Holmes County herald., 1963-08-22
IAN ~EDITORIAL)

our editorial nose into this upcOmlng elecuOn bet
ween the Blackwood Brothers and the Hederman
Brothers., but as issues develop, both on the 1cal
and state scene, we become more and more concSyn-
ed about the future of our state and our county.
Having carried our favorite candidate the best we
could, and having lost same, we thought possibly
that we had done our political duty and should be
content to stand by for what is to be. But, now we
must speak out.
We make our present stand for some several rcas.
ons, too numerous to elaborate on, considering limit
ed space and the patience of our readers, but we do
feel, in the light Of circumstances prevailing, that
we should touch on a few of these reasons for the in
form alton of those who are interested.
4. In the beginning, when we first began our sup
porting comments i'm favor of Charles sullivan we
were severely criticized by the local Coleman lead
ers, and reprimanded economically, By this we
mean that certain individuals indicated verbally
that their advertising and other business would be
withheld it we did not capitulate to the Coleman
side. Some of them carried through with the threats.
On. or about June %, local Coleman supporters we
are reliably informed, telephoned Coleman mead
quarters in Jackson and demanded thai no more au'
vertising be placed with this newspaper. Ihis de-
mand has been carried out throughout the cam
paign, through this final issue. All the whlie' "a"
Johnson supporters, knowing full well that this news
naper opposed their candidate, continued their ad'
vertising as scheduled. All the while most every 9TH
o r newspaper i'm this state, regardless of whether
they were supporting Coleman, johnson or sullivan
editoralIy. continued to carry their Coleman al
yertisements from county and state levels.
On the news end, it was the same. When Mr.. Cole
man came to Holmes County to speak in july we
were neither invited nor informed from state or To-
cal level. but, on the other hand, were severely cri-
ticized for not waiting for the speaking to get our
naper out with full coverage, as another Lexington
newspaper did.
ON Monday of this week, Mr.. Coleman made two
appearances in Holmes County. Local Coleman sup
porters informed us Monday morning OF his coming
and we, in a special effort to give unbiased cover
age. made a trip to Dnrant for a picture OF his arri'
val since orr camera was to be in use on announcer
project during his Lexington appearance. After thls'
we made personal phone calls to both Coleman CO.
cbairmen. individually, asking that they report on
his visit for a FREE news account. both proihlse"
to report, but neither did.
IT would he obvious to the blind that it is not ne
cessary that we go to the trouble to choose a can
didate. We have been chosen as the opposluoh.
2. A man must make a stand. 1t would De 1oohsh
for one to doubt that either Mr.. Coleman or Mr..
,obnsor have the fortitude to take their stand, for
To achieve their present positions is a feat within
itself :. you've got to be strong to get there. A man
must make a stand, and they both have. Mr.. Johh'
son, said OH statewide television, and stood flatfoot-
cd in Durant, Mississippi, and told the world that
he swould not be associated with the likes OF Hoo
ding Carter, Hazel BrannOn SmIH dHu "0'
Mr.. j. p. Coleman graciously accepted a
hearty welcome by Mrs. Smith in Lexington Mon
day. Yes, we think both men have taken ther stahd'
We have been chosen as the opposition.
8. Being strictly sold on the conservative way OF
life as opposed to the socialistic, we beheVe ]" free
enterprise, and believe that competition creates a
healthy economy. Not wanting to create a monopiy
for any candidate in our small community, and see
ing that Mr.. Coleman has already accepted endorse
A. zxIo- xronnna xUQ apa # with Onlv
one course. We have been chosen as the opposiuoh.
d. We agree intellectually that, as so many OF
his supporters so readily point out, Mr.. Coleman
is a smart man. John Kennedy is a smart man. Mel
son Rockefeller Is. too, smart. But we would not
support them for governor of Mississippi.
Mr.. Coleman could rare back and tell us in a min
ute that he is smarter than we and no would deny it.
But can he say that he was as smart as we were In
1860? He admits that he made a mistake. We pride
in pointing out that we did what we could to defeat
the Kennedys (and Nixon in 1860. Looking back ov'
err this great change of heart, we can see only one
difference in 1860 and 1868. Mr.. Coleman is running
for governor i'm 1868. We would like to see one ac-
count of his renouncem ent of the Kennedys up to as
late as one week prior to his decision TO make inc
the race.
We don't doubt that Mr.. Coleman would, as he has
promised, oppose the Kennedys in the 1864 elecuon.
Rut we wonder If any one man could, in one short
campaign, shake all the Kennedy dust from ms coat
tail and come out looking like Mr.. Clean. There are
lust too many liberal fingers pointing at him now.
And they are mighty hard to deny.
S. The world is not all garlic and wild ohlohs'
though, We still have a candidate, and an outstand'
ing one at that. We have a candidate who has prov
en- himself over the past three and one half years
i'm the performance of his duties as he sees best Tor
our state, with mildness but with bedrock steadfast-
ness. We have a man who has lacked political ex-
pediency on some several occasions to achieve the
states highest political seat, but who, through hard
work. courage, and downright CUTS, has stuck with
his great ambition, and was humble enough to with