nil
What Was Done By the Meeting at
Greensboro.
TVALTER CLARK FOR CHIEF JUSTICE
Connor and Walker Nominated For
Associate Justices Beddingtleld is
Warned For Corporation Commis-
Greensboro. Special. The Democra
tic convention was called to order by
State Chairman Simmons in the opera
house, promptly at 12 o'clock Wednes
day. Rev . P. H. Law, of Lumber
Bridge Robeson county, was called up
sm by the chairman, and made an ap
propriate invocation.
State Executive Committee Secre
tary Pearsall then read the call for the
convention, made at the last meeting
nf the State committee. The reading of
the call, developed the poor acoustics
of the hall, as reported cries of "loud
er" greeted the reader.
A call of the roll ot counties showed
that every county of the State ' was
present, through- delegates, except
Mitchell county, which was represented
ty Judge Avery as its proxy.
M. S. Thompson, of Greensboro, and
George P. Pell, of Jefferson, were an
nounced by Chairman Simmons as as
sistant secretaries.
Hon. Charles M. Steadman, of
Greensboro, was introduced by the
chairman, who is most cordial and elo
quent terms made an address of wel
come to the assembled hGSts of Demo
cracy of the State, and at frequent in
tervals there were loud expressions of
approval and interests evinced by spon
taneous bursts of enthusiastic applause,
mingled with constant cries of "Hurrah
for -Stedman" .s the distinguished
speaker made happy hits. At one point
of his speech, when he referred to the
coming refrain of "Good-bye, my Prit
chard, good-bye," the vast audience re
sponded in a wild whoop of approval,
which broke into pandemonium of en
' thusiasm, many rising from their seats,
flourishing hats and making things
lively with old fashioned war whoops.
Chairman Simmons, responding to
the splendid address of welcome, form
ally extended the thanks of the com-
the committee of arrangements for the
excellent manner in which the conven
tion had been provided for and the
comfortable entertainment which !had
been found bv all statine ttiat if uron
better acquaintance, Greens &Q50 liked
the convention delegates well enough
to want them again, they might in fu
ture, show a practical appreciation of
the comfort" of this occasion to come
again.
Mr. Simmons spoke in part as fol
lows; When the Democratic State conven
tion met in 1898 the people were con
fronted by two records, one the record
of the Democratic party during its 23
years of ascendency prior to 1891, and
the other the record of the fusionists
during the four succeeding years In
that campaign we . had only to point
to thoe two records aa an object les
son and invite the people to compare
and consider them. The confidence
which we had from the beginning of
the campaign in the result of the elec
tion of that year was predicted upon
the conviction that the people of North
Carolina possessed sufficient intelli
gence to distinguish between good gov
ernment and bad government, and suf
ficient virtue to prefer good govern
ment to bad government.
When the Democratic State conven
.tion met in 1900 the dark cloud which
for four years had hovered over the
State had passed away. White suprem
acy had been temporarily at. least re
stored and negro office-holding' had
been temporarily at least abolished
But the situation has, evolved another
rchaty, a paramount and overshadowing
duty, the duty of State, society and civ
:31l2ation, to permanetnly . provide;
.against the possible recurrence of the
Saw! ul and almost engulfing conditions
"wMch had followed the elevation of an
. niiti 1111 ihi t 1.11 iniwHr in 1 np .mbtb i-ci3
fore this question every other question
jsunk into littleness. Patriotically we
addressed ourselves to the duty of the
lour. We appealed to the people to
ratify the action of the Legislature in
placing suffrage upon the broad basis
..' of an intelligent understanding of the
ballot and duties ofNcitizenship. Their
response was emphatic. By a majority
of fifty thousand they said what f. all
Miisiory and experience proves that the
white man, whether lettered or unlet
tered, was inherently qualified for self-
government and that the. black man
was inherently disqualified for. self
government and could only become
qualified, if at all, by education and
straining.
The justice" and wisdom of the
ramtndment is no longer a question for"
debate. That has been settled, as I
'.said before, by a majority of fifty
:. 'thousand, and white supremacy has
IvOOn T17TM f fon in tVia Araranln Iowa o V n
State. The question which now con
fronts, us is, shall this decree of the
. white people remain written in the con
stitution or shall it be expunged from
the constitutionJby. whom and how"? We
'Consttuton, by whom and how? We
don't want another so-called j negro
campaign in North Carolina.. If our
adveicaries will accept the amendment
in good faith we will not have another.
