Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1917-08-10
AN OPEN LETTER.

| United States Senate,
Washington, D. c.
Dear Sir:
l am in receipt of your speech in
the United States Senate on aviation
and CONSUMPTION and while it is not
customary to reply to such things, |
wish to make some reply thereto,
though it may be feeble one.
To begin with, wish to assure you
that don't agree with you in any par.
ticular; nor do l agree with anything
scarcely that you have done since you
were sent to the Senate; nor do l ind
any of the citizens in this neck of the
woods who agree with you. 1t seems
to me to be very strange that United
States Senator could, so to speak, set
himself up in his own estimation as
the engine that is running the United
States, Government and all 1t seems
strange also, that if you claim to be
an American citizen, you cannot under
stand that in the matter of cOnscrlp-
ton, after the President and legislative
bodies of the United States government
| have spoken, it was then UP to you, II
you are what you claim to be, to shut
Up your rag chewing and stand behind
the forces that are necessary to yindi-
cate the fundamental principles OF
democracy upon which this govern
ment rests.
| | do not know whether or not you
/ have any sons that are subjec or near
subject, to CONSUMPTION, but the writer
has two, and he wishes to say that
when the country asks for them, they
have his full consent to proceed, as
many others have done who have made
American history, that stands today
as blazing light of liberty that can
he seen throughout the world.
When we pause and consider you,
Mr.. Hardwick, we are wont to ask the
old, old question, Upon what meat
doth our Caesar feed, that he hath
grown so CREATE" l do not remember
to have ever run across any attempt
upon the part of any one to answer
this question, but may l suggest just
here a possible answer? Cannot it be
that at the cafes in Washington, or the
hotels where you get your meals, that
they are serving whale steak, master
don hash, or elephant chops? 1t does
seem to me that such is the case and
that you have had your full share.
l note in a speech that you have
made at Columbus that you stated that
Mr. Wilson was a great man, but that
| G made mistakes like you. In con-
centrating our thoughts upon this re-
mark, we can only wonder as to
which of the two, you or he, you con-
slider the greater.
Now, Mr.. Hardwick, as / stated in
the beginning, I do not agree with
you upon any of the questions that
are now confronting the country, and
after knowing your position on all of
these questions, l can only say that
you seem to be very, very dissatisfied
with the way the government is being
run, and l would suggest to you that
your position can to my mind mean
but one thing-that you do not wish
the United States to be victorious in
this conflict; that you are apparently
ro-German from head to heels, and
that the head in this case is worth less
to the United Safes than your heels
I would further suggest, if things are
not being run to suit you here, Mr..
Hardwick, that you pack your grip;
that you sell your property guess
you can get buyer-and that you
ask the United States to give you safe
passage and that you proceed at once
for Berlin, and their hug and kiss your
great friend, Kaiser Bill.
In conclusion, | wish to say that /
have not touched on any of the ques-
tions, or attempted to argue with you,
for l feel that it would be as useless as
to argue with Kaiser Bill himself, and
even in case / got an agreement from
you that thus and so was right, that
like Kaiser Bill and his bunch you
would in the next breath repudiate the
whole thing.
Now you refer to the question Of
CONSUMPTION and claim that there
should be a referendum. In ordinary
cases of political affairs this might
work, but when it comes to war, and a
crisis such as this government now
faces, it is tom-foolery to think of
such thing.