Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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# . President Woodrow Wilson Unequivocally in Favor of “I am in favor of local option. I am a thorough be liever in local self-government, and believe that every S' • " ‘ J self-governing community which constitues a social unit should have the right to control the matter of the regulation or of the withholding of licenses/*—May 1, 1911, Woodrow Wilson, then Governor of New Jersey, in a signed statement to the Rev. Thomas Shan- non, Secretary of the Anti-Saloon League of New Jersey. “My so-called ‘Shannon letter* precisely defines my position with regard to the liquor issue, not only as it was when I wrote the letter, and the letter to Mr. Qrogran is, X ■ or was, at any rate, intended to be,entirely consistent with it. —May 14, 1915. Written front the White House at Washington by Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, in defining his unalterable conviction and unchanged position regarding his absolute belief in the democratic pnn- cipl es of self-government. President Wilson’s “Shannon” Letter May 1, 1911, President Wilson, then Governor of New Jersey, wrote the following letter to the Rev. Thomas Shannon, Secretary of the Anti-Saloon League of New Jersey: r “I am in favor of local optidh. I am a thorough believer in local self-government, and believe that every self-governing community which constitues a social unit should have the right to control the matter of the regulation or of the withholding of licenses. "But the questions involved are social and moral, and are.not susceptible to being made • * » parts of a party programme. Whenever they have been made the subject matter of party contests they have cut the lines of party organization and party action athwart, to the utter confusion of political action in every other field. ‘They have thrown every other question, however important, into the background and have made conservative party action impossible for long years together. So far as I am con cerned, therefore. I never ran consent to have the question of local option made an issue be tween political parties in this State. "My judgment is clear in this matter. 1 do not believe that party programmes of the highest consequence to the political life of the State and of the nation ought to be thrust on one side and hopelessly embarrassed for long periods by making a political issue*of a great question which is essentially non-political, non-partisan, moral and social in its nature.” • * General Haldeman’s Letter to President Wilson "The Louisville Times, W. B. Haldeman, Editor. Louisville, Ky.. May 5, 1915. My Dear Mr. President: Statewide prohibition has been made an issue by two of the candidates for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Kentucky, and in. that connection the so-called Grogan letter is being used to ifnply That you approve of this principle in certain circum stances which are declared to fit thejjresent Kentucky political situation. On the other hand the so-called Shannon letter is being used in an attempt to prove that you stand for local self- goverment as a principle for Democrats to observe. "If you feel that the situation warrants, 1 should be pleased to have a statement of pres ent date from you as to your general attitude toward the questions presented by these letters. Such a statement would do much to clarify our local situation and tio mucb-to emphasize what you obviously intended by the Shannon letter. % "Your obedient servant, , “W. B. HALDEMAN. “The President, "The White House, Washington.” This is President Wilson’s Firm and Unalterable Opinion Which He Has Held for years. What Do You Think? „ . % r Is not Statewide prohibition unalterably opposed to every principle of democracy and good government? Does prohibi tion really prohibit? Does it not mean sacrificing large revenues for dispensary counties preferring this method, together with strict regulation and proper control? IE. J". - Dispensaries pay hundreds of thousands of dollars toward p , * the reduction of taxes, the school fund, good roads and general a v . , improvements. What does prohibition pay? t-J THLLOCfttrOPTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA JV P. S.—“To the American soldier* who, on the field of Cowpens, January 17th,1781. FOUGHT VICTORIOUSLY FOR THE RIGHTS OF SELF-GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL LIBERTY, We enjoy the result of their toil and Micrifice. Let us emulate their fortitude and virtue.” Inscription on (h* monument at Spartanburg, to Morgan and the many South Carolina patriots who made their epoch-marking sacrifices more than a hundred years ago. Tunes have changed then. Have principles?