The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1928-10-01
NO APOLOGIES OFFERED
Bishop Henderson Says Methodist
Church Offers No Apology for
Opposing al" Smith

Bishop Henderson, or the Methodist
Episcopal Church, who presided at the
two Ohio Conferences of that church re-
Gently. which were addressed by Mable
Walker Willebrandt and which addresses
have SO disturbed the wet camp, made the
following statement in introducing Mrs.
Willebrandt to one of the conferences.
Methodism offers no apology to the
American public nor to the world for be-
ing the shock troops IN every prohibition
fight in America. For fifty years we have
endured criticism and calumny for our
unrepentant hostility to the beverage
liquor traffic. We do not repent now in
our unWaVering antagonism to anybody
and everybody who seeks to repeal or
amend the Eighteenth Amendment.
Neither the Democratic nor the Repup-
nCan convention stands on the platform
Of either modification or notification OF
the Eighteenth Amendment. That issue
is squarely drawn by Governor Smith. He
repudated the platform of his own party
and by SO doing has made himself the is
sue of this campaign. The issue is not
the Democratic party nor the Republican
party. The issue is Alfred z. Smith He
has made himself the issue in his defiant
determination to defeat prohibition. SO
far as / am personally concerned accept
the issue to be settled at the polls No
Vember 6. Every ounce of energy
possess l will throw into the fight to lead
Ohio Methodism to accept the def of Mr..
Raskob, the wet chairman of the National
committee of a wet candidate for the
presidency, when Mr.. Raskob says that
this wet candidate will relieve the coun-
try of the damnable affection of prohibit
ton" That fight is now on and Meth
0disln Is proved to be in the front line
trenches.
Mrs Willebrandt was not brought to
Ohio to stir up reluctant MethodiSm on
prohibition and least Of all, and not at all
on religious intolerance. When Governor
Smith accuses her Of appealing to re-
hgious intolerance In her speech at the
Ohio Conference in Springfield, this Is
my reply: THIS Is base misrepresenta-
ton in fact, and malicious interpreta-
ton of Mrs. WITHDRAWALS speech for
purposes of partisan propaganda.
No religious issue was even remotely
raised by her or by the Conference The
action Of the Conference disappearing the
candidacy of Governor Smith was not be-
cause he is a Democrat but solely because
Of his publicly proclaimed hostile atti-
tude toward the Eighteenth Amendment
This action was taken before Mrs. Will
lebrandt arrived, not knowing what she
would say. The action OF the Conference
distinctly states that the question Of
Governor Smiths religious affiliations
had no relation to the reputation by the
Conference of his proposal for modifi-
cation of the Constitution. There is no
other issue involved in our action except
the issue of the Eighteenth Amendment,
and upon that issue Ohio Methodisrn VIII
neither retract nor retreat.
We propose to wage a relentless war On
on the beverage liquor traffic until this
social criminal is outlawed forever from
American life.
We are not opposed to Governor Smith
because he is a Catholic. We are opposed
TO him because he is wet always has been
wet, and because he now proposes to help
make America wet by having the gov
eminent go into the saloon business. On
that issue and on that issue alone Ohio
Methodism will say Thou shalt not pass
the threshold of the White House as
President OF these United States"