The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1911-09-02
SEEKING THE TRUTH ABOUT MARTIN

: OLChIHu InC INuln HbUOi mHhIIn
Overlooking the Virginia cam
paign from a Washington point O
view, the most decided impression
Is Of pity for people who may sin
cerely want TO know the meri,s OF
the contest, lost in the maze OF
conflicting testimony.
Senator Martin. confronted by tho
publicity OF a mass Oh letters that
would damn public man in almost
any State In the Union. and thac
would do Il In Virginia II the pow
er OF the office-holding machines
were not so effectively supplement-
cd by n conspiracy Of silence has
been shouting stop theft" at the
top OF his voice; rolling his eyes TO
heaven. proclaiming that such out
rageous charges ought to be ig-
nored; hurting reams of balderdash
about the honor" OF the noble Old
State being assaIled by his oppo-
| nent.
Every revelation Of his own du-
pliclty in dealing with the railroads
and other special interests while
he was public servant, has been
met with a new gush OF this sort
Of denial that denies nothing.
The evidence which Representa-
tive Jones has produced in the last
two or three days would not be
,sfeeded in Washington, where Mr.
Martins record as a thick-and-thin
supporter of the railroads has
become so notorious that nobody
asks proof But in Virginia they
seem not to have much illumination
on these points, and they demand
the most detailed proof. Apparent
ly. nothing short OF testimony which
will force confession from Mar
tin, will be satisfactory to a large
share Of the people. That testi-
mony Jones has at last produced.
At Petersburg on Tuesday even
ing last Mr. Jones read and exhib-
tied three letters, in Senator Mar
tins own handwriting, written TO
William A. Glasgow, OF Philadelphia,
general counsel for the Norfolk q
Western railroad. The most inn
portant Of these was quite lengthy,
an insistent appeal to the railroad
company to contribute 20 the
Virginia campaign Of that year. 1t
warned Glasgow that Representa-
tive Hal" Flood-then running for
the State senate-was hard press
ed; that the railroads had cal
ways been able to rely on" Flood;
Flood had incurred much unpop-
ularity because of this firm friend
ship for the railroads; and that I'M
less the railroads now stood by him
in substantial manner, he and va
rious other legislative candidates.
who, like him, had been devoted
friends to the railroads, were likely
TO be defeated and an extremist leg
lslature to be elected.
The special significance of this
letter Is not merely that Martin was
begging for railroad money; that
sort of thing does not seem to dis
credit a public man much In Vir-
ginia But early in the present cam
paign Martin gave his word THAI
from his election to the Senate he
never had anthing to do with rail-
roads, never solicited them for
money, and held himself entirely |
of them
Thus the Glasgow letter-as we'll
as many others equally significant.
which Jones has read-shows Mar
tin not merely as senatirial 60 |
between, holding up the railroads
for money, but as having given his
word 10 the State and then had |
that word proved worthless. They
don't much like that kind of thing
in Virginia.
Forced to admit these letters.
Martin explains very Imply that he
exhausted all his resources to get
money from the railroads in order |
TO save the States supremacy to
tho white race" That Is always a
good explanation in Virginia; any
thing seemingly can be palliated IL
the explanation be made that II
had to be done in order to pre-
vent negro domination.
The trouble Is that the Glasgow
letters prove another motive. Mar
tin asked for money to save, not |
SUPREMACY. but RAIL
ROAD SUPREMACY. The white
supremacy" business was buncombe;
the same sort OF goods as the old |
bloody shirt" business that used |
to go in the North.
The fact Is, If Virginia wants to
know, that Martin has never devil |
ated from a consistent course OF
supporting railroad interests since
he has been in Washington No
body at the Senate wing of the Cap
itol has ventured an uncertainty on
that point since he has been a |
Senator. There is not another DEM
ocratic Senator so VIGOROUSLY a !
railroad man as he; not one. There
are a few who vote Just as often |
for the railroad side as he, but
none is so we'll known as n worker,
a booster, a middleman for the
railroad influence in the Senate
as Martin.
The case which Jones has pre-
sented would be ample to defeat a |
in almosh any state in the
Union. II it dosen't beat Martin
it will be the proof that buncombe
and balderdash and tommyrot are
more potent In the State that once
boosted itself the very home OF
American craftsmanship, than any
other form of appeal
Degraded from Jefferson to Mar
tin, Virginia ought to look itself
In the face, put on the sackcloth.
and, taking a stout club in hand,
redeem itself on next Thursday by |
cleaning out the rotten old ma
chine that makes the State by
word among communities that know
what decent politics is.-Washing-
ton Times.
..an-,a, ann