Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-05-31
Continued from Page One

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my old district any longer" When I
picked up that glove. at Louisville and at
| Warrenton, in language that was free
| from abuse that was without cant. and
| yet without fear, he was so outraged at
my temerity that his passion brooked no
restraint and the torrent of abuse that
| he poured out on my head on May 18th
and May the 18th, unprovoked and unjus-
tilted as it was, could no more have been
helped by him than water could resist
/ its tendency to run down hill.
I But with all his anger he is still crafty,
and realizes that his high and mighty
ground that l am mot going to represent
his old district any longer" will not go
down the throats OF an independent peo-
pie. who do their own thinking and their
own voting, and are sick unto death OF
| the continued attempts of this man to
turn their old-time admiration of him
Into political capital on every issue that
arise and to vote them In every cleo
| ton that comes, he undertakes to make
| them believe that l have been migrate
full" TO him, and have sought fight with
him, unJustly aspersing his motives and
| unfairly denying to him that freedom
and independence OF thought and action
that l demanded and exercise myself.
| A clumsier attempt to put the cart be-
fore the horse was never made by a man
credited with the possession of a sense
"a palmer cry Of stop thief was never
heard. Mr.. Watson says that my state
ment, in substance, at Louisville, that
he Is opposing me because 1 would not
follow him when he quit Hoke Smith in
| 1908 was "wickedly ungrateful, and ma
| liciously false" In announcer place in his
article he charactsTizes 1t as a reckless
and INSCRIPTIONS falseh ood;" in another
as "Slander." In using language of so
grave an import among gentlemen and
men OF honor he has gone further that
ever dreamed he would. he has raised
an issue Of veracity between himself
and me that is not without an important
significance to the people OF the district
| in which we both live. II am Sian
derer," If teal wicked and malicious
and ungrateful untruths.' 'falseh oods,"
do not deserve and ought not to receive
| the vote or support of a single honest
man in the district; on the other hand,
] II ne has misrepresented .he facts-if he
has toad the "falsehood," his days of in
fuence over the minus OF honest men
are, or ought to be, at an end.
Mr.. Watson ''Jares me to" repeat the
statement made at Louisville to the eff
| feet that he opposes me today because 1
did not follow his lead in the state cam
paign of 1908. If 1 DO so dare" he
makes the direful threat that ne will
prove l am a liar, as TO the motives to
which / ascribe his present opposition
| TO me, and by what? By an admission
that I made? Oh, no! But by letter
that he wrote me, In which he undertook
to outline his grievances against me.
on, wonderful lawyer oh, skilled logic
ian. He would prove his own innocence
| by his own confession.
II ACCEPT THE DARE
Still, although there is not high
school boy or girl in the district. much
less a grown man or woman, who does
not know that the real breech between
Mr.. Watson and me occurred over Hoke
Smiths second canuIuacy for governor
! in 1908; accept the uare" of Idr. Wat
son. 1 take 1t UP. 1 repeat in cold print
what 1 SAID at Louisville and at War
renton and what 1 expect to repeat
WIN erever and whenever 1 please. on that
| heath" hat is as mucn mine as Wat
! sons. that Watson's present opposition
| to me is based on the fact that stood
by Hoke Smith in 1909. ....
It is rarely the case that the motives
of a man can be shown by direct proof.
| Uusually the motive must be inferred
| from the proven facts and circum-
stances. Fortunately for me 1 have in
this case direct proof as to Watson's
4 motive ana since ne SnTeaIenS WIN InO
publications Of his letters to me on this
subject, since he invites me and "dares"
me to publish them, 1 will summon, on
this issue of truth and yeracity, Of
falsehood and Islander, that Mr.. Watson
chooses to raise between himself and
myself, no other than Thomas e. Wat
son himself.
In letter to me dated December 80,
1909, and which, by the way, contains
4 n II
| that II was possible tat he might under
any circumstances OPPOSE my reelection
TO congress, Mr.. Watson used TINS Ian
guage:
DO not labor under any misapprehen-
sion as to my political attitude towards
yourself. OF course, last year alienatel
us so far as politics are concerned 1
meant my letter to you, answering your
lengthy explanation of why you adopted
the policy you pursued, to be constructs
as meaning that 1 no longer had any
personal feeling against you and that
| no longer continue to be friends as
heretofore; but in politics you very de-
| liberately chose your place and that put
you in the Hoke Smith camp and conse-
quently in an attitude or antagonism to
me- / thought II very strange OF you,
knowing the tenth district as you did, to
deliberately take side with Hoke Smith
/ in what you ought to have realized was
life and death struggle. But you acted
with your eyes open and the logic of
events carries us apart politically"
Now, am some on daring myself.
dare Thomas 2. Watson to deny that
he wrote these words. II he does I will
submit the original letter for inspection
and I will photograph It, and his sigma
ture to It and put 1t In the hands Of
every voter In the Tenth district In this
connection I dare" him to publish the
letters that passed between us in Oc-
tober, 1909 and In December, 1909, and
on January /, 1910, on this subject. II
he can furnish only the ones wrote to
him I will furnish those he wrote to me,
and those voters In our district who are
interested in this question of veracity
between Watson and can view II from
every angle and from every standpoint,
and can determine 1t intelligently, after
reading the entire correspondence.
| But, Mr.. Watson charges me with in
gratitude" and upon that charge he
rings all the charges with the skillful
hand of a master. It Is the one charge
above all others that I resent most Bit
terly, because ingratitude is the one trait,
above all others, that I despise most
thoroughly. He says I am his political
legatee," after calling me the "Boykin
Wright of Washington county" Strange
legacy! Incomprehensible bequest! II