Newspaper Page Text
who insulted Mr. Watson on the car
at Thomson and got a bay windov
placed under his lett eye for his
temerity.— Reporter.]
.Mr. Watson. Listen to this, la
dies. “I have been called a dreamer
and expelled to Arcadia.”
Who called him a dreamer ? Why,
Mr. Patrick Walsh, of Richmond
county. “But I would like before I
go to get—” What? “A little Ar
cadian atmosphere into Georgia poli
tics. Do rfbt lower your standard
of morals.” In other words, Mr.
Black said at that time that Georgia
politics needed purifying, but now
he says that it is all serene and lovely,
and all you have to do is just to beat
Watson and put him in Coegress.
(Derisive lauguter.) What else did
he say ? “There is no denying but
among the people there is a feeling
of distrust, and there is,” what ?
“just cause for it.” Nov/ he says
that it is largely exaggerated. (Re
newed laughter of the derisive sort.)
“There is just cause for it,” why?
“Because there must be a charmed
circle into which if a man does noi
enter he need never aspire to any
honor.” What is the charmed .cir
cle? The political ring.
Voices. That’s so Tom, we know
it, God bless you. And great cheer
ing.
Mr. Watson. Until he did get
into that ring the Augusta and At
lanta politicians had not the slightest
use for Mr. Black.
Cries of. That is right, Tom, old
boy. Hurrah for our Tom.
Mr. Watson. What else does he
say? “There is one head, and when
it takes snuff there is a universal
sneeze.” (Laughter.) “When it
pipes all dance.” (Renewed laugh
ter.)
Listen. “I call upon you to
and smite this power.” What power?
The corrupt ring. Ring rule in
Georgia politics. Aint that what I
am asking you to do now?
Voices. That is right, and that is
what we are going to do. (Loud
cheering, and feeble attempts to turn
the tide by hurrahs ior Black, but
enthusiasm and numbers were both
against it.)
Mr. Watson. Now listen, hear
what he says further. [To the la
dies.] 1 want you to hear this.
“For twenty days Goliath defied the
armies of Israel.” (Great laughter
from the ladies, and howls from a
coterie of claquers in the front and
left of the stage.)
Oh, yes, you Richmond county
fellows have got enough steam to
last you a little while yet, but the
sickest looking crowd I ever saw are
you Hancock county democrats.
[Uproarous laughter.]
Now listen, ladies; I want you to
hear the conc'us on. “For twenty
days Goliath defied the
Israel, but there came an Arcadian
youth and sle w him. [Great laugh
ter.] Slew (Goliath! Feinting his
thumb behind.) That is the Arca
dian youth! [Uncontrolable laugh
ter.
Listen. No power can frighten
me, no honor can bribe me. “I hope
for the fate of Goliath to all who ob
tain and hold office by corrupt prac
tices.”
That was what he said when he
was figh.ing the ring ; that the peo
ple of Georgia were beset as the
Philistines beset the people of Israel,
by a Goliah, but that they had a
David—and he was David. (Laugh
ter.) And the Democratic newspa
pers all made fun of the David of
that day. (Laughter.) But where
is David now ? Does he know
•‘where he’s at ?”
A voice. We know where he’s
at. (Laughter.)
Mr. Watson. Yes, my friends,
there is one instance of where a Dem
ocrat knows where he is at. (Laugh
ter.) He has passed over the river
of Sulong and joined forces with
Goliath.
A voice. That’s right.
Another voice. That is wrong;
and cheering from both sides.
Mr. Watson. Goliath takes snuff
and, io! David sneezes. (Laughter)
Goliath pipes and, lo ! David dances,
(Side-splitting laughter.) Being
somewhat fat he is not a very grace
ful dancer, but he does it the very
best ho can,
Cries of Good ! good! good! and
uproarious laughter.
Mr. Watson. Now, do you not
think that Major Black is the last
man in the world to abuse you and
me for not sneezing and dancing
when the Goliath newspapers take
snuff and pipe ? (Renewed laughter.)
1 do not say it byway of putting us
in opposition that Major Black is the
very worst man in the Tenth district
to represent you, but really, do you
not think that he would be one of
the most improperest selections ?
