Newspaper Page Text
WATSON’S WELCOME HOME.
[continued from first page.]
ed to go to the horse races, and did go.
[Laughter.] Here is the record of Sat
urday, June 29, 1892, and it shows that
Congress was in session just two minutes.
Absenteeism blocked the wheels.—
[Laughter.]
When Democratic statesmen leave
their duties and put in regular attend
ance at horse races it is no wonder they
complain that they have no “chance.”
(Great laughter and applause.] The
“chance” such men as these want is the
eternity of drawing salaries. [A voice,
“Give him a fan.”] Mr. Watson—lt’s
the Democrats who need the fanning.
{ Loud laughter and cheering.] Such ab
senteeism paralizeseverything. The men
who are present and want to work cannot
work because of the absence of others.
So, as we sat there with folded hands,
waiting for the horse-racing statesmen,
1 whirled in and wrote a book. [Laugh
ter. ] I intended that book to hurt, and
it does hurt. [Laughter.] I intended to
expose usages which were going on there
detrimental to the people. I violated no
man's confidence. [Voice, “No, you did
not.”] Congress is not a private body. A
man who sees abuses an 4 does not de
nounce them, that they may be corrected,
is not true to the best interests of the
public.
Now here is the paragraph which
made the lion roar. [Laughter.]
“The congress now sitting is one
illustration. Pledged to reform they
have not reformed. [A voice “that’s
right.”]
“Pledged to economy, they have not
economized.” [Many voices, "no, no
no.”]
And no man denies this—“pledged
to legislate, they have not legislat
ed —” no man denies this—[Voices,
hey cannot deny it.]
“Extravagance has been the order of
the day. Absenteeism was never so
pronounced. Lack of purpose was
never so clear.
“Drunken members have reeled about
the aisles.”—[Laughter and cries of
“shame,” “shame.”]
“Drunken speakers have debated
grave issues on the Hour, and in the
midst of maudlin ramblings have been
heard to inquire, “Mr. Speaker, where
was 1 at?” [A voice “that hurts. You’ve
got ’em where the wool is short.”]
Mark you, I did not say that every
man who takes too much toddy is a
bad man. Ido not say its an unpar
donable sin for a man to talk when
he is drunk. That’s the very time he
wants to talk. [Laughter.] But it is
a curious fact that the gravest charges
I made are not denied, while the lesser
ones have been so bitterly denied.
Let us ee if I did not prove my case.
On this liquor question I am no fanatic,
but I have voted on the si le of temper
ance legislation. (Voices “r ght) But
the prohibition question was not involved
in this depute at all. In tins particular
case the question was whether it was
right to keep a barroom in the capit 1
building at Washington and thus outrage
the feelings of millions who believe that
the marble temple dedicated by Masonic
ceremonies, reared into magnificence by
the taxes of all the people, should not be
turned into a whisky saloon. Whether
you be prohibitionist or not, I believ
you w’dl condemn the running of a bar
room in that building. (Cries of “that’s
so.”) I do not believe it is necessary io
have a bar room within 65 feet of our
law makers in order to get good laws.
(Applause)
I hit them on a tender spot and they
squealed. (Laughter.)
Little Gen’l. Joe Wheeler [laugh
4gr]. I suppose some of you have
of him [cries of “Yes”], was at
taTfVthg our platform and put in some
thing against me. I replied. The
General got ashy and he went out
after my scalp. [Laughter.] He lug
ged the book in and quoted the sen
tence about drunkenness. I was asked
if I wrote it. I replied that I did
write it and would stand by it. [Ap
plause.] They hissed me off the floor,
but they have not silenced me yet.
You remember Aleck Stephens said
on this very spot, that they might howl
him down in Congress but they would
never howl him down before the peo
ple. [Cheers.] I say here and now,
I take my appeal from Congress to
the fairminded jury of the people.
[ Cheers.]
Now perhaps you would like to have
the evidence? It was with the greatest
difficulty that I got a copy of the offi
cial record. I have not time to read at
length, but will come at once to the
place in the record where they say
that I have been shown up as a wilful
liar. Let us see what has been sworn
to in the investigation. I know you
wpuld like to see just what has been
shown—to know how many drunken
members have been making speeches
op the floor of Congress. First, here is
Miss Bessie Dwyer, a beautiful south
ern girl from Texas, correspondent of
the National Economist, sworn :
Q. You have seen members address
ing the house in a state of maudlin
intoxication? A. Yes, sir.
