Waycross evening herald. (Waycross, Ga.) 189?-19??, November 23, 1911, Image 5

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RffiRMHiHiHMHBBluHMHBWBBBSHHHwRiE Jjudge Sweat’s Speech At Homerville Monday Address of Judge J. L. Sweat, of the early eighties during the time I VWaycross, to the white Democratic had the honor of representing you, and • voters of Clinch county, delivered du- when, as your representative I pee ring the noon recess of Clinch Super- pjyred, introduced and had passed for lor Court, on Monday, November 2i), the county of Clinch one among the 1911, stenographically rej^ted by first high license liquor laws, having Jhen K. Roan, court reporter. j for Its purpose the suppression of bar i .. Upon being introduced to the large rooms and to prevent the sale^of U* audience assembled by Senator Walter quor and It was then I first became T. Dickerson, Judge Sweat said: acquainted with Judge Russell, an I My Friends and Fellow Citizens: j have known him i\ice. . After serving three long, weary ( After that he became Solicitor Geji; years in the Confederate Army as a era^ pf his circuit, and then Judge of boy soldier, I returned to Blacksliear, his circuit, .and he was defeated by my childhood home, and soon after- Judge Simmons for Chief Justice of wards in the summer of 1865 I came our Supreme Court, and he was also to Clinch county, and X lived among defeated in one of the past campaigns you for more than twenty years, when ns R candidate for Governor. Since 3 removed to Waycross, where I have then he has been honored by the Bince reB,ded - . 'r plc ,;‘ *>0* During my residence among you l , „ P ““ " * th Jth 8 State, establish oonadenee )n , rwae frequently honored, having been. this State, and he is now hold 5 M ■ . • J, a* ti,« J Georgia, and the administration of the laws of the State, so that in thai way the entire State would be bene* fitted. Now my friends, I want to pkoeeed as rapidly as possible before I con clude within the limitod time allowed me, to discuss some of the questions himself at :>at time against Governor Hoko Smith, I believe' under those peculiar circumstances he was justified la doing so, and being vindicated by ihe people in.his election to this office Notwithstanding that it broke tip unwritten law to give a Governor two consecutive terms, yet having that in mind the people of Georgia, during the next campalgu, wlieu both (gover nor Smith and Governor Drown wero again candidates against each other, elected Governor Smith to his second term, thus vindicating this unwritten law, and now, my friends, I think It is but right and proper and just that “Little Joe” should be given Ills second term. And more than that, t believe his election would do more to eliminate and forever settle fuctlonal differences in this State thau anything else that could possibly happen. The people of Georgia will have thus given both of these distinguished gentlemen two terms in the office of Governor, and moreover now get a conservative administration of the affairs of the ■twice elected as your representative honorable position. At the timd .In the Georgia Legislature in the ho has become a candidate for Gover- * early eighties, and there Is no people n °r, and while the law requires that pnywhere for whom I entertain a court to be in session, and to hear and moro kindly feeling than I do for the 1 determine cases Involving the liberty people of Clinch county. j of people and the rights of property, I want you aa old friends and fellow and »M» ‘hat court in session, Instead citizens, to come and let us reason resigning from the bench and do together on the pending political cam- ■ ™tl"g hla time entirely to Ills candl- J that ,ro beln * , * ltated <“ ttM °* m ' palgn in this state. j dacy for the Governorship, he Is under- j aut before doing that let ma At the approaching primary to be ‘“king one day to sit with The Cqurt held on the 7th day of December next,, »f Appeals and hear important casea ^ ermi > le " t _' “ a “ ^ e,d _“ 1 ' the white Democratic voters of Geor- urgued, and undertaking to consider *ia are called upon to niminate a a*d render decisions, and the next day Commissioner of Commerce anu -\.abor, and for that position two capable gen tlemen are candidates. One, Hon. •Joseph McCarthy, resides in the city wo find him in some part of the State dragging the judicial ermine in the mire of politics. Fellow citizens, ordinarily, I would i -of Savannah, and the other, Mr. H. have no objection to an office-holder M. Stanley) at Dublin. These gentle-; retaining his position