Willmar tribune. [volume], April 13, 1910, Image 10

About Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931

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YOUNG'S ADDRESS
Strong Plea for County
and Law
Enforcement
Opttion
The speech of ex-Attorney General
E. T. oung was a frank, forceful,
and fearless analysis of the situation
from the progressive Republican
point ot uew. He said in part:
"Your committee invited me to ad
dress you on the subject of County
Option and Law Enforcement. From
the spirit which animates the dele
gates who are present, and the deep
seated feeling which prompted you
to leaTe your homes and travel long
distances in order to assemble here
in this vast convention at the capital
city of the state, I am satisfied that
you are deeply and earnestly inter
ested in both branches of the sub
ject. You have not come here for
pleasure, or as members of any fra
ternal or social, or political organiza
tion. But regardless of political, re
ligious, or fraternal affiliations, you
have assembled here in your capacity
as citizens to protest against the
domination of the liquor trust in the
politics of this state and to demand
needed reform in the handling of the
liquor traffic.
A Mdral Question.
"Public sentiment when aroused in
behalf of a just cause is an irresistible
force in our public life and whether
it be the oppressor or the debaucher
of men against whom it is directed,
his doom is sealed. I do not under
stand that the question of the use of
liquor by the individual is involved
at all in your deliberations. The only
question is the length to which the
government should go in licensing
public saloons. Liquor may be kept
in their homes by people who want
it. wholly irrespective of the licensed
saloon. Whether people shall use
liquor in their homes is a moral ques
tion whether, and to what extent, the
government shall license saloons
where liquor may be publicly sold is
a political question.
"Governments are established
among men for the protection of life,
liberty and property, and the pro
motion of the moral and material
public welfare. Tht right of the gov
ernment to regulate or suppress any
thing which injuriously affects the life,
health or morals of society cannot be
questioned. Universal sentiment con
cedes the right to regulate the liquor
traffic, but as the use of liquor has
been indulged in from the earliest
historical times, reasonable men real
ize that it cannot be peremptorily
eradicated.
"The process of eradication must
be gradual. Laws for its regulation
should never be in advance of rea
sonable public sentiment, and ought
to be so elastic that different rules
can be applied to different communi
ties, according to the sentiment of
such communities. This state does
not in my opinion favor absolute
prohibition at this time. There are
communities in this state where a
considerable majority of the people
favot public saloons under proper
restrictions, and such communities
should be permitted to have saloons
until the sentiment changes.
"For the same reason a community
where a substantial majority of the
people are opposed to the mainte
nance of saloons for the sale of in
toxicating liquors, should not be
forced to have saloons against the
will of that majority. Thoughtful
people who take a broad view of
things realize the necessity for pro
gressing slowly in this matter, in
order that their progress may be per
manent, but they want to te going
forward, not backward.
What the Saloons Assert.
"The population of this state is
made up largely of immigrants from
the North European countries. Our
adopted citizens whether they be
Scandinavians, Germans or British,
vie with the natives in their loyalty
and allegiance to our institutions. We
have no foreign element in my opin
ion that in any degrees interferes with
our adopting a distintively American
policy on this or any other subject.
When we are told that political par
ties dare not take up this or that
theory for the regulation of the liquor
traffic because this nationality or
that nationality of foreign origin, will
oppose it. I resent the statement as
untrue in any broad sense. There is
no foreign element among us that, as
a class, claims the right to debauch
American life or lower the standards
of morality established by the ma
jority of our people. Such argument
is but the special pleading of the
beneficiaries of the traffic, and be
littles the foreign element on whose
behalf it is urged They tell us that
laws regulating the liquor traffic are
sumptuary laws, undertaking to regu
late what the citizen shall eat or
drink or wear We say NO. Wear
anything you please that will not re
sult in indecency. Government does
not care what you eat or drink so
long as it does not deprive you of
your senses. If you lose control of
your mental faculties by sickness,
government places you in an asylum
if you undertake to rob yourself of
your mental faculties by the use of
intoxicating liquors, and thus volun
tarily render yourself temporarily in
sane through intoxication, govern
ment, for its own protection should
restrain you while intoxicated, and it
has the right to prevent the estab
lishment of licensed places where you
can make voursclf intoxicated. In
toxicating liquors cannot be classed
with articles of ordinary food or
drink they must be placed with
morphine, cocaine and other dele*
terious drugs, the use of which make
men incapable of either governing
or being governed In this country
every man is invested with a part
of the power of sovereignty. If any
one citizen has an inherent right to
ness should became the normal con
dition of the people, the American
government and American civilization
would be entirely destroyed. The
government must be sober, and for
its own protection, as well as for the
preservation of the moral well being
of the people, it must exert its influ
ence against intoxication, and against
the means by which it is produced,
and laws for the purpose are not
sumptuary laws at all.
