Sharp County record., 1901-10-18

as | am informed l was Siaii mo
of that committee. | presume that
Gov Clarke had at that time in his
nossession the transcript OF tie IeXas
lawsuit and that he was tamlllar
then with all the facts he is urging
now.
Rut If he did not know then, he dld
learn IL afterward from the same
source he has his information now
He certainly knew as much then as he
knows now. and if he believes no"
that ANYTHING in my conduct has been
inconsistent with my duty as Dem
ocrat or a gentleman, he must nave
believed it then, and if he believed II
| his duty was plain.
If he believed that the national com
mittee had been deceived. and mad put
an untrue and an unfaithful man at
its head, it was his solemn duty, he
owed it as a matter of honor TO the
! Democrats of Arkansas and OF the
/ whole country, to call the attention OF
| the committee to that fact and to nave
me removed. More than that, II he Dc
lieves today one jot or little of his
own charges against me, it IS MS duty
now to have me removed from lhe
high and responsible position OF chair
manship of the national committee.
Why did he sit still all last year,
during a great national campaign,
when the interests of the whole party
were at stake, when the interests, as
we believe, of the whole government
were at stake. when the presidency was
an issue, when the political life OF Mr..
/ Bryan was being tried why did he slt
still. knowing that | was untrue TO
the party, and did not open his mouth?
He seems now to be greatly stirred
by my insincerity. He calls the atten-
ton of the people of the state to II
vigorously and promptly, and his ennis
saries are industriously circulating all
sorts of stories to induce the people
of the state to believe that 7 have
been unfaithful. Why didn't he do all
this when greater issues were in
volved? Can it be that he is so ut
terly selfish, so completely ABSORBED
in advancing his own personal inter-
est, so utterly regardless of his duty
to the people of the state and the
party as to care nothing for all these
things except so far as they affect
him personally? If this be so, he is
too utterly selfish to be entitled 10
your political sympathy or support.
But this was not true. Gov. Clarke
knows that if he were to make such
charge against me before the ma
tional committee, it would be pa
tional committee it would be pa
tiently and carefully investigated, that
all of the facts would be fully looked
into and understood, anu that that
committee woul0 find and declare the
truth. l do not believe that there is
doubt in his mind that if be were
to present that charge to the commit
tee that it would by practically
unanimous vote decide as Mr.. Bryan
has said, that this is a false charge"
| do not think it a compliment to
| your intelligence to have Gov. Clarke
presume that he can make you believe
| the charge is true which he does not
| dare to bring before the national COM
mittee the body whose duty it is to
take action if this charge is true.
Some men have an idea that the
| body of the people have no dlscrlmln-
alton and judgment, that they can be
stampeded by the use of word, that
if YOU will Just make the charge that
a man is in a trust the charge will
of itself be sufficient, and that the peo-
ple will not stop to determine wheth.
er or not the charge is true. Any man
who so believes underestimates the
intelligence and integrity of the people
of this state | know them better, and
they can be no more hoodwinked in
to believing false charge than can
the national committee.
Certainly no man in the United
| States was more interested in my
good faith in the last campaign than
Mr.. Bryan. He is as competent to
| Judge of the rectitude of my
conduct as Governor Clarke,
and unsolicited by me, and
wholly without my knowledge,
he in an editorial on the first page Of
the Commoner, on July 26, of this
year, pronounced this false charge"
During the whole of the time that the
Republicans had industriously circu-
lated this charge, l never heard of a
man claiming to be Democrat, out
side of the state of Arkansas. either
circulating or pretending to believe it,
until saw the clipping on which Mr..
Bryan based his editorial. 1t seems
that some one who signs himself James
Petit, writing from Washington City,
addressed a note on June "a last to
the Editor of the Globe" in which
he moved" that step down and out.
He said, 1--WE want no schemers or
trust officials in our ranks" Whether
such a man as James Petit lives or
not, | do not know, but I would not
be surprised to find that some Republl.
can politician wrote the paragraph,
signing a fictitious name. Be that as
it may Mr.. Bryan's attention having
been called to this, he states in his
editorial as follows:
This charge was made during the
late campaign, and the editor of the
Commoner investigated it.
This company has been called trust,
but it has none of the characteristics
of trust In the first place it operates
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