Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-08-08

expected that all union men III the ex-
iHberanees ef-tIair-,joYr oxer their de-
| liVerance from an unregulated rum
l'basifIessi would rush TO theYfohntain of
youth (the bar rpom) and that the de-
ma1td Tor union made t1gars Would be
so great that more edgar factories
would have to be built. thus creating a
demand for carpenters, painters and
| all the other trades. and then Maine.
Iresurrected from the grave Of pro-
hibition- does-n prohibit" would take
her rightful place among the progress
sive license states.
Another speaker in what is reported
as being forcible speech. declared: u
ain for license For fifty years we
! have waited for chance to fight the
law, and now we have it. This is the
kind of reasoning and style of oratory
that stampeded the convention. and
the greata wonder is that there were
any delegates who We're not sway.d
lby its powerful influence. Do these
declarations repre- sent the princjplps
Tor which the great labor movement
stands? Let the workingmen of
Maine answer. THE CIGARMAKERS
Union WAS PUT SQUARELY ON
RECORD AS BEING OPPOSED To
PROHIBITION AND IN FAVOR OF
LICENSE SO THAT THE M
IP0RTANCE AND VALUE OF THEIR
STATEMENTS IN CONNECTION
| WITH THE PROHIBITORY LAW
SHOULD BE CONSIDERED FROM
| THIS STANDPOINT.
| was delegate to the Bangor con-
Vcntion and represented to the best of
my ability the granite cutters OF
| NlhalhaNen, an organization with
which | have been associated since its
| rounding in 1877. was not sent to
the convention to enact or pass upon
| any religious, temperance or political
questions as these subjects are never
allowed 10 be discussed in our meet
| lngs, and as far as I know this same
| rule IS enforced in all labor unions.
This being the case, resolution to
| take from the Constitution the pro-
hibitory amendment had no MOI e
right 10 be considered in labor con-
vention than a proposition to take
| from the New Testament the gospel of
one OF the apostles
The referendum is dragged into this
question evidently TO befog the voters
NA'd - justly inc dtllDiI taken. nose
responsible for it know that the
referendum has no more to do with
the disposition of this question than
would a manifesto issued by the Shah
I OF Persia. The Legislature has voted
to resubmit to the voters on the 18th
day of September 1911, the question of
constitutional prohibition and no mat
ter what the result may be, il win
stand as the Will OF the people and
cannot be affected by the referendum
or any other law. It will be time
enough to talk about the initiative and
referendum after the legislature meets
There is no question bat that the reso-
luton was introduced in the interests
of the licensed saloon and for the pur-
pose of influencing voters in favor of
the repeal OF the law, and it would be
more honest to come out in the open
IMAM TO be hiding in the shadow Of the
initiative and the referendum
The unfairness Of the whole PROPOSE
ton viii be appreciated when it is
known that some of the delegates who
voted for the resolution represented
unions made up of men and women,
thus giving the impression that the
are looking forward with eager ex-
peetation 10 the time when Maine in
the might of her Intellectual develop-
meht will throw off the shackles of
prohibition, graduate from the school
OF hypocrisy notification, graft and
corruption" and substitute in place
thereof the Utopian conditions that
will naturally follow the coming of the
licensed saloon. What rot, and what
an insult To the women wage workers.
and the, grand record that organized
labor has made Tor social. moral and
economic bettermentt Labor stands
for constructive not destructive legis-
lation: the home and not the bar
room.
THE DELEGATES WHO VOTED
FOR THE RESOLUTION F,X-
PRESSED THEIR OWN 1NDTVID-
UAL SENTIMENTS AND NOT THE
SENTIMENTS OF THEIR ORGANI-
CATIONS AND IT Is CRIMINALLY
WRONG TO ASSOCIATE THE OR
CANNED LABOR MOVEMENT OF
MAINE, OR ANY PART OF 1T WITH
| THE ACTION OF THE BANGOR
CONVENTION. Some of these dele
gates nave found out since tnelF re-
turn home that they did not truly
represent their unions. and | have yet
to meet a trade unionist who COM
mends or approves the action taken
No, a thousand times no, the labor
movement does not stand for the Ii
censed saloon!
The knights of Labor that in 1896
had more than 10000 members in Maine
win not admit to membership any per-
son " no III any way is connected with
the liquor business The great railway
brotherhoods made UP of men of the
highest intelligence will eXpel from
| their ranks any member who engages
| in the sale of Intoxicating drinks or
patronizes the saloon. There are more
than three thousand of these men in
Maine, none of whom We're represented
at the Bangor convention, and they too
are included in the reports that are
sent out to the effect that organized
! labor in Maine wants the prohibitory
| law repealed so that we can have Ii
eensed saloons regulated by the refer
endum.