The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-08-05
HE SCORES THE TRUST
EXPLAINS PARAGRAPHS WRIT
TEN ABOUT WATSON BILL.
WILL NOT APPEAR AGAIN IN PRINT
Reviews His Long and Laborious Career as a
Journalist During Peace, War and the
Foulsome and Ravenous Days
of Reconstruction.


To the Editor: AS you have opened
xour columns for an attack upon me,
lthe assailants having already two pa
rars at their command, their organs,) L
ask for space enough to make something
of a comment rather than complete re-
nlv AS some seventeen or eighteen days
ago in q published card L retired from
the field. when the captain was III IT
booted and spurred, l shall not certain
" continue the fight now with his three
lieutenants who have dashed as volun-
teers into the arena armed cap-a-ple with
visor down and glittering battle axes and
lances at rest This pursuit by four
lusty and brawny Indian bucks of an Old
man nearly spent by age and long service
seeking to take his scalp, is not gooo
specimen Of either mercy or FAIRNESS.
Perhaps it is only an illustration OF the
fruits of the much spouted over and writ
ten about christian education. III
so. then the less of that article
State has the better, the nobler its civil
ization. / am bounded and threatened
simply because / dared to criticize the
course pursued by an enemy OF the UNI
versity of North Carolina in trying to I'M
dermine it's good name and usefulness
and to deprive it of its $4,000 annual
State appropriation. But that having
80 egregiously, disastrously failed, be-
hold the flop Now it is no longer to
stab the ancient seat of learning, but to
kill it my inuendo. Christian educa
ton" is the only theme, and the Univer-
sity is to receive the stiletto of death
under specious plea that will deceive
no men who are informed and have open
eyes.
Then l offended next by what
said Of the Duke trust and benefactlons
built upon cigarette poison. Daring to
attack gifts that were "bloody money
] am set upon and the whole pack
blanche, Tray and Sweetheart''-tak
after me with devouring eagerness. 1t
looks now as if there was new COM
bine" all engaging in carrying out the
campaign in the spirit of the cruel, bru-
tai un-Christian talk-Kingsbury
must be destroyed, "driven out"
l would not write line again but. for
the parading of extracts from the Mes
senger concerning the villianous tobac-
co trust The purpose Of my enemies is
to make it appear that / am both incon-
sistent and insincere, or worse, in what
I have said latterly about the cigarette
trust. / was told by the captain that he
had big store of medicine for me at
Trinity which he proposed to admins
ter As his purpose was clearly des-
truction and not cure, / suppose with
his medicines were many poisons. If
the combine does not get any more dam
gerous and effective medicines than those
they have lately tried to administer to
the patient to be destroyed" he will
survive their unscientifc doctoring and
defy the wicked empiricism.
These doctors or quacks first paraded
as a sumner two letters, wrote to old
Mr.. Duke, of which / am something
proud. They can do me no earthly harm
among people Of sense, and fairness, and
are creditable to my zeal as one seeking
to do good. / have given the precise,
fair, honest explanat ton of the whole
matter already.
But the quacks have taken from "the
shelf" another nostrum, labelled,perhaps
ito kill" Mial is it? What is the true sig
nifcance of the last proof offered? Three
editorial paragraphs taken from the
Messenger are paraded as a great bonan-
"a to prove that knew all about old Mr..
Duke and his cigarette work when /
wrote two letters, one in 1891, and
the other in 1894 / have stated in the
Messenger that when l wrote to Duke
I wrote when | was well impressed as
to his general character, and had not in
quired into his business, and did not
know that it was either illegal or unmer-
ciful. That is the truth as / unders:a nd
it, what | wrote recently was upon my
honor, I believed every word / wrote;
believed with all my soul. | had not
then, when l wrote to Duke, any knowl-
edge whatever of the robbery of the
farmers by the cigarette trust, aggre-
eating as / learn now $1,500,000, and
knew nothing of the deleterious, dire
tui, poisonous character of the produc-
eson. That statement is true if / know
any thing of the facts or my own move
nnents and motives.
The paragraphs in the Messenger of
March, 1898, had forgotten. What was
enc occasion for them? i can only know
from what is said, for / do not recall
those of the thousands Of paragraphs
have written. What is their import, their
meaning? 1t appears that there was
some movement in the Legislature that
seemed to be unwise to drive capital out
of the State. 1t was urged upon the Leg
islature to inquire, / suppose, if the to-
bacco trust had really hurt the farmers
by giving them less price for tobacco.
/ stated that I had received information
that the price had been increased by the
gigantic trust-that the farmers had not
been injured. I, therefore, advised the
Legislature to go slow, to make diligent
inquiry as to whether the farmers were
injured by the trust before adopting hos
tile laws. 4 very proper course under
the circumstances, as any man Of sense
will see. l said / did this because 1--WE
were on the side of the farmer" / think
the course was cautious, prudent, faith
full. I was clearly for protecting the far
mers against injury.
Since read the article in the News and
Observer, my memory has been refreshed
by a member of the Legislature of 1898
when the three paraded paragraphs were