The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1906-02-01
PatterSOn's Knock .0Ht Blow.

Several days ago Gov. Cox made an
assault on Gen. Patterson's record as
attorney general Of Shelby county.
This was done to break the force of the
Legislative charges made against Gov.
Cox, from which Gen. Patterson has
freely quoted. The report of the legis-
lative investigating committee is final.
1t has never been reversed by any
court in the land. 1t could not be.
Every charge made in that report
stands unchallenged today, and the av-
erage citizen can draw his own infer
ences therefrom. No man with an un.
disputed record like that has any bust
ness to be governor of Tennessee.
The charges brought by Gov. Cox
are of two kinds, those that were false
and those which charged Gen. Patter-
son with doing something which as at
torney-general he was comnelled to do
and which were perfectly legitimate.
Where Cox speaks of Gen. Patterson,
for instance, as indicting certain indi-
viduals or "nolle pressing" certain cas-
es, he merely shows his profound ig-
norance of the laws of the state and
that he has been imposed on by those
who were as ignorant as himself.
Where Cox alleges that number Of
indictments were brought against Ward
and other individuals, Gen. Patterson
shows that he did nothing that was i'm
proper or that any other alert attorney
general would not have done. Take
the Ward case, for instance. About 100
indictments were brought against
Ward. He was accused Of making way
with about 100000. There were fully
100 individual cases of larcency against
him. 1t was entirely proper that these
cases should be brought, and they
could hardly be punched, as each in
volved separate transaction. Instead
of getting 81, 900 in fees for prosecuting
these cases, Gen. Patterson was out in
pocket for prosecuting them. There
was, however, an entire absence of i'm
propriety IN Gen. Patterson's conduct
of these cases; and he proves conclu-
sively that every one of Cox's charges
is untrue, or is a distortion of perfect
ly legitimate transaction. Gen. Pat
terson conducted his Office as every
other encouragement in the state
conducts his office. He wGs known as
one of the ablest and most conscien-
tious prosecutors in Tennessee, and
there is absolutely no flaw in his re-
cord involving either his honor or his
capacity.
Coxs sensational speech is sensation
al mainly in that it distorts the facts
and perverts the truth. The fair-mind
ed people of Tennessee will take it a
its own value, They will not sanction
unwarranted abuse. They will inves
tigate all charges from whatever source
they emanate, and they will promptly
place the seal of their condemnation or
the man who bears false witness.
When Gen. Patterson began his cam
paign he notified Gov. Cox that he
would make legitimate comments or
: his public record and invited him to {
Joint debate. The governor declined
the invitation; but he has since gonC
about the state delivering speeches
} that he has not the brains to write, ant
declining to meet Gen. Patterson face
to face on the stump. Gen. Patterson
| again invites him to joint debate anC
} if Cox has any remnants of manhood
in him he will accept the challengeant
,, let the people Judge between him aut
his opponent, II he does not accep
( he will prove to the people of Tennes
see that he has not the courage to de
fend his own record or to assail that O
: his opponent to his opponents face. -
Commercial-Appeal.