The Tupelo journal., 1911-02-10
$ that were issued at his personal Ire

<AiAQ ~ An0hCc AiOt tuS ottBal~C-b uilACA
snce, whatsoever, whether the pass
vas issued at Mr.. Vardaman's request
The acceptance of same constituted tn
,fense. In proof of this, we agail
all attention to Section 1906. Chapte
Is, Mississippi Code of 1906. asbrough
Onward from the laws of 1884, pag,
Is, as follows:
IF any officer, State, county, dis
riot or municipal, except the railroad
commissioners when in actual discharg
f official duties, shall travel or rid
pom any railroad without paying abso
ltely and without any guilt, trick O.
ubterfuge, or evasion whatsoever, thu
anne fare required Of passengers gen
rally, or if any railroad company. ..
Employee of any railroad, shall permit
ny such State, county. district or mu'
icipal officer, except railroad commits
toner's when in the actual discharge o
.fficial duties, to SO travel or ride, h.
r. it shall be guilty of a ~misdemeaner,
nd shall be fined not less than fit,
!ollars and not more than five hundred
~lol,ars, or be imprisoned in the count,
Jail not less than ten days nor NOR.
han sixty, or both.
This is the law of Mississippi today
t was the law when James K. Varda
aan was serving as Governor, and j
,as been the law for 26 years.
To say that the pass "a not issuet
1t his request, brings Mr.. Vardamar
within the meaning of the language
lbove the use of ''guile, trick or sub
.erfuge."
1t makes no difference whether he de
l~iberately connived at his own seduct
ion, or was a coy and reluctantly lis
5ened to the sirene song of the corpor
,tion. He knew the law. and as Gov
.rnor of the state, was charged witt
he rigid enforcement of the law. Yet.
within little after two months afte
.aking a solemn oath to enforce tn
constitution and the statutes, we fine
lin a fragrant .yiolator.
The moment he rendered Round Trip
Pass No. 1854 to the conductor of ths
lorth-bound G. & S. 1. train. at that
moment Mr.. Vardaman vas guilty of 8
nisdemeaner defined by the statutes.
and made himself liable to a fine not
exceeding $500 and. not exceeding GO
days in Jail, or both such fine and i'm
prisoment.
So much forIthe legal aspect of the
case. Suppose we now refer casually
to the moral phase of the question.
The Daily News will not undertake to
say that MI. Vardaman is the only
State official who ever rode on free
railroad passes. He is, however. the
only one who has ever been publicly
charged and convicted of that offense.
And to show what Mr.. Vardaman
himself thought about that offense
when he was a private citizen, wequote
from the Greenwood Commonwealth OF
January 3, 1902. in which he said:
There never was a railroad COM
pany, or any other institution of the
kind, but what would take every oppor.
tunity to plumber, pillage and rob-"
And on February l, 1908, after he
had again retired to private life. Mr..
Vardaman was still of the same mind,
Cor he said in The Issue:
mo mar should be permitted to hold
4 place in the State Legislature or in
che Congress of the United States, who
carries in his pocket a railroad pass
And a few months previous Mr.. Var
iamad quoted with cordial approva
rom Prof. Parsons work on 1.-The Rail
ways, The Trusts and The People," thu
following:
I'm investigating cases of corruption
/ found in almost every instance the
irst step Of the legislator toware
bribery was the acceptance of a rail
road pass"
VIII
However. we do not regard the use
Of the pass by Mr.. Vardaman on this
occasion as the most heinous offense
he has committed in connection with
the incident.
1t was bad enough to use the pass,
,ut to deny it's use wa. reprehensible.
1t was a violation of the law, OF
course, and perhaps other pnblic off
.ials in our State have been guilty OF
the same offense. But it is merely 8
nisdemeanor under the statues, not
penal offense.
If Mr.. Vardaman had come forward
frankly and said to the people of Mis-
,issippi, Eyes, my fellow citizens, it is
probable that | did ride on that pass,
as charged. What are you going to dc
about it,"
Such a reply would not have cos
dr. Vardaman many votes. But in
,tead, he flops, founders and sidestep!
he issue, tells the readers Of The
issue he don tremember, and finally
smboldened by the non.production Of
| proof, he tries to pull eff = cold bluff
~ using this language in The Issue O.
January Doth.