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L. S. DUNAWAY,
The Author.

JEFF DAVIS.
Governor and United States Senator

JEFF DAVIS
Governor and United States Senator

HIS LIFE AND SPEECHES

With Personal Reminiscences
by
L. S. DUNAWAY

Introduction by
JUDGE J. V. BOURLAND

"My Friends Are Always Right to Me." —JEFF DAVIS

Little Rock
DEMOCRAT PRINT. & LITHO. CO.
1918

Copyrighted 1913
By L. S. Dunaway
Little Rock, Ark.

CONTENTS Page
INTRODUCTORY  5
CHAPTER ONE  11
Reminiscences of a Newspaper Man.
CHAPTER TWO  23
Senator Davis's Death and Funeral.
CHAPTER THREE  _  31
Some of the Sayings of Jeff Davis.
CHAPTER FOUR  46
Jeff Davis's First Speech in Race for Governor.
CHAPTER FIVE  71
Governor Davis's Speech at Eureka Springs.
CHAPTER SIX  81
Governor Davis's Speech at Bentonville.
CHAPTER SEVEN  101
Senator Davis's Celebrated Cobweb Speech.
CHAPTER EIGHT  122
Senator Davis's Keynote Speech at Ozark.
CHAPTER NINE  136
Anti-Trust Speech in the United States Senate.
CHAPTER TEK  179
To Suppress Dealing in Futures.
CHAPTER ELEVEN  208
Arkansas Gazette's Review of Jeff Davis's Career.
CHAPTER TWELVE  227
Memorial Addresses in the United States Senate.
APPENDIX  -  251
Davis's Anti-Trust Bill.

INTRODUCTORY

OLDER myself by some six years, my acquaintance
mth Jeff Davis runs back to about the year 1877 or
1878, speaking from memory. He was an applicant
for a scholarship to West Point, and was attending an exami
nation being held at Ozark, my native town. Amongst other
applicants was DeRosey Cabell, now stationed at Wash
ington, an officer in the regular army. Young Davis missed
the goal, his only defeat, until death, January 2, 1913. It
seems that his rival outranked him in the matter of orthogra
phy, whatever value orthography may be to a soldier. One
of the words which young Davis missed was "separate." He
spelled it "seperate." There were some others, but I do
not recall them. In a talk with Senator Davis during Christ
mas week last, he recalled the event, as we stood near the
spot where the examination was conducted.
After going over the circumstances in connection with his
subsequent career, I ventured to remark that General Jack
son is reported to have observed with some emphasis when
his orthography was once under examination, "I would not
give a d— for a man who can not spell more than one way. ' '
But if my observation gave Senator Davis any comfort he
did not manifest it.
As we strolled along, finding our way leading along a ledge
of rock in the outskirts of the town, indicating his Avish to sit,
he turned thoughtfully to me and said:
"Judge, what if I had been promoted to West Point?"
Jocularly I rejoined, seeing the reminiscence of his mood,
"God always takes care of — "
"A fool," said he.
"Yes," said I, "but you must alloAv me to remind you that
it requires great wisdom to connote the fact." Senator Davis
always numbered DeRosey Cabell as among his friends;
and during the late campaigns of our army in the Philippines
Colonel Cabell expressed to Senator Davis one of their
native hats, a picturesque head-piece, with his compliments.
From the period above indicated, Jeff Davis and myself
were fast friends.
I do not know the years in which he attended the Arkansas
State University, nor the time of his attendance upon the
law department of Vanderbilt University at Nashville. He
and his friend, Thomas A. Pettigrew, now a prominent law-