Q. How many? A. One.
And then she goes on to say, “A
great many members on the democrat
ic side of the House, used their best
endeavors to persuade him to take his
seat without avail until he had talked
just as long as he wanted to.
Q. Did you see him drink anything
during his remarks? A. I saw a cup
on his desk; at first I thought it was
bouillon some friend had sent him—l
thought it was bouillon .until I noticed
the press gallery, and that was suffi
cient. I looked up there and saw the
greatest hilarity kmong the members
of the press; they were lailghing, and
evidently amused, and I knew from
that time on what it was.
Q. Did he use the expression : “Mr.
Speaker, where am I at?” A. I heard
the gentleman remark, “Mr. Speaker,
where am I at.” Keeling backward
drunk and going toward his desk when
he made it.
[A voice: Roaring drunk; they are
a nice set.]
Now here is Mr. White, a democrat
from lowa, who does not belong to the
republican party, and does not belong
to our party; he is a pure and undefiled
democrat—a member of the party
whose members are so anxious to get a
chance. (Laughter.) In answer to
the question he reluctantly said that
he had seen one man drunk on the
floor of the House. (Cries of, shame!
shame!)
Mr. W. H. Butler, a member of the
democratic party, and a member of the
House, replies to the question :
Please state whether you saw any
drunken members reeling about the
House? And his answer is: “Must I
mention any names?” and being in
formed by the chairman that, “we are
not mentioning namefl,” after some hesi
tation he said, “I have.” Being pressed
to say how many, he says, ‘ four ”
[Several voices: “Name them! name
them* Let us know who they are.—
Good bye. Jimmie ”]
Mr. Watson ; No, the names are
not given;” and then he said further on
in his testimony: “I think that the
reason the gentleman made such a
speech, was that he had drunk too
mu ch liquor.”
Now, I wanted to prove that the
House of Representatives had kept a
bar room for its own accommodation ;
that they were seen laboring to keep up
that bar, but the chairman ruled that
out-that I must stand to the naked,
absolute fact as to whether a man got
on the floor of the House drunk. Well,
I think that if I had the proof present
ed that there was a bar-room, and they
patronized that bar, it would not take as
much evidence to prove that the whis
key had the usual effect upon a con
gressman the same as upon any other
man. [Laughter.]
Now, to briefly summerize my proof
Mr. Butler, a Democratic Congress
man, testified that he had seen four
members drunk on the floor of the
House. Two who were addressing the
Speaker and two who were not. One
of the gentlemen alluded to as address
ing the House was Mr. Cobb, of Ala
bama. Mr. Butler said this member
called for whisky two or three times
during his speech; that he considered
him intoxicated and that his condition
was a source of general remark.
Hon. G. W. Shell, of South Carolina,
had seen one member drunk on the floor,
Hon B. II Clover had seen one ; so had
Hon. 11. G. Turner. Mr Kilgore had
seen two. Hon. John Davis had seen
two —both addressing the House on dif
ferent occasions when they were drunk.
Hon. F. E. White had seen one case.
Hon. K. Halvorson had seen two mem
bers addressing the House on different
occasions when they were intoxicated.
He had seen one other member drunk on
the floor of the House and one other ly
ing dead drunk on a sofa in the cloak
room. Miss Bessie Dwyer, a Southern
lady of the highest character, was in the
gallery at the time, and swore positively
that the gentleman from Alabama was
drunk ; that his conduct was a source of
hilarity in the press gallery, and that the
gentleman reeled and held on to the
desk and called out, “Mr. Speaker, where
am I at?” [Great Laughter.] Hon.
John Otis swore to two cases of drunk
enness—and especially to the case of the
erentleman from Alabama. Hon. O. M
Kem had seen two of drunkenness
on the floor of the House —one of them
addressing the House.
Now, what does this show?
