The herald and news. (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, August 21, 1914, Page TWO, Image 2
"ways ready to fetch and carry. Sena- ;
tor Tillman had endorsed him for j
the secretaryship out of gratitude '
and out of his well known disposition
to help his friends.
Baker was given a position in the
senate by the late Senator M. ?.
Butler. When Ulman was a candidate
for the senate against Butler, Baker
was a partisan of Butler and was
very bitter gainst Tillman. There
are a good man\ people who remem-!
ber hearing Baker apply the foulest
o: epithets to Tillman and all his
followers. But when Tillman was!
elected to tfoe senate, and came to!
Washington and became a power, I
the situation did not change as quick- j
ly as Baker changed. He worked him- j
self into Tillman's good graces; he j
was "Tuick to bend the pregnant j
hinges of the knee that thrift might
follow fawning."
And now, after having been taken
care of for all these years, he has betrayed
his benefactors in his old age,
at a time when gratitude would (have
been tne compelling mouve in a decent
man's heart. Judas Iscariot sold
his Master for thirty pieces of silver,
but Judas repented.
Many people will recall the fact that
when A. C. Latimer first ran for congress
Baker fought him most outrageously,
and ridiculed the idea of a
plain farmer like Latimer being elected
to such a position. Yet when Latimer
was elected, and began climbing
toward the pinnacle that he afterwards
reached, Baker quickly became
a sycophant and was never so happy
as when basking in Latimer's shadow,
is Immigration.
Dominick's man Baker accuses me
of having favored unrestricted immigration
and of having introduced a
hill with this end in view. The truth
is, as both ought to know, that I have
always opposed unrestricted immigration,
and that the bill I introduced
was for the purpose of restricting
and weeding out the immigration that
threatened to come to South Carolina.
My bill was to establish an information
bureau at Ellis Island, where
^ ^ !*Mminr?nnfr< OAm inrr f A f hie
lliUM vi Liic iiiI inipx amj IU U-JIO
country are landed, with competent
officers in charge, who could look oiver
the incoming immigrants, and after
selecting those suited to our people,
give them information as to the opportunities
and advantages to "be
found with us. We do need more
white people in South' Carolina, to
supplant the worthless and dangermis
nesroes. on the farms and as la
"borers and if we can get some of tfte
thrifty people from Germany it will be
a blessing to us and to them. Some
of the best people that we have in
the Third district are descended from
immigrant (fathers and mothers. They
A/*at*AA An/^arcAn Q n H
di e 111 CU1U xxiauwa cuiij MUU.
Newberry, and in every county ir the
district. Nobody wants pau<per labor,
except perhaps a few mill presidents,
and a few large land owners who are
noted for swindling their tenants.
The people of the Third district, in
the mill villages and everywhere else,
Jcnow my position as to immigration,
and this eleventh-hour lie will not
hurt me. In a recent speech I stated
my position on immigration so clearly
that no one except tfaKer ana uominick
misunderstood it. I defeated Mr.
McCalla on that very issue.
It is charged that I did nothing in
support of the Burnett immigration
bill, to restrict immgration, in the
Sixty-second congress. On Jaunary 17
1913, when the motion to lay the conference
report on the table came up, |
"r T -n?V?
1 W its iAUStJlll. X v> its ai&u auocui ?u^u.
the motion was made to recommit tone
report. When the next vote came up
agreeing to tine conference report,
on Jan. 2ot "191i3, I was present and
was recorded as voting Yea. The bill
passed and was sent to President
Taft, who ivetoed it On Feb. 19, 1913,
there was a vote on the passage of
the bill over the president's veto, and
I was present and voted Yea. The
Congressional Record will cheerfully
prove Baker to be a liar if he will
turn to page 3429, Sixty-second congress,
third session.
The Pure Food Law.