6 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 
yer at Charleston, Ark., went out in company, the former to
Vanderbilt and the latter to Cumberland, at Lebanon. Out
of Memphis they took a train which carried them some miles
in a wrong direction, when a good-natured conductor allowed
them to diseml)ark. They walked, counting ties and carry
ing hand-bags, back to the Memphis depot. I have heard
both of the gentlemen laugh and cajole each other about the
incident, but they could not definitely locate the blame. Sena
tor Davis viewed the experience as valuable, noting the fact
that he had since that time counted ties more than once.
Really, he was an expert, as I myself happen to know; for,
whenever in his political campaigns it became imperative, he
did not hesitate to harness a hand-car, with all hands, to make
an appointment, or to walk the track, if that was the only
alternative. He did not miss an engagement, political or
otherwise. He was licensed to practice law at the age of nineteen, his
"disabilities being removed," as was the practice at that
early time. His home town, Russellville, being then in the
same circuit, the old Fifth, with Ozark, his father. Judge L.
W. Davis, then prominent at the bar, escorted the son to
Ozark, where the court was in session. Judge Davis, a big,
noble, jolly, gentle, generous man, loved young men ; and for
some years had paternally hovered the writer, then a young
and briefless attorney, as doth a hen her brood ; and that love
was returned.
Judge Davis and the son did the writer the honor to asso
ciate him with Judge William W. Mansfield, to draw the peti
tion and conduct the examination. My recollection is that
Jeff Davis passed a creditable examination. He was a good
lawyer from the start; not of the purely literary sort, but
born such ; while he knew the text far better than many who
rank as "best at the bar." After the examination, the report
made and the order admitting the son, Judge Davis showed
his just pride. The boy was a little demure, due somewhat,
I think, to mixed excitement and dignity, in his new honors.
Judge Davis invited the bar, including the presiding judge,
and some lay friends, and we drank lemonade with him.
Judge Davis kept all hands convulsed. Judge Mansfield,
though of somewhat serious turn, had a fund of real humor.
Both of these distinguished gentlemen had much fun at Jeff's
expense; yet he held his own with them fairly well, consider
ing. I remember Judge Mansfield, with mock seriousness,
asked Judge Davis what would "now be the style of the
firm?" and Judge Davis's reply, soto voce, "JEFF DAVIS

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 7
& FATHER. ' ' While the lemonade was being served, Judge
Davis did not seem to know the use of the straw, then com
ing into use, for sipping the liquid. He asked Jeff to explain
it, and, as the latter got near his father, showing the use of
the straw, the father innocently blew a lot of the contents into
his face and over his only shirt front, and then there was
much laughter at Jeff's expense.
The upshot of it was finally, however, Jeff turned the tables.
For an hour later he bloomed out with one of his father's
shirts, the only one in his hand-bag, and much too large for
Jeff; but all hands agreed that the joke was on the kindly
judge. Jeff Davis entered at once upon a lucrative practice at
Russellville, in partnership with his father; latterly, with
Judge J. G. Wallace, a third member. Elected Prosecuting
Attorney, twice in succession, Jeff Davis became a terror to
evil-doers. Always full of human sympathy for the erring,
still he went with shovel and tongs when duty demanded;
particularly was he severe when moral turpitude was flagrant ;
he was unrelenting in prosecutions for violations of liquor
and arms-carrying laws.
I shall not attempt to review his career in detail; it is too
well known; besides, the work of the author, Mr. Dunaway,
will prove far more accurate and interesting, that being his
especial gift ; I speak in a general way, from present memory.
His political career, proper, opened with his election to
the office of Attorney General. During that period, the writer
was in his company much. Part of the time he maintained
sleeping apartments in his office, his family being still at
Russellville. Jeff Davis gave his best efforts to the duties
of that office; and it was in their fearless discharge, indeed,
that unwittingly he laid the foundation of his sui)sequent
political promotion. I shall not review these events. His
fearless stand in favor of a practical application of the good
old Democratic doctrine of "equal rights to all and special
privileges to none," aroused the ire of a large section of
so-called "business," now familiarly denounced as "preda
tory interests." Taking just umbrage at the unfriendly atti
tude of other officers and persons, in apparent sympathy with
these interests, Davis launched a gubernatorial campaign
which has not been equaled in political annals ; unless, indeed,
by one of his subsequent campaigns. Things grew rancorous
from the start. The air was speedily surcharged with all
manner of invective against him. He carried every county
of the seventy-five, save one ; and in many of the counties his

8 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 
majority was substantially unanimous. I shall not advert to
the several campaigns in detail. They were hot, to the boil
ing point. Probably no useful purpose would be subserved
in reviewing them now. The writer, too, in a small way an
integral unit of this great movement for reform, is probably
not the proper person to undertake its analysis. That Jeff
Davis was so signally victorious, sufficiently vindicates him
from the aspersions of those times. No man before him ever
ran for two offices, as did he, for Governor and for United
States Senator, at the same time, against powerful if not acri
monious opposition, and gain his goal in both.
Contrary to a reputation which his pohtical enemies sought
to thrust upon him, Jeff Davis was Jacksonian in rugged
patriotism. His political career was largely shaped by a
natural passion for equality and exact justice. He stood for
right ; believed in government by the people, not by a favored
class. And when his official duties made him acquainted with
the injustice of special privilege which had honeycombed our
social fabric, he set about rectification ; and it was this which
brought on and kept glowing the white heat of his political
course. Not that he loved a row for its own sake; but once
in the arena, buckling abreast his bull-hide shield, he smote
the enemy hip and thigh; nor did he cry at any time
"enough!" Upon the contrary, far and wide he strew the
State with political carnage, working night and day, with
all the precipitation of a gatling gun. Whoever now would
know the rectitude and wisdom of his political propaganda,
let him give himself to the study of our political history;
there he will find that every measure brought forward by
Jeff Davis has been justified by time and verified by current
history. That he was a most tactful man need not be chronicled.
True tact, however, implies sincerity of purpose, combined
with a just estimate of mankind. His political opponents
sought to break the force of this power by metamorphosing it
into "demagogy," in its most distasteful sense; and they
hurled such poisoned darts at him as from a catapult, but all
such fell harmless at his feet.
Whatever he did was misconstrued by his enemies. Once,
I remember, we were riding over some mountain country in
one of his State campaigns, the last for the gubernatorial
office; it was late and the ground, covered with the slush of
recent snows, was freezing. Rushing our driver to meet an
appointment, suddenly^ our horses shied; Governor Davis
looked and saw on the side of the road two objects ; no sooner

