The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1900-10-04
Simmons For Senator.
HIS CLAIMS STRONGLY PRESENTED IN SIX
SEPARATE REASONS.
"ihere are Others" That Might be
uiven but These Suffice for the
present Thinks "Countryman''-he
Has Been Faithful, He is Able, He is
Clean, He is Generous, Though Not
Rich Man.
Greensboro TeIe gram

viii you allow a plain citizen to
oi1er a few reasons why, in my judg-
ment, Hon. F. NJ. Simmons should
succeed the Hon. Marion Butler in
the Senate Of the United States?
! 1st. He has been faithful. Twice
/ he has had the burden of the cam
palgn resting on his shoulders. He
/ barred his bosom to the storm He
faced without tlinching the most bit
ter and relentless prosecutions He
endured the contradiction of sinners.
Many men would have quailed under
the cyclone Of traduction: but he
opened not his mouth and went
calmly on with his great work. For
the sake Of his State and his people
he suffered the vilest torrent of abuse
that was ever heaped upon the head
Of gentleman. And he conquered.
No man was ever more faithful Is
1t not worthy Of acceptation in North
Carolina that the horse that pulls the
/ pillow deserves the fodder?
| 2nd. He is able. Some have doubt
! ed that this man will be able to hold
his own in the Senate. Why, | do
not know. Such men may be honest.
but they must be blind Barring
AycOck, there was not stronger
/ speaker in the last campaign than F.
NJ. Simmons. He is man of scholar
! ship and Of culture, and withal. Of
! fine social qualities. In mental vigor
no man yet mentioned for the exalted
/ place to which he aspires is his supe
. riOr.
+ ard. He is generous. He gave
freely Of his money as well as his
time to the last campaign. No man
III all North Carolina, in proportion
to his ability, gave more actual cash
to advance our cause. | sincerely
doubt whether any other gave so
much. | learn that his campaign
contributions aggregated two thou
sand dollars.
4th. He is clean have heard a
good deal Of sneering at the idea Of
sending a 'politician" to the Senate
Then who. pray, will we send? 1t
does not lie in our mouths to talk
about ''Short-cuts in politics. If I,
man is fit to plan and conduct a cam
pal On in a great State, and outline
the policy to be pursued, he is GER
tainly lit to represent it in our hi gh-
est Legislative body. Will we follow
him in one place and repudiate him
in another? Are we hypocrites? That
argument falls to the ground unless
we want to brand ourselves. But the
truth is, Mr.. Simmons made an open,
manly fight all the way through, and
unhorsed his opponents by his match
less skill. He was simply too much
for the enemy. That is all. | have
never heard his character assailed.
He is sober, honest and capable. He
loves his State with passionate devo-
ton He is not Roman Catholic, as
some have alleged.
9TH. He is poor. He is not able to
'dispense hospitality in Washing
ton. Thank the Lord this is true,
and it is one great reason why want
to see him 90 there. We are having
little too much hospitality dis
pensed already. Our Senators are
becoming little too lordly. Mr..
Simmons can find plenty to do with
out spending his time fattening rich
fools. Yes, he is poor, and we helped
to make him poor. He borrowed
money on his private property, | am
told, to help defray the expenses of
the campaign. But. fellow citizens,
shall we east him aside because of his
povertve Will as shameless an argu-
mrut as this find acceptance in North
Carolina? trow not.
9th. The Republicans and Popu-
lists are praying night and day for
anybody on earth except Simmons.
And if the other five reasons are
worthless this last is reason enough
for me to stand by Simmons.
COUNTRYMAN.