The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1913-12-18

N
tions / can not remember to have ever
heard Of any movement to close them
or recall any speech or newspaper arti-
Gle attacking them.
became lawyer, was elected pros
ecuting attorney of the district, and
during my incumbency saloons were
open and licensed under the law, and
were without restriction as to number.
was afterward sent to congress, where
] served six years. At this time liquor
was openly sold in the restaurants of
both wings of the capitol. The conve-
nience and comfort with which intoxi.
eating drinks could be obtained often
interfered with my own attendance,
that of other members and distracted
attention from the duties Of our repre-
sentation.
Candidate for Governor.
While serving in congress became a
candidate for governor of Tennessee and
took q position on the liquor question
in the first speech | made from which
never deviated throughout my official
career. At that time it was pleasing
to many of the temperance people of
our state, for favored the right of peo-
pie of communities to vote liquor out If
they so desired, and pledged myself, if
elected governor, to carry into effect
the will of such communities, and this
pledge was performed to the letter. !
stated that did not believe in compul-
sorry state wide prohibition, and if the
Legislature should pass such a bill |
would veto it; and this promise was
also performed. L prepared careful
message and sent it to the Legislature,
setting forth my views, and expressing
the opinion that prohibition as gov
ernmental policy was fundamentally
wrong. / thought that such law
would result in multiplying the evils
of the liquor traffic instead of correcting
them and holding them in check. This
message was the product of my best
Thought and sincerity'of purpose. 1t
was the child of my brain in which |
took pride. 1t was published in the
press of Tennessee; also in other states;
and commented upon, either favorably
or adversely, as the writer's might diff
fer. 1t has been circulated as campaign
material, published in liquor journals
and in books and used as arguments by
those who were contesting the advance
of the prohibition sentiment. say to
you, fatty conscious of the meaning
and responsibility of the declaration,
that if this message has encouraged
lawlessness or even been sought as a
refuge for violators of the law, if it had
to stand as my last expression on the
liquor question, would consume it in
the living fires and erase it forever from
the minds and memory of man.
My life has had deep sorrows. My
soul has been tossed on the waves of
angry seas. My natnre'has been pro-
foundIy touched and stirred.
Trail of Liquor Evil.
have seen the trail of liquor in the
criminal courts where have prosecut-
ed crime. know and have been par
ticipant in its paralyzing and corroding
influence in the social and public life
of our national capitol. AS the govern
or of Tennessee have seen it verita-
BILE and raging centre of storm, around
which gathered its defenders and assail-
ants, and from which sprang divisions
in parties, disputes in families and dis
sensions in churches.
Going through life / have seen it drag
down many of the associates of my
boyhood, blasting their hopes and con-
signing them to untimely graves, have
seen its forked lighting strike my first
born-the child of my young manhood,
and have borne with him the suffer
ing and tried to help him in his brave
but sometimes melancholy struggle for
redemption. AT last have felt its foul
and stealthy blow as it turned upon me
in its deadly and shaming wrath-up-
on me, who had plead before the peo-
pie for its very existence. Men have
called me wrong; and while / could
see its harm in others, thought N.Y.
self immune, as thousands before my
time have thought, and suffered for
the thought.
All this l knew and felt without
revelation of the deep pathos and the
meaning of it all. needed help, for l
was groping and my feet were stum-
bling in the dark. Deep in humiliation,
tortured and condemned in my own es-
TEEN, which is the severest penalty a
man may infilict upon himself |
thought of the oft repeated phrases
about personal liberty, of the power of
the human will to resist temptation,
with which I had beguiled myself, and
1 found them as unsubstantial as the
fabric of dream.
Vision UnobScured.
have been led to where the vision |
=