The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1910-04-14
CONGRESSMAN Bill H0w0rd.
Szamderilg Watson and the
PobmIists Is q Rmse
that Won't Work

the chick and the poison. The former is small
and disappointing; the latter is abundant and bit
ter. In good temper and the right spirit, l i'm
med1ately begin to take of both his little
chick and his copious poison.
There are five columns Of this two-weeks pro-
Duct OF the Howard Cooperative Incubator and
Distllery Less than one column is devoted to
defending his Desertion to the Republicans. The
other four are given to abusing me for having
been Populist
Yet, his Desertion to the Republicans is the SUBJ
ject of debate.
[ am not candidate for office. The people are
not being asked to return me to Congress- If I
committed crime when [ left the Democratic
party, God knows [ have been numerically pun
lshed for it. Seventeen years have | spent in the
valley Of political death. Storms of abuse have
pursued me, without pity or cessation SANDER
has nailed me to her cross, and bitter hatred has
broken me on her wheel My old friend, Bill
Howard, has merely raked it all up and hurled
1t at me again. Only, he has added, an element
OF maIgnancy peculiar to himself And I think
he will find that his malice has got him in worse
Tx than he was before. Bad as his case was he
has made it infinitely more so-as he himself
may realize, soon enough
1t does not take me a fortnight to enter a de-
tense Tor my honor, to answer mine adyer-
sary. My record is straight as a string; and
whether you agree with not, you will feel
when you have read what I have to say that I
Bill Howard can't assail me for having been a
Populist without offending the very men whose
votes sent him to Congress. Judge Lawson was a
cleveland man. and favored the gold standard
Bill Howard beat him by catering to the Popu-
lists and championing Free Silver. Oh how VEN
omous are his references to us old Pops: and oh
how eager he was, in 1894, to get our supporti
lie rails upon the Peoples Party movement as
though a bloodier band of social incendiaries
never endangered the South. Yet as everybody
Knows the Peoples Party, from North Carolina
to Texas marched to the Rebel yell" and was
composed of as brave a lot of eX-Confederates as
ever footed it after Jackson, johnson, Beauregard
ana Lee, or ever rode with Ashby Stuart Rosser
Hampton and Forrest.
These men trying to injure the South? These
men trying to bring back Reconstruction davs and
the rule of the Republicans?
libel more baseess was never published
against the innocent
Seeing, in 1891 what everybody now sees. that
the two great political parties are nationally CON
trolled by the same Wall Street corporations tba
plain people of the South and West-farmers
chiefly, undertook to form a new party Whvq
Because it was clear that the Democrats would
never vote the Republican ticket, no matter what
reforms 1t promised. 1t being equally clear that
the Republicans could never be brought to con1de
IN Democratic pledges, new party seemed neces
sary in order that those who had lost confidence
IN the Old parties might have common ground to
meet on.
Inc new movement rapidly grew We took
several western States away from the Renubl
cans. Had we been able to carry a single South
ern State and thus prove to Western Ponu1sts
mat we could 90 something, our movement would
have Wrenched the entire West from the Republ
can party
IL mas been the dream of my whole life to
unite the two great agricultural sections-the