The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1908-02-14
COL. W.. A. MONTGOMERY FIRES A VERY
HOT SHOT.

9TH inst. obtained the following
signed interview with Col. w. A.
Montgomery, a member of the pris-
On board Of trustees, which was aft
erwards shown in typewriter form
to Hon. Leroy Taylor, trustee from
the northern district, and by him ap-
proved;
Il notice that x-Governor Varda-
man, in the first issue of his sheet,
takes occasion to criticise my action
in regard to what he terms the Ney-
land incident He states that | had
no reason for my position; that |
really did not need a reason.
My knowledge of the governor is
such that if | had nothing else upon
which to base a reason, the fact that
the superintendent of the peniten-
tiary vas his appointee would be
sufficient to convince me that no con-
sideration was given to the interests
of the people Of the state, but that
he was put there to serve the gov
ernor in his political ambitions.
That is one reason.
Again, the superintendent was so
cock-sure of his position that he felt
iis importance to such an extent
that he did not hesitate to treat with
scant courtesy the members Of the
board Of trustees who had been
chosen by the people Of Mississippi
to administer the affairs of the peni-
Tertiary.
ut may be hal the people in their
selection Of these two good-natured
old gentlemen, were acting at ran
dom, but if the truth were known
they would have buried his excel
lency so deep that the fifteenth
amendment would have been re-
pealed and forgotten before he could
be resurrected.
Eek Governor Vardaman IS the
most adroit dodger of the tru,h that
it is my pleasure to know. His
statement as to the position Of the
majority Of the board of trustees is
absolutely Unfair, unjust, and un,
true.
"Ex -Goyernor Vardaman must
know, if he knows anything about
it, that it was stated to the senate
committee that the opposition to the
superintendent was based on the
fact that he had practically turned
the Mississippi penitentiary into a
huge political machine; that the
employees were sent out over the
state to do campaign work for Var
daman, while at the same time they
were kept on the pay roll of the
state. The position of the majority
of the board of trustees is that nc
man is fit to be superintendent OF
the Mississippi penitentiary who
would allow the money Of the state
to be used in paying the campaign
expenses Of any man, even though
that man happened to be the great
advocate of purity in politics, and
the absolute enforcement of politics
from the p~enltentiary management.
Perhaps the ex governor is not
awore that one official chosen to
look after the interests of the state
on the Sunflower farm, left that
place on the End Of July and re-
manned actively in the field in the
eS-governor's interest until after the
first primary, and during all this
time he received money from the
state for services he did not render
to the state, unless it was under
stood by the superintendent that
the ex governor was the state.
In this connection | desire To-
explain Gov. Noel's position. Mem
bers Of the board Of trustees con-
ferred with Gov. Noel, and he stated
to them that be did not desire to
defeat Mr. Neyland on a technically;
that for this reason he would not