Atlanta Georgian and news. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1912, May 25, 1907, Image 27

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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1907. JOHN TEMPLE GRA VESELABORATES IDEA OF HIS NOW FAMOUS CHA TTANOOGA SPEECH AT REQUEST OF THE NEW YORK WORLD The New York World, through its managing editor, on May 12 wired John Temple Graves, editor of The Georgian, a request for an article in elaboration of his now famous Chattanooga speech. The request was complied with some days later, and the article was printed in The World of Monday, being as signed the position of honor, first col umn, first page, in that issue. It is sig nificant that the request for the elabo ration of the speech In a newspaper article, designed for such prominence In a newspaper of the first rank In the world, should have come a month to n day after the 1 speech was delivered, and after it had been printed and com mented on by the press of the entire country. Newspapers of the class to which The World belongs do not give space and prominence to any but mat ters which they regard of serious im port or wide popular interest. The time at which the request was made indicates that The World regards the Interest in Mr. Graves* Chattanooga speech as of rather lasting interest. The text of Mr. Graves' article In The World is reproduced here: •Termlt mo to sn.v briefly that the desire for sensation or publicity was no part of the motive In my CbattnnoogH speech. I uni not a figure upon the lecture pint form, I am not. a candidate for public office, and I am not In need of other publicity than that which comes to me as the coutcnted anil busy editor of n newspaper whose re pute is enviable and whose prosperity Is ample. "I hive been accustomed for many y In Georgia to speak my honest mind upon man. this Is the chief .... enjoyed In pnbllc life, and 1 hare indulged It to (ny own happiness and satisfaction more than once against my apparent in terests, nnd many times In the teeth of my personal popularity. I nin convinced of the fact that the reason why truth Is less prev alent In public life than It ought to Ik* Is because so few men think truly and hon estly. The object of most men in public life, nnd unfortunately of many h«n a u* ty u to bnm,, ° thn question, and to , no * «• « radical, bnt As aeon- senutive-to secure every right belonging rhr,!til* SfflS! wlthout ., ,, »rlnglng upon the 82 . °i , tbe corporations, to establish as pa lance between the reign of the E 0 ? ?#!* 0 ** * r ?)* n °f the corporation ?• might demand—nnd to protect the republic against the reign °i A ntt u P° n the on ‘* hand nnd tho rule of the mob upon the other. "I believed then ns I believe now, that If a great people should carry such an ex pression of lofty confidence to a public servant, even one not so grent as Presi dent Roosevelt, that It would consecrate that public servant beyond partisanship, bevond passion nnd beyond selfishness to this one grent work alone, nnd that lie himself, lending the politics of the re public, would also lean the movement to relegate other dogtpas of either party to the rear and to concentrate and conse crate himself to the work of settling Just now in the period of Its great imminence nnd of its greatest possible promise this question of supreme concern. Knows Roosevelt's Drawbacks. "I have not been unmindful of tho dif ferences which have existed between the two parties, nor of the differences of opin ion which separate Mr. Rrynn and Mr. Roosevelt. I have not Idealized the presi dent in any iMirtimlar. I have been con scious of bis human fallings, of his In consistencies. of his limitations, nnd of the errors In policy nnd in action which at times have rutagonlzcd our Southern peo ple and the Democratic ranks. Rut I have shared the belief, which 1 believe now to be practically universal, that the president Is Im»Hi brave nnd honest—flint he Is easily the most sueressfut public man in our bistory—that he is girt .with the incompara ble —~ A ‘— — ’ *- — JOHN TEMPLE GRAVES. American nubile life— that he has the iim- hlnery of the government well In his mind and hands and the reins of exeeutlvi authority absolutely under masterful con trol. *1 believe that no man of either who could be put III the white at tills time would have so powerful influence upon the shaping or these tre- pnrty house personal profit nml personal popularity less by a frank statement of sincere conrle tlon than by a diligent effort to coucoct and to perfect the most plausible nnd fas cinating argument which can sustafu the popular view. Tho Real Voice of the People. "I may add Just here that since the Chat tnnooga speech was made, although ther* have been a multitude of criticisms mingled With many voices of approval from public men and the public press, there has come to me In thousands of letters nnd In many thousands of personal expressions the nssur- adco that my conception of public opinion was not unfounded nnd that the sentiment which I voiced In Chattanooga Is In fact tbo real voice of the people of Georgia and tho real opinion of the free nnd Intelligent masses of the