Newspapers / The Laurinburg Exchange (Laurinburg, … / May 14, 1914, edition 1 / Page 1
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1 t I .- . . -A WW s a i . - VOLUME XXXII -NUMBER 20 LAURINBURG; NC, THUL AY. MAY "T - nam-iimiim ' i f pa m a a mm i 4 . -, t - '. " ' - $1.50 'PER YEAR, IN ADVANCE GOVERNOR CRAIG SETS DATE FOR M'KENZIE EXECUTION Mr. Will T. Peter D. McKenzie, Guilty of Killing His Brother-in-Law, Mr. Jones, Must Suffer Death Penalty, Unless Governor Commutes Sentence to Life Imprisonment, On June 12th. Governor Craig on Friday named June the 12th as the day when Mr. Will T. McKenzie, a young white man of Scotland county, should pay the death pen alty in the electric chair at the State prison, Raleigh. Because of the prominence of both parties, the case created much interest throughout the State as well aa locally. Immediately following the de cision of the Supreme Court, re fusing to interfere with the .verdict of the lower court, the attorneys for Mr. McKenzie circu lated petitions in Scotland and Robeson counties asking the Gov ernor to commute the death sen tence to one of life imprisonment. To these petitions about two thousand names have been affix ed. Besides this, each member of the jury that convicted Mr.' Mc Kenzie has written the Governor asking that the sentence be com muted to imprisonment. Most of them stated in effect that when they voted to convict of murder in the first degree they expected the Governor to change the sen tence to imprisonment, and that if they had not felt certain of that, they would have voted for a verdict in a less degree. Be sides the letter from the members of the jury, Judge C. C. Lyon, the presiding judge, asks that sentence be commuted. Governor Craig, in the face of such on appeal, unless there be serious opposition, will in all probability grant the petition and commute to life imprison ment the sentence of death. These petitions and a plea will be put before the Governor with in a short time. - 1 s- DISTRICT CONFEREK CE ATST.JOIIN WD GI F i-,. ISON Large Attendance of Clerical and LsyMemberReports Show Steady Progress of Church Workft feus 6f- Churches Inter- est in Vanderbilt University Cjausl. ctissipnrDete-V.'- gates Elected to Annual Conference. ' '' ing an office under the govern ment deprived a citizen of the right to express his preference or his opinion of the relative fit ness as to candidates, for one 'of whom he might feel it bis duty to vote. As to the inuendo con tained in. the last paragraph of your letter, it is too contemptible to notice, other than to state that you are evidently judging others by yourself, for, if persistent rumor is .true, you would not have been in the race .r for Con gressional nomination' had Mr. Page given your brother "his 11 LUC JJ1GVA5 Ul J1C. Respectfully, J. G. Hackett. flACKETT DENIES BEASLEY'S CHARGE. North Yilkesboro Postmaster States That Ke Sent Out Page Literature . as Public Official, if At All. North Wilkesboro, N. C May 18, 1914. Mr. R. F. Beasley, Monroe, N C. Sir: Your letter of May 6th receiv ed. Your statement that "I and members of my family have been sending out letters in Wilkesboro in behalf of Congressman Page and derogatory to yourself" is false. I and the only member of my family, my wife, have sent out no such letters, unless they were mailed at the office of which I am Postmaster, and it wa3 my duty as sush official to distribute them and see that they went through the proper mails. I signed the letter, of which enclose you a copy, along with number of other gentlemen, who are leading business men and democrats in this County. Twelve of them are leading wholesale and retail merchants; one a wholesale lumber dealer: one a large tanner, one President of the largest mill manufacturing plant in the South, twelve of them, in addition to other busi ness, are farmers, some on an extensive and up to date scale; two are liverymen and large stock dealers, one Supt. of the Water works and Electric light plant of North Wilkesboro, one a leading surereon and Dhvsician. two are Presidents of Banks and one a Vice President: one Chairman of the County Board of Education, one our able and competent Supt. of Education, whose reputation as an Educator is more than state wide, and who is also member of the National Legisla tive Committee of the Farmers Union and of its State Executive uommittee. Jbour signers are lawyers. Many of them are in terested in the various manufac turing establishments in our town and vicinity. iou accuse tnese men or sign ing a letter derogatory to you Will you please point out what part oi tne letter justifies your statement. The entire letter . 