The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-09-09
GOVERNOR O'NEAL
MAKES A CAUSTIC
REPLY TO HORSON
Continued from Page Ono


that he was an 4Alabamian and that in me
the state mad n governor who could meet
| on equal terms ana without dlscredit the
abiest man in the nation. The report OF
that debate, found in the proceedings OF
| the conference showed that not one m
Find or discourteous word was uttered
by either Mr. Wilson or myself On the
contrary, in am interview which / gave
| immediately afterward to the reporter OF
the New York Globe, l stated that [ re-
garded Mr. Wilson as one of the greatest
men of the nation and that in my judg-
ment he would make an ideal and invln-
chile candidate for the democratic nomi-
nation for the presidency. Following that
incident / make q speaking tour during
| the last campaign through the state of
Maine. in which freely gave myself and
every energy | possessed to the service
of the democratic party, of which Mr..
Wilson was then the candidate for ths
presidency. 1t had been, | think, but q
year previous when Captain Hobson
toured the same state. speaking in adj
vocacy of these policies to which the
democratic party in Maine was bitterly
opposed. The cause lin which he then
aided the republican party resulted In the
defe at of the first democratic governor
that that state had had in 50 years.
Can Captain Hobson consistently ASK
to be considered as democratic when he
thus aided in the defeat OF the democratic
ticket in a New England state?
"In every speech which / delivered i'll
Maine I repeated that great letter which
our leader had written to the people of
that state, in which he stated that tho
democratic party stood for the principles
of local option
in the election held last November l
| considered that l was exercising one of
the highest prerogatives of citizenship
when l cast my ballot for those electors
whose votes would be recorded for Wood
row Wilson.
Back From New York
$50 strict a duty did | regard this to
be that ! came from the city of New
York in order to cast that ballot. al
though I was urged to remain and make
further speeches at several great mass
| meetings.
"On the contrary, Captain Hobson did
| not take the trouble to go to Greensboro
| to vote for Mr.. Wilson, although I am
| Informed that he was then in the city
| of Birmingham.
1.-The public will correct me II I am
! mistaken in saying that Captain Hobson
was the only southern man in Congress
who voted for the bill to reinstate the
negro soldiers who had dsgraced their
| uniforms by their conduct at Browns
vile, Tex.
''In my former reply l felt constrained
by sense of duty as a leader of the
democratic party of Alabama to expose
Captain Hobson's betrayal of public
trust, his disloyalty TO party principles,
his inordinate and offensive egotism and
to prove by the record that he obtained
most of his political views from the
Hon. Eugene Debbs instead of from our
chosen leader, President Woodrow Will
son.
|, Every charge made was based on his
unanswerable.
'rhey condemn him as wholly unwor-
| thy of any further trust or confidence
on the part of the democratic party.
He cannot escape the force of the
indictment which | have presented by
insulting, coarse and vulgar epithets, or
| by all the weapons which can be forged
| in the foul arsenal of slander or false
hood.
Desperate Effort
| I'm his desperate and reckless effort
| to find some basis of attack he even
reaches his slanderous hand into the pri-
! vate recesses of my family history, and
attempts to make it appear that from
unworthy motives | dropped the initial A
| from my name BY the name of Emmett
! O. Neal my birth was recorded, and by
| ti1dl Idint L was btPtiScuf anu nave al
ways been known. My elder brother,
who died in 1876. bore the honored name
of my father, Edward Asbury O'Neal.
| ut is amazing that any man who
claims to possess the faintest conception
| of the instincts of a gentleman would
stoop- TO such a mean, petty and ever
childish method OF attack.
"In his recent interview Captain Hob
son in most vehement and insulting Ian.
guage declares that he would have
scorned any appointment at my hands
| have forced him u admit that he die