It shows that a man made a speech
on the floor of the House who was
drunk. First, I charge a case of drun
kenness during the debate on the river
and harbor bill; another time when
the pension bill was up, and another
time when a drunken man was trying
to have a dialogue with another fellow
who was drunk and his own question
kicked him over to the floor. If that
is not the truth, I am the blackest
tongued liar that ever spoke.
They tried to drag a member from
Alabama out, but the other five men
they made no denial about. Now let
me tell you about their being drunk
on the floor of the House. We proved
that two men were drunk on the floor
of the House during the discussion of
the silver bill, and that on two other
occasions there was drunkenness. We
made cases as to four men in all who
were drunk on the floor of the House,
besides the five men already spoken of
and the one man who, when he was
addressing the speaker, asked “where
he was at.” Mr. Cobb admitted that
he was drinking whisky, and his col
league, Mr. Oates, admits that it was
whisky he was drinking. Several
members said they asked him to stop
speaking, but he would not stop. Like
a man when he was drunk, he spoke as
long as he wanted to. Every man of
our witnesses sw r ore that he was
drunk. A lady swore that she was in
the press gallery and he was drunk,
and I say I would hate to be in his
case before a jury on trial for crime,
for they would have a hard time re
leasing him.
They put up a lot of witnesses to
prove they did not see him drunk.
You all know about witnesses. If a
man was to stand here and pick my
pocket and if my friend out there
and several others saw him do it and
all the rest of this large crowd said no
one picked my pocket, would that evi
dence destroy the evidence of the two
or three who did see it? They put up
men who had got part of the beef and
they made a verdict accordingly.
When I offered to prove to the com
mittee that there was a barroom,
would that have not aided in proving
that there was drunkenness, for it is
strange to say that whisky will get the
advantage of Congressmen as well as
other men? Well, now, I won't take
up your time further, except in saying
that the report going the round of the
press stating that I said at the end of
the investigation that I had made the
charge of drunkenness only for politi
cal effect, is not true. You who know
me know I did not say it, and 1 will
stand up and deny it anywhere and
facing anybody.
(A voice—“ Tom, you look pretty
tired, won’t you have a drink? I don’t
mean water. I have got some.” Cries
of “Shut up! shut up! ”)
Mr. Watson —My friend, you had bet
ter stick to water. Now here is my final
testimony. I want you to see how much
I took back. I want you to look me in
the face and see if there is any flinching
about this. I said I wish to have it on
record that on this investigation it was
not my purpose to appear as a prosecu
tor of the House. I did not want other
witnesses. I was willing forth? testi
mony to rest upo.j the evidence of the
members Igo on further to state that
I had no intention of being personal to
the gentleman from Alabama, that it
was not my purpose to bring in any in
dividual, but I said I was making politi
cal arraignment, not a personal arraign
ment, not against persons, but political
parties: and drunkenness was an abuse
of the House, just as were the other
cases of arraignment. Anybody who
wants to b° fair can see the difference—
that I made the charge not to bring in
the name of an individual or any num
ber of individuals, but that the bar room
and its consequences was one of the
causes that was hurting the people in
the halls of Congress
Fellow-citizens, I must hurry on. I
want you colored citizens to draw near
that you may hear what I have got to
say, for I have something to say to you
especially. [A voice, “Come up close :
come Nicodemus ; glory hallelujah !”]
I have been here practicing law, for both
white and black, some fifteen years, and
if there is a black man in all this audi
ence who can say that he ever trusted
me with his case and I did not attend to
it with the zeal and fidelity that I did
for the whitest man in the county, let
him say it here and now. [Several
voices, “They cannot say it; nobody
will say it.”] Have I not always, when
you put your cases in my hands, fought*
for you as if you were the whitest man
in the country? [Cries of “Yes, yes.
