Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1910-01-13
BEER AND TIE BIBLE.
News and Observer,

The cnntest in England that ia
thu most interesting waged in
any country in this decade has
many sides. The only hope Of the
Conservatives is that the liquor
interests, plus the regular Tory
vote, will be able to save the
day. Indeed if the heavy taxes
imposed by the Liberals on the
liquor traffic has not given the
Conservatives the powerful sup.
port Of that influential interest,
the Liberal victory would be O.
overwhelming.
In this country the influence Uf
the whlskey interests is very
great-so great in some States
that the party that dares to
make effective regulation is iD
danger OF defeat. 1t is always in
politics, too, and in such states
An Illinois, Ohio, Indiana a n d
Kentucky it has t,epn known to
kill and make alive. Though he
was the nominee Of his party
which had q majority in the Leg
islature, Governor, Beckham was
defeated for the Senate because
he had incurred the enmity of
the liquorinterests in' Louisville.
Hon. John W. Kern openly char
ged that it was the influence OF
the brewers that compassed his
defeat for the Senate in Indiana.
Speaker Cannon owes much to
that interest having served it Ell.
fectivrly In Congress. In England
"the trade" as the whole liquor
business is called, exerts more in
fiueuce than in America. There
honorable public position IL with
in easy reach Of the liquor deal
ers, there are millionaires wi t h
large estates in thu business, and
the social position is, b tt e r
there for men in the wholesale Ii.
quor business than in America.
The men in "the trade" are thor.
oughly organized aud can strike
with ease and with unson.
The Liberals. needing large rev
enne, elected to increase the tax
on whiskey. In America. the b.
pnblicans 'mp'~ed the heavy tax
on the necessities; in England the
Liberals imposed it upon liquor
and unused lands. By that sort
OF a budget they obtained t b 9
hostility Of the hereditary claSs-
es and the liquor interests. Be-
cause of a common interest they
have now united:' The hulk of the
established church. is in accord
with the Lords and against the
budget. "The church" fears the
Liberals who repealed the school
law enacted to give the establish
ed church large powers in educa-
tion. That aud. natural alliance
with hereditary power has caus.
cd the established church to he
largely on the side OF the Conser-
vatives, though there are many
aud notable exceptions, The IL
quor forces are solidly on the
same side. Both fear liberal rule.
Both know it means loss of pow.
er to hereditary rule whether in
church or State, and both lear it
m Q q n 9 ultimate annihilatlon.
The Washington Post recently
called attention to the, TACT that
in on ele..tion in England some
years ago, "the church and the
trade. were successful ut t h e
polls, and were wit&ily. and .allit-
erativeIy, if somewhat irreverent-
~, described by it's opponent as
floating into power on bper and
the Bible. IN part, this salne
combination exists in the present
contest, with the prospects that
the unholy combination will both
20 down to defeat. An eminent
Englishman who recently visited
the Sontb, said that heinfuence
OF the liquor trade in all elec-
tions was not appreciated out
side OF England, and that where
as big issues we're supposed to be
the only one considered, a close