Newspaper Page Text
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HOKE SMITH WOULD HAVE EXCLUDED
WATSON VOTERS FROM BALLOT BOX,
IN APPROACHING PRIMARY ELECTION
Clark Howell Makes
Assertion in Friday’s
Joint Debate.
says committee was
OF SMITH'S CREATION
Charge* Profits From Piedmont
Bar Were Applied to Mortgage
on Hotel and Not to Charity.
In hie speech In the Joint debate with
Hoke Smith at the Peachtree auditor
ium Friday night, Mr. Ho well said:
Mr. Chairman, Fellow-Citizens and
friends: Having recognised the fact
that In politics, as In all other things,
man must differ, I am glad to address
vnu tonight, whether you be for me or
"whether you bo against me, as friends
anil fellow-cltlsens of Atlanta.
•Just a few words,, fellow-citizens—
just a few words by way of preliminary
In making a statement as to why I
asked for a Joint discussion hero to
night. ‘
••My adversary. In speaking on every
stump In this state for the past year,
has seen lit to attack me, to attack
my record In the general assembly. His
supporters here in the city of Atlanta,
his newspaper organ, has seen fit to
attack me from time to time, to maltc-
inuslv misrepresent me. On every
stump In the state of Georgia, dur
ing the past year, my adversary has
f? en fit to misrepresent me before the
peuple 'of the state of Georgia by at
tacking my record as made In the gen
eral assembly of this state, for which
time I have served the people of my
home county: and my record as a
member of the general assembly Is an
open book for your Inspection.
Reason for Challenge.
• Gentlemen, the reason that I chal
lenged my adversary to meet me here
tonight at hla own meeting Is that In
hla campaign In this state, covering a
period of a year, he has attacked my
legislative record, he nas attacked the
honesty of my purpose, and I wanted
to meet him, before the people who
know him and the people who know
me. In order that, having made the at
tack* before this audience, that he has
made In the different parts of the state,
I might have an opportunity to answer
him before my fellow-cltlsens.
"He has spoken, fellow-cltlsens, he
has spoken here to you for one hour,
and I call your attention to the fact
that here tonight, that during that en
tire hour, he has not put his Angers
upon one single vote that I ever cast In
the general assembly df this state
showing that I have at any time ever
sacrificed the Interest of the people
who sent me there, In behalf of any
corporation.
"Ah, fellow-cltsens, what an easy
thing It Is for. a man to attack an
other man's character without any
specific statement- He makes a note
now, and I assume* therefore, that. It
is his purpose In his last halt hour,
when he knows that I will have no
opportunity to reply, 1 to attack me,
when In hla first address before this
audience he did not have the courage
to do so. •
Wanted Charges. Repeated.
"He has not repeated to this au
dience, my fellow-cltsens, to those who
know him, and to those who know
me. the charges that he has made on
every other stump In the state of Geor
gia. I had hoped, fellow-cltlsens, that
he would do that tonight In hts first
speech, so that I might have an op
portunity to reply to him here. I know
these iieople, and these people 'know
me, and these people know him.
"Early In this campaign, fellow-cit
izen*. long before the primary election
In this county was held, J made the
proposition on every stump In Georgia
n which I spoke that. In order to
avoid nn unseemtng local conflict here
it home between two home candidates,
that I would cheerfully leave to my
liome people an arbitrament as to
which of the two should represent
them.
“I made the statement, fellow-cltl-
ten», that If In such a contest If I
could secure his consent, I would wlth-
Irnw from the race In his favor, If I
lid not carry, first, Fulton county; If
I did not carry, second, the city of
Manta. More than that, I made the
proposition that I would withdraw
from this race In hla favor If I did
aut carry the own home ward In which
le lives.
Would Leave It To Bar.
"Who should know him best—who
ihould know him. If It Is not the mem-
»r* of his own. profession, the mem
bers with whom he has served here
luring the post thirty years? .Who
ihould know him best, If It should not
>« the people of his own county and
il» own ward?
"And yet, notwithstanding my prop-
raltton, repeatedly ' made to him
hruughout the state of Georgia, what
'as his answer to It when he first
'name cognisant of It, In his speech at
ktndersvlllo, Qa.t
"‘Mr. Howell wants to leave the *et-
lement of this contest to the city of
Mania: I repudiate the. suggestion.’
It said: *1 repudiate the suggestion
lecause It Is an Insult to the balance of
he state.*
"He repudiated the suggestion to
rave it to you, his fellow cltlsens, men
f ho he knows know him, and who
®ow me. He repudiated the sugges-
lon that the settlement of tbi* quea-
ton should be left to you, as an Insult
o the people of this state. He did not
KENTUCKIANS GOING
HOME.
