The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1913-02-27

GfN~CAAAB 1~AAsCACA t8G CQ0nlI GOufk
house, Pensacola, Florida. February 81,
1913. On account Of the incorrect re-
ports Of the speech. which have been
published, the Representative Govern
ment League desired that this speech
should be published in fun.
Mr.. Chairman and Fellow Countrymen:
It gives me great pleasure to again
visit this beautiful city and mark its
great Improvement. It has been some
nine or ten years since / have been
here, and / want to say I don't know
who is responsible, or what govern
ment il responsible, but the citizenship
of Pensacola certainly are indebted to
the public men who have contributed
in beauIfying the metropolis of Flor
ida-one OF the great seaports.
When I was in active business had
considerable experience and business
relations with this delightful city, and
this great people, and it affords me, in
deed, a genuine pleasure to be here. I
have no motive, on the word of a man,
TO be here tonight, but only to accept
your invitation. am not seeking any
Office. nor have any emoIuments of
any kind to ask at your hands, or Of
anyone else. As the gentleman in in
PRODUCING me has referred to the fact,
I am president Of the Alabama Good
Roads Association, to which I have
contributed sixteen years of my life,
although a busy merchant in Mobile,
and yet I never found my time too
valuable not to contribute to the af-
fairs of my home city, of my county,
OF my state, and Of the nation.
Ny friends, the fundamental duty Of
81 L. r. f<@f4 - frAaf q
the local self government and its ira
ditions that our forefathers have hand
ed down to us, and we should not be
misied by false prophets, nor by de-
signing men. nor by men that have
spite, or that have personal ambitions,
and by others who are disappointed
because they cannot get some of the
fish and loaves. My friends, when
say this. I speak advisedly. / have
been q member Of the city government
of Mobile. beginning az its earliest
struggles In the days Of reconstruction,
when I had hardly attained my ma
jority. fighting for what-for local self
government. to throw off the shackles
OF carpetbagism, the aliens that had
seized our government. What else
prompted my manhood TO raise my
voice and arm in the defense Of Gods
nob.est creature-woman-G bless
her, and without which we could have
no good government. because after all,
IL is to the sanctity and purity OF
woman we owe all. and in the recon-
struction period, why did I join the
ku kIux? Why did I join the battle?
Because I wanted local self-govern-
ment Ny friends. have never sought
once for any emoluments and l have
never held Office for pay. Beginning
az that period when 1t was my duty, as
] saw it then, to rescue our people in
Mobile and south Alabama from mis-
rule for self government, | have con-
tinued to raise my voice and battle for
better conditions, and, thank God, I'M
der local self government Mobile has
prospered: her health has been in
creased, her values increased, and her
people are prosperous.
Ny friends, / am not familiar with
local issues here, but ! want as an
American citizen to speak to my coun-
trymen and give you the experience of
q man that probably has had more ex-
perience than any other citizen q don't
say this in any way to be egotistfcaD
in Alabama or possibly in this city.
and that long experience has taught
me this: that it is safer to trust your
government TO the people, elected d.
rect to represent you, than to CEN
traiize in any commission of three men
II don't care how good. or how pure
those three men are. Why do ] say
that2 Because my experience has
taught me that. We hear men say
that write magazines and papers In the
interest of some mercenary motive
that 1t is safer to run munic 1al gov
eminent by commission Of three men
o. five men than ii is to trust the peo-
PIE. I say to you, my friends, any man
who writes that or says that has
personal motive. and l say that De-
cause that is the experiences nave
found in my long career. Take eur
fight In Mobile for municipal owner
ship OF waterworks. What were the
conditions then? My friends, ! was a
busy merchant in Mobile at that period,
operating in addition to the wholesale
grocery business, steamships running
10 South America, bringing in bananas,
and due to the unsanitary conditions
OF our city for. the want Of sanitary
sewers, we were unhealthy and our
ri.ztonners were driven away. The
board OF health about the first OF the
year Advertised to the world that on
the HIEL Oh May NAO POAS -
would be closed to the markets of the
world, notwithstanding that the ports
were right close to US. This was due
to the unhealthy conditions. We I'M
dertoolx to establish q system OF sani-
tary sewers and municipal ownership
Of waterworlxs, and 1t took the people
nine years in Mobile to obtain those
reIiefs. why? Because the service
corporations that owned the private
waterworks. the trust companies and
those that financed them. made It
nlne-year fight, and during that period
/ was chairman OF the committee that
helped to build the waterworks. We
built one Of the cheapest waterworks
systerns in the United States. system
OF sanitary sewers. and out Of that en-
terprise Mobile begun to become a
healthy and prosperous city. The rea-
son I am referring to this, my friends,
and my long experience, Is to show
you the difficulties that the people OF
Mobile had in trying TO get q munich
pal ownership Of waterworks and sani-
tary sewers. The aggregate interests
OF men that were leaders, ! am sorry