The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1916-05-06
Mr.. Knott Rests His Case on His
Qualifications for Office

I lOIIud, accusing OtdIe SOHlplIO1ICI NuOIt
of unjust discrimination in assessing rail-
road property in the state.
On Thursday morning The Journal pub
lished a special from Tallahassee refuting
these charges, and showing the accusations
brought against Mr.. Knott the leading can
didate for governor, to be not only mislead-
ing but flagrantly false in every particu-
lar These charges, emanating as they do
from the enemies of the comptroller, and
having no foundation in fact, are based
upon prejudice and ignorance, and that
speciousness which seizes upon the minds
of the uniformed or the cupidity of the
charlatan, whose greatest desire is to I'M
dermine that which is stable and to over
throw that which is exalted
The enemies of Mr.. Knott have failed in
every attack they have made upon his pri-
vate character and his public life and have
demonstrated their prejudice, their igno-
rance and their disregard of the truth, in
the vicious Misrepresentation they have
sent broadcast throughout the state Hav-
ing no basis in fact for these charges, and
being powerless to find in Mr.. Knott's rec
ord any foundation for their accusations,
| they have resorted to that subterfuge
which is always the weapon of the power
less and misrepresentation with which
i they hope to delude the public.
But in employing these tactics, the enc
mics of Mr.. Knott are assuming that the
Florida voter is neither man of determin-
alton nor intelligence. The fact seems to
have been entirely lost sight of that the
average Florida citizen, though he may be
unacquainted with the law, IS not devoid of
brain matter enough to read the law when
| it is presented to him, and to understand it
when he has read it. It may be that Mr..
Knott's opponents, having overlooked this
fact, do not consider it necessary to prove
the assertions made regarding the comp
! troller, considering that the repeated state
ment of an untruth gives it color.
| The two articles, the one sent out by
| Tax Commissioner Patterson and the one
which was published in The Journal, re-
futing the statements made by Mr.. Patter-
son, stand upon their merits. It has been
charged that the article appearing in The
| Journal of Thursday morning is an express
sion of opinion. The Journal challenges
this, and asserts that the article sent out
from Tallahassee by Mr.. Patterson is an
expression of opinion, which has already
been disproved. The special from ITALIA
hassee to The Journal, appearing Thursday
morning, is not an expression of opinion,
but is an array of fact, taken not from the
mouth of any man or the distorted and
warped imagination of any man, but from
the statutes of Florida, and from the Off
cial records of the state
The Journal challenges the opponents Of
Mr. Knott to come out in the open and do
more than make charges against the char
acter of Mr.. Knott. It is up to them to
prove some of these charges Thus far
i they have failed in their effort to prove
more than their own weakness and to
strengthen daily the chances of Mr.. Knott
for the governorship of the state
i Mr.. Knott has never conducted his cam
paigns by resorting to mud-slinging or to
misstatements regarding his opponents. He
rests his case upon his qualifications, which
are sufficient, without recourse to attacks
directed against other candidates for office
i There is an Unborn spirit of fairness in
the average American citizen Something
which demands fair play. Which looks for
at least semblance of sanity and truth in
campaign propaganda. The wilder and
the more fantastic the charges against Mr.
Knott, the less chance his enemies have of
fooling the public
Let the interests in the state which have
lined up against Comptroller Knott, the
next governor of Florida, get few facts
with which to bolster up their statements,
or else they will find that the campaign
literature which they are distributing
throughout the state will serve the purpose