The People's party paper. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, September 02, 1892, Image 2

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take up the laborer on his farm and put him in jail if he did not pay the amount due for supplies, or for any thing whatever that he might have advanced on the crop or the labor. Did they tell you that that same bill put the landlord in jail if he did not treat the tenant right—if he re ceived the product of his toil as a tennant as a cropper, or as a laborer, and swindled him out of it? (Cries, of; “No! No! They did not say anything about that.”) They knew that I was going to tell you that to day, and lots more, and that is the reason that the contemptible set out yonder tried to break up our meet ing, and prevent ycpi from hearing the truth. Who started this bill ? This little newspaper down the street has gone into appeals td your prejudices against this bill as one of the worst ever introduced, but who was the author of that bill ? It was the Hon. W. D. Tutt, and not Mr. Peek. [Great cheering, and a voice, “ ’Fore God ! how dem people can lie.”] Mr. Peek did not introduce the bill at all. What did the Sparta Show-my-light say at the time it says Mr. Peek in troduced it? Here is a late extract from it on Mr. Peek in which it says it was a '‘slavery bill.” Here is a certified copy of what it said at the time the bill was pending in the Sen ate, and before it got so anxiously soliciting for the negro vote. [Great cheering. The speaker stretching his arm in the direction of the news paper office,] You ought to have an appointment on the Atlanta Con stitution or the Augusta Chronicle, because you are just the sort of a liar they want at this time. [Renewed cheering.] Here is what it says, August 15, 1883. [A babel of voices from the blackguard point of observation, which drowned the speaker’s voice for the time being.] They don’t want you boys to hear it, but you stand by me and you will hear it. There are not men enough in Sparta to drive me away until you do hear it—until I tell you the truth. lam among my own people; lamon my native heath; I am not a foreigner from Kentucky, like Mr. Black, who never was heard of until after the war ; not only that, I am a man running my own farm, and not merely the nephew of a farmer like Mr. Black ; not only that, I am not one of the attorneys of the Central railroad, like Mr. Black. [Laughter, and a voice, “Golly, how he’s skin ning him.”] It is no wonder they are ashamed to hear it. Now be quiet, all. This is from the Sparta Show-my-light, [laughter] August 15, 1883 : “Plain Bill Tutt will bo entitled to a monument at the hands of the people of Georgia if he shall succeed in getting en acted his bill for the enforcement of con tracts between farmers and laborers.” [Voices, “Now you’s getting there ; we know’d it all along.”] The editor of the Show-my-light not only gave his unqualified indorse ment that the slavery bill was right; not only announced, through the Show-my-light, that he was for this slavery bill in 1883, nine years ago, but that “plain Bill Tutt,” the man who was going to put the negroes in slavery, ought to have a monument pointing heavenward for all time. [Great applause, and during its con tinuance the crowd of disturbers be gan moving off, and trying to create confusion in their exodus.] The lit tle fellows are running now ; I told you they would run soon. [Laugh ter.] They are gradually folding their tents, like the Arabs, and silently stealing away. [Renewed laughter.] There is only one left, and he has not sense enough to get out of the way. [Side-splitting laugh ter, and cries of, “get two chips.”] The point of attaction about him is that his mouth is so much bigger than his brain that [The antics of the “what is it?” caused such con fusion that I could not hear the con clusion of the sentence, but it caused screams of laughter.—Reporter.] Mr. Watson (addressing the dude let in a mocking tone): You just stand there, baby, and I will baste you again directly. When you go home your mother will wonder “where were you at?” (Laughter.) Here is what the Show-my-light says, August 23, 1887 : “Mr. W. D. Tutt, of Thomson, is the ablest and most efficient member of the present State Senate. He is a man who can always be trusted to do that which is for the best interest of the State- and people. He is and ought to be the leader of the Senate.” Again, on August 29, it says: “Tutt's bill, which provides a punish ment for fraudulently obtaining credit on the faith es a contract, not intended to be performed, passed the Senate, but will probably be defeated in the House.” What does that show ? That a wonderful change, has come “o’er the spirit of his dream?” The Show-my-light said, vhen I was fighting the bill, in the shape it was introduced, that a monument ought to be erected, by the men whom it was intended to benefit, to the glory of the man who introduced it. What do they say now? That it is a slavery bill, and that Peek and Wat son ought to be hanged. (Voices, “We know them fellers, Tom. We will be at the hanging.”) Let us come to the plain, unvarnished truth as it is on record. On page 16 of Journal 1, 1883, I find where Colonel W. D. Tutt introduced a bill. What was that bill as he in troduced it? That bill made it a crime for any