The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1908-08-01
FRANKLIN MAKES
ANSWER TO HILL
The Anonymous Pamphlet In
The LimeIisht. Spicy
Reading.

L nave reau very carefully lion. w
S. Hill'S address to the people of the
fourth congressional district, entitled
ITO the People Of the Fourth Con
greSSional District" in which he de.
nOunced SO-called anonymous
pamphlet" that is being circulated,
he says, with reference to his vote on
what he terms the Mileage bill, -
but which was termed by the press of
the United States as the mileage
Grab, +" the Mileage Steal" and such
other titles as intend to convey the
the unfairneSS Of the action of the
5Sth Congress in the matter.
The pamphlet only contains the
editorial comments of Hon w. J.
Bryan and Hon Tom Watson relative
to the action of Congress on the mile
age proposition which was up before
the 5Sth Congress, together with an
explanation calling the peoples atten-
tiOn to the circumstances in the case.
In order to give full and complete
history Of this pamphlet it becomes
necessary that we discuss what this
action of the 5Sth Congress really
was:
There was a special session Of the
.5Sth Compress which merged into the
regular session of the same Congress,
using the language of Hon Tom Wat
son, there was no recess at ali-nOt
a single minute between one session
and the other" Now the point Of
contention is, were the members of
Congress entitled to mileage when, in
fact, they never left their seatS2 l
note from the Congressional Record Of
that date that ninety distinguished
gentlemen Of that august body voted
for mileage and eighty were recorded
against it, which Of course gave it
passage through the lower house.
1t is not for me to doubt their sim
,cerity or 20 question their integrity IN
the matter, however, , think they
were mistaken. Yet | account for
their mistake :hat the merging of
these two sessions Of Congress must
haYe taken place during the night
time, while the SO apostles Of the peO-
pie were asleep, and in their SlumberS
they must have taken trip home.
journeyed back to the national capi-
tai, and when they awCke Of course
they thought they were justly enti-
tied to mileage. Nor is it for me to
.eriticise this vote: | simply state the
facts as they are in the congressional
record, which will net be denied, and
leave it as question for the honest
nPI
al district to determine the issue
raised by this pamphlet. This pamph-
let only states the facts as shown by
the congressional record. There sure
ly can be no harm in giving to the
people the facts which they arc enti-
tied TO have before casting their vote
in this race for congress. Mr.. Hill is
asking the Democrats OF this district
to endorse his course in congress and
this is part Of his record, and Tie
people are entitled to know his record
and this pamphlet was issued for that
purpose and that purpose alone.
We have refrained from making
any comment On this vote, preferring
to quote what Hon. Tom Watson a
noted eX-CongreSSman, ard Hon. w.
J. Bryan the Democratic snominee for
president, the great standard bearer
of Democracy, have had to say about
the action Of the ninety among whom
happened to be Hon. w. S. Hill, be-
cause ! might be construed in
the light OF an interested witness.
But Mr.. Bryan and Mr.. Watson are
are not interested witnesses, and their !
strong and forcefLl language will have
greater weight than any comment
which | might make And for this |
reason the little pamphlet only stated
the facts to the voters and then cop
led the comments of these two dis
tinguished gentlemen.
But since the issue has been raised
in the matter, and Mr. Hill has writ
ten the article denouncing the pamph-
let, and giving his views on the sub |
ject, | deem it not only my privilege
but my right to answer his argument
which ] submit is weak and untena-
BILE.
Mr., Hill says the law is substianti-
ally in this language, Salaries Of
members Of congress shall be S500OI
per annum, and they shall have as ad-
ditiOnal compensation mileage at the
rate Of 20 cents per mile going and
returning from the national capital at
each session Of congress-" Can Ian
guage be any palmer than this stat
ute which says the 20 cents per mile
is paid for going and returning to the
national capital at each session Of
congress. Therefore, when there has
been no GOING and no RETURN
ING to the national capital, how can
the gentleman contend that Mr.,
Bryan's and Mr.. Watson's legal opin-
ions are not entitled to as much
weight as their opinion on public
questions would be when this Ian
guage of the statute is plain. We sub
NIT that Mr.. Bryan is right and Mr..
Hill is wrong, and in meeting the
charges brought against him by these
gentlemen, in order to justify his vote
he crificiSes their ability as LAWYERS.