The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-10-19
ONEAL AND WEAKLEY
JOINT DEBATE TAKES PLACE IN
 GADsDEN.
Great Audience of Voters Hears the Ansendment Discussed at the
 EtOwah County Court

l Gadsden, Oct. 18.--(Speclal. )--The | Etowah court house was packed to It's | doors today when the debate between | Judge Weakiey and Emmet o'Neal opened. There were perhaps a dozen | women in the audience.
 | Probate Judge Penn presided, and. | without preliminary remarks. intro- ley.
 The candidate for Governor said In | the beginning. that he would not en- | gage in foffensive personalities. He | complimented Etowah County on its prohibition record. and declared that there was no need of blackberry wine | or cordial in the home. He said he
 was the father of four girl babies. and !, had raised two boys belonging to other | people, and that he had never given | them blackberry cordial. Sc said large | families could be raised on catnip tea, | paregoric and soothing syrup. | Referring to Section of the pro- posed amendment. the speaker said | that there are 50,O00 more prohibition homes In Alabama than anti-prohibi- | tion homes.
 He quoted some local legislative acts l of Etowah County and declared them
 far more drastic than either the Car michael or Fuller bills. Judge weakley attacked o'Neaps re- | cord on the whiskey question and said that the Montgomery conference was composed of men who had fought
 against prohibition. He attacked Gov
 ernor Jelks's record on the question. At this point the speaker inveighed against stloons and quoted from Scrip
 lures. Each Scriptural quotation was met with cheers from the amendment
 forces. Judge Weakley said the Scrip
 lures referred to wine "the bad kind of
 wine" He said that all gamblers.
 former saloon keepers and all who were of color morally" were lined up against the amendment. Tn reference to Section 3 of the amendment, he declared that section referred solely to soft drink stands. and that if the amendment had speci- | fled soft drink stands. i've would have
 never had another soft drink stand;
 they would have all been hard drink stands.
 He declared that the principal part of the Fuller bill was written by sa- | loon men in New York to break up blind tigers who were competing with | them.
 "If," said the speaker. 'I got this law out of the prohibition States of Maine or Kansas. our friends would
 have some cause for complaint. but I thought would satisfy them and got | it out of a whislkey State" Mir. O'Neal received an enthusiastic greeting from the audience when he
 arose to speak. He plunged at once into a discussion of the amendment. I and said that the Fuller bill was ger maine to the subject because the amend l ment sought at once to legalize cer- l tain features of the bill. He called
 attention to Section % 12 of the law which forbids prosecution for perjury | in liquor cases and scored Judge Weak
 ley, a former Chief Justice of the Su- 1 preme Court, for legaliZfng perjury.
 The speaker showed that the amend
 ment gives the legislature the right
 to excldue liquor from homes as well | as any other place. He showed the
 absurdity of the claim that the Federal | constitution protects a citizen in keep
 ing liquor in his home.
 | In forcible language he warned the | people against the present hysterlcai
 reign of legislation in Alabama. He declared that when the courts came
 heed Judge Weakley's campaign | speeches.
 | He replied to Judge Weakley's con-
 struction of the present prohibition
 laws and the proposed amendment He commented upon the remarkable
 change of front in the juJge's atti-
 tude since the campaign started. Judge WeakIey told you of that
 frost at Birmingham. but tell you
 that with one more frost like that, my
 distinguished friend will retire from
 the race" he said.
 The close of MT. o'Neals speech was
 an eloquent defense of the constitu-
 ton and & scathing denunciation of
 the political junta which is assault
 ing the liberties of the people of Ala | bama.'
 He paid a glowing tribute to the Old Guard, and declared that a man who would utter word of contempt against
 zenship in Alabama.
 Many times during the speech Mir. o'Neal was interrupted by a storm of applause from every quarter of the
 crowded room.
 Adopt this amendment, my country
 men, and what will be the result?
 Blood money, paid spies and informers,
 graft, corruption. and infanny will fol-
 low in its footsteps" he cried. "The
 Fuller law is being violated every min-
 ute in the day. Every time you take Q
 drink, except at home. you violate the
 Fuller law, and if you adopt the
 amendment you adopt an infamy which destroys the strongest bulwark of lib- erty. the sancity of the home"
 Mir. O'Neal said he would admit that possibly the amendment would carry in one county, but he would not name the county for fear he would islander it.
 Judge Weakley re1olned in a fifteen minute speech and was given an ova- ton by his partisans. It was impossi- ble to judge which side was in the ma jority during the debate.