Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-03-19

sistently do SO without sacrificing prin-
ciple.
Seeks Only the Best Men.
''The prime tests have applied have
been those of character, fitness and
ability. and when have been dissatis-
fled with what has been offered with.
in my own party lines l have without
hesitation gone to the opposite party
and you are of course aware that /
have repeatedly done this in your own
state of Georgia
Color No Bar to Office.
II certainly cannot treat mere color
as permanent bar to holding office
any more than | could so treat creed
or NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. provided that in
other respects the applicant or incum-
bent is worthy and well behaved
American citizen. Just as little will
treat it as comforting right to hold
office. have scant sympathy with the
man of mere theory who refuses to
face facts, but do you not think that
in the long run it is safer for every
body if we act on the motto all men
up rather than that of some men
down.
Il will ask you to judge not by what
| say, but what during the last sew
enteen months | have actually done.
In your own state of Georgia you are
competent to judge from your own ex-
perience. In the great bulk of the
cases | have reappointed President
Mckinley's appointees. The changes
have made were, as l think you will
agree, changes for the better and not
for the worse. 1t happens have ap-
pointed white man to succeed col
ored man as postmaster at Athens and
surveyor at Atlanta. In south Caro-
lima l have similarly appointed white
postmaster to succeed a colored post
master. Again in South Carolina |
have similarly nominated a colored
man to fill the vacancy in the position
| just as in Georgia | have reappointed
the colored man who is now serving
as collector of the port of Savannah.
Both are fit men.
| See No Cause for Excitement.
why the appointment of one should
cause any more excitement than the
appointment of the other | am wholly
at a loss to imagine. | need hardly
| say that to connect either of these ap.
pointments, for my actions in uphold.
| ing the law at Indianola, with such
question as social equality and negro
domination is as absurd as to connect
them with the nebular hypothesis or
the theory of atoms.
81 have consulted freely with your
own senators and congressman as tc
i hn 40 nfa md Sc
pointee in Georgia concerning whom
there was question. My party advisers
| in the state have been Maj. Hanson
of Macon, Walter johnson OF Atlanta
both of them eX-confederate soldiers
and Henry Stillwell Edwards, also Of
Macon. | believe you will agree with
! me that in no state would it be posi-
BILE to find gentlemen ADLER and more
upright or better qualified to fill the
| positions they have filled with refer
| ence to me-
In every instance where these gen
1 tlemen have united in making a rec
Ommendation | have been able to fol
low their advice
Asks Citizens for Advice.
Am | not right in saying that The
/ ICuSL al OilCSllOlutIS WIlOill i nave dD'
pointed throughout your state are, a:
a body, men and women of high or
der of efficiency and integrity? If yo,
know of any federal officeholder il
Georgia of whom this is not true, pray
i let me know at once. | will welcome
4 testimony from you or from any othel
4 reputable citizen which will tend tt
show that a given public officer is un
worthy; and, most emphatically, shor
will be the thrift of any one who's,
lack of worth is proven
i incidentally | may mention that
/ large percentage of the Incumbent
of federal offices in Georgia unde
me are, as | understand it, of you
own political faith But they are SUP
/ ported by me in every way so long a
they continue to render good ant
" faithful services to the public.
4 This is true of your own state; ant
4 by applying to Thomas Nelson Page o
Virginia. to Gen. Basil Duke of Ken
lucky, to George Crawford of Tennes
see. to John McIlhenny of Louisiana, t.
Judge Jones of Alabama and Edgar S
Wilson of Mississippi-all of then
4 Democrats, and all of them men of TIL
AiiohNoS sot1huih6 III Vic iSSptClIN'
: communication will find that wha
. have done in Georgia stands not a
; the exception but as the rule for wha
] have done throughout the south
Believes He Has Raised Standard.
Il have good reason to believe tina
, my appointees in the different state
newfoundland as the sum of tn
parts is the whole, necessarily in tn
south at large-represent not merel
an improvement upon those who's
. places they took, but upon the whole
higher standard of federal service tina
has hitherto been attained in the CON
munities in question. | may add tina
the proportion of colored men among
! these new appointees is only about on
, in hundred.
'In view of all these facts l hav
been surprised and panied at whs
seems to me the incomprehensible ou
cry in the south about my action
an cutlery apparently started in Ne,
York for reasons wholly unconnecte
with the question nominally at issue
Will Aoid To HE Policv