The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1910-11-19


issue Of your paper as to suggest
Harmon as the next Democratic can
didate for president and Dix for the
vice presidency with him.
eff Il is wrong for US to recognize
people who have been voting for Re-
publlcans for Office. what right have
you, as a Democrat, to do the same
thing?"
This is significant for more than
one reason. 1t is said by a "practi-
cal politician" in defense of his own
conduct; one who, perhaps. in the
past has adjured Democrats to stand
by the old party, and will make
similar appear in the future, when
he gets on top again. 1t shows that
politicians do not hesitate to make
alliances outside their own party
when convenient for their purposes,
and the same logic would justify a
common. ordinary voting member of
the party in scratching his ticket
whenever II is to his own. and the
publlc's interest to do so.
But General Lawrence calls in
witnesse OF higher character than
mere practical politicians. He
names Harmon, who voted against
Bryan, and Foss. who Is but a recent
convert to Democracy. These men
acquired credit for scratching their
tickets. He might have mentioned
Bryan, who justified a bolt from his
party after he had participated in a
primary in so logical manner, that no
man burst reply to It. He might
have mentioned President Taft, who
made a speech in Ohio. on the eve of
his own campaign for the presidency,
advising members of his party to vote
the opposite ticket and smash the
Cox machine.
Here are illustrious examples
enough for the yellow dog" Democ-
racy Of the Third disti let and of all
Kentucky, for that matter. They
have learned to scratch in Galloway
county, and ere long they will all
scratch their way out of thralldom of
party submission.
This independence Is strikingly IL
Illustrated in the G.. A. r. and the U.
C. V. vote in the last election. These
men formed their party affiliations
at a time when passions ran high
and party names to them became
Synonymous with ~tne respective
causes for which they fought Times
have changed and produced a gener-
alton of politicians, who regard the
U. c. V. and G. A. r. as the uniform
rank Of the Democratic and Republi-
can parties. and subject to the juris-
dlction of whatever malign infiu-
ences happen at the moment to be
dominant in each party. One in a
position to read the Ohio and the
Tennessee press during the recent
campaign would have been struck
with the Insulting similarity of the
arguments and abuse heaped upon
the Union veterans at the north and
Confederate veterans at the south to
hold them in line for their parties.
One might have thought from read
ing the speeches that these brave old
heroes were indebted to the polite
fans for the honor OF being veterans.
Negro domination was the cry in
Tennessee, especially directed to the
Confederate veterans. Yet, If you
wish to know why Hooper's majority
was $4,000 instead Of 20, 900; know
then that the difference is measured
by the purchaseable element of the
colored vote. and the whole hope of
Democracy in Tennessee was based
upon getting the Confederate vote
and the negro vote, too. That the
hope was not realized is due to the
fact that too many Confederate vet
Grams are still brave and too many
colored voters proved honest.
These veterans for four years
withstood showers of leaden bullets.
grape shot. canister and shells
and three cornered bayonets: and II
is not surprising that the paper wads
Of the stump speakers do not fright
en- them They faced death from
pestilence, exposure and violence
for the sake Of the cause they loved,
and they can still face insult and
abuse without fiinching. Bloody
shirts and old dry bones are no longer
potent political arguments; men,
who fought one another in battle
can vote together for candidates.
who have scratched their tickets.
We should enjoy attending a joint
reunion Of Confederate and Union
veterans, TO hear them tell. not of
their war experiences. but OF their
political experiences.
There is a world OF philosophy in
the subject so timely opened by
Henry Lawrence, and we doubt not
ID will return to haunt him.