The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1904-09-16

The first gun OF the gubernatorial
campaign in Tennessee was fred at
Jackson on Monday. Gov. Frazier
made no apologies for the record
either of his or former Democratic All
ministrations. and the following Is
what ne had to say:
Ladies and Gentlemen-Two years
ago the people of Tennessee honored
roe by electing me governor Of my ma
tive State by nearly 10000 majority.
After nearly two years of service l
come before you to-day to lay at your
feet the high commission with which
you honOred me, to render to you an
account Of my stewardship, and If |
have discharged with fidelity the sa-
cred trust committed to my hands to
ask of you vote OF confidence and
approval
I come as the representative and
nominee of the Democratic party,
which has, with a single interval of
two years. controlled the government
and administered the affairs of Tennes-
see from 1870 to 1904. Whatever of
good has been accomplished for the
people by legislation or administration
during that long period the Democratic
party is entitled to the credit of it.
No party and no Individual Is per
feet: every party and every individual
makes mistakes, but l assert without
fear Of successful contradiction that
during this long period of ascendancy
the Democratic party, which is the
peoples party. has given to Tennessee
the best. the wisest, the most ecOnOm-
ical and efficient government the-State
has ever enjoyed If this was not true
won the confidence and retained the
respect and approval of the people.
assert it, and 1 propose to prove it,
TINT Notwithstanding the chinquapin
critic isms Of politicians seeking votes
under Democratic rule Tennessee is
enc of the best governed and one of
tho cheapest governed States of this
entire Union. I do not come with any
apology for the record of my party in
the past; none is needed. 1 do not
come as my competitor came in his
opening speech at Rutledge. apologize
Ing for the sins and iniquities of his
party when it was in power in Tennes-
see. Admitting that it had plundered
and oppressed the people; that its gov
eminent was not a good government"
and begging that the people would
throw over It's sins, its wrongs, its in
justice and its iniquities, the mantel Of
forgetfulness and forgiveness. The
people may forgive a party with such
a self-confessed record for the sins Of
the past, but they dare not trust it
with government In the future.
The Democratic party comes not
asking-for pardon and forgiveness for
past wrongs, but. conscious of the rec.
titude Of its purpose, 1t comes with a
clean record of wise, faithful and eco
nomicaI government, and upon that rec
ord appeals with confidence to the
judgment of just and generous peo-
pie. whose interests it has served with
unwavering fidelity
What Is the record Of the Democratic
party in Tennessee and what are some
of the things which 1t has accom-
Ilished which entities it to the conf
dence and support of the people?
When it came into power 1t found
the State In wreck and ruins; its credit
gone, It's treasury empty, and its people
bowed down in poverty and ashes,
struggling under the burdens Of unjust
and excessive taxation imposed upon
them by the Republican party. 1t
found the rate of taxation so cents On
the 500, and still the peoples chart
ties were neglected. the interest on the
public debt unpaid, and the State
bankrupt.
It found that during the reign of the
Republican party from 1862 to 1870 the
State debt had been increased by that
party by the grossest and most glaring
frauds, from $4,000 900 to the appall-
ing sum of $41 100000 1t found that
the Republican party had laid its dirty
hands on the school fund. which had
teen beQueathed by the fathers as a
sacred heritage to the children of Ten
neSsee, and had used a part of 1t to
pay the current expenses of the State
ana the balance they had ruthlessly
squandered and wasted. so that the
State was without public scholS or the
money with which to maintain them.
II found that the convict lease sys-
TEN had been fastened on the peniten-
tiary. and still it was costing the tax
pay SIS VI tue oIdIS duuudIlS MOTS tUttu
SlG0. 900.
It found that the intelligence, the
wealth. the flower of the States spIen-
did manhood, had been DISTINGUISHED
AMI denied a voice in the government
of their own affairs, while ignorant ne
groes and carpet-bag adventures large
Iy did the voting. levied the taxes,
squandered the money and trampled
upon the rights Of the people. The
Democratic party met the problem
with these conditions presented in a
brave and manly spirit and solved