The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1903-02-05
A BASE SANDER

ing law providing for the appoint
ment Of county commissioners and
county officers instead of permit
ting the people to elect them as they
do In all other counties Of the state.
In their efforts to try to induce the
Legislature to commit such an out
rage against home rule and loca
self government, they have gone to
the extent Of attempting to basely
SANDER and misrepresent the good
people Of Sampson county. Mr..
John ID. Kerr seems to be at the
head Of this little nest Of hungry
politicians, whom the people Of the
county have repudiated. We quote
below a full report Of his speech
before the committee of the legis-
lature, as reported by the Morning
Post, Democratic paper. 1t is as
follows:
Mr.. Kerr's Speech
1.-THE juries as drawn in Sampson
county, gentlemen of the committee,
are largely Republican and Popu
listic in their makeup, and to such
an extent that the Democrats do not
believe that they can get fair trial
In the court house.
"The special taxes levied by the
county appears by the tax receipts
given out by the collection officer,
amount to about one-fifth of the
total tax levy for the county. Not
withstanding the large amount of
special taxes levied the county is
still heavily indebt, admitted by
the two Populist-Republican repre-
sentatives, Duncan and Owens, to
be over $1,000, and that according
to the tax receipts and calculation
based upon the asled valuation of
the property-over $4,000 had
been collected as special taxes to pay
up an original Indebtedness of less
than $4,000.
1t Is hard to believe that there
can be found in the county a man
so wanting in self-respect and with
80 little regard for whatever repu-
tation he may have who could have
been induced to make such a false
and outrageous statement against
the people Of his own county. OF
course, such an infamous charge did
not go unchallenged. SIMPSONS
two bright, active, and faithful re.
personalities, Messrs. Duncan and
Owens promptly replied to the
SANDER and branded it's every state
mentand line as false. They showed
that In no county in the state are
the juries more fairly drawn and In
no county are their verdicts more
Just that in Sampson. They fur
Their showed that this could b.
proven by every Democratic Judge
who has ever been to the county
They further showed that Demo
cratic Encouragement had put the
county seventeen thousand dollar
In debt before the Populists tool
charge Of county affairs, and tina
since that time the POpulist admin
istration has not only paid its wa,
as 1t has gone, but has reduced tina
Indebtedness to about seven thou
sand dollars.
1t may be true that on the Who'll,
there may have been more Popu
lists and Republicans on the jurie
OF Sampson county than Democrats
But this is necessarily so, unless tn
Populists and Republicans wer
grossly Disseminated against, be
cause very large majority of tn
white voters of the county are POP
uiists and Republicans. And, be
sides, majority of the wealth, in
teliigence and brains of the Demo
cratic party and opposed to that O,
ganization and its leaders and it
methods. The fact that man lik
Mr.. Kerr is at the head of the Dem
ocratic machine in Sampson count
Is sufficient proof that this is sc
But the charge that the meanes
Democrat in the county could nc
get a fair trial from jury even en-
tirely composed Of Populists an
Republicans Is one that no man
any party in the county who hs
any regard for his reputation ft
truth and honesty, will ever max,
Mr.. Kerr will not help his standin
with his own small party followin
Dy making such a charge, for tn
best element Of the Democrat
party in the county will freely a,
NIT that the county has never ha
more capable, fair, courteous, an
ef1cient officers than it has had n,