The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-08

| personal reference.
 About two weeks ago complaint
 was made to your committee that caused them to consider the question of having my engagement cancelled on account of reports that during the po- | litical campaign. especially at Colum-
 bia City. Indiana, I had uttered incen. diary words against the President. | The reports were based upon my
 words in portraying the invariable
 ending of vaulting ambition which tramples upon others. as it appears i to the best people of the South, Pres
 ident Roosevelt has trampled upon
 their happiness. This invariably ends
 in a downfall. The same reports alleged that a lady
 school-teacher. coming up to me after
 the lecture, said she despised me for l such words.
 "As a matter of fact. the school teacher did not use these words and
 did not refer to this part of my speech,
 as know, but to the part where critf-
 cized the Presidents lawlessness; the
 making of executive appointments against the advice and consent of the
 Senate. as required by the Constitu-
 tion; the infringement of the domain
 of the other coordinate branches of
 the Government; and the writings.
 which justify lynching horse- thieves and advancing the theory that in crises
 the Constitution should be overturned
 and the statutes disregarded. The teacher asked if did not think | speaking of this lawlessness might
 have an fncendiary effect, and pointed
 out that the effect was just the con-
 trary; that my strongest appeal was
 for the sacred observance of law and
 order; that my very strictures of the for l.o F.
 was causing. particularly in the South.
 His Message to Hef1in. l Tn my own state, where several lynchings have occurred recently. have thrown myself into the breach and, at great political risk, publicly demanded the retirement of a Demo- cratic candidate for Congress because he had uttered incendiary words: and called upon all the honest citizens to stem the rising tide of lawlessness. The whole mis-statement was the re- suit Of an adroit political move to try 10 break the effect of my stand for the constitution, and the most incredible part as that the President should act upon sensational incident incorrectly | reported on the heat of the campaign and by sending his photograph and acknowledgement to the schoolteacher.
 
 dignity Ito reports that are absolutely the opposite of the truth.
 Tn letter to the President, on No vember 9. l made known the fact of my steadfast stand for law and order | and my invariable appeal to the peo- pie of my state not to tolerate lawless | acts or incendiary words. Yet, before your committee, and before other com mittees. and before the people of your | city, and before the people at large. I I am still left in this false position, where l was placed by the action of | the President.
 My father was a judge, my grand
 father was judge, and l have been brought up to look upon the law as l sacred, and the first oath I ever took | was to protect and defend the Constftu- l tion of the United States. The inviol- able observance of law Is a part of my | religion and 1t was in devotion to law | and order that took my stand against
 the President, himself, as against the Alabama candidate"
 A Letter to Roosevelt. The letter to which Captain Hobson | referred in his Ashtabula statement,
 was addressed to the President on No-
 vember and was made public by Cap | tain Hobson yesterday for the first | time. It was as follows:
 Greensboro, Ala, Nov. 9, 1904.
 The President, White House, Wash ington, D. C.:
 My Dear MT. President-I write to congratulate you upon your phenome- nal election and upon your statement | that you would not consent to be nom- | mated for a third consecutive term. You cannot conceive the relief this | statement has brought in the South, for | the conviction had formed here that a n fa tion, to remove an obstacle in the way, | you had decided upon and were pur- suing policy to shackle and oppress | the South; even though you brought upon 1t a condition of taxation with | cut proportionate representation. the | rule of ignorance and widespread crime and lawlessness endangering its peace and happiness and the purity of | it's blood.
 Tn this conviction I have fought you to the limit of my power and oppor- | tunity, but your statement now con- vinces me that I have done you a wrong in attributing to you an unholy ambition that would trample upon any object, however sacred. Indeed, your statement clears up much of the gloom | and foreboding with which I went to sleep last night as I thought of the future of my State and it's sister States of the South, and I feel emboldened | to appeal to you to restore to the South ern people the confidence which yes terday's mighty vote shows the rest of | the nation reposes in you.
 Let me assure you, with the abso- lute conviction of the truth. that the South is not only completely loyal to | the Union, but that 1t will proceed with earnestness and devotion to meet the great responsibility laid upon it by Providence,-of working out how the white man and the black man can live together in peace and with mutual helpfulness. The new Constitutions of Southern States are but the first steps to re- move the danger of rule by ignorance. and as soon as confidence is restored a comprehensive movement of proper ed ucation will follow in proportion to the growth of means and resources.
 Conditions i'm Alabama.
 Tn my own State I am urging gem eral education and absolute fairness. not only in the laws but in the enforce ment of the laws. including the law regulating the franchise. and am ap- pealng In almost every public utter ance for all citizens to stand for the sacred observance of law and order not to tolerate incendiary words or lawless deeds
 Public opinion is strong for such