Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1911-07-20

ADlAtAs
Put ! don't rest tho case of the State
Of Mississippi against James K. Varda-
mar here. For eighteen months he has
spoken in every county in Mississippi.
Not once has he been treated rudely or
discowteously by a follower of mine.
l don't lead this kind Of people. l am
striving to lead the sober, s~elf-respecting,
GOd-feaf'ing manhood Of Mississippi on
to n great victory, and l would not
teach one Mississippi boy to be a hood
lum for all the honors thnt this great
state could shower upon me, but have
N numerous occasions been interrupted
not with questions but yells and jeered
at by his followers. Has he ever through
hiG paper or public u~ttersnces rcbukcd
them?
Can a man incite his followers to
such conduct and not expect it to flower
into violence? Is not a man morally
responsible for that which logically fol
lows from his own teachingsR Ii not
then it ia no longer true that 'whRtso,
ever a man sowcth that also shall he
reap If not then the anarchist preach.
lug anarchy in our streets is not to be
held morally accountable for the deeds
Of violdGce that follow such teaching.
"But | don't rest the case of tho State
of Mississippi against James X. Varda-
man here. ! will put IL where every
man among you will realize that the
charge 10 u just one. Almost at the
beginning of my campaign ! spoke on
the Fourth of July a year ago at God
bold Wells, in Pike county. 1 was cCu-
t%inually interrupted by the Vardaman
followers with cries of Vardaman,
'Bilbo' and Mary Stampa,' the latter
said to be a ncgress of evil reputation
living in Jackson. Did Vardaman re-
buke this treatment by his followcrs2
About a week after there appeared IN
a Vardaman paper the following cdito-
rial, unique in journalism in this state;
Honorable Leroy Percy spoke 70 a
large audience In Pike county a few
days ago, and tho crowd booted him "a
| SUN " WuN lin iI compulsory iOEN 4'I
head, became angry and put on Ii scene
too ridiculous to be decent the writer
meant that l finished my speech, not
withstanding the Interruptions and finally
quietcd the audiencel. Mr.. Percy may
be game all right, but 10 shows every
thing but level heade.lnosA The Jour
nal predicted several weeks ago that Mr..
Percy would quit the race before the
election and nothing has happened yet
to change our opinion, but instead sew
eral occurrences have taken place to
make us flrmcr in tho belief. / wonder
what kind of prophet this fellow NOW
thinks he ISL Ordinarily we would con
denim in most strenuous terms the con-
duct of this audience, but when we con-
slider the situation brought about by
a lot of peanut politicians, 0e is the case
in our state, We are Il little bit OF the
opinion that nothing too pasty Il hate
to lisc that word in the presence Of
Mississippi women) can be enacted by a
political audience in Mississippi until the
present controllers are forever buried
"Whcn before was the manhood of
Mississippi ever taught that there was
nothing too nasty for them to do at q
public ga%theringf, No act OF hoodlum'
ism, no act Of ruffianism, that they
ought not to do. Did Vardaman rcbuke
this? Did he say, Don't teach my tOl-
lowers that which win make ~rulTians
and hoodluns out Of them Mississippi
has honored me too much for me to be
willing to bring diahonor on herP No.
he reproduced the editorial in the Issue.
Is that all2 No, he left no uncertainty
in regard to his position. He endorsed
it, reproducing it in his paper of July
IS, 1910, under the caption, Good Rea'
soninE,' and with this endorsement;
"'Will c. Hight, editor of the Winston
County Journal, makes the following
very sensible and pertinent observation
upon the political situation just nOw:'
"In other words, at the very outset
Of my campaign, he said to his follow
ersi There is a man shut I am going
to abuse and slNnder, but whOn l will
not meet IN joint debate, call upon
you to interfere with. aud if possible
stop his campaign By being as nasty
as possible. There is nothing which YOU
can do, nasty and indecent, that l viii
not approve Of What leader that evel
lived in Mississippi before so taught hi
followerss Men of Alcorn county, Is
there a father among you who woulr
teach his boy to attend a public meeting
and be as nasty, as indecent, as much
like a hoodlum and ruiTian as 1t wa'
possible for him to be? AIRY sathcl
among you who would be degraded
enough to teach il to his boy wouic
have to do it away from the presence o
the mother of that boy. While yol
, would not teach it yourself, would go'
| yet follow as your leader the mar VIII;
teaches it to the mel and boys OF Mis-
/, sissippiY
"Thcre can be no plea entered hep
, that the vouchers were lost. There