The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1912-1984, 1916-04-28
LIQUOR "HARMONY"
(Contributed)

recently printed the pictures of SEN
ator James and Governor Stanley in
the same issue, Using them as illus
tration of the alleged beautiful char
mony" existing IN the Democratic
party.
We are just as anxious for harmo-
y in the party as any one, and we
lily realize the great Importance of
ut this does not lead us to make
lie lily statement that everything is
/ we arr to concede that the ele-
lei o. tn, party led by James and
TIA ey an which puts the protec-
ior of he liquor traffic above the
welfare IF the party, constitutes the
Democratic party in Kentucky, then
heI,. i: harmony, chunks of it,
no gh o ad the boat, if not sink
t. We nau bushels of this brand of
harmony in the State Convention last
year, where the Stanley crowd, to
please the liquor interests, ruthless
REM rec fir, NJ office some of the
no f: th1 { capable officials in
he pa " rig. liZation to make
,la Ie1 eraP' Haldeman, and
that brilliant leader of the campaign
of 1907, S. Wilbur fager. This fine
piece of harmony" work made it
necessary for the better element of
the party to work as it had never
done before to save the ticket from
defeat in November.
But the well-night disastrous re-
suits in November were not sufficient
to warn the James-Stanley-K loecker
crowd of the danger in following this
"hquor harmony" program, and so
we find them working along the same
lines in the Legislature, where they
were able to control the situation in
the House through hand-picked Ii
quor rules committee. Mr.. Stanley
who fought the county unit more
bitterly in 1911 than any other man
in kei .tucKy -ooled lot of Demo-
Gratis in the primary of 1915 by
promising, if elected to do every
thing possible 20 strengthen and en-
force The county unit law.
In order to fool the people again
in the fall campaign, assurance of
loyalty to the county unit law was
written into the party platform.
How completely all these pledges
have been broken is now history. The
only bill introduced in the Legisla-
ture that would have really helped
enforce the county unit law was the
anti-shipping bill, aimed at the "boot
leggers." In the closing hours of
the Legislature, SANKEY'S House
Rules Committee strangled this bill,
in the face of a written petition
signed by fifty-three members asking
that it be allowed to come to a vote.
This was "harmony" with a VEN
geance, and strictly of the James
Stanley brand.
On April 10th, the Louisville
Times, one of the Harmony organs,
printed a news article about Cover
nor Stanley having had dinner the
day before at a Cincinnati hotel with
Mr.. Kloecker and Mr. Carothers.
Who is Mr.. Kloecker? He is the
Wiedemann Brewing Company's con-
tribution to ''invisible government"
Who is Mr.. Carothers? He is the at
torney for the Newport and Coving-
ton saloon keepers who have openly
defed the Sunday closing law. A
gay dinner party thiS-a harmony"
dinner party. We suppose Mr.. James.
sent his regrets.
There ought to be harmony in the
Democratic party; and there will be
when three things happen: first, the
party must declare its independence
of the liquor traffic; second, it must
stop the practice of electing to Of
fee men who place their allegiance
to the liquor interests above their
obligation to the public; and third,
it must give the people of the State
the right to settle the liquor question
at the polls. There ought not to
be, and there cannot be, any harmo-
ny in the party until these things
are brought about The Democratic
party was organized to serve the
whole people, not the liquor interests.
When it swings back in Kentucky to
this original purpose, we shall have
harmony again-not liquor harmony,
not gun men harmony, not dinner
party harmony, but Democratic har--
mony. And with this harmony shall
come victory; not victory of 400
majority, with a cloud hanging over
it, but victory of 10000, as was
the party's record before it was made
merely an annex to the LIQUOR Trust.