committee of
the Indiana democratic editorial asso-
citation. He says he was misouoted
at first by a paper that said he told
the editors that he was in favor of
immediate repeal of the county local
option law. He says he never said
anything of the kind.
The editors asked me what
thought they ought to do with the To-
cal option question:" said Jackson
tonight, Il told them that | thought
there should not be any agitation Of
the matter, but that IL agitation does
start and gets to the point where some.
thing has to be done the party should
stick to the state platform. told
them the party ought to stand square
ly on the platform declaration on ev-
cry point and issue
There lis every reason to believe that
the democrdats will not wait long be-
fore starting a movement to repeal or
amend the county local option law
after the legislature opens its next
session. The democrats will have a
it is said that the house democrats
will stand by the party platform de-
claration in favor of township and
ward unit for local option.
In the senate the republicans will
have twenty-seven members and the
democrats twenty-three. On strict
party vote. of course. the democrats
ate to repeal or amend the county
option law. but it is known that there
are some republican senators who will
probably vote with the democrats on
the local option matter. In fact there
are several republican senators and
representatives who do not hesitate to
say that the people have shown by
their votes that they do not want
county option. These members are
ready to help the democrats change
the law.
Just how many there are of such
republicans is not now known, but Il
is believed that democrats can count
on a sufficient number to help them
get their bill through.
1t is well remembered that the prin-
cipal fight of the campaign was made
on the local option issue. The repub-
licans under the lash Of Governor
Hanly were compelled to stand for a
declaration in favor of the county
unit. 1t is also a matter of history
that the republican leaders did not
want to put such a plank in their
platfrom because they did not believe
it would be popular. But Governor
Hanly applied the lash. He would
either compel the party TO accept his
view or he would split IL wide open.
The leaders understood what il would
mean to have an open break with the
governor. SO they chose the county
unit in the local option plank as the
lesser of the two evils. trusting to the
party organization to be able TO bring
the voters around into line at the
election.
Disaster followed. Hanly's policy
was repudiated. not only by the peo-
pie at large, but by the republicans
themselves. Men like James E. Wat
son and others who fought against
putting the county option plank in the
platfrom went down To defeat under
the weight of the disapprovaI of the
Hanly policy. Hanly was discredited
at the election, but he merely smiled.
The candidates who were DEBATED by
their own party in order TO take a
slap at Hanly had to suffer the con-
sequences of his bull headed folly.
1t is not much wonder, then, that
there is a widespread feeling among
Republicans that the county option
law should be changed or repealed.
The people showed by a decisive ma
jority of 1900 for Marshall and by
electing a Democratic legislature that
they didn't approve of the Hanly sys-
tenn. If the people do not want this
kind Of law, these Republicans say,
they should not be burdened with it.
So twill not be surprising at all
IL the Democrats get the support of a
sufficient number of Republicans in
the Senate to wipe out the county OPP
tion law. IL they do they must then
pass bill granting local option to