It is charged ttiat I voted against
the pure food bill. This is another
half-truth, wihich is worse than outright
falsehood. When the bill came
before tbe house I objected to it hecause
it invaded the rights of the
States. The bill, as it stood then,
would have taken away .from the
States all their rights and powers in
the administration of their health
laws and regulations. As a Demo~
- * ' ? * ? x i r
crat i couia noi siana ior taai, ana i
voted against it, giving my reasons
for doing so. Other Democrats who
voted with me were Adamson and
Barlett of Georgia, Burleson of Texas
(now postmaster general), John
Sharp Williams o? Mississippi (now
senator), Candler of Mississippi, Garret
of Tennessee, Gillespie of Texas,
ti Henrv oif Texas. Hill and Humphreys
<\ of Mississippi, Moore, Russell and
i Sheppard (now senator) of Texas,
Sherley of Kentucky ' and Smith of
Ik Texas. That was pretty good compaff.
ny, was it not? The bill passed the
house and went to. the senate, where
the objectionable features were
stricken out, and when it came back
v to the house I voted for it, as did the
others, and it became a law. I have
no apologies to make for me record
on that bill.
As to the Speeches.
Baker make the insinuation that I
have not written the speeches that I
have made in congress, that I have
had to get somebody else to prepare
fthem for me. It is rather fatiguing
to have to answer such a charge. I
have not made as many speeches as
some other members, and perhaps
v they have not been as brilliant as
some otihers, but at any rate they
Nhave been mine, AND BAKER KNOWS
Baker says the late Zach ^IcOhee
told him of "having furnished me with
material for a speech. Zach McGhee
I was my friend. He was a gentleman,
and I don't believe be ever spent
much time in Baker's company, it is
characteristic of Baker to try to prove
a falsehood by a dead man. Som*
years before his death Zach McGhee
took a trip through . England, and
wrote a series very interesting i;
newspaper articles telling of ins ex- j
i periences and observations among 11
the laboring people of that country,!
j particularly with reference to wages I,
i and the cost of living and the differi
ences in this country because of the
; high tariff. 1 took some of these let- 1
Iters and read them into the Congresj
sional Record, giving Mr. McGhee
full credit for them. This was not a (
j speech at all, and did not pretend to ]
| be, but was merely the introduction <
! of scfme very valuable data collected j
! by Mr. McGhee for the benefit of the <
members o>t congress, as the tariff i <
was then an issue. Those who would j
likwe to see the proof :hat Baker has ,
lied about this, as about other things. <
mav pnnsult the Consresional Rec- '
ord of the second session of the Six- ! J
ty-first congress, pages 3565 to 3574 j
inclusive. j
Every tiwo years the Democratic \
campaign committee issues a cam- ]
pai^n, handbook, for use in the pivotal
districts, and for t&e guidance i
of Democratic -peakers and editors,during
the campaign. This handbook
has been issued five times since
I have been in congress, and three
times it has contained speeches delivered
by me on the floor of th3 house.
I would not detract from the honor
nr crinrv r>f anv other man, but I do
v* v not
believe that any other member I
of congress has been thus honored by
' his collegues during the ten years that
I have been in the house. I make no
claims to gifts of oratory, t :t when ]
I do speak or write I have something <
to say and I tell the truth straight 1
from the shoulder, as I am doing ]
now. ,. <
As to* Absenteeism. <
j It is charged that I have been away 1
I from the house a great deal while it
x ?j- ~e nni
nas been in session, tnai oui in. ^jl <
roll calls 1 was absent 253 times, i
Charges of this kind have been made 1
against members of congress ever ]
since we have had a congress. I l
have not taken the trouble to verify 1
the figures as given by Baker, but. as- j
suming that they are correct,, which I j
doubt, I am surprised that I was re- <
corded as voting so many times. -The <
record is a good one, even as they :
state it. As everybody knows, it has <
been a custom in congress from time 1
'immemorial for members to pair with ]
j each other. When a member is |1
obliged to be aosent, ior limess ur iui
'any other reason, he gets a member 1
| of the i opposite party to pair with <
him, and then neither will vote until <
the absent member returns and the j
pair is broken. This is a courtesy
that all members of congress extend
to each other. I have had to be away i
irom the house occasionally, w<hile it 1
was in session, on account of illness <
of myself or members of my family, 1
or on public business, and I have uear- <
iv aiwavs been naired. I have been in <
the house a great many times when a 1
vote was taken, and have refrained
from voting, because I was paired ?
with some absent member. The pairs J
are shown in the Congressional Rec- j
ord, but not in the journal of the i
house. If Dominick and his hench- 1
man, Baker, had wanted to be fair 1
they would have quoted, u'rom the rec- ]
ord, and not from the journal, and
would have told the truth about the 1
pairs.
