The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-06-18
North Carolina a Hoodoo
for Candidates.
A TRIO BEFORE HIM
His Friends Say lie Did Not say What
1t Has Been ~aii lie said
But His Stenographcr Was
on Base at the Critical
NnmcDt.
Moment.
By THOMAS j. \

with him on the occasion OF ms N4s4l
TO North Carolina - be certain that
all or his public u~;terances should be
correctly quoted. and now he finds
that all his efforts have been in vain
There is no question about what the
Speaker said when he made his two
set speeches in Gullford for the rea-
son that his stenographer was on 10
the job. but what he did say in a brief
~fmpronptu speech at a banquet gwen
by students is now apparently a mat
ter OF controversy. There was no
s~tenographer to chronicle the speech
IN question, and that is why there is
so much fuss about what the Speaker
is alleged to have said. Much has
been written on the subject under a
Raleigh date line, and the end IS not
yet in sight. Uncle Joe's friends do
not hesitate TO say that he did not
make the remarks credited TO him. and
they declare the incident is too small
TO Justify or warrant a controversy.
heir silence.
As the story goes Uncle Joe put him
self on record TO the effect that the
South is right in its attitude toward
the negro. Mr. Cannon's friends who
accompanied him on his trip to North
Carolina have been quoted as saying
that the Speaker made no such state
ment. n that nothing he said could
be so construed. Mr.. O. z. Menden-
hall. who presided at the banquet, is
quoted as having said that Mr.. Can
non did make the statement attribu-
ted to him. Such is the status of the
case to date.
The friends of Speaker Cannon say
with particular reference to this in
cident that he has made it a rule Of
his life never to discuss local questions
when making trips such as he made
~ N-A-th. TTo yn1ina II &c iaRln rcd that
so closely does he follow this princi-
pie that it would have been impossi-
bic for him to have expressed an opin-
ion on a question so acute. The state
ment is also made by friends OF the
Speaker that he went to North Caro-
lima with the avowed determination
to eschew all subjects political. The
Speaker, it is claimed. had a stenog-
rapher him 50 as
to avoid the very possibil-
ity of being m~isquoted. The Speaker
was impressed. according to his
friends, that the occasion was one
which forbade the discussion by him
Of political questions, and that he
hesitatad for some time about making
the trip at all.
The part of Mr.. Cannon's unreport-
ed speech that was ~miscOnstrued was
this: The Speaker it is stated, said
that his generation has its problems,
AADiIt 1 NNACF - ~ NiASAA NN1C
problems OF other generations. and
that each section had its problems.
and that he believed it is best for each
State and each section to solve its
own problems. 1t is denied that the
Speaker mentioned the negro or the
negro question.
Wise to the Political Game.
Speaker Cannon is a strong Presi-
Dental possibility. and it is rather diff
fa1I1t tn haljpyn thnt he wound with
malice aforethought, tackle the
question. If he is guilty as accused
he has fooled his friends. who believe
him to be too smart and experienced
a politician to become 50 e~ntangled.
The negro question is n loaded with
dynamite, especially from the stand
point OF national politics. Mr.. Roose-
welt, who now has the negroes on his
trail after having done them numer-
Gus. favors, would readily testify to the
accuracy of this observation.
The Cannon people have discovered
a motive for his so-called effort to
distort the Speakers remarks and to
misrepresent him. They allow as how
AS Taft, Fairbanks, Shaw, and other
prominent Republicans in the nation
visited North Carolina. and delivered
notable political u~tterances, and that
some people thought it was up to
Uncle Joe to do likewise. There was
no politics in the Speakers two set
speeches. and the sensationalists Just
had to say something out of the ordin-
ary for him. At least this is the view
of those who accompanied the Speaker
to the State.
Remember SHAW and Fairbanks.
The Speaker had doubts about
keeping his North Carolina engage
ment after reading a story to the effect
that the State is the mecca towards
which all Republican Presidential
o--;-a,%- 1oIn tnrnnl thni- lo.l-
This is what his friends say.
He probably was alarmed over
what happened to the distinguished
gentleman who preceded him. There
was the Honorable Leslie NJ. Shaw.
who at the time was able &c boast of
a Presidential boom, which has since
faded into political oblivion. Mr..
shaw skipped across Western Carolina
preaching the beauties of st~and-pat-
ism. The IOwan's stock in trade is a
good line of jokes and very little ar
gument. So along came John Sharp
Williams and fabbergasted him. The
Shaw boom has been on the decline
ever since, and finally the author Of
it snapped it for an obscure seat in
Wall street.
Then came Charles Warren Fair
banks, better known as the Vice Pres
ident of the United States The elon-
gated Hoosier delivered himself of a
Let Of platitudes. He talked of no.
thing in particular. but stuck to MS
old defamation. which in substance
is. we are living in a gIand and glo-
rious country. It has been the good
fortune of our people to ever follow
the principles AMI teachings Of the
Republican party, which has made
this country the greatest of any age
or time. This grand old party of
/ ours" The Vice President departed
from North Carolina. leaving a cold
wave in his wake It has been fol-
lowing him ever since, and the Fair
banks boomlet has about run is
I course
la Heel Hoodoo for Taft.
The rext invasion Of North Carolina
Republicanism was made by Wi'iaIn
H. Taft. He got IN hot water about
the moment he set foot in the State.
The Secretay Of Wa mad the mis-
take OF giving expression 10 several
truthful observations. When he said
that the troublc with southern Re
rublicaHs generally speaking is that
they are in the party for What few
Offices they can get out Of Il, he hit
them in their vitals. They could have
stood for this remark. but his dec
laration that the Republican party in
the South would he better off # the