The sun., 1919-08-18
LOOMS
AS A JERSEY ISSUE
Adoption of the Eighteenth
Amendment Fails to Settle
Question.
DEMOCRATS SEE CHANCE
Hope to Win on State Rights
and Reinforcement.
Promises.
Special De,potch 10 TIE Sun.

TRENTON, Aug. 1.-THE prominence
which prohibition has assumed in the
fight for the Governorship in New Jer-
sey presents an interesting situation in
the light Of past political history in the
State. For several decades II has fol-
lowed almost inevitably that any at
tempt on the part of the Republicans to
regulate the liquor traffic has been fol-
lowed by disaster. This fact, admitted
by all leaders who have followed the
fortunes Of the party for any consider
ablo period. Is largely responsible for
the Republican stand. first for local op-
ton and later for prohibition.
When the agitation for countrywide
prohibition had assumed something of its
present strength a few years ago Re-
publicans in this State faced a peculiar
problem. Although 1t was generally true
that prohibition had a larger percentage
of followers among the Republicans than
the Democrats, 1t was equally true that
sentiment varied in different commu-
mites.
In the more populous centres adjacent
to New York and Philadelphia and at
many Of the summer resorts for which
New Jersey is noted there was pro-
nounced opposition not only to prohibi-
ton but to any curtailment of the liquor
traffic. In rural communities, on the
other hand, the prohibition movement
gained sro1nd rapidly. and it soon be-
came evident that no candidate could
be elected to the Senate or Assembly
from some Of the smaller counties unless
he declared unequivocally against the
liquor traffic.
Edge Tries Local Option.
Fearing disruption OF the party on
the liquor question. United States Sen
ator Edge, then Governor. and party
leaders associated with him hit upon tho
plan of local option as a means of re-
moving the excise question as a State
issue. The purpose was twofold. 1t
was thought party unity could be pre-
served by letting the communities de-
teImine for themselves whether the
liquor traffic should be tolerated and
that this would relieve the party from
taking a positive stand on the question
OF national prohibition.
With these ends in view the Repub-
lican State convention adopted a local
option plan in it's platform which ulti-
mately resulted in the passage of the
local option law Of 1917. The measure
failed to have the desired effect. The
sentiment for prohibition then sweeping
the country revived the issue in New
Jersey, despite all arguments that the
home rule policy embraced in the local
option law had committed the party
against national prohibition.
In a final effort to remove the liquor
question from politics the ensuing Re-
publican State platform declared un-
equivocally for prohibition. subject to
the reservation that members of the
Legislature elected on platforms op-
posed to prohibition should be free to
redeem their campaign pledges.
The result OF this declaration was al
most identical with that following the
pa ssage of the eo-called Bishops laws in
1906. In that year the Republicans, who
had controlled both branches of the Leg
stature by large majorities. lost the
House. which in 1907 stood thlrty-one
Democrats to twenty-nlne Republicans.
Election of Democratic delegation in
Essex was mainly responsible for this
result, as It was last year. when the
election OF twelve Democrats from Essex
made the House stand thirty to thirty.
Republicans Worried.
with these and similar. experiences IN
mind 1t Is not surprising that Repub-