X hODe this convention will 'titUs" and
' .Jk I & MUU
i
i
.1
1
challenge our political opponents to de
clare, officially; and unequivocally in
their platform, when they meet in! this
city next month whether they aqcept
the amendment as a final settlement of
the vexed and dangerous question of
negro suffrage. We are told that! the
negro is out of politics. We are jtold
that the Democrats hae promised free
dom of thought and action. If the- ne
gro is out of politics, he is out through
the amendment. Whatever we have
promised as to independence was predi
cated upon the assumption of the jper
manency of that measure, and we can
not and we will not permit the Republi
can party to appeal to and usej the
amendment to divide the white people
so long as that' party refuses to give
the people a positive and straightfor
ward assurance of its bona fide accept
ance of that measure, for the refusal by
them under the circumstances to give
such" assurance discloses a sinister pur
pose with reference to that . measure
which, for seceret reasons,
unwilliner to admit.
they
are
We have the rieht. and it is our duty,
in my judgment, in these circumstances
to say 'to the Republican party, you! are
demanding a change of politics and
political conditions in North Carolina
on account of the amendment. , We de
mand that you define your attitude to
wards that measure. If you accept it,
say so. If you propose to attack it3
validity, now or hereafter, say so, and
say so in terms that means yes or no.
An answer which means either yes or
noV or Neither, as future expediency
mav sueeest. will not be accented.
- w, -' - - . j
ep,hefltcth-Hfl Ciox f ?m vrEchurcnay
Speaking of Republican policies, fos
tered and nrotected bv Remiblican leg
islation, there has sprung into exist
ence in tnis country during the pastsix
years nearly two hundred great tariff
protected combinations. They have
monopolized for their private benefit
nearly all the necessities of life. They
control competition, they regulate pro
duction, they fix prices. By controlling
the legislation of the country they con
trol, the markets of the people. They
absolutely dominate and control the
Republican party. That party da re to
do nothing which they oppose, ana it
stands ever ready to do their bidding. '
The domination of these tariff-protected
monopolies over the Jtepublican
party has never been so plainly shown
as during the present Congress by the
course of that party in the matter of
Cuban reciprocity; in the matter of its
failure and refusal to enforce the Fed
eral anti-trust laws; and in the matter
of its refusal to permit the considera
tion or enactment of any legislation
looking to the removal, of duties on
goods sold cheaper abroad than I at
home.
In conclusion Mr. Simmons said:
Gentlemen of the convention, when I
look upon their great gathering of rep
resentative Democrats from every sec
tion of the State, my heart swells with
:pride. You are, every one of you, free
men. Not one of you wears the collar
of any man. Not one of you repre
sents a boss. Many of you have in
structions, but they are .the instruc
tions of the sovereign people your rep
resent, and you honor yourselves !in
representing them and in obeying their
will. . I
There will assemble here in this hall
in a few weeks another convention, lit
will be a conventiSn of Federal Qffice
holders, postmasters, revenue collec
tors, deputy marshals, etc. They wjll
carry out to the letter the pre-arranged
programme of the bosses, and they will
close the farce by declaring the Demo
cratic party a boss-controlled and machine-ridden
organization. They would
not think, their role of hypocrisy com
plete without some such climax. 5 .
As your chairman, I hav$ led the
Democratic party in four J hot cam
paigns. I have fought the battles of
Democracy with all my might. I have
won the reputation of being a partisan.
I do not deny the imputation, if impu
tation it be. I am a partisan, but I am
a partisan because I have believed arid
still believe, the welfare of North Caro
lina depends upon the Democratic as
cendency, and because I have believed
and still believe, that I can best serve
my State and country by serving best
my party. ; ' j -
Gentlemen of the convention, I have
the honor to Introduce to you as your
temporary presiding officer a young
Democrat from the great piedmont
section of North Carolina, a young
Democrat' who, by his life and his
works for the State and the party, has
shown himself entitled to this recogni
tion. I present to you the Honorable
A. M. Scales, of the county of Guilford;
In the course of his speech Senator
Simmons said that .white supremacy
had been written in the organic law of
the State and the question now arises
should that law be a veritv- or should-
hit be expunged and, if so, by whom!
iigam ne said, "We do not wish anothi
er n egro campaign in North Carolina."
