Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-03-31

|
peal the sturgis law and have no thing to
| take its place. that this temperance baby
| is going to grow and when the old mother
tries to get him off her lap she will hear
something fall just as true as you live.
There has been a good deal said
about the Democratic party. The Dem
| ooratic party has always stood one
| way. If have interpreted it right, they
| wanted high license; they wanted
rum, but no one can say but what the
Democratic party has been honest, per-
fectly honest. The people know that
| and they know just exactly where
they stand. (Applause.) They have de-
| clared one thing and they have meant
| if right straight through. The Repub-
lican party has made great promises
! but they never have intended to keep
| any of them. (Applause.) 1 want you
to know that the people of the State Of
Maine are getting about tired of this
| sort of thing. Here are Republicans
getting up here and using the same
| talk that the Honorable Senate has
used, that this measure, the Sturgis
| law, Is unconstitutional, un-American,
| and all that sort of thing 1t don't
sound very well. The Sturgis law is the
best method that the State of Maine
has ever had to enforce the prohibit
| tory law, and there is no question
about it. 1t has been acknowledged so
all over our State. 1t is law that has
some teeth in it and can do some bus
mess; but the machinery don't like it.
That Is Just the way I feel about this
thing. They go on and tell you that
hn Low, tod TO 10 a.,
| work of the sheriffs, and 1 saw piece
| in the paper a little while ago saying
that they were sailing rum in Bangor
| in some 800 places, and that the sher-
iii didn't take any notice of it. Why?
Because, they said, there had been
all Office created to do that work There
never was anything more false than
that under the sun; the Sturgis Com
mission never was created for any such
thing. Any sheriff elected in this State
has, q perfect right and is expected to
60 ahead and enforce the law. They
said that the Sturgis Commission was
put into operation to go into the towns
where the sheriffs utterly refused to
do anything, where they would not do
anything. and it was the only weapon
that the Governor had to enforce the
laws. So just want to put myself on
record as saying here today that I be-
lieve we have got q machine. there is
no question about it, and it makes
good promises but it is not sincere and
does not intend to be anyway. We have
not got ahead very far. Two years ago
l was a member of this House and 1
voted against doing away with the Ii
quor agencies. 1 felt that we ought to
retain them because this was prohi-
bition State; but I am here again this
year, and we have had a hearing on
that question and 1 find out that we
have Is open and fuM-fledged rum
Shops running in our State, and the
man who decides who Is sick and who
shall have rum is the rumseller behind
the bar; and the only requisite that
there is attached to it is that you can't
have liquor unless you come there So
Der and not in an intoxicated state,
and if you happen to go there not
drunk you can have enough. That is
the way the thing works. I feel that
we have gore far enough in this direc-
ton Unless we intend to do something
and really do something. we have done
enough in that direction; we had bet
ter all go over to the Democratic par
ty
Mr.. P.ATTANGALL Of Waterville:
Mr.. Speaker, these rehersals in public
of scenes that have occurred in eau
cuses of the opposite party are inter-
esting. 1 am opposed to the amend
ment offered by the gentleman
from Ellsworth for one or two
reasons which 1 will state
briefly. assume that every man
in this State has an opinion as to
the advisablity or inadvisability of re-
pealing the Sturgis law. l presume that
every member of this House has the
courage of his convictions on that sub
ject. I think we are all capable of eX-
pressing an opinion upon it. 1t seems
to me that to amend the law so that it
would call for a popular election is
simply to shrk the responsibility which
devolves upon us and try to place it up
on somebody else. and to ask the State
of Maine to pay 100000 or $4,000 for
that privilege. If we have not the cour-
age to act upon that matter here it is
our fault, and not the fault of any
amendment to the constitution. for there
is nothing in the initiative and referen-
dun amendment adopted in the consti-
tuition, as everybody in the House we'll
knows, which calls upon us to send mat
tiers to the people except they are
initiated from the people. We can act
here to save the expense of a special
election. and if the people. do not APP
prove of our act they can petition and
vote to repeal the Sturgis law If they
desire to do so. If the people want to
act upon this matter they have the ma
chinery with which to act upon it. We
are here to act upon it. We have acted
upon it. and If we adopt the amendment
offered here it would be to my mind
nothing more or less than to attempt
to lift from our own shoulders the bur-
den of duty which We ought to per-
form one day or the other and transfer
it to the shoulders of somebody else.
I have listened with a great deal of
sympathy to the Macedonian cry which
the gentleman from Ellsworth sent out
to the Democratic members Of this
House to for Heavens sake come in and
help us out of this hole which we are
in, and vote for q substitute for the
Sturgis law because a crisis has come.
There is no crisis in the State of Maine.
The crisis opnearS to he in the marty of