The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1908-05-15
LETTER FROM Mr.. JOHN BEARD
Pensacola, Fla, May IL, 1908.

About week ago my attention was
directed to a letter from Hon. w. H.
Milton, addressed to several of the
state papers, in which letter Mr.. Mil
ton, after misquoting what had stat
ed in speeches in different sections Of
the state in reference to his appoint
ment to the United States senate by
Governor Broward
1t had intended answering this let
! ter before, but my time has been 50
| fully occupied with more important
matters that | could not sooner do SO.
In a speech in Mariana On the
night OF May I, / stated that | was
! glad to see Senator Milton in the au-
] dience. as what / had stated in refer
ence 20 his appointment to the Unit
/ ed States senate, in speeches that |
had made in other parts of the state.
/ would then repeat, and would con-
tinUe to repeat until the end of the
campaign. 1 thareupOn criticized Gov
ernOr BrOward for the appointment
of Mr.. Milton in the same language
and in the same manner that | had
in my speeches in other parts of the
state. Mr.. Milton, being then pres
ent. had an opportunity to reply, but
did not avail himself of it,
Mr.. Milton, in his letter, develops
the fact that he is connected with to
q greater extent and has far greater
corporate interests than I had sup
posed before reading his letter.
Mr.. Milton now repeats this letter
by publication in a supplement to the
Mariana Times-Courier, headed,
United States Senator Milton and
Sheriff Lewis Pronounce Political
Charges False"
Of course I have nothing TO do with
and am not interested in this publ
cation further than to its references
to me.
In this publication this adj interim
senator by grace of Governor Brow
ard. also says that Mr.. Beard is too
we'll known for anyone to take his
candidacy seriously"
Neither Mr.. Milton nor anyone else
can or Will question my ability AMI
fitness for the position to which | as
pire. so he resorts to the stereOtyped
phrase Of all opponents who are lack
/ ing in mental capacity and vigor
But. speaking of things lacking u
seriousness the joke Of the decade,
upon both the senate of the United
States and the people of Florida, is
the spectacle or Hon, w. H. Milton as
a member of that great deliberativo
body which has been graced by such
statesmen as Webster, Clay, Calhoun,
Davis ana Hill-Senator Milton, who
as a member Of the Florida legisla-
ture, scarcely attained the mental
standing of average mediocrity!
He says that he considers his ap-
lpointment as an honor to himself AMI
a compliment to the section in which
he lives.
As to the honor TO Senator Milton
there can be no possible doubt, but
as 10 the compliment to the section
in which he lives, | think that if q
| popular vote were taken in his sec
/ ton our ad interim senator would
find that quite a large majority Of
his fellow citizens of that same sec
ton differ with the ad Interim senate"
as to the compliment.
I Judge this by the fact that when
/ he was a candidate for the nominal
ton for governor in 1900, there was
no uprising or insistence upon the
part of the democrats of west Florida
that that compliment be conferred up-
on their section.
Governor Broward. whom he is now
so enthusiastically supporting for the
/ United States senate, and who, in
this article, he so fulsOmely fiatterS,
was a delegate from Duval county 20
the convention of 1900, and was not
then enthusiastically disposed to con.
fer the honor of governor upon west
/ Florida in the person of Senator Mil
I ton.
Things are great or small only by
comparison. If my candidacy for the
United States senate is not in the
opinion of Senator Milton, taken 50
riously by any one, l will simply say
that its lack of seriOusn ass is lost to
the average Floridian in the magni
/ tude of the JOKE of W. H Milton. a
interim United States senator by
grace of his eXcellency, Napoleon B
/ Broward Respectfully,
JOHN S. BEARD.