The St. Paul echo., 1927-02-26
ATTORNEY FRANCIS
REPLIES WITH LETTER
Editor,

of your paper will be found letter
addressed to you by o. J. Smith,
misguided youth who apparently does
not know right from wrong. The
statements contained in his letter are
so filled with falsehood and error as
to entitle him to an official position
in the famous Ananias Club. His
many inaccuracies indicate that
through youth and inexperience he
jumps at hasty and erroneous con-
clusions, using harsh and uncultured
language.
The young mans letter is doubt
less the result of exaggerated ego and
an effort to show the members of the
National Bar Association what a big
man he is. Some one has said,
what you are speaks so loud that I
can't hear what you say"
The suggestion for the publication
of the statement by the Twin City
attorneys did not emanate from me,
but was suggested by Mr.. Fowler of
Minneapolis; I did not talk with or
call up any one of the attorneys over
the telephone. Mr.. Turner, Mr.. Err
win, Mr.. Crane and Mr.. Haynes were
very positive in their refusal to CO.
operate with the young man, and
when Mr.. Crane saw his name on the
printed program and called the
young man to account for it, the
young man said, "The program was
printed when I spoke to you about
it." The fact that he claims to have
written letters to the lawyers in no
way Indicates that they consented to
his plans or to the use of their
names, and the signed statement pub
lished by them in this issue is a posi-
tive denial that they did. Mr.. B. S.
Smith, who talked to me personally,
while he was in st. Paul, and not
over the telephone, said he agreed
with Mr.. Fowler's suggestion that
public statement be made; that while
he was in sympathy with the purpose
of the meeting he did not agree with
the use of the names by the young
man without permission, and had not
consented to the use of his name.
Mr.. Hamilton assisted in framing the
statement that was published, and
Mr.. Erwin stated that such an article
should not only be published in the
Echo, but also in the white papers.
The article published made no re-
Election whatever on the National Bar
Association, nor the purpose of the
meeting, although the young man is
doing his utmost to create that i'm
preston. 1 am one of the charter
members of the National Bar Asso-
citation and some of my personal
friends are deeply concerned in it,
and knowing me as they do, they will
not be misled by the young mans
letter.
Miss Helen Hudson of the Y. w.
c. A. approached me in December
last and secured my promise to speak
at the main Y. w. c. A. on the 18th
of February, long before I heard of
the young mans meeting of that
date. On Sunday, February 6, the
Chairman of the Municipal Forum
asked me to deliver a Lincoln Day
address before the Forum on Febru-
ary 13, which I declined to do, tell
ing him that I was engaged for that
afternoon, and the publication of my
name as one of the speakers for that
meeting was done, like the young
man published the names of the Twin
City attorneys on his program, with
out knowledge or consent.
1t is true I have urged and will
ever continue to urge the young men
of the race to prepare themselves to
take advantage of their opportuni-
ties, and encouraged and helped
them to improve themselves, and 1
have been quite successful in that
regard, many of those young men
have reflected credit and honor upon
our city, and at this moment I can
think of but one exception to the
rule.
The young man has used names
without authority before. Not long
ago he used the name of Mrs. Griffin,
the wife of Rev. w. H. Griffin, pastor
of st. James A. M. E. Church, this
city, when he published it with list
of others who were on the Executive
Committee of a wet candidate, with
out authority, and when asked by
Rev. Griffin to make a public state
ment in your paper that he had so
used the name, and after promising
to publish such a statement, failed to
do so, thereby making it necessary
for the good pastor to use his pulpit
on Sunday morning to publicly de-
nounce the young man. He also used
the name of the Exchange National