(Laughter suppressed and laughter
insuppressed, laughter mischievous
Ind laughter known as the dry
laugh.) (To Major Black.) Now,
don’t you really wish that you were
In Kentucky ? I’ll bet you a big
apple that you would like to be in
Kentucky right now to get a little
Arcadian repose ! (To the people.)
• Do you not think that Mr. Black
ought to be silent about the farmers
cf Georgia rousing themselves to
fight the rings which he so
vehemently denounced? Don’t you
think that we ought to have a little
of his noble character, a little of bis
powerful physique, a little of the
majestic sweep of his arm, and the
flow from his eloquent tongue in this
great fight against Goliath. (Ap
plause.) That is always where he
used to be. Now are you rot really
sorry that he goes forth to-day as
the chosen champion of the Augusta
’ and the Atlanta rings; as the chosen
of the Goliath he denounced with
PEOPLE’S PARTY PAPER, ATLANTA GEORGIA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1892.
such a facile pen and eloquent
tongue in endeavoring to put down
God’s Israel in its fight to throw off"
the chains and be a free people?
(Long continued applause.)
When we were over at Crawfords
ville I asked him three questions.
He shall never get away from these
questions during this campaign.
(Applause.) Let me go on. I asked
him: “Do you believe that the
people are suffering from vicious
legislation?” He says, “Yes, but
standing here before these thousands
of people, I dare to say that this
suffering is exaggerated.” And in
his letter to Mr. J. B. Austin, No
vember, 1890, he further amplifies
that by saying that one of the
troubles of this country is that the
politicians have been too anxious to
obey the demands of the farmers of
this country. My God!! exagger
ated !!! when there are $30,000,-
000,000 of indebtedness on the farms
of this land; when there is an in
debtedness of $127 per capita in
some of our Western States; when
there are millions of homes shadowed
by mortgages; when the army of
tramps becomes greater and greater
year by year; when those who lose
their homes become larger year by
year; when the tenant class that
lose their homes and have to rent in
crease year by year, he talks about
exaggeration!! Why, as a matter
of fact, just after the war we had
over $2,000,000,000 indebtedness;
we have paid upon that about one
billion and a quarter dollars, accord
ing to some, but I think that it is up
wards of two thousand millions; yet
it will take more of your cotton,
more of your corn, more of your
wheat, more of your muscular exer
tion to pay off that debt than it
would have taken at the beginning
if the volume of currency had not
been contracted. (Wild shonts of
approval.) And yet he says that he
dares to tell this people that the situ
a Jon has been exaggerated. Fellow
citizens, it cannot be exaggerated.
Voices. We see it; we have been
seeing it all along.
Mr. Watson. You can read the
situation in every worn out and de
cayed farm; you can read it in the
humble homesteads of Georgia; you
can tell it in the thousands of unem
ployed laborers in every State of this
Union; you can see it in the in
creased pauperism; it is photographed
in the increase of drunkenness and
crime in this land; and yet when
I ask Major Black the question, “Do
you believe that there is suffering re
sulting from vicious legislation ? ” he
says he does, but he dares to stand
before you, the honest farmers of
Georgia, and say that he believes it
is exaggerated. (Loud cheering.)
Yes, he utters that with a true class
pride—with the true indifference of
a man who has no interest in com
mon with you—that he dares to
maintain that it is exagerated.
A voice. Tell us about Mrs. Lease.
Hurrah for the Kentucky gentleman.
Mr* Watson. Buddie, you keep
quiet and let your man do his own
talking. If he is not able to do it,
why, trot out some other one, and do
not make a fool of yourself. Why,
even your candidate is ashamed of
you. (Laughter.) Yes, I say, with
the true indifference of a gentleman
who does not know your wants;
with the true indifference of a gen
tleman who does not feel your wants;
with the true indifference of a gen
tleman who does not care for your
wants; with the true indifference of
a gentleman who has not the impedi
ment of your necessities; with the
charming sang froid of a man who is
not in your shoes, and does not know
how or where they pinch, he says
that your distress is exaggerated.