1 111 tne trutn and tne signers men who fearlessly 'speak truth. Until your enlightening epistle ' arrived, I was unaware that hold is are the The following letter is the one referred to by Mr. Beasley and signed by many of the leading business men. North Wilkesboro, N. C. April 28, 1914. Dear Sir: . ? :y We do nof know that there will be organized opposition in this county to Hon. R. N. Page; for renomination for Congress,' but Mr. Beasley is having mailed out a number of circulars, headed, "Beasley vs. Page Before the Jury of the People," which are very misleading, false in many particulars and altogether unjust to Mr. Page, and we take this means of urging you to support Mr. Page in the Primary, go to work among your, neighbors and aid all you can in giving him a practically unanimous Wilkes. There is every reason for this. The next two years are' most importapt for thq: Democratic party nationally, and . we nead he most influential" and expe rienced legislators in Congress to help enact laws for the complete carrying out oi democratic pledges and principles and up hold the hands of President Wil son in his efforts to give the peo ple relief, in order that Democ racy may triumph in 1916 and re main in power. Then, too, a great crisis is upon our country, a state oi war exists between it and Mexi co. Americans have been killed and insults heaped upon our flag and, for this reason, we need the rained and experienced legisla tors to uphold, the honor of our country and see that the funds necessary to do this arejudicious- y appropriated and spent. Mr. Page is one of the ablest and most influential Representa tives in Congress and a leading member of the great Appropria- ions Committee, through which all tht government funds are ex pended. He has always stood nrm tor economy and againsr graft or wastefulness. He is the most useful member from North Carolina. We cannot afford to turn him out at this critical time: He is a national figure, and to sav ne nas aone notning is to state a falsehood or admit igno ranee of the facts. Of course there is some dis satisfaction among the disap pointed applicants for office, but all could not be successful and, in most instances, Mr. Page had no power in these appointments, as they were made by Cabinet officials and the Civil Service Commission, in spite of his pref erences. As you know a voting primary to nominate a candidate for Con gress will be held at the voting place in each township, from 9 o'clock in the morning tin i in the evening, on Saturday, May 16th. Be sure to go out yourself and vote for Mr. Page and urge every other Democrat you see to do the same. Please write how you stand on this question, and, if you know of any in your section against Mr. Page, give their names and reasons for opposition. Yours very truly, The District Conference of the Rockingham District, M. E. Church, South, was held at St. John and Gibson, May 6th to 8th. Three sermons were preach ed every day, at the opening of the conference each morning and each afternoon in the St. John church, and every evening in the Gibson church. . All day services and sessions of the conference were held at St. JohriM- Rev. M. H. Tuttle, of, Hamlet, preached the opening sermoa at Gibson Wednesday night; Rew W. H. Brown, of Aberdeen-yand Biscoe, preached Thursday morn ing, Rev." W. W. Peele. Head master of Trinity Park -School, Durham, Thursday afternoon, and Rev. W. V. McRae: of Max- t.orvat Gibson Thursday night Friday .morning Rev. Mr, Hurley, of Rockingham, preached and the closing sermon was preached Friday afternoon jby. Rev. Mr. Eure, of .Red Springs. - " Two sessions of the conference were held daily, Thursday and Friday. The conference closed at 4 o'clock p. m. Friday. 'There was a very large attend ance of preachers, only a' very few being absent on account of sickness or other duties. The lay delegation from the various charges attended well. . The greater part of the con ference was taken up with the' reports of the various pastors and a discussion of such problems as these reports presented. On the whole, these renorts were en- VOte- ' in-! rt-kMranrinrr onrl oVinTxroM nrnfrroso" 1 ""VMlU JJlV&lVOU, Mr. M. W. Brabham, Sundar school field secretary of the North Carolina Conference, spoke- on several -phases -of s the Sunday Conference lay leader, spoke briefly i.o the conference. Rev. W. W. Peele, representing Trini ty Collesre and Trinity Park School, Rev. S. E. Mercer, rep resenting Carolina College, and Rev. J. A. Lee, representing The Christian Advocate, each ad dressed the conference briefly. Dr. L. L. Nash precipitated a spirited debate for a few minutes Friday morning by the introduc tion of a resolution touching the Vanderbilt University matter. Its phraseology was a little too strong, according to the views of some. Tne resolution was amend ed by changing the phraseology to some extent and adopted. Friday afternoon, after the other business of the conference was concluded, the lay delega tion elected four delegates and four alternates to the annual conference. Those elected dele gates were Messrs. R. D. Gibson, . of St. John. L. S. Covington, ot Rockingham. B. S. Barnes, of Maxton, and E. H. bibson, oi Laurinburcr. Four invitations were extended to the conference for its meeting next year. These were rrom Rowland, Rockingham, Hamlet and Aberdeen. The-conference decided to go to Aberdeen by a substantial majority vote. Rev. A. McCullen, presiding elder of the Rockingham district, presided over the conference and Rev. Mr. Simmons, of Candor, acted as secretary. . The delegates were handsome ly cared for in the homes of the hospitable people of both church es on this charge and bountiful dinners were spread on the grounds at St. John church both days. . The delegation from, the Lau rinburg church attending the conference was made up of Messrs. A. P. Gibson, J. T. Myers, E. H. Gibson and Hv 0. Covington. Rev.R. F. Bumpas, the Laurinburg pastor, was de tained at home on account of the illness of Mrs. Bumpas. Page -eMqrth in a: statement made fcy.'hinv and- especially to thafepatt of the statement as to his having sent to me $100 00 and naming me as his campaign man ager tor Scotland :Coohtv; --r im mediately wrote to Mt; Page. the following. fetter: . - r r-lufinburg-.X' C . 