The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1908-05-08

/ state OF Tennessee which VIII Dan
/ ISL the liquor traf5e finally and for
I ever from every inch Of our soil.
Il know there are people in Chat
I tanOoga who hope 70 reap a harvest
Of profit from the fugitive and ex-
patTiated saloons Of other States, but
/ 1 say TO you. my countrymen, that
no saloon ever added one dollar to the
moral worth and prosperity Of any
community. l say TO you that every
dollar of capital invested in the sa-
loon is a dollar Withdrawn from pro
ductive enterprise and devoted TO pur-
poses OF moral and economic de-
struction. | say to you people Of Ham,
ilton County that the curse OF God Is
upon every saloon dollar everywhere,
and that you can reap no reward,
either in this world or any world to
come by a traffic with the devil In
the ruined lives of men, the broken
hearts Of women and the starved
souls Of little children. / appeal to
the higher manhood and the higher
Womanhood of Hamilton County. This
is a great and progressive city. You
are a great and enlightened people.
Proclaim it-proclaim it, my country
men, to all the world that you are not
~ 6lNCn " a anu OCoOlbC0
worship of Mammon that you prize
the dollars of the saloon more than
you prize the peace of your homes and
the souls of your neighbors.
SPEAKERS POSITION
ON ELECTION LAWS.
Il have criticised Gov. Patterson's
position on the election laws, and |
will tell you my position by saying it
is practically the position which Gov.
Patterson took in the last campaign.
The difference is that | mean 1t.
While realize that many honest men
felt that there was a necessity for the
election laws of 1897, | made my pro-
test at the time against the passage
of the bill and | have ever since held
to the opinion, so eloquently express
ed by Gov. Patterson, that the law
is indefensible from every point of
view; that such a vast concentration
of the election machinery in the hands
of one man is unfair, undemocratic
and grossly violative of the sacred
principle of local self-government. l
am opposed to the law as it now
stands upon the statute books for pre-
cisely the same reasons that | was OPP
posed to the law before it was amend
ed. l would not go back to the old
system, nor would | have any par
ticular objection to the maintenance
of an Election Board, provided that
board was not appointed by the Gov
ernor, and provided it's powers were
properly limited and denied. Years
ago, in written communications to
members of the Legislature, | propos-
ed the very plan suggested by Gov.
Patterson in his campaign that the Of
fcers of election shall be chosen from
lists presented by the county commit
tees of the two great parties, giving |
each party a representative of it's own
choice. There has been and still is, |
need to protect some of the counties
against the ignorant negro vote, but
that can be done, and must be done,
without legalizing a fraudulent sys-
TEN. | want the elections in Tennes-
see to be made fair and honest, and
promise you, my countrymen, if |
am elected Governor, the solemn
promise Gov. Patterson made upon
this great question shall be redeem
ed under my administration.
II also believe, as Gov. Patterson
believed two years ago, that the near
er all elections are brought to the peo-
pie the fairer and purer they will be-
and that all officers should be nomi-
mated by a direct primary in order
that from this time forth and forever
40 State Committee shall have the
to meet in secret confer
ence with candidate and accept at
lis hands plan of nominations de-
signed to promote his interests with
,ut any regard for the rights of the
people. | shall insist upon the pass
Ige of a mandatory primary election
aW.
AGAINST THE BUCKET SHOP.
while gambling seems to be the
historic vice of our race, it is the gen.
raj judgment of civilized mankind
hat it is economically injurious and
lorally wrong. While we have out
iwed all the grosser forms of this
vii, there is one which has continued
} flourish. | give it as my deliberate
Idgment that the form of gambling
9presented by the so-called bucket
hops is, from every point of view,
lie worst of all. While it wears the
lere form and mask of actual trans
ction, it is nothing more nor less
ian betting upon the future prices of
roducts of the soil. 1t is gambling r
ure and simple, and, like every other :
,rm of gambling, it is at war with all I
ultimate business. Morally, it is the r
lost respectable the most entlcing, !
lie most destructive of ALL No other r
amblers' game has done so much to :
wer the standard of business integ- +
ty and commercial honor. No other r
IN call longer roll of bankrupts, +
thieves and suicides. 4