The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-18
JUDGEJ0NESRETURNS
FROM BANQUET TO TAFT IN AT-
 LANTA.
Delivered Excellent Address Paying Tribute to Guest of the Ess=sss- The Toast "Duties of Amert-
 can Cftisenship.v


 Judge Thomas c. Jones returned last nightfro Atlanta, where he delivered. next to that of the President-eiect, the address of the evening at the din- ner given by the Chamber of Com- merce of Atlanta to President-tleot Taft.
 The Atlanta Constitution says of the speech:
 President Asa candier. toastmaster. introduced Judge Jones of Montgom- cry as follows:
 '"The Confederate soldier in war and peace has furnished a theme for poet and orator for more than a genera ton. The healing balm of time has so softened the bitterness of conflict that brave men everywhere now freely con- cede him a place on the pedestal of glory. alongside his brother in blue, and thinkinA men everywhere realize that the same qualities which made the American soldier, whether he foi- lowed Lee or Grant, a noble and com- manding figure in the military history of the world; have made him the bul- wark of the State in times of peace and a model of good citizenship wher- ever law Is respected and free gov ernment prized.
 The gentleman who will presently address you is one of the highest types of the Confederate soldier--so eloquently portrayed by silver-tongued orators, North as well as South. When the shock of battle was over, he buried deep within his bosom the heart-breaking disappointment of de- feat and with that fierce courage which mad sustained him amid the carnage of war, devoted all of his magnificent energies to the rehabilitation of his .t.fn frr c lighted to do him honor, and now the duties of the soldier and statesman, well done and lald aside. he wears with grace and dignity, which bent the exalted station he occupies, the ermine of the turist.
 "No man has a better right to speak with authority upon 'The Duties of American Citizenship than he. and upon that subject you will now be ad- dressed by the Hon. Thomas c. Jones, Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle and Northern Dis- trict of Alabama.
 Judge Jones Makes Hit.
 Judge Jones delivered one of the most striking addresses of the evening in his chahacteristic style It was one of force, and contained illustrations or the strongest kind.
 He began by saying that after the close of the Civil War he was seated in a hotel near Appomattox court house, talking over the future of the South. At that time he did not realize that within thirty years, as 1t did happen, an Alabama boy would have served as Secretary of the Navy, on a war vessel named after the first capl- tai of the Confederacy.
 Judge Jones said the most telling illustration that every came to his hearing Of the glory of being an Amer ican citizen happened once during his term as Governor of the State of Ala bama, when exercises were being held on the gunboat Montgomery. The Judge was tired out with the hard work of two days, so a Frenchman volun- teered to speak for him. The French man stated that thirty years ago there was a poorly clothed, ill-fed soldier tramping honl-ward from the grbn de- feat; thirty years ago there was dis sension throughout the land, but now on this particular day, in the presence of all the people of the United States stood that poor soldier, Governor of Alabama, an American citizen, and here was a gunboat named after the first capital of the Confederacy.
 Jurge Jones paid one of the highest tributes of the evening to the honored guest He said that when q Judge takes the oath of office he does it with the IuIieSL unueESLdh0ln& lH&t nS must enforce the laws, and stand by them. no matter what public opinion may be- He said it was a hardship put upon a Judge to criticfse him for up- holding the laws and correctly con- struing them, for no man can be an honest judge. keeping his oath, with out staunchly standing by the actions of the legislative bodies of our coun- try.
 Then he referred to Judge Taft's strict adherence to the duties of Q judge, stating that public opinion never led him decide one way or the other; that he ruled as only the honest judge could. In his decision regarding the labor interests. Judge Jones said that the President-elect had not been in" fiuenced by the public opinion, and that wh en the matter was made cam. paign document he did not apologize for his actions, but simply stated that he had acted as he thought was right, as & true judge should.