Established 1899 JUDGE WALTER CLARK AND MR. H. S. WARD SPEAK HERE Mr. Ward Says Simmons Lobbied Against Railroad Income Tax in State Senate HE AND SENATOR BAILEY ARE TWO OF A KIND Bailey Prompting Simmons When Kern was Challenging Simmons on His Lumber Vote Defence Judge Clark Elabo rates the Planks in His Famous Platform. Ex Solicitor Hallett S. Ward and Chief Justice Walter Clark spoke to a good siz*i crow! at the Thornton Academy of Music Friday eveninir. The veterans were out in full force t> greet Judge Clark, and he paid them and Catawba county a high trib ute for service both in war and peace. It was virtually the christening of the newly painted and re-ar ranged opera house. Mr. sDoke first and was neatly introduced by Mr. W. A. Self. Mr. Ward is a young man, and evidently a coming man in the State. He snaps with per sonal magnetism like a live wire. His voice is strong, his choice of words discriminating, his mind a store-house of choice quotations, his powers of analy sis keen, his knowledge of polit ical conditions complete, and his courage of conviction Bryan esque. His Bp>e:h flows abng like a river. He tells a story well, and hib sttire is as cut ting as Voltaire's. He is good looking himself and can always speak better when the ladies are out. He never seems to lock the house, and the latch-strings hang outside all over him. His frank ness and openness are refresh ing. He looks you right in the eye. The next Governor after Craig will come from the East. If that neck of the woods should be gone over with a fine tooth comb, a more available man for the place could not be found than this young lawyer of Little Washington. JUDGE CLARK'S WAY. Judtre Clark was "forceful in his speech. He elaborated in iti the planks in his now famous platform. He is saturated with progressiveism. Before Bryan began his career, Judge Clark! was advocating the initiative and referendum, and the parcels | post. He makes a great point of compelling the Yankees to diyvy with us on the enormous pension money that has been such a drain on the pocket-books of the tax-payers, and doubtless if he reaches the Senate he will be able to get this scheme enacted into law, for the Blue is in clined to be generous to the Gray in these latter days. Judge Clark is a great thinker. He will rank in our judicial his tory with Iredell, Ruffin and Pearson. It is good to look at his good gray head as he speaks. In his style of oratory his studi ous habits of life assert them selves, and >ou can see his words racing like Olympic athletes to catch up with his thoughts. He is dead in earnest, and the consistency of a life-time is back of all his promises. Mr. Ward spoke first and said; PARTY CAN'T EXIST DIVIDED. I am up here tonight because of the great division of opinion and sentiment in the Democratic party. his division is real and nut imaginary. Nobody can fail to see it. I am not trying to make it wider, but to discuss it as it exists among men who nval each other in loyalty to the Democratic party. We can read nobody out ot the party for this u ior Gov. ki.chin can no more THE HICKORY DEMOCRAT read Senator Simmons out of th? p*rtv than a eunoch could have read M->se.s out of the synagogue Lincoln rieiKred that this, natioi could not exist, slave ano half free and the great truth re verberated over this nation ana shook it as no political proposi tions ever shook it before I declare with equal truth that the Democratic party cannot exist half reactionary and half pro gressive and this impossibility brings me here tonight, 4 T don't want to see the divi sion we had in 1893 that drove us into 27 years of defeat and death. I don't want to see a Democratic House sending over Democratic measures to the Senate, and a Democrati; Senate as in '93, under the leadership of such a valiant Democrat as Arthur Pue Gorman, destroying those measures, and a Demo cratic President declaring that "the people would mark where the deadly blight of treason had blasted the councils of the brave in their hour of mighty SIMMONS ADMITS n VOTES AGAINST PARTY. "This division is Democratic opinion has kept us in defeat 22 years, and nobody will say that Gorman was not a greater Dem ocrat from experience and party service than is Simmons, and I declare to you that the differen ces between Gorman and the Democratic house were net half so great as has been the differ ence between Simmons and- the Democratic caucus of the House. Gorman voted one time against a Democratic House and Sim mons has voted 11, according to his own statement, as 1 now read them to you, and on pre cisely the same character of questions, directly against the caucus of a Democratic House." The speaker was quite caustic by the way in his criticisms of Simmons 11 votes wrong. Kitch in had accused the Senator of voting 19 times against his Dem ocratic associates, and the Sen ator replied: No, he had ONLY voted 11 times that way. Eleven is such a few times to vote wrong, you know. Judas did not betray his Master but one time. "1 don't believe Simmons ever ac cepted a bribe," said the speak er, "but there are influences brought to bear upon our actions so subtle that human perception cannot even understand