(Prolonged applause.)
FIRST ANECDOTE OF THE DISCUSSION.
It is just like the little boy who
went home after getting a whipping,
and, through pride, did not tell about
it. A few days afterwards, his father
having heard of it, said, “Johnnie, I
am sorry to hear that you got
whipped the other day; I did not
know it, or I would have sympa
thized with you. “Well,” said John
nie (boo-hoo), “if you had been in my
pants you would have known it.”
Cries of Bah! Bah! Bah! and
hissing from the sheriff’s gang.
Mr. Watson (smiling). I am sor
ry for you, boys. Stand it the best
you can. I am going to roast you
directly. Think of the position of your
candidate—of David. (Laughter,
almost enough to shake a half dozen
picaninnies out of the trees, w r ho had
taken refuge in the branches.)
Voices (from the dude black
guards). Weaver, Weaver, Weaver;
tell us something about Weaver and
Mrs. Lease.
Mr. Watson. Yes, little boys; I
know that you want to get me off
my line of argument, but you had
better take your medicine like little
men. 1 know it is unpalatable, but
if Mr. Black must stand it, you
should. (Great laughter.)
I asked him if he believed that
there was unusual suffering, and be
answered like a true Democrat that
it is not the financial question
. (At this point there was an un
usual effort made to ’drown the
speaker’s voice, with partial success.
Your reporter failed to hear the con
clusion of the sentence, and malig
nant hatred glea ued from the eyes
of the Sparta contingent. Rake the
infernal regions with a fine-tooth
comb and you could not find more
malignant imps.)
Mr. Watson (addressing a group
of his adherents). Cast your eyes
on these Hancock county Democrats
if you want to see unutterable de
spair.
A voice (from a well - dressed
blackguard). Look at your men and
tell us what you think of them.
Mr. Watson. They have no pic
tures on the lapels of their coats;
but on the heart of every man there
is a picture of honesty, of integrity,
of patriotism that you fellows do not
possess.
He said in answer to my second
question, “Do you believe that there
is unusual distress,” etc., that it was
chiefly attributable to tariff legisla
tion, but, according to him, there
was not much of any kind. Now, I
have never underestimated the evils
resulting from tariff legislation, but,
fellow-citizens, if you will make the
calculation you will say at once that
the evils of the tariff, as stated by
his party or himself, are as a drop in
the bucket compared with the im
mensely greater evil of the con
traction of the currency and the
monopolies and other evils resulting
therefrom. Why do I say that ?
This nation now has an expense of
between four hundred and five hun
dred million dollars per annum.
That much has to be raised by taxa
tion, and the Democrats must always
mean to raise it by that method un
til they devise some other means.
Do they tell you how they propose
to raise the money saved by the so
called pop-gun tariff schemes by
which they would reduce the reve
nue at least about $158,000,000? The
government must have at least that
much money in order to replace what
they will lose. I asked Mr. Black
the other day at Crawfordsville how
he proposed to raise that $158,000,-
000. It was a fair question, a busi
nesslike and practical question, but
he never has answered that question
to this day.
A voice. No, and he never will;
he cannot.
Mr. Watson. I know it is claim
ed, and I have claimed it on the best
figures I could get, basing my argu
ment upon figures that that was not
the entire evil of the tariff—that the
tariff tax was not the entire evil con
nected with it; for, in addition to the
tax that it took out of your pockets
to put into the treasury of the Fed
eral Government, which increased
the prices of every article over
double, but that the people had to
pay four times as much to the manu
facturer as the article was worth.
So true is this that I would like to
cut the entire system out root and
branch and bury it from the face of
the earth.
I do not take back one word that
I said when I was Presidential Elec
tor. I reiterate every word I utter
ed against the tariff, and lam in
favor of removing it, at least to a
very material extent; but I realize
that it cannot be done until we sub
stitute some other way in which the
money must be raised for the needs
of the Government. Does not evgry
business man see the pertinency of
that proposition?
Now, they tell you that our plat
form does not touch the tariff. They
do not read our platform—they do
not read their own. (Laughter.)
