Newspaper Page Text
But, they say that I voted to make
prohibition universal. I have this to
say: .1 voted for the local option
bill which allowed every county to
settle that question for itself; a bill
which allowed McDuffie county to
settle it for itself; a bill which al
lowed Hancock county to settle it
for itself; a bill which allowed eveiy
other county in the State to settle it
for itself; a bill which secured the
old Jeffersonian doctrine of home
rule (great applause), allowing every
county to have just what it de
sired— prohibition or anti-prohibi
bition. (Renewed cheering.) I
voted for that bill, as John T. Jor
dan did; I voted for that bill as
many another good man did; I voted
for that bill as a majority of the
House did, and I have no apologies
to make for that vote. (Voices,
“There is no call for any. You were
right. We are satisfied.”) Ido not
know whether I am losing votes or
not by saying that I voted for the
local option bill, but if it lost me
every vote in this vast audience, I
would do it again. (Loud applause.)
Not only that, when it come to vote
in the Legislature, I voted for pro
hibition, and if that makes me ene
mies, make the most of it. I say
this: When they attack my prohi
bition record, they are in a pretty
fix to fight me on that line (cheering
and laughter); Mr. Black is in a
pretty fix to fight me on that line. I
say, let the people of Hancock vote
for it or against it, as they see fit.
That gives you home rule.. Free
men want nothing more. (Great
applause.)
Here is what they say, that Wat
son had voted to retain a mail in a
seat to which he was not elected, and
to eject Anthony Wilson from a
seat to which he was electei. How
do they know he was not elected?
If they told you that the committee
to which it was referred was split
half and half; if they told yoi that
the committee was made up of same
■of the best lawyers in the State of
Georgia; if they told you that one
half of the committee voted one way
and the other half the other way;
if they told you that some of the
finest lawyers in the State of Geor
gia voted as I did, they would have
come to the truth, but that di I not
suit their purpose. I have my speech
with me, and it was all right then,
but it is all wrong now ; it was a
good speech then, but it is a bad
speech They have very sud
denly broken out in a very bad case
of Anthony Wilson. (Great applause
and laughter.) Why is it that they
did not tell you of that before?
(Laughter and applause.) Why is
it that the people of my county,
white and black, turned out and
gave me such a welcome as 1 never
had, and probably no other Geor
gian ever had ? Why did the
colored band turn out and express a
desire to play at my reception ?
Did not they know that 1 was such
an enemy to the colored people ?
Did not they know whether 1 treated
all right, irrespective of color—
whether rich or poor, white or black?
(Cries of “You bet; the people know
you!”) Well, they say in this that I
denounced Anthony Wilson with
great bitterness. I have that speech
here to-day, and if you can find one
word of bitterness in it against
Anthony Wilson, or against the
black men; if you can find any al
lusion to the black people in this
speech, I will withdraw from the
race. My fellow - citizens, when I
was in Congress I voted to seat a
Republican, and they say I was
wrong. I won’t stop to argue the
reason. In the Legislature 1 voted
to seat a Democrat that they wanted
seated. What 1 did in the first place
was right then, but wrong now;
what I did in Congress was wong,
because nothing I do can be right.
Why, if I had the seven-year itch
these men would not let me scratch,
and if I did not scratch they would
denounce me for not scratching.
(Applause and laughter.) So far as
I can find, it is a clear case of—
‘‘You can and you can t,
You will and you won’t;
You’ll be damned if you do.
You'll de damned if you don't”
(Great laughter.) No matter which
road I take, I am on the wrong track ;
no matter what medicine I. take, I
am adopting the wrong remedy.
Let us be fair and honest. Until
you have the facts before you, you
cannot judge intelligently. I voted
against Anthony Wilson in the Leg
islature, just like I voted against the
democrat in Congress, and neither
politics nor color had any effect upon
me. (Applause.) Anthony Wilson
did not show' by the best evidence,
no matter what the- presumption
might have been, that he ought to
have the seat. Therefore, I voted
in his case as I did in the case of the
republican in Congress, according to
the evidence and my oath of office.
