The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-05-15
Mr.. H. A. PAGE WRITES
Re Gives an Explanation of His
Political Views.
SPEAKS FOR HIMSELF, NOT HIS BROTHERS
We Think and Act, He Says, Each Man For
Himself, and We Oifcr in Political
Mai tiers as in Other
Things.

IRlHSS.
The following letter was received yes
terGay from Mr.. Henry A. Page, presi-
dent of the Asheboro and Aberdeen
Railroad:
Major Josephus Daniels, Raleigh, N. C.
My dear old Friend and Playmate:
1t is true you refused to lend me
your speaking trumpet a little
while ago, and afterwards allowed Judge
Clark to use it on me, both directly and
indirectly, in person and by proxy; and
perhaps l ought to be mad at you, but
/ am not, and l address you thus af-
fectionately to prove to you that with
all your faults l love you STILL To
forestalI objection on your part to the
accuracy of my saiutation, | hasten to
admit that you and l were not playmates
in point of locality, that is, our back
yards were too far apart to permit fire.
quent exchange of visits. But it is in
point of time that we must have been
playmates. At the very same time Gust
think of it, that you were chasing sand
fddlers on the historic banks of the Tar.
| was skinning my shins and tearing my
trousers in the black haw bushes of
Wake. Surely then you will allow both
the warmth and accuracy of my greeting
justified? l hope so, for you see, | just
must have somebody to address this let
ter to. That is the new style, you know,
and even if l could afford to be out of
style, there are certain very clear adj
vantages to be gained by addressing let
tiers of this sort to individuals. Besides,
l have heard card players say one must
either follow suit or trump" and l am
out of trumps. So please bear with me,
will you?
Once upon a time / was obliged to
testify on the witness stand that a GER
tain mans character was bad. A little
later l had a letter from him about as
follows: Dear Sir: l was very much sur
prised at your testimony in my case.
am a Democrat; you are Democrat; l
am Methodist, you are a Methodist.
How then could you say that my char
acter was bad? Yours truly,
The presumption is that there can be no
such thing as bad Democrat and that
there should be no difference of opinion
on that point among Methodists. | was
reminded of this old incident when
read the many harsh things Judge Clark
has to say of me in his letter to his dear
friend Col z. J. Holt, published in last
Sundays papers. We seem to have
tolorably poor opinion of each other
notwithstanding the fact that he is
Democrat, l am a Democrat; he is a
Methodist, ! am Methodist l think,
however, that would seem
further apart in our party and
church relationship if the proper
qualifying adjectives should be pre-
fixed to our respective Democracy
ard Methodism. For instance, he is
Populistic Democrat, while ] am a gold
bug Tin the far distant past we would
have said a Mckinley Democrat. His
Methodism is of the rabid anti-Kilgo
type. Mine was more mildly anti-Kilgo,
as long as Judge Clark remained a trus-
tee of Trinity. When he turned against
DR.. Kilgo, that seemed to me the very
best reason in the world why | should
be for him. if l wanted to be right.
When Judge Clark comes over on my
side of the fence, my conscience admon-
ishes me to "git furder" Oh yes
have got one, too, and troublesome
fellow he is at times.) It's funny how
many different sorts of men the term
Methodist includes, isn't it? Starting
way up at the top of the ladder with the
fTe-tried Holiness brethren on down
through the list to the common old back
slider, the fellow who has slid away
back past the starting point, all Metho-
dists. And Democracy has come to be
almost as comprehensive. 1t reminds
me of the lion, lamb, asp cockatrice
sucking child story. The News and OBJ
server, the Charlotte Observer Judge
Clark, Senator Ransom, all claiming
Democracy as their ancestral home.
Even | had been hoping that there might
be Il little piece of the old flag left to
wrap around the fingers | got cut fooling
with the buzz saw"
You know / was not much surprised
that Judge Clark did not like my former
letter, but when Major Wilson's appeared
il did seem to me that the Judges view
of my effort ought to have been modified.
By contrast my remarks became tame
and dull. and | very nearly forgot that
/ had said anything at all about him.
Back in the early days on the Wake
county farm, one summer, had the task
of cutting bands around the bundle OF
wheat as they were led into the threSher.
With big butcher knife, slashing away
at the tough wheat straw, | made a bad
lunge just as the old negro feeder reach
ed for a bundle, and split one of his
fingers wide open. He stuck to his job;
put some narrow strips of plaster across
the cash, and kept on firing the bundles
into the old thresher | felt mighty bad
about it. As he reached out for each
bundle that ugly cash came directly un-
der my eyes, a constant reminder of my
carelessness. The next day that dam
aged hand reached for a piece of iron
which was sliding into the thresher, and
the sharp teeth caught iron and hand at
the same moment. When we got him
out his hand to his wrist was hanging
in shrcds. 1t was a certain sort of re-
lief to me to see that the ugly knife
mark was gone. | am surprised to find