laborer, cropper or tenant to get money or sup plies and then leave the place •without first paying back the money, or paying for the supplies.. As passed it simply acted against the laborer; it did not do a thing with the landlord who might have failed PEOPLE’S PARTY PAPER, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1892. or refused to carry out his contract; it did not do a thing with the em ployer who might have failed or re fused to pay' the laborer for his service after he had worked all the year. In that shape it was a one sided bill; in that shape it was an unfair bill; in that shape I told my fellow-members that I would not vote for it; in that shape I told them that I would oppose it with all the power that God gave me, for in that shape it would punish the poor man, who through sickness or misfortune had fallen into arrears; in that shape it would let the rich man, who failed to carry out his contract, go scot free; in that shape the Sparta Show-my-light supported it and said that the author, the Hon. W. D. Tutt, ought to have a monument reared to his glory, pointing heaven ward, for all time to come. (Cries of “The boot is on the right foot now; the cap fits the right head! Hurrah for our Tom !” and long con tinued applause.) Now, who voted for the bill in that shape ? A ma jority of the Senate voted for the bill in that shape, where it punished the poor man and did not punish the rich; a majority of the Senate voted for that bill, where it pun ished the tenant for violation of con tracts but did not punish the land lord ; a majority of that same Demo cratic Senate voted for the bill in that shape, where it punished the employe—the hireling—but did not punish the master. (Cheering and muttered cries of indignation.) Who are some of the men that voted for the bill in that shape? I will tell you. (Cries of “You can do it, Tom! ’Fo’ God, boys, listen how he’s goin’ for ’em!) Col. W. D. Tutt voted for that bill in that shape (cheering); Col. Livingston voted for that bill in that shape. (Renewed cheering.) I heard that Livingston was to be here to-day. He has suddenly got to be the prophet and the leader of the Democratic party. (Laughter and applause.) Just a year ago Governor Northen was trying to show what a rascal Livingston was, and Living ston kicked him out of the State Alliance Convention. At that time these men said that Livingston was a knave, or a fool, or both, for writing the Ocala platform, and one Mr. Ham—known as “sugar cured Ham”—fished up out of a spittoon in the convention hall at Ocala the force bill which Livingston had writ ten, and it was published abroad, everywhere, as a crime, as an unpar donable piece of treachery on the part of Livingston. He had stated at Cincinnati that the South was to be brought into the middle of the road; that the South was to meet the great West in breaking up the new parties, and upbuilding the new South. (Great applause.) Not only that, they charged him with selling out to defeat David B. Hill; they accused him of going around with sockless Jerry Simpson and Mrs. Lease to divide the solid South, but if you look around you will see that these same Democrats have plas tered him all over with the mantle of oblivion, and the sins which were yesterday as scarlet as blood are this morning as white as a biled shirt. (Laughter and applause.) All that change has been worked by the magic influence of a Democratic nomination. (Renewed applause.) Now, I do not say it myself, but you know that every Democratic paper, which to day is heaping upon me opprobrious terms of abuse, ridicule and denunciation, in denouncing me are saying in effect that if his hide was hung up in a guano factory the smell would be too bad for the factory. (Wild applause, and a voice, “Jest' listen how dat man talks—i—m ! I’se glad I isn’t the Kunnel!”) (A fresh attempt was made on the outskirts to break up the meeting. A white plug-hatted fellow tried to ride helter-skelter through the crowd, proclaiming that there was speaking in the grove, and a free ’cue. Nothing but the good nature, produced by the terrible arraign ment of slippery Lon, restrained them from squelching the rowdyism by force. The lawlessness could not be fixed on the leaders of Demo cracy, but certainly they did not try to restrain it.) Mr. Watson (good-naturedly and sarcastically). That is getting very weak out there; we have you downed to-day, and we will bury you in November. (Laughter.) Now, let us return to the labor bill. I was in the House of Repre sentatives at the time it was up. The bill came before us in its origi nal shape. It provided to punish the tenant and the laborer for non fulfillment of a contract, but not the rich farmer who rented the farm to the tenant, or the employer who hired the servant. I said this: If you are going to m.ake a breach of contract a crime, it ought to work both ways. If the rich man violates his contract with the poor man, he deserves punishment as well as the poor man who breaks faith with the rich; that if the landlord drew up a contract and had a poor man to sign it just to get him in his grip, and then broke faith with him, that he was as great a criminal as any of you, either white or colored, if you got his provisions, his money, or credit, on the strength of that con tract, and picked up and went