5-9-14 Hon. Ei N. Page--. ' - .Washington, D."C. , Dear5prPage: -. - J T .- I notfc& repr; - The News and Observer cf 1 . .r.3t-that yoji hye reported in your expense acpouir$100:00 'turned over, to me as, v your campaign manager "for beojtland County. There must be soinistal5eVour;hkve - a let- terror shoul j'haVe' ohef bearing "tititv I cannot use vtbe jrioney nec- es&ary.' to senetrout literature m yoiirirlterest because of my posi tihtSy postmaster.' I think that I;iuther stated-that I had turned thinoriey over to another who woiiJ look .after your interests herand see that your literature was distributed and do anything necessary to further your cam paigtf. I also stated that he would manaere vour camnaip-n in this'county. . Yours very. truly, . L r G- H- Russell. P.I wrote the letter referred to. above with pen and ink and did not keep a copy but I am sure that I have stated the substance. G. H. R. attended the meeting of the Democratic Congressional Exec utive Committee at Hamlet, N. C. , on the evening of May 4th, 1914, and took part in its dliber- was in the postoffice before 7 o'clock a. m. on May oth. On April 20th I addressed a letter to Hon. Daniel C. Roper, First Assistant Postmaster Gen eral. 1 stated in that letter that I was a member of the Democratic Congressional Executive Commit tee. I asked him the following question: "Is it improper for me THE NORTH CAROLINA DELEGATION IN CONGRESS - v How Influence is Gained by Length of Service. .14 years. years. THE SENATE. ., Senator F. Mi Simmons.... . .. ' Chairman of Finance Committee. Senator Lee S. Overman .: , .........12 years. Ranking member of the Judiciary Committee,. Ranking member of the Appropriation Committee, Chairman of the Rules Committee, . , THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. - Kepresentatiye John H. Small r.I... 16 Committee on Rivers and Harbors. Representative E. W. Pou.. . 14 yearg- Chaifman of the Committee on Claims, . ;' banking member of the Committee on Rules. Bepresentative Claude Kitchin U vf..'.I...... 1.14 year sv - . - : Ranking .member of the Ways and Means Com : "mittee, and will become Chairman of this-Com. , ,;:'v Puttee, as well as Floor Leader, upon the retire : v - v""'-'' " ment of Representative Underwood, on March 4th :.- next. . . ' .- - Represehtati ve Robert N. Page?:. Committee on Appropriations.' Representative E. Y. Webb........... - Ranking member of the Judiciary Soon to be made Chairman. ... .12 years. 12 years. Committee. i-Thj following editorial from the Washington Times of May the 6tb, tells tne story: - . " The Old North State. The shiftings of political au thority which go with changes of party and personnel, bring some interesting situations. Just now North Carolina commands atten tion because of the probability that in the next Congress ' she will number in her delegation the leaders of both houses. In the past the Old North State has more than once been in - com manding position, but never has her representation, held so many posts of .first rate importance as it is likely to count in the next session" ;,.. mons is cnairmair or"Tmr-ooRi-mittee on Finance, which deals with tariff and revenue problems. It is always a committee of the very first rank. Despite that one large section of its authority was taken from it when the Commit tee on Banking and Currency was created, it is still probably to remain. a member of that com- fae most distinguished committee Mr. Page Lives in the White Light. mittee?" I received a letter from Mr. Roper dated May 2nd, 1914. In that letter he made the following statement: "While a postmaster is not per mitted to serve as an officer of a political committee, he is not pro hibited from being a member (not chairman) of such a committee, provided he is not unduly active in politics." If being a member of the com mittee and attending its meetings and taking part in its delibera tions constitute undue activity in politics, then, I am guilty. Men may come, and men may But the postoffice fight in Laurinburg goes on forever ! Respectfully, G. H. Russell. go 1 F. B. Hendren, R. M. Brame, C. D. Coffey, J. C. Henry, J. L. Hemphill, C. F. Morrison, C. C. Smooth, III, J. T. Ferguson, J. H. Hartley, R. N. Hackett, G. A. White, J. W. Shook, J. E. Finley, F, G. Holman, T. S. McNeil, J.T. Finley, (Continued on page 8) Statement of Postmaster Russell. . Laurinburg, N. C, May 11, 1914. To the Editor of The Exchange: Please publish the following statement: I did not read The News and Observer of May 8th, on the date of its issue. On May 9th my at tention was called to a statement therein relative to the campaign ( expenses of Congressman R. N. SUPPLEMENTARY. Laurinburg. N. C , 5-11-14. Hon. R. N. Page, Washington, D. G, Dear Mr. Page: