The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-05-04
FEATURES OF OLD TIME
 MISSISSIPPI CAMPAIGN

1 fortunate in having no opposition. For
 the other senatorship the fight Is be-
 tween the present Senator H. D. Money
 and Governor Longino. It will be largely
 joint canvass and conducted on high, [ dgnified grounds
 It Is the fight over the governorshp that the most interest is felt. The can
 ddates are Maj. James K. Vardaman
 Congressman Andrew F. Fox, Senator
 Edwin F. Noel and Judge F. A. Critz. Vardaman is decidedly the strongest in the race. He is a confederate veteran has served in the state senate and Is the editor of the most reactionary paper in the state He began his canvass ten months ago, seventeen months ahead of the election, taking the race question as his platform and insisting that white civilization must be maintained at any cost.
 It was not considered much of an issue at the time, as white supremacy is sup posed to be already thoroughly assured in Mississippi under constitution which shuts the great majority of the negroes from the suffrage. Mr. Roosevelt, how ever, with the Indianola affair gave Var daman a great boom. and while the ex- citement over the Indianola incident has somewhat quieted down since then, Var daman has profited by the momentary attention given to the race question to get well Into the leadership. His propo- sition Is to change the educational sys- tenn of the state by dividing the school taxes between the whites and negroes on
 the basis of the amount paid by each race. As the negroes pay less than one thirtieth of the taxes, whereas they con-
 tribute three-ffths of the children of school age, 1t will be seen that the di- vision of the fund according to race means the closing of most of the negro schools and the practical denial of edu- cation to the negroes.
 The three other candidates for gover- nor are attacking Vardaman. The posi-
 ton of Judge Critz and Senator Noel is that the Vardaman programme Is uncon- stitutional; Congressman Fox goes a step further and declares that there is no race. issue in Mississippi. and that Ma jor Nardaman is only stirring up trouble in trying to call up question as well settled as secession.
 A charge of plagiarism plays it's part in the campaign. Major Vardaman, who is vigorous and eloquent speaker, was chosen as orator on Confederate Mem- orial day. His speech was a brilliant one. but 1t was charged later that the most brilliant portions of it were taken from a speech of Ingersoll over the union dead at Indianapolis.
 It is difficult outside of Mississippi to understand how important the issue has become It Is not so much because of the fact that it is a charge of plagiarism as that an ovation used over the federal dead should be declared over the graves of the confederate dead and that the words of an infidel and atheist should be quoted to the religious people of Mis- sissippi,
 In the speech from which Major Var daman took portion of his address there are some very savage remarks about slavery and the ill-treatment of the negroes in the south, Why ask the Mississippi papers. "did not Major Var daman appropriate that portion of the speech as well2" And there is no reason to doubt that the atheism of Colonel Ingersoll will make not a few of the religious people of Mississippi hesitate to vote for a candidate who reads his speeches and actually quotes from them.
 There is another issue, lurking in the background. behind this race question. which Is giving the candidates great deal of trouble which they have agreed among themselves to keep out of the fight prohibition.
 Mississippi is overwhelmingly in favor of prohibition. and all but eight of it's
 counties absolutely prohibit the sale of 1 liquor. The eight obstinate counties, which contain large towns or are on the sea
 coast near New Orleans and dominated l by the influence of that city. cannot be won over to the cause of white ribbon ism.
 ] The Mississippi prohibitionists propose for the time being to drop local option
 and pass law prohibiting the sale of liquor anywhere in the state. They went before the last legislature, which lodged the question. just as the candidates are
 dodging it today. strong feeling pre- vails that prohibition will force its way to the front and that whisky will divide with the negro the political field.