Newspaper Page Text
Represent the Old
Second District
IE 53d CONGRESS
Was the Decision of the
Convention.
‘IS TRUE DEMOCRACY,
SOUND ARGUMENT,
. in for Him the Support of
All Democrats.
OHTV GOOD HEADING FOR
THK VNTBRRIFIBD.
SELL m STEVENS INTERVIEWED,
CMrexlon In Reinllf With n He-
vlur •( Ilia Cnmpnlffn From
•lari to Flnlmli.
TUESDAY.
“Mlaag •( the Democratic IIom* * |
Iatervlew* With the Candidate*.
ndlng I
" 'Tl. ju.t before the battle."
And It promises to be a battle royal.
All the prelemlnary skirmishing lias
done, and the most remarkable
cat campaign ever witnessed in the
id Congressional district has been
tight to the eve of the Anal contest
the warring factions and con
forces—final, at least, so for as
Democratic nomination for Congress
m this district is concerned,
le.convention meets in this city at
ock to-morrow, and already the
are gathering. Great interest is
by the people as to the result of this
yeution, and the occasion will bring
Ither more of the politicians and
tative men of the fifteen coun-
now composing the Second Con-
-onal district than hnve ever met
district at any time before.
A Review ot the (Inuiimign.
The campaign now drawing to a close,
far as the Democratic nomination is
cerned, has been one without a pre-
L Influences have asserted thein-
and complications arisen that arc
HON. BRN K. RU8SHLL.
tirely new in the politics of the dis-
and a review of the campaign, from
beginning in the early part of the
r, np to the eve of the assembling of
convention which is intended to
firing the people of the party together
inder one banner and in support of one
tandard-bearer, will be interesting, and
Hrrald here undertakes to give it
ith' fairness and impartialitly.
Its Campaign Begin..
'» reapportionment of the Congres-
* districts of the State after the
of 1890, by which Georgia was
' an additional representative, put
phase on the J politics of this sec-
of the State, and especially of the
district According to the reap-
ent made in 1891 by the Geu-
ibly,Lowndes and Brooks coun-
which formerly belonged to the
district were transferred to the
rict Brooks county being the
of Hoh. H. G. Turner, the present
representative of The Second, He goes
under the new apportionment to the
Eleventh.
This left the Second districtas practic
ally new fighting ground for Congres
sional aspirants, ahd naturally enough
several at once sprang into the field thus
opened up, while others were spoken of
prominently as capable of filling the po
sition.
The First Candidates.
Among the Congressional possibilities
first spoken of were Judge J. H. Guerry,
of Dawson, Col. C. B. Wooten, of Albany,
and Hon. R. G. Mitchell, of Thotnas-
ville. The friends of each of these gen
tlemen brought them prominently be
fore the people as candidates for the
nomination by the Democratic party,
and before long it was understood that
the race for the nomination lay between
these three candidates.
Of course others were spoken of
prominently in connection with the
nomination, among whom were Judge
B. B. Bower, of Bainbridge, and Col. W.
M. Hammond, of Thomasville, but
neither of these gentlemen could be In
duced to announce himself os n candi
date. The race then lay between the
three first mentioned. And then came
The District Alliance
which was organized just at the opening
of the campaign, and before it had been
gotten well under way. This organiza
tion, which is peculiar to the Second
Congressional district, in that it is found
in no other, was organized in January
by o convention held nt Thomasville.
This convention was composed of dele
gates from the different county Alli
ances, instructed to meet- and organize a
District Alllnnce for the purpose of tak
ing a hand in the politics of the district,
and if possible, of running them their
own way.
This done, they began to look about
them for a candidate who would lean to
their way of thinking amt whom they
■night put in the field with tlielr en
dorsement ns a candidate for the Demo
cratic nomination for Congress, thinking
ns they did that they could control the
dlatrict politics.
