The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1910-04-21

great papers have flashed this glad in
telligence abroad to bouy up the hopes
Of the Democracy of our entire country ;
those Same great papers have carried
ar intelligence which has esaddened the
heart and caused he flush of shame to
mantle the brow of every Mississippian.
The shameless story has been spread broad
cast over the land that Mississippi lcgisla-
ture has been debauched and corrupted
by a son of Mississippi. Among strang-
ers, seeking as best | could to uphold the
dignity cf the state whose commission
bcre knowing that that commission had
been won as fairly and honorably as any
ever held bby son of Mississippi; know
ing that had entered this political strug-
gle through no desire to crafty no per-
sonal ambition, that | had cast my lot in
it with those who fought because they be-
lievcd that Mississippi was threatened
with grave disaster in the election
of las. *. Vardaman; knowing that | had
forbidden those who loved me at home to
hear one cent of the expense of the cam
paign here, and had said TO them that
there is no expense except the legitimate
expenses that attend prolonged stay III
the capital-thank God no money has to be
spent on a Mississippi egislature-know-
ing that no cent of my money nor eff any
body's else for my benefit has been used
to influence the result, it seemed that the
cup was a bitter ore for me- | had come
from no race of ofice-seeker (applause)
but from men who always held honor
above life, country above self; an un-
furnished name had been handed to me
bv nv forefathers, and it was my pride
and my prayer that untarnished still that
name should go from me to those who
bear it hereafter.
But the indignation that sprung from
personal feeling was swallowed up in the
indignation that arose in me when | re-
allied that the name of the state of Mis-
sissippi was sought to be dragged in the
mire of degradation for political aggran-
dizement. The kilograms grew thicker;
and the air was full of rumors of foul
deeds done; lies and ISLANDERS, and worse
than that, the intimatiors, the suggestions,
the innuendoes, the un-fathered questions
for which no man could stand, by which
it was sought to drag down the name of
those that Mississippi has held in rever-
ence, Anderson, Alexander, Byrd, Kyle,
Critz, and Street, as pure and able pa
triots as the state has ever produced. Their
past characters were to be so shield to the
darts of calumny; nay, how could the liv-
ing hope to go unscathed when the new
filled grave afforded no protection to the
character of one who has gone from you
to his reward Stree last was here with you
When the name of Heslep, who but
lately filled a place here and for whom
you dug a grave in the cemetery, was
to be besmirched by the foul charge that,
because through honest effort he had been
able to life a mortgage that pressed down
upon his home, the means to do it with
must have come into his hands from pollut-
ed sources-and honest men looked into
each others aces and their hearts grew
heavy and the stain of shame mounted
to their cheeks as they asked each other
in wonder, can it be that sons of Missis-
sippi lave stained for political gain the
name of Mississippi?
Then came your Investigation, the most
searching that Legislature has ever
were spared, and then at the end of it,
there is let starTding on the stage a
mark for the scorn and contempt of all
honest men (applause) only one figure
a characterless man, self-confessed liar,
a self-accused bribe-taker, and for his
only ally, a poor broken down shameless
woman of the streets Every reputable
witness named in confederation had shrunk
back affrighted as if from contamination
by touching his moral leper. (Applause.)
And high above the pit OF shame as star
in the sky, floats the honor of Mississippi,
above the reach Of the hands that would
drag it down for political gain.
Your investigation has shown to the
world that no stain rests upon the COM
mission that you have given to me; no
suspicion Of reprcach upon the integrity
of the legislature of the state of Mississippi
nor upon a single one of the 81 votes
that were cast in my favor applause
| know that that commission was fairly
won the legislature Of the state of Mis-
sissippi knows that that commission was
honestly won; the people OF the state of
Mississippi know that that commission
was fairly won. (Applause.) And yet
broadcast over the land has been spread
the POISON Dy WHICH IL Is HOpSU 10 ClOSc
the ears Of reason among the people of
the state of Mississippi. they have been
told that through the secret caucus, dis
regarding the fact that every senator that
ever represented the state of Mississippi,
sent from legislative hall, was sent by
a secret caucus-that through the secret
caucus the will of the people of the state
of Mississippi has been twarted, and
the expression of their choice has beeen
prevented
| deny that. | say that the same rea
sons that made the Legislature CT the state
of Mississippi repudiate Varedamanism
make the people of the state of Mississippi
willing and DESTROYS of repudiating Var
damanism because they are weary of the
scnseless agitation and strife-breedlag
(Applause) and say | am prepared
to maintain that before the people of
the state; and | say, furthermore, that
am anxious for the opportunity of main
tanning it and asserting it at the earliest
moment before the people of the state.