The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1909-10-02
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1909.
Circulation Double That of Any
Other South Mississippi Paper
VARDAMAN AND M'LAURIN.

Yesterday was a good day, and the
program from start to finish was
good program; but the best of it
all was the speaking; and be it salu
to the credit and intelligence Of the
crowd, a thousand or more stood or
sat beneath a rather hot sun and
heard that speaking from the begin
ming to the end two
hours. 1t speaks we'll for a commu
nifty, for the section Of country from
which the people come, that they are
of that class that so many of them
will turn away from the rag-time
music, the five cent shows, the ex-
citement and hurly burly of the street.
and listen; not merely attend. but
listen to serious discussion of i'm
portant subjects by great men.
The speaking was by two men
strongly ''in the lime light" in Mis-
sissippi politics, but there was moth
ing personal or political in their
speeches. The speeches were patri-
otto, optimistic, and full Of enthus.
iasm for the South. its opportunities,
its interests, it's ideals, its traditions, !
its memories. its history. Full of rev
erence for its past and hope for its
future. Two great speeches made by
two great men. Men whose names are
known and read of men far beyond
the confines of this great state. Men
Who have grown up as most great men
do. on the farm and between the pillow
shares, to make names for themselves
and do honor and credit to their state,
to their southland and to their country.
Two better speeches to suit the
occasion could not have been made.
There was not the least twang of
Jealousy, not the least littleness of
personal opportunism. There was
just enough of anecdote and humor to
season with; there was no buffoonery,
hypocrisy or cant; it was all talk
to the heads and the hearts of a
proud constituency, credited with the
intelligence to understand.
Mississippi is and has perfect
good right to be proud of these two
men;-A. ]. McLaurin and James X.
vardaman. They are men, both of
them. whom glittering gold, nor
princes favor, nor lust of office, can
not buy. They are men who could not
be dazzled by any pomp or pageantry
They are men whom the
spoils of office could not corrupt
They are men who would be true to
The South under all environments and
everywhere, because they
love its people, are imbued with its |
traditions and memories, |
and because they are of the South |
md the South is part of their very
being.
We are sorry The News does them |
he injustice of SO meagre and in
complete report of their magnificent
addresses. We are sorry we were not
etter prepared to handle that most
important feature of a great event
We are sorry they spoke so free from
Manuscript or note. We had
oped that they could furnish the
ress, as is so frequently done, with
brief synopsis of what they had in
lind to say. We had relied too much
pom that prevailing and growing Gus
nm; and our disappointment in that
counts largely for our unprepared- I
ess to give their speeches more in
III.
BY those who heard them they will n
ot be soon forgotten. There was food I
r thought to feed upon for months c
ID years. There was a rich fund of /,
formation. There was oratory and 8