The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-20
HEFL|N CAUSTIC IN
 CAMP HILL SPEECH
Discusses 1he Attitude ot the
 Federal Courts
TALKS ABOUT THE NEGRO
Gives His Views on Booker Washing ton and the Harm That Will Re suit From the Negro Educa-
 tor Being In Politics.

Nioih the Opellkd NSWS'
 Camp Hill, October 1S-Congressman J. Thomas Heflin, candidate for congress 'n this district, spoke here Saturday to large and enthusiastic audience. Ills speech dwelt at length on lynch law Booker Washington and the charge or Judge Jones to the federal grand Jury at Huntsville. He said
 We deeply deplore lynch law and it is gratifying that our people believe in the enforcement of the laws of jus tice. Lynching is the product of no par tcular section of the country and should be condemned by all who believe in ] law and order. However, 1t will be hard to convince the state loving white man of Alabama that a federal judge is more | courageous or competent to try lynchers | than are our capable and brave circuit | judges to say nothing of the dangerous and radical idea of federal interference | involved in the suggestion. The attempt | to set aside the constitution and laws of sovereign states and to ignore the rights and dignities of local courts raises the questions: Are there no limits and boundary lines around the jurisdiction of federal courts?
 T am truly sorry, fellow citizens, that at this time when they have agitated question that needed no agitation, that the suggestion should come from one in the south, holding high federal posi- ton, that our state institutions are so dull and careless to the demands of civic duty and possessed of so little virtue and strength as to render the state a weak&ing, impotent to enforce the law.
 T do protest that when the federal court in any state assumes jurisdiction of murder, on the ground of the color Of the deceased, it Is usurping the jurisdic- tion which has always, and does now, be- long exclusively to the state courts. And this contention of mine will be sustained by as great a majority of the good law yers of the state my contention that the federal judge when he charged the jury in the Turner peonage case, invaded the sac1 ed province of the jury.
 Critcises Federal Judge.
 Strange that this federal judicial of- fieer should be the first of the many in- genious federal judges who have been appointed throughout the south to dis cover this dangerous and unheard of iurlsdictonal power of the federal courts? It is passing strange that Busteed never discovered this weapon of federal inter- ference.
 'The democratic party Is essentially the party of the people. It Is the father and defender of local government. It has battled with the spirit of greed and usurpation on all the plains of constitu- | tional government. It Is the open enemy of extravaganza and oppression in gov errmental affairs, and stands for economy and justice in all the departments of the civic household. Ever since the formation of this government the states have had to battle for the preservation of rights re- served to them when the constitutional compact was first entered into and guard ed about with the first ten amendments Destroy the democratic party and you will ultimately destroy the present system of self government of the states, and strong, centralized government, with it's one-man power at Washington, will curse the country.
 "The pendulum has under the republi- can administration swung its full length toward the danger line where a central lzed government begins and the demo- cratic party, like Aaron of old, Is stretch Ing forth the healing rod to give the land deliverance.
 No Patience With Washington. 'I have no patience with Booker Wash ington in politics, and no respect for the white man whose hunger for the loaves and fishes of office will cause him to
 
 order to secure his endorsement for job. Time was when the conservative white men of the south thought Booker Washington sincere and in earnest In his professions and conduct along the line of training the negro for useful industry, without any suggestion of political ambi- tions or social equality with the domi nant race, and as long as this was the case they looked upon him with a con siderable degree of approval and good will but change has come over the spirit of his dream with the incoming of the Rooseveltian regime, and, since his dinner at the White House table. since his reign as the Presidents vice-regent in Alabama commenced, and since his more recent frequent acceptance of invitations to dine at the same table with white men and women at the north, these same conservative, patriotic southern white men have come to realize that Booker Washington is changed negro. and an unsafe leader for the negro race by set ting them an example which, if they un- dertake to follow, is fraught with serious concern to the south and will surely pro- yoke. and upheaval, which it is the part of wisdom to prevent.
 Washington in Politics. Yea, the work of his own hand es- taDlsneS the 1act that Booker Washing ton is in politics. Witness letter of his to the President in regard to a certain appointments which he closes with this sentence: T will give you more detailed information regarding other southern ap- pointments when 1 see you, which will be in a few days"
 Aside from the proprieties which the President should have observed in the premises, would it not have been the part of wisdom and sound polity to have refrained from meddling with politics and referred the present to such noble representatives of the southern people and their political sentiments as Nor gan and Pettus. and Bacon and Clay and Culberson and Bailey and a number of others, who stand for what is best and wisest In this section of the country? Had Booker not lived in the south long enough to know that the Anglo-Saxons of this section would not tolerate a ne- gro patronage boss? Did he not know that such a thing would create friction between the races and alienate that good will and cooperation which has hereto fore marked the attitude of the southern white men toward all that really tended to the genuine betterment of the negro race, and without which the fortune of even a Carnegie will not be able to pro- duce any permanent improvement?
 Southern Men Know Negro. The white men of the south know the negro, and he is the best friend that the