Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1911-08-11
YELLOW DOG FUND
STORY IS UNTRUE

STORY Is UNlRU|
Under a New York date line Sun
DAVIS Richmond Times-Dispatcf
printed the followin:
After a pleasant trip abroad, J
8. B. Thompson, of Atlanta, Ca, wltf
his wife and Miss Eliza B. Thoml
son. again is in America, having ar
rived aboard the Lusitania. The
sturdy Virginian, for such he is,witf
hair now gray, smiled as he greeted
The Times-Dispatch correspondent
but when the purport of the cores
pondent's mission dawned upon
him, his veins, through which
courses Southern blood, stood out
! like whipcords, and it was with diff
ficulty that he retained his compos-
ure. He was shown recent publ
cations that attributed to him the
handling of yellow dog fund
some years ago in Virginia. His
face, tanned by the sea voyage and
ten weeks sojourn In England, Scot
land and France. was truly study,
Flushed with indignation and with
BOSOM swelling with repressed
wrath. Mr.. Thompson slowly read
the articles now being printed In
the campaign of Congressman Will
liam A. Jones against Senator
Thomas S. Martin.
No "Yellow Dog" Fund
When he had finished Mr.. Thomp-
son paused as If to catch his breath,
and then, looking at the correspon-
dent, began:
81 am not a citizen of Virginia
now, and prefer not to be brought
into this matter. On the face OF
these letters, which are construed
as having reference to yellow
dog" fund, 1 will say that the State
Legislature threshed this matter
out. was a witness before las COM
mittee, and it's report and the Leg
islature's action is a matter of re-
cord.
"This question was settled then
There was no yellow dog or corrup-
ton fund, as is charged. AS mat
ter of course, l did solicit and con-
tribute to the campaign fund, and,
so far as 1 know, every dollar was
spent legitimately and with the
knowledge of the campaign COM
mittee. 1 glory in being able to say
his. There was no corruption OF
which l was aware.
81 am charged with having con-
lucted this yellow dog fund in
1891. At that tire the late Senator
Barbour, my uncle was in the Sen
ate, and Martins campaign was not
even thought of. In 1893 the Leg
stature, composed of young Virgin
ans, elected Mr.. Martin, after the
ieath of my uncle.
Stolen From His Files
1.-THE letters about which you ask
Jurport to have been written in
1891, now twenty years ago, and,
If course, I have no Independent
memory of them. I have no rea-
son to suppose, however, that I did
lot write them. If they are copies,
as l understand they are said to be,
they were stolen from my letter
lies.
after this long lapse of years it
impossible for me to recall in de-
tail all the circumstances under
which the letters were written; but
it is evident from the reports in the
newspapers that an effort is being
made to distort their meaning and
% put an Interpretation upon them
entirely unjustified by the facts.
For example, it is claimed that
these letters show that yellow
dog fund had been provided by the
railroads and that Senator Martin
was one of the railroad agents for
the disbursement of this fund. This
is, of course, intended to make on
the public mind the impression that
the railroads had subscribed and
were using a corruption fund.
"Such statement is absolutely
false. There was no yellow dog OF
corruption fund, so far as l ever
heard or believe. Virginia has. in
my belief always been free from any
such corruption, and does not de-
serve this stigma. Certainly, so far
as an attempt is made to link my
aame with any such funds, I in
dignantly repudiate it and denounce
it as false.
1.-The letters, in so far as they re-
late to money, have reference to the
railroads or by their owners and by
campaign funds contributed by the
men of means generally to the
Democratic party of the State. Such
contributions were unquestionably
made, and were made at the earnest
solicitation of the Democratic man
ayers.
Different Issue Then
"The issues, then, were not be-
tween the railroads or the property
interests, on the one side, and the
people, on the other, but were be-
tween Anglo-Saxon civilization, re-
presented by the Democratic party,