you have.”] The first fee I ever received
was from Zip Taylor, a black man ; the
first five dollars I ever made was paid by
big-hearted Jack Roberts, and the first
work I ever did when I was in the
clerk’s office was for Zip Taylor, and the
records will show that I put him in pos
session of a little homestead and took
him in out of the weather. [A voice,
“We all know that; it’s the God’s
truth.”] It is a well known fact that
when I ran for the Legislature in 1872,
the black people supported me almost to
a man. Why? Because it had sunk
deep into their hearts that I tried to do
right between man and man, and did not
stop on account of color. [Cries from
the colored, “Bless the Lord! We colored
people knows that.”] You knew how I
was hounded down and abused by some
of the men who are now seeking your
votes because I stood up at the court
house and thanked you for giving me
your support. [A voice : “We all know
that; we doesn't forget.”] You know
that I said that I could see no reason
why. because a man was colored, he
should not have his say so as to who was
the representative from McDuffie county
as well as the proudest white man in the
countv. [A voice, “Go it, Tom ; good
hve, Jim ”] I will ask you this question:
Has there ever been a time since you
supported me and helped to elect me
that the poorest black man in the coun
ty, if he had me representing him,
would not trust me as quickly and as far
as any white man in the county ?
[Cheering.]
On my plantation there are some
black men working to-day who were
my grandfather’s slaves, and the fore
man on my grandfather’s farm was
my foreman, and remained there in
that position until the old man was
too feeble to hold the hoe, —to lead
the gang. Does not that speak well
for the justice with which I have tried
to treat your people? [A voice: “It
does.”] Do you not know that every
colored man living on my place feels
just as secure when I pass my word
for anything as if I had drawn up the
bond and signed the paper? [Cries of
that’s so.] One of the last cases that I
tried was that of a poor, unfortunate
colored man, who was supposed to
have committed murder. He did not
have any friends, or if he did have
they did not make themselves very nu
merous when he s ood face to face with
the gallows; he had no money and the
judge assigned me to defend him, and
I went into the case with all the pow
er that God Almighty gave me; be
cause naturally sympathizing with
the poor and the oppressed, I thought
thaf if there was a* reasonable doubt
it would be better for the county and
for society at large, and for humanity
that he should have it, and when Den
nis Reese walked out of the Court
House a free man it was to the astonish
ment nf all the gpod people both white
and colored in the county. [Cries of
yes yes, we remember all a'-out that!]
I defended him because I had compassion
for the poor, the old, the helpless and the
[A voice: “That’s so, To n,
We know you 1 ”] Don't you know that
I have always sympathized with the un
fortunate and the poverty stricken? If
ever a tnmp was turned away from my
door without anything to eat, it was
done wi bout my knowledge or consent
or the knowledge or consent of my wife.
I challenge the production of such a
case. [A voice: “There ain’t none.”[
Well, I remember another case. A poor
colored woman, whose name I cannot
remember, was up on the cha ge of
stealing and Judge Ronev in the kind
ness of his heart, remitted her sen
tence and told her to go home,
putting her on good behavior.
She had no home to go to, but she had
three little children crying for bread,
and you all know that I made an ap
peal in her behalf and passed the plate
around up here in the court house, and
said to the kind-hearted people, “Let
us make up some money for this poor
creature” [great applause and cries of
“that’s so”], and the result was that
that woman went home with more
money than she had, I reckon, since her
freedom. [Renewed cheering.]
Now, I want to say another thing to
you; and what I say to you I want to
say in public in the blaze of day, so
that all may hear it. Ido not want to
say anything to my white friends that
I do not want the colored people to
hear, and I do not want to say any
thing to the colored people that I
would hide from my white friends.
Now, what I want to say is this: I
pledge you my word and honor, as a
man and as a representative, that if
you stand up for your rights and for
your manhood, if you stand shoulder
to shoulder with us in this fight, you
shall have fair play and fair treatment
as men and as citizens, irrespective of
your color. [Great cheering.]
I know that it has been said that I
ha-e raised a barrel of money in Augus
ta to buy votes I have no money to
buy votes; nor do I wish to buy the vote
of any man, either white or colored,
even f I could, but I make this appeal
to you —I ask you this question: Is it
not the most deadly insult to your col
or to say that I, or anybody else can
buv you jus*- as you were bought and
sold on the block in slavery? [Cries of
they cannot do it ] I know they far
that they are not going to buy you di
rect. but thev say that they are going to
sugar up a 'eader or two, and that those
leader*, with the sugar in their pockets,
will deliver you without dividing the
sugar. [Derisive laughter.]
What have we done, I ask you? We
have broken away from our leaders Pe
can-e they have not treatei us right.