thein. BaiJey and Simmons have voted together on almost every ballot. Bailey has just rolled Simmons |up and dumped him into the lap ; of Wall street. BAILEY PROMPTED SIMMONS. "But the great state of Texas has repudiated Bailey, since he was caught with his arm up to the shoulder in Standard Oil. Yet when Kern challenged Sim mons to prove that the North Carolina Democracy had ever repudiated the Democratic plat form on the demand for free lumber, Bailey sat behind Sim mons telling him how to answer." Taking up the thread of his argument again, Mr. Ward con tinued: "I want Wilson to have a unanimous Democracy of his own kind. Mr. Morrison and Capt. Ashe say the platform has eliminated free lumber and therefore come over to Simmons. I ask if it has, why has it not come over to Bailey? And yet Bailey says his party h«s left him, as he is as lonesome as Patience on a monument smiling at Grief. But since Simmons has been in the Senate he and Bailey have been two minds with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one. They have voted together, have stood together, have walked, talked and prayed together, and how then did Simmons keep up with the procession and Bailey get left? The Texas Democracy have repudiated him. WHO WOULD VOTE FOR CLARK "I submit this test. Call up Chas. Murphy, of Tammany Hall, Col. Guffey, of Pennsyl vania, Tom Taggart, Roger Sullivan, August Belmont, Pier pont Morgan and Thomas Ryan, and go over to the race tracks of HICKORY, N. C.. THURSDAY. AUGUST 15, 1912 " - . . U Ireland and get Dick Groker and let them vote for a Senator for this state, *nd every Simmons man in Catawba county knowt that every vote would be cast for Simmons! Put in Judgfe Parker with his compromising suavity and he'd split the difference and vote for Kitchin! 4 'Now on the other hand call up Wm. Jennings Bryan, Wood row ' Wilson, Gov. Marshall, Senator Kern, and Senator Gore, and if I could summons the dead here tonight I would add Zebulon B Vance to the list, and every vote would be cast for Judge Clark, and you know it as welt as you know which way a rabbit was running when you have seen his tracks in the snow! "'Kitchin and Simmons are charging and counter-charging on theii relative virtues and personalities. Everybody knows both are telling the truth. North Carolina never elected a Govern or or a Senator that would tell a lie on his fellowman, and half either says of tne other woukL disqualify him for this trust. I proclaim both guilty on the testi mony of the other. SIMMONS LOBBIED AGAINST IN COME TAX. ''l knew Simmons was a re actionary when he lobbied the State Senate 14 years ago to defeat the income tax against the railroads of this state. He won't deny that he sat in the seat of Senator Fields by my side and asked me to vote against it, saying that he as chairman had pledged the railroads that the Legislature would not do it. I told him I would vote to redeem the pledges of my party, and I did so on that ground only, 4 'When he voted the 11 votes that I read you he said he voted, I know the people were not there, but I know the lumber interests of this state were in Washington City, and we all know the lumber interests got the benefit of that vote. KITCHIN AS A TRUST BUSTER. "Gov. Kitchin is the trust buster of the world and so far as I know has busted only one, the firm of Manning & Foushee. He has failed in his promises to the people of this state. If Woodrow Wilson as Governor of New Jersey had done exactly as he has, you know he would not have been heard of for President, "Mr. Morrison and Capt Ashe say the platform come ta Simmons. Read the statement of Simmons made through J. W. Bailey of Raleigh and see that he is in favor of a restricted parcels /- _ OUR TRADE WEEK EDITION. The Democrat's 18 page Trade Week Edition has attracted some at tention. It was the most pretentious effort yet put forth by the Democrat in the interest of Hickory. We publish below two highly appreciated letters, one from Mr. Mogford, who has put the circulation of the Progres sive Farmer up to 144,000; the other from Mr. Herndon, a former resident of this city, who is one of the ablest insurance men in North Carolina: THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER. " Raleigh, N. C., Aug. 12,1912. MJ. Howard Banks, Editor, Hickory Democrat, Hickory, N. C. Dear Mr. Banks: I have before me copy of your Special Trade Week edition, and wish to congratulate you on same. Your advertising directory on the first page, surely should be appre ciated by your advertisers. Trusting that the results of this advertising will be such that you will be able to repeat k often, with best wishes, I remain, JAS. L. MOGFORD, Assistant Manager. \ _ HOME OFFICE North State Life Insurance Company CAPITAL PAID UP IN CASH, $lOO,OOO 00. Kinston, N. C., August 10, 1912. Mr. Howard A. Banks, Editor, Hickory Democrat, Hickory, N. C., Dear Sir: I congratulate you on your last issue. If you will be good enough to let us know when yotl are going to get out special issues, we wilLbe glad to help the cause along by occupying some of your advertis ing §pace. ~ Yours truly, J. A, HERNDON, General Manager. 