Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1908-06-03
Communicated
Communicated
DUDLEY M. HUGHES
CONTINUESiTO
Be FRANK

You will observe from reading the
pamphlet just mailed to the voters
of the District that | have in a
spirit of perfect fairness submitted
the entire correspondence between
Mr.. Dodson and myself with refer
ence to the disposition of the letters
in my possession.
Immediately upon receipt of these
letters in the city of Macon, | took
the first train for Americas and ad-
vised Mr.. Dodson as quickly as pos
sibly of my possession of them, that
| was in no sense guilty of wrong
doing in connection with these let
ters and invited him to a conference.
All of which fully appears by refer
ence to pamphlet above. referred to-
Mr.. Dodson replies by charging me
with the responsibility for theft, threa-
tens in every paper of the district to
publish my letter of May 26th and
his reply to the same and remarks,
advise me Immediately if you have
any objection to publishing your let
ter | replied; you have my full
consent to make public my letter of
the 26th inst" But he does not pub
lish my letter. On the contrary, he
publishes his reply and this is fol-
lowed up with an open letter from
Congressman Lewis in which he does
not deny the authenticity of the let
tiers, which showed the unparalleled
corruption, of which he is guilty
throughout the district The suppress
sion Of my letter after their threat
to publish it and after my full per-
mission that they should do so, the
underhanded manner in which they
sought to suppress my open and
frank communication and my offer to
let honorable men determine between
US, has pulled the bride off so far
as | am concerned.
On Saturday, the Both inst, | laid
bare the evidences of corruption to
carry the various militia districts by
the shameless use of whiskey and
money before the people of Hawkins
vile. | did this in the course of my
canvass, it is true, but not so much
to secure my own election, as to ex-
pose the methods by which a wicked
and INSCRIPTIONS man and his not
less wicked and INSCRIPTIONS agent
has held and is seeking to continue
his hold on the proud position of
Representative of the honest people
of the Third Congressional district.
l am ready to meet the issue
squarely in any form in which it is
presented, but l have not taken
this course without careful consulta-
ton with men of the highest charac-
ter throughout my district and with
lawyers whose opinion is entitled to
respect everywhere.
A printed pamphlet containing the
evidences of guilt of Messrs. Dodson
and Lewis against the election laws
placed before the eyes of the up
right and conscientious electors of
the district and if possible, in time
to give Mr.. Lewis the opportunity to
disprove the genuineness of this
proof The delay has been caused by
the refusal of Messrs. Dodson and
Lewis to frankly and promptly meet
my offer of the 26th inst, and by the
impossibility of having the proof
printed at an earlier date
With every opportunity to inspect
and disprove the authenticity of the
letters, Messrs. Dodson and Lewis
have refused to do either They ad-
nit that many letters are missing
from their files, their genuineness,
therefore, cannot be denied 1 rely
upon my character as a gentleman
and man of honor to disprove the
dirty inuendoes of Messrs. Dodson
and Lewis as to how the evidence of
their guilt came to my knowledge.
frankly and fairly submit the
entire correspondence to the calm
and dispassionate judgment of the
voters of the 3rd district of Georgia
and feel that under the circumstan-
ces | owe it as public duty to the
people of the District.
DUDLEY M. HUGHES.