Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-05-31

happen to think ii. If calling atten-
ton to this remarkable flop of Mr.. Wat
son was, as he says, calculated to do
him no good'-he ought to blame him
self for having created the situation and
not me for having alluded to it. He did
not occupy the position of an ordinary
citizen in this campaign and would not.
he insisted on thrusting himself into it,
and every issue of his paper teemed
with bitter and unjust attacks on Hoke
Smith. 1t was, therefore, proper to re-
ply to his statements and combat his ar
guments.
Mr.. Watson says that L have partaken
of the hospitality of the Watson home,
have broken the Watson bread, have
slept under the Watson roof True, but
never except at the urgent invitation of
Mr.. Watson and as his invited and hon
ored guest, and that 1T should now be
flung in my teeth that l have done so
is the best possible proof that tie man
, who makes such point is in such a rage
that he forgets both the instincts and
the manners of a gentleman. His little.
mean, contemplate, personal filings
against me are beneath the notice and
only merit the contempt of a gentleman.
! SHAH not stoop to reply 10 them or
! lower myself to retort in l-i''".
ABSOLUTELY UNTRUE"
He complains that invited him to
spend the night under my own roof and
then held him up within a few days
thereafter to a large audience as ''un-
worthy the respect of gentlemen" That
statement is untrue, absolutely and fiat
ly. At Dublin, while opposing his crazy
candidacy for president I had only the
kindest things to say of him personally,
although combating as vigorously as I
could the arguments he had made, and
answering as best | could the assaults he
he'd made on my party and its candidate.
He says 1 made a 'grandstand" play
; In publicly referring to my acceptance
of the hospitality of his home in 1906.
The statement is a deliberate untruth.
Mr.. Watson knows. or ought to know,
that the only public statement l ever
made on this subject was in reply to a
bitter attack of the Augusta Chronicle.
charging me with party treason simply
because / visited his home in 1905. and
came through the country by way OF
Gibson
For every political obligation that I am
under to Mr. Watson 1 have repaid him
"three-fold, yea. four-fold" measure. al
the record will abundantly demonstrate.
and as 1 can readily prove.
oh, but there is one other count in his
"ingratitude" indictment. He charges
I that II went to congress by the votes of
his friends, and have been kept there
by those same votes. because Of the fact
that had professed such cordial friend
ship for him, and because he had indors-
ed me so cordially" to use his own Ian
euage.
II the word vanity" is ever blotted out
of the dictionary the Tenth district of
Georgia will not be lost for an equivalent
so long as any man, woman, or child.
can recall the name of Watson. His
friends" Thousands of them are mine,
too, and will stay mine in spite of him
and against him. His friends" Has he
a life estate in their affections simply
because they voted for him for congress
two or three times? Why they have al
ready voted for me four times and many
of them intend to do it again. His
friends" Does he own them, body and
soul, heart and mind? We shall see. Can
he lead them by the nose whenever and
wherever he chooses? We,shall see. For
one, 1 dispute his title. for one, 1 chal-
lenge his ownership, for one, / defy his
dictatorship; for one, 1 take up his dare,
and sink or swim, live or die, survive
or perish, will not only tote my own
skillet" but "hoe my own row." &C
knowledging no master save the sover-
eign constituency whose commission l
hold