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 9
did he realize that they were children, than out of the buggy
he sprang. The children had become stranded in an effort to
reach a settlement over the ridge, some three miles away.
Governor Davis huddled them into the buggy, wrapped his
lap robe around them, learned their destination and we
whipped on ; setting them down finally at the gate of the farm
house, the destination of the little ones, on we went, his iden
tity being wholly unknown. Yet the facts were obviously
gathered up by people thereabouts and the incident enabled
him to sweep the county. His enemies characterized it as
' ' demagogy. ' '
I shall not attempt to illustrate his love of children, nor
his commiseration of people in distress, as shown by his fre
quent use of clemency while Governor. Here again was he
bitterly assailed. Once, while speaking in a town before
thousands of people, his pardon record was a theme. A
prominent newspaper editor stood conspicuously, and a little
defiantly, near and in front of the speaker. This editor had
flayed Governor Davis in that day's issue of his paper for
"pardoning whiskey men," referring to a notable case in
that county. Quick as a flash, Governor Davis took notice of
the paper, singled out the conspicuous editor and accused
him of having signed the petition for pardon of the particu
lar man; the editor, forgetting, denied; when Governor Davis
unrolled about thirty yards of white paper and threw it into
the howling mass of people, sa^dng, "Colonel  's name
will be found first on the list!" There indeed it was. The
effect was electrical. Governor Davis swept that county.
Jeff Davis was a true friend. If it was said he was not
true in this relation, you have but to bring forward your
instance to be convincingly shown that some latent circum
stance had convinced Jeff Davis, in some way, that the per
son was unworthy of his esteem and confidence ; a friend for
favor, rather than for nobler things. Throughout his career
he never for a moment forsook a friend; never. Contrary-
wise, nothing in his power was too good for them at whatever
sacrifice to himself. Illustrative instances might be accumu
lated to make a volume, and the writer would wish this were
the occasion to refute many sinister stories which had their
birth in cesspools of partisanship; not for his defense,
for he needs none, but for history's sake. During his life
these malign vaporings he regarded as the idle winds ; and
events have sufficiently refuted them with all candid minds.
Upon some future occasion the writer may indulge his own

10 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

friendly caprices in this regard to sink these obscure tra-
ducers still further into the density of well-merited obscurity.
That Jeff Davis was an ideal husband and father waspro-
verbial. Here, again, my knowledge is first hand ; for neither
he nor any one of the family allowed me to take lodgings, out
of their hospitality, when practical. He was the most gener
ous man I ever knew. Without the love of money himself,
he used it for the happiness of others. His children and his
wife run things; Jeff was one of them; a boy at home; all
had what he had, money and all, when they wanted it, and
as much as they wished, if he had it. This does not mean,
however, that there was wastefulness or undue extravagance,
for he was poor; and they were a sensible family, considerate
and prudent, out of love for him and for the common good.
The writer upon a recent occasion remonstrated in a broth
erly sort of way with Senator Davis, saying to him, "You
are too unsystematic about your household and family ex
penditures; your generosity not only teaches your children
possible indifference to economy, but unabridged freedom in
money matters, amongst so many, must ultimately exhaust
the supply."
"Yes," he said, "you are doubtless right; I myself have
thought of it; in case of death, my family will be poorly
equipped to meet the world; I will have some estate, I trust;
but this thing of limiting my family, a thing I have never
done; how — I do not know how to begin — and so, I guess, it
is too late now. I live for them. ' ' He did — for them and his
friends and for his country.
His aspirations to serve his people in the United States
Senate the writer knew to the minutest detail. It was his
hope to get back there to join hands with the new Democratic
administration. That he would have given great weight to
the Democratic side is well understood, nation-wide. I shall
not review these matters now. His death is irreparable.
The fruits of his labors in Arkansas will flourish here for
many years. He fixed definite fines of political conduct for
the public good, and none will now dare to traverse them.
His public life in this State will prove a lasting blessing to
the great mass of people; particularly to the laboring and
industrial citizen. I forbear. God, in His tender love, keep
our departed companion and devoted friend. J. V. BOTJRLAND.
Fort Smith, Ark., April 21, 1913.

