Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-23
APPEAL FROM THE SOUTH.
Stirring Speech of Ex-Gov. Bradley OF
Kentucky.

AOAIuShy.
Ex-Governor William o. Bradley OF Ken
lucky, seconding the nomination OF Roose-
welt, said:
Men of the north. We come from the
battle field, consecrated to freedom with
the blood of your brave sons. We are the
custodians of your patriot dead, and each
year commemorate their deeds and decorate
their graves with flowers. In their names.
and by their memories, the disfranchised
south appeals to you for justice. Shall 1t
be said that your sons marched and fought
and died in vain? Shall 1t be said that
nation can exist part slave and part free?
Are people free who are forced to bear the
burden and yet denied the highest prfvi-
lege of citizenship? If it be true that war
rant may not be found in the Constitution
to prevent dsfranchisement, then we
beg that you no longer permit the disfran-
chised and oppressed to be estimated for
the purpose of increasing the electoral
strength of their oppressors.
Though the grape is crushed, and the
grain is ground, they produce neither wine
nor bread for the prosecuted men of the
south.
surrounded by difficulties, striving in
vain to be free, they insunctively turn to
the brave, true man, who has said that he
would not close the door of hope on a strug-
CLING race. The southern republicans are
devoted to him and will follow him with
all the affection and enthusiasm with which
the old Guard followed Napoleon. They
have mistaken faith in his superb courage,
evenhanded justice and unsullied honor
I'VE have not forgotten how, when the
war clouds hung dark in the nations hori-
ION, he sacrificed office and left happy
home, and a beloved wife and children, to
bare his bosom in the storm of battle. The
same patriotism and courage that inspired
him then has animated him throughout his
administration When others stood appalled,
in the presence of the great strike, he
cheerfully and with alacrity, assumed a
responsibility not officially incumbent upon
him, and bravely springing into the breach,
succeeded in procuring a settlement that
brought tranquility to the representatives
of capital and smiles and sunshine into the
faces and homes of the humble laborers.
He unhesitatingly measured swords with
the giant corporation which threatened the
people with wrong and oppression, and
brought 1t into subsection.
He knows how and when to plan, and,
better still, how and when to execute. Alert
of mind he has quickly seized every OPP
portunity. In the procurement of conces-
sions for the Panama canal he accomplish
ed more in few hours than his predeces-
sors accomplished in more than hundred
years He did not attempt to unloOse, he
cut the Gordon knot.
His enemies say that he cannot be trust
ed, but the people know that one who al
ways does the right thing at the right time
and in the right way, is entitled to their
implicit confidence.
His enemies say that he is unsafe. His
record proves that he is unsafe only to the
lawless, the trickster, the CRATER and those
who deny equal protection of the law to
any class of American citizens. But in the
discharge of the great trusts devolved upon
him he has proven a harbor of safety.
His enemies predicted that he would in
yolye the nation in war; but all his vic
tories have been those of diplomacy and
peace. and today he enjoys the respect and
friendship of every foreign power.
He has not been the plfable instrument
IF of He is the
ator not the creature of public sentiment
He is not controlled by popular clamor, but
hews to the line, let the chips fall where
they may. He is not laggard, time
server or an idle dreamer. He loses no OPP
portunity on account of timid doubt or an
noying hesitation. He is not a follower,
tator, but thoroughly original, guided alone
by a clear conception of right and the
genius of common sense.
He boldly and fearlessly advances; he
never sounds the retreat. Imbued with
never-f failing courage, combined with sound
and conservative judgment; brilliant
meteor, yet steady and certain as the sun
in its course; gifted with broad and intel
ligent craftsmanship; fixed in lofty purpose,
he is the embodiment Of American ideas,
American vigor and the most exalted type
Of American manhood.
He was. born to fulfill a mission. That
mission in part accomplished will be COM
pleted in coming years, and his name shall
go ringing down the centuries with those
of the immortal few who were not born to
die
'In Kentucky we have commended against
principalities and powers and the rulers of
Darkness We have, in truth, fought with
all manner of beasts, not at Ephesus-but
at Frankfort. We are nerving ourselves
for the coming conflict, and in November
next hope to break the chains which parti-
san legislation has thrown around us and
restore freedom to the state which gave
birth to Abraham Lincoln and holds within
its bosom the ashes of Henry Clay