South. "As to the proposition Itself, my whole theory was founded upon that profound nnd effective query with which The N**» York World has recently startled nnd parcntly 'stumped' tho country^'What a Democrat r i'l have answered to myself. In tho old fashioned way nnd nfter the fnlth of my fathers, that a Democrat was one who Ik* Jteved In the rule of the people for the real nnd practical Interests of the |M*ople. I have been elementary enough to think that the chief and vital concern of the Democratic party was to promote those In terests In legislation and In execution which conserved the rights, the liberty and the prosperity of the main lowly of the people and eatablisheil the greatest good of the greatest number. I have felt that the Dem ocratic party wits not so Indlasolulily linked to traditions of past days or past leaders as to subordinate these present conditions nnd present necessities that Involved the great Imdy of the people for whom it stood. “And when 1 came to measure in hit tnlnd the Iimups which were moat vital to the Im mediate present nnd to the Immediate fu ture life and welfare of the plain people I found no Issue that approximated In Immi nence and In vital Importance the great question of the relation of predatory wealth to the rights ami fnteresta of the iieople, and more particularly the collateral ques tion of tho proper and reasonable regulation of the railroads (the greatest of all corpo rations) In their relations to freight and panaenger rates, to franchises and to legis lation. I believed then aud I believe now that these other question of states' rights and the tariff which have been fought over by doctrinaires tor a hundred years and Whose fortunes hsve risen and fallen with incisions issues which overshadow others in the consideration of the public good. "Loving Mr. Hryau far better than I do tin* president, nnd admiring the Democrat ic leader*much more than the Republican executive, 1 have yet felt that Mr. Hryun, going a a a new man Into office, with » raw hand upon the machinery and having behind him a party half famished for suc cess nnd practically unacquainted with the execution of government, even If ho could t>e elected and if he hud a majority of both houses behind him, would require so much time to fumttlnrlsc himself with the grooves of action nnd the machinery of execution that the corporations nnd the representa tives of predatory wealth would rally In coherent nnd overwhelming forces to thwart him nnd to resume control of leg islation and of politics. •To express Jt In a word. I did not be lieve that It was wise policy to change leaders In the stress of n great and hopeful battle, or to remove n proven and appnr* ently Invincible general, to Install an honest and popular, tint certainly uu untried strat egist and executive. No Treason, Folly, Absurdity. “As an Individual Dvmocrat of tho old nvhool and after the old school fashion, rec- ognlxiug leaders as lets than measures and principles ns more than men. believing not there Is i mun inlgl.. playing for u.. ..... iu« would see that the lilies of great! him lay upon the absolutely non partisan consecration to the great Issue of the regu lation of predatory wealth. In this great game he bus already more thuu once, and never more imwerfully than In his recent speech at Jamestown, made plain the fact that he would fight this great fight as a statesman nnd patriot always fights, with a high nnd honorable consideration for nil elnsaew Involved In thla tremendous strug gle. he would aa promptly condemn an In justice to the corporation ns he would sternly protect the people from tyranny aud oppression; he would ns carefully pro tect the vested Interests of capital and the privileges of corporations us he would font lessly nnd rordlally conserve the rights and liberties and lutcrests of the plain people of America. “Any solution on lower lines than these nut Ih* only temporary lu Its nature. “It Is a question which enti uot be . urn neatly solved by the radical on el {her side. No extremist of radical democracy could be trustful to deal with llunl author ity upon -this issue. No visible conserva tive of veated Interests eouhl be trusted to protect the rights of tho common peo- so much In parties as In the |*eopIe, and ■ concerned for the people, I mag- issue of predatory wealth above nil other Issues nnd have simply advised the party of the people to rise to the great height of sacrificing a popular leader and a barely possible chance of party success in trder to give full rein to a great and vleto- j-tous general, who was fighting nnd actually winning In the cause for which we had pie in relation to capital. "And It Is liecnuse of thla peculiar and ndmiruhlc balance which the president's " inis aud the presli|ent's action have con- winning In the cause ror wnicu been plesidlng for n score of yearn. “Was 1 here any treason In that sugges tion to the |»eople, for whom the Democratic party has so long professed to stand? “Was there any disloyalty In It to the or- \ ,0 "H.V!to wbomTh* corpora- shibboleth In order to win n victory aud a |Mirt lu Its final solution. The One Man Available. "I believe that If