Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-05-18
JOHN ALIENS STORY.
How He Met an Opponent on the FL
nnncfal Question.

How He Met an Opponent on the FL
nnnefal Question.
1T was at the close of my second term in
| Congress-" observed Representative John
Allen of Mississippi. while others in the
cloak room and among them The Star
| writer, came nearer. the better to hear,
land 1 was about to enter upon my cam
paign for a second reelection. There had
been selected against, me by the opposition
for, strange as it may sound to you. gen.
tlemen, there is opposition to me in my dis
trict-there had been selected against me,
1 say, a man whom 1 will call johnson,
principally because ! have forgotten his
name. Johnson some years before had
served a term in Congress as Representa-
tive of the great Tupelo district for which l
now sit, and had,9 when he retired from
legislation as a business, opened a bank.
Being a skfllful man of finance and the
issue being finance Johnson had been put
up by those perverse people who desired my
defeat, to run against me- No; Johnson
was not a republican. There are no re-
publicans in my district that l know of;
Mississippi is not hotbed of that sort.
Johnson was only different kind of a
democrat from myself Well the folks no
sooner got Johnson and me successfully
nominated against each other than they
began to banker for a series Of joint de-
bates on finance between Johnson and my
self. l was nothing loath. l did not dare
to be.
There is nothing which so quickly makes
a man unpopular in Mississippi as being
loath. l therefore consented to meet john
son on the hustings. AS l observed, the dis
cusSon was to hinge on finance Johnson
turned his bank over to his clerk, and came
to the meeting surrounded by friends. 1,
too, had my friends; and there was a great
deal of enthusiasm and Shot-guns and zeal
and jugs and other things which add life
and zest to our campaigns in Mississippi
and cause us to look back on them with all
the pleasure of a picnic. Johnson led off
and made good Thoroughbred speech on
finance, such as you can read in any we'll
made book on the subject
He made good impression. and when
I erose to speak l felt that unless 1 could
bring the subject home to them in COM
and appeal to them, 1 was likely to lose
some votes.
Fellow citizens and democrats 1 be-
gan, will not detain you long today, for
the sun is getting low and Mississippi is not
a state which loves late hours. In meeting
my gifted friend on the subject of finance
have it in my mind to make him a propo-
sition, the justice and fairness of which
you will all recognize at once. You recall,
of course, indeed he has himself reminded
you of it, that our friend once represented
you in the House of Representatives. With
out pausing over his record I desire only
to remind you further that at the end of
his term he returned to Tupelo and opened
bank.
" Following him 1 represented you; and
at the end Of my first term returned and
borrowed money from our friends bank.
At the end of my second term I carefully
renewed the note, borrowed more money
and made another note. AS We stand here
today in the glad sunshine, our friends
bank holds my two notes; condition of
things over which one complains. 1
merely tell all this to point the difference
between the two schools of finance to which
1 and our friend belong, and as preliminary
to the offer which I now make.
Brother Johnson, who holds my notes,
and 1, who gladly made them, are appeal
vide with him. will give him freely the
votes Of those men, all of them. who loan
money in our district. For myself I will,
in my lowly way, take, and be content with
the votes of all who Borrow money in our
district. Nothing can be fairer and no one
can complain
THAT was an there was to my speech"
concluded Col Allen as he approached the
water cooler 81 beat johnson 20 to l."