A large party of Kentuckians will
tave Atlanta tomorrow afternoon at
:S0 p. m. over the Southern railway
i through sleeper for Louisville to at-
rnd -The Homo-Comlns Week for
•entucktans.** This party leaving
unday afternoon will occupy through
leepera Atlanta to Louisville arrang-
1 lor all who desire making the trip;
t'jvln* Lotdsvtlle Monday morning
•••>■ Rate from Atlanta to Lonlsvllle
n<l return $13.66: sleeping car rate
tr double berth $2.60. Call at South-
fh railway ticket offlee No, 1, Peach-
■** street, or Terminal station for
ckets and sleeping car reservation*,
tmthern Railway will also run
Hough sleepers Atlanta to Louisville
“ afternoon Tuesday, June 12th.
''-rplag car diagrams are now open
“a reservations being made.
.accept the proposition, fellow cltlsens,
because he knew that If he had accept-
uctAunc no mien imu u lie iittu
ed It, then and there, would a quietus
have been put to his campaign; by his
own people here In Fulton county, and
yet, fellow citizens—and yet, this In
the man, afraid of hla own people,
afraid to leave to them the settlement
of the question of his candidacy, he hae
himself gone sowing broadcast over
this state, statements about me and my
record, which he Is afraid to repeat
here to the people of my home county.
And this Is the man. fellow cltlsens.
who has charged me with sine and with
Iniquities of which he knows that he
alone la guilty, and which he trice to
put on other shoulders In order that
they may be diverted from him.
Paid to Fight for Rate Reduction.
"He talks about the freight rate fight
here In the city of Atlanta, and I would
thank you to recollect what. I have tn
say on this subject. He presents him
self to you tonight as the great father
of the freight rate fight here In Atlan
ta. And the fact remains that before
he ever opened his mouth one single
time on the subject of freight reduc
tions I had had fifty editorials on the
question of freight; reductions, and he
never chirped In behalf of reduced
freight rates to the city of Atlanta,
through the Atlanta freight bureau,
until I went In my pocket to the ax-
tent of $100 and hired, him to appear
for this movement. : i
"It la an easy, thing, fellow, citizens.
It Is an easy thing for a man to come
and try to soil another man’s conduct,
and I charge tonight, before this audi
ence, that never In one single syllable,
directly or Indirectly, did he utter one
word In behalf of freight rate reduction
until, as an attorney, he was paid to do
so by the Atlanta freight bureau, and I
went In my own pocket to the extent of
$100 to do It. Somebody called his at
tention to this fact some time ago,
and asked him what about It. and what
do you suppose was his answer? He
eald: 'Why, the Atlanta freight bu
reau returned Mr. Howell's money,'
and yet .he did not do me the common
Justice to say to his friends tonight In
your presence that that .money was not
returned to me until every other mem
ber of the Atlanta freight bureau was
r id back by the guarantee fund that
engaged to pay him, aa their attor
ney, and I was the last man that gat
my money back.
Never Charged His People,
•'I never received a dollar of railroad
money In my life. More than that, fel
low citizens, I never In my life, so help
me God, I never, charged, the people of
my home city one single dollar for de
fending them. He has gone over thla
state, fellow citizens, making the
charge Indirectly, and by the means
of all methods of attack,. the. unholy
method, of the highwayman, the
attack . by Innuendo, going all
over this state, iriaklng It ape
pear to the people of this state there
was some kind of pipe line connection
between me and the railroads of this
state.
••He has not made that charge to
night, because he dared not do so, and
I state, fellow citizens—I state, ■ fellow
citizens—If that charge has been made
on every stump In' the etate of Georgia,
as reported In the columns of the At
lanta newspaper which represents him.
If he chargee directly or Indirectly that
any railroad on the face of this earth
hai one particle • Interest in me, or In
my candidacy, or that I am lined up
and obligated, directly or Indirectly, to
any railroad on the faoe of. this earth,
he tells a deliberate falsehood,
Not e Railroad Stockholder.
"I never received e.dollar, I never
received a fee, I never pub. myaelf in a
complication directly or Indirectly; 1
never was a stockholder In any rail
road on the face of the earth, even to
one penny’s extent, and no railroad on
the See of this ea$th ever owned one
penny’s Interest In any propertyIn
which I am now, or ever have been,
C0 "My :t flrst obligation, fellow citizens,
from the day that I attained the age of
man, my first obligation Is, and always
has been, to this great state, whlch l
love better than any ™ the fare
of the earth, and for which I would
d *"And yet, let us look Into the record
now of this man—of this man who seeks
to tie me up with the railroads by •
tern of falsehood, that he hM scattered
broadcast over ever,’ P* n ° r t* 11 *
and of which he falls to sustain a sin-
rid* rhtirct 'tonight. Whom now, W*
Jos' cltlsens, I charge with having not
onTy tiTn tlJd up with the railroad,
of this state for the greater part
the past eighteen years, but I charge
him with having frequently-accepted
fees -from the railroads of this•»*»**.
with having put himself under obliga
tion to the extent of loans from the
railroad owners of thle state, and more
than that, fellow cltlsens, I charge him
with having been the beneficiary ofthe
very thing that he stacks on this floor
tonight.
