Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-06-22
CHAIRMAN FINLEY.

On Lessing's Letter and the Commission
| Amendment.
Special to the Gazette.
TYLER, TEX, June 21.-The following
letter has been sent to the News:
TYLER, TEX, June 20, 1890.
| Dallas Daily News:
Noticing the letter of W. n. Leasing,
a member of the state Democratic ex-'
| ecutive committee, addressed to me as
chairman of that committee, and ap-
| pearing in your columns of the 18th
inst, am induced to reply to a por-
| ton of it by the fact that it calls IN
| question the correctness OF statement
made by me in an interview contained in
the News of date June last. He says:
''In an interview of the 9th instant,
| as published in the Dallas News of the
following day, you make some startling
statements, which surprised me very
much, and doubtless had a similar effect
on other members of the executive COM
mittee. If correctly reported you assert
| that your letter to the Corsicana OBJ
server, in answer to questions asked an
expression from you concerning proper
standard of party fealty for those desiring
to participate In Democratic primaries,
was read, discussed and considered by
the executive committee at Lampassas
at its meeting April l. Are you not
mistaken in this? Does not. my memory
serve me right in saying that no such
letter was read TO the committee? Is it
not fact that you merely mentioned
having written such a letter, giving the
committee in substance what the letter
contained, as your views on the subject
treated therein, taking it for granted
that the respective members of the COM
mittee had read the fsame? If not please
correct me. Was not the motion put
and carried ''to indorse your letter as
published in the Corsicana Observer
upon your statements alone?"
Now the facts. At the meeting of the
committee at Lampasas, April j, 1 called
to the notice of the committee the letter
in question. l told them that heretofore
had enjoyed no opportunity of confer
ring with them on matters of concern to
the party; that had shouldered the re-
sponsibihties of directing the party afss
fairs alone, since the creation of the
COMMITTEES; that among other things L
had written that letter; that it involved
a serious matter and wanted the COM
mittee to consider and discuss it without
any embarrassment on account of
my presence, and if there was any
thing wrong in It to point it out and cor
rect it as that would be the last occasion
of the assembling of the committee until
the meeting of the state convention.
then called on J L. Burgess Esq. H,sm-
Der from the Fifteenth SENATORIAL dis
trlct, to present aud read the letter,
knowing that he had printed copy,
which he did. / do not now recall how
many expressed their views upon the
matter; it was discussed, however, and
/ remember among others that Mr.. Bur-
CESS said in substances that il was OBJ
jected to by some good Democrats in his
county as being too liberal, but that 1t
met his appreciation. After all had the
opportunity of speaking to the question
the proceedings of the meeting show:
Upon motion of Mr.. Smith OF Hill
county, it was unanimously resolved that
the committee fully and heartily endorse
and adopt as its expression the letter OF
Chairman Finley addressed to the editor
of the Corsicana Observer of February
5, 1907 1 can not with certainty say
that Mr.. Leasing expressed himself in q
speech, but can and do say that the
opportunity was given him, and If he
did not avail himself of it, then it was
about the only opportunity which he
let pass during the session of that body,
and 1 felt sure that he did not let it pass
out of any consideration of delicacy or
want of confidence in his own wisdom.
As to that portion of Mr.. Lessing's let
ter wherein he assumes to declare me in
opposition TO the commission amend
ment, and then calls for my opiuion
upon the sdvisability of party platform
enuneiation on that issue, have only to
say: sense of propriety, or supposed
propriety at least, has caused me to re-
Train from any public expression in 3D.
vance of the primaries upon the issues of
men and measures to be setti'ed within
the party, realizing that my duties as
chairman lay in the direction of organ
ization, preserving the party in its
strength and integrity, and not in the