The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1908-05-08
LIGHT ON THE TOILET
ROAD

-One Of the most insidlous mea-
sures introduced IN that body 20
strengthen the saloon power in Ten
nessee was the Toilet Road bill II
will be remembered that Gov. Patter-
son, IA his message. dwelt with force
and eloquence upon the necessity Of
an effective road law. and urged the
Importance Of an early enactment OF
such a law. This was a question IN
which the people for some years have
been taking a great and growing IN
teTest, and Gov. Patterson artfully
seized upon this fact 10 arouse and
intensity this interest; he presented
in strong and attractive phrase the
great increase in wealth and trade that
would result from a systematic i'm
provement Of our public highways.
and then urged and emphasized the
necessity of early prompt and i'm
mediate action upon this subject. In
response to this appeal the Toilet
Road bill was introduced in the very
first hour Of the session. II provided
that all the revenues for road build
ing under that law were to come from
the increased taxes on saloons not
single dollar from any other source
whatever. If this bill could have been
rushed through, as they made the
most determined efforts to do, and be-
fore the abolition of the saloons in
any of the towns of the State had
been brought about, what a powerful
argument would have been placed in
the mouth of the liquor dealers in
Tennessee. II would have given the
people in all of the counties interest
ed in the improvement of their pub
lie highways a vital and immediate !
interest in the preservation of the |
saloons, and all the other counties in !
Tennessee. If that law had been pass
ed the people of Carter and Unicoi, of |
Wayne and Hardin, and Benton and |
Crockett, and every other county in
Tennessee, would nave been confront
ed with the fact that to vote the
saloons out of Columbia, GAINESVILLE
and Jackson, would be to deprive
themselves of revenue for the i'm
provement of their public roads. The
bill said, in effect, to all the people
of Tennessee, if you want to have
good roads you must save the sa-
looms.
THE PENDLEToN LAW.
at requires an audacity only one
step from the sublime for the admins
tration to claim the credit for all the
saloons that were abolished under the
Pendleton law. l will join in singing
the praises OF this measure and doing
honor to the splendid gentleman who
was the author of the bill. No man
can estimate, and only the records of
eternity can reveal, the great good it
has accomplished. What then shall
we say of the man who planted every
obstacle in its path and strained all
his power and influence to defeat it?
That is what Gov. Patterson did.
assert that he sent for Senator Pen
1eton himself, denounced the bill in
The strongest terms, declared that he
lad the courage of his convictions
and that he would veto it if passed.
charge that after the bill had passed
he still declared his intention to veto
t; that he sent for friends, denounced
he measure as an outrage, declared
hat it was Infamous, and begged
hem to make a determined effort to
ally enough votes in the Senate to
sustain his veto. He held it up to
he last moment of time, and it was
rot until he found that his veto would
,e in vain, and not until he was plain
y told by his friends that it would
mean his political destruction that he
eiuctantly approved the Dill.
charge that these four hundred sa-
oons were destroyed in spite of the
most desperate efforts on the part of l
Iov. Patterson to save them from {
and that if he could have {
ad his way every one of them would
till be busy dealing out ruin to the s
odies and souls of men. {
"My countrymen, without elaborate |
rgument | shall present my views d
pom a number of important ques- /
ions.
iR. cARMAcK's VIEWS
ON TEMPERANCE. D
"The question of the open saloon is e
ne of the great problems in this G
tate as it has been in other States ! 2
N one of those who believe that the Ia
lloon is an unmitigated curse to the e
tate, a great source of crime and u
burden upon it's indus j
les, blight upon its homes. l am re
lie of those who have been convinc- 81
by the failure of all regulative and u
legislation, that some way II
other, by some method or other, 2,
lie saloons must be destroyed. II
i've heretofore adhered to the plan p
lrsued by the Anti-Saloon League, pl
hich found expression in the Pendle- fc
n law, whose practical effect is to lie
ave each community to fight out its m
vn battles with the saloons. | will IN
y to you frankly that | had expected g;
adhere to that policy in this cam 10
ign. But the wise general adapts RI
5 strategy and his tactics to the ca
OVementS of the enemy A short Ell