CANNON, JAMES

born Nov. 13, 1864, Salisbury, Md., U.S. died Sept. 6, 1944, Chicago, Ill. American clergyman, a zealous prohibitionist, and a foe of Democratic presidential candidate Alfred E. Smith. Educated at Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J., Cannon entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1888. He was elected a bishop in 1918 and retired in 1938. Bishop Cannon was a foremost Anti-Saloon Leaguer and head of the World League Against Alcoholism. During the 1928 presidential campaign, he delivered violent tirades against Alfred E. Smith, an outspoken wet, who advocated repeal of the Prohibition Amendment. In 1930 Bishop Cannon, before a body of high-church Methodists, answered charges of stock speculation in bucket shops. By admitting his error and begging for forgiveness, he was not tried. Shortly afterward, when called to appear before a senate lobby committee to explain what he did with $48,300 given him for use in Virginia during the 1928 campaign, the bishop defied the committee and refused to answer questions. He was later acquitted in federal court of violating the Corrupt Practices Act. With these incidents and the repeal of prohibition, his influence waned, although he continued his temperance crusade.