CITIZENS' MASS MEETING

Cortland Evening Standard, Saturday, March 9, 1895.

CITIZENS' MASS MEETING.

It Was Large, Enthusiastic and Very Radical.

   The mass meeting last evening of the adherents of the citizens' ticket called out a large and exceedingly enthusiastic audience, which nearly filled Taylor hall. The meeting was called to order by M. R. Yale. Dr. H. A. Cordo led prayer, after which Mr. Yale nominated as chairman F. W. Kingsbury, who was unanimously elected. A quartet consisting of Messrs J. B. Hunt and M. DeVer Westcott, Misses Tanner and Wheeler led the assemblage in singing "America," after which Mr. Kingsbury with brief remarks introduced as the first speaker of the evening, Rev. H. W. Carr. The speaker showed by historical references the continual progression of man. This was then compared to the steady moving forward of temperance from the old-time rum and molasses on the table, through its various restrictions by license, to the present condition of the traffic. He urged, as a step further, not only no license, but enforcement of no license. He discussed a half dozen of the objections, published in communications to The STANDARD, to the citizens' ticket in a humorous and, to the audience, apparently convincing manner, illustrating his remarks with a number of anecdotes which were very aptly applied.

   The next speaker, Rev. G. H. Brigham, took in hand the audience, which was getting more enthusiastic every moment, and worked them to fever heat. Among other things he said that if the election could be postponed two weeks and Republican editors were allowed to write in the meantime, that it would not be necessary to do any talking at all to elect the citizens' ticket. His sarcasm on the opposing candidates brought forth applause, as did also his remarks on the police force, which he scored severely. He discussed the state legislation, the question as to whether the village board can do any thing to enforce the law, and the question of licensing a few hotels and the "devil's kindergarten."

   The quartet rendered in an excellent manner the selection "Where is my Wandering Boy To-night?" with appropriate words for the occasion.

   Chairman Kingsbury then read a greeting from Lincoln lodge, I. O. G. T., after which he introduced Secretary J. H. Osterhout, who gave some interesting facts, referring to his work among the young men and severely criticizing the Republican party. He spoke very highly of J. Martin Jones, who tried the liquor cases here two years ago, urged more backbone and showed how the reform was moving forward. He told of two pitiable experiences which had come under his observance, closing with an exhortation to both men and women to do all in their power for the election of the ticket.

   Prof. D. L. Bardwell then read a congratulatory letter from the Cortland county lodge, I. O. G. T., after which he said that it was not a question of politics, but a question of right or wrong. He held the village trustees and village president responsible for the present violation of the law and argued against "misleading" newspaper statements and scored the two great political parties. Among other statements he made was this that he had been told by a Republican that there were twelve private houses in town now where liquor was sold that were not selling one year ago. He closed by urging all to make a gallant fight for the right.

   Dr. Higgins was called from the audience amidst a storm of applause. He cordially thanked all for the honor of standing at the head of the ticket and said that he had not met with the personal abuse which he expected, that he hated the traffic and that he would take his chances of a bullet from the saloon man who it had been stated had threatened to shoot the first person who interfered with his business, rather than that the saloon man should get one of his boys. He said that he would not snoop around trying to collect evidence, but would promise all of his sympathy and would do everything which the law would allow him and expected his friends to stand by him. He said that if elected he thought he would be able to find four or five men in Cortland for policemen who would try to do something. He closed by saying that he thought if the ticket was elected there would not be as hard a fight in closing the saloons as had been anticipated.

   Dr. L. H. Pearce then arose and expressed his confidence in Dr. Higgins as to how he would fight and what he would do. He defined the issue as "whiskey or no whiskey, saloon or no saloon." He exhorted all to argue the question without passion, as every time their opponents had opened their mouths they had put their foot in it. He said a great deal in a few words. The meeting closed with a selection by the quartet.

Still Another Republican.

   To the Editor of the Standard:

   SIR—False issues may attract attention for a little time, but as soon as an intelligent public has time to get at the merits of the case, the bubble bursts, and aside from the noise it creates, produces but little effect. In the issue that has been forced into our local election, we are now being treated to the noise occasioned by the bursting of the bubble. And while already too much ink has been wasted in so useless a discussion, yet so many misstatements and misleading deductions therefrom have been made by the "self-styled enforcers of law," that you will pardon the writer for wasting a little ink too. And what he has to say he asks your readers to accept not upon his authority, but upon record evidence and statute law.

   What are the excuses for the existence of the "citizens' party," and what can it possibly accomplish if successful? As alleged by the promoters, they seem to be that the village officers have not stopped the unlawful sale of liquor, and have not instituted prosecutions for violations of the law. The only authority in the matter conferred upon village trustees is contained in Sec. 6 of Title 4 of the village charter as amended in 1890, which says that "The board of trustees shall have power to make, continue, establish, publish, modify, amend or repeal ordinances, rules, regulations and bylaws (among other things) to prohibit the selling of intoxicating liquors contrary to law." Suppose the village board should pass ordinances upon the subject, as I believe they already have, would the situation be any better? Would an ordinance of this village add anything to the statute itself, which in Sec. 31, Chapter 401, laws of 1892, declares such selling to be a misdemeanor?