The Brewers in Politics.
"The sentiment of the people of
the state of Minnesota has long been
favorable to legislation designed to
restrict the traffic in intoxicating
liquor, and it has been and is in favor
of the enforcement of the# laws al
ready on the statute books regulating
the business. For more than a quar
ter of a century the liquor interests
of the state have been unitedly op
posed to turther restrictive legisla
tion, and have particularly opposed
what is known as county option. They
have also brazenly violated every
statute that has been passed for the
regulation of the traffic, in most cases
with the connivance and consent of
the municipal officers. They have in
many cases dictated the nomination
and election of municipal officers,
with the tacit understanding that the
state liquor laws were not to be en
forced.
"We would expect the organized
liquor forces, in the interests of self
preservation to oppose additional re
strictive liquor laws, and if they lim
ited their opposition to the use of
legitimate arguments no one could
seriously object. But this haughty
and lawless interest has not been con
tent to thus limit its political effort.
It has sought in this state to seize
the reins of government and to dic
tate the policy and control the nom
inations made, by both political par
ties, especially for legislative offices.
Ham-Stringing the Legislature.
"They maintain in the large
cities able and well paid lob
bies organized solely for the
purpose of controlling the ac
tion of political parties, secur
ing the nomination of their
friends, and dictating party
platforms. There were many
good and able men in the last
legislature, but the body was
dominated by men whose
nominations were dictated by
the brewing interests of the
state, so that we had the spec
tacle of a leading brewer dictat
ing the size of appropriations
for the state university, and
determining where our normal
schools should be located.
"County Option in that body
was a joke and a byword,
The decent sentiment of the
state was spurned and this
meeting is the result.
"The individual voices of protest
crying in the wilderness, have been
united to unite here. The voice of
this convention will be of sufficient
volume to reach the uttermost parts
of the state and will bring hope and
encouragement to every man who
wants political debauchery to end,
and who wants the powers of govern
ment restored to the hands of the
people.
Let the People Rule.
"All that the advocates of county
option ask is that the question of
license or no license be submitted,
in any county that desires it, to a
vote of the people of that county. We
supposed that the forefathers es
tablished a government in which the
majority had the right to rule.
"If it is unsafe to trust the
people we had better aban
don our system at once. The
brewers say it is not safe to
trust the people that the right
to vote on this question
should not be given to them.
We have been taught from our
childhood that the voice of
the people is supreme. It is an
old saying that 'The voice of
the people is the voice of
God.' With some of the
members of the last legislature
ir the voice of the brewers seemed
to be the voice of God—and
the voice of the people could
not be heard.
Duty of Republican Party.
"The Republican party must meet
this and other great issues face to face
and declare its position on them. It
must take the organization of the party
out of the hands of hired representa
tives of special interests. The dele
gates to the party to the next con
vention must come down as free and
independent men they must partici
pate in the councils of the party and
assume that leadership which belongs
to the majority and not be longer led
around by the noses by a dictatorial
and pestiferous subsidized minority
gathered together from the storm
centers of reaction.
"The party cannot assume
the contradictory position of
being for and against county
option. Such an attitude may
get a campaign contribution
from the brewers, but it will
no longer satisfy temperance
people.
"Charity suffereth long and is kind,
but hope deferred maketh the heart
,sick. This kind of politics has been
handed out for lo these many years.