The Chairmanship. ]
It is charged that I was not made .
; chairman of the committee on the ,
District of Columbia, in spite of i
i seniority, because I had been neglect- .
ful of duty in attending the commit-1
tee meetings and was not equal to the
I work. At the beginning o?f the sixtysecond
congress it was up to me to
take this chairmanship, being the :
ranking member of the committee,
but I did not care for it. I knew it
meant a great deal of thankless work,
and that it might interfere with my
duty to my own district and keep me
from .giving it the close attention
' which it has been my pride to give it.
Representative Ben Johnson, of Ken- .
tucky, was next to me on the committee,
and was at that time a prospective
candidate for governor of his I
State. He was very keen to get the
chairmanship, for the reason that 'he
thought it wo lid help him in his race
1 * ?- T li-J -n r\+ lrnrkTL* a (TfPflt
| lor guvemvi. i uiu uuv ?uU.. ~ o
1 deal about Johnson, but had regardI
ed him as my friend, and was quite
| willing to unload the chairmanship on
him. He seemed very grateful, and i
was profuse in his thanks. He offered 1
to do anything in the world for me,
and I asked him to appoint my old
friend Doc Owens, a Confederate
veteran, who now lives at Greenwood
but who once lived at Anderson, as
messenger of the committee. This is .
! a position that is not hard to fill, and
pays some $1,100 or $1,200 a year, and
it would have beer a godsend to Mr.
*v*ir?nr XTAO Y?C? "\Tr I
uwens in ms ucciiuiug jcais,
Johnson did not keep his promise as
to appointing Mr. Owens, and he didnot
act 'fairly in other matters, and
I quit attending the committee meetings.
I am so built that when a man
deliberately plays false with me it
is hard for me to get over it.
A: the beginning of ihe sixty-third ;;
congress I learned that my opponents
for reelection would try to use
against me the fact that I was not
made chairman of the District com- ;
] mittee, and would try to make it ap-j;
! pear that I had been turned down bej
cause of fault of my own. I swallow!
ed my pride and went to Mr. Johnj
son and asked him if he would be as
I good to pie as I had been to him. I .
! told him that I had given him the
chairmanship to fteln him in 'his poli*
j tical fortunes, and a^ked him if he i
j would do the same thing for me. 1 :
: was not much surprised when he told
| me that he had defeated me for the ,
j chairmanship in a fair fight, and on
; his merits, and that I had no claim ,
; on 'him. I did not pursue the matter
as vigorously as I might have done,
for Mr. Johnson had his 'friends, of
course, and I feared that a fight over
! the chairmanship might open the way
for disruption in the party ranks, and
I did not want to be responsible fof
anything of that kind.
j But in order to be prepared for just
such a slander as this I went to the
.Democratic members of the ways and
| means committee (wihich committee i
k
selects ail the other committees *01
the house), and stated t e situation
to them and asked for a statement othe
facts. They very promptly and
gladly gave me the rollowing:
"House of Representatives,
^Washington, April 24, 191?..
"Hon Wyatt Aiken, House of Representatives.
"Dear Sir:?In response to your inquiry
we, the members of the committee
on ways and means of the
sixty-second congress, take pleasure
in stating that in the selection of the
committee chairmen at the beginning
n? the sixtv-second congress you
would 'have been chosen as chairman
of t'r.e committee on the District of
Columbia Jf we had not received
eour declination. There can be no
question about this as you were the
ranking member of that committee
ind no other name was considered un:il
after your declination had been
received.
"Yours very truly,
(Signed) "O. W. Underwood,
"Henry T. Rainey,
"Cordell Hull,
"A.#Mitchell Palmer,
"Claude Kitchen,
"Lincoln Divon,
"Andrew J. Peters,
"Francis B. Harrison,
"W. S. Hammond,
"D. W. Shackleford,
"OIlie M. James,
"Wm. Hughes."
If Baker will read thits statement
le win una autuucu w n uumv
Df Hon. Ollie M. James of Kentucky,
svho was a member of the Ways and
Means committee in tfhe Sixty-second
congress, and who is now a United
States senator, and whom he has at:empted
to quote against me.
