The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1898-08-11
4 FIzzlE IN ROBSON COUNTY


EVEN the EsPonoEnIs OF Dtu.
I ocaATic PAPERS GOT n,xsD
As TO TINE kuuOER
PRESENT
AZ the Great aud kaee-..fuI e. Kali, oG
Democracy In kobesss County -In.s~ sd
Of Pop.li.ts Em b, HeiDr lie moers~, IN.
Hearers Of 1h.ir Own Party: Are Di.-
gussed and Discouraged.
LUMBEgToN, \. C., Aug. ).
EDITOR CAUCASIAN: The Demo
Gratis held a picnic, and what they
term grand rally, at Regan
Springs, in Howellsville township,
this county, last Saturday. l no.
tice the Democratic papers give a
glowing account OF the occasion.
They not cnly distort facts, but
make absolute false statements
concerning the affair, statements
upon which they themselves widely
differ. One paper has placed the
crowd to number 500 persons, an
other puts it 1000, and still another
puts it ! 800. They also state that
leading farmers, representative
Populist men OF standing, who
heretofore have been allied with the
Peoples Party, openly repudiated
their past.course and declared them
selves for Democracy in the coming
election, and would forever here
after stand by the Democratic
party. Now, Mr.. Editor, this writer
was present upon the grounds; he
is a native OF Robson county; he
saw the crowd present on that oc-
casion and knew the people, and
knows what he is talking about
The speaking had been advertised
for several days, posters had been
placed in all parts of the county
it was known that Bellamy, the
Democratic candidate for Congress,
and Ex-Governor Jarvis would be
there and address the people. The
people of Bladen and OF Columbus
had been invited to attend, and the
Democratic leaders of this county
anticipated and.expected a tremen-
dously large crowd would be pres
eut. So the Democratic office hunt
ers from various parts Of the county
fastened to the place appointed
for speaking early in the day. The
people from town turned out, as
they usually do, on such occasions,
by the wagon load to be present
/ q rfi ri no fn
speakers, and to discourage, deter,
and scoop in, if possible, weak
kneed Populists. BY II o'clock the
crowds had collected in a large oak
grove, where d stand had been
erected for the speakers. We could
see disappointment pictured upon
| the face Of almost every anxious
Democrat we met. The small
crowd of country citizens present
from that section demonstrated
that the meeting was a failure. 1t
was seen that there were not ex.
ceeding three hundred people pres
ent, all told. including women and
children, town people and visitors
from a distance. Among this mum.
ber were about twenty POpulists
e1ly.
Their failure to secure a large
crowd was, perhaps, due to two
causes: First, that section of the
county in which the speaking was
had is composed largely Of good
substantial farmers, who, with
their families, do their own work
their own thinking, are free from
debt, belong to no merchant, ant
vote the Peoples Party ticket. Sec
: ond, it was we'll known by thes,
honest, Woodworking people tina
the meeting was a one-sided, par
tisan concern, and none but Demo
cratic speakers would be heard
consequently they chose to sta,
> home, eat their own provisions
and worship under their own vim
and fig tree, where none dare t.
molest nor make afraid.
There were, however, two person
. there whom the Democrats petted
One was a sanctified man by tn
:. name of Joe Wilson he was weal
~ ing a badge the Democrats had pre-
pared for the occasion. He plow
q q an OK and makes a little corn an
~ cotton. He was introduced upo
y the stand and stated frankly tbs
- he had not cast a vote for anybod
10 or any party in twelve years-ne
" since the Farmers Alliance, wa
~ back in 1886, undertook to eontrt
>. public affairs in the county, but
q" ne lived he should go to the pol
this time and vote the Democrat
ticket, At the conclusion of tn
IS statement he received loud applaus
ut from the town people present.
is The next person referred to w:
it one Duncan Musselwhite, he, to
be was wearing a blue ribbon pinne
as to his coat collar, and is a man
of but little intelligence far below tt
ve average. Duncan said he was
n; poor man, and 1t had been -ha
% times at his house. The Peopl
" Party came along and declared
Ks, favor of free silver, and that
to voted the ticket last electio
he thinking that he would get a b
I'd. full, but he was mistaken, he fail
nd to get 1T, and now he is a "Dimicr
VS.. agih," he felt ashamed to say it, b
is he couldn't help it. he also
N ceived great applause from t
ed, town people and their follOwe
ON These are the only Democratic &C
,ut verts heard of in this county.
h. Mr.. Bellamy spoke for an ho1
'on He dwelt extensively upon t
ion records of the Republican party
aas 1868 and 1869, then abused the
in groes and closed by appealing
q the few Populists present to quitt'
'lic Peoples Party and come back a
the join the Democratic party In
ter efforts to secure and perpetu
hts good white mans government
ed. North Carolina. He called Gro
re- Cleveland a mugwump, and s,