Birmingham state herald., 1895-11-29
GOVERNOR OATES.
His Exact Views as to Things-The Presidents Policy-Gold and Syer-A Letter to
 the Mobile Register.

The Mobile Register of Wednesday has
 the following letter from Governor Oates:
 To the Editor of the Register
 I read yesterday your editorial ad-
 dressed to me in the Register of Satur- day, in which you said: We call the governors attention to the fact that on the day following the publication of the article which he says inSinuateS there was a bargain between himself and Cap tain Johnston, we rebuked contempo- rary for intmating that there was contract or bargain between the govern or and the captain, and we declared that we did not believe that such thing ex- sted. Thus we are on record as declar- ing our unbelief in the charge he thinks we originated against him. We beg him to dismiss this thought. It does not speak well for his intelligence, and is an imputation against our honesty"
 It was not my desire to do the slight est injustice to the Register which is an ably edited and sound democratic paper. Although it comes daily to my address, and 1 usually read it, I did not see the paper of the day following"-I
 suppose some one took it from my office. But for this fact am free to admit thac
 l might not have made the reply did. It would probably have been unnecessa- ry. I did not intend by anything I said to impugn the honesty of the Register. It has befriended me in time of need and I never forget the kindness of an old friend on account of subsequent honest
 differences of opinion. The paper has all ways appeared to me as an ably edited, honorable and patriotic journal, and if I have done it any injustice I take pleas- ure in correcting it.
 few words more and I am done, for I do not want to be a party to news paper controversy. You refer to what I told your reporter. 1t was simply this: That I on1111 hp a candidate a
 second nomination.; that I had declared all through last years campaign that I
 would not be a candidate for a second
 term. He then asked me if I would &C.,
 cept the nomination if rendered me. I
 replied, yes; that I had never been called upon by my country nor my party for
 service and refused to obey the call, but
 that did not wish the nomina tion. What
 man could honestly have said anything
 less? That if correctly reported to you,
 could not have been misleading.
 There has not been a single word
 passed between Captain Johnston and
 myself touching the race of last year, or
 anything of the kind in future, since the Confederate reunion at Birmingham last year, and then there was nothing but a change of compliments and little peas- antry concerning the contest then exist ing between us I make no political trades with anybody and I have no evil dence that Captain Johnston does.
 Your editorial remark that we were surprised that the governor should go
 out of his way to preach harmony with
 men who profess what we believe to be
 wrong principles, and over-emphasize in-
 opportunely his differences with the ad-
 ministration, and we inferred from this
 that he wished to place himself in line
 with Captain Johnston's supporters after leaving an open field for the governor
 ship to Captain Johnston" is admitted by you in Saturdays article that from | my statement this inference was incor- rect This is quite honorable in you and | just what you should have said.
 It is really hurtful to my feelings that ably edited and esteemed newspapers | like the Register and Montgomery Ad- | vertiser, who so ably supported me in | the campaign of last year, should now | insinuate that any criticism by me of the presidents policy is "inopportune" and | not we'll founded and done for the pur- | pose of making terms with Johnston's supporters and to get them to favor me | for the United States senatorship. In | no utterance of mine this year have | gone near so far in the criticism of Mr. | Cleveland's policy as I did last year in nearly every speech I made, and the ed- | itors of these papers knew it at the time | and did not then call me to account for | it. I said then what I have said this year, that MT Cleveland, when appealed | to by friends-myself among the num- l ber- to set forth in his message to the | regular session of congress in Decem- | ber. 1893. full outlines of his policy on the financial question and others, that | he declined to do it, and I excused 1t so | far as 1t could be done by saying that | while he was honest he was no politician. l said. too, last year in the campaign,