If in fact, the Republican party is
afraid to say where it stands on this
anestion, then it has ceased to be the
militant exponent of reform which
the people demand. If it is unsafe
for the republican party to state its
be drunk either part of the time or all position on this question it must be
of the time, so has every# other citi-1 because a majority of the people of
zen t^e ^rnr rifht. nnd if drunken-t the state are onpn=pd to liquor rec:u-
THE RESOLUTIONS
The Committee on Resolutions, made up of Representative
Kerry E Conly of Rochester, A. C. French of Hills, Osmond
Wing of Kenyon, Ex-Attorney General E. T. Young of St. Paul,
D. Swenson of Minneapolis, Representative C. J. Carlson of
Cokato, Hon. J. Jacobson of Madison, L. A. Marvin of Duluth
and Representative John Saugstad of Climax, submitted the fol
lowing which were adopted unanimously:
WHEREAS, The unrestricted liquor traffic is today the most evil
influence upon the moral and social health of the community, and is a
constant and serious obstacle to the best economic development of the
State and,
WHEREAS, The organization maintained by the liquor dealers of
the state and nation is a standing menace to the public welfare, being
a power which for purposes of sordid gain seeks to control and corrupt
the political affairs of town and city, state and nation, forming for its
own selfish ends unscrupulous alliances with any and all of the predatory
interests that are active in corrupting public officials, defeating proper
legislation and enacting vicious measures against the public interest
and,
WHEREAS, Under our form of government the county is the
primary unit for the suppression of crime directly and indirectly trace
able to the liquor traffic, and is the only judicial and administrative unit
endowed with the power to deal with the cases arising under our liquor
laws, and is further the primary unit of taxation for bearing the heavy
burdens caused by its ravages and,
WHEREAS, We believe that the people who must suffer the wrongs
and bear the burdens of this evil ought to have an enlarged power to
deal with its dangers according to the deliberate judgment of the com
munity in which these dangers manifest themselves, thus assuring to
themselves a just and proper measure of self government. Be it therefore
RESOLVED, That we, members of the County Option Convention
of Minnesota, meeting on March 2nd, 1910, in the City of St. Paul,
representing civic, religious and political organizations in all parts of
the state, being members of various political parties, but dominated by
a primary interest in the earliest possible passage of an effective County
Option measure by the legislative authorities of this state,
DO HEREBY appeal to the political parties of the State of Minne
sota in their approaching County and State Conventions, to declare
themselves definitely upon this issue. And we pledge ourselves indi
vidually and collectively to use our utmost energies in our respective
election districts for the election of such delegates only to our party!
conventions as will aggressively support the insertion of a County
Option plank our party platforms. And we pledge ourselves further
to support exclusively such candidates for state executive and legis
lative offices as are known to be in thorough sympathy with the pro
posed County Option legislation, and in order that this pledge may be
made effective in the contingencies that may arise, be it
RESOLVED, That the chairman of this convention appoint within
ten days of this day and date a County Option State Central Committee
to consist of twenty-seven members, three from each congressional dis
trict, he, the chairman, to constitute one of the three members from his
district, and in addition the state superintendent and legislative superin
tendent of the Anti-Saloon league said committee to be charged with
the duty of so arranging the County Option Campaign throughout the
state that candidates favoring our cause may be nominated and elected,
that party platforms may contain unequivocal declarations in favor of
a County Option law and further said committee shall, after the various
party conventions have formulated their platform and selected their
candidates, take suitable measure for the support of those favoring our
cause, or, in the event of the failure of the party conventions to take
favorable action, the committee is hereby instructed to take such other
steps as will in its judgment, best insure the realization of the legis
lative reform that is our supremeinterest in this campaign.
JAKE HITS HARD
J. F. Jacobson Has Some
Heavy Blows for the
Brewery Combine
Hon. J. F. Jacobson was introduced
as "the man who would rather be
right than be governor." There was
no mistaking his position. He took
a firm stand for county option and
backed it up with a plain recital of
how the breweries accomplish the
corruption and control of law-making
bodies. He said in part:
"We realize that there is a reason
at this particular time why the people
of Minnesota should fight harder than
ever before, and why? Because the
liquor interests, while they have al
ways been in favor of their own traf
fic, have now become more per
nicious in their activity than they
ever dreamed of being years ago.
They have done things in the last ten
years that Hamm himself would have
been ashamed of before that time.