That $40,000 Lean From Morgan.
"Fellow citizens. In hi* address here
tonight be has attacked the watered
stocks of the railroads of this state.
Let me call your attention to the fact
that the only people on the face of
the earth who could have been tl e
beneficiary from the watered stocks of
the railroads of the etate were the
stockholders themselves. I never had
one penny’s stock In any railroad, and
I defy him In his remarks In conclue-
Ion tonight—I defy him to deny that
he became a’ largo stockholder In the
speculative market of the Southern
railway, that he negotiated hie $40,000
loan from Mr. J. Plerpont Morgan. Ah,
fellow citizens, I do not blame him for
having gone to Wall street to borrow
$40,000 from t)\p‘o«ner of the Southern
and the Central Railroads, at the very
time that the columns of the newspa
per he then owned were being leveled
against these railroads operated In the
etate, but I do charge that fron the
day that they loaned thle amount—and
I defy him to produce tonight one sin
gle line during the entire pendency of
that loan, covering a period of nearly
two years—I defy him to produce a sin
gle line In the columns of his news
paper where any time during tha whole
two years he ever attacked Mr. Mor
gan or Mr. Spencer. In the state of
G’eorgla.
Atlanta Journal 8tock-
"He telle you that he put up th«
stock of his paper, The Atlanta Journal,
as collateral at that time, be owning
three-fourts In said newspaper then,
and yet go back to the tax records of
Fulton county and you will find that
the collateral that was put upas seeur-
ltyforthe $40,000 loan, which Mr. Tom
Layless, of The Chronicle of Augusta,
declares at the time he put hla eon-
vlctlona In soak In Wall street, that
the stock of the paper that he put up
as collateral was sworn here In Fulton
county as being only worth $20,000, and
three-quarter* Interest for the entire
loan.
"Somebody a moment ago made the
statement, 'What about free posses?’
In all probability, fellow citizens, the
man was addressing Mr. Smith, and
not me, because he knows more about
free passes and private cars than I do.
(Voice from the audience, ’Tell u*
where you stand.')
Favors Anti-Pats Bill.
"I will tell you where I stand;
somebody asks mg where I stand. Give
me a minute, and listen to me while I
reply. 1 am In favor of the passage of
the bill known as the ontl-free pass
bill now pending before the legislature
of the state and which will paae,dur
ing the summer seealon, but 1 do say,
fellow citizens, I no say, that If I had
ridden all over this country on free
passes; If I had had private care at
my command whenever I wanted them;
if I could get a private car at any time
l wanted It, merely by touching a bell
and having It hitched on to some train
to carry me from Washington city to
Yellowstone Park; I would be the last
man In the etate of Georgia to turn to
another man and say, 'Slr. you-are a
dishonest man, a rascal for doing tha
same thing 1 have been doing ail my
life.’ I dare him now, fellow cltlsens;
I dare him now—listen to this and list
en to his answer—I dare hlfn now In
his concluding remarks to deny that
he has used’ free passes over the rail
roads, and 1 dare him to deny that
when In Washington In tha Interior de
partment, when It was hie duty to
pass In Judgment upon the title to mil
lions of acres of government lands In
the west; I dare htm to deny that when
he went out there, he went there In a
well-equipped private cqr over the rail
road system along whose very line he
was called upon to act; and, fellow
citizens, if he does deny It; If he does
deny It. I will, If he asks me to do so,
produce the proofs, and If I cannot pro
duce the proofs I will get out of the
race for governor. -
“The Hope of the State." '
"Fellow cltlsens, some man In the au
dience—I like to get questions from
the audience—softie men In the audi
ence says, 'What about the hope of the
state?’ I assume you refer to the ne
gro question. Now, Just listen a mo
ment, and I will tell yon where I stand
on the negro situation. You .know
where Mr. Hmllh stand* now; you
know where he stod five year* ago, but
I defy any man In the state of Georgia
to tell where he will stand on this or
any Other proposition five years from
n °‘j stand on this proposition Juat
where I stood five year* ago, at the
very time Mr. Smith and I stood hand
In hand together before ths general as
sembly of your state, urging them to
detest the very measure that h* stands
before you tonight, with unblushing ef
frontery. end tell you thst It ought to
hepsesed. Why, why- (voles from
the audience, ’Hut he has chaogod his
mind.’) Oh. yra. he has chshged hl.
mind , he has changed his mind, but ha
never did It until he became a candi
date for governor.
"Again, fellow cttlsens, I am opposed
to this disfranchisement legislation for
the very reason that Mr. Smith and T
opposed It five Tears ago, becaiw* I
know that the disfranchisement legla-
, gta. and that It will put the ballot In
’ the hands of untold thousands of edu
cated negroes In this state.
Smith's Negro Appolrtments.
