Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-03-25


to the fact that my city marshal drew
n salary of a thousand dollars and tho
mayor 81 week. Upon the hill WAS
the sheriff with the salary of I2o,
deputies ana q police judge drawing
j his salary. ! said: Gentlemen. why
don't you swear out the warrants
They said that there was a machine
for that purpose in Maine. They
didn't like the sound of that. You have
hcarl of the monkey that used the
cats paws To draw the ehestnHts o#t
I,f the fire. and / explained 10 them
shat didn't propose to be the cat
Those ministers asked me if / was
in faypr OF licensing this evil. and /
said License it or tax it, anything is
better than the present condition,
They said will YOU license a man to
murder? and l said IF l can sign Il
license for = man to go out and Kill
one man. md thereby save ~ I would
do it, and if you let me pick tie man,
/ viii make it two" applause
Nov gentlemen, some day, No mat
ter whether you believe it or not. !
am no prophet or the son of a prophet.
but I stand here to say / believe, as
Wonder sun shines, that the state Of
Maine is coming to local option. Why
Because every other New England state
that mas tried both ways has abandon
ed prohibition, and Maine will follow
suit The long suffering of this people
has come to a climax. There is no
question about that. They say HeN
can we regulate this traffic with It
IicenSe2" Well, with no more ability
than / have got, and / am one of the
least OF the great state of Maine, !
could draw q license plan that would
/ keen things so straight that Ike the
Indian sapling it would lean the other
way. First | would take the handling
of liquor out of the spring elections.
I would decide how many saloons a
CITY shoula have to serve the first re
public so that they would not hunt
up the dives. ] would sell the right at
auction for each one OF those places
for an indefinite time; they simply
nay for the right l would issue IL
eelse 20 each. they paving annually
for the license to conduct the business
Upon the wall hang restrictions that
tlean something; and all sell pure IL
nuors. no selling decoctions; no shades
at the window Let the public look in.
and when l am ashamed to step UP ia
the bar then it has arrived at Il period
where 1 better keep out. Have no
tables. no chairs, lei man walk IN
and get his drink and then walk out.
Prohibit treating.
There is no trouble about this mat
ter Put black list of habitual
drunkards who go home and abuse
their families. on the wall Say that
tn sell to them means the revoklng OF
their license. Suppose he overstep5
his bounds. Shut his door for 30 DAYS,
and the second time. shut him up for
60 days. and the third time. sell that
privilege to another man. There IS no
way to keep a man to the law, So we'll
as to reach down into his pocket and
take out a good handful
The difficulty with this subject has
been. not because the intelligence OF
the citizen was not sufficient to handle
it, but because it has been made po-
Iitical football. Both parties have
been afraid of it, and they would shy
around it. and shy around II. anu
everybody looking on knew that was
the fact Up in the old city of Ban
gor the good old Republican party
and there are some very good men III
it-not so many as there used To be III
il. for they are coming to our party in
our section-they stood up there ana
said we reafiirm4 our allegiance to
prohibition and the enforcement Of the
prohihitory law, in the future as IN
the past" Talk about comic opera
Talk about cold blooded, premeditat-
ed sarcasm If you can beat that, let
me know. Why the Democratic party
has had the greatest struggle for years
to get in such position that ii could
deal honestly with this subject. step
by step we came along, and they at
last really dared to submit the amend
ment to the people. and then they Went
to bed. They did not dare to be out Ga
the street.
They tell US that last September the
people of the State of Maine settled
this question. No question is ever
settled until it is settled right. That
question was not settled for very many
good reasons, one of which is the fact
that the discussion of the subject was
left to its opponents, and our little
county was invaded by temperance
workers and so was almost every
mans dooryard They had music, and
they told those people they must moi
forget about the glorious benefits de-
rived from Prohibition. 1t would seem
"A little might far fetched, if You were
sitting at my table and | said rs not
that good? Eat some more of it. /
am afraid YOU do not realize what Is
going down your throat They would
say, Put him in the insane asylum,
he doesn't know what he is talking
about" Those people came down to
tell us 10 keep the prohibitory amend
nent 1t was simply absurd, They
imported orators from far off places.
judge Blair came to our State 1t IL
said, YOU know. that fools rush IN
where angels dare not tread. A petit
ton was signed for a joint discussion
between myself and Judge Blair Judge
Blair came clear down To Maine, but
he said. Il am not prepared to meet
one of those down east hay -SeederS.'
He was asked why he left his state to
come here without preparation. | went
to hear him, and | heard the most
masterful argument for free rum ever
heard in this State He said, In the
morning when ] looked ont of the car
window | was passing beautiful resi-