seance before he addressed the convention.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said (looking as he spoke at one of the
handbills announcing his candidacy for the dignity of mouthpiece
of the nation)--"I issue dodgers, but I never dodge the issue. I
can Take It or Let It Alone, but frankly, I prefer to Take It. I
hope I speak modestly: yet candor insists that both by past
training and present inclination I feel myself fitted to deal with
the problems of this exalted office. If elected to this high place
of trust I shall regard myself solely as the servant of the
public, solely as the representative of your sovereign will. As I
raise the glass or peel the lemon, I shall not act in any
individual capacity. My own good cheer (I beg you to believe) will
be my last thought. I shall remember, in every gesture and every
gulp, that my thirst is in reality the Thirst of a Nation,
delegated to me by ballot; that my laughter and song (if things
should go so far) are truly the mirth and music of a proud people
expressing themselves through me. I shall be at all times
accessible to my fellow-men, solicitous to hear their counsel and
command. Believing (as I do) in moderation, yet I should not dream
of permitting private sentiment to interfere with public interest
when more violent measures should seem desirable.

"I like to think, my fellow-citizens, that you have conferred this
nomination upon me not wholly at random. I like to think that I am
only expressing your thought when I say that many drinkers have
been the worst enemies of the cause we all hold dear. The
alcoholshevik and the I.W.W.--the I Wallow in Wine faction--have
done much to discredit the old bland Jeffersonian toper who
carried tippling to the level of a fine art. I have no patience