People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1892-08-12
WATSON'S WELCOME HOME.
CONTINUED FROM FIRST PAGE. l

Laughter. Here is the record of Sat.
urday, June %, 1892, and it shows that
Congress was in session Just two minutes.
Absenteeism blocked the wheels
Laughter.
When Democratic statesmen leave
their duties and put in regular attend
ance at horse races it is no wonder they
complain that they have no chance"
IGreat laughter and applause. The
'chance" such men as these want is the
eternity of drawing salaries. A voice.
GIVE him fan" Mr. Watson-Its
the Democrats who need the tanning.
Loud laughter and cheering Such alb
senteelsm PARALLELS every thing. The men
who are present and want to work cannot
work because of the absence of others.
So, as we sat there with folded hands.
waiting for the horse-racing statesmen.
whlrled IN and wrote book. Laugh
ter. intended that book to hurt, and
it does hurt. Laughter. I intended to
expose usages which were going on there
detrimental to the people, violated no
mans confidence. Voice, mo, you did
not. Congress is not a private body. A
man who sees abuses ana does not de-
nOunce them, that they may be corrected,
is not true to the best interests of the
public.
Now here is the paragraph which
made the lion roar. Laughter.
''The congress now sitting is one
illustration. Pledged to reform they
have not reformed. IA voice "that's
right."I
pledged to economy, they have not
economical" Many voices, mo, no
nO."l
And no man denies this-"pIedged
to legislate, they have not legislat-
ed" no man denies this Voices,
hey cannot deny it,
Extravaganza has been the order of
the day. Absenteeism was never so
pronounced. Lack of purpose was
never so clear.
Drunken members have reeled about
the aisles." u Laughter and cries of
Shame" shame"
Drunken speakers have debated
grave issues on the floor, and in the
midst of maudlin ramblings have been
heard to inquire, 'Mr Speaker, where
was | at?" A voice that hurts. You've
got 'em where the wool is short"l
Mark you, [ did not say that every
man who takes too much tOddy is a
bad man. [ do not say it's an unpar-
dOnable sin for a man to talk when
he is drunk. That's the very time he
wants to talk. Laughter. But it is
Il Jul lOuO ldOU bAl4U b1IC 3 a FC5b OIIdI
I made are not denied, while the lesser
ones have been so bitterly denied.
Let us ee if l did not prove my case.
On this liquor question | am no fanatic,
but | have voted on the sile of temper
ance legis alton. Voices ''r ght) But
the prohibition question was not involved
in this dispute at all. In this particular
case the question was whether it was
right to keep a barroom in the capt. |
building at Washington and thus outrage
the feelings of millions who believe that
the marble temple dedicated by Masonic
ceremonies, reared into magnificence by
the taxes of all the people, should not be
turned into a whisky saloon. Whether
you be prohibitiOnist or not, [ believ4
you VIII condemn the running of bar
room in that building. (Cries of that's
soy | do not believe it is necessary 10
have a bar room within 50 feet of our
law makers in order to get good laws.
(Applause)
hit them on a tender spot and they
squealed. Laughter.)
Little Genl. Joe Wheeler laugh
teri l suppose some of you have
b~eA4 of him [cries of "Yes"l, was at
taCRfhg our platform and put in some
thing against me. [ replied. The
General got ashy and he went out
after my scalp. Laughter He lug
ged the book in and quoted the SEN
tence about drunkenness. l was asked
if | wrote it. | replied that [ did
write it and would stand by it. APP
plause. They Kissed me off the floor,
but they have not silenced me yet.
You remember Aleck Stephens said
on this very spot, that they might howl
him down in Congress but they would
never howl him down before the peO-
DIe. ICheers.l | say here and now,
take my appeal from Congress to
the fairminded jury of the people.
ICheers.l
Now perhaps you would like to have
the evidence? 1t was with the greatest
difficulty that 1 got copy of the Off
.ciaI record. 1 have not time to read at
length, but will come at once to the
Mace in the record where they say
that have been shown up as wilful
liar. Let us see what has been sworn
TO in the investigation. [ know you
would like to see just what has been
shown-tO know how many drunken
members have been making speeches
on the floor of Congress. First, here is
Miss Bessie Dwyer, beautiful south
ern girl from Texas, correspondent of
the National Economist, sworn:
q. You have seen members address
ING the house in a state of maudlin
INVESTIGATION? A. Yes, sir.
o. How many? A. One.
And then she goes on to say, GA
great many members on the democrat
ic side of the House, used their best
endeavors to persuade him to take his
seat without avail until he had talked
lust as long as he wanted to.
o. Did you see him drink anything
during his remarks? A. L saw a cup
ON his desk; at first l thought it was
bouiIlOn some friend had sent him-I
thought it was bouillon until L noticed
the press gallery, and that was sufi-
cient. | looked up there and saw the
greatest hilarity among the members
of the press. they were laughing. and
evidently amused, and 1 knew from
that time on what it was.