Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15
Hon. r. o. Cochran Stirs
South Georgia Voters
In FOrcefuI Address
Candidate for United States
Senate Wins M any
Friends by Strong Ar
guments-His Speech in
Full.

Full.
CAMBRIDGE, GA, March
14.-Pledging himself always
the champion Of righteous meth
DDS in business and the enemy
Of fanaticism and experimental
laws that destroy confidence
and wreck progress, Ralph O..
Cochran, Of Atlanta, spoke here
to a large crowd to-day In
forwarding his campaign to
succeed Senator Hoke Smith to
the United States Senate in the
coming election. Mr.. Cochran
outlined in convincing figures
the great industrial prosperity
and the progress of which the
South is capable and pledged
all his energies to the accom-
plishment of the full realization
of these possibilities.
Mr.. Cochran s speech was as
follows:
I have entered the field a free man,
as candidate for the United States
Senate to succeed Senator Hoke
Smith. l have no enemies to punish
or friends to reward. ! have not been
identified with either OF the political
factions in Georgia in previous years,
but | have always reserved the right
to vote my convictions as conditions
existed. A free man as a voter, free
man as a candidate, free man as
one of Georgia's Senators. l shall ever
be, if honored by election to this high
position-and God knows no man
should be so honored whose previous
relations, whose breadth of thought
and sentiment do not encompass the
entire people Of this great State.
Appeal to Business Men.
am one among that considerable
number who are classed as business
men of our State The energies of
the previous years of my life have
| been largely expended in the actiYi-
| ties of business. | have labored by
| day and by night to build up my for
| tunes and to promote the financial in
| terests of those who have intrusted
| their affairs to my care. / feel like
am in touch with the best business IN
| terest of the State, and that l am IA
miliar with the conditions that exist
| A plaza man, business man, l ask
of you our suffrage. And, indeed,
| the tremendous awakening along in
| dustrial lines, and the stupendous
| business interests of the entire South,
and Georgia in particular, call out In
| larion tones for conservatism, tamil
| iarity and breadth of conception OF
| those who represent these great, ma
terial interests in legislative hail5'
that they may be promoted and safe
guarded. l shall always be the cham
pion of righteous methods in busi-
ness: but on the other hand, l shall
ever be the enemy of fanaticism and
governmental laws that destroy conh:-
| dence and wreck fortunes
On this occasion / want to tell you
| that il | have any one characters &c
more conspicuous than others 1t is my
| catholic views and breadth or sentl-
ment on all questions arising out OF
| the relations of our people. There IS
nothing in my views contracted on re :
n.
disown any disposition to be narrow
| or fanatical on any question that may
arise among our people. l recognize
| the right of every man to think as re
pleases and express his thoughts. In :
deed. this is the land of the free and
| the asylum of the oppressed l ma re
nv views concerning religion, con-
corning moral questions, concerning
politics, concerning society; put l
| shall never obtrude them on those VINO
differ with me. ! recognize in every
other man the inalienable right or rree
and untrammeled thought, and me
EXPRESSION of same, on all matters,
/ and the probability of their correct
ness as much so as l claim for my
| convictions and their expression. Tn s
! is American freedom; this is the sun
! light of thought, the emancipation
| day of humanity.
From Middle Class.
am frank to tell you that ] belong
TO the middle class of our people
| who are neither too rich nor too poor
who are neither too learned nor 100
ignorant: but who, in the last ana'N-
/ sis. control the destiny OF TINS coun-
try and the fortunes of m2n-and |
prav to that Providence that permits
Won and me to enjoy this earthly eN-
! istence that when ! shall have entered
Tho Great Unknown what little that
shall be remembered of me shall re-
! late to my love for the common peo-
ple. my humbleness in life and my
fidelity to the best cause or huma :
itv. Nowhere on earth do you t1nd
truer patriots. stronger friends OF the
home. more sincere worshipers OF the
/ great Deity, than among that great
\ class generally known as the com =
! mon people" of every land.
! have entered this race with no
4 purpose OF advocating new-tangled
II IDEAS or numerous isms as the pana-
cea for our real or supposed Ills, J
have no long list Of reforms that
wish to present to you. ] do not be-
ieve i'm the degeneration Of man and
his ultimate ruin. ! have every con
fdence in the American citizen, and
believe all he needs is a chance,
This race that ! am making is one
absolutely devoid OF tricks and sub
terfuge. | have nothing to conceal
and | regard the statement as truth
that the best politics is no politics.
am out IN the omen, and shall appeal
to the manhood Of Georgia to elect
60.