The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1904-06-30
HON. (. W. POU.
Speech Delivered by Him at the Fourth
District Democratic Convention in
Raleigh Which Unanimously Re-
nominated Him Without Opposition
for Third Term in Congress.
Mr.. Chairman and Gentlemen of th

nominated Him Without Opposition
for Third Term in Congress.
Mr.. Chairman and Gentlemen of the
Convention:
wish ] were able to express what
| feel at this moment, but | cannot.
The honor which you have conferred
upon me is greater than / have dared
allow myself to hope for. In my
heart ] know that during my short
service in Congress | have tried to
serve my people faithfully. know l
have never been false to any man. l
dare to say this much, and yet Icould
not feel that my services have been
such as to entitle me to the unani-
nous instruction of the great intelli-
gent Democratic party of the Fourth
district. TO say that l am grateful
for this honor is to use but a COM
mOnplace expression. OF course |
am proud of this nomination, and
the manner in which it is conferred.
AS long as | live | shall remember
this day with pride
But there is something more wish
to say respecting the action Of this
convention. promise you here and
now it shall serve to impress me with
deep and abiding obligation of the
generous Democracy which is willing
to trust me as its servant for another
time in Congress. Iwant the humblest
man in the ranks of our party to feel
that | am always ready to serve him
when it is i'll my power to do SO.
Yes, if | am elected in November, las
surely | will be, if l live) | shall ell
deavOr to make even a better Repre-
sentative than the man who will be
put forward to oppose me by our
friends, the enemy; and when, with
your help, we shall have carried the
old Fourth once more by an over
Whelming Democratic majority. |
want every one of our Republican
friends to feel at perfect liberty to
call upon me whenever / can render
them proper service at our National
capital.
Now. gentlemen, if | had known
that | was to be nominated here to-
day | could have prepared a speech,
but l have not come upon this plat
form in response to the notification
OF your committee to make a pOliti-
cal speech. Let us rather call it a
sort OF heart to heart talk. A great
convention will be held in Greensboro
tomorrow. One of the most magnifi-
cent bodies of men ever gathered
together in the State will assemble
there; for there will be more Demo-
crats there than have ever attended
Il convention in the history of this
State. 1t will not be a convention
| of revenue officers, but all classes and
all conditions, from the highest to
the hunblest, will have their servants
there to do the bidding OF the Demo
cratic hosts of the State. Great
speeches, sounding the keynote OF
the campaign upon which we enter,
will be delivered In advance of that
convention | shall not presume to
outline the policies of our party
Won't any man feel proud to look
upon that convention and have it in
his power to say: "These are my
people. | am one of them"
Pardon me for giving you little
incident personal to myself AS long
as | can remember | have been a
Democrat. When l was six years old
my father was a member of a Gen
eral Assembly of North Carolina
that was a disgrace to the State
One night when he came home from
Raleigh heard him tell my mother
that the Republicans in that Genera
Assembly were acting like gang O
thieves. AS he has now passed Ovel
to the great majority think that
may recall that in that notorious
body for many long months he stooC
shoulder to shoulder with Plato Dur
ham. Thomas J. Jarvis, John W
/ Graham and the little handful o
patriots who tried to stay the hanC
of the vandals and thieves who haC
taken possession of our State. From
that day until this good hour have
felt that North Carolina was never
safe in the hands of. any party but
ours. True. we have been defeated
time and again in our efforts to ge'
control of the National Government
True, that once since then our op
ponents captured the State, but
looking back upon the history o
both parties, we may assert, will
perfect truth, that the old Demo
cratic party has always meant to dt
right, for it is not willing to barte
away honor and conscience in orde
to succeed. Our enemies, now intOXi
Gated by a long lease of power in TIN
nation, arrogantly declare that the,
will certainly win and that we ar
without issues. l seem to remembe
that there was q man named NapO
leon, who, at one time had every Ia
ton in Europe almost at his feet.
seem to remember that this man Ma
poleon, drunk with power, fought on
battle too many; that he went dow
in everlasting defeat and died, bar
ished from the face of mankind upol
q lonely rock in the sea.
So it will be with our Republica
enemies. They are lead by chea
imitator OF this great tyrant. A ma
who despises the will OF the people
, A man who has a contempt for th
Constitution. A man who pays on
the peoples money without warran
or law. A man who makes law witt
out the assent of the National Legis
lature. In the year of grace, 1904
this man, leading the Republica
hosts, is preparing to fight one bat
tie too many. That battle will b
, the Waterloo of the Republica
party. They tell Us We have no issues