"How does he propose, how does my
adversary propose to disfranchise the
! negro? t call attention to tha o(Tidal
record of the Interior department under
his administration. In which It la
shown that mare negroes were ap
pointed to office from the city of Atlan
ta thnn any other Democratic ad
ministration had ever made since the
civil war. tVoice from the audience,
’He wanted them tn wait on him.')
"Fellow citizens, he proposed to dis
franchise the negro In the state of
Georgia by giving him ofltce. Bom*
friend 111 the audience suggests that
while he was In Washington he wanted
negroes to watt upon him there, and I
call your attention to the official re
cords of that department In whlrh
Henry P. Turner, of Atlanta, the eon
of Bishop Henry M. Turner, was pro
moted by him to an offlee which paid
him In salary and expenses $2,000 a
year, hie duty being to examine white
pension applicants Says thp full record
of these appointments, these salaries
ranged from $?S0 to $2,000. a year, and
he does not deny It; he admits that he
made these appointments, and what
do you suppose his excuse was? He
says he made these appointments be
cause It was necessary to make them
In order to get the negro vote In some
of the states out West. And yet In the
etate of Georgia. fellow citizen*, why
should he appoint negroes to get doubt
ful states In the West?
^ "End Justifies the Means."
"Gentlemen, you have heard the story
of a' campaign, shibboleth, which Is
playing a considerable part In the cam
paign, nnd that* la the shibboleth that
the end Justl.'ei tha means, and It
lonks like tonight as If Mr. ■Smith's
friends believe It. for they do not want
to hear the truth.
"It I* anything to get votse—any
thing to get votes; go over this slate
traducing and deliberately lying about
me from ono end of the etate to the
other, and yet when he stands before a
home au,lleru-e he dares not tell you
the truth. *o you can hear him. I
thank God that I do not believe In that
unholy motto, that the end Justifies the
meant, and It seems to me most
strange that a candidate who began
his campaign nine months ago, on the
statement that he was divinely called,
should, In so short a time, have to
change hie motto for that unholy dec
laration that any end Justifies any
means, and that he has gotten It over
Ms audience and hit hearers here to
night.
••Nor/, fallow citizens, I believe that
nine-tenths of the people here tonight
want to hear arguments on this cam
paign discussed; we are here tonight
for the purpose of entering Into a legit
imate discussion of theta Iss'ies and of
telling the truth concerning these Is
sues. I charge that my adversary In
not a single charge that he tiaa made
against me from the beginning to the
end, has don* me the falrnees to tell
the truth nbout It, and I will add that
hit campaign from beginning to end Is
based upon deceit and misrepresenta
tion. This cnmpalgn of decslt tnd mis
representation began more than a year
ago, and n glaring example of It was
In the answer inailo to my friend Rufe
Hutchins, down hero In Tallapoosa, Oa.,
when ha Interrupted Mr. Smith with
the question, apropos of what he was
saying at the time, ‘Mr. Hmllh, don't
you own nn Interest In the Piedmont
hotel bar In Atlantn?’ (Noise and In
terruptions from the audience.)
"Ladies and gentlemen. It was un
derstood here tonight that r was Invited
nit the guest of Mr. Smith and hi*
friends. When the statement was made
that they would bo entirely responsible
for order being kept nt the meeting I
did not.thlnk for a moment It would bo
qecessary for me to ask that my friends
should, be given at leait' half of the
representation of thosa who were to
keep order; I had full confidence that
when an Invitation cam* to me to ad
dress this meeting that I would be
treated with .at least tha same consid
eration that my friend* extended to the
gentleman who gave the Invitation to
me.
Asks to be Heard Out
"Getlemen, thle Is a long atory, and
I am going to tell It; understand that
every moment's Interruption Is taken
out of my time, but I am here for the
f urpos* of making this statement, and
am going to do It, and I trust you
will do me the kindness to llsteq to me.
"When Mr. Smith was asked In the
town of Tallapoosa by Mr. Rufe Hutch
ins If he did not own a third-interest In
the Piedmont bar In Atlanta, he vary
promptly replied yes, he owned a third
Intarest In the Piedmont bar, but, h*
says, I do not touch ona dollar’s In
terest of that unholy and that dirty
money. 1 have nothing to do with It;
my partner haa gotten me Into this
Iniquitous business without my knowl
edge or consent.
Smith’s Bar Account.
"Now, fellow citizens, 1 have got some
very Interesting record* tonight .to
show now. This Is a small thing, per
haps Mr. Smith may think, but let's
see the truth of the Piedmont bar bull
nese.-and If he misrepresents that-la
sue why isn't It likely that he has
misrepresented ev»ry other campaign
statement that he has made. He stated
that he had only a third Interest In
tfia Piedmont bar, but he had nothing
whatever to do with It; that he would
give that money to charily; now let's
see what became of this one-third In
terest In these profits; now here are
the facte and here are the figures, and
I charge that not ona single dollar of
hts one-third Interest In the Piedmont
hotel bar has gone to any other pur
pose on the face of the earth except
10 pay hla mortgage Indebtedness on
the loan which he negotiated for the
building of the Piedmont hotel. Mora
than that, I' produce her*.tonight an
exact transcript from the ledger of the
Piedmont hotel, (A voice; 'It mpkes
no difference where It went.') (Mr.