off to somebody else’s place. Is not that good Jeffersonian Democracy ? (Voices, “It is! It is!”) “Equal rights to all; special privileges to none.” (A voice, “That’s the God Almighty’s truth,” and continued cheering.) (By this time the last remijjint of the plug-hatted gang had sneaked away.) Where, oh, where! are the demo crats that w T ere going to keep me from speaking here to-day? (A voice, “Up Salt River. ■ Hurrah for our Tcm.”) We have been conser vative ; we have been patient; we have submitted to personal abuse, and returned none ; but the man -who thinks that the People’s party is afraid of any living crowd of mis creants, reckons without his host.. (Cries of, “Now you’re shouting, Tom; we’re right here, and here to stay until after November.”) We are going to stand to the rack; we are going to hew to the line ; we are going to follow the flag ; and that man who stands in the way of the mighty march of the people, in their mission of securing “equal rights to all, and special privileges to none,” had better insure himself against bruises, and knocks, and sore bones, before making the attempt. There is a limit! (“Good-bye, Jimmie.”) I do not mean by that to threaten any personal collision; I do not mean by that to inculcate any per sonal hatred, but what I mean by that is that we are going to keep right along in the middle of the road. The road belongs to us as much as to any other class of citizens, and all the abuse, all the ridicule that can be heaped upon us; all the lies that can be told about us, are not going to deter us from meeting, as free men, face to face to hear the truth about hov the democrats have distorted the 'facts. (Cheering and applause.) Now, there never was a better illustration of the power of right over wrong than this meeting. They have tried to get you away from this meeting with a persistence worthy of a better cause. They have piped and you would not dance (laughter); they have taken snuff, and you have not sneezed (renewed laughter); they have killed a dyspeptic sheep or two, and one or two fruit fattened hogs, and the people have deter mined to let the meat spoil over the pits (great laughter, and cries of, “Go on, Tom, you are feeding us”), and while they may go down there and fill their stomachs, you will go home with your heads full of Peo ple’s party facts. (Great cheering.) Now, to return to the “-Peek sla very bill.” When that bill came from the House of Representatives, with Mr. Tutt’s and the Sparta Show-my-light’s stamp of approval upon it, what did we do ? We amended'the bill so as to give the rich man no advantage of the poor man. (A voice, “Thank you,” and the whole audience took it up). And one of the best amendments to that bill was introduced by Col. W. L. Peek, who is the standard bearer of the People’s party for the high and responsible office of Governor of the State of Georgia, and whom the democrats are abusing as a slave driver.. (Cheers for Peek). Here is the record, and that will show you the extent to which they have tried to deceive you people. (A voice, “We knows you and we knows them.”) Here is the proof, and if there is a single item that I have failed to touch upon, you just sing out and I will sing back. Peek offered an amendment that: “No provision of that Act shall have commenced until after the hireling commenced the service under the contract.” Why was that ? Because an unscrupulous landlord, taking ad vantage of ignorance, might have a contract made for five years, and the innocent signer wpuld be sold into slavery without knowing it until he was bound by its provisions. It was totally unlike the bill which the Show-my-light said entitled its au thor to a monument at’the hands of the people of Georgia. (Voices, “God bless you.”) The Tutt bill was one that could have kept the people on the rack in every instance where an unscrupulous man chose to exercise his craft over the ignorant man. But Col. Peek said “No; let us have the contract for only one year,” and if there be any mistake as to whether the contract, as made, was understood by the party bound by it, how was it that to be ascer tained? When the employee, the servant, the hireling, or the laborer, actually recognized that it was a good contract by going to the farm after Christmas and starting into work. What was that put in there for? For the purpose of keeping a man from claiming that you had made a contract with him sometime in December—that you had prom ised sometime in November to go to work for him, and got him entangled on some frivolous claim; for in stance, that he had received a plug of tobacco, or taken a drink from him. No; that amendment offered by Col. Peek did not suit the Show my-light because it guarded the ten ant, the laborer and the hireling against fraud, and did not go into effect until after he actually entered upon the premises and commenced to work. (Great applause.) But that is not all. We said that it must be in writing, so as to keep the cun ning man from imposing upon the ignorant man. (The band returned and was sta tioned at a point where the meeting must necessarily be disturbed, play ing Dixie.) Let them have the fuss, we will have the men of sense; let them take the shadow, we will take the substance. Parents cannot be proud of such children. The State cannot be proud of such citizens. (Ap