The Tupelo journal., 1907-07-26
Candidates, Canvassing
and So Along
BY COL. W. L.

The times coming, and it's
not long, when there will be 3
rafting of the dry bones, as il
were, and a wonderful thinning
out in the hill, among the candi-
dates for Lee County. You know
in the spring our corn would be
a failure unless we thinned it
out from one to two stalks at a
place, or in the hill, as we used
to plant it in the olden time. So,
for most Of the county and dis
trict Offices, the aspirants are
too thick in the hill, and unless
thinned out it is probable we
would never make a nomination.
But when we get them spalsely
settled, as it were, we have good
hope of doing business satisfac-
tory to one or the other Of the
parties. But won't there be
many sad faces by midnight on
the first day of August? l have
often thought | would not shoot
the candle for the game, even
with almost a certainty of sue
cess. The wonderful anxiety as
the time draws on, the many
sleepless nights, calculating how
and by what means success may
reasonably be expected, and the
dread of some report which new
er entered mortal head, and the
fear Of something which truth
and uprightness will not tolerate,
though not a crime, but only
some weakness or littleness,
which big hearted men frown
upon. You see we have about
one hundred candidates running
for Office, and in that number
you have a representative high
ness and littleness of the citizen
ship of the county. | have talked
to many of them, and have yet
to find one who thinks he will
not be in the second primary! |
many years ago | had
a very dear friend running for
and for whom ! felt a
great interest, but iaH,ng the
reports as ! gathered them from
the whole field, | felt sure he
was not in it, and took the liber-
ty to tell him so. 1t is the last
time | have ever told a man he
was not in it. They will not be-
lieVe it-they cannot see it.
"Ah, wad some power the giftie gle
US,
To see ourselves as ithers e US;
1t wad from many a blunder free US,
And foolish notion
Twas talking with an old friend
not long back who assured me
he would be one OF the second
primary men for the office he
sought, and the only question
was who would contest with him
The truth is that everybody who
speaks to me of him, would be
most wonderfully surprised if he
reached in a hundred miles Of
the second chance. You see
they will tell me, but not him.
What they say will not affect my
choice, and | shall, the Lord will
ing, register my vote for him all
the same. | ask him to lay up
this article and look at it after
the election is over. He will
know who | am writing about,
but no one else will. This is on
ly a sample. But unless we had
this weakly credulousness we
would have a tame campaign
every four years. Well, well,
boys, | cannot vote for all of you,
and | lose my vote about as Of
ten as some of you lose the Of
flee you seek, and regret it about
as much. Let us say, Il will
have as good officer as anyone
else, let the tide turn as it may
There is one good result from an
election which | have noticed,
and that is it calls in the skill,
knowledge and ingenuity of the
defeated candidates to account
for the reason of their defeat. |
like to see men exercise their
wits, and here is as fine play for
it as | have ever seen. Some
right hard things occur some
times in relation to promises to
vote for a candidate at a certain
box, and then the poor fellow
not receive a vote at the pre-
cinct. | knew a man running
for office once who swore six
teen different voters promised to
vote for him at a voting precinct
where he received not a vote! He
said he had charity enough to
wish he might have received one
vote there that each of the six
teen might claim to have cast it.
| had a special friend running
for office one time in Lee county,
and he and | planned for one of
his best friends to go to a GER
tain box and work for him, as
was the custom in the long ago,
and 10 ard behold! when the
votes were counted at that box,
not a vote Gu ne get! And what
do you think was the excuse he
made? Forgot to vote himself