   And yet your correspondent of March 6, after giving himself a certificate of character as to truth and honesty by placing the quotation marks where he wanted to, attempted to draw the inference that the trustees could "prohibit the selling of intoxicating liquor contrary to law." Suppose a village board, out of charity to the good people of this community, should give employment to the fanatics, who now seem to have nothing to do but stir up feeling in the community, and should set them all to writing ordinances for the next year, would the law be any nearer enforcement? But they say that the charter says "It shall be the duty of a president to see that the laws of the state applicable to the village are faithfully and impartially executed; to institute prosecutions in the corporate name for violations thereof." And they say, therefore, that the president should prosecute these cases. Are the men who urge that dishonest or ignorant?

   The writer dislikes to say so, but he submits that an impartial observer of their acts might be excused for deeming them both. Don't these gentlemen know that criminal cases can only be prosecuted in the name of the "People of the State of New York?" Can't they understand English well enough to know that that provision refers to cases where the village is a party plaintiff, in other words to civil cases?

   The village board and president can only employ counsel in the civil business of the corporation, and have no more authority in criminal matters than any private citizen. Not only that, if they used money of the village for that purpose, they would be liable personally to the village for the amount, and would be guilty of a misdemeanor. (See Sec. 3, Title 7, of the village charter.) And yet these men, who are claiming to be upholders of the law, after standing by and seeing the village president paying money out of his own pocket to employ counsel to prosecute a criminal recently in police court, some of them after having refused to join with the president in employing counsel in an excise case which they had asked him to commence, after having refused to allow money that they had raised ostensibly for that purpose to be so used, after having allowed the witnesses, for whose appearance they had given bail to escape, and then after having asked for the discontinuance of the case, (see records of police court) these men ask the village officers to violate the law, to perform acts which they have no authority to do, and then vilify them for refusing so to act. Isn't it time that decent people called a halt?

   A committee of these gentlemen, only one of whom pays a dollar of taxes, asked the village board to submit to the people an appropriation for enforcing the excise law. The charter enumerates the purposes for which money can be raised and nowhere mentions that. A petition of taxpayers and eminent citizens was presented to the board asking them not to submit such a proposition; and because the trustees refused to violate the charter of the village and plunge the village into useless and expensive litigation, these self-styled reformers are vilifying them, and are making their action an excuse for the present movement. Is it not clear to all except those the only avenue to whose brain is through their prejudices that this is not a corporation matter? Charges for criminal prosecutions are town and county matters and can in no way be made a charge upon the corporation, and this issue can never have any legitimate bearing in village politics until excise commissioners are elected by the village instead of the town.

   Isn't it clear to every fair-minded citizen that the present agitation can only have the effect to create feeling in the community and to make the enforcement of the law still more difficult? If the energy that is being wasted in stirring up trouble were turned in the right direction the law could be enforced. Sec. 31 of the excise law makes the sale of intoxicating liquor without a license a misdemeanor, and that is the only section applicable to this town. Under it in order to sustain a conviction, a specific sale must be alleged and proved, and but one sale can be proved in the same charge. If violations of the law are properly brought to the notice of the district attorney he will prosecute the violators. When complaints are made to a magistrate one citizen can prosecute as well as any other.

   Isn't it time then that the decent people of this village called a halt upon the present tirade? When a class of men set themselves up as much better than their fellow men, when in their blind prejudice, pretending to be upholders of the law, they ask officers to override law, and then vilify them when they decline to do so, when they set out in a crusade which cannot possibly accomplish anything but harm, and then characterize every one who has brains enough to see the folly of their course as either violators of the law or sympathizers of such violations, and as being in league with the whiskey men, when they do this, the writer submits that it is time for fair-minded citizens to call a halt.

   The Republicans have a clean ticket from top to bottom, every man upon the ticket will discharge his duties intelligently, conscientiously and in the interest of the village. Let every Republican then, let every citizen who believes in fair play and decency, cast a ballot on next Tuesday for the Republican nominees. Let the good people of this village say to these disturbers, these vilifiers of decent men, that they have mistaken their mission and had better confine themselves to their particular vocations in life.

   "STILL ANOTHER REPUBLICAN."

And Still Another Republican.

   To the Editor of the Standard:

   SIR—Let me say a word in reply to the communication in last evening's STANDARD signed "Still Another Republican," and as briefly as possible correct his misstatements which are so misleading. The "independent citizens" of Cortland did not act "prematurely" or follow any "false gods" in filing their nominations of men to all various offices of this village, strictly as required by law, but on the contrary they held back their petitions until after the other parties, both Republican and Democratic, had made their nominations, hoping that men might be placed upon one or the other of those tickets who would pledge themselves, or at least give some assurances that the laws should be enforced against the illegal sale of liquor in our community.