while becoming men are both claimed to be worthy a candidate fir another office and and well qualified for the position.. j seeking that, but I do contend that But at the same primary, And of tinder the circumstances I have related more importance,, is the nomination of Judge Russell owes it to the people of * candidate for Governor. FoA this Georgia, in seeking t&elr suffrages for position as you all understand, there.this offleo of Governor, to reslgri from are three candidates,—Honorable Pope: the Stale Court at Appeals. But Brown. Judge Russell and former * further than that, fellow citizens, I do 'Governor Joseph M. Brown. j not think it is right for one occupying Hon. Pope Brown Is a citizen of the high, honorable and responsible Pulaski county, the county aa3o!hing! position as Judge ! of. tile Court ofc Bibb, to which the city of Macon, 1 Appeals of this State, whose duty it is ■Georgia’s central city, is located, and \ Jo see that every law of thia State is properly enforced, and whoso duty it I regard him, therefore, as a MIDjDLE Georgiin and not as a* SOl/TH deor- gian. This gentleman has held many positions of honor and trust in this State, having been a member offhe Georgia Legislature, afid on the death -of Capt H. E. Park, State Treasurer, He Was appointed by» J\the Governor to that position) and halving retired from that pffice is 1 \ \ i \ • . T r aa I have stated, now a candidate for Governor. J The 'Honorable Pope Brown is a good man, no one questions that, but aa for myself, I must say that I have sot that confidence'in hla judgment tjo believe that It would be wise to nom inate him for the high and resopnslble office of Governor. • ‘ ' 1 r The Honorable Pope Brown, to mv mind, demonstrated his lack of judg ment and wisdom; in the selection o:’ his campaign manager, having selec ted for that position Mr. Voli?ey WU llams, Editor of the Waycross Journal, who only within the last Tew' years came from the 8fote of Ohio and lo cated in Waycross, and wh6 neces sarily has a limited acquaintance among the people' of Georgia, and for that position It is well understood it ought to be a man who not only knows the people of the State general ly, but who has an acquaintance In every county in the State with thofle who are find have been prominent in public life. And I repeat for this reason particularly he has shown to my mind a lack of judgment and wit- Is claimed'that while a member ne Georgia Legislature Hon. Pope Brown voted, against certain bills, having for their object • State wfdo prohibition of the liquor traffic, and Is to uphold every,law as long as it remklns Upon the statute books, to be denouncing from the platform as a condidate for the office of Governor, the state w^ide prohibition, la,vr,, $n& declaring it to be a farce, and that it cannot be enforced^ Coming from a hifeh judicial officer like Jiidgo Russell it is calculated to bring this good law \nto disrepute am)mg the people, en couraging its violation rind'temling to uphold juries in their failure to con vict. As you know, he has 'declared in, favor of jlodal option, As against .Stato wide prohibition,, while, a* I shall presently-demonstrate to you,'and do hot believe the liquor 'quesnon has any real ! practical place! in thia chrm palgn, yet he is seeking to make that the main issue upon which hi hopes to be nominated for the offlfee of Gov ernor. 1 ■' J i . / / , t The other candidate, my fellow citizens; for this high office,'and to whhm'I* have already deferred is J our former Governor, Joseph M. BroVn. “Little Joe"” a| he is known through out the g&te. He* was heretofore ejec- tde by the people of ^1* state in this high and responsible ' othce. having defeated In that campaign 1 the Honorable Hoke Smith, who had held the office one term, and who was then a candidate for a second term. My friends, it is one of the unwrit ten laws of this State, inasmuch as a Governor can only be elected to two consecutive terms of two years each, to give him a second term, and Gov- some of his individual rights tor the comc’ou good, for only in that way can. governments be founded^ . and accordingly we have our county gov ernment, next our State government and then our national government In the establishment of tho national government, certain rights were re served to the several states, and the people thereof, and one of the fundamental principles of De^cracy Is State soverlgnty and locar government We have laws enacted by the Congress Of the United States for the wel/are of the nation; we have laws enacted by the Legislature for the