gflje S>mitf)firt& 3HrralJ?. ??ioc oni DOLLAk p?e T*Ah. ''TRUE TO 01'RSKLVES, OUE COUNTRY AND OUR GOD." aiNOLX oofiis rivi cim, VOL. 27. SMITHFIELD. N. C.. FRIDAY. OCTOBER 23, 1908. NO. 84 PAPERS WEREWITHHELD1 ( Mr. Langdon, Post-Master at Benson, Does Not Deny This. J Telegram From Washington Says Lang don Appointed Post-Master at Ben son December 16, 1904. Luclan Norrls Gets His raper. The Smithfield Jourual, the i Republican organ iu Johnston county, in its issue of October 20tb, tries to throw off the Ben son Post-ottice scandal as a tri vial affair by saying tbatj it "proves a boomerang for the Democrats," etc. This is doue for political effect, but every fair minded man?be tie Democrat or Republican?knows tnat it is a serious matter for a post-master to withhold United States m-iil, whether it be Democratic news papers or Republican circulars. The Jourual has juggled tfce ' facte to suit the Republican view of the matter, and tries to make it appear that it is a ' 'Democrat ic trick," that "the wuole mat ter was engineered by prominent 1 Democratic politicians in the county," but intelligent people 1 will not be tl us fooled. Mr. Langdou learning that 1 the matter would be reported to ! the Postoffice Department at ' Washington, hurries to Smith- 1 field and makes a statement re- ' garding the matter, whicL ap- 1 pears in the Journal of October 1 10th, iu whicn he says: "On Oc- 1 tober 13th a colored girl came ! to my office for some dead news- 1 papers and 1, being busy, my 1 clerk waited on her; through ' mistake he gave her some of the North Carolinians that were ad dressed to individuals receiving mail at my office. Just as soon as 1 found out the mistake I im- 1 mediately sent my clerK after the 1 papers and on *.?<< way he met a colored boy who told him that 1 J. W. Holmes had bought the | papers from her, so he came and informed me of the fact and I at 1 once went to Mr. Holmes and in formed him of the mistake. He told me that J. T. Ellington had the papers and that J. T. Elling ton gave him the money to go I and buy the papers and he did I so." ' Mr. Langdon came out of his 1 office door into the lobby of the 1 post office and spoke to a gentle man before the colored girls re- 1 ferred to bad gotten out of the ' front door of the post office and no doubt saw them with the 1 bundle of papers. Did heBtopt hem ) and ask w hat papers they had? ' He doesn't say that he did, and be didn't "find out the mistake" ' until the next morning when the matter was the talk of the town. ' If John Holmes hadn't bought ? those papers, would Mr. Lang 1 don have "found out the mistake" 1 The truth of the business is that it was not Mr. Langdon who bad just "found out" for he had 1 knowledge of the matter since 1 about September 17th when the \ first batch of North Carolinians ' arrived at the post office iu tien son, but it was the people?Dem ocrats, if you please?who had 1 "found out," and Mr Langdon 1 doubtless "saw the handwriting 1 on the wall," and knew the mean ing thereof. Mr. Langdon, in his statement, does not deny withholding Mr. 1 Lucian Morris' paper, uor that 1 the same was thereafter sold, 1 although bis clerk is saddled with 1 the selling. In his statement, 1 however, he says "1 was deliver- 1 ing those papers all tdat I could 1 and as fast as 1 could, and those 1 I could not deliver." "As fast as I could!" then please tell the public how long it takes you to ' put a newspaper in a box in your ' office. Twenty-seven or thirty- 1 seven days? It appears that 1 there was a copy of the "North ' Carolinian" addressed to Mr. ) Lucian Norris, Benson, N. C., who rents box 42 in the Beu- { eon poet office, in your office from about September 17th until Oc- 1 tober 13th?twenty six days? 1 and was not delivered. If your clerk made a mistake in selling I the copy of September 17th, who, made the miatake to hi 1 copies of 8?ptomb?r Otto 1 t>er 1st and 8th? Mr Norris swore that he never received a copy of the North Caroliniau up to October 13th, aud the copy of September 17th in the only one of Mr. Norris' North; Uaroliuians that Mary Sanders bought, and which Mr. J. W. 1 Holmes later bought from her. After Mr. Langdou "found out the mistake" he was able to find Mr. Norris'box, for Mr. Norris got bis copy of the North Car olinian last week, October lor.h, as appears from his