The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-09-27
MET FOR PARTRIDGE
LARGEST GATHERING IN CAMPAIGN
FOR ORDINARY.
WERE MANY WARM SPEECHES.
wELL-KNOwN MEN ADDRESSED
THE ENTHUSIASTIC AUDIENCE.

Speakers Thought Lawyer Should
Have ONCE, and Considered That
There Was Only One Lawyer in
the Race-Judge Twiggs Made a
Chara Address.
The mass meeting of the supporters
| of Mr.. Walter c. Hartridge, in his race
for ordinary of the county, that was
held at Masonic Temple last night,
surpassed in interest, size and import
ance anything of like character that
has been held since the campaign be-
| gan.
In the character of the men who
! composed the audience of more than
500 and the standing of those men in
the community, the personnel of the
| chairman and speakers. the speeches
| themselves, among the best to which
political audience in Savannah has list
ened for many a year and from every
standpoint of estimation or COMPARE
son, the meeting was altogether unique
! in the history of the campaign. 1t set
a new pace for the other candidates to
follow. The hall was filled. A band
began to play and the crowd to yell
before the meeting was called to order,
and from that time until Mr.. Hart
ridge, the last speaker, concluded an
address that was red-hot from begin
ming to end, the interest never waver-
ed. The Hartridge gauntlet was thrown
down to the other candidates amid
suspicious surroundings.
Mr.. j. Randolph Anderson was chair
man. Mr.. Anderson said he was proud
to see that such an audience had as
sembled to aid in the effort to carry the
| banner of Hartridge to vic
tory. He said that there
were many evils, apparently, that
! threatened the city. He spoke of the
drink evil, the Importance of which he
! felt had been slightly overestimated.
1T seems" he said, that while 1
can take drink on Sunday when my
family is in the city, l am not to be
allowed to do so when my family is
out of the city, and I take my meals
at my club. The drink evil has as
sumed large proportions, and the clergy
are enlisted in the effort to suppress
| it. One reverend gentleman, in the
effort to pluck the mote from his broth
er's eye, has been so headstrong that
he has forgotten the Scriptural warn
| ing, Judge not, lest We be judged. +"
ed that he knew all three of the can
didates for ordinary, Mr.. Hartridge,
Mr.. Collins and Capt. McAlpin. He
seemed not to know or to have forgot
ten that Mr.. Lazaron was also in the
race, for he did not mention that can
didate in his discussion of the campaign
issues. He spoke in high terms of the
business ability of Mr.. Collins, of his
intellectual qualities and standing, but
said that he spoke advisedly and with
full knowledge of Mr.. Collins at
| tainments when he said that the office
of ordinary was not one Mr.. Collins
could fill.
He said it ought to be filed by a
lawyer; that many of the matters that
required the judicial determination of
the judge of the Court of Ordinary were
as important in their nature and as
difficult of decision as those that come
before the judge of either the City or
the Superior Court.
Mr.. Anderson exhorted the audience
to be steadfast in their support of
Mr. Hartridge and introduced Mr.
John E. Schwarz, who concluded his
speech, after discussing the qualfica-
tions needed by an ordinary, by say
ing:
Some one might say there are
three lawyers in the field. Such being
the case, it is your duty to first ascer-
fled for the office. For an answer to
that question, / refer you to the lead
| ing lawyers of Savannah, and l refer
you particularly to the very men Sc
| lected by Mr.. Collins in speech he
| made-Messrs. Mackall Richards and
Adams. Ask them if a lawyer Is nee
essary to fill properly the office of or.
binary; ask them which of the three
| is the best qualified for the office; then
| vote accordingly and I shall be salts
fed.
There are in this campaign no fac
tional lines. In a recent speech made
| by Hon. T. L. Hill in behalf of Mr..
| Collins, he made the remark that Mr..
Lazaron need not expect the firm of
| Wachstein Epstein and Company to
! land him in office. l for one, gentle
men, denounce the attempt to inject
religious or race feelings into the cam
paign. The people have decided once
that politics and religion must be left
| apart. Whether a man be Jew, Cath
! Ollie, Protestant or Mohammedan, he
| is welcome to enlist under the banner
of pure politics and help us to land
| in office the man best qualified for the
| place, Mr.. Walter c. Hartridge"
The next speaker was Mr.. Anton P
Wright. Mr.. Wright said that neither
private malice nor public reprobation
could cast stain upon the name OF
| w dlltI
THE first questions you should ask
yourselves in deciding whom you will
| select as your candidate for ordinary,
are. Is he honest? Is he a man Of
| integrity" To ask such questions of
Walter Hartridge is to answer. No
good man would care to deny it; no
bad man would dare.
THE next question you should ask
! yourselves is whether the candidate you
have chosen is a man of ability. You
| need not concern yourselves with the
| labor problem nor the question of SUI
burban improvements. Neither will be
settled nor affected by this campaign.
| What under the shining sun, will some
| body tell me. has the question of su-
burban Improvements to do with the
election for ordinary? The only subur-
| ban Improvement / can imagine the
ordinary interested in is a graveyard
to contain the remains of those for
whose estates he is called upon to
| care"
The chairman next introduced Mr..
Joseph NJ. Dreyer. who spoke briefly.
Mr.. Dreyer said the question of vote
buying was the only one at issue. and
it was at once useless and foolish to
inject into the controversy extraneous
and irrevelant matters.
Mr.. Charles G.. Edwards was the
next speaker. He warned those labor
ing men who had been enticed into
allegiance to one or another of the