But, it is likely, that Anthpny Wil
son remembers my bitter denuncia
tion of him m particular, and ne
groes in general, during that contest.
If I did, he is here to-day and I give
way for him to come before you and
state whether or not that statement
is true.
(Cries of “Wilson ! Wilson ! Wil
son !” and cries of, “He is coming;
he’ll be here soon.”)
Mr. McGregor, while the crowd
was waiting for AVilson, advanced
and said : As the democratic press
has already started the music and
composed the notes that they expect
to sing for the next few weeks, I de
sire to say a few words while you are
waiting for Anthony Wilson. It
was only a week or two ago that the
Ishmaelite expressed the greatest
sympathy for Anthony Wilson
(laughter), and the Ishmaelite is a
PEOPLE’S PARTY PAPER, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1892.
democratic organ. [Renewed laugh
ter.] It is only recently that the
Atlanta Constitution, the Augusta
Chronicle and various other demo
cratic organs expressed the deepest
sympathy and solicitude for Anthony,
the deeply wronged colored man;
and you, my fellow-citizens, and
others who did know the facts,
might imagine, from reading the
Ishmaelite and other democratic pa
pers, that he was a much abused
man ; but 10, and behold! last Tues
day Anthony Wilson, of his own vo
lition, like an honest man urged by
his own sense of justice, urged by
his own disapproval of the falsehood
and abuse heaped on Tom Watson,
took the platform in an adjoining
county in the interest of what he
conceived to be right and justice.
(Great applause.) What is the re
sult ? Why, the papers that saw in
hirn a victim of Watson’s malignity
suddenly discovered that he was as
black as the ace of spades. [Tre
mendous cheering.] Now listen and
I will read to you where they say he
is so much abused, and then his sud
den transition inta a nigger as black
as the ace of spades. But here is
Anthony Wilson, and he can speak
for himself.
Mr. Wilson advanced, was re
ceived with great applause by both
white and colored, and spoke as fol
lows:
ANTHONY WILSON’S SPEECH.
Fellow-citizens of Hancock county:
It affords me much pleasure to be in
your presence to-day, and especially
on this occasion. Having heard my
name ringing in the papers, and
deeply conscious that I was becom
ing a campaign document, and hear
ing so much sympathy expressed for
me in particular, and the colored
people in general, it occurred to me
that it was no more than right that
1 should appear before you for the
purpose of setting this matter in its
irue light. [Applause.]
In the year 1862 I was elected to
the Georgia Legislature as a member
from the county of Camden. [A
voice, “1882, yiot ’62.] Did I say
62? It was 1882 —thank you.
V ell, Mr. Watson was there and
Mr. McGregor was there, and many
)ther gentlemen from all over the
State. That contest came up in its
form, but, as Mr. Watson told you a
few moments ago, there were legal
; questions involved, and while I had
' die votes, my opponent had the law.
Mr. Rountree, who held the mi
nority at the time, told me that I
! hid a good case, “but” says he, “you
have left out the legal points in the
case, and for that reason the com
mittee is compelled to report against
you, and we will make a minority
report on the matter.”
But the facts in the case were
behind the returns; the committee
went behind the returns and they
disclosed certain facts, but certain
legal technicalities had not been
complied with; then came the vote
in the House, and when that vote
came on, Mr. Watson, as well as
many other gentlemen on the other
side voted against me, voting the
facts, as disclosed on the legal side
of the question. They expressed
themselves as being satisfied with
the justice of my rights, and so they
do now, but my case was not put in
legal shape, and the law was against
me. In view of all the facts, so far
as I .am concerned, I have only to
say that, as far as that vote is con
cerned, there is nothing rankling in
my bosom;there is no hardness in my
heart against Mr. Watson or the other
sixty-one members who voted
against me that time.
These sixty-one who voted
against me, and are now trying to
create a prejudice against Mr. Wat
son, were probably honest in their
votes then, and they may be honest
iu their course now. I will leave
that to their own conscience and to
you. (Great applause and laugh
ter. )
I wish to relate Mi incident in
connection with that contest. Two
years later the chairman of the com
mittee that made that report, Mr.