Please send to me, immediate ly, the letter which I wrote to you bearing date of May 5th, relative to $100.00 which you sent to me to pay expenses for distrib uting literature and to pay any other necessary expenses in your campaign in Scotland County. If you desire to show my letter to the authorities in the Postoffice Department, you can do so and let them make codv and send me the original. I want it before Wednesday. ". Yours sincerely, G. H. Russell. THE LETTER. Laurinburg, N. C, 5-5-14. Dear Mr. Page: Holding, as I do, the position of postmaster at this place, I think it advisable for me. .turn over the money which you for warded to be used in furthering of the upper body. Simmons will continue its leader. The corresponding committee in the House, that on Ways and Means, is now headed by Mr. Underwood. He will move to the Senate, and Mr. Kitchin of North Carolina will-become leader of the majority assuming that the Democrats retain the control, which seems altogether probable and chairman of Ways and Means. This chairmanship now carries not only the leadership and the dominating place in reve nue matters, but also the function of directing the highly important business of selecting the House committees. The present chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Mr. Clayton of Alabama, is retiring to assume a judicial post, and the succession will fall by seni ority as well as by merit to Mr. Webb of North Carolina. No committee has more to do with framiner legislation and deter- u u mining policies, in the present era, than that on Judiciary, the great law committee, in a way the supreme court of the House. Alabama gives way at two very important points to North Caro lina. ' Rev. J. N. Cole, Superintend ent of the Methodist Orphanage in North Carolina, in writing of a recent trip to New York, in the Raleigh Christian Advocate, has the following to say of Con gressman Robert N. Page : . ' 'In passing through Washing ton spent the night with Con gressman R. N; Page. A night : with him -makes the world look brighter and fills you - with good will toward all mankind. It makes you proud of the old State when jpu see such men as& Bob Page among our representatives ztoitnJ&A'wial tJsu-iitnL Amoiif? made a cleaner record or" carried " himself more irreproachably than the Hon. R. N. Page. He has lived in the white light and so true have been his judgments as to the interests of the people that he has never been called upon to explain or to apologize. "I do not wonder that the news that he gets from his district is that they are going to elect him for the next term with a tremen dous majority. And he is stay ing at his post in Washington while his district is beinr can vassed by another candidate." (Advertisement. 1 The Senate Judiciary chairman is Mr. Culberson "of Texas, who is seriously ill and very possibly will not attempt to resume his duties in another session. Should he vacate the Judiciary chairman ship in the upper house, it would go by seniority to Senator Over man of North Carolina. Thus the North Carolina delegation wnnld hold the leadership of the House, and the chairmanship of what manv resrard as the two most important committees in hnfh hnnses. It is decidedly a notable coincidence, and it testi the interests of your candidacy, ! fies anew to the wisdem of that noiicv wmcn a numner oi ouuea have followed,. of keeping their delegations long enough in serv ice to let them rise to command ing places, j (Advertisement.) in distributing literature, etc., to another. I have, therefore, turn ed it over to Mr. L.- A. Tatum who will take the management of your campaign in Scotland Coun- (Continued on page 8) Russell Matter Closed. The following announcement that the postoffice Department would take no steps in the mat ter of my "political activity" as charged by Messrs. McEachin and Stewart, has been sent out by a Washington correspondent to The Raleigh News and Ob server : - "The Postoffice Department -will take no steps in the case of G. H. Russell, postmaster at Lau rinburg, unless complaint of po litical activity is filed against him. The letter of D. Stewart and W. R. McEachin the Department re gards as merely an inquiry and not a charge. First Assistant Postmaster General Koper has answered the letter and considers the incident closed unless some thing else is filed from Laurin burg. He declined today to make his answer public.7 I hereby make this public de mand upon Messrs. McEachin and Stewart, that they either make public, by publication, the letter they received from Hon. Daniel C. Roper, First Assistant Postmaster General, in reply to the complaint filed against me, or that they furnish me with a copy of same in order that I may make it public, unless there is something in the letter which would prohibit them doing so. In that event, that they so inform me, in order that I may take the matter up with the said First As sistant Postmaster General and intercede with him for his per mission to have said letter made public. Respectfully, G. H. Russell. (Advertisement.)
The Laurinburg Exchange (Laurinburg, N.C.)
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May 14, 1914, edition 1
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