"We ain't going to have it," Shouted
several delegates. "No," continued the
Senator, ''unless the enemy of Demo
cracy and white supremacy force it up
on us by efforts to destroy the present
quietude brought about by the adoption
of .the amendment. We are not going to
have it. Until, however, an emphatic
posti ve expression is forthcoming from
all parties that the principles of the
amendment, are accepted. I declare that
it will be the duty of the white people
in the State to again stand together." .
Hon. A. M. Scales , was .made temporary-chairman
of the convention, i- 'A
Hon; W. D. Turner was made per
manent chairman of the convention.'
" Justice Walter Clark was nominated
for Chief Justice of the Supreme court
on 1st ballot - f ... .
Hon. H G. Connor was' nominated on
1st ballot for Associate Justice. ;
Hon. Piatt D. Walker was nominated
for Associate Justice on 3rd ballot.
Hon. E. C. Beddingfield was nominal
ted for Corporation Commissioner, t
Prof. J. Y. Joyner was nominated for
State Superintendent of Public Instruc
tion, v .-: .V ;,' ' :'v ; ; -, . A-
The following committees were ap
pointed: ;' '";;;-: :;..' T1". '-iy -V - ;;:-v-v'-
State Executive Committee: First
district, W. G. Lamb, W. B. Rodman,
It. It. Smith, George W. Ward; second
district M. J, Hawkins. E. L. Travis,
W. H. Powell, Li. V. Morrill; third dis
trict, E. M. Kounce, J. A. Bryan, 9. O.
Middleton, Nathan-O'Berry; fourtlrdis
trict, J. R. York,. C.! Beddingfield, R.
S. Hays, Ed. S. Abeh ; fifth district, J .
S. Mauris, B. S. Royster, Jenken Reid,
J. J. Nelson; sixth district, J. B. Un
derwood, E. S. Cowan; A. W. McLean,
D. H. McLean; seventh district, D. E.
Mclver, W. L. Parson, J. R. Blair, N.
G. Williams; eighth district, P. ,R.
Mears, R. N. Hackett, T. C. Linn, J. R.
Lewellyn; ninth district, C. R. Hoey,
W. H. Williams, Heriot Clarkson, W.
C. Erwin; tenth district, John C. Mills,
M. L. Shipman, C. A. Webb, W. E.
Moore.
Credentials committee: F. G. James,
A. Roscoe, J. F. Foy, R. A. P. Cooly, D.
C. Parks, H.L. Godwick, T. B. Bailey,
R. N. Hackett, W. W. Zackery, A. Can
non.' ' . '. . ' ' -
Organization: T. G. Skinner, J. W.
Grainger, P. A. Daniels, Armistead
'Jones, J. C. Biggs, G. H. Smith, L. D.
Robins, W. C.'Newland, W. A. Graham,
S. L. Rogers. -
Rules: John H. Small Claude Kith
in, R. A. Nunn, W. W. King, J. H.
Curry, R. B. Redwine, E. F. Lowell, R.
A. Ridout, M. W. Bell.
Platform: H. S. Ward, George
Howard, Rudolph Duffy, H. A. London,
John R. Webster, N. A. Sinclair, Cam
eron Morrison, R. A. Doughton, S. B.
Alexander, W. D. Crawford.
v Immediately upon the conclusion of
this business the convention took a re
cess at 2:15 o'clock, until, 3: 30.
A Breezy Time.
Special to the Charlotte Observer.
The biggest Bensation of the conven
tion was sprung Thursday morning at
2 o'clock when ex-Senator H. S; Ward,
in discussing the minority report on
the proposed platform, denounced
Grover Cleveland as "an arch traitor to
Democracy." In a second A". H. Boyden,
mayor of Salisbury, who was in the
rear of the hall, rose to his feet and
cursed Ward for insulting gentlemen
who were present. An immense cry
rose up from the 'assemblage and . re
peated yells of derision greeted Ward's
efforts to continue his speech. The ex
Senator grew white in the face and
tried to scream above the clamor, but
his voice was not heard distinctly.