Rountree, was an aspirant for the
position of Solicitor-General in his
District, and he said to me:“I suppose
that you are in a position
to return the compliment now;
I voted against you getting
your seat in the legislature, and it is
in your power to vote against me
now.” I said “No; I have no dispo
sition to show any retaliation, I
would cheerfully vote for you, but I
have already promised to vote for
another gentleman.” (Long con
tinued applause.)
There is another thing I want to
call to your attention—you colored
men, I mean. It is right, it is just
that we colored men should stand by
each other as the white men stand
by each other, and I would not give
the snap my finger for the colored
man that would sell his birth-right,
or his State-right Now, so far as
you are concerned, when you come
to cast your vote, exercise an intel
ligent discrimination in casting it for
the cause of right and justice—l am
not going*to say how that should be.
So far as lam concerned, I say to
you [addressing his remarks to Mr.
Watson,] as I said to Mr. Roun
tree, there is no feeling rankling in
my bosom against you or any other
gentleman w T ho voted against me,
and if these other honorable gentle
men v r ere genuine in their sympathy
my colored friends here would have
heard of it two years ago. fLaugh
ter.] They would no? have waited
until this late date. You never
heard of Anthony Wilson until a few
days ago. [Cries of: “No ! We
did not.”] To-day you are called
upon to sympathize with Anthony
Wilson. You are called to cast your
votes against the man who voted
against Anthony Wilson, but I say,
boys, examine the case well and go
and cast your votes intelligently, and
to please yourselves.
I am thankful, gentlemen, that
you stopped long enough to hear the
reasoning of the whole matter from
the beginning, therefore, we ought
to have patience to hear the conclu
sion of the whole matter.
There is another Representative
running for Congress in the adjoin
ing District, and seven years ago
what did he do? Why, he did the
same thing, and nothing is mention
ed about Anthony Wilson having re
ceived bad treatment at his hands,
or why Anthony Wilson, or An
thony’s colored friends ought to turn
against him.
Another thing, I want to say a
word in reference to the Eleventh
District. Mr. Turner is running in
the JKleventh District—ln Anthony
Wilson’s District—and not a word
is said about his vote, yet Anthony
Wilson becomes a campaign Demo
crat two hundred miles from home.
Now gentlemen and fellow-citi
zens, this is a race for Congress.
This is a movement called the Peo
ple’s party movement. There is a
division between the people of the
State of Georgia, and it behooves
you, as colored people, to say which
is the best course to pursue. Seven
teen years ago you were told to get
the scalawags and carpet-baggers
from among you—to give them the
cold shoulder. God be praised, the
carpet-baggers and the scalawags are
gone, and you to-day say by your
enthusiasm that you are willing to
go with the Southern people; yet,
there is another batch of Southern
men who say that you are wrong
yet. [Laughter and applause.] Well,
according to that, I do not see that
we are able to please anybody. If
we go with the carpet-baggers and
scalawags, we are wrong; if we go
with the Southern people, we are
wrong; if we go by ourselves, we
are wrong. • When will we do right?
Where is the right place for the ne
gro? [A voice, “in the third party.”]
Well, sir, decide for yourselves; that
is what brought you out to-day; and
I put this matter plainly before you
that you may decide for yourselves.
You have been trying to have others
decide for you, and you see that
there is no chance for you to be set
right by them, now decide for your
selves; and if you decide that the
third party is the right thing, why,
put your feet down and stay there.
[Several voices, “AVe’s already de
cided.”]
Now, I want to say a few words
on another question, and that is the
school question. [Voices, “Yes! we
want to hear about that.”] During
the time that I was in the Georgia
Legislature I will say right here,
before going any further, that there
is no man in Georgia, white, black,
green or blue, whose heart goes out
more to the blessings of education of
the people than mine, though totally
uneducated, as the papers said yes
terday. 1 say, too, that there is no
man in the great State of Georgia,
who leans more in that direction
than I. lam in favor of educating
the people, white and black, because
the ignorant white man is as danger
ous to the peace of the State as the
ignorant black man ; yet, if you look
on the recerd you will find one of
my votes recorded against the school
bill—the same bill for which Mr.
