Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1905-10-26
DEMOCRACY AND MIscEstNATloN.

The leaders of the Virginia Democ-
racy have again grown desperate, and
when they become desperate they al
ways get desperately vicious.
A promise was given the people that
the new constitution had permanently
removed the negro question as dis
turbing one from the politics of the
State. But in this campaign, as in the
one last year, we find the Democratic
leaders and press making their last des-
perate stand on the negro, using him,
and matters associated with him, as the
chief argument to drag white voters to
the side of the Democracy.
One of the vilest things that has ever
been done by the State Democratic or
ganization is the recent effort to ira
duce the Hon. L. L. Lewis, by charg-
ing that more than twenty-five years
ago he was an advocate of miscegena-
ton. This accusation has been made
by the procurement of ]. Taylor Ely
son, the arch friend of Virginia politics.
His source of information was Geo. j.
Hundley, one of the circuit court judges
of this State. Judge Hundley says that
in a debate between himself and Judge
Lewis at Chesterfield Courthouse that
Judge Lewis had declared himself OPP
posed to "a bill prohibiting the inter
marriage of the races" This SANDER
was first given to the public by Con-
gresham w. A. Jones, in speech de-
livered at Fredericksburg on the 10th
inst. Judge Lewis Immediately tele-
graphed to the newspapers at Frede-
ricksburg that the charge was utterly
false, and in communication to the
Richmond Dispatch, said: II
desire to say unqualifedly that the
charge is not true" The Richmond
News Leader speaking of the matter
says:
General surprise and regret will be
caused by Congressman W. A. Jones's
assertion in his speech at Fredericks-
burg, that Judge Lewis, the Republican
nominee for Governor of this State, at
one time favored miscegenation. :
Judge Lewis's character and position
make his prompt and indignant and out
spoken denial conclusive. On the face
of it the public would have been skepti-
cal concerning a matter Of that kind
brought up after twenty-four years
and being allowed to slumber through
several close and heated campaigns.
We hope and expect to see
Judge Lewis defeated, but there is no
reason why the character of man who
has borne himself so well and stood so
clear before the people should be as
sailed unnecessarily and, as appears,
unjustly."
The above from our Richmond con-
temporary is manly and honorable
treatment of the matter It's example
should have been followed by the DEM
ocratic organization and press. But
some Of the newspapers that are con-
stantly feeding at the political garbage
pile continue to blow their foul breath
in the face of the reading public, seek
ing to make white men believe that the
viles lander against Judge Lewis is true.
Among these papers are some that
pursued a similar course last year in a
malicious effort to injure Mr.. Roosevelt
and the Republican party. They chung
to and used the Henry S. Baker letter
and the reported incident on the stage
at the National Republican convention,
even after they had been supplied with
abundant evidence that the letter was
fake and the reported incident untrue.
The denial Of Judge Lewis is sufi-