CHAPTER I
REMINISCENCES OF A NEWSPAPER MAN.
I.
An Arkansas Traveler.
If you would have more fun than you ever had at a circus,
get into the newspaper game. You will hear political
speeches one day, attend a hanging the next, a Methodist
Conference, then a Baptist Convention, and the old-fashioned
reunions and barbecues.
There is nothing more enjoyable than to attend the old-
fashioned reunions and home-comings, hear the farmers dis
cuss politics, talk about the tariff and discuss the political
events of the day. Around the country fairs is where you
will meet Grandmother with her homespun dress and Grand
father smoking his pipe of clay.
After traveling more than fifteen years, I have been in
everything except shooting scrapes. I have taken in every
thing on subscription to the Daily Gazette from an old quilt
to a swarm of bees. If I do not succeed in collecting the
money my rule is to take in chitterlings, cheese, wool socks,
sawdust or buttermilk.
I have had some very funny experiences in collecting old
newspaper accounts. In fact, they are much harder to collect
than a board bill, a doctor's bill, or subscriptions to the
church. At one time I took nine steeltraps and three coon hides,
and receipted the subscriber in full. This account was so old
that it had whiskers on it.
In good old Greene County I reheved an old fellow of a
large beef hide, receipting ham in full, and my commission
was twenty-five cents on the dollar.
At another place I accepted two cords of cook wood three
miles from the railroad and an order on one of the home mer
chants for my pay, less 15 per cent commission.
Over at Clinton, in good old Van Buren County, I accepted
$15 in county scrip on a claim that was out of date, marked
the grand juror up for another year, gave him some popcorn,
and he is still a reader of the Twice-a-Week Gazette.
On the banks of the Arkansas River, near Morrilton, I took
half a dozen large cotton baskets, receipted the delinquent

12 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

subscriber in full, left him in a good humor with his six
months' paid-up subscription on the Weekly.
It is amusing to be around the Gazette office at times when
two factions want to be heard; one fellow will beg that the
manuscript and the truth be left out, and the other faction
will Avant to pay for space on the front page. One fellow
will brag about the news service and the editorial pohcy of
the paper, and the nest felloAv you meet Avill criticise the same
articles that suited the other subscriber.
One time while at Dermott waiting for a late train, a small
country Avoman AAdth two children and two or three grips was
loaded on the train for Little Rock. One of them was her
large "sifter," with a small rope tied in the middle. After
the train had left McGehee some drunk fellow got on the
train, and as he walked through tore the grip loose with his
heavy boot and three or four small puppies come out of the
old grip, and began yelping and barking on the train. The
conductor and the negro porter and myself gave those pups a
merry chase all through the car, and some of the passengers
thought that train robbers were aboard. The poor woman,
Avith a long tooth brush in her mouth, said, ' ' There goes them
pups. I told John I didn't believe I could ever get to Mis
souri with them pups and that 'sifter.' " The pups were
properly cared for and the woman went rejoicing on to Mis
souri, and each of the children had one of my cards. As a
result of my kindness, this ArkansaAvyer, who is now in Mis
souri, is a reader of the Weekly Gazette on account of my
catching the pups.
One of the funny incidents I recall took place near Searcy,
in White County, a number of years ago. A prominent
Methodist book agent spent the night Avith Neighbor Jones on
the outskirts of Searcy, after attending the district confer
ence. The train left at 7 o'clock for DeVall's Bluff, and
after a good night's sleep, the preacher relished some fried
chicken, and appreciated the hospitality of his good brother.
One of the young ladies of the home had an engagement A^dth
one of the young men to attend a May-Day fish fry at the old
Camp Ground several miles away. While the folks were
entertaining the preacher at breakfast, the parson forgot
to put his night shirt in his grip, and it was folded up, and
Avith the grip placed on the machine in the hallway. In the
meantime a lunch for five, including gherkins, pickles and
cake, pies and custards, was rolled up in about the same size
bundle, and placed near the grip. At this juncture the buggy