Howell: That’* right. It makes no
difference where It went, but It didn't
go to charity.) But here Is.a tran
script from the ledger of the Piedmont
hotel. I would not have a tingle man
In this audience think I am a saint,
because I am not; yat you know it.
and I know It, and the only difference
between Mr. Smith and myaelf la that
he thinks he I* a saint, and you don’t
think *o.
Transcript From Hotel Ledger.
•Now, fellow citizens, her* Is the rec
ord of the Piedmont hotel bar, taken
from the ledger of the Piedmont hotel;
he would not have the dirty money, but
he would give his third to charity.
Her* I* an Itemized account from the
Piedmont hotel books showing that
from the second day of February, 1 Ml
to the following November, Mr, Hmlth
patronised the Piedmont hotel bar on
hi* own person* I acconut, charged to
him here, lo the extent of about $100,
and on every dollaF* wrorth of Inter
est In the liquor that he bought from
the Piedmont hotel he got one-third
owner's discount. Just wait a minute.
went to give you all the facts; I am
not dealing In glittering generalities. 1
[,led re you I make no statement about
Mr. Smith tonight or any man in tha
state of Georgia that le not born* out
by hts own record* or by th* sworn
testimony or the official records which
Read
"Listen to this: .Mr. Hoke Smith,
the ledger account of the piedmont
hotel, a transcript of bills made lo Mr.
Hoke Smith—this candidate with the
divine call.
"'February 20. two bottles Somerset
liquor, $4.50.' Now, listen to this—1
know the friends of Mr. Smith don't
want to hear It, but they have got to
If they have to stay her* all night:
•April 17. Mr. Ho|)e Smith, one quart
sherry, $2.50.' One quart sherry. $2.50:
why. what terribly expensive sherry
Mr. Smith muBt have been drinking!
•"April IT, one bar account, $7.60:
!0th of May, $».’ Listen to this; fellow
citizens. 'December 14 (nearly. Christ
mas ' time), BomersOt whisky. $$, and
water, 40 cent*.'
"Now, wait a minute, and let a have
thle etory out; now hear It all: I want
you lo hear It all; about Christmas
time, •$» ■ worth of’liquor and 40 cents'
worth of water. He didn't take but
mighty little water .with .the liquor.
Now, Helen. April'21 (and tbl* In rad
Ink, now).' on# bottle of specially fine
liquor, $$.’ • • •' ’ . ,
"Now, listen to this: : Here I* where
the rebate question cpmee In—I wonder
If this went :to charity?
"December 15, again—all, happened
about Christmas time—here Is the re
bate question, here In red'Ink, figures
approximating about $25, < one-third
owner’s rebates-r-not for charity, hut
for th* ownsr. / ■
(A voice: "What about the freight
rateT’ Mr. Ilowell: "I will t*H you
about the freight rat*.”)
"So, you see. fellow-citizens, that he
wa» the object of charity to which he
made referenoe In Tallapoosa.
Ths Freight Rat* Question.
"Now I will tell you about the freight
rate question/ I am- going to.give you
a very plain statement about the’
freight rate question/ That Is what l»
wanted, but will you do me th* kind
ness to see that’I have the opportunity
to make a statement on It?" 1 hold,
fellow-citizens, that as far as my Ilf*
na a citizen of tho town' is concerned,
that as far a* my record In the city of.
Atlanta Is concerned, raised aa 1 was
to love this city and serve Its Inter
ests—I Wish to say that my life, sa
lived In thle city, should ba sufficient
pledge to you to know that no Interest
ever begun and no movement ever
started In thla city for the welfare of
this city could have other than my
undying devotion and my every effort,
nnd as far as thla freight rate ques
tion I* concerned, t will let Mr. Smith
and no other man on the 1 face of the
earth make any Issue with me on the
freight rate question. . •
”1 will allow no man to go further
than I will go In the statement that no
movement ever Instituted by this town
to reduce freight rates, If your freight
rates arq too high, and they are. If you
have been discriminated against, and
you have, In some Instances, I will
state that no man In th* city of At
lanta has gone further, or will go
further, than I wilt go to protect you
against any unjust discrimination.
Favored Freight Rate Fight.
"When the business men of title city,
through the Atlanta freight bureau,
undertook this movement In behalf of
lower freight ratee, It* committee came
to me for a subscription to help carry
on this work, and I cheerfully re
sponded. I make the statement now;
I repeat now what 1 skid before, that
I had numerous editorials on this sub
ject. Fellow-cltlsens, as to the freight
rate question, I eay there Is not a man
In thla audience who knows me. there
Is not a member of the Atlanta freight
bureau today who knows me, but who
know* that my heart I* In the york. It
has always been there.