Formerly they contented themselves
with allowing the people at home to
nominate and elect whom they saw
fit for the legislature, and then took
their chance of debauching and buy
ing them after they got there.
How It Is Done Now.
"But the new method is not to de
bauch the member himself, but to go
to the fountain head, the voters, and
distribute their funds so as to nomin
ate and elect a certain man, and then
they don't ha\e to buy him after he
goes into the legislature, because
they bought him before he was
elected.
"Formerly the method of the
liquor interests was to help along the
lation. If that were true, the repub
lican party would have been long ago
wiped off the slate, because it was
through republican legislatures that
our present reasonably good laws
were obtained. It is because of that
legislation that liquor partisans have
been voting against the republican
party for many years. By catering to
the liquor interests which are hope
lessly opposed to their party, the al
leged leaders of the republican party
are simply playing traitor. From the
standpoint of practical politics, and
regardless of the question of right or
wrong, they are making the fatal
mistake of disappointing their friends
and playing into the hands of their
enemies, without reward in votes,
whatever the reward may be in
money.
"But let the republican party
be rescued from the control of
the emissaries of reaction, let
it have a new birth in its or
ganization and it will again in
this state shine out as the in
domitable exponent and cham
pion of rational progress and
reform in the domain of tem
perance legislation and in all
other lines where the rights of
the people need an open fear
less champion."
I*
"1
men that they suspected would be
friendly to their interests after they
got there. But they didn't require
anything else of them except that
they should pledge themselves to vote
against County Option. They were
kind enough to allow a member to
vote as he pleased on every other
question. That continued for about
four years, but it wasn't entirely sat
isfactory to the interests, and they
formulated a new plan, and to illus
trate this new plan I want to tell a
little story of an incident that took
place in one of the legislative districts
of this State.
'"One of the members in the Legis
lature represented a county in which
the public sentiment is no doubt in
favor of the saloon interests of this
state. I think it is fair to say that.
He realized that and hence he voted
against County Option. Personally
I believe he would like to see it be
come a law. He thought everything
was all right and he voted on every
subject as he felt for the best inter
ests of the state, and he made a
splendid member, one that we could
honor anywhere but he went home
and asked for re-election, and what
do you suppose he found? Even after
he had voted against County Option ?i
Why, he found that the liquor inter
ests in his district had united to de
feat him. He told me he couldn't
understand it. I saw him just before
election. He said he didn't see why
the brewers and saloon keepers of
the county should fight him because
he had voted upon that question as
they wanted him to. 'But.' I said,
'you haven't heard of the new and
improved method. They are going to
nominate a man from your district
that is not only right upon that ques
tion but whom they can trade off all
through the session on every ques
tion.'
"That is the revised method. Dur
ing the last ten years the saloon in
terests have never elected a majority
of the legislature. Hence they have
had to unite their representatives with
those elected by other interests in
order to win out.
More About 8 to 1.
"One of the first moves made im
mediately after election, was to^selects
a Speaker of the House. The Lieu-i
tenant Governor had been fixed at the'
State Convention, and they only had
to consider the matter of the speaker
ship.
"The principal thing that they de4
mand of a Speaker is the nomination
of the members of the temperance
committee. That committee was
formed over 35 years ago in recogni
tion of the temperance sentiment thatt
existed in the State at that time. In
other words, this committee was cre-j
ated with the expectation that it
would be especially favorable to tem
perance legislation but how has it
worked out?
"When we took the very first vote
in the Senate temperance committee
appointed by the presiding officer of
the Senate who had pledged himself
before election that 'the temperance
people should get fair treatment,
there were 8 votes against County
Option, and only one for it.
Whiskey for Your Friends.
"I have known many good, square,
honest young men. that were sober
and industrious at home, who have
gone down to the legislature with the
best intentions, intending to carry out
the wishes of their constituents and
serve the best interests of the State
but they met too many 'good fel-
$ 3 mmtfnnfMMrMl •iVlWmMiimmiim
lows.' In both houses the liquor in
terests have an agent he is not the
salesman of the liquor interests, of
course. He doesn't sell beer and
champagne or any of those other
things that I do .not remember the
names of, but he is appointed and
paid a good salary to see that none
of the members suffer for any great
length of time on account of drouth.