Watson is sought to be prejudiced
for voting against as an enemy of
educating you colored people. A
word of explanation. I did it in this
wise : We were in that old capitol
building on Marietta street, and we
were told that it was unsafe—that it
was very dangerous—and I well re
member the great snow the last year
I was in the Legislature, and upon
entering the capitol we were told
that we had better get out as quick
as we could. Seeing the great ne
cessity of having a capitol that would
be safe to meet in, and the pride of
the city of Atlanta and the State of
Georgia, we passed a bill appropriat
ing $1,000,000 for that capitol, and
immediately upon the heels of that
came up a school bill to si raddle a
heavy tax upon you in addition to
the million just appropriated. I
thought, as one oL your representa
tives, that would be too great a bur
den, and it would be the part of
wisdom to let it rest for two years,
and I therefore cast my vote against
that measure. [Voices, “And you
were right.”] 1 thought we had bet
ter let the matter rest for two years,
and when the capital was finished
w r e could take a fresh start.
Now, then, my fellow-citizens, I
did not come before you to make a
speech; I simply came to set these
matters right before you. I did not
come to influence you in casting
your ballots but to tell you the truth
so that you could have an intelligent
conception of the situation. [Cheers.]
I have friends in all those parties,
but I could not—would not- —for one
moment stifle my convictions or stifle
the truth for the sake of my friend
ships, and no man is true to himself, to
his country, or to his God, who would.
[Great cheering.] No man is a true
citizen to his race or to his govern
ment who casts his vote against his
conscience for a few dollars. [Alanv
voices, .“No! No! No! You’re
talking straight!”] Let us, my
friends, rise above these things.
Let us cease looking to others and
look to ourselves—look upward—-.and
cast our votes in the direction that
we think will do the most good for
the greatest number, and in doing
that you will retain yourself-respect
and the respect of the men who
affect to look down upon you. [Great
applause and shouts of approval.]
Now, then, I wish to say a few
words in regard to my being here.
I saw articles in the morning papers
headed “Watson and Wilson,” and
then the writers went on to say that
AV atson had Wilson going around
with him at a heavy expense. Well,
sir, if Mr. Watson has paid one cent
for Anthony AVilson, Anthony Wil
son does not know it. And I sav it
to Mr. Watson’s face that he did not
know that I was to be here until he
saw me at Sandersville, to his great
surprise. [Long continued cheering.]
I will say further that from what
Mr. AVatson heard he expected to
see me fighting him in this district
for the vote he cast against me in
'the Georgia Legislature. But An
thony AVilson cherishes no resent
ments either against Mr. Watson on
account of that vote, or against the
other gentlemen who cast their votes
against me, and are now so deeply
sympathising with Anthony AVilson
for the great wrong done him by
Mr. AVatson. [Loud laughter and
long continued applause.]
Now, let me give you an illustra
tion of this case as it is presented to
you: About two or three weeks
ago, probably a month, a certain
gentleman called upon me and asked
me whether or. not it would be pos
sible for me to take the stump, and
tell you, colored people of this dis
trict, the necessity of casting your
votes against Mr. AVatson on ac
count of the manner in which he
cast his vote against me. I told him
then and there that our convention
had not met; that I did not know
when they would meet, or whether
it would meet at all; but when it
did meet, if it was decided to put
a candidate in the field I could only
champion that man in the field, and
if they did not put a candidate in
the field, then I would speak and
vote as I saw fit. [Cheers.] AVell,
this day has rolled around, and I
am here, my colored friends, to set
this matter squarely before you that
you may vote intelligently. I be
lieve that every voter when he goes
to the polls ought to know why he
votes for the man of his choice. I
am not here to tell you who that
man is, but I am here to tell you the
facts, and you can do the rest.
[Cries of “You bet we’ll do it for
VV atson!”]
I have been tossed from pillar to
post by the newspapers, and I
thought it <was but right that I
should come over here to-day and
let you hear the truth. They say
that Mr. AVatson .■ has paid me.
[Shouts of “They have told a lie!
