The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-04-01

l 'te ii6Ht WHlPH they reserve to them-
 selves; that is, of voting as 1t seemed
 to me was right. So far as the gentle
 man from Georgia (Mr. Hardwick) is 1 concerned, l say, shoo fly don't bother
 me shoo fly don't bother me-
 No Criticism for Appointments
 T have no word of criticism for n,v democratic friends who are going ;o l vote Tor the repeal We have worked 1 together too long; we have fought
 shoulder to shoulder, heart to heart. too | oileh, We have mourned together in de-
 feat Tor l6 years. but never were dis 1 heariened; we have rejoinced together
 In our victories during the last fonr
 years; and I hope we will have cause l To rejoice in many more.
 l With deep affection, and recollec- l ton l often think of the 172 demo
 crats and 30 odd insurgent republicans l Who achieved our great victory on
 'idreH i9' l9Vs, which started a politi- cal revolution. l love those men too well to quarrel with them now. Ton and |, MT, speaker. happened to be demo- efatle leaders Tn that historic parila-
 lhehtafy contest, and among House dem ocfats you and l have been the chief | nehehclarles You owe the leadership i of the House, and l owe the sneaker
 ship to the fact, fortunate to us. that We were the democratic leaders on that | memorable occasion but have as- serted thousand times, and l do now
 assert that every man of the 172 dem oefats and 30 odd republics who fought ] With us on that bloody field is entitled
 to his full share of honor In the inn mortal words of Admiral Winfield Scott 1 Schley-There was glory enough for l all With such men I will not quarrel | indeed, the dignity of the high position l which l hold by the partiality of the
 House forbids that l quarrel with any
 member refuse to degrade the speak ership by so doing.
 | T assume that every member will
 vote honestly the way dictated by his intellect and his conscience dictates:
 put why should I be denied the same privilege? No man here should be a
 rubber stamp congressman. l refuse 1 absolutely to be a rubber stamp rep
 resentatiVe or a rubber stamp speak
 CT. If l did. you would have no re- ] speet for me. I regret more than l
 can tell that all of us democrats can
 not vote together, but
 'Tis with our judgments as our
 watches; none
 Go just alike, yet each believes his 1 own
 'iSo, if we must differ, let us diff
 fer in kindness and it will be better much better, for the party and there l lofe Delltf TOT the country
 Has Given Subject Great Thought l Truth to tell l never spent as much
 time thinking about what my duty
 was as upon this. I looked at it from | every conceivable angle to see if there
 was any Justification for not keeping our platform pledge for I desired to stand with the President knowing full well that my motive would be miscon- strued by every office seeker in the land, but to save my life, I could con- jure no excuse for bolting the plat form. That is the reason why I was 1 so slow in announcing my conclusion in
 the matter. Having had so much trou- l ble in coming to a determination my self, l never asked a single member
 to vote as l did I am certain that the
 entire membership of the House will
 bear me out in this statement "On the 18th day of August 1903. I
 made my first speech in the House.
 On that occasion as on this, a plat l form figured in the proceedings.
 Among other things I said:
 "l am democrat. I stand by the
 platform-by all of it-by every iot and little of it, because I believed in 1 if with my whole heart when it was
 made and believe in it with my whole heart now. It contains the democratic gospel pure and undefied. Over no po- i litical utterance did I ever rejoice more 1 than over that, because it was not d Janus faced, double meaning good
 Lord, good devil, all-things- to -all-m en
 sort Of document, but was clear. bold, l honest manly, masterful comprehen- 1 sive declaration of democratic faith. 1 From a hundred rostrums. in the pres
 ence of high heaven and thousands of
 intelligent, law abiding, industrious, l God fearing, patriotic people 1 pledged
 myself to stand by it here, and, come
 what may, am going to keep my word. 1 Tt is an. old saying that all things are l fair in love and war, and some people 1 appear to believe that anything Is fair in politics. l dissent in toto from any such l immoral doctrine. The people have a l right to honest treatm at the hands of l those who aspire to be their agents in
 public affairs and to the man who be-
 trays them they will send the silken bow
 string for his own destruction. 1 Platform Is Pledge
 | What is a platform, anyway? Is it
 an honest declaration of principles which | the framers honestly intend to enact into l laws if they attain to power. or is 1t
 d dishonest device whereby to entrap the | unwary voter? Is it a candid statement l of the faith that is in us, or is it a bait
 to catch gudgeons?
 "Is it the plighted word of men of honor l to accomplish certain things, or is it only l a good enough, Morgan, till after election, which palters with the people in double sense, which keeps the word of promise to | the ear and breaks it to the hope?' "I have stood by that declaration almost I 22 years l stand by it now. | will stand I by it until l am bereft of my senses. It 1 is the rule of conscience and of patriotic l service. No other rule will do to live l by or to die by.
 That statement is in language more | bizarre than l would use now, but the idea | expressed therein is the same idea I en- | tertain now and will entertain until am I in my grave.
 No Grounds for COngratuIation 'There has been much felicitation among the supporters of this bill about their tremendous victory on the adoption of the rule. When it Is remembered that the