The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1900-03-01
WASHINGTON, ID. c., Feb. u.


Mr. r. H. Hayes, Pittsboro. n. c.
Dear Sir:-I received this morning
yours of the 10th inst, inviting me
to be present at Pittsboro tomorrow
at meeting of the citizens of my
county. l regret that my work here
at this particular time requires my
personal attention and will prevent
ME from accepting your kind invita-
ton.
With your permission | will en-
brace this opportunity to state briefly
my position upon some of the ques-
tions now uppermost in the minds of
the people of North Carolina. Re
garding my own personal position. |
can state that there has been no
change. | became Populist because
of my sincere convictions upon GER
tain public questions, and upon the
main issues, which induced my change
at the time, the Democratic party
subsequently aligned itself by the
adoption of the Chicago platform at
its national convention in 1896. Dur
ing the entire time, since | became a
Populist, | have never knowingly
allied myself with the Republican
party for the sake of the spoils of
office, and l claim that my record in
this respect has been entirely con-
sistent.
state most emphatically that l
am for White Supremacy. for the rule
of the white man in North Carolina,
and for the elimination of the vicious
and ignorant negro vote, which has
for years stood as an open menace to
good government in the State.
Senator Butler, nor any other man,
can lead me to antagonize my own
race or to oppose the present move
| ment in North Caroline to amend the
| Constitution of the State so as to dis
franchise a portion of the ignorant
negro voters, or to sacrifice the prin-
ciples of the Populist party by fusing
with the Republican party. 1t is an
opportunity which has not come to
the people of the State since the fran
chise was wrongfully conferred upon
| the negroes, and every white man
should without hesitation embrace
this opportunity, and, in my opinion,
if he follows his own conscience and
his individual judgment, he will do so.
| There are thousands of other Popu-
lists who feel upon this issue as do,
| and they will be found in this contest
with the great bulk of the white men
of North Carolina. Senator Butler
has made the mistake of his life. He
/ hou 1aA hn nlv
alternative which promised him re-
election to the Senate, but there
should be some things dearer than
| political preferment, and more sacred
than the spoils of office, and this ques-
tion of White Supremacy is one. He
had better have faced defeat, and
have gone back to the ranks of the
| thousands of honest white men in
North Carolina than to have belied
his own past record, and to have an
tagonized the best element of his race
in the State.
AS for myself. my services are en-
listed in the cause of the supremacy
| of the white man in the government
| of North Carolina, and as sure as the
! day OF election comes, so surely will
the amendment be ratified by the peo.
pie at the polls.
There are some good men in the
State who have feared that if the 9th
section of the proposed amendment
should be declared unconstitutional,
that the remainder of the proposed
amendment would stand, and there
by result in DISTINGUISHING large
number of honest white voters in the
State. While the great ma jority OF
the best lawyers in and out of the
State have given it as their opinion
that the amendment would either
stand as whole, or be rejected as {
whole, and that the 9Th section wat
entirely Constitutional; still natural,
doubt among the people may have
existed upon this question, it being
entirely an issue Of law.
However, if the Legislature at it,
ad iourned session in June shall adop
another section to the amendment, ~
is proposed to be done, providing tina
the amendment shall stand or fall a:
whole, all opposition to the amend
ment will thereby be disarmed, ant
the only plausible argument of th'
opponents of the amendment will b'
eliminated.
Yours truly,