The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1903-04-11
HISTORY OF THE STATE
CAMPAIGN OF TODAY.
How rIany Candidates In the Race Tor
dovernor'-Who They re-varda-
mans Inconsistency shown l,p-Fox
the Strongest OF An.

I NsA~ DesVssh~@@ W fktss
I The following history of the present
State campaign will be read with inter.
est, particularly by those who have only
became interested recently since ths
campaign for the gubernatorial once
has assumed such attractive proportions,
It's furnished by the winona corres.
pondent Of the New Orleans Picavune:
i The campaign, which opened here %
day officially, and which Ia the first tis,<
that the candidates for Governor hay<
appeared on the same platform dur
ing the same day, has been going on ia
rather desultory kind of way for some
months past. Each candidate for Goxs
enor has been pursuant his own bcll|
and making his own appointments. Mai
Vardaman, Of Leilore county, was tlst
first candidate TO announce that he
I would be in the race for Governor. His
announcement was made more than d
year ago, and about nine months ago he
began aa active canvass of the State
since which time he has visited and spo-
ken in a majority Of the counties. The
next candidate to announce was Hon,
e. F. Noel, who let it be known last Au-
gust that he would be in the race for
Governor. Mr.. Noel has been making
an active canvass OF the State for the
past several months and has spoken in
about fifty-six Of the seventy five coun-
ties. The next candidate TO make an
nouncement that he was in the race for
Governor was Judge F "A. Critz, OF West
Point, and for the past six months he
has been in the canvass, meeting the
people at the county courts and speak
ing to them in the interest OF his ambi-
tion. The last candidate TO enter was
Hon. A. F. Fox, of Clay county, who
announced from Washington that he
would be in the canvass for Governor.
Since the adjournment of Congress he
has been actively in the field, speaking
at various county sites. All Of the can
didates for Governor who appeared be-
fore the people here today have had ex-
perience in public life. Major Varda-
man has been member OF the Legisla-
ture and Speaker OF the House. He was
a candidate for Governor four years ago,
when Governor Longino was nominated
and once before.
Mr.. Noel is a member OF the present
State Senate, and the author of the
present Primary Election Law, - He has
been district attorney for his district,
and has been prominent for years in his
section OF the State.
Judge F. A. Critz Of West Point, has
also been member Of the Legislature,
and was at one time Speaker pro TEN. OF
the House, having been elected to this
position during. the serious illness Of
Speaker McCool, and Chancellor OF his
district. He is lawyer with large
practice.
Hon. A. F. Fox was, until March A,
a member OF Congress from the Fourth
Mississippi District, from which position
he voluntarily retired and was succeed
cd by Hon. Shed Hill of this place. He
was Federal District Attorney for the
Northern District under Cleveland's
administration. Mr.. Fox, like the
other gentlemen in the race, is law
yer, has been a member of the Legs-
lature, and, among those who know
him, is extremely popular.
The campaign is one Of the most in :
teresting and momentous that has been
held in this State since the adoption oi
the new Constitution. Issues have been
brought into the campaign which arc
new to Mississippi. Major Vardaman
has adopted as his platform division
Of the common school fund according to
the amount Of money each race pays
into the State Treasury. This SO radi.
cal departure for conservative Missis.
sippi that he has stirred up great dea
OF talk in the State. The newspaper
are full Of it, and the platform OF Var.
A daman Is being given general airing
4 II has been pointed out that under tho
Vardaman plan that the negroes woulC
have TO receive half the taxes paid int
the State and that the amount they
would receive would be in excess OF tht
amount that is now spent in negro edu.
cation in Mississippi. 1t has furthei
been pointed out that the plan advocat.
ed by Vardaman is opposed to the Fed
eral Constitution, the Fifteenth amend
ment standing in the way, and that un-
\ til the said amendment is repealed b.
Congress, at the request of three -fourths
OF the States OF this Union, and even i
Vardaman were elected Governor hc
would be powerless to carry out what ht
now advocates. The campaign has MOI
been without its sensational episodes
Vardaman has been going oyer the State
delivering one set speech. In this speech
there is paid a beautiful tribute to the
| Confederate soldier. 1t is now charged
that Vardaman cribbed the eulogy from
one delivered by the great atheist. Bot
Ingersoll, at reunion Of the G. A. r
at Indianapolis some years ago. The
Water Valley Progress, in leading ed
itorial last week, charged that Varda-
man took it from this source, saying thai
it was to be found in Brewers book, en-
titled "The Worlds Best Orations." Al
other feature Of the campaign so far has
been that Vardaman has refused to hav,
any joint debates, saying that they wer,
not practicable, and for that reason, thu
appearance OF all the candidates fol
\ Governor on the stump in this city ha,
been regarded as an event Of the frs
magnitude. Vardaman represents tn,
radical sentiment in the State. He Il
posing as the representative OF thoss