Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-14
]. ". BAILEY DIES;
TEXAS EX-SENATOR
Noted Orator and Cam
paigner Succumbs in Court
in Midst of Lawsuit.
By the Associated Press.

BY TIE Associated Press.
SHERMAN, Tex, April 13.-Joseph
Weldon Bailey, former United States
Senator from Texas and one of the
| last of the States old-time silver
tongued orators and fiery political
campaigners, died in District Court
/ here today in the midst Of lawsuit.
The echo Of the concluding words
Mr.. Bailey had addressed to the court
in a plea for the transfer to Federal
jurisdiction of a case involving tolls on
bridge over the Red River had scarce
ly died away when his head was seeil
to fall to his chest as he seated himself
in a chair.
A hurried examination revealed he
was unconscious. Physicians were
summoned, but their efforts were I'M
availing and within few minutes he
was pronounced dead.
Clot of Blood in Heart Blamed.
DR.. A. M. McElhannon said death
had been caused by clot of blood In
the heart.
Funeral arrangements were held in
allegiance early tonight pending the ar
rival here of relatives.
Marked by his picturesque dress as
we'll as noted for his oratory, Mr.. Bailey
was at one time the United States
| Senate's outstanding opponent of pro-
hibition and woman suffrage. He held
| out against them, he frequently said,
not because he regarded them as evils
| in themselves, but because he saw In
them an encroachment on States rights,
his fundamental political principle.
Southern born and bred, Senator
Bailey dressed the part of q typical
Southern Statesman-dull black frock
coat flowing tie, and big black SLOUGH
hat-and was easily distinguished in
any assemblage.
Defeated for Governor.
After several terms in the Lower
House of Congress and two terms in
the United States Senate, his last po-
litical maneuver came in 1920 when he
sought the Texas governorShip only to
be defeated in the Democratic primary
| by Pat M. Neff.
His anti-prohibition and anti-woman
Y
lieved to have brought about his elimi-
nation from State politics.
After resigning his Senate seat in
1912 he devoted his time to the private
practice Of law, a son, Joseph Weldon
Bailey, jr., being a member Of his firm
| in Dallas.
Counting his friendships with the
| Nations great by the hundreds, that Of
his early political life with the late
William Jennings Bryan was outstand-
ing. In some quarters Bailey was
credited with having Influenced the
great Commoner in the formulation Of
some of his most celebrated doctrines,
among them the Bryan metal theory.
/ Senator Bailey was admitted to the
bar before he reached his majority and
/ as soon as he could vote plunged into
politics. .4
/ Born in Mississippi.
He was born in Copiah County, Miss.
october s, 1868, and gained his legal
education at Cumberland University,
Lebanon, Tenn. His first political adj
| venture was in 1884, when he was
chosen a Democratic presidential
elector in Georgia.
The next year he removed to the
Lone Star State, settling at Gaines
| vile, near here, which remained his
home until few years ago.
Elected first to the Fifty-second Con-
gress, he was returned successfully for
| four more terms. from 1891 to 1901. He
! then sought q seat in the Upper House
| and twice was successful, in 1901 and
i 1907. resigning from the Senate in 1912.
/ The lawsuit in which Senator
Bailey was appearing was that in
which the State of Texas Is suing the
Red River Bridge Co. to force discon-
tinuance of the collection Of allegedly
excessive tolls.
The District Court room was filled to
capacity, the crowd attracted possibly
| more by the presence Of the great
orator than by the case at issue. The
former Senator had been animated and
to some degree joculsr in talking with
friends during the morning session.
| He just had replied to legal argu-
ment Of r. M. Tilley. assistant attorney
| general for Texas, when death occurred
The former Senator's first wife died
several years ago and he married Mrs
Prudence Rosengren Of Austin, Decem-
per 81, 1927. Mrs. Bailey. two sons, and
a grandson, Joseph w. Bailey, 3D.
! survive.
|