plause.) But, we went‘further and said that if a man failed to pay back his pro visions, he should not be a criminal unless they could prove that he left the employment for the purpose of consummating a fraud. The land lord could not oppress a man for the misfortunes which might overtake him. What else did we do? We said that the landlord who broke his contract with his servant should have the same punishment meted out to him as the poor man who violated his contract. (Great ap plause, and cries of “Good-bye, Jim!”) They did not want,you to hear me to-day, after they had been circulating such infamous falsehoods about Col. Peek and rnyself, but if you boys keep your place you shall have it all. They never did fight this bill until it punished the land lord for infractions of law just the same as the tenant. (A voice: “That accounts for the milk in the coca nut.” They never did object to this bill until it fed both men out of the same spoon. (Great laughter.) They bragged on it while the Hon. W. D. Tutt had it in the shape where it punished the poor, white and black, and not the rich farmer or employer of laborers. (Muttered cries of indignation.) They got dis gusted with it as soon as Col. Peek amended it, and carried a majority in favor of the amendment, where it fed the rich man out of the same spoon as the poor man. (Loud cheering and drums beating by a party moving off.) Mr. Watson: Looking around com placently, Give them a chance to skedaddle, boys, we have plenty of time. (Laughter.) Now, I w r ill go right on, lam here to face the music. What we said in the lower house, when that bill came to us, was: it may be a bad thing for a tenant to leave his land lord; it may be a bad thing for the servant to leave his master, and, in some instances, as bad as for the landlord or master, to wrongfully oppress the tenant or servant. Let us try and be just to both. (“That’s right.”) Here is my friend over here who intends to run a farm next year. He has the farm, but no money. He mortgages his place in order to get supplies to tide himself and family over the year, depending upon the crop to meet the mortgage; he hires you to make the crop, and the mortgage is large enough to tide you over also, his paying the mort gage depends upon you carrying out your contract; his wife and children are absolutely at your mercy, de pending upon you carrying out your contract. You may do your duty during January, February, April and May, andjthen when we get down to June the days are getting long, and the crops wooly, and some unscrupulous rich farmer in the neighborhood offers you an induce ment to go and help him out, and you pick up and leave the man who carried you through the winter months, and 1 you leave him with the mortgage on his farm, the crop rot ting in the field, and his loving wife and dear children liable to be put out in the road through your dis honorable conduct. Now, do you think that is bad conduct? (Cries of: “Yes! Yes,!”) We said that the man who did that, not from poverty;- the man who did that, not from sick ness; the man who did that, not from misfortune, and in such away as to show that he intended to defraud, ought to be punished. What do you say? (Voices all through the assemblage: “We say so, too, You are right, Tom, and you bet we’ll stand by you.”) Now, we said that, there is anoth er man, even worse than that. Who is that other man? The man who would grind the face of God’s poor; the man who took the proceeds of your labor, when he sold the crop, and would not pay when Christmas came. (A voice: “God knows, we know them!”) Now, I say this, that there are dis honest employers, just as there are dishonest tenants, or dishonest labor ers. Have there not been such? (Cries of: “Yes! Yes!”) Such a man would work you all the year, whether you were black or white, and at the end of the year he would lock the corn in the crib, and put the key in his pocket; he would send the cotton to Augusta, and put the money he received for it in his pock et; and when you come to ask him for a settlement you had to whistle for your money. Ain’t that so? (Cries of: “Yes! Yes!”) I say here now, that there are not many men who do that, but we said then and there, with reference to a man who would resort to such dishonest prac tices—no matter how white that land owner was, no matter how rich and powerful that land owner was— if he resorted to such practices to defraud the white tenant or the black tenant, the white laborer or the black laborer, the white hireling or ths black hireling, by keeping him working all the year round and then turning him and his wife and helples children adrift, and not giv ing him his share of the labor, he was bigger rascal than the man that took the meat, the money, the credit and then failed to perform the stipu lations of his contract. (Great ap plause and cries of: “That’s the God’s truth.”) We said this; if you are going to punish the poor man for non-fulfillment of his contract, punish the rich man for the same offense, if you are going to punish the man who does not own the land, punish the man who does own the land—make no distinction on ac cound of color, or* property; feed them both out of the same spoon; accord “equal* rights to all special privileges to none.” (Clapping of hands and great cheering.) Now let me go