11 I' post. Read Wilson's ipeech of acceptance on that arrd see if they agree, and if so vote for Simmons. THE PARCELS POST. "We have had a parcels post proposition in the platform four years and yet Simmons has not raised his hand or voice to re deem the pledge, and that's because of the express companies. You can send 11 pounds to old Jerusalem through the mails and that for 12 cents a pound. -You can't send but four poqnds from Hickory to Greensboro and that must be at 16 cents a poind, ai.d you know that's because the ex press company operates between here and Greensboro, and don't operate to old Jerusalem. "Clark has long advocated a parcels post. Judge Clark start ed progressive policies before Bryan was ever heard of in this country and he is the strongest type of progressive Democracy in this country today.'' THE PUBLIC LIKE THE JAY BIRD. Judge Clark began by calling attention to the deep unrest which agitates the Republic to day. While there has been an enormous increase in wealth, and JUDGE WALTER CLARK North Carolina has doubled its production of corn, wheat, cot ton, tobacco, etc , in the last two or three decades, the people Jiave not shared in the increase in the wealth. The judge told the story of the jay bird who got his friends to help him lay in a winter supply of acorns through the ridge-pole of a deserted log cabin. They worked days, weeks and months and could never get it full. Fin ally one of them looked tnrough a window and saw the entire floor of the cabin heaped up with acorns, was hol low! Applied to the American people today. This story be comes pathetic. The labor of our hands has filled the money vaults of the- rich, until it is true that 3 percent of the people own 99 percent of the total wealth! Since Simmons and Kitchin began their careers in Congress 12 years ago Rockefel ler's wealth has inci eased from 300 millions to 900 millions and Carnegie's from 200 millions to 600 millions of dollars. "You created it! They got it!" declared the speaker. "All we ask is that the $4,000,- 000 we now pay annually for northern pensions be sent back Democrat and Press, Consolidated 1905 to us for our soldiers." THE TRUSTS. "There was wo country on th« face of the earth more prosper ous than the tobacco section of North Carolina until the forma tion of the tobacco trust. When that trust was formed this sectior was blasted and smitten as if -b: the wrath of God. The trust was formed, the profits which ii. a free market would have comt to the tobacco raisers throughout the entire tobacco belt of North Carolina. It was formed and had been operated in defiance o! the law. It has accumulated wealth beyond the dreams of avarice. What did either of my competitors do during- the 12 years that thty were each in Congress to-secure the punish ment of the destruction of these highway robbers? "It is -true that one of my competitors in his candidacy for nomination as governor threat ened to put these robbers of our people behind prison bars and make them weat stripes. Did he do it? You be ieved him. 1 believed him? I supported him. But the only Jegislation during his administration in this matter has been_to deprive the statute against trusts which was pre viously in force of most of its most efficient feature rendering it comparitively jnnocuous. It is true he says that he could do no more because did not have the veto power. He was a lawyer and should have known this when he made his threats. Should he go to the senate he will find that he has no veto power there. What the people need as against these lawless combinations of great wealth is men~Who can do things. He did nothing against the trusts during his 12 years in the lower house. What reason is there to believe that he will do more in the upper house? REVENUE TARIFF. "I also advocate tariff for reve nue only. That is that the great taxing powers of government in fixing imposts should be exer cised so as to produce the great est revenue to the government with the least burden to the peo ple. The tariff as now bid is oy to *"*" importation ot an * article and hence produce no revenue while enabling the manufacturers of those articles to charge the peo ple up to the amount of the tariff as additional profit. This is practically the robbery of the many for the benefit of the few through the machinery of legis lation. "I also favor the election of postmasters by the people of each locality just as sheriffs and constables are chosen. There is no reason why a small coterie of politiciansfin some back room, shall assemble in conclave and designate the postmaster for Hickory or Charlotte who there upon shall be appointed by a man from Ohio or New York, I "Mr. Simmons said he wanted to get something for the south while the north was getting so much. Then he voted for a tariff on lumber to help the peo ple of North Carolina. His mis take was in thinking the lumber trust was the people of North Carolina. "Lorimer was attorney for the lumber trust. He came down to North Carolina at one time and saw Senator Simmons. Simmons said his conscience made him vote the first time for Lorimer, who he said was the peer of any man in the Senate. Then his conscience made him vote the second time against Lorimer, yet