Will you do it too? [Cries of “Yes, we
wi 1!”] Let every man stand upon h s
manhood; let every man say, “I am
not a vassal;” ? et every man put his fist
between the eyes of the man who tr es
to buy him; when these leaders who
have always b=en such good republi
cans, and have always so hated the dem
ocra s that they can see no good in
them come around and tell you that
they have discovered all at once
that it is sdeh a good party, say to them
as we say to ours, “we work for peace
and harmony, for mutual good will, and
to wipe the color line out in politics.”
Stand for your rights, and let every
man be a man in politics. [Voces:
“Wp will, we will!”] You are doing
nobly in the way of educating your
children; your daughters are beginning
to dress nicely and behave themselves
decently, and be respected, and now
wdl you tear down, in one campaign,
all the virtue, morality and honesty
that your schools have been trying to
inculcate because your leaders have
been sugared and acc» pte 1 by the lead
ers of the democrat c party in the cit
ie ? [A voice: “We will never do it.”]
My friends, tnis campaign will decide
many things, and one of the things it
will decide is whether or not your peo
pie and ours «an d ily meet in harmony,
and work for law, and order,and morali
ty, and wipe out the color line, and put
every man on his citizenship irrespective
of color. [Great cheering.]
Mv friend, Mr. Young says that I had
better quit, that lam hoarse, but I want
to say one or two things more, and I
have done.
You have before you certain platforms
and certain candidates, and I would like
to show you just how much Democracy
the Democratic platform contains—the
good old Jeffersonian Democracy, as
they love to call it. Why, my friends,
there is not enough Jeffersonian timber
in all the planks of the Democratic
platform to make Thomas Jefferson a
tooth-pick [Great applause and long
contihued laughter.] That grand old
father of Democracy, Thomas Jefferson,
in his first inaugural, said : “Equal and
exact justice to all men of whatever
state or persuasion, religious or politi
cal.” Do they give it? Do they try to
remove the inequalities? The whisky
men have got a sub-treasury warehouse
where they can borrow your tax money
to the extent of millions of dollars at
five per cent, interest, while the farmers
who pay the taxes are laughed to scorn
when they ask to borrow on substantial
collateral —wheat corn, cotton and
other commodities. They simply tell us
that we must have patience [A voice,
“They want a chance.”] Yes, and they
exercised it—you know how. [Laugh
ter.] Again, Thomas Jefferson says:
“The preservation of the general gov
ernment, in its whole constitutional
vigor, is the sheet anchor of our peace
at home and safety abroad ” How do
they keep that tenet of Democratic
faith? They have mixed us up in the
Nicaraguan Canal [a voice, “Yes, they
have”], and yet the authorities did not
preserve the peace at Homestead, but
allowed the great corporations to hire
their men to shoot down, in cold blood,
the honest wage-workers who objected
to work under the reductions. Jefferson
advises the encouragement of agricul
ture, and commerce, its handmaid.
Yes, they have encouraged commerce
and manufacture, but every gun is
leveled at the agriculturists of the coun
try.
On that line, I will state that I
stood on the floor of the House the day
that the resolution came up to print 10,
000 copies of the force bill for the use of
the campaign committee. I thought
that campaign committee ought to bear
that expense, as the usual number had
already been printed. General Wheeler
denied that, and I have been abused for
that vote from one end of the country to
the other, but here is the proof in the
correspondence between Mr. Dockery
an‘d myself :
Washington, D. C., July 29, 1892.
Hon. A. M. Dockery:
Dear Sir: Some days ago I stated in the
House that previous to the resolution of Mr.
King to print 10,000 copies of the Force Bill,
a resolution had already been adopted to print
the usual extra numbers of that Bill. I insist
that my statement is correct, and that you
wq ? the member who secured the adoption of
best print the usual number
“ixlra copies. Please do me the kivdnessto
state whether lam right. Very respectfully,
Thomas E. Watson.
Mr. Dockery replied as follows :
Mr. Watson: Replying to yours, I beg to
say th 11 secured the adoption of a resolw ion
to make the usual reprint of the Force Bill —
the number of such reprint being some 1700
copies.