Let us get at the truth [of'this. What
does our platform say? Listen! It
says that “the protective system of
the United States is a failure.”
Where does the Democratic plat
form say that? Not only that, it
says that the income of the Govern
ment must be restricted to the
economical needs of the Government.
The Democratic platform does say
that, but where do we differ? The
Democratic par?y says that all of the
four or five hundred millions, neces
sary for the needs of the Govern
ment, shall be raised by this iniqui
tous tariff, which carries four dollars
into the pockets of the private in
dividual to every one which the
Government receives;, while we say
to levy an income tai on the enorm
ous fortunes made by the profit aris
ing from the tariff—fortunes which,
not only do not pay a cent toward
the expenses of the Government but
make fortunes at the same time.
That is (Great cheer
ing-) ( ,
THEY HAVE NOT A CHANCE!
Why do they net say they are in
favor of an income tax? Because
the millionaires who have control of
the party machinery, will not let
them. They have not a chance be
cause they will not let them. (Laugh
ter.)-
Not only that, they will not give
you genuine tariff reform; they will
simply trim its hair. Instead of a
55 per cent, tariff they are going to
give you a 47 per cent, tariff.
They are going to cut off the
first joint of Goliath’s finger, and
leave all the rest to press upon the
people.
A voice. Let us go, I have had
enough of that.
Mr. Watson. Do not go, boys,
there will be some fun directly. You
will see lots of those badges put in
the boys’ pockets befere night.
(Laughter.)
Now, the third question I asked
Major Black was, “What do you
propose?” or rather, -what remedies
do you propose? Here is one
evil embraced in' the question.
The sugar trust takes $72,000,000 a
year as it is estimated, belonging to
the people—takes it from every
family in the land, white and
black alike, whether residing in town
or country. Whether they are rich
or poor.
A voice. How come sugar to be
so cheap?
Mr. M atson: How comes it that
the people have not got the money
to buy it with? Now you just keep
your lace in line and I will change
the color of it in two seconds. If
sugar is cheaper now than formerly,
would it not be two cents cheaper if
that bounty was not paid to the
sugar planters? Oh, the softest snap
in this world, is handling the moss
back Democrat. (Laughter.) My
friend says, “how come sugar so
cheap” They take nearly $11,000,-
000 in round numbers out of your
cotton tax, out of your corn tax," out
of your wheat tax, out cf the tax on
the toil of the day laborer, to pay
that $11,000,000 and then my friend
asks how comes it so cheap? (Laugh
ter.)
They pay it to the sugar plutocrats
in Louisiana, in Florida, and in Tex
as, who raise that sugar. Do you, as
a candid man, justify that robbery
of the cotton raisers, of the wheat
raisers, of the corn raisers, of the
toiling day laborer?
Voices from Mr. Black’s adher
ants. No, we do not. The Repub
lincans put on that tax.
. Mr. Watson. Where does your
democratic platform say a word
against it? It does not say one
word. Ours is the only one that
says one word against subsides and
bounties. The platform of the par
ty that is marching on to victory as
no political party ever did. (Great
applause.)
Now look out Democrats, for I am
coming again at you. What is his
answer to the third question? I
asked him how he was going to
remedy these evils. He did not say
he was going to remedy the sugar
trust scheme; he said nothing about
the Reading coal trust or the
Standard oil trust. Are not these
robbing the people? He said noth
ing against National Banks; he says
nothing against that sub-treasury, as
to the whisky product; he say a not
one word against that sub-treasury
as to the silver product. But he
says that we will reduce expendi
tures and have State banks, and
then all will be serene right away.
(Cheers.)
A voice. Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord!
Hurrah for Watson!
Mr. Watson. Now let the Demo
crats get ready for something nice.
As to the reduction of expenditures,
I have only this to say: that Mr.