”1 havo co-operated with them from
the beginning to lho end of It, and I
repeat now the etatemont that I made
In the beginning of those remark*, that
I was engaged In thle fight long before
Mr. Smith ever opened hi* mouth on
the subject, and that he did not appear
on the scene of action until J paid
him to do It. He can not engage me
In a discussion before this audience
by making It appear to you that 1 Am
here to defend high freight rates, while
lie Is hire to maintain low freight
rates; nothing could be further from
the truth.
Howell Heavy Freight Psysr,
"I am Just aa much In favor of low
freight rate* for the city of Atlanta
as he Is—a thousand times mdre than
he. For where, fellow-cltzens, he pays
on* dollar freight to bring hie good*
Into the city of Atlanta, I pay one
thousand dollars. There Is not a man
on this attge, there Is not a man In
thle town, that love* thle beloved city
of mine greater than I do. There Is
not a man In thla audience tonight
who would do more for the city of At
lanta, or who has tried to do more,
than I have done, and there le not a
man here but who knows thst there
has not lieen a time when the call for
good cltzens to com* out In defense
of the business Interests of the city
came that 1 have not always cheerfully
and gladly responded by effort and
by subscription.
"How do 1 stand on freight rates,
you say? There Is my record In my
newspapsr, where 1 have fought for
redured freight rale# ever since I
have been old enough to write a line.
I challenge him tonight to tnke one
single line that ever appeared In the
editorial column# of The Constitution
and show wherein 1 was not Just as
earnest In behalf of freight rate re
duction as he has been, and without
charging the. city of Atlanta one tin
gle dollar for my services.
That Reprinted Editorial.
"He hsa paraded before this audience
tonight something that he **y* appear-
ed In the columns of Th* Constitution
as reproduced front the columns of
The Macon Telegraph. Why, fellow-
citizens, do you suppose, does he sup
pose, that I am responsible for every
reproduction that appears In , the col
umns of tny newspaper from some
other paper? No more, fellow-cltlsens.
than tlie editor of hie newspaper or
gan I* responsible for whatever may
appear In th# column* of that news
paper aa coming from another news
paper. and In reference to the special
Item to which he refers, I never even
saw It In Th* Constitution until he
read It on this platform tonight.
••go w* will moke no Issue about ths
railroad question, or about the matter
of railroad rates, because I tell you
that I am Just as earnestly In favor
of II, and I will do Just a* much as
he has done, «r Juet a# much as he
can do, to bring them about.
Credit for Reduction of Rstaz.
"He tells you In his remark* tonight
thst the railroad commission In re
sponse to some statement* of mine In
which I made th* statement that the
railroad commleelon during the poet
year had reduced rates, he tell* you
It was not so. thst the railroad com-
mlealen had not reduced rates; and
then In the very nezt breath he admits,
In the same eentenc* almost, that
freight rate* have been materially re
duced In the city of Atlanta during ths
Dost year, Just as I claimed they had
been reduced. He »ay* then that th*
railroad commission had reduced
freight eretes—but he eay* thst th#
railroad commission deserves po credit
whatever for having don* so, because
they did ao at the request of th* At-
|ant freight bureau, and that he com
pliments the Atlanta freight bureau
For li* work. In which ht Is eminently
CO "Therefore, he admits, fellow cltt-
sena, that freight rate* have been re
duced and through the Instrumentality
of the Atlanta freight bureau, which
la true. It la a noble organisation.
Nothing In this world can be done
without organisation. There never wax
a better organization In the city of At
lanta, and I never contributed to a
work more cheerfully In my life, and I
am here tonight to add testimony to
the fact that the admirable army of
figures whlrh they presented to- the
railroad commleelon did contribute
largely to the action of the commission
In reducing'railroad ratee. and they
did good work for It, and the attorneys
who were engaged In that service,
and for which we paid out of our own
pockets did good work also, but I re
spectfully submit that they did not do
the whole business.
Defense of State Official*.
"Now, fellow cltlirnK this campaign,
begun .nearly a year ago, hoe been
based upon the principle that there
were only a few honest men In Geor
gia, and that the officials of thla state,
as a general thing, your courts, your
legislature, and your county official*
now and for the poet twenty-five yean
have, been more or less corrupt. Now
I am sufficiently optimistic, fellow clt
Isens, to look upon the bright side of
things, and to believe that this old
world of ours Is not so bad aa some
people would picture It,
”1 believe In the honesty of man
kind. I would rather believe that any
man.on this earth Is an honest man,
unless It can be proved by absolute
specification that he Is a dishonest man.