I afterwards introduced the resolution to
print the additional 10,000 copies, which was
also adopted by the House. It was this lat
ter you objected to,
Respectfully,
July 29th, 1892 A. M. Dockery.
In other words, what I objected to was
the printing of campaign literature at the
expense of the tax payers; more espe
cially as I asked them to print an equal
number of Thomas Jefferson’s first itiau
gural. and they refused to do it. They
did not want yoti to see what Thomas
Jefferson’s Democracy was. (A voice :
“It would not agree with them—hurrah
for Watson!” —long continued applause.)
I have been denounced all over this
district in the most bitter terms as a
traitor. Now, I have nothing to answer
in the way of public abuse —I have no
personalities for anyone, but I say this,
that I stand today upon the very same
platform you put me on at Harlem two
years ago (Cries of, “that’s where you
are, and that’s where we want you to
stay.”] I say furthermore that if lam a
traitor they have condoned my crime,
and stopped themselves from taking me
to task, because they have put in nomi
nation Adlai Stevenson, on the demo
cratic platform, and his record upon
leaving the Democratic party is precisely
the same as mine. (Great applause.)
His record on the financial question is
the same as mine. (Renewed cheering.)
That was what was making them so mad
in Congress. I was showing up the
proof that he was elected in 1879 ; that
he did not go into the democratic caucus;
that he did not vote for the democratic
speaker any more than I did; that he
was classed as a greenbacker, and voted
with General Weaver on nearly every
proposition that came up in that Con
gress. Now, if Ibe a traitor, what in the
name of God, is the vice presidential
nominee of the democratic party? (Pro
longed applause.)
Now, the democracy say that they
are in favor of of harmonizing the sec
tions; yet, they did not dare to put a
Southern man upon their ticket. It
was our party, the party of the people,
that had the" grit, and • the honesty to
take one soldier from the Union army,
and another from the Con army;
we were the first that had the nerve to
take that siep towards ’ armonizing the
sectional differences. [Great applause.]
Now, I wish to allude to many things,
especially to my own legislative record
but I have rot the time, nor the strength
to do that as I would wish to-day. I
say this however that any man who as
serts that I have ever voted for a meas
ure that was not fair and just to the la
borers of this country, white and black
alike, states what is an • ■*
ABSOLUTE FALSEHOOD.
And I will say this, that lam going to
ask my Bro. Black to a joint canva s.
[Load laughter and cries of, “he won’t
doit! He won’t come to time!”] lam
going to see if he has any criticisms to
make of my r-co d in the legislature
ar.d if he does I will not only defend my
own, but I will give him a nut or two
to crack about his. [Cries of “good bye,
Jimmie, good bye.”]
Here is an address that I made on ac
cepting your nomination two years aeo,
at Harlem, and I leave you to compare
the promises I made with my course
s nee. when my term of service is well
nigh over. I can afford to compare
publicly what I promised to do with
what 1 have endeavored to do, and no
man. having the same confidence im
posed in him that you have imposed in
me, can afford to do less. Here is what
I said :
“It may be that I can accomplish
nothing for your welfare. ‘lt may be
that however carefull v I plant and pa
tiently I cultivate, ray harvest will be a
fullness of disappointments and a plen
titude of barren regrets, but I can prom
isa you, my comrade’, that while re
sults must be with Him who rules us
all, no man shall justly suspect my fi
delity or question my loyal zeal .
[Cries of, “no one can do it in the old
tenth.”] I need not take up your time
in the diecussion of public issues My
platform is well known I have dis
cussed it from one end of this district
to the other. Giving to those who differ
ed from me the cred.t of honesty, I
claim like credit for myself, and now
repeat my devotion to the principles
upon whi h my campaign was fought,
and I shall strive for their success with
all the strength of my mind and soul ”
What was my platform then? It
was well known; it was the 'Ocala
platform. [Avoice: “Hurrah for the
Ocala platform and Tom Watson.”]