This ought to be convencing proof,
sven to Dominick and Baker as to
the chairmanship matter, it is true
that I have not been attending the
meeting of the committee during the
Sixty-third congress, and it is also
true that my course is approved by
my colleagues who understand the
situation. I have found plenty of othir
work to do. I attended one meeting
)f the committee, when my vote was
needed to secure a favorable report
m some needed legislation. It sometimes
happens that the vote o?f one
aonest man is badly needed, and my
* - ^ ? -'" ""1' W/lnn rooilv utrTiPn it
yule Uct.5 amajo
was needed, in committee or elsewhere.
During my entire service in
congress I have never failed to vote,
}r to be paired, on aily important issue.
The Anderson Postoffice.
It is charged that I have kept an
inworthy man, a Republican, in ofice
as postmaster at Anderson because
of political cowardice. This is
:he first time I have ever been accused
of cowardice, and it win probibly
be the last time. Here are the
?acts as to the Anderson postoffice:
Soon after President Wilson's inauguration,
if not before, it was an+/-,
Via fhck r?/~vl ir?v rvf f-hp nil
L1UUUV.CU LVf US^ (.UV W? v
ministration that where Republican
postmasters were giving gocd service,
an 1 there were no demands for
their removal on the part of the
patrons of the office, the postmasters
would be allowed to serve out their
terms. I opposed that policy then and
I am opposed to it now. If I had had
my way, every Republican postmaster
in the country would have be^n fired
within a month after Wilson s inauguration.
But the administration
thought the other course should be
followed, and I have had to acquiesce.
Some months ago Mr. Cochran, the
postmaster at Anderson, and the assistant
postmaster and the assistant
postmaster's father, after haiving
been friends for a long time, became
estranged and some bitter feeling
ensued.
Serious charges were filed against
the postmaster, and a postoffice inspector
was detailed to investigate
them. When his report came in it was
unfavorable to the postmaster. 3ut
the officials of the department, having
had experience in matters of this
kind, and pursuing the policy of taking
nothing for granted?and perhaps
having reason to believe that
the inspector was not without bias
or had been deceived in the matterhad
another inspector detailed to
make an investigation. This inspector
had never been to Anderson be:ore,
and' knew nobody there. He spent
several weeks in Anderson, mingling
with the people and trying to get at
the facts anc his report was altogether
different from that of the first
inspector. Still another inspector
made a report, and his report corroborated
that of the second inspector.
These reports, made wholly independent
of each other, tallied in almost every
detail. The department officials
were thoroughly convinced that the
charges againstMr Cochran were made
through spite, and it was clearly established
that most of the charges
were without foundation while others
were grossly exaggerated. The department
officials informed me that
not sufficient grounds for the postmaster's
removal had been sfaowa,
and that there was nothing for me
to do.
It is true that when the difficulty
- -1- - ? + *V1 on/1 +VlO Q G _
DSlWeeu Lilt; j^uatuia.otv;i ciuu iuv
sistant postmaster first occurred
some good people at Anderson wrote
that they thought the postmaster
should be removed. Most of them
have since written that they were
mistaken, t'hat they did not fully understand
the circumstances, and that
they thought it would be only ju^ice
for him to serve out his term, which
expires in December. There are a
number of applicants for the office, all
of whom are my friends, and every
one of them has informed me that he
is willing for Mr. Cochran to serve
out his term. It is wortny or mention
in this connection that there are some
25 or 30 clerks and carriers in the Anderson
postoffice. They are as fine and
clean a body of men as I have ever
known. Every single one of them has
sided unreservedly "with the postmaster
in this affair. Surely, if there had
been anything ivery badly wrong, they
would not have stood for it?certainly
not all of them.
It is true that three ministers of
Lie city of Anderson did sign a peti
t_ ;
#
' To the Den
1
T Viotta Viorl fVin v? AnAi? f
x net v c iiau. iiv/iiv/i. c
paign this summer, whiL
f
and pleasure of meeting.
I would meet the whole >
gressional district covers
.
paign being so short, I h
wished to.