the people should re new to I'restdent Roosevelt four years of power with commission to solve tuts ques tion that be would do It with n single mind, with a dauntless courage end with a vigorous patriotism. “And 1 believe v my deliberate Judgment, tiphih* me ■kuh tlon as fairly and as fearlessly as 1 can, with my prejudices all reaching toward democracy and toward Its great leader, whom I honor and respect—I believe that no man In all the repimllc Is so well qual ified nnd so favorably situated to settle this question fairly and successfully us the president of the (filltell States. "lie Is the one man that the corpora- tions fear so much that they would Ih* ghtd to compromise with him, “lie is the one mnn whom the people trust so much that they would be willing thunder in tho hands of the Republican president. Need of Reorganization. "There wns never In my observation n period when both parties were more In need of reorganisation than they are today. Roth parties are split Into fuctloiis, which nre more widely sundered from each other than ure the platforms of the two parties which Include them. Who Is to reconcile Mr. Bryan and Mr. Relmont, or Mr. llesrst ami Mr. llynu, lu tho Democratic party? Who Is to strike the balance between the democratic republicanism of Mr. Roose velt and the corporate proclivities of Mr. Foraker? “How Is the Democratic party In Its next convention to eliminate the conserva tive element whose wealth unit influence dominate its policies nml destroy Its chances for success at the polls? “Who is to represent the Interests of corporation and privilege In the Republi can party If Roosevelt or Tuft should bo the nominee of that organisation? “I speak for my party alone when I say that It will not win unless It be reorgan ised upon definite and progressive lines. At the Inst convention the voice of the ma jority was stifled and the Wall street ole- ment of the Democratic party, dominating its policies, deciding Its platforms and die- distinct and shameless plea that not offensive to the trusts!' “I do not see how this element of the Democratic party Is to Is* eliminated or controlled, if the corporation Democrat* happen to he sutsmlinute for a single elec tion they will certainly revive nnd march to triumph In the next campaign. Tho only hope for n great nnd triumphant Dem ocratic party Is to reorganise its ranks, to eliminate Its heresies and to reform Its fol lowers upon definite and progressive and even conservatively radical Hues. The par ty can never wiu ns n mongrel uud hybrid organisation. It can never win ns it pnrty whose platforms nre built out of u com promise between Rrynn nnd Uclmout nml Ryan and Henrst. "I fall to nee bow I bis necessary pnrty organisation can be brought nlNitit with- it a temporary disintegration. “An 'era or goo<I feeling’ would pre sent the opportunity which the Democratic pnrty absolutely requires for this Indispen sable reorganization. “It Is the only way to bring nltout ft new deul nnd a 'square deal’ for the cltl- sen. 'Given an era of good feeling In this later on Monroe In 1K4. In order to reform Into the definite organisations which have since held the government In balance, why should not both parties merge under Roosevelt In material damage - afford to wait for four years or more while tho American people consecrated themselves for a single season to the wise, firm and effective solution of this question of pred atory wealth tad railway corporations In their relations to tho people. Let Other Questions Wait. "My whole proposition was based upon the view that at this particular period In onr history this question of all ques* to wait upon Its solution, and that be cause we had In executive, authority at this time on# who bed demonstrated his ca pacity to deal with , the question Id the most masterful manner, on# who was al ready Intrenched In position, holding tho machinery of action and prestige of cess, that the real Interests of the pe~~ which were et stake in these Issues would seem to demand that this executive figure should be held In position pending the solu tion of this vital and pressing question. "I believe that it would, take at least four years or more of legislative influence and executive authority reinforced by exec utive action to bring this question or preda- to nr wealth and the people to a wnefoston. I did not oee any treason or folly In the suggestion Jn a government for the people and by the people, tho representatives of the people should get behind the one man who had demonstrated his wIHJagn&as and permanent pulley of protection for the peo- ^“Ih there any reason why I should hnv t»ccu halted as a foolish enthusiast, simply because I honestly advocated as a policy for my party the temporary sacrifice of Mr. Bryan in order to secure a permanent trl uinph of the vital principle for which be fights? “Is there anything short of truckling par tisanship and the time-serving selfishness of the age which could Justify the condemna tion of an old-fashioned Democrat, who was willing to retire a leader who has been twice defeated and a pnrty name that baa come to be much discredited by continuing In power another popular