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AMERS’ UNION.
*Grstings From State Organ
izer J. L. Lee.
Barnesville, Ga., Dec. 26, 1906.
Editor Weekly Jeffersonian:—
Having noticed that you were
about to make some changes in your
great weekly and one of these a de
partment for the Farmers’ Union, I
write you in advance congratulating
you for coming to our aid.
This is not needful though, for, af
ter a careful review of your life’s
work it has always been devbted to
the interest of the common people.
Vet in this great struggle for uplift
ing the farmers socially, financially
and educationally, I desire to thank
you in advance for your influence.
After having traveled over this
‘state and after conversing with
thousands of our leading citizens, I
find that ( |hey believe that, whatever
you champion, you, in your heart,
believe it, for the best interests of
your covistituents.
Now comes a great journal, edited
and controlled by one who lies so
close to the farmer, beginning in its
columns to help teach the farmer
lessons of success. Such I believe
to be true of our order.
I can state without any fear of
contradiction that the Farmers’
Union stands above every other or
ganization the farmers have had,
and the day has dawned when all
interests must be strengthened and
guided by our organization, and to
all readers of the Jeffersonian I ear
nestly request for you to acquaint
yourself with the principles of our
great order.
I stand re.ady to give any infor
mation I can and aid in everything
possible to put before our people a
thorough knowledge so that not a
man in Georgia can say he has not
had a chance to do his part in this
great reform movement.
Long live the Jeffersonian and
may its influence reach each home
in this beautiful Southland of ours,
and may its editor be well repaid
Sy having once more taken up the
fight forthe 1 right. Remember, one
and all, when I can serve you com
mand me.
. J. L. LEE,
State Organizer.
Barnesville, Ga.
M M M
A TIMELY LESSON.
The American Federation of La
bor, 'which recently caused consider
able discussion because of its pro
tests against the methods used by the
state of South Carolina in securing
foreign emigrants, has been given a
timely lesson by Secretary 'Straus, of
the department of Commerce and
Labor. Secretary Straus has decided
that South Carolina and the individ
uals who contributed to pay the pas
sage) of ©'migrants to that state to
work on the farms and to fill the
vacant places in the mills did not
violate the alien contract labor law,
and that the methods used to secure
the emigrants were both proper and
legal. There has been considerable
uneasiness in the south regarding
this decision, for the need of more
laborers is so pressing that we must
go to foreign countries to secure
help, and now that all obstacles have
been removed the efforts to secure
these people will be redoubled. The
unwarranted interference of the
Federation of Labor amounted to
nothing, save to create uneasiness
and to put a temporary stop to the
movement.—The LaGrange, Ga., Re
porter.
M M M
A RIGHT TO GROW CHESTY.
Farmers settled this country.
Farmers fought'the battles of the
revolution. Most of the founders
of this government were farmers,
the tillers of the soil were strong
ly in evidence on the battlefields
from ’6O to ’64. Strong hands, clear
heads, honest hearts—the best pro
duct of the farm—are more needed
in public affairs today than ever.
You may call him a rube, or hay
seed, but the farmer is nevertheless
the biggest man in the country. He
could buy all the national banks, pay
the national debt, purchase both the
steel combine and Standard Oil trust
and put Wall street out of business,
out of the products of his own hon
est toil, and still have a half billion
dollars left for pocket change. To
sum it up in. a sentence, the farmer,
by whatever nickname he may be
called, is the most important class
in the United States and has a right
to grow chesty at the showing he
makes.—'Beaver (Pa.) Commoner.
M M M
“THE DAMNED FARMER.’’
Up in Minnesota there is a Con
gressman named McCleary. Mc-
Cleary has been for some time a
rather conspicuous figure in the high
tariff group in the House’ of Repre
sentatives—like Lacey, of lowa, a
“stand-patter from Standpatters
ville.” Like Lacey, he was a candi
date to succeed himself; and, also
like Lacey, he went down to defeat.
But then he was not content to
live up to his theory and “let well
enough alone.” He felt impelled to
explain how it happened. His ex
planation carried a charming candor.
“The damned farmer did it,” he
said.
The farmer did to McCleary just
what they did to Lacey and to seve
ral others of that group, and what
they will doubtless do to- a still
larger number «of “standpatters”
two years hence, if these do not take
tlie “hunch” of events and change
their ways.—Plankington Herald.
M M M
THE UNION IN WASHINGTON
COUNTY.
There will be a meeting of the
Farmers’ Educational and Co-opera
tive Union of the Tenth Congression
al District, to be held in Sandersville,
Ga., January 12, 1907, for the pur
pose of completing the organization
and election of officers. Request
each county to send three delegates
at large and one from each local
union. Take due notice and govern
yourselves accordingly. Come all.
We will have some good speakers to
meet with us and have a good time.
H. H. HOLLIMAN, Secretary.
A scientist declares that, in a few
more centuries the red-headed girl
will disappear. What will become of
th© white horses?
THE WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
Senator Culberson on the
Negro and the South.