For five minutes or more-even after
the large clamor on the hall had been
modulated, Boyden still stood up and
denounced Ward in the most bitter,
caustic language. Ward had made a
W. J. Bryan speech opposing the mi
nority report of the platform com
mittee, which recommended that "we
reaffirm our allegiance to the Demo
cratic party." He subsituted: "We re
affirm our allegiance to the platform of
the party," meaning the Kansas City
platform.
DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM.
Articles of Faith Declared By State
Convention.
H. A. London reported for committee
the following platform: ,
We congratulate the people of North
Carolina upon the adoption of the suf
frage amendment to our State consti
tution and upon the benefits that have
resulted therefrom and we pledge the
Democratic party to faithfully main
tain it by every legitimate means and
y& demand that the Republican party
shall declare its purpose either, to ac
cept or reject it, and until it is accept
ed as a finality by all parties we de
clare it the duty of the white people to
stand together for its protection.
The Democratic party, representing
the intelligence, the virtue and the
manhood of the people of the State, re
calls with pleasure the entire absence
of scandals during its administration
of public affairs knd the gratifying ad
vancement that has been made amongst
us in all industrial lines. We have fos
tered agriculture and promoted manu
facturing and have given to capital full
security and have protected their jights
of labor. We pledge the party to a fair
and just system of taxation and we de
mand that all subjects of taxation shall
bear the just and equal proportidn of
the burdens of government. .
We renew our pledges fbr the exten
sion and improvement Of the public
school system of the. State, so that it
may keep pace with the needs and con
ditions of our people and point with
pride to the great impetus and progress
in thjs great work during the last two
years and call attention to the fact that
this year, for the first time in the his
tory of the State, every school district
has been able to maintain a public free
school for four months as required by
the constitution. We believe that the'
permanent prosperity of the people of
this State depends largely upon the
construction and maintenance of good
roads and we pledge the party to the
hearty support of all wise measures to
that end. We heartily "commend and
endorse the administration of Governor
Charles B. Ay cock and other State of
ficials j for their faithful execution of
the party's promises in so far as the
same has been possible thus early in
their terms of office. , . , , -
We dikewise extend bur appreciation
and endorsement to United States Sen
ator F. M. Simmons and to our Demo
cratic Representatives in 'Ccnrrcs3 and
fnnirratulate them and the people of
the State for their faithful and official
services to the State in councils of the
nation. - : ,' .. . . j y :J ' v '
We affirm our allegiance to the Dem
ocratic party and ; its I principles as
enunciated in its national platform.
We denounce the policy of Imperialism
as inaugurated by the Republican na
tional administration and declare it to.
be obnoxious to our form of .govern
ment and fraught with danger to the
very existence of the republic! We de
nounce as oppressive and illegal those
combinations of capital knowns - as
trusts arid monopolies ffi'at stifle com
petition, throttle individual effort and
destroy the generous spirit or rivalry
that should exist in the commercial
world. -: ' . r; :: V '' '' . V '.
We denounce the deceptive and sorry
course of the Republican party in Con
gress in furthering! existences; of the
trusts by its refusal to enact legislation
restraining them and to enforce in good
faith the ' existing laws against them,
that party beiirg in the full control of
all branches of the government.
We denounce the present iniquitous,
unjust and trust creating protective
tariff, imposed upon -the people by, the
Republican party, and demand its im
mediate revision, to the ! end that all
unjust burdens shall be Iremoved and
especially upon the necessaries of life.
Its provisions enable Ithe
trusts to ex-.
unreasonable
products to
tort from . the . people
profits and to sell their
consumers at home lat greater prices
than are charged for the same goods
to the foreign consuhier. IWe demand,
therefore, that all such trust made
goods be placed on the free .list. We
favor the establishment pt the Appa
lachian Park and urge that our Sena
tors and representatives jin Congress
use their best eff orts to secure its estab
lishment, j
We again appeal to; the people with a
confidence that it is only from the
Democratic party that there can be ex
pected an honest, capable; and efficient
administration of the government , of
the State, and point jwitbj pride to its
past history in the administration of
the affairs of State, and challenge a
comparison with the: inquiries of fu
sion and Republican rule, f We promise
the people of the State a! continuance
of that honest, safe, conservative and
economical government which has al
ways characterized Democratic rule and
pledge our best efforts for the advance
ment of the material prosperity and
happiness of the whole people.