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 13
was ready and "All aboard!" was the alarm which attracted
the young lady, who, through mistake, took the night shirt
instead of the fried chicken. The preacher soon followed
Avith his grip, not knoAving but that he had his night shirt.
He went on the same train, and watched the fish-fry party
get off on the bank of the river. At the noon hour, when the
young ladies AA^ere preparing their dinner, and while their
beaux were frying fish, they began to bet who had the
finest lunch. And, to the surprise of all, the night shirt was
soon reached, which caused a great deal of laughter. It was
after 9 o'clock before the preacher began to retire for the
night at Gleason's Hotel in Little Rock, and discovered that
he had chicken for five.
Several years ago a traA^eling man from Little Rock was
called over to Dallas, Texas, and on his return he had pre
pared a fine lunch, and also two bottles of cold Budweiser,
which he placed in the tray over the seat. After a two-hours '
run over the Texas & Pacific railroad, it was time for supper.
The sack of grub was placed in the seat and the Budweiser
unwrapped, and, to the traveling man's surprise, the stopper
fleAv out of the bottle and hit and aged lady on the cheek, this
caused an alarm which attracted the attention of the negro
porter and the conductor and all the passengers. The old
lady yelled at the top of her voice, " I am shot ! ' '
After travehng for more than sixteen years, it is natural
that I can relate a number of funny incidents that took place.
One time I went to the hotel at Warren, in Bradley County,
and the negro porter gave me a room upstairs, which was
very cold. There were only two thin quilts on the bed, be
sides a thin sheet, and after the negro porter went downstairs
I proceeded to an adjacent room and stole all the cover sheets,
blankets and all and placed them on my bed. I was warm
and snug, and as I was taking a snooze I was awakened by
a drummer in the adjoining room cursing the negro porter
for putting him in a room where there was no "kiver." He
told the porter that it was a wonder some one hadn't stolen
the bedstead and carried it off. I enjoyed a good laugh while
the drummer and porter were rummaging around for cover.
I had some really funny experiences one time near Wood
son on the Saline and Pulaski County line. After two or
three attempts to collect an account from a negro named
Scipio, I decided to engage in the apiary business, and, pur
chasing two bee-gums from him, marked the account paid.
It was one fine April morning when I took the bee-gums vrith

14 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

a quilt and hauled them to a neighbor's house and turned
them over to an old negro, who became my partner in the
bee business. The bees swarmed two or three times and they
were also robbed during May and July, after one year. I
swapped my part of the bees for a good shotgun and two
turkeys. I later on sAvapped the shotgun for two yearlings,
which brought me in ready cash, and I have never been in the
bee business since.
My first experience in the neAvspaper business was collect
ing old accounts on subscriptions for O. C. Ludwig, Avho was
at that time running the Log Cabin, at Conway, and I was
also collecting for the Arkansas Democrat, George C. Naylor
and W. S. Mitchell being my bosses at the time. Many a
pleasant and sad reminiscence has been recalled by me since
those happy days have passed away. Thousands upon thou
sands of my personal friends have gone beyond since then.
Well do I remember my first trip to Newport, when the Jack
son County Fair was on. Well do I remember my first trip
to Monticello, when the Drew County Fair was being held.
Last, but not least, the Johnson County Fair was one of the
oldest and the best in the State, presided over by R. D. Dun-
lap, who was a fancier in the live stock show and also in race
horses. II.
Jeff Davis's Opening Speech at Ozark.
On February 18, 1908, Senator Davis opened his campaign
at Ozark, in Frankfin County, in the interest of Attorney
General W. F. Kirby for Governor. In that race George W.
Donaghey, a well-known contractor of Conway, and Prof.
John H. Hinemon, of Arkadelphia, were the other aspirants
for the office. One of the largest crowds that ever assembled
in Franklin County met Governor Davis upon this occasion,
and among them were Governor Donaghey and a number of
his friends from Conway and other parts of the State.
Governor Davis in his opening speech upon this occasion
recalled many pohtically historical events, revicAving the boo
dle cases, the indictment of Tom Cox, CaldAvell & Drake and
the predictions he had made in former speeches as to Lewis
Rhoton haAdng a backbone of steel as big as his old grip. In
this speech Governor Davis referred to the fact that he had
made promises in former campaigns that M. D. L. Cook Tom
Cox and George W. Caldwell should wear felon's stripes.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 15
"I told you the Prosecuting Attorney of our district, the
Hon. Lewis Rhoton," said he, "had a backbone made of steel
and that he would do his duty. Gentlemen, I thought I spoke
to you truthfully, I thought that this officer was sincere and
earnest in the faithful discharge of his duties. But candor
and truthfulness compel me to confess to you today that in
that statement I was mistaken, and, seeing the loose and lax
efforts to prosecute these red-handed criminals, I tendered
to the Prosecuting Attorney, through the Attorney General,
my services to the end that justice might be dealt out to these
malefactors speedily. My offer was scornfully refused, and
for what reason God Almighty and LeA\ds Rhoton only knows,
and I defy the Prosecuting Attorney now to allow me free
and untrammeled the privilege of prosecuting these cases
Avithout fee or reward ; and if he does I'll promise you that at
the next term of the Pulaski Circuit Court these men aat.11 be
wearing a pair of striped breeches. Cook was indicted many
times, yet no effort was ever made at his prosecution. Cald
well was indicted many times, yet he is today strutting the
streets of our Capital City A^dth no sleuth hound of the laAv
at his heels, and Tom Cox, the old he-malefactor of them all,
has never so much as had an indictment returned against
him, and I come to you today to retract all that I said com
mending Lewis Rhoton and his efforts as Prosecuting Attor
ney. LeAvis Rhoton is again a candidate for Prosecuting
Attorney in our district, and I trust that the good people of
that judicial circuit Avill bury him so deep under a load of
ballots that it Avill take the sound of Gabriel's resurrection
horn to bring him forth from the political death which he so
richly deserves.
"These men have gone scot free, while other men who
dared stand by the feeble, helpless and defenseless people in
the little city of Argenta just across the river from Little
Rock, when their rights, their homes and their priAdleges as
American citizens were sought to be taken from them, could
not be driven or bulldozed by the official lash of this unnat
ural prosecutor, and have felt the keen sting of the law. He
has in possession today a statement from T. L. Cox that he
(Cox) spent $70,000 of the Iron Mountain Railroad Com
pany's money corrupting railroad legislation in 1905, yet,
my friends, not one single indictment has ever been returned
against any man for corrupt misconduct favoring the Iron
Mountain railroad."

