Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1920-09-02
SCOTT ANSWERS
HARDWICK REPLY
Legion Campaign Chair
man Analyses State
ment of Candidate

can Legion has replied to Thos. W.
Hardwick's reply to the legion con-
Wention's condemnation of himself
and Thomas E. Watson in an open
letter signed by Trammel Scott, of
Atlanta, chairman of the anti-Wat-
son-Hardwick committee. 1t is pub
lished here in fair play, the previous
charges of the legion and Mr.. Hard
wick's reply thereto having been pub
lished in this paper. The letter:
Gan Open Letter to Mr. Hardwick:
''You have issued what you term
"denial" of the charges of the Geor-
gia division, American Legion
against you, but your statement
truth of each and every one of them.
Of course, you could not deny them.
They are based on the official rec
ords of Congress. What you have
done is to make a feeble attempt to
explain. Our first charge that YOU
wilfully INSTRUCTED and oppos ID FAC
tically every important legislative
measure introduced during the war
for the purpose of prosecuting 1t
successfully has been overwhelming
ly sustained by your own admission.
Didn't Appear Proud.
"You say that you are proud OF
your obstructive votes. But you did
not act as if you were proud of
them. Up to the time that the Amer
lean Legion took a hand and jerked
you out from under the covers, you
were carrying on your campaign
IL Nf rnfnrnnPn tn
YOUR war record. On that subject
YOU had never chirped. There was
a good deal fwind about free
speech, etc, but as to the fact that
YOU had opposed practically every
essential war measure, you had been
completely and discreetly silent:
Our opinion is that you are not proud
of YOUR war record, and that If the
American Legion had not forced you
to do so, you would never have men
toned IL. And, while we are on
the subject of free speech, permit US
to say that the best possible proof
of the freedom of speech in this coun-
try is the fact that you yourself are
running around here loose today.
You are the same individual who, in
July, 1917. after obstructing the
passage of the draft act in Congress,
came down here to Georgia and told
the people that, in your opinion, at
least one million Americans would
be killed in that war. If the war
had been conducted by men like you,
verify, there would have been one
million Americans killed and more
likely, two millions and, instead of
ending swiftly in a glorious triumph
for Americans arms, with only six
ty thousand Americans killed, the
war, in all human probability. would
still be going on with the Germans
victorious in Europe and this coun-
try fighting desperately to keep
them off of us. From the heart of
every American who loves his coun-
try and of every Georgian who loves
his state, there should arise a prayer
of Thanksgiving to Almighty God that,
in the hour of its dire peril, the ma
ton was led by brave, far-seeing
statesmen, and not by little trmb
ling politicians like you. You oppos-
ed the draft but your opposition was
not only to the draft but to the whole
plan that America should, without
hesitation, throw its whole mighty
strength into the struggle. To your
little politician heart, such thought
was appalling. You were terribly
frightened. You did not believe
that the people of the country were
patriotic enough to stand for the
draft and you feared that if you
voted for it, you would be hurled cut
of office and ruined.
Recalls Spanish War.
"You had enough sense and more
than enough to know that the vol
mnteer system of raising armies was
impracticable. You knew that at
the time the draft was passed, vol
unteer enlistments were coming IN
at the rate of hardly one thousand
a day and that to raise the required
army of four million men would, at
that rate, have taken over ten years.
The draft was the very foundation
stone of our success. If this ma
ton had been 50 weak and cowardly
as to follow your volunteer plan, we
would have been ground INTO pow.
der, without one atoms weight OF
effect. AS it was, in the space OF
six months, we had raised, equipped
and transported three thousand miles,
an army of two million men, the
sheer weight Of which utterly an
initiated the German lines.
You say that you opposed the
draft on conscientious CONVICTIONS
and that it was a mistake, it should
not be held against you.
That would be true if your consci-
entious convictions had not been &C
tive as regularly, continually and sys-
+ematically. There was not war
measure that your conscientious
convictions permitted you to
support except the money
measures and if your ideas
had been adopted he govern
ment would have gone into the war
without men, without rifles to arm
them without ammunition or rifles,
without food for their bodies, clothes
for their backs or shoes for their
feet and with its only weapons, a
huge pile of cash, including your own
salary as senator for which you vot-
ed. and a statute providing war risk