No definite plans could be reached,
however, and as they were in a hurry to
bestow their endorsement upon whoever
they might choose to represent them, n
convention was called to meet nt Cuth-
hert on February 22.
On the day appointed they met Pre
vious to the meeting, however, there had
been some talk of Judge Guerry, of Daw
sou, as the man on whom they would
conter their endorsement and whom
they would recommend to the Demo
cratic party ns the man whom they de
sired to support in the Congressional
race. But “there’s many n slip ’twlxt the
cup and lip," ns the old saying goes,
and just here is where)
Mr. 41* B* Steven"
entered the campaign. Mr. Stevens,
who was a member of the Terrell county
Alliance, was sent as n delegate to the
stump speaker, and it was conducted
principally through the Alliance, circur
lars, letters and other methods.
On the 31st of March the District Ex
ecutive Committee met in Albany to
take their part in the campaign, and to
reduce it to one of system and order.
Among other things they recommended
that the primaries for the election of
delegates to theCongressional convention
be held in all the counties on the same
day, July 30th being the day set for such
action. In April they held another meet
ing and reiterated this action, putting it
in the shape of a strong recommendation,
but going no further.
This recommendation is what caused
the row. It was satisfactory to the
friends of Col. Wooten, but the friends
of Mr. Stevens held that the district
committee had no authority to take such
action, even though it was merely a
recommendation, and they advised the
county committees to go ahead and hold
primaries whenever they saw fit, and not
to await the pleasure of the district com
mittee Terrell having already acted
before the recommendation was made,
of course an exception was made in its
case by the district committee, but of the
other counties, Clay, Colquitt, Early,
Quitman, Randolph, Thomas and Worth,
acted before the 30th of July and chose
Stevens delegates. Colquitt, however,
did noc act until the 39th. Mr. Stevens
went into this county before the regular
day appointed, for the primary and in
duced the county committee to hold its
primary on the 29th, which it did, and
nearly every one, thinking that the 30th
was the regular day for the election,
failed to turn out and vote, so the coun
ty went to Stevens.
lion. Ben B* Russell Comes Ont*
In the latter part of June, Colonel
Wooten’s health began to fail him, and
when he was on the high road to suc
cess, he found that he wus unable to fill
appointment after appointment which
lie had made, and so was compelled to
withdraw from the race.
Hon. Ben E. Russell, of Bainbridge,
had been spoken of before in connection
with the nomination, ami oil the with
drawal of Col, Wooten he was induced
by his frietids to announce himself as a
candidate. From the time he entered
left the ground and benches so wet
that It would be exceedingly uncom
fortable and, perhaps, injurious to
health for the people to assemble there.
So Willingham’s hall was decided on.
This hall will furnish ample accom
modations for a large crowd, and the
peanut gallery will be put in to-day,
which will make it Btill more roomy.
The Clnas Assembling*
Crowds began assembling on the
street corners early this morning, as a
good many of the visitors came iu late
last night.
Everybody was discussing the proB-
pect, and making predictions as to
how things will go to-morrow. Vari
ous were the speculations and corn-
merits indulged in on all sides, but
Stevens men were scarce and are like
ly to continue so for the next two or
three days.
The rally, Ben Bussell and antl-
Stevens sentiments were discussed on
all sides. Everybody wanted to see
Guyte McLendon and Editor Winter
come up and tell what they didn’t
know about Second Congressional dis
trict politics.
The Rmbadu Arrive.
Abuut 10 o’clock President Jones, of
the Democratic Club, began to get Ills
crowd together to go down and meet
the only original mossy backs from
Decatur county, together with the
Thomasville delegation, which cnine up
this morning at 10:40.
The train came in on time mid was
welcomed with a good old Democratic
s|iont.
About 100 Democrats came up from
Decatur county, bringing lion. Ben E.
Bussell with them. They had a spec
ial car decorated with moss, and each
wore a bunch of moss on the lappcl of
Ills coat, symbolic of the name which
had been so lovingly given them by
the Third Party of that county. The
weather kept many of them back, and
another crowd from Bainbridge will
come up in time to attend the conven
tion to-morrow.