16 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

At various times during the campaign Governor Davis
declared that robbery and murder itself committed in the
shadow of the Statehouse had gone unwhipped of justice.
The most noted ease is that of Hartley, a nonresident, who
Avas robbed in open daylight at the Choctaw station by four
thugs and tramps. Three of these men escaped temporarily,
but Hartley captured one and turned him over to the police
of the city. Hartley had been robbed of $6,000, the hard earn
ings of a lifetime. This man Avhom Hartley captured was
carried before Meisner, a justice of the peace in that city,
positively identified, his bond Avas placed by Meisner at $500
and by Rhoton it was reduced to $300, and the thief drew
from his pocket the money he had stolen from Hartley, depos
ited it as a bail and the defendant fled the country. "Noav,
isn't that a nice skillet of fish?" asked Governor Davis.
One time, while the campaign was at fever heat, and, as
Governor Davis said, "as hot as an oven," the candidates
addressed about four thousand people at Magazine, in Logan
County. I got to work early and secured about fifteen sub
scribers for the Weekly Gazette, telling them that thev would
get all the campaign news in the paper. After hearing Gov
ernor Davis jump on the papers at Little Rock, and telHng
the audience how they Avere fighting him, I had a number of
callers on the picnic grounds soon after he ceased speaking.
At least eight or ten came to me Aiith their receipts and said,
' ' Say, Cap, I have changed my mind. I Avant mv dollar back ;
here is your receipt. I wouldn't let a copy of that paper
come in my house; Jeff said he had rather be caught A^th a
dead pole-cat in his pocket." I didn't feel like arjyuing the
question any further, and the dollar was replaced in the farm
er's hands. I could walk all around the place on newspapers
that had been thrown down after Governor Davis had finished
his speech. He knew hoAv to hold the audience spell-bound
and knew what would take among the natives. This was one
of the greatest features of his success— knoAving human
nature— and various times during the campaign he Avould
have a good lauffh at my expense.
One time, Avhile Senator DaAis Avas making a speech in the
northern part of the State he was sent a telegram bv the
people of ^o^ble inviting him to address them the next day
He passed through Little Rock on the fast train en route to
Gurdon, where he spent the night. Prof. George B Cook
was also on the program and joined Senator D^ivis at the
Union Depot. Before the train arrived, one of Senator