Cleveland, during his administration,
found it utterly impossible to reduce
expenditures, owing to the growth
of the country and the increased de
mands of the public service, and so
we are actually compelled to pay
more and more year by year; and
Senator Gorman, of Maryland, a
great Democratic leader, said in the
Senate cf the United States that you
will never be able to administer this
government for less than $500,000,-
000 a year. Ido not know whether
I agree with him or not; I rather
think it can be reduced, but not much
less than from $450,000,000 to $500;
000,000. But, my God! how does
chat comps re with losing one out of
every two bales of cotton, one out of
every two bushels of corn, one out of
every two bushels of wheat, one out
of every two days’ labor, by these
infamous money laws? I tell you,
gentlemen, you ought to take these
thoughts home to your hearts and re
flect upon them like honest men; if
you do you will come to the conclu
sion that while the tariff ought to be
destroyed—torn up root and branch—
it is innnitessimaljcompared with hav
ing the moneyed monopoly control
the prices of ail products of all the
people of the land.
To the second he offered State
banks, and pointed to the Democratic
platform, saying that the farmers of
Georgia put it in that platform. Fel
low-citizens, he forgot that during
this very session of Congress that ten
per cent bill came up for action be
fore a Democratic House, and it was
defeated in the house of its pretend
ed friends by an overwhelming ma
jority, just as free silver was de
feated.
A voice. Go it Tommy; give him
the record. (Applause and sneering
m front.)
Mr. Watson. You just hold your
lip, and you will know what you are
laughing at directly. I notice that
Major Black is not doing any laugh
ing. (Laughter.) He knows where
he is going, if he does not knowjwhere
he is at. (Renewed laughter.)
I know they did right. Why ? Be
cause I believe that to be one of the
boldest schemes for swindling ever
invented. It is commissioning a lot
of State bank swindlers 'to help the
National bank swindlers to swindle.
A voice. Tell us about the Cor
bin bank, Tommy.
Mr. Watson (to the voica). What
do you mean by the Corbin bank ?
Face tne music and tell what you
mean by the Corbin bank, you con
temptible skulker ! Tell what you
mean you cowardly skulker ! I say
again (shaking his finger at the of
fender), what do you mean by using
that phrase, Corbin bunk ?
[The gentlemen of the opposing
side looked crestfallen and the black
guards through the audience com
menced hissing and crying “ traitor!
traitor! traitor!”]
Mr. Watson (to his friends). Boys,
have not they got to a pretty pass,
when they find their argument de
stroyed, that they come to the old
goose argument of hissing.
(Shaking his finger at the sneak).
Since you have mentioned the Cor
bin bank (facing the audience); since
they have meationed that, my friends,
let me say to you that every foot of
land I own was bought at private
sale, and, so far as I can remember,
at fair and square prices—at private
sale and from the men that owned it.
I own not one foot of land that the
Corbin land company sold at fore
closed sale. Ido own a few lots that
I bought before the failure,and any
man here, whether from Atlanta or
Augusta, can have those lots at what
they cost.
A voice to the right. It hurts.
Mr. Watson (indignantly). It does
not hurt.
The same voice. I mean that you
hurt.
Mr. Watson. Oh, you are my
friend ; that is all right.
Now, one of the men whose places
was sold, and bought by me, was
Mr. Edward Landsdale. It was
bought through Mr. Phinizy—he is
here on the stand—and after the sale
I went and paid the sheriff some
three or four hundred dollars more
than the price at which he knocked
it down, and one of the strongest
friends I have in this race is Mr.
Landsdale, because he knows that
after I bought it I paid his wife (it
was his wife’s land) some three or
four hundred dollars more than she
had any reason to expect, and gave
her three years to redeem it. (Thun
dering applause.)
(Shaking his hand menacingly at
the fellow who cast the slur). You
rake up everything in the way of
sewage and garbage, and you deal in
charges that your champion dare
not touch on (The speaker’s
voice drowned during the conclu
sion .)
If I had voted for the Bullock
bonds, as Mr. Black did, I would
have to go on my knees and beg par
don from you people for that vote.
Understand me, Mr. Black has made
no charge of dishonesty against me,
and I make none against him. I
believe that in voting with the mi
nority, as he did, and spreading his
protest, as he and Mr. Walsh did,
that he and Mr. Walsh thought they
did right. (Turning to Mr. Black.)