right on. I think we have about got rid of those fel lows who were annoying us, and we are going to be happy to-day. lam going to tell you more of the truth directly, and will prove all I say; I do not ask you to take my word for anything. Now listen, and you will hear more about what was done than these Democrats will dare to tell you. When I was a member of the legislature I drew up a bill and tried to have it enacted into a law, which would directly help the laborer and the cropper all over the State of Georgia. How? You know that, as the law stands, you may rent a home for the year, and the land at tached, and duirng the year I may take a portion of my rent from you or your wife children, and forget to give you credit for it—l may take some in vegetables, and fail .to give you credit tor it; I may take some in corn, and forget to give you credit for it; I may take some in poultry, and forget to give credit for it; and at the end of the year you have two little bales of cotton, and in those little bales of cotton are locked up all your profits for the jyear’s farm ing. You have watered your mouth thinking of the good things you were ging to get when you had the the money in your pocket. Perhaps you had promised the old lady a new dress, and your daughter a dress and a brand new red handkerchief each; perhaps you promised the boys new hats and boots, and yourself a new outfit, but in comes the sheriff and levies on these two bales of cotton. I tell you that gives you a shrinkage about the vitals that will not be forgotten in many a day. You say, “Boys, I paid nearly all that rent in such and such commodities; I owe only about ten or fifteen dol lars/’ Well, the sheriff says: “Go and see your lawyer,” and you go to long John Jordon (laughter,) and say, “I paid all but ten or fifteen dollars on my rent, and here the sheriff has come and levied on the two bales of cotton that I depended upon to keep me in supplies and get myself and the old lady and children necessary clothing for the -winter.” And what does long John say? He tells you that you can go into the court house and fight the case if you give a bond for the costs of the suit, and the payment of the debt. Now, people do not like to go securi ty for each other, and the poorer you are the less likely you are to find any one willing to go on your bond and save your cotton, and on account of your poverty, whether you be a poor white tenant or a poor black tenant, you have to go home with tears of disappointment in your eyes, and crushed hopes in your hearts because you could not go into the court house and defend your rights. (A brawny farmer: “I have seen that very thing done, that is the God’s truth.”) Well, I introduced a bill into the legislature to open the court house door to the doorest tenant, whether black or white, juSt as it was open ed to the richest farmer. (Cries of “Thank you, thank you! God bless you.”) I introduced a bill into the legislature to allow the tenant to swear that he could not pay that rent, that he could not give that bond, and then he could go into the Court House and appeal to a jury of his white neighbors who would not turn that cotton loose. Was not that a good and a fair law? [Cries of; “Y r es, Yes!”] We pro posed that should a jury of his neighbors decide in his favor, he should have his cotton, and not al low the landlord to pick it up and carry it away, and force him, wheth er white or black, to introduce a suit, and give a bond, in order to get the cotton back. Now, I introduc ed that in the legislature, and how many Democrats do you think voted for the bill? Only twenty-five. How many do you think voted against it, and said by their votes that because a man was poor and could not give a bond, the doors of the court house were closed against him—he could not contest with his landlord, and that is the Jaw to-day? (Cries of: “Shame Same!”) Do you wan’t to know the mames of some of the men that voted against that just law? L. L?Columbus, the leader of the House, of Wilkes coun ty, who is a candidate for the Dem ocratic party, and who pretends to be such a friend of the people in general, and the negroes in particu lar. Mr. Reese said, by his vote, that there ought to be discriminating conditions imposed on the tenant and not on the land lord. Who else voted against this bill so manifestly fair and equitable, down in Richmond county? Why in the name of God don’t they men tion Mr. Reese and Robey, if they want to show who have been hitting the poor negroes’and the poor whites ? (Several voices: “ They know they are lying, and don’t try to tell the truth.”) Then when I was in the legislature you were taxed heavily to build bridges, and we did not see. any reason why the great railroad corporations should not be taxed as well as the poorest man who had to come up and pay taxes on his wash pan ; we did not see why your stump-tail cows, your hogs and your horses or mules should be taxed and the great mogul engine, that could haul thirty cars for these railroads, should be exempt. We thought that every man should pay taxes accord ing to his means. Who w’ere some of the men who said by their votes that it was right for you to pay tax on your wagon, and wrong for the railroad to have t® pay tax on the palace car ; that it was right for you to be taxed to death to keep