The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1914-10-09

face and see whether | am correct or
in error in making this statement,
According to Bilbo's own sworn state
ment when you were q candidate be-
fore the secret caucus for the senator
ship he received S645.00 as a bribe to
vote against you for your opponent,
and after the caucus had adjourned
this man Bilbo sat in his eat as u
member of the Mississippi state sen
ate and cast his vote for lie Roy Percy
and he did this not in a caucus but as
q sworn officer while voting under
oath as a state senator for your OPP
ponent, MIR. Percy. when, If any part
Of his statement was to be believed
at all Percy had procured the nomina-
tion by bribery, and yet. with full
knowledge of this fact. according to
his own sworn statement, he gave his
vote for Percy under oath against you,
and this too with the bride money in
his pocket more than two weeks old.
Yes. senator. | said that he is a
crook and that you knew he was a
crook as well as | did and | am going
to demonstrate now. by YOU own con
duct that you knew that he was a
crook as well as | did. This man went
all over the state of Mississippi speak
ing in your behalf and telling the
people that your opponent received his
election by bribery. He got beat up
for telling this story on more than
~ ArnapfAn anl oarArftrn IN i,fr
story was greatly prosecuted for your
sake. And over the state of Missis-
sippi you never lifted Your voice for
him. but let him fight your battles
and his own unaided by your public
utterances.
Your friends knew that you knew he
was a crook or you would have stated
in q public speech that he was a gen
tleman. In other words, senator, the
fight this man made for you. il he had
been honest and straight, going over
the state and undergoing great hard
ship. suffering great persecution as an
honest man on your account, for you
to fail to go to his assistance in the
campaign, or fail to go TO his assist
ance when he was indicted and being
tried for a felony, would have stamped
you as a base migrate. and the only
excuse that would have saved you
from al inevitable stamp of this sort
would have been the fact that he was
crooked and you could not afford to
intercede for him.
nnfa"nnu- al do mot pInrt,l-1 80
interceded for him. You have a good
deal to say about my nerve but
am going to twit you a little in a kind
ly way about your nerve and say TO
You that you have not the nerve to
GU and champion this mans
cause nor have you the nerve to come
out and take a stand against him. If
lie is your friend. straight and clean.
and an honest man, has made all these
sacrifices for you that he tells about,
let me ask what kind of an migrate you
would be if you did not come out for
him. If. on the other hand, he is
crooked. voted for a man that he had
been bribed to vote for, with the bride
money two weeks old in his pocket
and never told it until after the man
was elected and sworn in as a senator
of the United States. what kind of a
man would you be, honored as you
have been honored by the people of
Mississippi. if you did not have the
nerve to say that he is crooked?
You note in your letter that you do
not come out for him, but you leave
the matter in such an i~nsinuating
manner that the press may headline
you as it is headlined in the CONNER
cial Appeal Sunday, "Vardaman Stands
Up for Theodore G.. Bilbo."
You say a good many cruel, and 1t
seems to me, uncalled for things in
your letter, senator, and among other
things you say: "a great many un-
kindly and uncOmplimentary things
have been said of him by his enemies,
but that is the misfortune of q great
many men of prominence in Missis-
sippi politics." Yes, to the great dis
grace of our political conditions this is
true. Many disgraceful things have
been said about prominent men in pol
ib'S III NiiSSlSSippl VI ldit years. No
governor has been permitted to serve
Mississippi in the last fifteen years
that has not been abused and maligned
like a pick-pocket. Many of the most
prominent and best men we have had
in the state have been abused without
cause and even the sainted Bishop Gal
loway could not escape, but | would
like to call your attention to the fact
that none of this ever appeared in
Mississippi politics until you made
your advent into the political arena
of Mississippi and the abuse of these
officers and great citizens of the state
have improved under the Bilbo re-
gime and ever our judges have been
dashed by the vile tongue of SANDER
since his advent.
You next say, ~ have as much faith
in his integrity and patriotism and de-
votion to duty, my dear governor. as