This Month's Story

(Originally published in 2004)

This spring, Edward Perry, the long time clerk of the Mississippi House of Representatives retired. At his retirement party, his co-workers started a chant for him to give his rendition of Judge “Soggy” Sweat’s famous Whiskey Speech. He gave it and the party went wild.

Their exuberance was justified. Judge “Soggy” Sweat’s Whiskey Speech is a tour de force needing a person with a strong rich voice and a well-timed, almost perfect pitch delivery. Perry was that person. In fact, Perry had given it the previous year at the centennial celebration of the Mississippi Capitol building. There were many speeches delivered that day at the hundred-year anniversary of the old building but none were received as rowdily as Perry’s oration.

To say that Judge “Soggy” Sweat’s famous Whiskey Speech is a good speech is like saying a beautiful woman is pretty. It is a good speech and much more, much much more. While it is a classic speech, in fact a brilliant speech, it is also a superb example of political doublespeak, and above all, richly Mississippian.

In fact Judge “Soggy” Sweat’s famous Whiskey Speech is a unique Mississippi treasure, a treasure everyone in the state should be proud of. I firmly believe that somewhere, probably in Corinth, Judge Sweat’s hometown, someone should have it chiseled on a large marble monument in the town plaza.

I believe equally as well, that every Mississippian who fancies himself a public speaker should have it memorized and be prepared to deliver it in its entirety at the drop of a hat. It should be recited at school graduations, church functions and the opening of Super Wal Marts.

I began hearing abbreviated versions of Judge “Soggy” Sweat’s Whiskey Speech when I was in college and always wondered about the full story behind it. Back then, Mississippians, while secretly proud of the speech were not inclined to publicize it too openly. Today, thanks to the magic of the Internet, the story is quite easily found and web sites with the story and the full text of the speech fill an entire Google page.

The speech was originally made by Mississippi Representative N. S. “Soggy” Sweat Jr. on April 4, 1952. Sweat was 28 at the time and reaching the end of his four years as a state representative. He was attending a political banquet that April 4 evening, at a time when prohibition was a controversial issue before the State Legislature.

Here is what Sweat later said happened:

“The banquet that night (was) at the old King Edward Hotel … The senators, their wives, members of the House and others were guests. Bose Holburn had heard I was working on a universal approach to the whiskey issue. He called me that night and asked me to get up and take a stand on the issue.”

Sweat said that as he started his speech, the large crowd sat in attentive silence. “When I finished the first half of the speech, there was a tremendous burst of applause…” from the drys in the audience. “…The second half of the speech, the wets all applauded. The drys were as unhappy with the second part of the speech as the wets were with the first half,”

Sweat went on to have a rich professional and political career that included stints as a district attorney, circuit court judge and college professor. He died in Corinth of Parkinson’s disease in February 1996.

His was a colorful life that many still talk about, but nothing ever came close to that wonderful moment of oratorical glory that he reached on that early spring evening when he spoke of whiskey being “the Devil’s brew, the poison scourge and the bloody monster” at the same time as he talked of it being the “oil of conversation” and “the philosophic wine.”

Judge “Soggy” Sweat’s famous Whiskey Speech

Here in its entirety is the speech that the then-State Representative N. S. “Soggy” Sweat Jr. delivered on April 4, 1952, at a banquet at a time the issue of prohibition was before the State Legislature. Note that it is only five sentences!

“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.”