common good of all the people of the fixate, and we have local laws en acted for the several countleb to meet local conditions. : • . . / Referring, my friends^ t<j the Mquor question, which has been injected into this campaign by two of the candidates for Governor* one announcing ip favor of local option and other favor of State wide prohibition, let me say: that jin dealing with the Uquor question in Georgia, it has been done step by etep. In thy first place, as I stated a little while ago, local laws were enacted by the Legislature i in- creMing; the license for the sale of spirituous and intoxicating liquors to an ; amount which f closed bar rooms and prohibited the sale of liquor ip the UCunjies where these local laws were enacted, and Inf that way, as' l have stated, not only were bar rooms and the [sale of liquor; suppressed In Clinch county and In other counties 1n South Georgia, and elsewhere through out the State-. That was; the first step dealing with the liquor question in this State, witlj a view to suppress ing this greet evil. And let me sa^ Just here, |est I ■ forget, it r bee been uniformly held by> both - State and Federal Courts, that laws intended to rfcgulate and prohibit the sale of Intoxicating liquors enacted in tho oxerelse of wliat Is known as the “Polled Powers of tbo State" were legal rind valid. . We havey therefore, both the Statb and Federal Courts recognizing the sale of Intoxicating liquors as an evil, which the law has the right to try to suppress just the same aa any other character of crime which may be committed. Now the next step with a view to accomplishing this great end and aim of suppressing this great evil by locai high license liquor raws, was the era or Brown has been condemned hr many for opposing Governor *8mith | ofia State wide local option when he was a cadidate for a second, »ve the people of the sev- , , v term. But In that connection, it should, eraJ counties the rig at to bring on an yet now when he is a candidate for be remembered that having been sum- eletdon and by a majority vote sup- Governor and finding that position marily removed from the' pofttioh of V™ tW* wll It was all right then popular, he declares In favor of State/Railroad Commissioner by Governor for a temperance and prohibition man pride prohibition. 4 - * and has 'Served one term to be a Local Optionist. Another of the candidates whom I Smith, which tho people of thia state Durign my last term In the I^gisia- bave mentioned. Judge Russell, was a j resented, and being called (fyn by a *ure, I waa accorded the privilege by member of the Georgia Legislature in! become a "candidate tor Governor Col Pringle, Chairman of the Temper- anco Committee 1n the Honse, and apthor of one of the first local option bills introduced in the Legislature, of making the closing argument in favor of the bill which then* passed Houbo, but failed In the Senate, but \\A9 subsequently enacted and during tho years that followed, many coup- lies wont dry under It and with those made by tho higher liquor license laws, about 120 counties altogether iu thiB state were made dry by these laws. And, tpy friends and fellow' citizens, after this local option law had been !n force for a number of years, giving to the various counties the right .to become dry counties under Its opera tion, there still remained a number of counties throughout the Stato, where the liquor men and the negroes were in an overwhelming majority, nnd where bar rooms, rtlll flourished and liquor was still sold not only to tho pepple of the towns, cities and counties where they were TeTchted, but they were so situated throughout tho State ns to be convenient to the “Blind Tigers" roaming amid the dry counties where they co\il<4 easily get liquor, and whore the negro popu lation could easily get llquo? children. There was Chatham county; and become a monanco arid absolute danger to tho good people of this State, the men , women and shlldren. There was Chatham rounty, with the city of SftWfifiiifcj Atlanta, Macon, Augusta, Columbus, Itomo, Brunswldk, Albany and Valdosta right hero at our doors, where these bar rooms flourished and liquor was sold, and where with the vote of the liquor men and negroes combined it was absoluely Impossible for the good, temperance and prohibition people of these counties to abolish this evil; that was the situation, and it was met with great difficulty. It could not be put down by local high license laws, because high license members could not bo elected to the Legislature from those counties; It could not be put down