The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1913-05-09
COL. AMis' STATEMENT.
Atogether the plainest, strongt

azure COHCci nihS luC uoiou-Ii I'LL
deal comes from the pen of Col. j.
has r. Amis, chairman of the ind
pendent state democratic committee
Col. Amis knows all the facts, b
knows them better than any one els
ard not being candidate for publ
favor, has lie motive wahtever fC
telling them otherwise than as the
are. His statement gains additions
serength from the fact that 1t doe
not indulge in abuse or billinsgate
His language is plain, but it is tina
OF gentleman.
Col. Amis shows beyond question
that there was an agreement between
the fusion forces and Mayor Crnmp
whereby the legislature would be or
ganized for defensive purposes, anG
without which agreement the fusion
lists would have been in a helpless
minority from the beginning Of the
session. He shows how through this
alliance and this alliance alone inde-
pendent democrats were elected to
every state Office, to the United
States senate, the auditors and in
surance commissioners bill were
passed and the defeat of undesirable
legislation made certain He also
shows how, when the agreement was
preached, disaster came to the fusion
cause and turmoil, strife and embar-
assment to the state followed. These
statements cannot admit of any de-
NAL
That the agreement was for the
best interests of the state; that it
was the only way in which the cleo
ton machinery Of the state could be
safeguardel and legislation hostile
tc good government defeated, eer-
tainly cannot be denied. The evil
consequences of the breach of the
agreement, which as Col. Amis truly |
suys, was preached by the independ- |
ents and republicans, are already
perfectly apparent
1t is no answer to all this to say
that Mayor Crump would have
preached the agreement. No one
will ever know of course whether or
not the Mayor would have broken !
faith, but it is a fact that he had not
done so. He had faithfully and fair
ly lived UP to his agreement. His
delegation had furnished the neces-
.sary votes to fill every state office
with independents to elect an lnde-
pendent democrat as speaker of the
senate. to elect independents to
the senate; to elect the republican
caucus nominee as commissioner OF
elections and to prevent even the In
PRODUCTION of bill to change the
present honest election system.
There lis absolutely no fact to lndl- !
cate that Mayor Crump contemplated
breach of faith Again there is
no law upon the earth that justifies
a breach OF faith upon the mere sus-
picion that the other side would not
keep its plighted faith.
Whether or not Gov. Hooper was
really party to the Crump agree
ment is not as pertinent to the is
sue at this time as the question,
what did the Governor profit the
cause of good government and hon
est legislation by repudiating that
agreement? That is the real ques-
ton. If the governor or any Of his
friends can show any substantial
gain for the cause through his course
we shall be most agreeably surpris-
ed If they can give one good rea-
son, in the light of recent develop
ments, why the agreement was not
lust as beneficial to the cause in the
closing days of the legislative SEES
SIGN, as it was in the first when fu-
sionists were reaping harvest OF
Offices and progressive legislation,
we are willing then to concede that
our position has been founded In
error.
Col. Amis states the whole ques-
ton in a nutshell when he says:
81 was a party to that agreement,
oonscientiously believing that there
by the best interests of the State
would be subserved; all parties on
both sides agree in saying that
faithfully lived UP to it; and l have
but one regret with reference 10 it
now, and that is it was not strictly
adhered to. ] know we did well,
even beyond our most sanguine
hopes and expectations, while we OBJ
served it, ] know equally we'll that
we have had nothing but strife and
confusion, with great loss to the mat
orial interests of the State since it
was broken: and feel confident
that had il heen strictly adhered to