JUDGE J. VIRGIL BOURLAND.
Lifetime Personal Friend of Jeff Davis.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 17
DaA'is's friends had Avrapped up several bottles of soda pop
for the Senator and himself and gave them to Professor Cook
to hold AA'hile he used the telephone. It Avas represented to
Professor Cook as being a bundle of books. But it began
leaking, and in a fcAv minutes Professor Cook noticed what
the package contained, and seeing the water drip from the
package, said, "Here, Mr.  , here is your library; it is
leaking." The next day Governor Davis referred to the
occasion in his speech and said that Avas the first library he
ever saAv leak.
One time, while Governor Little and Attorney General
Rogers Avere making the race for Governor, Senator DaAds
and I engaged in a small bet. Governor DaAds bet me a
country ham that I couldn't name five counties that Rogers
would carry. I proceeded to name Scott, Sebastian, Logan,
Franklin and Crawford. A few weeks after the election.
Governor Davis said to me: "Say, my folks are out of meat;
what about that country ham? I haA'e the results on those
counties." I had to carry Senator DaAris a large country ham and W.
B. Payne, the postmaster at Bee Branch, went out to the
Governor's house AAith me. The train was an hour late, and
the Governor was preparing to retire when I arived at his
mansion on BroadAvay. The ham was accepted and the Gov
ernor was laughing in his sleeve about how he had won it.
The next political tornado occurred when Governor Dona
ghey defeated Judge Kirby and "Sister" Hinemon, as Gov
ernor Davis styled him. Another bet folloAved. I bet Gov
ernor DaAds a Avhole hog that Donaghey would defeat Kirby.
He accepted the bet, and we made a tour of the State. I
made the fight for Donaghey and he made the fight for Mr.
Kirby. The result was that I became the proprietor of a
200-pound hog shipped to CouAvay from a butcher shop in
Little Rock. While Governor DaAds was making the cam
paign he frequently referred to the bet, saying: "Mr. Kirby
has got to AAdn this race, as my folks are out of meat, and I
want to Avin a hog off Dunaway, this Gazette man. I won a
country ham off of him and my neighbors could smell fried
meat for OA^er three blocks."
One time, in company with Doctor Abington, of Beebe, who
was styled one of the Old Guard, Governor Davis and Mr.
Kirby drove from Beebe over to Rosebud, in White County,
to attend an old-fashioned picnic 'and political gathering.
Governor Davis and I spent the night with a farmer by the

18 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

name of Harrell, who lived between the two points. The
next day in his speech at Rosebud Governor Davis referred
to the good supper, consisting of turnip greens, hog jowls,
cornbread and buttermilk. He said to the audience, "This
Gazette Yankee ate eggs until he had every hen on the place
cackhng." The farmers and hay-binders came m Avith their
famihes from three or four counties and at least ten thou
sand people were on the grounds. Every farmer invited
Governor Davis to go and eat dinner with him. He Avould
walk around under the large, stately oaks and eat pie at one
place, custard at another, then a slice of country ham, and
then a sfice of chicken, until he got around to more than a
dozen places, and said he had a good notion to telephone his
wife to send his trunk out to Rosebud.
One of the most peculiar features of Governor Davis's
campaign was his mixing Avith the people after his arrival at
a public gathering. He would go all through the audience,
shake hands Avith the farmers and their wives and children
and discuss matters pertaining to the welfare of the farmer.
If the cotton season was on he would readily say that they
should have twelve or fifteen cents a pound for their cotton.
He knew how to meet the ' ' hay -binders ' ' from up at the forks
of the creek and talk to them regarding matters pertaining to
their Avelfare. He was always one of the boys. He would
always ask the farmer how his crop was, how many water
melons he had, and if he raised any "hill-side navy." He
usually had the audience in sympathy with him before he
began speaking. It was very seldom that Governor Davis
made a speech Avithout referring to his family in some way,
his father and mother, or his nine pointer dogs, bringing out
some little personal event that always caught the crowd.
One time at CorA^dn, in Saline County, Governor Davis,
Judge Wood and A. F. Vandeventer met in joint debate.
Governor Davis was the first on the program, and spoke for
an hour and a half, referring to Judge Wood as being the
candidate of the silk-stocking crowd in Little Rock. Among
other things he said: "Judge Wood, I am glad that gang in
Little Rock got you to run. I Avas afraid they were going to
get a strong man to run against me." When Judge Wood
began speaking he discussed the issues of the day for some
time, revicAvdng Governor Davis's official record, and among
other things said: "Judge Fulk and the whiskey crowd in
Little Rock are supporting Davis." At this juncture Gov
ernor Davis yelled out, "I had rather be run by the whiskey

