The leader., 1904-12-17

letter to every sheriff In the State Of
Mississippi and asked them to give
me the number OF murders that had
been committed in the State from the
1st Of January to the 18th Of Novem-
Der. The replies came that there
were 297 homicides committed OF .
that number 230 were committed by
negroes, and 227 were committed by
negroes on negroes. I want to i'm.
press upon you this fact revealed in
that investigations were all very
young negroes. They average less
than 25 years Of age, and while they
did not state in all the letters, great
many of them stated that the killings
occurred around crap games Now an
article was published in McCaure's
Magazine in December, in which Mr..
Mcclure states that for the year 1903
there was homicide committed in the
United States to every 1856 people.
Well, when you confine this to the
white people of Mississippi, putting
Mississippi's white population at 700,-
600, there were less than one homicide
to every 10000, and if you put the
white population at 100000, the
homicides committed by white men
of the whole population, you will find
that there was less than one homicide
to every $4,000 people. So we are not
so bad, my countrymen, as has been
reported to the world by our own peo-
pie. | have so often said upon the
stump to the people of the State that
there is not a more law-abiding, law
respecting, law-upholding and law
loving people on Gods footstool than
you will find among the white people
of the State of Mississippi"
Gov. Vardaman then entered into
discussion of the negro question and,
touching on this; said:
I'VE should make up our minds to
tell the truth about the situation here
at home, and instead of going to the
congress of the United States and say
ing that there is no distinction made
in Mississippi because of color or pre-
yious condition of servitude, tell the
truth. and. say this: We tried for
many years to live in Mississippi and
Share sovereignty and dominion with
the negro. We saw our institutions
crumbling, we saw the public funds
squandered, we saw the civilization
that our forefathers had fought for
passing away, and the law of self
preservation being the first law, we
observed it. We rose in the majesty
and highest type of Anglo-Saxon man
hood and took the reins of government
out of the hands of the carpetbagger
and negro, and, so help us God, from
now on we will never share any sover-
eighty of dominion with him again.
The governor thought that the
Southern congressman should intro
duce a measure looking to the repeal
of the fifteenth amendment to allow
the States to deal with the question
of suffrage as they saw fit, and not un-
til that was done did he think the ne
gro question would be settled.
Mayor Hemingway, the next speak
er, was introduced and spoke as fol
lows:
"I feel that l am welcoming you to
your own. The site of the original
town of Jackson was given by the
United States of America to the State
of Mississippi for a seat of govern
ment, and by the State to its citizens.
Therefore, you have double claim
upon it, and for this week we are Civ
ing it back to you, to do with as you
please, and we expect to make it
week of pleasure and profit for us all
We want you to see your capital
city, learn of its progress, meet its cit
liens and show the world your pro-
duets.
There has been a widely dissent
mated opinion that the citizens Of
Jackson were entirely supported by
the State institutions, and that it's
people existed from one accession to
another when they replenished their
bank accounts from the strangers
within their gates. But such is not
the case. The State institutions are a
great help to any place, but they have
been here for years, and until the year
1900 the population of Jackson was
not over 5000. In four years it has
almost trebled, and we now have near
ly $4,000 people. To prove that the
by sordid spirit, and that we do not
draw our chief support nor our great
measure of prosperity from the State
institutions, the carnival was con-
| ceived and the people of the Common
wealth invited to visit us.
"You are the first visitors to Great
er Jackson. Our population has just
been increased several thousand by
the extension of the corporate limits,
and from the fourth place among the
cities of Mississippi we are now first
or second. Twenty-eight passenger
trains put 500 passengers through our
union depot every twenty-four hours.
The drummers from our jobbing
houses reach out through the country
| in seven directions and represent a
business of over $7,000,000 per annum
Thirty-seven manufacturing plants
have hundreds of employees, with q
pay roll of over $1,000,000. In 1902
the bank deposits were $1,250,000
now they are over $2,250,000. -Four
years ago there were only two build.
ings as high as three stories, and now
few are constructed under four sto-
ries. The annual output from our
four cotton mills is over $1,000,000.
Our building growth and the estab-
lishment of new enterprises is the
work of home capital
I'VE wanted you to learn of these
things. We wanted to see you and
your products ard to show the world
that our combination of climate, soil
and people is unsurpassed by any
place on the globe. We are proud of
our State institutions, but they are
only an incident-behind them are the
people of Mississippi, and fire may de
stroy these institutions, but we would
still be the capital of Mississippi and
the foremost city of the Common
wealth"
KNoxvlLLE,s COMMITTEE