I call your attention now to the fact
that In thla entire campaign of tra
duction, covering a period of a year,
that In not one single Instance could
this man put his finger upon on* single
dollar of the state’s money gone wrong
nor a single piece of maladministration
during all this lime, and we are enjoy
ing today a greater degree of prosper
ity than thla great old state hat ever
known, and I submit that these honest
public servants of Georgia during th*
past twenty-five years deserve at least
their mite of praise In bringing thle
about, rather than that they should be
hamstrung without having had sub
milled to them one single speclficatloi
of wrong doing that they might an
swer. Not only has the good name
of your state been traduced, been held
up before the world as an object of
contempt and ridicule; not only that,
but your Democratic executive com
mittee today has been held up before
the contempt of the people of thle state
for Its action a few weeks ago. If you
will do me the kindness to hoar me out
we will seo who Is responsible for IL
Th* Yeomans Committee.
"Your committee, the organized com
mittee of your party, In simply de
claring that thle should be a Democrat
Ic primary. In which only Democrat*
should vote, without regard to past
political nfltllatlon* whatever, every
while man In the state of Oeorgl* wo*
Invited to come In, whether Populist
or Democrat or whatnot In the past—
tha gates were thrown wide open to
Democrats nnd all Invited to partici
pate with the simple statement that
they are Democrats. Now, having
taken that ncllon, Mr. Smith’# paper
has denounced that committee a* hav
ing exceeded Its authority. Mr. Smith
himself tonight has attacked hie party
organization, It having been -this action
which he says has shut out a great
many Populists In (he state of Georgia.
“Listen to what I am going -to tell
you, and I want every man In this au
dience to hear It, and I want him to
hear It. Thla executive committee Wo*
elected two years ago. Its says that
Mr. Yeomans, who Is Its chairman, #p-
polnted some corporation representa
tives on the commute*, leaving th* In
ference that the whole committee was
appointed by the chairman. The truth
of th# matter wo* thst thirty-eight
member* of this committee were elect
ed by tha state convention and. only
four from the state at large were ap
pointed by the chairman and the
thirty-eight men elected by the etate
convention were elected by the atate
convention which wo# absolutely dom
inated by Mr. Smith when he Instruct-
ed the convention for Judge Parker.
Wanted to Block Watson’s Gama.
"W* have not got to th# Interesting
port of this proposition yet. Her* 1*
the whole story now, I have Just begun
It: This convention elected this com
mittee; at that time th* preeent state
administration, th* governor and oth
ers, were strongly against Instructions
of that committee to Its delegation to
go to the Ht. Louis convention, prefer
ring that they be sent unlnstructed. It
happens-about that time Mr. Watson
was strongly supporting Mr. Hears!,
and Governor Terrell and other* were
In favor of Hears! and an unlnstructed
delegation. Mr. Smith presided over
the caucus that mot at the Kimball
house and the word went out that no
one’ but Parker men should go. Mr.
Griggs was defeated, the vote to In
struct the delegation was carried, and
among the first to revolt wo* Mr. Wat-
Wstson Attacked “Smith Ring."
Mr. Watson a few days after that In
a speech here In th* city of Atlanta at
tacked tha ring headed by Mr. Smith,
who was responsible for suppressing
th* vote of th* people. It transpired
then that Mr* Smith dominated the
Democratic ring In the otat* of Ooor-
(In, whlrh hod suppressed th* vole* of
the people and forced upon the people
sn Instructed Parker delegation and
Mr. Wataon, In thle very city, mode a
speech In which he lambasted Mr.
Smith from top to bottom as being
the head of th* machine. Now, let'*
see how the atory developed. Mr. Wat
son, dissatisfied with the action of the
national Democratic convention In
nominating Judge Parker, Immediately
announced himself as a candidate tor
president against Judge Porker and as
the Populist nominee for president. Mr.
Hmlth took the platform In Georgia In
behalf of Judge Parker, for. whom he
hod had this delegation Instructed.
"He himself spoke In th* city of Au
gusts, In which he charged Mr. Watson
with being the Instrument of the Re
publican campaign committee to divide
the Democratic party.
Wanted “Pops" Barred.
Ht coma* Ihck to’the city of Atlan
ta and the first thing he does when
he gala back hare now, fellow citizen*,
and t My him now to deny one single
charge thst I am going to make—I
want Hoke to hear this—I charge that
he came back to th* city of Atlanta.
•I
goes to the telegraph office, sends v
telegram to Mr. Yeomans, the chair
man of the state Democratic execu
tive committee, then aa he Is today,
the snme chairman elected by Mr.
Smith’s convention, the name chairman
that Mr. Smith Is now denouncing -
and telegraphs Mr. Yeomans to pleu-e
come tn Atlanta tomorrow, I am anx
ious to see you. Mr. Yeoman*, thn
chairman, comes. He ha* a confer
ence with Mr. Smith at tha Pid.n .nf
hotel, nnd now what do you supp—o
.Mr. Hmlth tells him: what do you sup
pose ho wants with him? He says:
"'Mr. Yeomans, I havo sent for you
to ask you to call the atate executive
committee together Immediately.'
•"What for?' says Mr. Yeomans.
■•Hmlth says:
•' 'I want the state executive commit-,
tee to meet here and act on Watson #
announcement that he la going tn run
for president as the Populist nomine—
against Judge Parker.'
