Newport daily independent., 1903-08-07


 at LOGO people attended the barbecue at Swifton on Thursday, given un- der the auspices of the Swifton cornet band. The residents of Glass and Bird townships were out in large numbers and representatives of many near by counties and towns were present.
 The speaking of the candidates for governor was the drawing card, though ball game between Alicia and Sulphur Rock and the barbecue contributed toward interesting the crowd.
 The speaking was held i'll the wood- ed pasture east of town from band stand and platform constructed for the purpose. The crowd was largely composed of the supporters of Davis and the other candidates were hardly given fair hearing, as the governor was not only accorded the opening address, but was allowed an hour and half, which, considering the late hour the speaking began, precluded his opponents from tair division of time and threw their addresses when ball game was in progress to catch the crowd.
 Hon. G. L. Grant delivered well prepared address of welcome, voicing the hospitality of the Swifton people.
 He was followed by Hon. John H. Keel, who thanked his hearers for their support in past campaigns and stated his desire to be brief in order to give way to the candidates for gov ernor, whom the people of Glass township had not heard so often as him. He announced that he would not ask for the suffrages of the people again, as politics afforded an honest man no chance to better himself financially and at the end of his pres ent term he would return to his Jack son county farm. He lauded Gov ernor Davis for the enemies he had made as a faithful public servant and introduced him as "the best gov ernor of Arkansas for twenty years. :"
 DAVIS DEPENDS HIS RECORD.
 Governor Davis defended his record as attorney general. He was not from family of quitters and had not lain down when the supreme court had declared the anti trust law un- constitutional. The state had sov- ereign right to refuse entrance to the trust and he had labored with the legislature to secure such a law. Such bill it was, which he placed in the charge of "Jackson county's faith ful representative, John Keel" The senate was arraigned for inconsistent cy in refusing to consider the Keel bill, -simile of the King bill. Powell Clayton's impeachment had never been attempted with all his ras- cality, yet his own humiliation had been sought by his enemies and the chairman of the Investigating commit tee Merriman had been discharged from the "Yankee army" for immoral ity, an army in which immortality was characteristic. He claimed that his expenditures from the contingent fund were less than those of any re- cent governor. During the investi- gation he had neither witnesses nor attorneys. His friends had insisted that he should refuse to attend the meetings, but his wife had said, "Go and if they murder you, we will wrap your body in flag and carry your body for final rest to the little church yard at home." He reviewed the different charges of the investigation and called the finding of the com mittee a miserable straddle, which demanded his vindication by the peo- pie. He called to his aid the old guard and said George Washington or Thomas Jefferson would have run for third term had they ever had the Arkansas legislature to deal with
 Two days ago, the auditor had said the deaf mute school must be closed but he had secured an indemnifyine bond through friends and now "that dirty, filthy Arkansas Gazette, says school will still be closed, unless ar appropriation is me@
 Session of the Iegis