They have told a lie !” 11 will say,
my friends, that Air. AVatson did not
know about my coming here to-day
until I appeared upon the scene. 1
came of my own free will and ac
cord, iu the interest, not of Air.
AVatson, but of trglb, . [Cries of
“Good! Good!”] I came because
I believed that your votes would be
diverted from the right to the
wrong through misleading and un
true statements. Now, with the
plain truth before you, vote for Air.
Black if you see fit, but do not do
so, I beseech ydu, under the mista
ken idea that you are righting An
thony AVilson’s wrong. [Great cheer
ing, and cries of “Hurrah for AA rat
son ! Good-bye, Jimmie Black !”]
One word more and I have done.
You have probably made your choice,
I judge by your enthusiasm, I have
not made any choice for you. lam
only one of the people, and when
ever you make your choice I am
with you. lam not the boss—l am
one of the people—you are the
bosses. If AVatson is your choice,
and you have said it on this and on
other occasions by your enthusiasm,
prove it on the day of election.
[Cries of, “AVe will! We will! We
will! Hurrah for AVatson ! Good
bye Jimmie Black.”]
[Some of the able correspondents,
who spoke of Anthony Wilson as an
ignorant negro, may surpass him in
concealing truth, but I doubt very
much whether, any of them can
equal him in making a speech.—Re
porter.]
Air. AVatson [in a mocking, laugh
ing tone] : Now, fellow-citizens, ain’t
we in the soup ? [Laughter.] AVhose
name is Dennis now? [Renewed
laughter, and a voice, “The’re left.”]
Yes, they are over there in the grove
without company, while we are here
enjoying “a feast of reason and a
flow of soul.” [Great applause.]
They tried to make you believe
that some .great crime had been com
mitted against Anthony AVilson ;
they tried to get Anthony AVilson to
go everywhere and tell you so, and
what does he tell you ? [A voice,
“He tells the truth.”] Yes, my
friend, he tells you the truth; he
tells you that I cast my vote just the
same way that sixty other members
did, believing that thej vote was
against him, and that the law was
against him; and he tells you fur- .
thermore that he has not Leen out- |
raged at my hands; that I did not
denounce him in the legislature; ;
that I did not denounce his color in
the legislature; that I acted as a
sw r orn juror, doing what I believed |
to be right, and he says, further, that
he believes I acted conscientiously, |
The democratic party, in spite of its
barbecue, in spite of its brass bands,
in spite of its Sidney Lewis lies, in
spite of its false dodgers and artful j
dodgers, is staggering around over |
there in the grove, saying : “Alis’er
Speaker, where was I at?” [A tre- |
mendous outburst of applause and :
laughter.] And when November
comes and the votes are cast, and
they repeat the question, “Alis’er
Speaker, where w r as I at?” a disen
thralled, long suffering, badly de
ceived public 'will answer, “You are
in the soup.” [lncreased laughter
and applause.] I tell you we coun
try boys can get ahead of these silk
hatted city politicians, and give them
two in the game. We understand
this light; we understand this sud
den affection for the negro; we un
derstand why the democrats have
woke up to such a sudden affection
for the colored people in general,
and to Anthony Wilson in particu
lar. Your votes have become very
precious in their sight all at once.
I Loud laughter, and a voice, “Ain’t
he tollin’ de God's truf?”] They
used to meet here in this court house,
not more than half a dozen of the
most properest men in the town.
[Laughter.] Why, .a big umbrella
would keep the rain off the demo
cratic darty in Sparta. [Renewed
laughter.] They would sit around
a table, and it would not require a
very large one either, and they would
map out their policy and trot out
and trim up the jade and tell you to
mount, and if you did not like it you
could lump it. [A voice, “That’s
right. Oh, how well we know it.”]
You had no voice in it. [A voice,
“Right you are.”] If you com
plained you were denounced as inde
pendents. [A burly voice, “The
people’s going to take a hand in de
nouncing.”] If you refused to sup
port the ticket, you were denounced
as a radical; if you would not vote
for the office holder, you could nof
vote for anybody. [An enthusiastic
colored man at my elbow, “’Fore
God, ’porter, he’s knocking dem fel
lows silly.”]
