The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1915-12-24
COLONEL PLEASANT
IGNORES W. c. 7. U.

two oCCuranceS at Wilson, III East
i7elicIana parish, and the other at Min
den, in Webster parish.
At Wilson Lieutenant Governor Bar
ret was interrupted by an auditor who
said that when L. E. Thomas was
through the section speaking with Col.
Pleasant, gubernaterial candidate, he
charged that Barrett came down to New
Orleans last September seeking the
support of the ward bosses, and, failing
to land it, had espoused the cause OF
prohibition.
Mr.. Barrett in reply stated that Thorn.
as charge was an unqualified false
hood" asserting once again that he
had inserted the prohibition plankS in
his platform at the urgent insistence Of
the anti-saloon league leaders of the
state, and that any man who said that
Thomas C. Barrett had either directly or
indirectly, by word or suggestion, in
vtted the ward boss support in his CAM
paign for the governship, was guilty Of
perpetratlng Wilful and malicious I'M
truth.
The other notable incident Of the poll.
teal Week-at Minden- came when
some one in the audience interrupted
Col. R. G. Pleasant and asked him why
he had not answered the query of the
State Women'S Christian Temperance
Union as to his position on the ten
mile bills" for Baton Rouge and Lafa-
yette. This query, submitted some ago
brought prompt and favorable res
ponse from Lieutenant Governor Bar
ct. His opponent has lodged the ques-
ton successfully for weeks. These
"ten mile bills" are designed to wipe
put the baleful influence Of the open
saloon upon the students of Louisiana
State University at Baton Rouge and
those OF the Lafayette Industrial Insti'
tute at Lafayette, and such measures
will be introduced at the next session
of the assembly.
When COL Pleasant was pressed for
an answer at Minden he declared that
he had submitted several questions to
his opponent, Mr.. Barrett, and had not
been answered: therefore, he felt under
no obligation to answer the questions
propounded by the ladies of the W. C..
7. U. organization. He added, however,
that he believed in local option with the
parish as a unit, and that the question
of prohibition for these two school
towns would have to be settled by the
voters of the parishes in which the in
stitutiOnS are located.
This is especially interesting in the
case of East Baton Rouge, where some
few months ago the good women pre-
scented to the police Juorors petition
containing the names of a majority of
the qualified voters of the entire parish,
asking for an election on the liquor Ii
cenSe question. The petition was rude
ly turned doWd by the police jury, thus
corroborFting the statement OF the an.
ii saloon leagIerS that local option. as
it really works in some parishes, is no
thing more than brewery option"
Lieutenant Governor Barrett will
spend the next three weeks in northern
and central Louisiana. campaigning in
sections which have not heretofore
been visited. His dates in that section
of the state bring him to near the mid
die OF January.
Reports received at the Barrett head.
quarters in New Orleans and in Shreve.
port show that Barrett is gaining
ground continually in the northern,
central, southwestern and Florida par
iSheS sections OF the state. The absurd
claims being furnished by the Pleasant
campaign boosters are not being Swal-
lowed by the people--these claims are
being put out solely for purpose of fool
ing the voters and catching that por-
ton of the vote which desires to sit IN
the bandwagon Of the candidate who is
expected to win. Silly estimates and
false claims do not elect governors of
Louisiana. The people of the state are
going to vote as they think, and they
are going to vote for the man best
equipped for the position. Conserva.
tive reports from friends of the Barrett
cause throughout the state indicate
that Barrett will have an immense ma.
jority over his opponent.