The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1910-10-05
Hundreds BROIL UNDER BLAZING
sun AS WATSON 'ROASTS OTHERS

! them state prohibition, the abodlSp-
ment of the convict lease system anf
the election of officials by the peo-
ple. had been adopted by the demo-
Gratis and enacted into law. There
are only two other populist de-
mands, he said, that have not been
written into the laws of the state,
! but that in the next three or four
years these, too, will be among the
statutes of Georgia.
Too Many Changes in School Books.
One of these was that the state,
which already builds the school
house, equips it with desks and
blackboards and hires the teacher,
should also furnish the child with
books.
The speaker said that there are
too many changes in school text
books, and that there should be
remedy. He gave it as a fact that
when a child begins the study OF
text book it does not have time to
half complete it before the book is
taken away from it and new one
is placed in its hands and the work
already done by it has to be done
over. He said that it is costing
the parents of the children thou
sands and thousands of dollars each
year to buy books unnecessarily,
and that he thought that the state
should buy the books in large guam
titles, so that if the people did have
to buy them they could do so at a
price that would be reasonable. The
frequent changes of school books by
the big publishing houses and the
boards of education are costing the
parents too much money, he said,
and significantly added that in all
probability there is something in
it somewhere for somebody.
His Attitude on Foreign Mission.
Mr.. Watson went into a brief dis
cussion of foreign missions, and ex-
planned his position in regard there
to, saying he was just a common
Missionary Baptist. He declared that
he had been misrepresented and mis-
understood in regard to his attitude
on foreign missions. He said that
he is not opposed to foreign mis-
sions, but that he is opposed to the
kind that places a silk hat on the
head of a naked African negro when
there are barefOoted children in the
south that need the necessaries of
life.
He said that he was opposed to
the kind of mission work that feeds
and clothes the Chinaman, the Jap,
the Cuban and African, when you
do not know whether the convert
is accepting religion because he
wants to, or whether he is accept
ing it for the fishes and loaves-the
food and clothing and other things
/ furnished him by the missionaries.
/ He said that he believes that the
first thing that should be done is
| to see that every poor white and
/ colored child of the south is sup
piled with the real necessities of life
and then give religion to those who
do not have it in the manner that
/ Christ gave it when He was on this
earth.
/ Mr.. Watson said that he had been
! put down beneath the living waters
of a certain creek over in eastern
/ Georgia, and that he expected to re-
main a Baptist until he died He
! told his audience that everything
/ they had heard concerning his atti-
tude on missions was not the truth.
Discussed National Affairs.
He next paid his respects to ma
tional affairs in this country. He
said that the United States govern
ment is the most extravagant on
the globe. The government is spend
! ing more than one million dollars
| per day, and the extravaganza is in
! creasing instead of diminishing. He
said the people of this country are
being taxed from the cradle to the
grave, and that the tariff upon the
necessities Of the people is sap
ping the life blood out of them. He
said that the insurgency in the re-
| publican party and progressive de-
mocracy is simply pOpulism.
He told his audience that the peo-
pie were the ones who created the
wealth of the nation. He said that
the bankers of the country did not
create the wealth of the nation.
Continuing he said that the mills
and various industries of the nation
do not create the wealth, but that
| the people who toll in the mills. the
J foundries, the machine shops, the
fields and all other. places are the
ones who produce the wealth of the
nation.
Other Things Touched On.
He discussed the "abominable fee
system" which is in force, saying
each voter should ask the candidate
for the legislature and see if he is
in favor of or against the fee system.
and to put man in the legislature
who will abolish this system of paw
ing public officials.
He declared he left the demo-
cratic party because no modest man
could remain in it, and he had not
been doing much travelling when he
got back. He said Lon Livingston
made the remark in 1891 that Wat
son would come back, and then he
said: Watson has come back. but
where is Lon?"