Gentlemen, this reform movement
has knocked that higher than a kite,
i [A voice, “Oh, how glad I am of
I that.”] Yes, and the people at large
are glad of it; and the only men
who are mad about it are the town
ringsters who had you in their power,
and made you walk the chalk line,
•whether you wanted to or not.
You men of Georgia, and of other
great States, know what was the
matter. Hence, the farmer in the
field, the skilled mechanic in the
shop, the laborer in the factory,
in the corn patch, in the cotton
patch, rose in f their majesty and
said : “ This is a government of the
people, and by the people and for the
people,” and that no little crowd of
town politicians, that no little spindle
shank editor should rule the people
and make the laws. They said that
the people should have a voice in the
government; that the laborer should
be heard; that the rights of the me
chanic should be respected; that the
farmer should get there; so they
formed a great league in 1889. Col.
Northen was down there. Col. Liv
ingston was down there. Your great
representatives of the Knights of La
bor were down there. Your great
representatives of the Farmer’s Alli
ance were down there. And when
they met they said this: “The more
we work, the poorer we are; the
more we toil, the more we suffer;
but the men who do not toil are ar
rayed like Solomon in all his glory.”
[Great applause, laughter and cries
of: “ True, true, every word of it.,”
They said that when the people are
in rags, it must be from some other
cause than that they produce too
much clothing. If it was owing to
the people producing too much cot
ton, they would have more clothing
instead of less. [Cries of : “ That’s
so.”] They said that it was a very
strange thing that the more corn the
people made the less bread they had
to eat. [A voice : “ Skin ’em, Tom.”
Another voice : “ All the hide’s done
gone,” and laughter.]
[Another plug-hatter rode up on
horse-back, and trying to force his
way into the crowd said: “A free
dinner for everybody; you are all
invited down to the barbecue—white
and colored.”]
Mr. Watson: I hope, the reporter
will set that down, that while I was
here speaking in defense of the peo
ple’s cause, that while I was speak
ing in defense of the.platform which
Governor Northen helped to frame,
that while I was speaking in defense
of the platform which Col. Living
ston aided in forming, that while I
was speaking in defense of a plat
form which Col. AY L. Peek helped
to formulate, that a plug-hatted freak
rode up here on a horse and tried to
bribe the people away from a discus
sion of these questions, of such vital
interest to you all, by offering a free
feast, and that the people arose in
their majesty and might and said,
“Skedaddle.” [Wild applause.]
There he goes! Well he may ske
daddle. Oh, my friends, if there
ever was a time ’when the people
could not be bought, now is the time !
If there ever was a time when the
true, manly American people would
not sell out their birth-rights for a
mess of democratic hog and hominy,
now is the time ! [Tumultuous ap
plause.] They may spread their
feasts; they may hire their brass
bands; they may have their Gov
ernors ; they may have their corpor
ation lawyers; they may have the
ringsters ; but there is one thing they
cannot have—that I have—and that
is the great hearts of the common
people. [The scene at this point
was simply indescribable.]
[A voice: “Here he is, coming
again. You men out there, tell him
to get up and dust—run him off.”]
flt turned out to be a fellow with
a tin star and a club, the town being
full of them that day, ostensibly hired
to keep order.—Reporter.]
Mr. Watson: We are taking no
man’s orders to-day, whether that
man be a Governor or a little one
horse constable, or a three- for-ten
cents bailiff. We are here in the
majesty of the people, and here we
are going to stay, no matter how the
sun shines or the clouds lower. The
sun’s rays bear down upon me, as it
does upon you, but let us show them
that we are here, caring more for
principle than for hog meat. We
can eat to-night, and when we re
tire it will be with the proud con
sciousness of having discharged our
duties as citizens first. Our first
and highest duty, as citizens, is to
meet the issues presented to us, and
thus get ou higher planes of progress
that will help the black, without
injuring the white, and that will
help the poor without injuring the
rich. [Great applause.]
They say lam an advocate of
social equality between the whites
and the blacks. THAT IS AN
ABSOLUTE FALSEHOOD, and
the man who utter it, knows it. I
have done no such thing, and you
colored men know it as well as the
men who formulated the slander.
