The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-28
A SOUTHERN SPEAKER AND !,
 CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH
By Thomas H. Clark.

pression made upon me by my novel experience as a Southerner campaign ing North, during the fall of 1904. Perhaps the brief account Iithen gave you. if worth anything will not have served to destroy all interest in what here follows:
 l In accepting assignments. was quite clear I should try earnestly to make 1t impossible that any utterance | of mine could be charged with section alism in tone or as being inspired by Southern prejudice" that my task, was. in short, to win votes for the ticket and failing in this discreetly to guard against the loss of any. Ap- preaching my work in so hesitous | spirit, I had an agreeable surprise l when I gave the chairman of the first | meeting that I addressed-this was near the Canadian border in Northern New York-an opportunity to intro- I duce me on his own election. as com ing, either from the city of Washing ton or the State of Alabama. Fore handed researches that I had made in an encyclopedia had disclosed the fact that in the country where I was to | speak, several military companies had been hastily mustered during the Civil War to aid in repelling a rumored Con- federate invasion from the northward. What effect would the lingering recol- lections of these stirring times have on the reception to be given a further,
 later and actual invasion from the southward? My chairman instantly pronounced in favor of Alabama. and If I was then tempted to infer that the distance of my home had laid in some l sort a spell upon him. I realized not only that day, but at every subsequent
 meeting in that State and in other States. the cordial welcome extended ' nf1 veil fN hlrt | out of the essentially fair. open mind ed quality of every Northern audience. | I made 1t a point in nearly every in- l stance to disclaim In the very begin- ming any purpose of putting before the | audience a distinctivelY Southern view l of the political situation. and in par ticular. disclaimed having any message to deliver upon racial conditions in my home State. Then continuing ven- tured to cite Professor DuBois's report published as United States census | bulletin going to show what the Pro- l fessor's own race Is doing in agricul- | ture at the South. vouching Tn myself the perfect industrial liberty the negro enjoys there. and deploring as deeply as my audience. the prevalence of cer- l tain dark crimes the commission of which at intervals so gravely' dishg- ures our life I then made bold to beg them not to countenance the Re- l publican party in the execution of the | threat. aimed at the South. contained in l the Chicago platform. threat, ar gued. that if executed. would inevita- bly imperil the substantially quiet, or derly and prosperous life of both races l white and black alike.
 Cutting myself off in this deliberate fashion from a Southerner's distinctive view of national po1itics-and this view I may here interject, I share to the fullest extent--it became prob lem. taking up broader and higner ground, what issue to debate. It is the experience had in testing one is- | sue after the other and finding them 1 unavailing that seems to throw some 1 light upon the course of the campaign. to have been in a sense, l venture to believe and I trust without presump- | tion, typical of the experience of many other speakers on the Democratic side. By way of clearing the ground I was accustomed to contend the money Gues- | ton was not at issue; that contrary to the pretensions of the Republicans. the credit of preserving the honor of the country in a gravely critical hour and | maintaining a standard of value was due inthe bain to the unshaken courage | of one man, a Democrat and borrow l ed for the occasion Lowelfs fine eulo- BY of MT. Cleveland. comparing him to | my own words. I found MT. Cleve- lands a name to conjure with, always with one exception. The exception was | in a Jersey town, where MT. Bryan had devoted following and with what was doubtless un-needed deference to them. | I referred to the ex-President "as your distinguished fellow-citizen, living in retirement at Princeton" The vague ness of this on the devotion of my | ha fA have been too strong. for the speakers im- mediate purpose. For once the refer ence was received in silence.
 For the first two weeks. I found that when I inquired of chairman what l in his judgment was the best direction to give a speech. what should be em- phasized in view of local conditions. the uniform answer was. "Criticise the President"
 This was not an easy task for va
 rious reasons. personal and otherwise and after a tribute to the engaging
 qualities of the Chief Magistrate, l l criticized his temper and masterful will as exemplif1ed in various and sun dry public acts, steering of course. dis creetly many miles away from any al-
 fusion even to comestibles and the users of comestibles in promoting fra 1 ternity among men. I found it apt to my purpose to take up Secretary Hays revelation made at Jackson. Michigan, where the President was assimilated to Lincoln and in a deeply felt character ization of Lincoln. praising him for his
 breeding gentleness and patience. re-
 curing once more to Lowell: I took from the commemoration ode the lines: How beautiful to see
 Once more a shepherd of mankind
 indeed.
 Who loved his charge, but never loved
 to lead:
 One whose meek mock the people
 joyed to be.
 passing on to a contrast that declar-
 ed and exhibited itself There was
 some response to this. at first. but I
 soon found the Presidents quiet life
 ill shadow at Oyster Bay, contrasting
 with the clamor of the Democratic
 newspapers and speakers was having
 it's effect as a protest against what so
 many had felt from the beginning was an undignified attitude for the party to
 take up I tried to the very best of
 my ability to excite an interest in his
 handling of the canal question. l urged
 that, however. desirable the construc-
 ton of an Isthmian waterway, and.
 however, deftly consummation had
 been assured, the assurance mad not
 come prettily. Must confess l omit Congress had played in abetting the adroit maneuver by which petty re-
 public had been placed on its feet, and
 instantly treated with? So to remind my audience might have been due to