A large crowd also came up from
Tliomnsvllle, and among them came
Col. W. M. Hammond. They were
joined en route by Col. W. N. Spence
and other prominent Democrats from
the race he 1ms shown liimself a hard >t||at section of tile country. When the
fighter and a steady campaigner. Ill
company with Col. W. M. Hammond and
Col. W. N. Spence lie stumped tile entire
district before the day appointed for the
primaries to be held, and gained the
strong ground which lie occupies to-day.
The Prlwnrlea are Jleld.
According to the recommendation of
the District Executive Committee, all
the counties but Colquitt, Terrell and
Quitman held primaries oil tile 30th of
July. They were among the counties
which bad acted before that date, and
lind gone for Stevens. Clay, Early, Ran
dolph, Thomas and Worth acted a sec
oud time, and this time all but Early
chose Russell delegates. Early went for
Stevens, and tile consequence is that
contesting delegations will come from
the other four counties. This leaves tile
result of the primaries as follows:
HON. d. 11. 8TKVEN8.
Cuthhert convention, ami went ostensi
bly as a supporter of Judge Guerry, who,
it was thought, would receive the en
dorsement of the Alliance.
Mr. SteveiiB, however, had another
candidate ill view, a mail to whom lie
could give his support and endeavors,
more heartily than to Judge Guerry, and
that man was Mr. O. B. Stevens. Ac
cordingly before the convention ad
journed it had endoised Mr. O. B. Ste
vens, and recommended him to the
Democratic party as a candidate for the
nomination by them for Congress.
The convention adjourned and shortly
thereafter Terrell county held a primary,
elected delegates to the Congressional
convention which meets here to-morrow.
They were instructed straight out for
Stevens, Judge Guerry’s home county
having gone against him he was practi
cally out of the race, and a few days
later so announced himself.
It is said that all three oi the candi
dates then in the field received votes in
the Cuthbert convention, though there
has always been some doubt as to wheth
er any were cast for Col. Wooten or not
Hon. R. G. Mitchell,.who had, up to
this time, a fondness for the Alli
ance, and had based some hopes on its
action, saw them fade away after the ad
journment of their Cuthbert convention,
and following in the footsteps of Judge
Guerry he was soon out of the race.
This left the race for the nomination
by the Democratic party practically be
tween
41*1. C. B. WMKl
and Hon. O. B. Stevens. Col. Wooten
prosecuted his campaign for some time,
making speech after speech from the
stump in different parts of the district,
until he stood a fair chance to gain the
nomination.
Mr. Stevens' campaign methods were
more quiet, as be himself was not a
Counties.
Russell
Stevens.
Doubtful
2
2
2
Clay
2
Colquitt
2
4
•>
Dougherty
Early
Miller
"T
2
...„
2
2
2
4
Worth
2
Totals
10
10
8
Worth county has been put in the
Russell column, although it may send
contesting delegations. The truth of
the matter is, the regularly elected dele
gates were for Russell, and those who
were chosen and instructed for Stevens,
were irregularly appointed by the con
vention which met to elect delegates to
the Senatorial convention, and that body
had 110 power to take the action it did in
appointing delegates to the Congres
sional convention.
Thus it will be seen that the conven
tion to-morrow will organize with 16
Russell delegates, and 10 Stevens dele
gates. There are eight doubtful votes,
Worth having been taken out of the
doubtful column, and these come from
Clay, Randolph and Thomas.
The committee on credentials will
have this matter in charge, and before it
will come the discussion. No predic
tions can yet be made as to what the re
sult will be before that committee, as all
the evidence will have to be presented
and the different cases decided strictly
on their merits.
The friends of both cancidates are
confident of the success of their favorite,
but nobody will know until after to
morrow’s work.