affidavit, and quite a number of gentle men?Democrats aud Republi cans?got copies of the North Carolinian from the Benson post office last week, who had nor theretofore gotten a copy of that paper, although tb?ir pa pers had been sett, to the Menson post office each and every wn?k beginning with September 17th. In his statement and affidavit published in the Journal, Mr. Langdon tries to befog the real issue a9 to whether be is guilty of withholding U. S. mail from pat rons of the Benson post office, who wore entitled to same, and thereafter selling same, by say ing that John Holmes had lied in two particulars; let, by say-; ing that J. VV. Holmes'affi lavit "is false and untrue for itie rea son that P. Hawley retired from the post office at Benson on Oc tober 11th, 1904, or twenty-six Jays before the date sworn to by said Holmes," as the time when he saw P. Hawley burn a box full of newspapers. While Mr. Holmes cen't be positive about the ex *at date, yet he says t tat it was , in the campaign of 1004, and he thinks it was two days after the election. While it is true that the post office at Benson was under investigation from Octo ber 11th, 11)04, yet the Govern ment records show that P. Haw ley was removed and B. D. Lang dod appointed as postmaster ?t Benson December lGtb, 1004, as will appear by the telegram of the First Assistant Postman ter General co Hon. E. W. Pou, of October 20th. It is a matter of common J knowledge aronnd Benson that Mr. Hawley's bondsmen (Mr. | I Benjamin Hudson and others) placed Mr. I. B. Hudson in the i post office. Mr. Hawley, with his assistance, continued to run the office until Mr. Langdoutook charge about Dec. 20th, 1904 2nd. By saving "that the affi J lavit of said Holmes is false and i untrue in the particular thai when deponent first demanded the papers of Holmes, be claimed uot to have them, that they were in the hands of J. T. Ellington." \lr. Holmes states most positive ly that he never said that Sheriff Ellington had the papers, but did sty mat the papers belong d to I. T. Ellington, that Ellington's money paid for them and that they were Ellington's property In this he is corroborated by Mr. I>. J. Hill and Mr.. E JP ? Britt, men of good character and disin terested citizen of Benson, as ap pears by their affidavits set out in a statement of Mr J. W. Holmes published in this issue. 1 he fact that Mr. Morris was not a subscriber tc the North Carolinian does not affect the matter. Neither was he a sub scriber to I he Journal of Oct. i)th, marked exactly the same as the North Carolinian (a Demo cratic paper) and sent to the same Benson Post-office and fail ad to get the North Carolinian, although Mary P. Sanders bought from the post-office ?t Benson a copy of the Norvh Carolinian of Sept. 17th, with the name of Lucien Norris on it. Has Mr. Holmes done any wrong? No! A few office hold ing Republicans may think so, but the great mass of unbiased citizens of Johnston County, af ter reading and investigating the (acts, and reading the affidavits1 on both sides will never say so. Those who know John Holmes know him to be a young man of bigh character, sober, honest and upright, aud who would not stoop co dirty methods in poli. ! tics, or in business, aud no , "a professional Democrat of a Jow type," as The Journal would present him. He is a stalwart (Costinned on paga 0) WHAT WAS HIS REASON? Chairman Richardson Makes Reply to Chairman Standi. Was Chairman Standi Ignorant of the Law When He Declared That Men Who Registered Last May Must Re-register. To The Editor: My attention has been culled to an article, headed "Notice to All Voters," which appeared in the last issue (Oct 20th) of the Smithtield Journal, the official organ of the Republican party in this County. The article ap pears over the signature of Re publican Comity Chairman, J C. Stancil. Alsv>, I am informed that this same article has been printed in circular form and is being sent out broadcast to the voters of the County. In this article the Republican Chairman tells the people that "if they re gistered in May for the prohibi tion election then they are not registered for the November elec tion," and further adds that "there is a Democratic scheme to disfranchise thousand of vot ers " How long. Oh how long will this Republican Chairman and his Radical cohorts and political