The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1912-1984, 1916-07-11
EIGHTH DISTRICT POLITICS
To the Editor Interior Journal

To the Editor Interior Journal
Under the head of Eighth District
Politics." in your issue of Friday,
July 7, there appears an attack up
on my record, which, according to
the writer purports to have been
taken from the Congressional Rec
ord. By the correct Record, l am
perfectly willing to stand or fall, but
not by the perversions and misrepre-
sensations of that record as is at
tempted in the article referred to.
l am charged with observing the
Administration" by alleged failure to
vote in three instances, and for vot-
ing against it in one instance.
The first of these charges is that I
deserted" by failing to support the
"Great Banking and Currency Act"
On September 16, 1918, 1 delivered
a speech on the floor of the House
advocating this measure and urging
its passage, stating among other
things that it was "an insurance
against panics." That speech was
printed in the Congressional Record
of that date, pages 5OO3-4, was print
ed in pamphlet form at my expense,
and twenty thousand copies were
sent to the Eighth district voters, in
GLIDING those who are now attempt
ing to deceive the people by mis-
representation of my record, in my
absence.
In the second place, by charging
me with failure to vote for the Bur-
nett immigration Bill, it is sought to
lead the reader to believe that the
President favored that bill, when as
matter of fact, the President We
toed the Burnett Bill-an effort
which exposes and emphasizes the ig-
norance of the writer as to what the
Presidents real position and atti-
tude was as to this bill.
The third charge is that 1 "desert-
ed' and did not vote on the final
passage of the Antitrust Bills. l
was present in the House on May 10,
1914, and voted for the rule which
made these bills party measures, and
thereby insured their final passage.
l was sent by Congress as one of the
committee that accompanied the re-
mains of Senator Bradley to Frank
fort for burial, and my return was
unavoidably delayed so that was
not present at the final passage of
the bills, the result of the vote on
which was known in advance, by rea-
son Of the adoption of the rule re-
ferred to, and which is further evil
denced by the overwhelming vote
cast in favor of those bills-the vote
for one being 277 yeas to "a nays,
and for the other 325 yeas to II
nays, and which votes demonstra-
ted that their passage was fore
gone conclusion and that they were
not in the slightest danger after the
passage of the rule for which l
voted.
On the repeal Of the Panama Tolls
Exemption Act, voted according to
the specific plank in the Democratic
platform, adopted at Baltimore, and
stood with Speaker Clark, Majority
Leader Underwood and all the other
House Party leaders. In a speech
delivered on the floor of the House
March 81, 1914, fully explained my
position on this bill, and sent twen-
ty thousand copies of the speech l
then made to the voters of the dis
trict, who thereafter renominated
me for Congress without opposition.
The Juggling in of these charges
at this late day in the campaign and
at a time when l am compelled to be
out of the district smacks more of
republican tactics that it does OF
good democracy.
Furthermore, l do not believe that
the intelligent and enlightened
voters Of the Eighth district want
their representative to the nothing
more than a rubber stamp. If so,
the position ought to be auctioned
off to the cheapest man in the dis