The Sentinel=record., 1914-06-05

the state convention
 Smead Powell, one of the leaders
 of the Kirby campaign, was first in-
 troduced to speak to the adoption of
 the committee reports. Under the
 recommendation of the contest com wittee each side was to have been
 given one and oue-haf hours. but ul- der a motion of Judge Jeptha Evans, the time Of each side was limited to one hour.
 Mr Powell asked for respectful hearing. even in view of the fact that he talked to a majority in opposition to his cause He referred to the statement by Chairman Elliott at the opening of the convention, in which the chairman had said this is Clarke convention Mir Powell said that he had regarded the convention as a democratic convention instead Of a Clarke convention. He said the chairman had told them to keep their mouths shut. but through all the ar gument against the hearing it had never been explained that POinsett cast 52g more votes i'm the senatorial election than there were poll taxes issued in the county. He read an af- fidayit from a constable of the county saying that when he had been given papers to serve on the election judges demanding the duplicate poll books for review. the sheriff had told the constable not to serve the processes. and he had not done so. He said that in Pitts township the vote had been 19 for Kirby and 10 for Clarke, and the officials returns showed just the opposite conditions prevailed "We may not have made strong case, said Mir. Powell, "but we have done the best we could under the circum- stances, and we have at least proved to you that we are in the path of truth"
 James ?. Clarke hurried to the plat form and talked for an hour He said the whole of the contest was based on a falsity, on the flimsy fabric of newspaper report, which had been in error. q do not admit that my majority was but PIP, though the re turns show this to be a majority ia my favor said the senator Kirby was surprised that he was within 2l2 votes of election. but even at that not so surprised as l was or woud have been were he within 2l,000 votes of election This was not a land slide. It was a close election which no man could have anticipated. Kirby. got f25 votes in Harrisburg, in Poinsett county, and you can go there and investigate and you will not find p voters who will tell you they voted for him"
 Here now publicly" said Senator Clarke, q acknowledge that L. c. Going is my friend and worthy of my friendship. Mir. Powell has told you that in Pitts ballot box the vote for Kirby was 19 and for me it was 10, and that the small vote there was re yersed on the official returns il my favor have here in my hand the affidavit of 19 voters of Pitts thal they cast their ballot fer me. My in- vestigation in al their charges of Graud has established that just such false accusations have been made In Clehurne county the press reports published in the home paper showed that l had a majority of 25l votes. and such a report was sent to Little Rock Later there came a report that Kirby had carried the county by 25l That was a reversal worthy of some inves- and I investigated and found the first newspaper reports were in- correct, and that Kirby had carried the county. But when that change from newspaper report came in l did not cry fraud or steal or say I was going to contest 1 merely in- yestgated quietly. But when a news paper report from Poinsett cOu2Sy, contained a misleading report or falsity, whichever it may be termed, and it was in my favor when the cor rection came, they make a cry of fraud.
 Tt is getting to be a state scandal that the governors office demands of the election commissioners that fraud be perpetrated and it has got to stop ! wrote that election law for the pur- pose of protecting the white people from coming Into competition with Ignorant and preiudiced negro voters, | and not to be used as a tool for black ! mail by any governor (What about Remmell. asked a voice) q would l rather live under an honest govern ment at the hands of Remmel than by a band of democratic election 1 thieves. l never stuffed ballot box or allowed one to he stuffed for me. 70
 Now, about the poll tax receipts | in Poinsett county. The records show that two years before this election l there were 1.442 poll tax receipts is sued, and that this year more than ? 200 poll taxes were paid The rules say that anybody who is subject to being taxed is entitled 10 vote. if they will be qualified voters by the time of the general election. A primary cleo tiOu ie nothinu mora thap o uoDofnot