The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1906-03-23


perity, knowing no such word as fail,
went forward to redeem and reclaim
and build up the land; you opened
wide your gates, and invited people
from every section to come into your
midst You encouraged banking you
made taxes low; you assisted in the
reorganization of your railroads and
built new ones where opportunity in.d
vited, to make markets for your
products here and there and every.
where; and soon the hum of the wheel
and the Shrek of the engine were
once more heard throughout the land.
In five years your population doubled
In five more it trebled, and today
scarce sixteen years since you re
ceived your charter Cordele stands
forth the magnificent city that she is
the pride and county seat Of your
newly created county. Is that rec
ord Of which any one of you need fee
ashamed? Can any one Of you fail tc
feel a thrill of pride to know that you
are a citizen of such city? Is there
any one among you who would place
limit upon her future?
It is not for me to tell you of the
humble part which it was my priv
ilege to perform in bringing about
some of these results. Suffice it to-
say, all have acted well their part
and success has so far crowned your
efforts.
Passing from this pleasing subject
in which we are all interested Sc
much, let me call your attention to
the more Immediate purpose Of my
visit here today / come before you
seeking your suffrage in my race for
Congress from this District. You have
already learned that l can be Of ser
vice to you and | assure you that
your interests as well as those OF
every other part of the Third Con
gressional District, will be ever before
me- | believe | can be Of service toI
the people of this District; and, should
| be elected, l pledge myself to dis
charge the duties of this office witt
an eye single to the welfare of ny
District, to the honor of my State and
to the happiness and prosperity of my
country.
There are at present three candi.
dates seeking the Democratic nomina
ton for Congress from this District.
On the 18th Of January l made my
announcement and enumerated few
of the principles which | would ad
vocate should | be elected. On Feb
ruary the 4th Mr. Lewis has followed
my example, and announced a plat
form upon which he seeks your
suffrage. Mr.. Hughes has not yet
made public announcement Of the Is
sues which he represents, and there
fore my remarks to you here today
will be directed chiefly towards a crit
icism of the platform Of Mr. Lewis.
Please understand that | do not de-
sire to take advantage of Mr.. Lewis
absence here today, for l will give
him ample opportunity to refute these
charges in joint debate throughout
the District during the campaign.
Mr. Lewis is a public servant; his
record is public property, and l sim
ply desire to avail myself of the rights
and prerogatives of every freeborn
American citizen to criticise that rec,
ord. In my platform l stated to you
that | would favor the maintenance of
white supremacy beyond peradven-
ture, by a repeal of the Fifteenth
Amendment to our National Constitu
ton, and a suitable modification OF
the Fourteenth Amendment, whereby
the representation in Congress of the
states so affected should not be re.
duced. Three weeks after had
placed myself on record in this par
ticular, Mr.. Lewis steps boldly to the
front and loudly proclaims that he
also is in favor Of the repeal of the
Fifteenth Amendment, but says alb
soutely nothing in regard to the Four
teenth. Mr.. Lewis seems to be utterly
unaware that a repeal Of the Fifteenth
Amendment, without a suitable modi-
iication of the Fourteenth, would re-
duce the representation of the South
ern States in Congress by practically
one-half; and in his haste to set into
the disfranchisement band-wagon, he
climbs hurriedly up, pulls the Fifteenth
Amendment in with him. but leaves
the Fourteenth behind For ten years
Mr. Lewis has represented this Dis
trict in Congress, during which time
he has had ample opportunity to ad.
vocate this measure; but until l saw
fit to bring this matter to the front
Mr.. Lewis was silent upon the issue,
He has never introduced a resolution