The Brunswick daily news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1903-1906, 1906-08-11
Eloquent Speaker Delivered
a Pretty and Impressive
Address
IN ADVOCACY Of H0KE SMITH
Estimated that Four Hundred People
Were Present and the Speaker
Was Given the Closest At
tention During His Talk.


a packed audience at the city hall
last night in the interest of the can
didacy of Hon. Hoke Smith in the
impending gubernatorial race. Col.
Berner arrived in the city yesterday
afternoon and was met by speci II
committee appointed by the Hoke
Smith club. He was escorted to the
OglethOrpe hotel where he dined and
later in the evening the same COM
mittee escorted him to the city hal,
where an immense throng had gather
ed to meet him.
Although it was announced that the
address would occur at $50 long be-
fore that hour the court room was
taxed to hold the people. At S,15
O'Clock standing room was at prem
ium and on the suggestion of the
local committee the partition dividing
the council chamber was raised and at
$50 there was not vacant seat in
either of the rooms and the aisles
were used for standing purposes.
Promptly at the indicated hour, a.
M. Zellner, president of the Hoke
Smith club. in very appropriate
manner, introduced the speaker, Col.
Berner did not mince matters in the
slightest. but entered at once into
the issues of the campaign. He paid
a very pretty tribute to Brunswick
and stated that IL years ago he en-
joyed the privilege of addressing a
Glynn county audience. he said al
that time he was speaking for the
supremacy of the democratic party IN
this state and that he was here to-
night on the identical mission that
brought him to Brunswick in 1894.
Mr.. Berner then, in seriatim fash
ion. went over the platform enuncia
ted by Mr.. Smith. He paid hig1
tribute to the personal character OF
the peoples candidate; he had known
him for quarter of a century, social
iy, politically and professionally an
he had always measured up to the
highest character of good citizenship
Mr.. Berner was strong in his advocacy
of negro disfranchisement and just
freight rates and passenger tariffs in
Georgia. He argued that occurrences
of the recent past indicated that the
negro was yet an important factor iG
many counties of the state, and that
MFR. Smiths proposed amendment to
the constitution. while disfranchisins
every negro In the state. would not
deprive single white man of the
right of suffrage. He referred to the
injustice of the fifteenth amendment
TO the constitution of the United
States and insisted that northern hate
was the only reason the ballot was
ever placed in the hands of the ne
groes of the south, and that this was
the first time in forty years the pep
pie of Georgia had ever had the op
portunity of repudiating this outrag,
perpetrated by Thad Staevens and his
cohorts in the east
He explained i've attitude of Mr.
Smith on the poIA rate question as
well as on the general freight ratt
proposition and showed that the peo
pie of Georgia were paying on al
average of &c per cent more monel
for freight rates than was the cas-
in other states of the south.
The speaker took up the PLATFORM
of the four candidates opposing Mr.
Smith, and ridiculed them to the de
light OF the audience. He first pai'
his respects to "Plain" Dick Russei
and showed that during the last 2
years Mr.. Russell has been consis
tent Office holder, and had drawn from
the state Of Georgia practically fift,
thousand dollars in salaries Will
claiming among the people to be
farmer. His "plowing, plowlng, plow
ing" reference to Judge Rus
sell created considerable applaus
from his auditors.
He next handled Big Jim Smith, re
ferred to him as the convict king VIII
had fatfanad nv the convict systeI