   Had this been done the independent citizens' movement would have ended, but instead of that the man who has been such a complete failure along these lines is again placed in nomination by one party and when interviewed said "he had no pledges to make, his record was before the people," and the other party nominates a man who makes no profession of being a temperance man, but who has placed himself on record as opposed to raising money to enforce the excise laws; then and not until then the "new fad of a citizens' ticket" became a reality.

   There is not one word of truth in his statement that the originators of the "independent citizens' movement" were "office seekers," or "sore-heads;" neither are they ''ambitious" or "noisy." They have united from all parties for a specific purpose and the fact that "these men are marked and should be remembered" will not frighten them from their purpose to "down the saloon and drive it out of Cortland."

   Let every citizen who respects himself and cares for the good name of our beautiful Cortland stand in his place and do his whole duty on Tuesday next, and we will show these gentlemen whether we have been running after "false gods" or not. In regard to Mr. Walrad, the facts are, during his term of office, at least two or three of the liquor sellers closed their places and left town; under the "Tisdale" administration the "cat came back."

   A LAW ABIDING REPUBLICAN.

BREVITIES.

   —A drunk is taking three days in jail to sober up.

   —The booths for the village election were being set up this afternoon in Fireman's hall.

   —The citizens' party will hold a last mass meeting at the Opera House next Monday night at 8 o'clock,

   —Dr. L. H. Pearce will preach in Memorial chapel Sunday afternoon at 4 o'clock. All are cordially invited.

   —The lecture which was to have been given in the Homer-ave. church this month for the benefit of the colored peoples' church, has been adjourned till the middle of May.

   —The case of The People vs. Phoebe Japhet, which has been tried on the installment plan on several different occasions, was finished to-day. It was decided that the defendant was not guilty of the charge of stealing the book.

   —Mr. Leonard Griswold of Dryden, who was well known through this entire section of country, died at his home on Thursday afternoon of heart trouble. The funeral will be held to-morrow at 1 o'clock. His age was about 75 years.

   —Messrs. W. E. Wood and Robert Bushby received a notice this morning not to sell any more D., L. & W. mileage books. This means three cents a mile or walk. The mileage books which are already out can be used according to the contracts under which they are purchased.

   —John H. Buell died at 10 o'clock last night, aged 79 years. A prayer will be held at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. H. DeWitt Call, 2 East Main-st. Monday morning. The remains will be taken on the 10 o'clock train to Lyons for burial. Besides Mrs. Call the deceased leaves a sister at Palmyra and a brother at Lyons.

   —Mr. H. E. Andrews' horse was left standing this morning in front of his market at 20 North Main-st., tied by a halter to a weight. The animal became frightened at the electric car and ran up Lincoln-ave. at a lively pace. The rope holding the weight broke while he was running and the horse ran to Groton-ave., where he was caught. The only damage done was that the blanket, which was on the horse, was torn.

   —A discussion is raging in Erie, says The Dispatch, over this question, propounded by a school teacher to her class: "If a tree located in a forest should fall and no one should see it, would it make a noise?" The question has created much discussion among the pupils to whom it was presented, and it has spread into older and wider circles. The debate turns upon the theory that sound exists only in the ear, and that there can be no sound where there is no ear to receive and respond to the atmospheric waves.

   —Those who have visited Tully Lake park during the past two years will be pleased to learn that the Park hotel will this year again be under the management of J. M. Slayton. The hotel, under Mr. Slayton's management, has become noted as one of the best in Central New York. That its good reputation will be maintained during the coming season, no one who visited the park for the two past summers doubts. We congratulate the association on their good fortune in securing the services of Landlord Slayton for another year.—Tully Times.

Administrator's Sale.

   The subscriber will sell at public auction on Thursday, March 14, '95, at 10 A. M., at the late home of Ransom Slocum, deceased, two miles southeast of Freetown Corners, the following described property: 24 choice dairy cows, part grade Jerseys, two two-year-old Heifers, two yearling heifers, pair of work horses, brood sow, thirty hens, lumber wagon, platform wagon, top buggy, two-seated cutter, swell body cutter, pair of bobs, bob sled, 2 mowing machines, wheel rake, dog power, Oliver chilled plow, steel plow, horse hoe, cultivator, spring tooth harrow, road scraper, hayrack, cauldron kettle, double harness (nearly new), whiffletrees, log chains, forks, hoes, etc., etc. A quantity of hay and straw, 25 bushels of oats, 50 bushels of potatoes. Full set of sugaring tools, including 170 tin sap buckets, 100 iron sap spouts, store and draw tubs, pans, etc. One set of large milk pans, two milk cans, coolers, pails, churns, a quantity of household furniture, and other articles too numerous to mention.

   Terms—All sums of $10 and under cash; on all sums over $10 a credit of five months will be given on approved interest-bearing notes, payable at the First National bank, Cortland, N. Y.

   HARVEY Z. TUTTLE, Adm'r.

   A. B. Gardner, auctioneer.