by local option because a ma jority of the voters were HqOoF men and negroes. But there was tie Legis laturo of the State, and The good people of this state, who had the pow er and the right for the benefit of all, to suppress this great evil, Fellow citizens, when the members of thej Georgia Legislature In 1001, in face pf this recognized evil, passed Our present State wide prohibition law, it la true It had not bedfnnade a question before the people In the electiori of the members of thei Legis t..., .La A. a A. ^. © POWDER nnSssiely Pure ) Absolutely Pure / Tho only Baking Powder made fromRoyal G ra pe C ream of Tartar NO ALUM, NO LIME PH08PHATE evil and bring back open bar-rooms in the State. The record pf Little > Joe Brown shows that he has always been at heart and in truth a prohibitionist. It is claimed, ray friends, as one of the ’reasons why .the Prohibition law cannot be enforced, is because the people of tills stato have never boon given an opportunity of voting direct ly upon It, and it is claimed that i! the people of the' Stato were glvea tho opporunlty of passing upon tho question, they would endorse the pres ent prohibition law, and that woulJ settle once and forever the liquor question In this State. What more Russell you will find you will bo dis appointed In the end. The Honorable Representative from this county, and tho Honorable Senator - for thig Dis trict, who reside in this county, will tell you that the present Georgia Legislature Is overwhelmingly in fa vor of prohibition. How about it Mr. Harper? A. Yes, it is true. \ Senator Dickerson will tell you that It Is true: A. Yes, it Is to. Whpt could Judge Russell do? Nothing:' It would be tin wprewloai of the pdople lit favor of tlfd local option la f w if he were elocted; the argument would bo made that a great. than that is necessary. He atandrmany had voted for Judge RfiMell for for the atrict enforcement of ever/1 porsrinal PBl^the argument law in this stato as long as it remains would be made that a great many upon the statute bdokg, Including fifir prohibitionist and temperance laturo, but the members of that Leg islature! recognized th^t tbe evil mutt be suppressed. IQ some way, and I commend them for passing our pres ent State wide prohibition Iriw, arid i commend Governor ^mith foil approv ing It | ; * '» . * J And pow my fellow cltlzoriS, I con tend that, with that law .enacted, Liat while has boon upon jib atatuta hooka only a few years tl\at It has [been Jpst aa well enforced as any other, law we have upon our statute hooka | It Is not a law.tjiqt (jannot^bo enforced for Its bolng enforced., ? Now Judge Russell takes thej posi tion ithijt under this great principle to which i roferred of local self govern ment, and of Jho rights of)the citizens and tliS liberty of/the people, that it would bo right and wloo to repeal fills State wide prohibition law, and re enact a local option low. Why what .vculd be tho effect of that; why the twenty or thirty counties made dry by its passage, counties scattered all :er the State, could under this, joeff optiop law ^restire, barrooms and- soy liquor, and we would be back'wher^ were with this great evil scattered^ over the State with barrooms flourish-, ing and liquor being sold. Judge Russell says that In advocat ing the repeal of the Stato wide pro hibition law and tbs re enactment of tho local option law he does not ad vocate any steps backward! upon tho liquor question, claiming himself to be a prohibitionist and a temperance man. Why my friends, I have •> plained to you tbe three steps taken suppressing liquor in this state: High license, the Local Option Law and then th. Slate Wide Prohibition I.aw, and re-enact thn local option ,rou ara taking a atap backward, for It wonld put It In tho power ol these aereral counties to restore this state wide prohibition law, ho stands, therefore, for the enforcement aud maintenance ot our ptate prohibition law as long as It remain. Upon our statute book, nnd h« Is hi tiv6f ot keeping It there unless the people of this State vote to repeal It; he says that tho people ot this state should be given an opportunity of endorsing It so that It may be moro fully en forced; be soys without tho person ality ot any candidate helne Involved, tbe question should be submitted to the people to decide and be wanted It submitted to tho while Democratic voters of this stato for them to say whethor they wish to have State wide prohibition maintain ed or take a step backward to local option: Why, my friends, In Georila, every man must know that a tremonduoua majority