up roads and bridges, but it was wrong for the Central railroad to pay taxes Who were some of the men wh showed by their votes that they were in favor of that great wrong. • Calvin, of Richmond county, an one of the men who is now running as elector at large on the Democratic ticket. Then there is another—-long John Jordan (laughter), John 1. Jordan. (Renewed laughter.) _ Hie Honorable John T. Jordan. (Snicker ing), Go a-head John Joi dan. voice : “ Ugly John Jordan.” Great merriment.) He says, by his vote, that it is all right for the farmer to pay tax, but it is all wrong for the railroads to do likewise. Who else r Mr. Hamilton Reese, of Wilkes coun ty, voted the same way; Mr. Robey, of Jefferson county, and several others, voted with them. All men who are high up in the councils of the Democratic party, and all men who are justly indignant at Col. Peek and myself for trying to enslave the poor negro. (Great laughter.) When the Hon. (?) John Jordan speaks to you again about my being the enemy of the poor colored man, or the poor white man, ask him why he thinks it is not right to tax the railroads on their mogul engines, their cars, their trucks, and their palace sleepers, and it is right to tax you on your horses, mules, wagons, household furniture and garden implements. When in the legislature I voted against the school bill making an ap propriation for one year. Why ? I will tell you. We had just passed a bill to tax you to the extent of $l - to build a new State house, and immediately on the heels of that Mr. Calvin came in with a bill to tax you heavily for schools. I thought that in consideration of the million dollar tax j ust passed for the purpose of building the capitol, it would be too heavy, It was on the principle of a man wanting to build two houses, and having only enough money to build one. What does he do? He puts up the one most needful and lets the other go until a more convenient season. A vote against that bill, when you were already saddled with a million dollar tax for the capitol, was no indication of my attitude on the school question. [Several voices : “That’s so.”] Four years ago, when they were trying to build up the col leges cf the State to the neglect of the common schools, you all know that I made a tight to the very best of my ability for the schools. [A voice : “ We know it, Tom.”] I said it was all wrong to tax all the people for the purpose of establishing col leges remote from the great body of the people, where only the rich farm ers, who were able to send their boys and girls, and pay board, could get the benefit, but when you established schools at every cross the pupils can be cheaply fed in home, where they could be kept under the parental eye, where the poor man would not be debarred from their benefit by his inability to pay railroad fare and board bills, they would be a blessing, and for them I willing to work and vote. In other words, I was opposed to taxing the few to benefit the rich. [Prolonged cheer ing.) Now, to show you that I was not an enemy to the common schools, let me tell you who else voted with me. One of them is Judge Maddox, of Bartow county, now running for Con gress ; one was Mr. Johnson, a Dem ocrat, and he would not, surely, vote against the bill if it was a blow at education. Who else ? Anthony Wilson, of Camden, a colored man, voted with me for this bill, though as strong an advocate of education a any one in this county. [Applause. 8 Who else? Hon. John Jordan, of Hancock county. [Loud laughter.] Now, if you ask Mr. Jordan, why he voted as I did, he will tell you that it was not because he was opposed to common schools, but because the tax w’as too onerous in view of the fact that the poople were already taxed to the greatest extent, and any more would be an insupportable burden. Now, what else? You will un derstand that I have been making a speech under terrible circumstances. Every attempt, short of open vio lence, has been made to break up this meeting. (Voices, “They can’t do it!”) J Now, fellow-citizens, we are com ing to something very interesting. I hold in my hand a little dodger, coming out of the office of the art ful dodger, and circulated by every sort of a dodge, and it is headed, “How Thomas Loves Anthony.” It goes on to show how I, in the Legis lature, voted against Anthony Wil son, a black man, who was contesting for his seat. They say I voted to make prohibition universal, and showed a resolve to let no negro, even when elected, serve in Georgia Legislature, if I could pre vent it. It alludes to my supporting Mr. Black for United States Senator. I did so, and I have no apology to make for so doing. Mr. Black was running against Mr. Colquitt and the Atlanta ring, and I supported him. J he only thing I am sorry for is that he is not on the same side I am now. I stood by his side and heard him .denounce the Atlanta ring, and the Augusta ring, in terms of the fiercest denunciation. I was with him in that contest, heart and soul and I am only sorry to-day that when I am fighting the Atlanta ring and the Augusta ring that I am standing alone, and Mr. Black is the champion of ring rule, which he so bitterly denounced. (Great cheer ing.) > I am sorry that he is comin o forward to put the chains of rin? rule around, my ankle. “We have something to say about that!”) J