Thus has culminated tile political
drama of which to-morrow will present
the last act but one.
Go to the big Democratic rally to
night.
It will be held in Willingham's bail.
This was decided this morning when
it was found that the inclemency of
the weather had made it impossible
for tbe crowdsjto assemble in the big
Chautauqua tent. Tbe rains last nigbt
train arrived It liad on bonril over 200
stanoh, dyed-dn-the-wool Democrats.
Flags were Hying from the Russell car
and Democrats were shouting on nil
sides. Many were the comments ns
they drove up through the city.
"Yonder go them mossy backs,” said
one as he gave a prolonged Demo
cratic shout,
‘‘Wonder where is Winter?” yelled
ano,tiler, ns the stanch old Stevensite
drove-up through the city In a drng,
Hnrly’N Democrat.
In spite of the fact that Early coun
ty went twice for Stevens, there is
many n loyal, true-blue Domocrnt
within that county yet.
They oame up to-dny full fifty strong,
slid there's more yet to follow. They
ordered Cox & Livingston’s drag to
meet them nt the train, and by special
order lind It decorated with bnnners
announcing their allegiance to tile
Democratic party and to Hon. Ben E,
Bussell.
“Three cheers for Early’s Demo
crats,” and they were given lienrtily ns
the crowd drove up through the city.
All of them wore Democratic badges,
and Russell’s inline appeared promi
nently nlong with that of Grover
Cleveland.
llon> Os 11s Micron* Here#
lion. O. B. Stevens enme-over from
Dawson tills nfternoon nt 3 o’clock, ac
companied by a retinue of fifty or sixty
Stevensites. They went to the Stev
ens headqunrters at the Albany Inn.
Things looked lively around the
headquarters of the two candidates
tills afternoon. Mr. Stevens is quar
tered at the Inn, while the City Coun
cil chamber and adjoining rooms have
been prepared for Mr. Bussell, and
with that as headquarters the remain
der of his campaign will be conducted.
Large crowds eame in on tlie trains
this afternoon from every direction,
nearly all of them wearing Bussell
badges and a broad. Democratic smile.
To-day and to-morrow will be the
liveliest and most interestingtbat have
been seen in this section for some time.
The Presrsnue far Te-Nlghl.
The hour of meeting for the Demo
cratic rally to-night will be 8 o’clock,
and the speaking will begin promptly
at that hour.
The following programme has been
arranged for tbe occasion:
Judge W. T. Jones, Chairman of the
Democratic Executive Committee of
Dougherty County will preside and
introduce the speakers.
The Speakers on the list are:
Col. W. M. Hammond, of Thomas
ville,
Judge M. L. Mention, of Brunswick,
Col. A. L. Hawes, of Bainbridge,
Editor J. MoK. F. McCook, of the
Brun9Wiok Times.
And they will be introduced in the
order above named,
Members of the District Democratic
Executive Committee are invited to
seats on tbe platform, and accommo
dations will also be provided on the
platform for representatives of the
press.
Both the candidates for the Demo
cratic nomination for Congress arrived
in the city to-day.
The Herald sought them out indi
vidually and herewith presents what
each has to say in regafd to the race in
this district.
Mr. Hnui-ll Talks.
Mr. Russell was found at his head
quarters this morning, and greeted the
reporter with a cheerful smile.
“ What have you to say in Regard to
your campaign?” was asked.
“.I don’t know what to say,” replied
Mr. Bussell, “except wlint you have
already said In the Hkkald. Your po
sition throughout the entire campaign
has been.mine.
“I will say, however,” continued Mr.
Bussell, “I am a Democrat and have
made the fight as a Democrat, on Dem
ocratic principles, and I am willing to
abide the action of this convention.
It is the duty of Democrats to support
whoever they nominate, and I will do
all I can to elect the nominee.
“I can say, from an intimate ac
quaintance with the Democrats of the
district, that they are as full of fire
nnd fight as they ever were. The In
telligence of the district is with them
and it always has been.