of the people ot this State would favor the maintenance of tbe State wide prohibition law. He says: If I am elected Governor to thle un- expired term,-1 shall stand, as I hare always stood, for the etrlct enforce ment of the laws, Including the State wide prohibition law, and-1 will stand against any change In the law unless tbe people of Georgia are given The right of passing upon It. Isn’t he right. Isn’t this a government of the people, by the people ahd for the people? Fellow citizens, adverting a moment to Judge Russell, and repealing what I have said, that I am opposed to any man 1 occupying tbe high judicial of- lice,'which he holds, becoming a can didate for anqthor ofllcc, especially the high offlee of Governor, and drag ging- the judicial ermine la the mire of politics; In this connection, my friends, I want to say that equally opposed to carrying politics Into thd pulpit. In ’this coiitrn church end state Is forever separated [Kvory man has the right to worship Uod according to the dictates of his own- conscience. I do ‘not bellovo It rl?hj to mis secular' affairs with Di vine worship. I do dot believe It- It fight for a minister of the Gospel, one who claims to be following 1 the Meok and Lowly Nazerlne, whllo according to bjm Svery right of citizenship to undertake to presch 1 politics to the people; and gentlemen, Little Joe doesn’t believe In it, and tbe people of this state oug't resent it. He It standing on his splendid character and hit previous record as a Governor of this State. He Is ‘Little Joe" It Is truo but he Is every inch brain and back bone. And now my friends. I plead with yon to consider tbeee things, calmly end dispassionately end when yon do so, and reach a conclusion, remember on the 7th day of December It you vote for Judge Russell, you are casting your, vote tor a step backward, easting a vote to bring this great evil of bar rooms and tbe sale of liquor beck into this state. Remember that, and remem ber *• well, if yott vote for Judge had divided tbelr votes between Joo Brown and Pupe Brown. And It Judge Ijussell Is nominated and eleoted, It would be entirely with the Legislature a, to wether they would regard any recommendation he might make about the liquor question. Then what would bo accomplished by his election—sim ply to put a man in the high ofllco of Governor of this State who bat clearly demonstrated bis lack of the proper qualifications fbr that high office; In my judgment It would be n great mis take tor the people of this Btato to Pljt Judge Russell In the high ofllco he Is asking for. It Is true It might be an indication, Ip some slight de gree, that Georgia itavorod the return ’ of Local Option, but would not cause any change In tbe present prorlbitton law, absolutely none. It Is true that the Tlppeng btil might be passed, but my friends and fellow cltlsens, let me say right here, If the present Stato wide prohibition law as It now stands upon tho statute books ir enforced, that not one drop ot anything Intoxi cating can be told In OolrgffL abso lutely not. That law at It stands pro hibits tho sale ot anything Intoxicat ing, anything which If drunk to exoets would produce Intoxication. Joo Brown, my friends", stands toy a strict enforcement of the law as It Is found ‘ on the statute books of our 8tate; ho declares If he le elected govern* that bo will stand at he ba. always stood, top a strict enforcement of the laws as they are written upon tho statute books. Then my friends whet more esn any temperance or prohibi tion man ask. for; In electing him Governor, my friends, you will bo placing In the’ Governor’s chair, a good man who hat been tried, and for that. reason and the others T Hava mentioned, I bAlove lie IwoWd bo elected. If you re-elect "Little Jo.- Governor of Oeorgla, the people of this state .will know that during tho unespired term trey will Have a good Governor; that the laws will be en forced Impartially; that criminals con Ictcd by tho Courts will servo the terms for which they have been sea- teheed and not lie pardoned, unlesa somo good reason Is shown far turning them loose on society, and the entire State will be benefited, and hence my friends, let me plead with you that you make no mistake when you cast your vote on tbe 7tli ofDecember, end that- you vote for “Little Joe” Brown for Governor. WOODMEN OF WORLD. CAMP 1t& THE Mule first, end third Thursday *• each month. Muonic Bell- Richard L> Singleton, 0- C- . D. P. »«i>'trv. Clerk UNION JKWCLRY STORK Watchmakers end Engravers. All Kind Of jewelry Repairing. 10S Plant Asa Waycross, Ga