The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-06-10
SAM SMALL'S STATEMENTS.
REMARKABLE AND SENSATIONAL
SPEECH AT DUBLIN.

SPEECH AT DUBLIN.
Asserted That Railroads Had Bought
Enough Senator's TO Prevent Any
Anti-RniIrOad Legislation ana
That the Liquor Men Had Already
"Fixed" Enough Senators TO Pre-
vent Passage of a1fhOhfbitiOn Bill.
Supposed to lie Speaking Against
Guerry He SO completely Queered
the EstiII and Terrell Men That
Lnurens County Went Into the
Guerry Column.
Dublin. Ga. June 9.-There is not
much doubt of the fact that the speech
of Rev Sam Small in this city last
Monday made it possible for Guerry to
carry Laurens county. Up to that
time the strongest supporters the state
prohibition candidate had in this coun-
IL would not seriously claim that Lau-
.rens would go for Query.
Mr.. Small came TO Dublin and made
a speech against state prohibition. The
arguments he used were seemingly I'M
answerable. He eloquently advocated
the cause of local option and made
some very telling arguments He
caught the crowd from the start and
had little trouble in holding the at
tention of every one present. The
brilliant flashes of his wit. his pure
English, his oratory all combined to
enthuse the followers of Estill and
Terrell and discourage the supporters
of Query One could not tell from
his speech whether he favored Estill
or Terrell. He made 1t exceedingly
plain, however. that he would be much
pleased al Guerry's defeat.
During the delivery of Mr.. Small's
speech he was frequently heartily APP
plauded. 1t was a mastery effort UNI
til near the close when in a very few
words he spoiled every thing he had
said that was good. He disproved all
of his assertions that there was no
necessity for the election of Query.
and that the railroads and the liquor
men were not in politics. He was try
ing to prove that the governor had no
power that he was mere figure head,
as it were and to substantiate 1T made
the assertion that the railroads did
not care whether Query was elected
or not, because enough senators had
been bought already to block the pas
sage of any railroad legislation that
would be attempted; that no prohibit
ton bill would ever be presented to
Query to sign because the liquor men
had already fixed" enough senators
10 prevent the passage of a state pro-
hibition bill. Continuing, he said that
the railroads and the liquor men were
not interested in the passage of laws.
but only desired TO see that no more
laws were passed. Already more SEN
ators had been offered to the liquor
men and the railroads than they want
ed and they were turning away those
who were willing to sell out with the
remark that they now already had
more than they needed.
Amazed His Audience.
To say that the statement made by
Mr. Small created a sensation puts it
mildly. Men who but a minute before
had been cheering him wildly stared
at him in blank astonishment. So in
tense was the silence in the room that,
but for the noise made by the speak
err, a pin could have been hard to fall
upon the floor. Men leaned far over so
that no word could escape. They hard
ly believed what they had heard Even
the Guerry supporters were astound-
ed at the utterances of the man. Dur
ing ii all, Mr.. Small did not appear
other than sure of his statements. 1t
did not seem to occur to him that he
had made any remarks of a sensa-
tional character.
After the speech was over, the Estil
and Terrell followers congratulated
him over his speech, but their heart
was not in it, They tried to appear
brave, but there is no doubt that they
were much discouraged and democrat
lied. Their enthusiasm was gone
scattered to the four winds by their
own speaker.
During the afternoon of Monday men
could be seen in groups discussing the
question. CONSERVATION reigned. Be-
fore thoroughly confident, the Estill
men became heightened. They put on
bold front and endeavored to appear
calm, but tumult was raging in their
breasts. From that moment the cam
paign was lost. They rallied and
went to work to retrieve the lost
ground, but were not quite able to do
so.
Made Use of by Cherry Men.
Quick to see the advantage gained.
the Query supporters arranged to
have rally Wednesday. Two good
speakers were secured in the person
OF Rev. NJ. A. Jenkens and Col. T. L.
Griner and rousing meeting was held.
he remarks or Mr.. Small We're re-
hashed over and over again by the
speakers They made every point
count. In justice to them it should he
stated that they asserted that they Gid
not believe that what he said was true.
but called upon the people to vote for
Guerry because what was said might
be true.
The work was done. Estill was beat
en- by the speech of man who hoped
TO do harm to his strongest opponent
IN Laurens county. 1t is not known
that any voters were influenced 10
change to Guerry, but men formerly
enthusiasts remained at home and did
not come to the polls. They could not
conscientiously vote against him, hut
would not come out and cast their
votes for the South Georgia candidate.
Thus was county lost to Estill when
1t was as safely for MIN as was his
homo county, Chatba-,