And I say here to-day that I voted
for you for Congress when witnesses
were raised up against you on that
vote; and I supported you for the
United States Senate against Mr.
Colquitt, knowing of that vote, and
believing that you cast it honestly.
I honored an honest vote honestly
cast, even if it was cast as I would
not have cast it. I did not mention
that vote on any other occasion, but
if I had voted on a question upon
which the people were so unani
mous—if I had been one of twenty
seven voting for it when over one
hundred were against it, in paying
bonds which the people in adopting
the constitution in 1877 said were
fraudulent and void, I never would
have heard the last of it. Now I
just put these two thing before you
to show the difference between the
two campaigns—between your meth
ods and mine. If I had chosen I
could have put Mr. Black on the ex
planatory like you did me, but I pre
fer to act the gentleman. I have
taken my banner without prejudice
or passion, while you have hurled at
me infamous falsehoods with a
malice that I cannot account for;
you have howled in my teeth, “Cor
bin Banking Company.” Mr. Phini
zy is on the stand, and heard my
explanation; Mr. Landsdale is ono'of
my warmest supporters, a man who
knows more about this thing than
any one here possibly can; and now
in the face of this irrefutable expla
nation, when you cry out Corbin
bank again, cry out, also, Bullock
bonds. One is just as true as the
other. There is no dishonesty in
either.
(At this point something was said
by the same creature, inaudible to
your reporter.)
Mr. Watson. Oh, you have
dodged, have you ? No w you have
done your cause lots of good,
haven’t you?
A voice on Mr. Black’s corner of
the platform. Who is that fool?
Can’t somebody stop him ?
Mr. Watson (ironically). Now see
how proud of you your friends back
here are.
Now to return to the point where
I was interrupted. Ido not have to
inquire where I was at. I was on
the point of showing that no man
ever denounced State banks like old
Thomas Jefferson. I, with Thomas
Jefferson, denounce the State banks
as anti Democratic. My friend, Mr.
Black, says that State banks are the
thing, in the face of Jefferson, al
though he claims to be a Democrat.
He says that this thing of stamping
paper and calling it money is a
vicious heresy. Now I want to show
you that Thomas Jefferson advo
cated this very idea of stamping
money without the intervention of
national banks, and that he especially
denounced the system of State
banks. Now, if I show that to the
Democrats, won’t they be sick?
[There was a great deal of confu
sion at this point. Jeering and howl
ing in the audience, mingled with
efforts on the stage to suppress the
young upstart element. Mr. Wat
son read from a volume, but as the
noise prevented your reporter from
catching the exact words ; therefore
prefer giving it as best I can in the
third person. He quoted from vol.
>7, page 189, of an edition of Jeffer
son’s writings, gotten out by James
Johnson Randall, 1837, in which he
(Jefferson) says that a nation may
continue to issue its bills as far as
its wants require and the limits of
circulation will admit.]
Mr. Watson. Hence you will see
by this, according to Jefferson, that
the government just gets paper and
pen and stamp and put the sovereign
stamp upon it, and tells it to go
forth as a legal tender to pay the
debts of the people without going to
national banks and paying a high
rate of interest upon them. And
then the government says, “I will
take that back in payment for all
taxes and ail public ‘debts.” Jeffer
son then goes on to show that they
issued these bills, bearing no interest,
and that they circulated freely to the
extent of $200,0u0,000. At that
time we had only eight millions of
inhabitants, a very small cotton crop
and a very small dairy crop. Now
we have 64,000,000 peoples, 8,000,-
000 bales of cotton, 640,000,000
bushels of wheat, 2,000,000,000
bushels of corn, 346,000,000 bushels
of oats and $747,000,000 vrorth of
dairy products. Now, if they could
float $200,000,000 then with 8,000,-
000 of inhabitants, why cannot we
float fifty dollars per capita now ?
Now, what does Thomas Jefferson
claim? He claimed that when the
government let the States ha ve these
State bank issues that the power of
power of issuing money was cor
ruptly alienated to swindlers and
shavers under the cover of State
banks. Sharpers to feed on the pro
duce of the country; masters to
bind the laborers in every field;
tribute levyers to come and take
part of your corn, cotton and wheat
by the mere power of contracting
and expanding the currency at will,
thus forcing up or down the prices
of the produce you raise or the labor
you may have to offer in the market.