That we favor making all nomina
tions by our party for State and dis
trict officers by primaries and the
State executive committee j is hereby
instructed to formulate a I system to
regulate primary nomination for the
United States sSenate and all State and
district nominations and Ve demand
the ena.ctment by the. General Assem
bly of appropriate legislation for the
regulation of such primaries; that an
oath shall not be required of any voter
in such primaries; that the State ex
ecutive committee is instructed to call
at such time as they think wise a pri-
Lmary to dominate a United States Sen
ator to succeed Senator Pritchard but
such primary shall not be held on the
day of the general election.
Three members of the committee, to
wit, H. A. London, of Chatham; H. S.
Ward, of Washington, and W. A. Sin
clair, of Cumberland, earnestly favored
the following as a part of the platform;
"The Supreme Courtjhaving recently
decided that the school fund is re
quired by the constitution to be appor
tioned between the races per capita, it
is apparent that a much longer school
term will result to the negro than the
white race under such' apportionment
and we, therefore, demand such legisla
tive action as will insure more equita
ble apportionment of the said fund be
tween the two races.' p j ;
The other members of the committee
being personally in favor of j the same
were, notwithstanding, of the opinion
that tb,e matter ought to be referred to
the Legislature without definite action
by this convention. ; ' j
A minority suggestion: Strike out all
that relates to the nomination of Unit
ed States Senator to succeed Senator
Pritchard. W. T. Crawford, H. A. Lon
don, N. A. Sinclair. ;
Minority report: Subsitute for the
words "We reaffirm our allegiance to
the Democratic party aind the princi
ples as enunciated its national plat
form the words, "We reaffirm our al
legiance to the fundamental principles
of the Democratic party."
When the minority reports relating
to the primary and the f substitute for
affirming allegiance to Democratic
principles were read there was a great
shout of .approval. ; .; "
"Don't have any more free silver in
jected in our campaign," shouted C. M.
Busbee and the fun began.
The reading of the minority report
was greeted by shouts of approval,: C.
M. Busbee shouting: "e will have
no more free silver in. ourJcampaign.''
State Senator Ward, Of the commit
tee, made a red-hot Bryan speech, ar
raigning Cleveland and ; was (called a
damned liar from voices in ,the audi
ence'. He continued and much confu
sion and turmoil until he could not be
heard. He was followed by CJ M. Bus
bee, of Raleigh, who plead for the
adoption of the substitute, so' that no
element in the Democratic party would
have cause of offence, contending that
it had no place in a State platform.
Stevens, of Union, replied, stoutly as
serting that the adoption of the sub
stitute would be an insult to the'faith
f ul Democrats all over the county. He
poured hot shot into men: who! ride free
on railroads , and live in hotel lobbies,
declaring they did not represent the
Democracy of the tate. Congressman
W. W. Kitchin'made a fervid appeal
declaring that the adoption of;the sub
stitute would not be making peace With
party friends like Busbee and j those he
represented, but wni, ,
submission to the Republic, Cr!
those Whn wnralU. uucDaM
modern commercial r ne
"i yveu at thJt
v -f-.j , ne dppu
some democrats in the SbP S
doing the party moro T
oenaxor jrmcnara could An XL
or wouia ao, with all hi
out such aid. No man now
or free silver, that fen. u 0 ih.
issue is aeaa ana the adontir, l'
ouuButuio uieaus Simply a snK . t
ces. (annlause hnt - 1
panic ovenaKes this country 38 1
silver issue will come tn iifneJr
Avery, of the committee.-ma.' J
demand for the adoption of th
tute, saying the majority had hJr
vw vuw vv. ViUtlUUi X 11c lKClln S . '
s mvj uvweue, ami Willie I 811 hi
to every line of the national tjIsh
we have no business of re-afpw0
A u t . ; uirulln?.
ucau isaucr iucicuv cuaancPriDr ,
issno. -
"fc C i M 1 ...
ivi 1 1 1 1 1 vz 1 1 1 t n p nnnimin
defeat of the substitute. AbemSJ
wo tuuiumicc, Btiu, as a tJrvan ni. .
he wanted to know what v,
platform had to do with the elect!