henchmen continue their ef forts to mislead and misdirect honest people by misrepresenta tion and falsehood? Ilow long will this office seekiug Radical Chairman continue to presume that our people are too ignoraut to interpret his motive for such misrepresentation? The people of Johnston County are not half so ignoraut as this Republican Chairman seems to thiuk they are, and they are far more houest than he seems to ^ive them credit for being. They are not so blind to misrepresent ation as this leader of the Repub lican party in the county had hoped they were Our people as a rule are too honest, too can did, too intelligent to permit themselves to be deceived and further mis'el by faUe state ments and reports emanating from unscrupulous and designing politicians. They will not be misled now. They know the man, and they understand per ft-ctly his motive in circulating the article above referred to. The article in question, to say the least, is grossly misleading, and was no doubt published aud circulated in the hope of divert ing the minds of the voters from the paBt record and rascality of the Republicau parSy. Mr. Stancil knew, or ought to have known, that no new regis tration is required for those per sons who were properly register ed for the prohibition election last May. tie could have at least informed himself before at tempting to subject the voters of the County to unnecessary trou ble and annoyance of calling upon the registrars to ascertain that no new registration is re quired under the law for those persons who registered in the May election. Why didn't this Republican Chairman deal hon estly with the people? Why raise this false alarm by pretend ing to the voters in his article that a new registration was nec essary? The Law, passed by the General Assembly of North Carolina at its Extra Session of 1908, authorizing the holding of the May election, is perfectly plain, and reads as follows: "That, on the last Tuesday in May in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and eight, an election shall be held in the several election precincts in each County of the State of North Carolina to determiue whether the provisions set forth in" the iirst nine sections of Chapter 7L, pages 83 85, Public Laws of North Carolina, entitled 'An Act to Prohibit the Manu facture and sale of Intoxicatine Liquors in North Carolina,' shall become effective. "Said election shall be condu ted and held u ider the sau< rules aud regulation! and in tt ?ame manner an alesti >us fi State offioart; utl, olhe I wise provided in this acts, the general lawn regulating elections, an set forth in Chapter ninety of Uevisal of 1905, aud the amend j inents thereto, shall be applica ble to said election." Can any j thing be plainer? The May election was general in that it wan held in every pre cinct in every County in North ? Carolina. That election was held under the General Election ! Law not out, to getber with ["Permanent Boll" books, to the j Chairmen of the Boards of Elec- j ' tions iu the several counties of ' the State by our State officials. I'he names of every person, both I Democrats and Republicans alike, who registered in the May election were properly certified by the several registrars to the Clerks of the Court iu the vari ous counties aud by them pro perly transcribed to the "Per manent Roll," as was their duty to do. This was done in JohLstou County. These names were af terwards certified by the Clerk of the Court to the Secretary of State as required by law, t*ud every person whose name ap pears on this "Permanent KoU" will be entitled to vote in the November election if otherwise! qualified. This is the opinion of some of the best informed law yers iu our State. If those per sons who registered iu the May electiou were not to be recorded on the "Permanent Iloll" whv did our State officials who had the benefit of the advice of the Attorney.General send books for that purpose to the Chairmeu of the Hoards of Elections of the several counties iu the State, to gather with a copy of the Geu eral Election Law last May? The "Permanent Roll" book has been open to the inspection of the public in the olfice of the Clerk of this County, and I am informed that Chairmau Stancil himself has several times recent ly inspected this roll in the Clerk's office. Stancil must therefore