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

I
: member that / had charge on the floor
and they made me take charge of three
liquor measures, namely, Resubmission,
the Repeal of the Sturgis Law and an
Investigation of the State Liquor Agen-
eies; and with my friend, the gentle
man from Yarmouth 6Mr Davies), as
sisted by his able temperance colleagues
including the then Speaker the able
temperance advocate, the Hon. Don
Powers of Houlton. We We're pushed all
the time that winter and there were
miles of stuff went into the records and
yet nothing Of very much Importance
transplred.
We are facing, gentlemen of the
committee, very important question:
know Of no greater in our State; T
know of no one question which con-
Germs so many people; know of no
question so vitality related to our life
as a state than this great question so
often debated of prohibition; it is a
political question: political question
Of great seriousness and magnitude;
it has been used for years ever since
was d boy as football in politics.
| You and | have seen grow up under
it in this State a generation of politi-
of prohibition drunkards. We have
seen the game played all these years.
l have always lived in Maine with the
| exception of a few years spent in In
diana and Massachusetts,; ! was born
here and | am 30 years of age: my
memory is good, and for % years at
least | have known many of the lead
ing men of Maine, men who used to
| ha n 1i,,n
and as | look back over all those years
cannot wish to speak i'll of those
men, but it becomes a habit that on
the political side of this great question
Of prohibition these men have never
stood on sincere ground
Mr. QulMBY of Turner: Yes.
Mr. NEWBERT: Never. They
would drink lemonade at the Sunday
school picnic and drink another per-
sons whiskey in the Augusta House
when they assembled here as repre-
sentatives and senators. said at one
time in public speech that | always
voted as | drank. | never drank. r
did at one time in a little church in
this city try to get friends of mine to
vote as they drank, and some didn't
like it. I remember how certain men
selves onto a pedestal and the drap-
cries around them somehow, and they
have seemed to be better than their
fellows. When | think of them and
when | think of their public utteranees
and think of their platform declara-
tions am reminded of little incident
in connection with two men from In
dianapolis who went to the White
House to see President Harrison. They
wanted some appointment for a friend,
and they said to the President that
they would like it and he told them
they could not have 1t. Then they
said to him. by God who made Won
PRESIDENT" The President rose and
buttoned his coat about him and he
said: Almighty God made me Presi-
dent Then those men went out on
the street and they saw Bob Ingersoll
and they said to him, What do YOU
suppose the President just said?" And
he said, I don't know" and they said
The President said that God Almighty
made him President: and with a
twinkle in his eye. Bob Ingersell said
Gentlemen, that was the meanest
thing ever heard about God" daugh-
teri
Gentlemen, we tried to settle this
Question last September in this State
ana 1t was not settled; it never can be
settled until it is settled right and
until 1t is settled by the people of
Maine in our country towns and in our
cities voting again, if necessary, after
fuller investigation and after more
explanation of the whole situation has
gone abroad. We tried to settle this
question, and We all know the result:
and no man, today in the State of
Maine is satisfied with the result. The
| yes vote carried eight of the IS
counties of the State; it carried all the
cities in Maine but one; it cut down
the vote of 1884, about $4,000 almost
to nothing. showing the great change
OF sentiment in this old State of Maine
since 1884.
This question has become a great
economic and great moral question
as wei as a political question In
politics the one dominant party of
Maine has been feeding the people a
certain kind of food altogether too
long; they have been feeding them
medicine prohibition that was not
meant from the heart, and the masses
OF the people according to the Sep
TENDER vote are breaking away from
your old standard and your old run
ming cry no longer holds | see the
cities breaking up and you see the
cities breaking up and when the coun-
ties are divided on the prohibition vote
OF last September l think of the old
doctor who was deaf but who thought
he could hear; travelling along past a
country farm house one day the old
farmer came out and halted him in the
rain and wind and he said to the doc
= tor the old woman Is sick again. and
what shall | give her." and the old
, doctor thought he said the old mare, ;,
: and the doctor says, give her a quart
and half of salts" and he went on.
In the course of a few days afterwards
, he came back and he saw the old man
in the yard and he says. how is the
old mare?' and the farmer says, "the
old mare is all right. but the old wo-
f man is dead" The doctor says, didn't
the medicine work on the old mare %
oh, he says, the medicine was fine:
1t worked We'll; it operated a few
times" (Laughter)