)
But gentlemen: On n
to the poiis and cast you:
of fori Pressman. I ask
before you cast your ball
I pledge you my word as
man that I will fill that ]
will not expect you to gi
have the nerve to ask yo
1 will receive a flatteri
that your county will gn
I wish in advance to tl
Tuesday?and at any tin
call on me, and I will tal
I am net boasting, bu1
the primary next Tuesds
All I ask is a square d
will work hard for the g
be on hand to vote on th
turn to aay district I ass
In closing, gentlemen,
on next Tuesday, Augus
(Signed)
!
tion to the president, asking .t'hatji
the postmaster be removed. Two of ')
these, I understand, have recently ]
come to Anderson and t&ey toad not had 1
time to get acquainted with conditions, s
The other minister who signed the pe- <
tition is pastor of a small church, and, 1
I am told, spends comparatively littla? t
of his time in the city. None of the
other 20 or more white ministers in i
tiie city signed the petition, although j
most, if nol: ail were asked to do so. t
Some of them eyen went so far as to ?
write letters to Washington express- J
ing their disgust with the methods J
being used against the postmaster, 1
* 1 ' u ! ? ?% rNTTT** fkof thov 1
and letting n ue wiu?u umi.
were more than willing for him to re- t
main in office until the expiration of
his term. These letters are all on file 4
in Washington, and it would have \
been so easy for Baker to nave quot- ]
ed them if he had been trying to be ]
decent. j
Baker characterizes Mr. Cochran as "a
druken sot.'' Mr. Cochran is able <
' to take care of himself, and Baker j
1 will probably be called to account for j
such language. It is probably true j
that he has been drinkir.g too much. ,
Any man who drinks at all drinks too. j
much. I can say this, because in my
own young manhood I used to drink,
but I quit drinking when I was elected
to congress and I have not taken
a drink since. It is extremely ais- '
tasteful to make these personal re- '
ferences, but so many slanders have
been circulated on me that I would 1
not be at all surprised to learn tJtat i
the character assassins are saying j1
: that I, too, haive been a ''drunken sot" !
here in Washington.
So much for the Anderson postof- ,
fice. There has been no vacancy, although
a desperate effort has been ^
made to create one. I nave no tried 1
to keep Mr. Cochran in office, and I t
have not tried to get him out, for I .
knew t'hat would be useless unless ^
there was cause. The postoffice depart- .
ment officials say there was not suffi- j
cient cause. (
But I have been keeping close up ]
with the situation as regards the ser- (
vice, and there has not been one |
single complaint as to the service ;
given by the postoffice in Anderson, j
The department officials say the of- j
fice ranks second to none in the <
: country in point of efficiency. Only \
recently it has been my pleasure to ?
co-operate in securing better mail (
service in and out of the city of An- (
derson, and right now we are working ]
on a plan to improve the delivery ser- j
vice in the city and on the rural <
routes. , j
As I have stated, if I had had my s
way Mr. Cochran and every other Re- 1
nnhiWn nostmaster in the country
f x- would
have been removed long ago. J
There is a Republican postmaster at i
Greenville, and there are Republican <
postmasters still in office at other i
places in South Carolina and all over i
the country. As fast as their commis- (
sions expire they are being removed <
and tfc.eir places filled by Democrats. .]
' Baker knows this, if Dominick does '<
.(Political Adverti.ement.)
nocratic Vote
berry County:
ind pleasure of meeting m;
e there are some that I have
, I was in hopes when I em
citizenship of Newberry corn
! a very large territory?six
ave not seen as many of mj
im 1 ii. . f?F?ii. 1
ext ruesaay, me zoia aay c
r vote. I trust, for the best
you, one and all, to consider
iot?think it over seriously,;
; a God fearing man that if
position with credit, and 1
ve me the congressmanship
u to give the Horton family
ing vote throughout the di
re me a handsome vote.
lank each of you for the vo
le?whether I am elected o:
ce pleasure in doing so.
; I feel gratified and confide
iy.
eal. Everybody who knows
ood of the whole congressioi
e measures coming before e
ure you that my record will
I wish again to thank you J
t 25.
Your humble serv
J
t
aot. And by the way, way is it that
Baker is so distressed albout a Republican'
remaining as postmaster at
Anderson, wtten he has been working
jo hard to enable Republican employes
o: the senate to hold their jobs
;vhile capable Democrats are asking
'or them?
I have every reason to believe that
f it were left to the patrons of the
Anderson postoffice, 90 per cent, of
faem would vote for Mr. Cochran to
serve his term out. Baker and
Dominick .are not patrons of the ofice,
and I have -bad many assurances
svithin toe past two or three days
:ht the people of Anderson resent
:heir sratuitious interference.
