The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-03-14
GOVERNOR GOES
SLOW ON LOCAL
OPTION QUESTION

people in political office alone. If you
think because you won that election
last fall, and stood thus by the Bishops
bill, o have the victroy secured, you
are far wrong. Closing the saloons,
preserving the American Sabbath is not
vet accomplished and cannot be with
out your support and help, and without
it you will be no farther advanced a
year from now than you are now.
Criticism may be all right. / don't
dislike it any more than 1 do candy.
1 would just as SOC be criticised as
praised. But yse want to criticise
your public men along lines of intelli-
gencs. They should be criticised IL
they do wrong, but when your chief
has taken one firm step and accom-
plished what you want, then, and not
before, come to- him and say take an
other STEP You can take but one firm
step at q time, and succeed in 1t. Such
are the conditions tonight in our State;
you have an issue in the Legislature
of this State, against which 1 am not,
for a single moment, when 1t comes to
accomplish it, but you have thrown In
an issue which has submerged every
issue, which has involved every issue
FOL SOOu BONcIllLIlSIlt. COI POfdAiOIcS OO-
servance of Sunday. Because of
that fact the powers that be, who
are opposed to Sunday closing and
the Bishops law, have made that the
issue and put all the power they had
into the Legislature, and, if they sue
ceed-
you cannot accomplish everything
in ten days in public policy. You must
trust somebody; IL have no con-
fdence in the men you elect to office,
don't put them into power. out whel
they are there don't handicap them.
If you do, what can you expect? I say
this to you, my neighbors and friends:
There Is not q man In New Jersey,
old or young, rich or poor, Democrat
or Republican, who stands more
strongly for moral principles, and for
the uplift of the State of New Jersey
along moral lines than / do
You may think 1t is an easy thing
to do right. So it is in your home, but
you try it in politics. You may think
it Is perfectly easy to 20 out and get
anything you want in legislation; so il
would be If you had your way and
nobody was against you.
You want to remember that in the
fight we made last year on the cues
ton of enforcement of the Bishops law
that that was all the issue. / promised
nothing else, and from the time I began
the campaign only one man said a word
about local option.
1--WE have mob enough majority tc
play with on the moral question. Only
5000 majority won the election on this
issue of the Bishops bill, although ]
would not be afraid to- try the people
of New Jersey on that again tomorrow
l think that I could get more than 8,00C
majority.
Give your public servants a chance
to do something. DO not come dowr
and without the slightest idea of Tho
way things are done and the influences
that control, and undertake to say you
can do this OF you can do thatl
II am not a boss of any kind; / DOM
mean to be a boss as Governor; l am
opposed to any kind of a boss In State
or politics. 1 want that understood
here and now. And | won't be bossed
Stand by those bills that we fought
for in the last campaign. Until you
get a law under which licenses may
be revoked, that provides for the clos
ing under specified hours, until you gel
a civic spirit in the State that will en-
force the law you have not accom-
plished anything.
what I was anxious to do in this
Legislature was to get such Legislation
through as would let no man In this
State holding aJlicense dare to open
his doors between IL o'clock Saturday
night and 6 o'clock Monday morning.
Now / hope to get it yet. I have nc
fault TO find with the good people. but
1 do want to accomplish this other
thing. Suppose we accomplish the law
which is now pending, no selling on
Sundays. election day, to a minor. or
licenses void, we would her have ac-
complished something in the last cleo
ton. and then the next year you can
go before the people on this other is
sue. We will make a fight, and I will
go behind it, but ! want to go step
Lby STEP