Clarke County Democrat

‘The Whiskey Speech’

Editor’s Notes



 

 

With tempers flaring in the Grove Hill wet-dry debate, let’s step back and look at the issue from both sides, courtesy of the late Judge Noah S. “Soggy” Sweat Jr. of Mississippi.

It wouldn’t hurt any of us to smile a little right now.

Sweat was a young Mississippi legislator when state prohibition was being debated in 1952 and was asked to make remarks on alcohol at a banquet at the old King Edward Hotel in downtown Jackson, Miss.

Many said the speech was done tongue in cheek and meant to be a bit of a satire on political doublespeak or flip-flopping. Nevertheless, there is truth in both arguments. And maybe that is what makes the debate over alcohol so controversial and never-ending.

Noah Sweat would go on to be a Mississippi circuit judge and a college professor. His remarks have been attributed to just almost every southern politician, alive or dead, but they are his and he was wise enough to copyright his comments.

Here it is, often referenced simply as “The Whiskey Speech.”

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“My friends,

“I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject at this particular time. However, I want you to know that I do not shun controversy. On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it might be. You have asked me how I feel about whiskey. All right, here is how I feel about whiskey.

“If when you say whiskey you mean the devil’s brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster, that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacle of righteous, gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, and despair, and shame and helplessness, and hopelessness, then certainly I am against it.

“But;

“If when you say whiskey you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on their lips, and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer; if you mean the stimulating drink that puts the spring in the old gentleman’s step on a frosty, crispy morning; if you mean the drink which enables a man to magnify his joy, and his happiness, and to forget, if only for a little while, life’s great tragedies, and heartaches, and sorrows; if you mean that drink, the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars, which are used to provide tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirm; to build highways and hospitals and schools, then certainly I am for it.

“This is my stand. I will not retreat from it. I will not compromise.”

Jim Cox is editor and publisher

of The Clarke County Democrat.


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