have known that the names of those persons who registered for the May election had been properly carried forwar i to the "Permau eut Roll" book, Democrats and Republicans indiscriminately. He must have known also that every person thus registered and otherwise qualified whose name appears i?a this "Permanent Roll" was entitled to vote, with out subjecting such voter to the trouble and annoyance ol any further registration. He knew that Democrats and Republicans alike registered for the prohibition electiou last May, and that it would be im possible to disqualify any Repub lican on this ground without also disqualifying Democrats j who registered for the May elec-1 tion. Why then did this Republican otfice-seekiug Chairman attempt to mislead the people by this false cry? Was he ignorant, or did he knowingly and intention- | ally misrepresent the law to the voters of the County, hoping to further poison the minds of the people by incorporating in his article the false and unwarrant ed charge that "there is a Demo- ; cratic scheme to disfranchise thousands of voters?" If he wa,s ignorant and knew no better then he is to be pitieu, and, in my opinion, is wholly in competent to be at the head of even a Republican organization If he willfully misrepresented the facts and misstated the law xolely for political effect, then I ; submit that he has not dealt ? houebtly with the people of the County, and he and his political methods ought to be repudiated by all good men. He can take either horn of the dilemma, la the meantime, let no honest voter be deceived aud misled by the article in question. It is only the false alarm of a political demagogue who sees de feat staring him and his party in the face. If you were properly registered iu the May election you will be eutitled to vote in the Vovember election if otherwise .titled, uhUmh pjrhapj Repub ,n Chairman Staucil aud his itical bauckmen can succeed ilafraackUUft yoa. Certainly MR. HOLMES HAS A SAY! 1 Gives His Side of the Kenson J Post-Office Affair. c Presents Affidavits to Prove His Every 1 Contention Made In Statement Last ' Week. Let the Public Judge This Affair. r t In The Smithtield Journal of c this week on the first page in ^ large letters I see these words: c "Another Lie Nailed." 5 Oue It I). Langdon, post s master at Benson, under oath 8 says that I, J. W. Holmes,lied in t my statement inasmuch as I H stated to him when he came for the papers the lirst time that ex- a Sheriff Ellington had them. I e want to say here auu uov, that s that'stutement is false, us the fol- ? lowingattidavitswillshow. Iftbere |< had been no other person pres- ri eut there might have beeu some t doubt as to who was right, e Langdon or myself. Hut it seems t to me that the following affi- t davits from two as good men as h there are in Benson or any other ? town settles that doubt so well 1 that a fool though he be a Kadi- b eal may not be mistaken as re he discovered his mistake; nd this was next day?8 or 9 clock?after the news was all round town that be had im roperly disposed of mail and hat I had bought same. Then , was that he sent Carl Rvals to he negro house after the papers, nowing at the same time that had them in my pos?os,?ion. J. W. Holmes. IN COFFIN BUT NOT DEAD. hyslclan Intervenes Just In Time and Finds Mrs. Chapman Alive. Ellis, Kan., October 20.?The imely intervention of a physic an who was not sausHed with ppearance of the body to day irevented the burial alive of drs. Thomas Chapman, sixty ears old, who was susposed to ave died suddenly of heart isease on Saturday. The body .as prepared for burial, but was ot embalmed. The funeral was o have taken place at 2:30 'clock this afternoon. A fe* minutes before the oftin was sealed, a physician re uosted permission to see the >ody. An examination oon irrned his suspicious that tbe woman's body was made rigid >y suspended animation. The Yomau was removed from the ofiin placed in bed and revived. Vhile her heart is weak, it is l>e ieved chat Mrs. Chapman will ecover. Would Mortgage ttaf Farm. A farmer on Rural Route 2, Umpire, Ga., W. A. Floyd by lame, says: "Bucklen's Arnica salve cured the two worst sores ever saw: one ou my hand and me on my log. It is worth its veight in gold. I would not be vithout it if 1 had to mortgage hn f?rm to get it." ODly 2Ec, it Hood Bros, drug store.