THE STATE
November 18, 1933
Page Seven
How the Drys Waged Their Campaign
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(This article, giving
коте
inside fuels
about the Dry campaign prior to the
election of November 7, was written
for The State by a prominent member
of the United Dry Forces.)
★
This is the story of tho campaign
which tin* Drys waged in North Caro¬
lina in connection with the repeal elec¬
tion last week.
Dr. W. L. Potent, president emeritus
of Wake Forest College, was president
of the United Dry Forces and one of
the outstanding workers in the cam¬
paign.
Calc Burgess. Raleigh attorney, was
executive secretary and manager of the
campaign. Frances Renfrew Doak
was his chief assistant and was in charge
of the work among the women.
Headquarters were opened in the
Bland Hotel.
The first step taken was on July 1 1.
On that day, letters were sent to all
the preachers in North Carolina, ask¬
ing their cooperation. Three hundred
and sixty ministers responded and be¬
came active members of the speakers’
bureau. By August I, t his bureau con¬
sisted of five hundred names, and there
was no community, however small,
which did not have one or more dry
rallies.
Next came tho organisation of the
Junior Phalanx, made up of the young
people of the churches, from 12 years
on up. who were asked to sign pledges,
somewhat akin to those of thirty years
ago. The pledge reads :
"I stand for the Constitution and all
its amendments.
“I stand for the protection of the
home, the school, the church.
“I stand for the protection of our
boys and girls.
“I stand for the safety of the high¬
ways.
“I stand against the sale and use of
beverage alcohol.
CALE BURGESS
Executive secretary of the United Dry
Forces, prominent organizer of Ameri¬
can Legion posts and Lions clubs, who
carried on a masterly campoign to help
defeat the repeal issue.
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This organization functioned well in
Wake and Cleveland counties. Al¬
though the youngsters were too young
to vote, they doubtless had much influ¬
ence on the way their mothers and fa¬
thers voted. However, ns the major
campaign began to take on life around
September 1. the organization of the
Junior Phalanx in other counties of
the state had to lie deferred. This work
probably will go on as part of the edu¬
cational program of the Drys.
When, on October 1. Mr. Burgess was
able to announce that 100 counties had
set up dry organizations — some of them
down to the units of precincts- -the
Drys throughout North Carolina began
their real fight. After that, it was not
particularly difficult to secure coopera¬
tion. By October 7. when a complete
list of the Dry delegates was given out
anil the Wet forces were not able to
give out anything authentic in this con¬
nection, something of the old lighting
spirit of 1008 began to manifest itself,
and from then on, the Drys had the best
of it. The papers, as a rule, were fair
★
and just so far as giving publicity was
concerned. The speakers' bureau func¬
tioned like a well-oiled machine. Many
men and women made more than a score
of speeches in their own territory and
also in other parts of the state. There
were a number of prominent individ¬
uals who visited the larger (Tillers: men
like Clyde R.
Носу,
Rev. E. McNeill
Potent, Col. John I>. Langston, Isaac
C. Wright, Rev. J. Powell Tucker.
Judge E. Yates Webb, Dr. W. I.. Po¬
tent and Cameron Morrison. And then,
of course, the Republicans helped, too.
The women l>ecame aroused during
the early stages of the game, and the
overwhelming majority which the Drys
piled up was due largely to their ef¬
fective work.
And that, in brief, is the story of the
campaign which the Drys waged. A
FRANCES RENFREW DOAK
Assistant to Mr. Burgess, who did ef¬
fective work among the women of the
state. She is a temperance worker of
long standing.
- ★ -
number of political observers have been
heard to make the statement that it was
one of the best pieces of campaign ma¬
chinery that ever has boon set up in
North Carolina.
