Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1911-04-14
VARDAMAN IN MACON,

all so to his originality Of thought
and expression.
In what he said there was moth
ing both original and worth re
membering What was original is
not worth remembering, and what
is worth remembering is not Origi-
nal.
His platform contains "nOthing
both new and valuable. what is
new is not valuable, and what is
valuable is not new"
In truth, it was an inelegant
potpOuri composed of an occasion
al literary gem-borrOwed, pla
giarized or paraphrased from God
/ knows where - revamped plati
tudes, vituperation and abuse of
the scholarly gentleman and
christian character, Hon. Charl
ton III. Alexander, and lima
tured filings at Senator Leroy
Percy who, in addition to being
exceptionally courageous and ab-
sOlutely honest, is the very genius
of common sense and the apOs-
theOsis of merit such AS is required
to equip man WOrthily to sue
ceed himself in the United States
senate and become the colleagues
of the able debater and brilliant
scholar, John Sharp Williams.
The address had very many
quotations and proper recOgni
ton of the virtue and patriotism
of the Confederate soldier as we'll
as a beautiful tribute to woman
to the women of the COnfederacy
and to those who graced his audi
ence honOred him by their pres
Gncc.
And yet, the elOquence Of those
tributes, with all the gracefulness
of their delivery, could not re
deem the unclean suggestions
to enlighten the audience as to
his peculiar view Of certain
phase of the race problem.
His effort was a rehash of his
speeches, lectures and editorial
writings that have been familiar
to the public for twenty years and
was filled with mis-statement of
facts and misrepresentation of
truth, and it also showed that he
was Il braggard and a coward.
He is Il braggart because he
makes great show of seeking an
open field and fair fight when in
truth his actions Enthusiastically in
dictate that is the last thing he Ell
thcr seeks Or wants.
He is moral coward because he
has not the courage to tell the un-
vanished truth as to himself and
his own conduct, or as to his rivals
and their actions.
He is political coward because
he lodges the truth as to his Off
cial record and falSitieS the facts
as to it.
He is an intellectual coward be-
cause he has not the courage to
tell the truth as to his opponents
and being too much of an intellec-
tual bastard to face his accuserS
before the people, he has not the
integrity of character to permit
those whom he ISLANDERS and de-
flames to meet him in joint debate
that the people may determine the
truth or falsity of the charges he
makes against them and the accu-
satiens they in turn bring against
him.
That Governor Vardaman is in
capable of stating the truth, the
whole truth and nothing but the
truth, or too weak and unmanly
to do so when his political inter
ests are involved and in leopard,
is shown by his record-by his
public speeches and by his writ
ings in his personal organ, ''The
Issue of which he is proprietor
and editOr-in- chief.
Now let us make good that esti-
mate of his merits and dement's, or
make to him public apology, and
we pray you, o Gentle Reader, to
be an impartial judge.
Our task would be less difficult
of accomplishment were it not that
in his clustering assertions truth
error are so artfully interviewer
that it is difficult to tell where the
one begins and the other ends, al
though both in his editorial writ
ings, and in his public utterances
''the proportion of fiction to fact
SurpaSses that Of sack to bread in
Sir Johns tavern bill" Indeed,
many of his statements would do
credit to the imagination of Joe
Mulhatton or the inventive genius
of DR., Cook.
The speech was, indeed, q great
&FF0RF but it was far from q gPeat