They send booze to the rooms of the
members some of whom will pro
test: 'God bless you, I have never
tasted liquor in all my life.' lOh. that
is nothing,' the brewery agent will
answer. 'I never drink either but
some of your friends use the stuff.
Just entertain your friends,' and it is
wonderful how much the member's
friends will consume in one session.
Blackmailing Members.
"When they have had about 60 days
of this kind of thing, the honest mem
bers, the new members from the
country, naturally drift into a class
of society and into places that they
would not care to have mentioned.
What takes place when a fellow has
gotten into that condition? It works
like this: the brewery agents have
but to say to Mr. So-and-So: 'Don't
you remember where you were on
such a night? Do you remember
what you did at such a time? Now,
if you don't vote just the way we
tell you, we will expose you.' Is it
any wonder that some of those bills
have failed of passage?
"They have asked us what we ex
pect to do. We expect to elect the
next Speaker of the House. We will
say to the enemy on the other side:
'You cannot nominate a Lieutenant
Governor of this State this time who
says that he will give us fair treat
ment before election, and gives us
one out of nine after election."
LOBECK FOR COUNTY OPTION
Prohibition Representative From
Douglas County Delivers Tell
ing Speech.
Representative E. E. Lobeck, one
of the prohibition members of the
House, said in part:
"There is one man who has been
roasted very hard here today because
of the 'eight to one' proposition. I
shall not say anything against him
or about him only this. I see the face
of a minister down here before me
today. He talked to me last winter
down in the Capitol Cafe. When we
were sitting there at that time the
lieutenant governor came in and this
minister said: 'Now you bet he shall
get it in the neck.' He approached
the lieutenant governor at once and
asked him why he appointed such a
temperance committee in the Senate.
'What will become of the County Op
tion bill if it comes into the Senate
with such a committee as you have
appointed there?' 'Well,' said Mr.
Eberhart, 'if the County Option bill
passes the House and comes into the
Senate I shall have it referred to the
Committee on Pure Foods and Public
Health.*
Too Much Bad Whiskey.
"I know of ntfen who got liquor all
through the session two years ago.
Every one that wanted to have it
they had it all through the session.
One member of the temperance com
mittee left three or four days before
the session was over. I asked what
became of that man and someone said
he got sick from bad whiskey and
had to go to bed and had to stay in
bed two whole weeks because of the
bad whiskey he had taken in. An
other man was sagging down in his
seat and was snoring like thunder
during the proceedings, so you can
understand how he could fol'ow
things up.
"They told me that still another
man forgot completely that he had a
wife at home and borrowed another
man's wife.
"Those are a few of the samples of
the kind of men sent down to the
law making body to make laws for
the state of Minnesota. They will
have to be cleaned out. and I hope,
judging from the temper of this
audience here that we shall leave
many of those at home and elect men
to go down there who dare to do
what is right before God and man."
Great Georgian Says Battle Must Be
Won Thru County Option.
We regret that space will not permit
of comment on the other addresses
made during the day and evening of the
convention, but those not discussed here
will be reviewed in the Minnesota Issue,
the official organ of the Anti-Saloon
League. Among these will be the
speeches of Prof. A. J. McGuire, Repre
sentative G. H. Mattson, Hon. F. N.
Stacy, Rev. Father James Reardon and"
the big address of the meeting by Hon.
Seaborn Wright of Georgia.
One point in Mr. Wright's speech
made a distinct impression. He em
phasized county option as the only
logical means of dealing with the liquor
interests and based his argument on
his own experience and observations in
the South. In this connection he said:
"I say to you you will never win
in iny state in the other until you get
this great law and found your fight
upon it. The county is the unit. It
gives to the strong, virtuous and intelli
gent men of your county the right to
be heard. It puts your farmers in line
with your city people. It disfranchises
no man. It gives every man within the
limit of your county as a unit the right
of American citizenship, and it does
more than that, it gives to the people
of the county as a unit the old right
that our fathers fought and died for—
the right of local self government.
"Whenever you deny the county to
vote as a unit on this proposition, then
when that right is denied you have re
versed one of the fundamental prin
ciples upon which our government was
built—that there shall be no taxation
without representation..
