The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1912-04-11
Superintendent Anderson Challenges
Senator Speicher and Wants to
fleet Him In Joint Debate.


| am in receipt of copy of The Repub-
llcan containing the full text of state
ment made by Senator Speicher, and as
l am sure it is your desire to do exact
justice to everybody and get at the
truth, enclose you copy of challenge
sent to Senator Speicher, with a request
that you publish it in full in a position
as advantageous and as likely to attract
attention as the Senator's own state
ment
We consider that Senator Speicher
has not only treated the Anti Saloon
League management badly, but that he
has betrayed his own constituents. 1t
is not profitable to undertake to answer
all this at long range, though am sure
your sense of fairness would give me an
equal amount of space if wanted it.
But it will be more satisfactory to
everybody to have the two statements
made together, and if Senator Speicher
does not accept this challenge | expect
to come up there anyhow.
Yours very truly,
WILLIAM H. ANDERSON,
Superintendent.
Baltimore, Md, April 8, 1912.
Mr. Anderson's challenge to Senator
Speicher follows:
Hon. Harvey J. Speicher Accident, Nd. {:
Dear Sir From the protection of the
Senate floor and evidently for public
consumption without thinking you would
be called to account, you challenged
the truthfulness of my statement that
your people had right to expect you
to support the Local Option bill.
| therefore challenge YOU to a Joint
discussion, to be held either at Oakland
in the open air or in the largest audi
forum in the town, or else in the
Auditorium at Mountain Lake Park, at
which time | will undertake to make
good my statement to the satisfaction
of YOUR constituents.
You will remember that on Thursday,
March %, confronted you in the pres
ence of two witnesses, one of them a
Senator, wi the fact that the liquor
men had been after YOU that day, which
you admitted At this time ! will I'M
dertake to prove that they got you, not
withstandlng the fact that you were
bound to support the Local Option bill
by everything that an honorable man
should hold sacred.
will also undertake to prove that
your attempt to escape responsibility
because the House amended the bill is
flimsy preteXt and that your individual
vote prevented the passage of a meri-
torious measure which would have given
your county everything included in the
original bill, and also that the little local
bill introduced by you was palpable
fraud designed to fool your people.
suggest that the discussion be held
some time between June Is and July 10,
subject to the prior right IN the selec-
ton of date of Senators Price and
Moore, the Democratic liquor Senators
from dry" counties, with whom you
lined up for reasons best understood by
yourself.
also suggest that we each take an
hours time, l to have the privilege of
using 20minutes of my time in rebuttal,
since | have the burden of proof.
In view of your statement, when |
went to you in friendly manner to ad-
wise you against making a blunder on
this question, that you would be able to
satisfy your people, assume that you
will welcome this opportunity to get at
it promptly.
Yours respectfully,
WILLIAM H. ANDERSON,
Superintendent Anti-Saloon League of