"Mr. Yeomans says:
•• 'What do you want It to do?"
•'Hmlth replies:
Smith's "Anti-Pops” Resolution.
•' 'I want It to paas a resolution de
claring that every man who votes for
Thomas H. Watson shall not vote In the
Democratic primary to be hold In the
year 1*05! •
"Mr. Yeomans, the chairman of th#
committee, told hljn that the Demo
cratic party In the state of Georgia had
never taken any retroactive steps look-jjdj
Ing to the binding of a vote by retro
active measures. Ho eald. wo have
got a porfoct right to say that a man!
cannot vote unless he votes the D
cratlc ticket now. Mr. Hmlth sayBRH
must suppress this Populist vote. If a.
man vote* for Watson wo must pul him
on notice that he cannot vote In our,
primary next year. Mr. Yeoman* gore!
to Governor Terrell nnd tells him what
Mr. Hmllh had said, and he asked ihe
governor what he thought about It.
The governor says, 'You cannot do lt;<
It will be unjust.' He then goes to
Warner Hill, Mr. Hill was tl», chair
man. I believe, of the committee on
resolutions of the state convention. Ho
asked Mr. Hill nbout It, and Mr. Kill
tell* him the same thing that the gov
ernor haa, and then he goes to Jin k
.Spalding, who nn this stage hae be n
criticized by Mr. Smith tonight as lo
ins In tho employ of n corporation, and
yot was made the vice chairman of
tho state executive committee by Mr.
Hmlth himself, und Mr. Smith was In
mucus with Mr. Spalding before ha
was made the vice chairman.
Took Part In Caucus.
"Mr. Hmlth was In the Parker caucus
the night before Mr. Studding was
made vice chairman. Mr. Smith and
Mr. Orady were In caucus with him
and he was made vice chairman next
day, nnd Mr. Hmlth now Jumps on a
man that he made vice chairman. He
goo* to Spalding with the earns propo
sition. ami he says:
•"Mr. Spalding, you arc a Parker
man like Mr. Hmlth, what do you think
of Mr. Smith’s preposition?’
"•It won't do,' sold .Mr. Spalding, ‘we
can't do It. You would have n„ right
to take this stop,’ and Nmlth was noti
fied by Mr. Yoetnan* that he would
not call tho executive committee to
gether.
“Now, fellow eltlzens. in conclusion,
let me say I shall not detain you much
longer. I/'t me say that tho first lesson
that I ever learned In the rlty of At
lanta was tho lesson that I learned in
love my city and love my state. The
beat advice that I ever got In iny life
came to mo In a letter written on th*
day that I achieved the ngc of man
hood, 21 year* of age. whon dear old
Henry Orady, the man that I loved bet-,
ter than any man that ever lived on lho
face of thla earth aalde from my own
Immediate family, when on that day,
writing me congratulating me upon
having attained the estate of nmnhood.1
he made use of this expreaslon:
Grady’s Advle* (o Howell.
^■You do what you can to hmid op
your city; do what you can to build up
your state; remember, always, that)
there are plenty of men In Georg!a
who can be depended upon to do all)
the tearing down that le ■oeesaary.*
(Orest applause.)
"And so, from thst day to th
whether nr not l have always lived
to the spirit of that suggestion, though
I have always done my best to do so. [
there I*'one thing that I can any, and'
that Is, that from that day to this,
never have I said anything ngalnst the
honor or the good name of my native,
state. A* old again today as I was
the day that that letter w*a written. Us
golden aentlmenta burned Itself deep
Into my soul, and fired every Impulse
of my manhood with a aplrlt of sternal
devotion to my mother etate—Geor
gia.
"I have trod these hills and these
vales when aa an Infant refugee In my
mother’s arms, not knowing whether
tny father wsa alive or de.nl on the
battlefields around Ihls very town - l
was born to love my etate; I was born
to love my dly. I love Ihe old Demo
cratic party. It ho# done more for
the protection and salvation of ,ur
people than all other Inslrumentaiitie*
put together, and eo with every Impulse
of my soul, with every breath of toy
body. I Shall defend my state, and I
will defend my party so long a* I m»y
live.
“They tell u* the time haa come for
the Democratic parly to die. I do not
believe It, and now Is the time when
we must all rally to the party md
stand by the party oa we have In the
past.
"The time ha* not com* for It >o
die, and It will not die. neither by sui
cide nor by assassination.”
TWO MORE CONVICTS
ESCAPE FROM CAMP
Bperfcil to The Georgian.
Rising Fawn. Oa., June I.—Two mt
convicts escaped from the furns a
ramp * f#W days elnco. This root* the
number up togflM
years.
five In the pa»: th:
Two hive been apprehended and re
turned to th* penitentiary.
REWARD IS OFFERED
FOR ALLEGED MURDERER
Special to Th* Georgian.
Montgomery. Ala.,
ernor today
for the am n IV. Me
known en
who ts rharz •• murde
lie Jones, a
if I lot)
_
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