"We went upon that idea in the
South. In every single southern state
dry tonight, we built uoon that County
Local Option, and before we even
dreamed of going into state prohibi-
areame going into state promm y«u «_« ••*. *wu ""•"X"V.
tion. we had eliminated the saloon from" solid rock of County Option.
EBERHARTS STA!
Governor Refuses To
Commit Himself on
County Option.
Governor Eberhart was given an
opportunity to state where he stoo
on county option, but he dodged the
issue, and attempted to jusitfy his
position of neutrality by claiming A
that it was purely a legislative ques
tion and that he had no right to seem
to influence his party toward either
side of the controversy, but mustfl
wait until after the republican plat-ft
form had been adopted. This parti-lp
san attitude was in striking contrast*^
to the position taken by such republi
can leaders as Young and Jacobson,
and did not at all satisfy the con
vention.
Governor Eberhart's State
ment.
"The County Option move
ment is sc non-partisan move
ment, and every delegate to
this convention is commis
sioned as a non-partisan dele
.gate. I have been requested
to state to this convention
what shall be my position as
to County Option, and conse
quently what, in my opinion,
should be the position of the
Republican party with refer
ence thereto.
"Every fair minded person
will admit that my declaration
at this time as to whether I
shall or shall not favor Coun
ty Option in this state will
force me to make that declar
ation good in the Republican
state convention, or be elimi
nated from its consideration,
it means that I must use the
office of the chief executive
of this state to force the Re
publican state convention to
adopt my view, irrespective of
what the majority might de
sire. In other words, it would
compel me to use the execu
tive department of this state
to attempt to dictate to the
Republican party its position
on this question, which is
neither right nor in keeping
with our ideas of popular or
party government.
"The forcing of the execu
tive department of this state
into the County contest means
even more than that. Under
our constitution the legislative
and executive departments are
entirely distinct and independ
ent, and any undue interfer
ence on the part of the chief
executive in matters of legis
lation-is not only wrong in
principle, but disastrous in re
suits.
"I am well aware that where
a political party has pledged
itself to the enactment of cer
tain reforms it is not only per
missible but proper for the
chief executive representing
that party to urge legislative
action to carry out such re
forms, but in advance of any
such declaration by a political
party or by the people at large,
the chief executive has no
right to use the influence of
his office to dictate legislation.
"If my declaration at this
time for or against County Op
tion does not mean what I
have stated, then it means
merely a play to the galleries
for the purpose of satisfying
one side or the other, a posi
tion altogether unworthy of
anyone occupying the highest
gift of the people.
'"There is only one conse
quence which my entry into
the County Option fight would
make certain, and that is such
a division within the ranks of
the Republican party as would
redound solely to the advan
tage of the opposition. No one
has been able to suggest any
benefits to the County Option
movement which my declara
tion at this time would bring
about, but on the other hand,
judging from past experience,
it is safe to assume that it
would result in the division
and possible defeat of a party
which has given us all the tern
perance legislation now on our
statute books.
"I have given this matter
very careful consideration and .*
sincerely and earnestly believe
that it is my duty to await and
support the platform of the
Republican party, and in case
a County Option law is passed
by the legislature while I am
governor, it will receive my
approval and together with all
other laws of the state be en
forced."
nine-tenths of the counties of the differ
ent states, and gentlemen, you will be
driven to it in the West. I say to you
here tonight, ''after thirty years' experi
ence, and after three years' contact with
your people in the greftt West, that all
that you people need is County Local
Option to sweep the netire West from
one end to the other.
"That right was given to Ohio, and
in the limit of three months, four-fifths
of the saloons were abolished. It was
given to the people in old Indiana and
63 of her 80 counties fell in line within
the limit of three months. You may
get it in your great state, and I am
sure in that case that the majority of
your counties will fall in line within
the limit of a single year.
"It is on this rock that this great
movement must be founded. Whenever
the temperance element in your state
turns its back upon the great funda
mental principle of County Option
it means the ultimate death of this
splendid movement in your state. You
can no more—and I say it because my
heart is in it—you can no more carry
,this state for prohibition tonight than
you can fly. You mustbuiTd upon the
•tm
Ms"