Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1920-05-08
Mass Meeting
Pass Resolutions

III stating the ODJcNto VI ''N .
had the following to say:
..Nc have assembled ncrc this even '
inc TO express ourselves upon ma Ter
,f interest to every citizen and tax =
uavcr in our growing city, rcgafI''S3
of how one voted in the election ht'"
about thirty davs ago.
..To those Of as who nave Iahc"
mart i'm other town elections III Np"c-
Vile. IL is a well known fact that the
choice Of the people has been agreed Us
uacumIlainIy 10y the minority ana '"a'
If La, become a custom WIN Us 10 PEI
NIT the voter to exercise ms PflNll''e
wit, rs Iittlc trouble as possible, even
to the extent of not insisting techhlcaI-
tiles and legal uiceticS made Tor lh'ii
exclusion. In these eases the winners
won. II,
Without admitting that any Such
iuformaIities were allowed IN the eitc-
zion inst held, but assuming for the
sake of argument that every was
not crossed, nor every II dotleu, ~
still would have been the part Oh goou
workmanship for the losers TO nave
Gcuuisced in the decision, nasmuch dS
one OF the contestants, at least, Hau
boen a winner under the same ruFes III
former election, and 1t would nave
shown good -natured public splritedness
non another hand, because the contest
WAS between friends and nelghDors loI
an Office which meant much OF sacrlhce
and little of profit. But III TINS case
tine loser lost. IL,
THE people Of this town provided
every means at their command lor
fair election and most Of them beneNeu
fair election has been held, so we are
here tonight to record that talth ana
protst against the attempts being mace
to take away from us the fruits OF
fairly won victory, even though some
of us feel assured that these attempts
will amount to nothing.
eve are here to back up the men
we have elected, to denounee the
"heads | win, tails YOU LOSE stand
taken bv some of the minority, and to
nubIiclv assure the mayor in office that
he will not have to make his defense
alone. for two of the public spirited
attorneys of this town, Messrs. NJ. L.
Gordv and J. R. Kitchell, have volun-
teered their services to the people TO
pick up the gage that has been thrown
to them and see that we square
deal. and l feel sure they will have as
saciate counsel, if needed, for 1t is
commendable and commentable fact,
that not single lawyer practicing in
yermilion Parish has his name aIfixed
to the petition Of the protestants,
ssThe men in charge If our town
government today were put there by Q
majority vote of our citizens, they have
accepted the time consuming and dis
agreeable job of trying to put this
much neglected city back upon its feet
a city in which we have our homes
our business, our present living and
our future hopes, where our children
are to grow up and find their oppor
tunities, a city which we are bound
if we are worth the salt we eat, tC
leave it in a better condition that w
found it, and these men have agreed
to try to do this without cost to yol
and to me, but with considerable sacrl
fee of time and worry to themselves
Common gratitude then impels u
IL gather here and assist them ii
meeting this latest attack and no
abandon them to make the fight TO
our interests single handed and alone
We are not here to enter into Tn
merits of the contentious of Mr.. Guio
~ or Mr.. Leblanc, but we are here t
let them know their case shall not b
won by default, that we have rights q
well as they and that we do not il
tend to sleep on them.
THAT briefly, gentlemen, is the oil
iect of This meeting, and the cha
will be glad to hear from anyone pre-
ent.'
BY invitation Mr.. NJ. T. Gordy mao
the following remarks:
This contest involves the best i
terests of this town. The places beir
contested for pay little to the men, an
tlat he had gone into this and won
see that fair trial was had; that n
a LAWYER here who had been appraochG
had submitted to employment in Il
contests of Guidry and Leblanc. II
mere failure of being able to get
local lawyer employed should have BET
sufficient for them to not have fill
a contest, but, they have the right
90 into court, and that ne feels ia
thew have not been defrauded.
''There is a pawer behind these pc
PIE and it is a menace to this col
munity. The power behind these CO
tests means no good. If power succee
we wou 4 have to take the matter in
our own hands and route 1t out. | wi
that every gambler was here tonig
and hear wlat / say; the gambler W
takes from his neighbor what he dc
not earn. II is a menace to this co
munity that such a power is apparent
behind these contests. Shall we subn
to it, MOI we shant, by the Go
we viii not have it. The gambler mig
as well know II,
1--WE want to warn these people
the dives on State street tlat Oh
will be depressed,
"People rearing children do not
tend ( ostand for ii in our midst,
Grating with the consent Of officers
"The sentiments are that the ga
bier must 90. They are driven FIR
all other communities, and seemed
have made Abbeville the tail. ]
contest undoubtedly means a cohti
Ance Of that business
mo halt-hearted meeting should
had. We want TO have a town W
beautiful streets sndthe like. and
must back up the defendants in
contest and teach the people there
something else in this life. We '
fight the contest to a bitter end in
court, and viii give them the hard
fight they ever heard Of.