the evidence was the same. THE PENSION INJUSTICE. "Then there are the veteran, soilders of this state who bared 1 their breasts to the storm and shed imortal honor upon our his story during four eventful years. On public occasions eloquent tributes are paid to their valor and endurance. But what has been done by either of my com petitors during their twelve years in Congress in behalf of chese deserving men. "For Federal pensions since'the war has been paid out $4,500,000, 000, $1,500,000,000 coming from the South and $112,000,000 from North Carolina, "Our war was not a rebellion. It was a war between the states. The soldiers from Massachusetts and New York fought on that side not because the United States ordered them, but because their own states sent them to the front The men from North Carolina and Virginia and the south fought on this side not because the Confederate states ordered them to do so, but because their own states sent them to the front. The war being over the states are equal. For fortv-seven years we have been paying money into a com- mon treasury. From that com uoii t' tfiisu iJT pensions should not >e paid without discrimination to the soldiers from all the states *nd their widows*. "This is probably the last oppor tunity that North Carolina will have to send one of her soldiers to the United States senate. I shall do all that ii? in my power in the senate to secure this act of justice to my old comrades, for I in sympathy with them and vill endeavor to stop this enormous drain of money out of this state which does not come back to us. What has Kitchin or Simmons done to prevent this iniquity? TELEPHONES AND TELEGRAPHS. "I advocate the public regula tion of railroads and all other common carriers, but the opera tion of the telegraph and tele phones by the post office depart ment as is done in the 48 other civilized countries of the world, ours the 49th, being the only one which is so regulated. With us the powerful influence of those great monopolies have prevented the adoption of this measure. AlO word telegram in France and Germany costs 10 cents; in England 12 cents. From Hickory to Chicago it costs 75 cents; to San Francisico prob ably $l.OO or more. The United States did own the telegraph at first, buying it for $240,000 but afterwards allowed shrewd cap italiots to take it from her. In all $545,000 is all the telegraph and telephone companies have ever paid the Government. These companies are now de claring 8 percent dividends on $300,000,000 of waterd stock. SCHOOLS AND ROADS. "The next matter which I ad vocate is: - "The extension of our public school system and of good roads." "The highest tax that any people pay, except which the American people pay to the great trusts and monopolies which control our government, is the tax which we pay to ig norance and the 'mud tax.' If relieved of the enormous extor tion of the trust and monopolies North Carolina could in one year place our school system and roads on a par with the most favored com munity on the globe, and could pay our public school teachers salaries many times larger than they are now paying. The aver age pay of a school teacher is as low as $250 a year in some states and average only $5OO in the whole Union. This is simply iniquity. There is no other word for it. VI advocate the enforcement of laws regulating the hours of lab or and prohibiting child labor and requiring safety appliances. "On the one side of these questions stand the public wel fare and the right to the reason able enjoyment by the people of 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' guarded by the-im mortal Declaration of Indepen dence at Philadelphia in 1776. We should have a longer lived and a happier race. As to safe ty appliances, we would by their use in one industry (railroads) alone save yearly the lives of 10,000 men and the wounding or crippling of 100,000 others. Sta tistics show that in England, i France and Germany, in the railroad business alone, the num ber of men crippled, wounded and killed in proportion to the number employed is less than one-twentieth of the number so killed, wounded, or crippled in this country. We may again ask: Why is this the case? And there is the same answer, that the great corporations in this country use vast sums in con troling the elections and in the control of newspapers and in the maintenance of lobbies. Shall we always be thus subjected, not ouly to robbery, but to the loss of life and limb by the wealth creator of our country, in order that the privileged few may grow still more inordinately rich? "A further proposition that 1 main tain is to put an end to this control of our government through the election of public servants by a statute which shall strictly 'limit the purposes and amounts-for which candidates or any others for them may expend, money either in the primaries or in election, ! and the fullest publicity, both before and after, of the items for which all , money has been expended on those ' occasions." [Continued on last page.] CASTOR l A For Infants and Children. Tlii Kind Yon Han Always Bought Bears the Sp tOgnavure of C

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view