What is my platform to-day? It is
precisely the same in substance and in
spirit. That is what I said then, and
I repeat here to-day, [Great cheer
ing.] 1 said then:
“We of the south are among the
politically unhappy. With a great
political failure, which, like all fail-
never secures the charity of
judgment which success commands,]
pressing “us down, we live under the
ban. Our people are oppressed, our
leaders slaughtered, or record distort
ed, our views misrepresented, our
hopes doomed in the hour of their
birth, it is little wonder that stout
hearts grow faint and have no
strength to lift from the willows the
harps which the mourning daughters
of the south have hung thereon.
“But there comes to me the belief that
there is the stir of a new life through
out the ranks of Southern life; that a
new spirit is moving over the waters,
and that the chaos of our fortunes
which was without form and void,
is taking unto itself shape, and to the
listening ear of her patient patriotism
there comes the blsssed words, Let
there be Light.
“To be one of those who shall work for
of this great people; to be
a comrade of those who shall rehabili
tate the South, is the ambition which I
most earnestly cherish. If I can,
amid the wreck of the past, and the
crude material of the present con
struct the splendid edifice of future pros
perity, it will be an achievement beside
which that of conquerors fail; and if in
that grand work there shall be a part
born of my thought, builded by my
hands, my ambition will be satisfied,
and my cup filled with content ” [At
this point the immense multitude gave
vent to the wildest enthusiasm.”)
I promised you that then, my fellow
citizens, and I want to know whether
I have kept my promise? [Cries of,
‘You have! Yo” have; we’ll send you to
do it again.”] If there is a thing which
I could have done and have left
undone, let my bitterest enemy mention
it; if there is a thing which I have done,
that should have been left undone, let
my bitterest enemy mention it, and let
me be relegated to the shades of private
life. [Cries of, “Never! never! never!”]
Now, my friends, but little time is left
me, and I want my friend, Charley
Young, to listen to me. [Several voices:
“We are all listening; go it Tom, Good
bye, Jim, glory! glory!”]
Now I am coming back to the question
of the extravagance of the expenditure
of your money. What is the report of
the Secretary of the State? I want you
to see how your money goes. The Sec
retary reports that $20,000.00 of the
money of you tax payees, were taken
for the burial of Senator Hearst, a Cali
fornia millionare. [Murmers of“disapro
bation.”] Twenty thousand dollars to
bury one man - the money of struggling,
impoverished black and white alike —to
bury one man, [and that man a million
air] without the least warrant of law.
But that is not all. Here is a list of
a great many other expenditures with
out warrant of law. Here are the
items; I will not read them all, or go
into them specifically.' The fitting up
of a barber shop—you are shaved while
paying for shaving them. (Laughter.)
Fitting up a saloon; appolinaris water;
alcohol.
A voice : “Did they give you any of
that appolinaris water, Tom?”
Mr. Watson : “I presume they would
give me a part of the beef if I had gone
into the conspiracy.” (Many voices:
“You did not do it, though. Bully for
Tom; good bye, Jim.”)
I must conclude, my fellow citizens,
because my strength is almost ex
hausted. But I want to say this to
you. You all know as well as Ido that
the reason why I have lingered here
this evening, and talked to you until I
have come so near to exhaustion, is
because these principles are dear to my
heart, and because they have been mis
represented, and your leaders have
been misrepresented. You all know
that there was a combined assault made
upon me by the press of the State.
The Constitution says they are deter
mined to kill me off forever, politically.
I stand alone; there are no great news
papers to fight my battles, but I am
willing to trust myself to the stout
hearts and willing hands of the plain
people of the 10th Congressional dis
trict. By a preponderance of numbers
they may bear me down, but I say to
you here and now that I shall carry
the banner which you have placed in
my hands, right straight to the front,
and my last breath shall be the battle
cry of the People’s Party as I hurl de
fiance in the teeth of your enemies.
