The Tupelo journal., 1906-08-31
Hon Jeff Truly

Judge JeH Truly, former as
sociate Justice of the Supreme
Court, addressed the people of
Lee county at The Court House
on Saturday last in the interest OF
his candidacy for the Governor.
ship.
Judge Truly was introduced in
the happiest manner possible by,
his warm personal friend and
admirer, Hon. w. M. Cox in ell
oquent and laudatory words
which claimed the immediate
and sympathetic attention OF the
splendid audience who were eager
to hear the distinguished Jurlst.
After a brief and modest &C
acknowledgements of Mr.. Cox's in
PRODUCTION the Judge in an i'm,
pressively frank manner entered
into a discussion of the platform
upon which he seeks the Cover
norship.
He stated that so far as he is
concerned the canvass shall be
conducted upon a high plane,
and after speaking in fine terms
of his five distinguished oppon-
ents requested that his friends
and supporters should not resort
to personal and abusive criticism
of any of them. He then invited
attention to the three principal
planks ofhis platform as follows:
list. An equitable distribution OF
the school fund. End An eauit-
able and uniform assessment OF
property 3rd. Opposition to ltal-
ian immigration.
In discussing the first PROPOSE
ton Judge Truly stated that the
wise and patriotic men who franz
ed the Constitution of 1890 were
bent upon settling the question
of negro domination in the state,
and in the wisest and most pat
riotic way possible removed the
negro, effectually, from politics
by the adoption of the franchise
clause. Realizing that the child
ren of the State would need every
educational advantage to cope
with the new and embarrassing
conditions which now comfort
us, the Convention of 1890 under
took to provide better school fac
ilities for the white children OF
the State, and carrying out that
purpose adopted that section of
lCcnstitution which disburses
school funds according to the ed
ucable population of the different
counties OF the State. The object
of that section was a highly ben
efcal one, but the practical oper
alton of it has proven harmful
to a great majority of the white
children whom it was intended
to benefit. In distributing the
money according to educable pop
ulation the Delta counties which
have a great preponderance OF
negro children get very largely
the advantages of the hill counties
which are settled by white child
ren. To illustration his content
ion he compared Bolivar County
with about nine hundred white
children of school age with an
annual distribution of $33, 900 and
Lee County with 1870 white child
rem and an annual distribution
from the state Of $14, 900. He
cited other glazing inequalities
in the distribution of the school
fund, and showed conclusively
that under the present method
of distribution the negro children
of the Delta go to school for
eight or nine months while child
rem of the hill Counties go to
school for four and six months
and that too on taxes paid by
the white people. He earnestly
urged a change in the method
of distributing the school fund
to the end that all the white chill
dren of the state should have
equal advantages.
He then proceeded to discuss
his second proposition which was
the equitable assessment of prop
erty that the burden of taxes
might fall upon rich and poor
alike. By comparing the assessed
value of lands in the Delta with
other sections of the State Judge
Truly amazed his auditors with
the statement that open lands
of distributing the school fund
in the delta which cannot be
bought for one hundred dollars
per acre are assessed at only ten
dollars per acre and that wild
lands in the Delta which cannot
be bought for less than Forty
dollars per acre are assessed at
six dollars per acre. The lands
of the hill counties and Of the
piney woods of the state have
far greater assessment levied
upon them according to the
market value and therefore pay
an unequal proportion of the tax
es collected by the state. The
Judge stated that the Delta Coun-
ties not only secured an unjust
share of the school fund thereby