Baker says a certain man 'lias been
'slated" for tne job. Another lie;
:hat is all there is to that. If there
aad been any "slating" I would have
been a party to it, and I know nothing
of it. I have not decided whom I
will recommend for the position, but
ivhen the time comes I will give the
matter careful consideration and do
the best I can. All the applicants
ire good men, and I believe any one
>f them would make a good postmaster.
The Canal Tote.
I am criticised because I did not
irote with President Wilson on the
sanal tolls matter. This has been
threshed out time and again, but I
J ?? TL-rtll eo-p cmir\or ahnilt
!J?IU as ?'CH oaj w ^
:hat, too. One of the main arguments
or going to the enormous expense
:>f building the Panama canal was
that it would open a short water way
Republican, and tfiis fact was widely
commented on throughout the country
between the Atlantic and Pacific
coasts, and would insure cheaper
freight rates across the continent and
to and from the middle west to the
two seaboards. We built the canal
wit'a that understanding. Free tolls
for coast wise vessels was one of the
main planks in the Baltimore plat*
' * " * ? - ? ? rtft lit!
form, and cms piaiiK wa.s spccmwn/
endorsed by President Wilson, Mr.
Bryan and other Democratic leaders
during the campaign. They told us
foe platform meant just what it said.
[ believed that then, and I believe
it now. When I became a candidate
ior re-election to congress two years
igo I signed the pledge, required by
the State convention, that I would
'support the principles and policies
Df the party." 'Free tolls was consider3d
a Democratic principle and a
Democratic policy. We passed a law
providing for free tolls in the Sixtysecond
congress, and it was a surprise
to all of us when President Wil
?on came before us suddenly one aay
last spring and demanded that we
~-3peal that law. He gave no reason
!or his action, and he has given none
since. I have never been able to find
my satisfactory reason for voting to
repeal the law, and I did not vote
:hst way. Other Democrats, Speaker
3Iark, Mr. Underwood, the Demofloor
leader. Mr. Kitchin of
Scrth Carolina, who will be the De?ioi'ratic'
reader in the 'next congress,
> 4
:rs of Newt
\
)
t
j i
any 01 you in tne cam-,
not had the privilege
tered the campai6n that
nty, but the Third concounties,
and the camr
fellow Democrats as I
>f August, you will go
man for the high office
my fitness for the office
and if you vote for me
I am elected congress!
further promise that I
indefinitely. I will not
this honor tor zi) vears.
strict and I am assured
te I will receive on next
r not I can serve you,
nt over the results of
> me will tell you that I
aal district?will always
ongress, and when I rebe
above reproach,
for the vote you give me
rant,
OHN A. HORTON.
Summerlarnd College
For Young Women!
Courses: Literary, Music*
(Piano, Voice, Violin.)
Preparatory course for those
not sufficiently advanced
to enter College.
Next Session Begins Sept 16
For catalogue address
I <=>
P. E. MONROE,
Leesville, S. C.
voted just as I did. The charge that
we lin?d up with the Republicans is
false, for it -was not a party question,
and the Republicans were as badly
divided as the Democrats. The charge
that in favoring free tolls we were
j favoring a ship subsidy is equally
i-CUSC. l,UC VL1JICI uuuu, it I.MV
. wise ships using the canal have to pay.
tolls they will have to charge higner
rates, and that will be in the interest
of the railroads, their competitors,
so that making the ships pay
tolls is a form of railroad subsidy.
As a matter of fact Great Britain
never raised the question of free tolls
! until it was brought up by the Tehuntapec
Railroad in Mexico, and the
Canadian Pacific Railroad, both of
which are owned by British interests.
In repealing the provision for free
tolls .for vessels engaged in coastwise
shipping we were legislating directly
for the benefit of fihis English owned
railroad in Mexico and this English
owned Canadian railroad, and the
i trans-continental railroads in our
own country, and no sensible man can
deny that fact. The more I think
about my vote on the canal tolls question
the more convinced I am that I
was right, politcially, economically
and in every other way.
Several persons have stated that
they heard Mr. Dominick say, just after
this vote was taken, that if he had
been :in- cocgress -he - wouW '-'banre
4