The Grenada sentinel., 1903-07-18
HON. BEN II. WELLS
Presenting Gov. Lonsino. the Up
right Citizen, the True States !.
man and Honest Man, ~
To 4 Large Audience at Raymond
On July ID.

The time was, and IL mas not Deen
SO long ago, when measured by the
history of our race, when slaves were
exported like cattle from the shores
of Great Britain and exposed for sale
in the Roman markets. Those men
and women thus sold into slavery
were supposed to be guilty of witch
craft, debt, blasphemy or theft; it
was supposed that they had forfeited
their right of freedom, they were
said to be incapable OF self govern
ment, and our ancestors sold them. ]
At a late day we quit selling the
British slaves and began trading in
African humanity. We silenced our
conscience then as we are silencing
our conscience now, by saying: 1T
is all right, they are incapable OF
Self-gOvernment.'
Our ancestors were as obscure, as
debased, as ignorant and barbarous
as any race known to history, but
| thanks to that Genius which has
ever presided over the Anglo-Saxon,
the emancipation OF our ancestors
came, and with it came an irrepreS-
sible conflict, which has confded to
our keeping land of universal free
dom. We have long since emerged
from barbarism and have almost
forgotten that we were once barba--
rianS.
In the language Of the great Ben
jamin III. Hill, at Tammany Hall, in
1866, true then and true now,
There was a South OF slavery and
secession, ,-- that South is dead.
There is a South of union and
freedom, thank God that South is
living, breathing, growing every
hour"
I say to you then IL these prosperous
days Of peace, ,ohe" old ani'aosit;es are
buried and forgotten acAen oar State
has only Just begun the march to take
her place us IT. cro,rReet queen sA-ftez
ststerhootl Of states, tie nsan Or 1'refessea.
statesman ,cho comes before you ao,th a
message ,chich is calculated to fan into
flames the slumbering fires o. race orejn-
dice md rocc hatred, IS, ,chrtter hr
kno'cs It or not, az enemy to hts St"te
and people, and Il" enemy to the pros
perity and ,celfure ofthe State Of Ms
s;xsipp; On the other hand It IS my
candid Judgment, that he aoho comes
before yo", h"c;"g turned has eyes to the
rising san Of" better day, content that
the deal past b"ry its dead, ontl aei1ling
to labor for the reinstatement Of our
grand old State az Its one-ttn.e position
Of greatness and Of glory, IS q friend
to this people, and u friend to the pros:
perty and ,celfare Of the State 4f
mississippi.
We have such a one here today:
one who has spent the early years of
his manhood in the classic halls of
our own Mississippi College: who bore
his part around that historic village
in the memorable struggle of 1875:
as an honored citizen of this State;
who is now candidate, seeking to
represent this State as Senator in the
Congress of the United States.
His political enemies, and who in
politics has not his enemies, say that
as Governor he has made mistakes.
He has made the mistake of failing
to use the power and prestige of that
high office to build up a personal
political party In the State of Mis-
sissippi; he has made the mistake, as
Governor of this State, to demand
that the people of this commonwealth
and all of the subordinate officers
should submit themselves to the law,
rather than to reign of anarchy and
and mob rule; he has made the
mistake in the use of appointing
power to look to the best interest OF
the people who elected him, rather
than to his own personal political
promotions; he has made the mistake
of deyoting his energies to the inter-
est of the State rather than the