The Natchitoches enterprise. (Natchitoches, La.) 1888-1965, 1915-06-03
That Sanders Meeting and Speech!

week.
! That your readers may get SOM
idea about it, beg the indulgence o
space in your columns, to give fam
description of the meeting and brie
! epitome of the speech, fully realizing
that cold words cannot dipict the scene
or give life and blood to the verv'
of the speech.
!, That the meeting was the most re
markable and unique ever held in thi'
state, if not in this country, is already
admitted; assembled by the mera an.
nouncement in the daily press, with
the slur, as if it were a joke, THAT
Sanders will deliver speech on Tues
day night, there gathered in BatOr
Rouge hundreds of people from al
|. sections of the state, and when the
hour arrived, the Elks Theatre, with a
capacity of nine hundred, was filled tc
standing room, and hundreds more
clamored for admission; it was not g
curiosity crowd as the hostile New Or
leans press pretends, but an assembly
of the most intensely interested citizen
ship that ever came together. Forty
minutes before the appointed hour,
every seat was filled, and the intense
interest felt, could be seen in every
face When the curtain rose and the
Ex-Governor stepped upon the plat
| form, storm of applause greeted him,
and it was full ten minuets before he
could utter word.
The first sentence; "This is not a
political meeting, called in the interest
of any political leader, faction or
party, " brought greater applause. Then
| for an hour and forty minutes he held
the attention of the audience, in the
delivery of the most remarkable and
most powerful political speech ever
delivered in this state. 1t should be
printed in every country news
paper, for the 'Great" dailies will not
print it, and it should be read by every
citizen of the state.
The speech was occasioned by what
Governor Sanders has termed an
''unholy alliance" between Governor
Hall, representing the State Admins
tration and Mayor Berhman represent
ing the New Orleans city admins
tration, and Col. Bob Ewing, rep
resenting the reorganization" better
known as the Ward Bosses, and the
whiskey interests.
And when he lifted the veil and
tore off the mask, he showed the most
sinister plot against the people of the
state ever planned. Under the guise
of holdinga constitutional convention to
''save the credit of the state and city
of New Orleans" the financial system
of both having ''broken down." under
Hall and Berhman; they had planned a
limited convention excluding the estate
debt and whiskey," but unlimited as to
every other interest and question; and
providing that the membership should
be limited to one delegate from each
parish, including seventeen from the
City OF New Orleans, and twenty five
at large, to be divided between Hall
and the bosses, that they might con-
troll the convention, and adopt it with
out submission to the people; that they,
may write into it any provision they
chose, affecting taxation, assessments,
schools, qualification of voters, and
safe guard the interests of predatory,
wealth and monoplies; but as Governor
Sanders said, their hands were stayed
against THAT sacred obligation; the
state debt and that other sacred obi
cation King Rum" Thou holy of
holes, as to these, the people shall
have no voice!
IT - erma1nEg lliiAlrsEs tlaias striy.Rssll
alliance Ito the famous one of
Europe, with Martin, as Emperor
William, Luther, as ''old josef and
Bob as King of Italy-but it will not
last-no more than its pro- totype last
ed, when the critical test ame-Italy,
characteriscally deserted.
That the triumvirate feared the
effect of a speech by Gov, Sanders,
was patent, and then proven, by the
"foul blow" Gov Hall attempted to
land, when he invoked the power of |
the National. Administration to stop
him, by having an order" issue pro-
hibiting the making of the speech, =
But they reconed without their host, |
for Sanders told them, "You may take |
the Office and $4,000 annual salary, but by |
the Eternal Gods, you can not take my |
manhood from me, nor rob me of my |
right as an American citizen to free |
speech. The question is asked-"Was |
it Hall, who conceived this outrageous |
plan to throttle free speech in Louis
lana, or, the National Committeeman, |
who is used to debating to his Sub |
jects' in the 10th Ward?" And again, |
why not invoke the powers" at |
Washington to stop Ex-senator Foster |
now Collector of the Port, the biggest |
National Official in the State from
interviews to influence the /
legislature, in favor of the ''triple. |
Sundberry convention bill?"
Oh! consistency, thou art a jewel.
Gov. Sanders gave cogent reasons
why he opposed a constitutional con-
vention:
60 am opposed to a convention be-
cause under the statement made, this
faces deficit of over
$500, 900. would rather say to the
state administration that this is a day |
Of retrenohment along all lines, and /
owing to the war in Europe and its
effect on business of the United States,
we have all had to bring our expenii-
lures down to our income, and what
the individual citizen has had to do, it
strikes me the individual citizen ought
10 make the state do. /"
II am opposed to convention being
:alled at this time, because this admin
stration has shown itself to be
thoroughly incapable of handling the
fiscal affairs of the State, and therefore
am opposed to it being vested with the
power to frame up a fiscal policy for
IN incoming administration. l know
hat this administration has tried to
loist upon the shoulders of the people
! debt out lawed by the constitution of
49,"
"I am opposed to a convention at
his time because this administration
las been studiously engaged in an
earnest effort to increase the revenues
# this state and in my opinion to in
,rease the peoples taxes. It tried it
" amendments, which the people
voted down; 1t tried it by
legislative enactment and the peoples
representatives refused to adopt it.
~ am opposed to a constitutional
at this time for one reason