- mc nat ..
iaxK, Connor ana walker and
id urj
thfi' nrtn-ntinn nf tha cnKtu..i.
liberal annlauj?p. T.miH nrinc.
uwuu tiico were s
for Senator Simmonj? hn v. J!3
respond. J. J. Laughlin said .3
for the farmers, who composed 80 n
wuu ui mc xvcuLiuuianc vote and til
adoption of the substitute would dro?
a dozen farmers off to one PritcharJ
Democrat won over. The nrevionJ
tion was demanflpd nnr! the vMn.4.V
UUK!I
resulting &6i ior substitute and fii
Mtjumoviiivvttituuuij, vulcu 0 y2 aye tn
8V2 no. Wake voted 8 aye, to 30 no At
3 o'clock the contest over the priinan
Big Demand for Aliners.
KoanoKe, va., special. Employmejs
agencies in this city are receiving h
quines for hands from, the coal fiel
iivi a&ciiio 11 uiii luat oeoiiuii are scour
iug luc cuuuiry geiung every available
2HM 11. J ilj. -
iuau IU gu HUiA. AUUUl l.uwniei
nave passea tnrougn Koanoke within
the last few days en route to different
works in the fields where they are put
to work immediately. The number 4
cars loaded is daily increasing and still
the demand for coal is much greater
than the supply. The unusual demanj
for men is due to two reasons, one. tiis
usual demand for the coal, and the
other that the operkzors are fearing
some trouble about the 17th to 20th,
and are desirous of catching up with
order.3 and having a good force at work
should a general strike of all bitumin
ous miners be ordered this week.
HEART OF A THUNDERSTORM.
Its Resemblance to a Battle FqujflvUtf
. the Clouds.
An English aeronaut who made aa
ascent in -his balloon was gradual!
borne by the wind into the very lieat
of a thunder storm. In Pearsori
Magazine he gives a vivid account d
this unusual experience.
"But ere we were reluctantly con
pelled to admit that we were caught
in bad weather there was a wild
shiiek in the air all around, and in
less than a minute's space we were
swallowed up in a pitiless onslaught,
o'f hail; which cut and bruised us, rat
tling with a furious patter on the silk
above, and on the sides of our wicker
car, bringing, down, too. from the up
per regions from WLat jlght, vto'
shall say an ice-cold down draught,
for which we were 1)ut ill prepared.
"And then the thunder broke out
Up to this moment we had had little
or no premonitory warnings in the
usual growling of r. an approaching
storm. Indeed, the thunder, though
appalling enough, proved Hot the most
striking feature of the; grand phe
nomena we were now about to -experiencea
fact, in accordance with
the experiences of the mountaineers,
already quoted. Moreover, the rever
berations of the bomb which I now ex
ploded a hundred feet below died away
with unwonted quickness. This was
remarked by all our party, and de
serves further consideration. Certain
ly to our senses the. rolling of th8
thunder was not prolonged. But again
this mav have been merely that iW
frequency and its nearness drowned -the
after sound. :. '
"For crash now followed crash with
the briefest intermission. It was UW
guns opening at short range, fast and
furious as in some sham fight which
one may watch at sea. The na&u
which came from all sides were in
variably somewhat above us, as though
from- batteries on commanding
heights ; v and each was followed
smartly with a burst, closely resemb
ling the solemn boom of heavy ordin
ance. They were single shot fr
masked embrasures.
"On one flank would come a forK.
light for even in the home of tn
lightning the eye could not Se
any other shape which for a brief 1
terval lingered painfully m
Then the crash followed, and the dw.
cloud closed up; a shot, as it e '
witn smolceless powaer o-
nrnmntlv hv Ulro rllRPhareeS iVO 0tr .
r .
posite heights. It was an a - .
rific war, to which the novelty of
situation V lent a real terror. For
was borne in upon us that this was
a sham fight after all, but tkat aii
sSky around was a real battle
and we were in it3 focus."