Immediately after Congress re
assembled, when the holidays were
over, Senator Culberson, of Texas,
took the floor in defense of the
President’s action in discharging
three companies of the negro regi
ment which participated in the
“shooting up” of Brownsville, and
incidentally in defense of the people
of Texas. He said that on the day
before the trouble at Brownsville a
criminal assault had been-made by
a negro soldier on a respectable white
woman of the community and no ar
rest had been made.
In defending President Roosevelt
for his dismissal of the troops, Mr.
Culberson said that the fact that the
troops were negroes had had nothing
to do with their discharge. Confu
sion as to the legal questions involv
ed was, he said, responsible for the
statement that the president had no
authority •to make the discharge.
The president’s constitutional au
thority/and the authority given him
by the articles of war clearly cover
ed the case and made his action legal
he declared. He contended that dis
charges for criminal offenses are
covered in the articles of war. as
are also discharges made to effect
punishment.
Motive for Crime.
To establish the motive actuating
the negro soldiers in creating the al
leged disturbances, Mr. Culberson
read resolutions recently adopted by
negro citizens of Boston which ad
mitted that the soldiers “shot up
the town.” and said they “were de
termined to do for themselves what
the uniform of their country -would
not do—protect them from insults
and punish at the same time the au
thors of their misery.”
Disclaiming any partisanship for
the president, Mr. Culberson created
a wave of merriment by saying:
“I have nothing to-do with the
president in this matter. I care
nothing about him. My personal
relations with him are about as cor
dial as those of the Senator from
Ohio (Mr. Foraker). ’ ’
In all fairness, Mr. Culberson
said, the country ought to know that
the report made to the president was
reliable. He read much of the evi
dence in this report to sustain his
contention that the soldiers and not
civilians had been responsible for
the shooting, remarking that Sena
tors might go to their luncheon if
they did not want to hear it.
Mr. Culberson said that there was
a distinction between a “discharge
without honor” and a “dishonorable
discharge.” In the former instance,
while a dishonorable discharge could
only be made as the result of a court
martial. He instanced several cases
to sustain his position.
After reading much of the testi
mony taken before the Brownsville
grand jury, Mr. Culberson drew the
conclusion that the-fact that no in
dictment was returned was not an
evidence of the weakness of the case,
but rather of the fairness of the peo
ple of Brownsville, who did not wish
to do injustice to the innocent. The
evidence, he contended, proved be
yound doubt that the shooting was
done by the negro soldiers, but failed
to identify the guilty ones.
South and the Negro.
He concluded his speech of an
hour and a half by a brief reference
to the negro question in general, say
ing it had existed from the early his
tory of the country down to the
present time, and still continued to
be the most important and the most
dangerous question which confronts
the American people. Today, he
said, the condition of the black race
with its ages of slavery, its igno
rance and poverty, excited the deep
est sympathy of the great body of
the white people of the south.
“But,” he continued, “in spite
of the past, with its conflicts and
sacrifices, sorrows and destruction of
life and property, this problem is
still the greatest with which we have
to deal. It involves labor, education,
suffrage, social order, civil liberty,
self-government and the integrity of
the white race. The end no man can
see. Southerners feel deeply and
profoundly on this race problem and
its ultimate solution. Closing their
eyes and looking down the ages,
different vistos arise; sometimes
the black race is deported, sometimes
the races live together, as now, in
perfect peace, one subordinate to the
other; sometimes they turn with un
speakable aversion to a blended, cor
rupted and inferior race; sometimes
there is war between the races—
which may God avert—bloody,
vengeful war, war which seeks and
can only end in the survival of the
fittest. In the midst of such awful
possibilities human prophecies are
idle, but any man or party who
would create false hopes in these
people deserves no place in the confi
dence of the American people.
“Speaking in part of the people
of Texas—and plainness of speed
is best—it is not improper to say
that they have dealt fairly and gen
erously with the negro in all esser
tials; in education, in charity, i’
helpful sympathy and in the protect
tion of life, liberty and propertj
But I would not be candid with yon
if I did not say that in other respects
their purposes are equally resolute
and unalterable. They are opposed
to political domination by the igno
rant or vicious; they are opposed to
social equality with the negro; they
are opposed to every tendency which
will ultimately be destructive to the
purity and integrity of the white
race. And above all these, however
vital they may be, there is that in
the testimony in this case and which
to a degree underlies this trouble,
which impels me to declare even in
this great chamber that they purpose
•to protect even with lives what
in their -womankind isrthe immediate
jewel of their souls.”
Not a Race Question.
Senator Foraker at once took the
floor, remarking that it belittled the
present question to make it a vehicle
for discussing the race question. He
did not propose to discuss that ques
tion or the merits of the Brownsville
affair. He wanted his resolution
adopted, which would insure further
inquiry and his present purpose was
but to defend himself regarding the
criticism charged against him for
mentioning Capt. McDonald. Com
menting on Senator Culberson’s
statement that his (Foraker’s)
speech two weeks ago had offended
(Continued on page 14.)
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