I entered the canvass with no Con
gressional usplrations nt nil; in fact, I
don’t know that I have any now. I
went In with the purpose of making a
protest against the methods by which
a certain gentleman was nominated at
Cuthbert. I found that the leaders of
the Democratic party seemed to be
quiescent nnd not Inclined to make
any protest at all, nnd I went In the
campaign for the purpose of mnklng
this protest. When invited from coun
ty to county I found tlint the majority
of the Democratic party was with me.
Never has there been a Inrger in
terest manifested in any campaign.
The rallies were always attended by
from 500 to 8,000 people, and the larg
est rallies were held in the agricul
tural districts. Berrien county was
most unanimous ill Its Democratic ex
pressions, and brought large crowds to
our meetings.
“ Cols. Hammond and Spence aided
me when the fight wns opened, when
the Democratic Lion, so to speak, be
came aroused. These gentlemen came
up to the mark and did service.
“After the ;flght was regularly on,
my name began to bo mentioned in
connection with the Congressional
nomination. Various gentlemen were
suggested 111 connection with the nom
ination, nnd I always said that if they
saw tit to take the leadership it was at
their disposal. I would only be too
glad to surrender the Hag to them, but
they didn’t see fit to do it, nnd ns I wns
in a position where I could not well
retire I fought the battle to a dose.
“I will stand by whatever the con
vention does. I have made the can
vass 011 thoroughly Democratic prin
ciples, principles involved in the Chi
cago platform, and linve avoided nil
side issues, such as are found iu the
Ocala platform and elsewhere. I
think the Democratic party, in its wis
dom, had sulfldent sense to put wlint
they wanted in their platform at Chi
cago, and that is my political religion.”
Mr. Mtcren* Interviewed.
Mr. Stevens came in from Dawson
with a crowd of Ills constituents at
2 :55 this afternoon.
A Herald reporter called oil him nt
his headqunrters and asked if he had
anything to say in regard to the situ
ation.
"I don’t know that I care to say any
thing more than we have already said,”
replied Mr. Stevens. “You know we
claim to have twenty votes duly elect
ed by the authorized primaries, and
this we have claimed since the prim
aries were held.
“I know nothing about what will be
done to-morrow, and can 8ay nothing
further now than I have said all along
during the campaign.”
WEDNESDAY.
*R IIobbn, Chnirmnn,” Call* the Con*
▼cation to Order#
war-cry
Hurrah for Bussell!
That was the Democratic
heard on all sides last night.
Just before the rally a crowd as
sembled in front of the Albany Inn,
and spent a few moments in guying
one another and shouting for the can
didates.
At 8 o’clock the crowd gathered in
Willingham’s Hall, which was crowded
to overflowing. Standing room was at
a premium, and many had to remain
outside for want of space.
The stage itself presented a lively
scene, filled, as it was, with stanch
Democratic leaders, among whom was
the loyal candidate of the Democratic
party, in addition to which were half
a dozen or more newspaper men, all
busily engaged in taking notes of the
proceedings.
■ A few moments after 8 o’clock tlie
meeting was called to order by Judge
W. T. Jones, who, in a short and tasty
speech, introduced the first speaker of
the evening, Col. W. M. Hammond.
Hundreds of anxious Democratic
faces bent eargerly forward to catch
every word that fell from the speak
er’s lips, and time and again his words
were stopped and the thread of bis
argument momentarily.broken by the
prolonged cheering and merited ap—
plause.
Col. Mnmmeud Speak".
In a few well chosen words Col.
Hammond thanked the audience for
the warm welcome which they hkd ex
tended him.
Col. Hammond told how he, although
not 11 politician, had traveled through
the district, laboring in the oause of
Democracy, because he thought the
people should he mnde aware of tbe
dangers which threatened the party
from many sources.
The first, nnd one of the strongest
of these dangers, lay in the weakening
of the party through the organized In
fluence of concentrated capital.
