The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-06-28

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upon to explain the purpose Of this
visit. no explanation has been forth
coming.
Third. In the spring of 1899 there
was draft of a contract between the
editor of the Gazette and certain
leading Republicans in this State, by
which it was stipulated that for a val
liable consideration the Gazette would
render service to the Republican par
ty. in the present campaign, and imme-
diately thereafter the Gazette began
to render that service, and now OPP
poses every policy that it formerly
| favored.
Fourth. About the time of the
drafting of the agreement above men
toned, prominent Republican in
formed a thoroughly reliable man of
Asheville that the Republicans were
negotiating for the control Of the Ga
zette. and that for a valuable consid-
GRAFTON they would control it. That
the understanding was that the Ga
zette was to pose as long as possible
| as a Democratic paper, but serve in
every possible way the interest of the
Republican party.
Fifth. That on the Goth day of May,
1899, Mr.. j. p. Kerr, than whom there
is no more honorable, reliable and re-
spected man in Asheville, made the
following statement in the columns
of the Asheville Citizen: what the
Citizen has had to say concerning the
dicker between the Republicans and
the Morning Gazette is founded upon
undoubted facts The Republicans
now control the paper. The Citizen
could in a dozen words today convince
anyone of the accuracy Of this allega
ton, but in doing so it would violate
a confidence. an unsought confidence,
it is true, but still confidence. The
Gazette itself will tell the story. Watch
its columns, and you will soon learn
that the cupidity that accepted the
price is below rather than above the
mendacity that coneeals it. Watch
! the Gazette
| Sixth The above prediction of Mr.
| Kerr was verified by the conduct of
| the Gazette, and on the 18th day of
! July 1899, the fonowing editorial APP
| peared in the Citizen:
"POLITICAL FREEDOM"
''When the Citizen declared a few
+, weeks ago that the Morning Gazette
had sold out to Republican leaders, it
was not announcing q prophecy, but
simply stating q fact. There was no
! change of convictions. but a sale of
! them. This is conclusively shown by
; the fact that the Gazette made no an
nouncenlent to the public before whom
| it had posed for years as Democratic
paper that it had changed it's political
/ views. The sale it had concluded
stipulated that duplicity should follow
! apostacy.
| at is not remarkable that such q
! paper should now be talking of 'polit-
zeal freedom and declaring that in
| North Carolina a man can not utter
/ his views on political issue if these
F., views conflict with those of class of
| citizens about him, nor cast his vote
! contrary to theirs without suffering
, ostracism.'
| ut is not remarkable that a paper
| that has that high order of intelligence
that leads it to sell itself for dollars
: should declare that the only hope for
political tolerance in the community
and State in which it is published is
! in the increase of intelligence before
| which this class prejudice must disap-
pear
! ut is not strange that a paper that
has bartered its manhood for money
and sold its principles for gold should
declare that the last political cam
| paign in this State reached the climax,
we believe in the triumph of preju-
dice
| 1T is not strange that a paper that
assisted in the election of the ma. or
ity of the last Legislature should, af
+, ter betraying that majority, for a
consideration, declare that the spirit
of the campaign ruled the Legislature,
and it is in the light of this Legisla
ture that the impulse that controlled
the campaign stands revealed
1T is not remarkable that a news
paper that stood as the peculiar cham
pion of White Supremacy a few
months ago should now, after selling
itself to be champion of the negro,
should assert that the issue of White
! Supremacy was a fraud. 1t was the
one above all others on which the
most active prejudice in portion of
the State at least could be arraigned,
with the power of well-planned and
concerted action on the part of adroit
politicians and a servile press
1T is not to be wondered at that
paper whose opinions are for sale as
so much merchandise should declare,
after having received unusual cour-
tesies from the members of a body, the
ma iority of which it aided in electing,
that "a more reckless body of men
never met to draw laws for this State
than the General Assembly of 1890.
1t was partisan to the core
''In fact, nothing that may be said
by the Morning Gazette in the way of
villificaton and abuse of the Demo-
cratic party and the white people of
North Carolina can in the least sur
prise any one. That paper came into
| being for purposes of deception and
fraud. Under the smile of hypocrite
it wormed itself into the confidence
of some of the white people of this
community, not because it was white
but because it wanted dollars, and
when dollars We're offered it to be-
tray these people it did SO without
aitbo1. ShoOoo or cOmnJDp lion