Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1911-02-24

people ag ainst those enterprises of the
state which have built up and made 1t
great, which give employment to thou
sands and give homes and shelter to
untold numbers of families. And while
they do this they do it in such "a in
genious way that they Fan say when
their speeches are made that they have
made no charges against anyone. and
it is true, for they speak only III gilt
terinf generalities, and thus the harm
is accomplished. Thousands of people
go out believing the greatest enemy of
the state Is corporate Wea tn or apgre-
gated wealth operating III anv direction.
Why should this be necessary!
"Men have been elected to Office in
Mississippi who have served with great
honor and distinction who haye never
made such appeals and such campaigns
can be remembered by people of this
audience today. | have seen Mississip
plans elected to the highest and to the
humblest positions; / have seen them
fill these places with distinction, with
credit and with honor to themselves
and to the state; yet l heard no appeals
from them seeking to arouse the pas
sions and prejudices of the populace,
and under the administrations of such
men Mississippi advanced and never
some men will say that l am speaking
as l do because l am connected with a
corporation, but to him let me say that
am now uttering the sentiments that
have expressed throughout my life; l
have never believed otherwise and have
never spoken otherwise than have here
today. 1t is true that in the practice
of an honOred profession my lines have
fallen as the representative of a cor
hI1f oil frI1o-onH /
sert it with all the vehemence and
earnestness of my nature-that during
the seven years which | have served
this corporation, neither its officers nor
anyone connected with it has ever asked
me to do dishonorable thing, or to
commit an act that was even of Ques-
tionable propriety.
"Can it be possible that a man who
has lived in Mississippi all his life, who
has served her In many ways, could for
get his state and rob and plunder his
people, because. forsooth he is the rep
resentative of a corporation? Away
with such rot No sane man believes
it, No honorable, high-minded, patri-
otic, upright man would preach it. The
love have for Mississippi and for her
people, among whom l expect to spend
the balance of my life and whom my
children must of necessity live, impels
able to observe, l declare to you that
the greatest peril to Mississippi's pro-
gress and to Mississippi's greatness
is the cry of the demagOgue, and the
hasty and ill-considered action of legis-
lative BODIES against capital and cOrpO-
rate, wealth, from which we must ex-
pect to derive the greatest benefits of
the future and which we must encOur-
age, if we shall grow and keep astride
oH
want to see the agricultural interests
Of south Mississippi developed as they
have never been developed before. |
want to see her fertile lands, from
which the pines have been stripped.
thriving, busy fields of industry.
want to see her people prosperous and
happy, and in order to accomplish this
end | know that we must arouse an
interest among those VINO are fortunate
possess0rs Of wealth and secure their
aid and their services in building up the
waste places OF Mississippi"
The above Will meet with cordial en-
dorsement from every honest. sober
minded, right-thinking citizen Of Miss
issippi Furthermore, it is not doc
trine not only preached by Judge Ne
vile, but has been practiccd by him for
forty years, z consistency that cannot
be claimed Tor Mr.. Tsrdaman who.
throughout his public career, has
preached one doctrine and pract;ced
another-denounced corporations and
then accepted favors at their hands.
If Mr.. Vardaman involves himself in
a controversy with Judge Neville, we
opine that he is going to get the worst
of it. There may be some more round
trip passes bearing Mr.. Vardaman's
name stuck away in pigeon holes at
Gulfport and brougt forth in refutation
of his senseless statement that he never,
oh! never, did, at any time while
governor, accept or use a free pass
from any railroad inside or outside Of
Mississippi.
However, what Mr.. Vardaman may
think of the corporations, or what the
representatives of the railroads may
think of Mr.. Vardaman, has nothing to
de with the n ain offense that is now at
tracing public attention.. That offense
consisted in a wilful and deliberate at
tempt to deceive the people whose suf-
ferage he is seeking, his lack of candor,
his failure to back up his statement
with proof, and the miserable subter-
fuges to which ne has resorted to extri-
cate himself from the rap.-Jackson
Daily News.