[Several colored men: “We know
it to be lies.”] It is best for your
race and my race that we dwell
apart in our private affairs. [Many
voices among the colored: “That's
so, boss.”] It is best for you to go
to your churches, and I will go to
mine; it is best that you send your
children to your colored school, and
I’ll send my children to mine; you
invite your colored friends to your
home, and I’ll invite my friends to
mine. (A voice from a colored man:
“Now you’s talking sense,” and mur
murs of approval all through the
audience.) Now, here is the truth.
(A voice: “That’s what hurts.”) Yes,
my friend, and here is where it
hurts. I have said that there is no
reason why the black man should
not understand that the law that
hurts me, as a farmer, hurts him, as
a farmer; that the same law that
hurts me, as a cropper, hurts you, as
a cropper; that the same law that
hurts me, as a laborer, hurts you, as
a laborer; that the same law that
hurts me, as a mechanic, hurts you,
as a mechanic. (A voice out in the
audience: “Boys, ain’t he getting
there?” Another voice, at my elbow:
“He’s been dar, all the time.”) Still
others: “Yes, and he’ll be dar in
November, sho’.”
I said that you ought not to take
a certain position, just because you
are black. In other w r ords, you
ought not to go one way just be
cause the whites went the other, but
that each race should study these
questions, and try to do the right
thing by each other—should con
sider the interest of all—should vote
for the enactment of just laws, and
against unjust laws. [Great ap
plause.] That the colored farmer
and the white farmer, that the col
ored cropper, and the white crop
per, that the white laborer and the
colored laborer should stand shoul
, der to shoulder, and foot to foot, and
win the victory that will bring bless
ings alike to all That will benefit
the black without injuring the white;
that will give the poor, of whatever
color, compensation for their honest
labor, without injuring the rich.
(Long continued applause.)
A voice: “Tell us some more
about the dudes skedaddling.”
Mr. Watson: You just keep still,
or the first thing you know, the
Democrats will bring that barbecue
up here; if they do not, it will be a
lonesome barbecue, indeed. Lo!
“They spread a feast, and no man
come to partake thereof.”j(Laughter,
loud and long.)
Now, let us go a little further.
What is it Mr. Black promises to the
people? What does he propose to
advocate to help the people? AVe
all say that we are too heavily in
debt; that the price of cotton is too
low; that the masses of the people
are getting poorer from year to year;
that the houses of the people are
going into decay; that the taxes of
the people cry out, more and more
for relief. Now, what is it that the
Democratic party promises to you in
the way of relief? Do they propose
to remove the source? (Voices: “No:
they do not.”)
Let us look at the way the Demo
crats propose to treat it, ttnd the way .
we propose to treat it. We say that
the government makes the money
and allows the national banker to
have it at one per cent; the national
banker lets the New York banker
have it at four percent; the New
York banker lets the Augusta banker
have it at six per cent; the Augusta
banker lets the merchant in the
country have it at eigh« per cent;
and your merchant allows you to
have it at from thirty to fifty per
cent, according to your necessities.
How does it work with you meh out
in the country? Here is a colored
man working for me; he turns into
the field; he follows the rows; he
plows the corn ; he chops the cotton,
and at the end of the week he comes
to me and says, “Mas Tern, I want
to get something for the old lady
and something for myself.” AVell, I
take out a pencil and a piece of pa
per and write a few words and hand
it to him, and you begin to swell up
right away. AVhy? You feel that
you have not been fairly treated;
you feel that I ought to pay you the
cash; that when I gave you that or.
der your merchant will make you
dance juber [a voice, “Yes, and he
does it every time”]; and you go
home, having paid extortionate
prices instead of paying cash and.
getting them as cheap as any other
man. Why don’t I pay you the
money? I would rather pay the
cash to the man I hire if I could pay
cash, for there never was music like
the clink of silver on Saturday %ight
to the laboring man. [Voices,
“Dat’s so, boss.”] Why do you
have to - pay that extortionate price
if my credit is good and that mer
chant feels sure of getting his pay ?
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