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

Yes. the Governor said he believed in
the enforcement OF law, and then goes
in Democratic caucus this spring in Wa
| terville and Augusta and says the law
4 cannot be enforced and he comes here
in his message and says it cannot be en-
| forced. Where did he learn it? Where
did the Governor of Maine learn that
the law could not be enforced2 Ger
| tainly not through any experiment he
! has made, not through any observation
| he has had from any of your Demo-
| cratic officials in the State of Maine eX-
| cept i'm Somerset county. The law is
| not self acting; 1t wont enforce itself.
| / stood the other day in the presence
of ono of those great power house cleo
| trfc machines. wonderful machine 1t
was, the product of the inventors mind,
modern, up-to-date. perfect in all its
parts, almost q living thing, all that il
needed was a man to make il bring
forth wealth for the state and pros
perity II seems 10 me, gentlemen,
| thar the Maine law is the finished pro-
duct of sixty years of the brightest
minds in the State of Maine; il is a
| wonderful law The sale of a single
glass of liquor makes the man selling
ii a common seller, liable to Indictment
ing house and tippling shop. You can
take your search and seizure process
and find what he has: you can convict
your man of keeping a drinking house
and tipping shop and have him taken
10 prison. Here is the mill which would
grind the liquor traffic to powder; here
is the court in equity in Maine which
may reach out its great strong arm and
by writ of injunction stop the sale of
liquor in Maine.
l want 10 tell you, gentlemen. what
YOU already know, that this talk that
the law cannot be enforced is one of
the most cowardly lies that ever was
spoken. You think / am harsh. Well,
l am not quoting my own authority
about the matter. l know something
about your problem in regard to the
cities. You say You cannot enforce
the law in the cities of Maine. They
are not much different from the colIn-
try towns. / know and you know and
we all recognize that congregated and
collected together in the cities of
Maine, in the large cities. are all the
undesirable elements, all the criminal
classes who seek to live on the vices
of their fellows. We all understand
that in the cities there are collected
together men who in their dreams
have no country and in their hearts
mo flag; and yet you know and / know
that in the cities are also collected
the brains, the culture, the education.
the great business men of the State:
men perhaps, who drink as they drink
in the country. but men who believe
II the enforcement of law; men who
are against notification; men who do
not believe the saloon is any benefit to
the State. and men who are against
| the notification of the Maine law,
but men who love the Maine law and
| who want to see it enforced; men
who will stand by faithful officials
who will enforce the Maine law in
| the cities. Talk about your not being
able to enforce the law in the cities
| of Mainel Combine the Maine cities
| together and they viii not outnumber
| the population of one city, S.. Louis.
| st. Louis was wide open two years
ago and they said they could not en-
force the law in st. Louis; the Demo-
cratic district attorney there said that
| he could enforce the law in st. Louis,
| a city with over 100000 inhabitants,
and lie did it; and he became so pop
Iular after he did it that they made
him not only the mayor of the city
| but they made him Governor of Mis-
souri,, and he is a prominent eandi-
date for President of the United
| States in the Democratic party. II
lyou. want a man TO become popular in
| the state of Maine ust let him be a
sheriff or q county attorney and do
| his duty. over in Somerset county
| Sheriff Moocrs is on the ballot of both
parties at the primaries. l have been
talking about Governor Folk, who en-
forced the law in Missouri. He says;
The law is merely a weapon in the
Hands CT officials. for, without officials
| laws would be as useless as cannon in
| war without men. Good governme
dererds more upon the men behind
the law thar On the law itself. No
official has tire right 10 violate the
oath that be taxes to enforce the laws
| simply iSeeGgse some people do not
want the iam enforced. He cannot ex-
| cUse ncu enforcement on the ground
| that public sentiment is against the
law. He 9ass not swear to support
| pubic sen8 isaeats he does take an
oath TO SNnTwt1 tire law. Public senfi-
meut Bx a &l8lcnit thing to get at.
| Law -ssssGsSe pople are quiet, while
the Iaw5ass ARE 50 yociferous as to
1 deceive some aa 10 their number. The
only corr@et wag TO determine pablo
sentiment ~ ~ the expression of the
peoples win through the law-nlak-
/ ing body. II an official cannot obey
the mandate % the law. he should re-
sign and give way to some one else
who can. What seems public senti-
ment may be and often is the clamor
of the lawless who have selfish in
terest in violating law. There is no
greater evil among us than the easy
notification of laws by executive Of
ficiais who have sworn to enforce
them. 1t is not for an executive Off
cial to say whether law is good or
bad. but TO enforce it rs it is. He
should not ask is it popular? or is 1t
good politics? but is it right? In the
end, if he remains steadfast, the
fright Will win. The trouble has been
that a privileged class has violated
the law with impunity and escaped its
cancpduences