He then spoke of the danger to the
party iii the desertion of it by many
who were not its enemies but its
friends, who sought to form a new
party because they thought the plat
form of the Democratic party needed
to be further amended—men who were
seeking to prostitute the use of party
to private and mercenary, ends. Here
lay the greatest danger In breaking
of party Unity and the destruction of
party harmony.
The speaker then closed ills addres
by a few words of eloquent praise of
the manner in which the campaign
hail been conducted in tlie Second dis
trict, the overwhelming defeat of Re
publicanism and Third Fartyism, and
appealed to all to stand by the old
party to the last.
The speaker closed amidst a perfeot
storm of applause. The audience went
almost wild. Men stood upon benohes
and waved their hats in the air, shout
ing until the sound of a cannon, had
it been fired in their midst, could not
have been heard. Col. Hammond was
tendered quite an ovation.
Jmlge Itlerahou’i Talk.
Judge M. L. Mershon, of Brunswiok,
was next introduced to the crowd and
make a characteristic speech.
He said he came here to-night to see
the death of Third Pnrtyism in the
Second Congressional distriot. Ill ilia,
district it lind died in the cradle. He said
that tlie Ocala platform began with a lie.
It claimed to be in favor of equal
rights to all and special privileges to
none. Then they wanted to lend funds
from the national treasury to the farm
ers at two per cent. But the lawyer
nnd the doctor and the merchant could
not borrow money on any of tlielr se
curities.
He spoke of the evils resultant uporr
the formation of the Third Party
which sprang out of the Alliance, and
the evils of.Ocnlalsm, and said that lie
would like to see them all fill the same
grave.
Judge Mershon paid a glowing
tribute to Mr. Bussell, whom lie char
acterized ns a true and loyal represen
tative Democrat, and wound tip by a
touching anecdote, bidding a sad fare
well to brother Stevens.
He was greeted, like Col. Hammond,
with several rounds of applause, and
the crowd attempted to cull him back
to the stand.
A Word From Col. IIm.Fi.
Col. A. L. Hawes was next intro
duced to the audience.
He made a loyal Democratic speech.
It was tlie proudest moment of his life
when he could stand and speak before
the unterrifled Democracy of the Sec
ond. He spoke of the only true Demo
crats as those who had remained with
the party, mid helped to maintain,
party unity. He denounced the one-
Tliird Party, as it liad been denomi
nated by Col. Hammond, and told, in
eloquent terms, how it wns striking at
the liberty of the individual, and seek
ing to place a burden on the many.
He spoke of the old mossbacks as men
who had been true to principles, true
to self and true to party. No power
on earth could ever over-ride Southern
Democracy, or crush out Southern
manhood.
The battle has been fought and the
victory won. He appealed for conser
vatism and an honest vote for the loyal
nominee of an honest party.
The Fleeter From tke Eleventh.
Hon. MoK. F. McCook, editor of the
Brunswick Times and Presidential
Elector from the Eleventh district,
was next brought before the audience
by Judge Jones.
He spoke on the same line, denounc
ing the Third Party and its adherents.
He said the people of the Eleventh
took a great deal of interest in this-
campaign because they had one so
much like it in their own district. He
spoke of Hon. H. G. Turner as stolen
property, but said they had treated- 1
that stolen property with the respect
and honor which It merited, as Mr.
Turner had received the unanimous
vote of the Congressional convention
in his new district.
Ruuell ! Russell! Bussell!
The crowd then began calling for
Russell with all their might, and would
not be satisfied until the veteran cam
paigner had advanced upon the staged
before them. For a few moments it
was impossible for him to begin, so
great was the applause and cheering.
Mr. Russell made one of the character
istic speeches for which he is every
where famous. He 6aid:
“I am proud to stand in your pres
ence to-night. I am proud that this
assembly of unterrifled Democrats has.
Centfuned eu Pn„e seven.