He says that the government ought
to issue money in sufficient volume
to do the business of the country,
and that State banks should not be
allowed. That is Jeffersonian Dem
ocracy, but the Democratic party has
so far forgotten the teachings of old
Tom Jefferson that it wants to foist
off on the country a rascally piece
of thievery which would enslave tho
people. And if Jimmie Black should
meet Tom Jefferson in the road and
say, “Howdy, massa Tom,” cld Tom
would glance at him, as the Tenth
Congressional district is going. to
look at him m November, and say,
“Good-bye, Jimmie, I never knew
you.” (Great cheering and. ap
plause.)
Some gentleman over there asked
more than once about Weaver. Mr.
Biack, at Crawfordsville, denounced
him as a miserable old wretch, and
he called him John B. Weaver.
Why, he did not even know his
name! (Laughter.) He has for
gotten his own speeches, just like he
has forgotten his Democratic record.
At Berzelia he made a speech de
fending the Democratic record—
. A voice. Oh, that ain’t worth a
cent.
Mr. Watson. Young man, don’t
you see that you are making your
friends ashamed. Let us see whether
it is worth a cent.
A voice. Shoot it to him, Tom;
hit ’em again.
Mr. Watson. Here is one good
thing the Democrats did. Listen to
it. Mr. Black said, “Mr. Weaver
moved that the rules be suspended
so as to enable him to submit a reso
lution, and the House agreed to tile
resolution that all currency issued
for the uses and convenience of the
people should be issued and the vol
ume controlled by the government.”
That is the very thing he denounced
at Crawfordsville, and yet ho claimed
this as a Democratic measure enti
tling him to the honor and respect of
the voters. Not only that its vol
ume should be controlled by the
government, but that it should not
be controlled through the banks.
Mr. Black said that seventy-three
Democrats deserve the credit of
voting for it; that it was a noble act,
this attempt of the Democrats to
pass into a law the very plank in our
platform which ho now condemns.
Where is the man that can get away
from that ?
A voice. Nobody.
Another voice. Anybody.
Mr. Watson. It is like a tar-baby,
the mere you kick it the worse you
are stuck. (Laughter and applause.)
He not only forgets his own platforni,
but, my heavens! He forgets his
own speeches. (Renewed laughter
and applause.)
A voice. Oh, Tommy, Tommy,
give us a rest.
Mr. Watson. I know ' that you
look sad and tired—you need a rest;
you and your candidate both will
have a rest after November. (Great
laughter.)
Mr. Weaver was one who voted
with the Democrats for that measure,
and he condemned the Republicans
for voting against it. If he will
look back he will find that this mis
erable wretch, John. B. Weaver, as
far back as 1880 said that there
ought to be money issued directly to
the people, and that the people
should have that money without pay
ing bankers’ profits for it. And not
only that, he said they ought to
have free coinage of silver. That is
where VVeaver stood twelve years
ago, and that is where he stands
now, and just two months ago Mr.
Black instanced that as a good vote.
Yet the leaves do not begin to turn
before the autumnal blasts, or the
hills begin to whiten under wintry
snows before Mr. Black denounces
the very same vote he said was so
good a thing in 1880, and for which
ho saved the seventy-three Demo
crats who voted in the affirmative.
It is just like Anthony Wilson. As
long as Boykin Wright expected to
get Anthony to speak against Wat
son, why, he was a noble speciman
of the colored man, but, lo! when
Anthony Wilson came into e the dis
trict and like an honest man, as he
is, and spoke the truth then he sud
denly becomes an ignorant negro as
black as the ace of spades. (Great
applause.)
There is no plank in the platforni
which he denounces more bitterly
than this one of stamping of money.
He not only forgets that Jefferson
advocated that very thing; that it
was practiced during that time; but
he forgets another part of his speech
where he was holding up the beau
ties of what the Democrats tried to
[continued on sixth page.]
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