The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1908-07-23
SENATOR M'LAURIN
MAKES DENIAL.
Did Not Use Language Credited
to Him During Jackson Con-
vcntiOn.

vcntiOn.
Weathersby, Miss, July 49,
Hon. D. McCallum, of this place,
received the following letter from
United States Senator A. j. Nc
Laurin in reply to a recent letter of
inquiry he had addressed to Sena-
tor McLaurin:
Brandon, Miss, July II, 1908. =
Hon. D. McCaIlum, Weathersby,
Miss: My Dear Doctor Your
letter of yesterday is received, in
which you say that Governor Var
daman in the Issue says that during
the recent state convention in Jack
son | made talk favoring the ne
gro vote to help the democratic
nominee for president, ETC., etc.;
and you thereuPon ask the ques-
ton: "Did the Issue quote you
correctly?"
have not read all the issues of
the Issue, but | have noticed one
issue in which i was not correctly
quoted. never made any talk in
the convention. All that said
that could have been denorninated
a talk was said in the comm tee on
platform or resolutions, when the
different planks of the platform or
resolutions were being considered.
After the platform had been practi-
cally agreed upon and the commit
tee was about ready to report to
the convention, Governor Varda-
man offered his resolution, and
when he did so | said, in substance,
that while the negro was incapable
of self-government and that did
not believe that either of the three
last amendments, the thirteenth,
fourteenth and fifteenth amend
ments, was constitutionally adopt
ed into the constitution of the Uni
ted States, such resolution as
that offered by Governor Varda-
man could not, and would not, be
adopted in the Denver convention;
and that as the negro holds the
balance of power in a good many
northern states, and Senator Gull
berson, the democratic leader in
the senate, and other democratic
senators, had Unanswered to keep
that vote from going to Judge Taft,
| did not think we ought to need
lessly and uselessly do anything to
cause it to 60 to Judge Taft; that,
as matters now stand, the negroes
in the north will probably not vote
at all, unless they should be in
fluenced by some such action as
the adoption of the resolution
offered by Governor Vardaman to
vote for Judge Taft.
My position was that we should
ignore the negro altogether, that
we should not mention the negro in
cur platform. This was the view
taken by large majority of the
committee on resolutions, for when
the vote was taken on Governor
Vardaman's resolution there was
but one voted for it besides him
self. This action of the committee
voting down the resolution means
that the negro was to be ignored in
our platform.
One newspaper that has long
been malicious and malignant in its
abuse of me and that did not sup
port the democratic ticket in 1896
nor in 1900 and would be glad to
see it defeated this time, expressed
its dissent from, the resolution of
Governor Vardaman, and with the
next breath charged me with
trucking" for 1.-THE negro vote in
the north because | opposed the in
corporation of the resolution into
the platform democracy of the state.
There could be no "truckling" to
the negroes by ignoring them in
our platform. What | said in the
committee was not in the hearing
of any negro, and therefore what |
said could not have been "truck-
ling" to them.
AS | was sure would be the case,
the national democratic convention
at Denver ignored the negro in the
platform as we did in the platform
at Jackson. believe that it is
generally understood that the
national platform was the work of
Col. Bryan. Will the Issue and
other papers that have assailed me
because | advocated silence as to
the negro in our platform denounce
Col. Bryan and the national demo-
cratic convention because the same
thing was done there?
Judge Taft-personally a genial
gentleman-politically stands for
almost everything that is detri-
mental and dangerous to the coun-