The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1918-05-17
A BIG DAY AT ROMEO
A Big Bunch of Speakers and Big
Dinner the PRINCIPAL Features

dinner were enjoyed.
Mr.. W. 0. Brewer acted as master
of ceremonies and a past master
could not have performed the duties
more cleverly He was unique and
many said that he was inimitable
There was still another feature
that we were about to overlook Just
before the speaking FIVE little girls.
members of the Romeo Sunday school
sang very sweet little song
Mr.. Chas. E. Davis, candidate for
congress was the first speaker intro
duced and was limited to twenty min
utes.
Mr. Davis said that he was born IN
the country in Jefferson county aud
graduated from the Florida Agricul.
tural college; afterwards gradu-
ated from Washington and Lee
university in class with
Hon. Newton D. Baker. and
other men who had become more or
less prominent. That he had served
in the state legislature. house and
senate, for a period of ten years aud
was ambitious. while yet comparative
ly young to do further service.
That ordinarily he would not De
candidate against the present incum.
bent of that office if he possessed an
overpowering and commanding intel.
lect but that his fourteen years OF
service had not won for him that dis
tinction.
That il ever the nation needed
sound and we'll balanced men as her
lawmakers that time is now and he
would show that Mr. Clark's judgment
in a time like this could not be de-
pended on
He said that while he voted for the
war measure he failed to render the
president the proper aid at the cru
cial moment
This war needed the biggest army
the world has ever known and when
the president asked that he be en-
powered with the seIective draft act
to raise such an army and demon
strated beyond caviI that it was In
every way a democratic measure put
ting rich and poor all on an equality
playing no favorites anywhere along
the line the following is the support
Mr.. Clark gave the measure. "a re-
ported in the Congressional Record
April 81, 1917
1.-THE man who is needed at home,
the man who is doing something. is
not going TO the front You are going
to excuse them and send an army of
loafers and ragamuffins and neer-do-
wells to fight the battles of this c0Un
try against the trained soldiers OF
Germany. The flower Of the English
army and the flower Of the French
army and of the Russian army and OF
the Italian army and all those nations
have not been able to conquer the in
domitable spirit Of Germany yet
When it comes to America to take her
stand and go into this great world
struggle, instead of sending the brave,
the noble. the true. the patriotic, you
are going to send the lOafar, the bar
room bum. the tramp. those who 70
nothing, to fight your battles
Mr. Sims: And the knights Of the
pool room.
Mr. Clark of Florida: Yes, as sUg-
gested by my friend from Tennessee.
the knights of the pool room My
God, what a commentary upon Am
erica!" (See pages t345-1346 Con-
gressional Record, April y, 1910.
Mr. Davis said that this utterance
of Mr.. Clark was made on the floor
of congress but little more than a
year ago.
Today he said that Mr. CLARK would
in all probability like to repudiate that
speech. At any rate he said he is not
Thanking it out to the voters of his
district
The candidates for the legislature
were next introduced. Mr.. Jack Nc
Culley leading of.
He said that he was something like
Herbert Anderson's railroad: He was
not as long as some of his competitor:
but he was as broad as any OF them
If elected he would change the pri
mary law and a number OF other laws
Is opposed to the Juvenile courts il
counties no larger than Marion; is op
posed to the present convict lease sys
tenn; is in favor of abolishiug the
state tax commission and the railroad
commission during the continuance Of
the war: is opposed to a no-fence Law
and said that we had the POOREST rnaf