The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-25
PoPULISTIc HAIR PULLING.
TOM WATSON SAILS INTO SENATOR
BUTLER WITHOUT GLOVES.

The North Carolina Leader Taken TO
Task For His Indulgence in Pro-
family in Il Recent Editorial Re-
fcrfng to WatsOn's Contest For
Congressman Blacks Seat-Watson
Challenges RutIer to Answer Him.
Atlanta, Ga, Dec. 2.-Hon. Tom Wat
son, the late candidate of the populists
for the vice presidency, has turned his at
tenton to Senator Marion Butler of North
Carolina, chairman of the populist ma
tional committee. again.
Mr.. Watson has given Senator Butler
some gentle roasts heretofore on account
of his conduct toward him in his cam
paign, and it seemed had about sue
ceeded in squelching the North Carolina
cratic But in the last issue of his paper
Senator Butler slipped in paragraph rel
alive to Mr.. Watson's contest for the seat
i'm congress now held by Maj. Black, and
this aroused the Georgian again.
After referring to the contest. this para
graph said: 1--WE have strained ourselves
right much to be Loyal to Watson, but our
strength is now exhausted and we give up
the job of loyalty to him with the convic-
ton that he is more sorts Of a ID fool
than Elliott Shepherd ever was
The reply to this appears in Mr.. Wat
sons paper which was issued to-day
over his initials. II is headed: MARY Ann
Butler Grows Profane Also and Calls Mr.
Watson a DID Fool" With this as his
text, Mr.. Watson proceeds to lacerate the
hide of the North Carolina senator in his
own peculiar and forcible style. The arti-
Gle occupies two columns of the editorial
page and is as readable as newspaper
stuff usually get to be. He thinks that
lit is "a pity that member of the United
States Senate cannot use his pen to any
better purpose than to frescoe the editorial
page of his paper with profanity; any vul-
garian could do that. a TRADE from such
a lofty source should at least avoid the
atmosphere of the gutter. To cali man
a id fool" Mr.. Watson says. sis per-
Torrance so essentially commonplace that
it has well nigh lost the right to be class
ed as ridiculous
Mr.. Watson wonders how it is that SEN
ator Butler appears to have only just
heard of his contest since it was pending
last summer before he was made the pop
uist nominee for Vice President He
thinks it is hardly rational that Senator
Butler should wait till this late day to con-
clude that he is a d. fool for making the
contest when he knows nothing at all Of
the 1ActS or the law of the case.
He says if Democratic Chairman Jones
should come out and cNll a democrat a
d. fool because he contested the seat of
republican there would be a bigger SEN
sation than when that eminent campaign
manager told the southern populists they
could go along with the negroes where
they belonged. But. he adds. Senator
Jones set the example of treating the mid
dle-of-the-road populists with contempt
and as Senator Butler was his ape in that
he IS everything else. He asks, Mary
being loyal the back or the hip, and con-
cludes with this challenge: IF Mary Ann
IS not specially absorbed in his high SEN
atorial duties and his democratic intrigues
he would like to see him take his pen in
his hand and make reply to these few
humble remarks of ours
Mr.. Watson claims that Senator Butler
knew all the time about his contest and
gave him every encouragement in it until
their relations became strained and he
thinks he ought now to give a better ex-
cuse for his sudden collapse.