The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1911-06-29
Around The State


Ten men are killed on our corporate
owned railroads where one man is
killed on the government owned rail
roads of Europe. Are we,ever going
to be able to curb the greed Of the
corporations? Never as long as we
put the agents Of predatory wealth in
Office"
Things Favored.
He referred to the Federal Court as
the city of refuge for the corporations
and said the recent Standard Oil de-
cision was only to show the trust how
to evade the law. That the constitu-
ton never presumed to give the Su-
preme Court the power they exercise,
and that the only remedy was to give
the people more power and have them
elect the Federal judges, as they do
their congressman. The speaker fav-
ored the election of the United States
Senators by the people; he favored the
income tax; he opposed the ship sub
sidy; he opposed the Central Bank
idea; he stood with the rank of the
democrats on the tariff, that is for
tariff for the economical conduct Of
the affairs of government he favored
the parcels post; he said the most
useless and defenseless trust In exis-
tence is the express trust and that he
would raise the black flag against 1t
when he went to Washington in 1913
The speaker favored the abolition of
every distillery and brewery in the
country by national enactment and de-
livered an eloquent period on the
harms of the immoderate use of in
toxicants.
He handled the race question at
length, first delivering beautiful
tribute to the old slave and express
ing regrets that we had no more Of
their kind, he said: Now don't go
away and say that Vardaman hates
the negro. I do not hate any man,
but God never intended that the two
races should live side by side in social
or political equality" He quoted
Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lin
coin in support of his views on this
question, and said he was not discuss
ing the question from race prejudice
but from race pride. That the negro's
place must be fixed by law. Take
away his political equality and he will
cease to desire social equality, and
then in large measure the unmention-
able crime will stop.
History OF Life.
Ex-Gov. Vardaman then gave brief
history Of his early life, following this
with a detailed answer to all the
charges that have been made against
him by his opponents. He said that
If he had violated the decalogue in its
entirety, or been a debaucher OF
women, his character could not have
been more ruthlessly attacked. Then,
in order, the speaker took up the
charges that had been made against
him, the Spanish-American war vet
erans' funds, the battleship fund, the
Bryan fund, the contingent fund, the
penitentiary matter and the much
talked Of railroad pass. In explaining
the various funds, how they came into
his possession, and what disposition
had been made of them, which he de-
clared were matters Of public record,
Gov. vardaman concluded by saying
that he had never appropriated or mis-
appropriated one dollar, as the records
showed, and that any man who dared
say to the contrary was falsifier.
Concerning the pass, the speaker said
that he was working with committee
for the Confederate Soldiers Home;
that If he had ridden on pass he did
not know it as the tickets were always
furnished by that committee, and that
If his signature appeared on pass 1t
was forgery.
At the close of his speech Gov
vardaman paid a glowing tribute to
the womanhood of Mississippi, and
then turning once more to himself
said:
"I have been twitted about my pow
erty am poor, but thank God my
poverty never cost you dollar. If I
had desired I could now be clipping
coupons from bonds. am proud or
the record made as Governor Of this
state and my traducers harm me not
, at ALL"