(Great applause.) Yours is the power,
and you can use it as you like; you can
elect whom you resolve to elect. (Many
voices: “We will use that power to
elect you; we’ll send you right back to
go for them fellows.”) All the trickery
of the politicians; all the money of the
unscrupulous monopolists; all the mis
representations of the newspapers can
not keep you from electing whom you
please from this district. If you please
to elect hflO C s ou ’ asl
HCHOIH ago , y <at 8O
far as hi s me do it, I
will use! *ors to accom
plish y< (Cries of, we
will do i . all ages it lias been
the drea Qg R R**' statesman to better
the condi ,f his people. I believe
that you*can have better laws and hap
pier homes; I believe that justice ought
to live in the statute book; 1 believe
that ever y man will get his rights un
der theUaw if he insists upon having
those rights; and I believe that the
time will come when justice,and right,
and good government all over this land
will be the king of the people, and to
that king alone will we bow. (A voice :
“God bless you”)
Fellow citizens, the Man of Galilee
said a great deal about what faith may
accomplish. I have faith—an abiding
faith that perhaps may move moun
tains, or perhaps I may imagine that
it will. I have faith that the people
can accomplish their redemption, work
out their salvation, and achieve good
government just as surely as that God
reigns and justice lives in the hearts
of the people.
At the conclusion of Mr. Watson’s
speech, he had a narrow escape from
what our Irish friends would call,
“Being killed with kindness.” Be
tween the physical exertion of speak
ing two hours to an immense multitude,
the intense heat of the weather, and
the surging mass of humanity eager to
shake him by the hand, he was almost
prostrated; but his plucky little wife
made her way to the stand and bore
him off in triumph amid the acclama
tions of the six thousand honest yeo
manry, who had assembled to pay their
tribute of respect to the fearless repre
sentative of honesty and fair dealing.
Lowndes County.
We are having hot weather and
politics are hotter, still Hon’s. J.
W. Hagan and W. 11. Snead of Ber
rien county gave us two day’s heat
Friday near Clyattville. They met
and had a joint debate with Col.
W. 11. Grillin of Valdosta. Col.
West was to speak, but he left the
ground before his time came.
Hagan of Lowndes opened, Griffin
followed, Snead next, and, as it
proved, last. When the vote was
put it was all the crowd, which was
150 or 200, for the People and two
for Democracy.
Saturday Snead and Hagan went
to Delmer and spoke to about 250
voters. They had no one to speak
on the other side. The vote there
was all for the People but eight.
Some of the opposition had threaten
ed., before we got there, to waylay
Hon. W. 11. Snead and kill him.
Threats, eggs, rocks nor knives will
break up our People’s Party in the
wiregrass country. If I had the
time and you the space I would
write more, but I have seen J, W.
Hagan and Webster Bradford, who
were in Quitman on the 30th ult.
Both say that Col’s, Peek’s and
Post’s statements are correct, and
say the chaps into the knife arrange
years old—not very small boys, as
the Constitution of the 4th inst.
said. Meet of ow town boys down
here at eighteen are larger than their
fathers are at fifty (in their own
estimation). I hear there is a fellow
going around here in Lowndes
making midnight speeches about
blind puppies. They say his Lame
is W. W. Webb, and wants the
moss-backs to send him to the Sen
ate. I have not seen him as that is
my time to sleep. Allianceman.
Peek’s Eloquence Wins Spalding.
Spalding county has been quoted
far and near as one county that the
People’s Party could not enter, but
on Monday last Hon. W. L. Peek
invaded this citadel of Democratic
strength, and amidst the curses and
denunciations of some of the Demo
cratic fold, waded through to vic
tory. The People’s Party was or
ganized and the Alliance shaken up
from center to circumference.
Hon. Mr. Whitfield, candidate for
Congress in the Sixth district, had
been telegraphed for by the Demo
crats and asked for a division of
time. Col. Peek replied that the
matter was in the hands of hi&
friends—see them.
An arrangement was immediately
effected for the joint debate, which,
took place with results above stated.
Peek triumphed gloriously, and
Spalding has fallen into line at last.
It is due Col. Whitfield to say
that he is every inch a gentleman
and an orator, and also made friends
by his straightforward, honorable
discussion.
But when Col. Peek showed the
farmers their grievances and the
remedy, they tumbled to the music
and the victory was won.
THE SOLID ALLIANCE
of Georgia must rally to Col. Peek’s
standard. They certainly would
prefer this faithful friend to Northen
and his plug-hand circus. Georgia
will be safer in Peek’s hands.
Spalding.
NOT A REVOLT;
IT IS A REVOLUTION.
Tom Watson’s Book
Now on hand.
For sale at the
Office of the
Peoples Party Paper.