leader under an other popular name, who was doing all and mare In our own cui* than «ny feeder of our party has been able to do within the last three decades, end who was settling as fast as human power and courage could settle It, the greatest eranomlc question that concerns tho people of this country in the present or the future? “I fell beck once more upon my faith in the people end their honest view In opposi tion to the spurious loyalty of ■polls which possesses the politicians, the office-holders and the few newspapers which generally speak for those classes of onr population. Could Not Refute. "I believe that President Roosevelt will not, nnder any dreurasUnw*. accept • re- nomination from the Republican party. I think hts professions to that extent are ab solutely jiocere. I believe however, that neither President Roosevelt nor any other American who has ever lived, or ever will lire, would refuse a nomination tendered him as a common expression of confidence from the people of ail parties. Impressed with fST SSSrttf of him motive* and the fullness of his superior capacity to handle the economic Questions of the hour. *T bet lore that ft ho should accept this nomination he would bold It not oa a par- Unn nor os a Republican, ue would have nothing to gala/ ••The presUen history Dot a pie IxUleve cun not Ik* t»ought. “He-Is the one mnn who bn« succeeded tn nearly every great thing that he bus undertaken to effect. “Ills courage, his rapacity, his fortified position and his wonderful success cun not Ik* duplicated by any mnn of cither purty who could be put in his place. "And these conditions press now nn np peal upon the vigorous, dauntless nnd patriotic president that be could not and would not resist. “With this supreme regard for the tran srendent Issue dear to mind. let me say that I have not been unmindful of those great considerations which would affect my own political party and the party of the president In this connection. There has been once before In American poll ast such an era as I sought to estub ...... .jore. Between the years of 1812 nnd 1820 the Federalist party, like the Demo cratic party of today, had sustained sue- resolve defeats at the hnnda of the people, and Its leaders end follower# were bract I rally discouraged. The admlntatratlo sines Monroe was re-elected president by a vote of 2*1 oat of 222 In the electoral college. This was the "era of good feeling." It was a period out of which the republic reaped In calculable profit "It may be urged by either party and more particularly by my own that the Federalists, the weaker, party, never re covered from the general compromise, and that It passed out of existence soon after the era of good feeling was spent But the student of history .will remember that the Federalist party, which died by Its own division# sod Its own unpopularity, rear- “Its principles and reformed Ita name of the Republican quertng and triumphant sway la the Re public with hot a single representative of the ofhar party holding the presidency fa Individual citizen the opportunity to align himself with principles In which he really believes and with platforms which rcnlly carry his political convictions aud his civ ic lutercsts. Time for * New Deal. “Aa It Is today, both parties nre filled Itti masses of protestnnts against half ' the creeds which they profess nnd half tho K lntforms which they follow. Tlnwe nre ••publican* by the thousands who nre held loyal only by the memories of the Civil war, by the traditions of ntwlltlon or by the nparloan loyalty of spoil. Thera nre Democrats by the tens of thousands who nre held loyal by their Indlgnaut mem ories of the bloody shirt, by the sectional Issues of the sixties, and by the colossal l shadow of negro domination. “Nothing so wholesome could come to the republic ns n new deal in which rent statesmen and lenders of men would stand up nml promulgate real platforms that would carry the naturally opiM»slug theo ries of this great nnd progressive era hi such form thi>. the definite Democrat*, who make one clnss of our imlltlcs. nnd the conservative rl<-h, who make .-mother clnss of our iKtlltlej, might honestly nml sincerely nllgn themselves with the organ ization which carried their convictions nnd fight hereafter from the principles of the present rather than from the prejudices of the post nnd under the selfish spirit of s|k>|Is. “And what a glorious vindication It would Ik* to representative government If In tha great era of selfishness aud greed a free people could subordinate party spirit to popular rights, und. In an economic crisis, demonstrate to the world the Individual Integrity of the citizen MORPHINE-OPIUM and all narcotic habit, cured at your home Painl.uly and P.rman.ntly (for $1(MX» by an entirely now method. “No Cure—No Pay." Write todny for detail,. Dr. G. PATTERSON, 82 Cen- tral Place, Atlanta, Georgia, Bragg & Ryon 7ATHISTS OSTEOPi E. E. Bragg PHY8ICIAN AND BURGEON Office,: 324-325 Century Bldg. Bell Phone 3901 M ufe»tHU tnalmnt ht Wblsktf, Optwa, Ms. ph/zt, Csci/it, Chlenl, Tnbacta id ffscsifl«- all ar Vtm htnillNb Ito Only Kecfey laifi-/ bit la Georji*. 229 Woodward An., ATLANTA, GA-