The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1911-03-31

- T~"T - -" 80 F|Wf
am going TO say Can it be pos
sible that the major is practicing Just
70 learn the lick and TO get his courage
up for the debates he cannot avoid
should be get to the senatei For be
lieye me, he will never have q fight on
that muster ground all BY himself. Or,
can it be that the major feels that as
against me he has an advantage in his
newspaper which he Is not willing to
Yields He has canssssed the state sew
eral times. He has a host of former
ofdce,holders whom he appointed, some
Of whom may think that the Office car
ried not merely an obligation to serve
the state faithfully, but some obligation
to serve nim personally. Those are ad-
vantages TO which he Is entitled, but
when in the newspaper, which Is his
personal organ, and now is merely a
campaign bulletin, he s~tigmatizes, be-
Titles, or derides an opponent and then
refuses to meet him on the stump, ! re-
peat, it is not a fair and manly course.
To circulate reflections on another in this
way and among those who may have no
chance to hear a reply may be fair in
the sense that in politics, like war, every
thing, is fair, but it is not fair according
to any code of manly southern men.
Had he even lived up to his own utter
ances and professions and abstained from
decrying me or my supporters in his
paper he might have justified his course
with some; but, since he conducts a one
sided debate in his newspaper, and in it
discusses my record and character, | am
sure | will be justified in varying at
least for this once my usual course
which has been not to metnion in my
speeches the name of an opponent. 4 do
not believe Major Vardaman has any
fear that | will in debate resort to abuse
or acrimonious personal discussion. For
thirty years / have been in joint debates
with my brethren of the bar without an
unkind word ever passing, and If that
and my curse in the campaign thus far
are not guarantees against yituperation,
my own promise should be accepted by
those who know me,
Aonther reason why it is unfair; For
thirty years of professional and semi
public life in Mississippi, | never heard a
reflection on my sincerity or a slur on
my reputation before / became a candi-
date against Major Yardaman. Before
that he was kind enough to call me "a
very able lawyer and a splendid Christian
gentleman" I thank him for this, but
since | have committed the unpardon.
able sin Of becoming a candidate for the
senate, his comments take another form.
As a sample, he publishes and circulates
in The Issue Of July 20, 1910, an ar
ticle deriding my religious professions,
which ] have never obtruded and among
other things saying, that although / was
n church officer and a conspicuous mem
Der Of the Sunday school and the prayer
meeting, yet | affiliated politically with
moral derelicts or Philistines who
ploughed with the heifer, dallied with
the charms of dusky damsels and con-
fided in cute and cunning demi-mondes,
who were 'unco weak and little to be
trustedi" This appears in the same
issue in which Major Vardaman appeals
for a campaign free from personalities.
In q recent number Of his paper he
damns me with faint praise by calling
me a great moralist,a with an inter-
rogation point after it. l pass by the
numerous articles referring to me as a
demagogue, for | am not sure he appre-
ciates the difference between a dema-
gogue and a statesman. But he attacks
my sincerity in this campaign by repeat.
ing over and over in his paper the silly
nonsense that ! am running merely to
help another man. He rolls as a sweet
morsel that stupid staggcr Of witticism
that calls me one Of the "Gold Dust
Twins" Really, I have not yet been
able to decide whether he is attracted
to that simile because the Gold Dust
Twins being black express the limit Of
his mental vision, or whether he looks
beyond the color to their work, for their
business is TO scour mighty clean the
things that are dirty. But, | will at
tribute all of this to a play Of humor,
since ho has himself given the lie to all
this nonsense that ! am in a combina-
ton o. running to help anybody, for in
The Issue of July s, 1910, hs writes,
mir. Alexander might have been put out
of the running in order to bring about
harmony in the opposition ranks, but
without his consent. There was no
altruism or patriotism in his conduct
And again he publishes, 'IIe tAlexan-
der) win not henceforth unite with other
candidates, but he will be a unit IN his
own behalf"
One other thing, and | will dismiss the
matter of joint debates: The Major
says IN his paper but not in his reply
70 mel, that if / want to hammer on
anybody, hammer on Senator Percy. OF
course, that would delight Major Var
daman. What Has he forgotten that
this campaign began with a joint debate
between Senator Percy and myself, when
he sought before the executive commit.
tee to commit the party TO a special elec-
tion, the effect Of which would have
been to limit the fight to himself and
Major Vardaman? Senator Percy and |
met and the ~scrimmage was a pretty
lively one. The only reason the Major
was not in that joint debate was be-
cause he preferred to be present, like
Mark Twain said he attended church, BY
his authorized representative. I have
not yet heard that Senator Percy gets
more comfort out Of my speeches than
Major Vardaman. He has little or no
public record as yet to review, and, of
course, | shall not a Il private charac-