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 19

crowd in Little Rock than by the penitentiary crowd and
the Dickinson Manufacturing Company."
One time Governor Davis met Vandeventer, of Morrilton,
in joint debate at Heber Springs. Governor Davis came first
on the program, and spoke for an hour and a half. He
referred to the famous sulphur springs of that place and said
it would be one of the leading health resorts in the Southwest
if they could only get a railroad. The next day Governor
DaAT.s spoke at Quitman, and after the speaking he went into
a store and bought tAvo or three pairs of home-made socks,
saying these Avere the kind he wore when he was a boy. This
was norated all over the county and was the cause of Gov
ernor Davis lining up what he termed a large per cent of
the "hill-billy" vote. At different times in Ms speeches he
would say, "My opponents wear silk socks but I wear the
same kind you farmers wear, and if you farmers will stay
Avith me we Avill whip this silk-stocking crowd one more time. ' '
Once while Governor Davis was addressing a large croAvd
at Spring Hill Church, near Otto, he remarked in the course
of his speech that he was getting as hot as a cooking stove.
An old farmer who was sitting near by yelled out, "Jeff, pull
off your coat," and another farmer yelled out, "Jeff, take
off your collar; we are for you, any way." To this Governor
Davis replied that he was getting as hot as goat's wool, and,
thanking him, divested himself of his coat and collar.
III.
Senator Davis's Style and Methods.
Senator Davis flashed like a meteor across the political
horizon of Arkansas. Never before in the history of any
State has his equal appeared. He worked by no set rules.
He could not be gauged by ordinary standards. If ordinary
men had done as the Senator did, it would have ruined them.
He was always lucky in the opposition that he had, and
he made the most of that opposition. He rallied the support
of the masses to his standard by showing the weaknesses of
the opposition and attacking its vulnerable points.
He was essentially a man of the people. He understood
human nature as few men have ever understood it. He could
feel the public pulse and could scent danger from afar. He
had as much political foresight as any man I ever knew. He
always advocated measures that could be understood by the

20 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

people and measures that would benefit them, especially Avith
which they would be in sympathy.
It has been said that Senator Davis tried to array class
against class. I do not think this is true. I do know that
his heart was always beating in tune with the great throb
bing heart of the people, and his sympathies were A\ith those
who toil in the various walks of life. It has also been said
that the country vote always elected him and that the towns
and cities were against him. This is not true, as a\t.11 be
shown by an analysis of the vote in his three campaigns for
Governor. He carried an average of 61 per cent of the
county seats in the seventy-five counties in the State. In
185 of the principal incorporated towns in the State, Senator
Davis carried an average of 71% per cent of the total vote
during his three campaigns. While it is true that the
so-called "red-necks" and "hill-billies" (terms coined
by him) were lined up Avith Senator Davis, it is also true that
the leading business and professional men in the largest
towns and cities of the State were often his staunchest sup
porters. He classed among his closest friends some of the
leading citizens and wealthiest men of the State; men who
stood high in social, business and intellectual circles.
Senator Davis's strongest weapon was his characteristic
method of making a speech. He had a power of invective
and ridicule that was invincible. It was this method that
first brought him into prominence as a political spell-binder.
By means of it he made his adversary look ridiculous. As
soon as he got started in a speech he began to pour hot-shot
into the camp of the enemy. He always had the crowd laugh
ing and sometimes jeering at his opponent. He had a Avon-
derful power of spontaneously coining new and unusual
phrases that would catch the audience. If a new adversary
appeared on the scene he would immediately, as if by intui
tion, think of some nick-name that would fit him and cause
the croAvd to laugh. I recall a number of these names that
he applied to his opponent at various times — "Shug," "Aunt
Puss," "Horace Greely," "Aunt Julie," "Aunt Jennie" and
"Jubert." By his wonderful power of invective and ridicule
he often succeeded in devastating the opposition. This is
noticeably true in his first sensational race for Governor when
he ran several good men out of the contest — Col. John G.
Fletcher, Judge Edgar E. Bryant and A. F. Vandeventer.
His language was always direct and simple and he used
illustrations that appealed to the masses of the people and

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 21
were easily understood by them. Hence, the people always
"heard him gladly" and rallied to his support.
One of Senator Davis's strongest points was his artful
method of mingling with the crowd before and after speak
ing and shaking hands Avith them. Oftentimes after a speech
before a large audience he Avould shake hands with every
man, woman and child in the vast throng. He had a peculiar
method of draAving people to him and making them feel, by
this personal touch, that he was one of them — that he was
struggling to serve them and their best interests.
At various times while delivering a speech, and when reach
ing a chmax, he would stamp his feet and clap his hands
together in a remarkably quick and fascinating manner that
would seem to inspire enthusiasm in the crowd, and they
would most invariably follow suit by making a demonstra
tion. In this way he always kept a croAvd entertained. No
one has ever been found who went to sleep while Jeff DaAds
was speaking; whether or not the hearers agreed Avith his
\dews, they were at least well entertained.
The Senator was resourceful when it came to playing
pranks on his opponents. Once at Lonoke while Col. E. W.
Rector, of Hot Springs, was opposing him for the Governor
ship, Senator Davis had some of his friends to get Colonel
Rector to put in his pocket an old pistol which he had in his
grip. They explained to the Colonel that a "rough-house"
would probably foUoAv the debate. The Colonel sat in front
of Senator DaAris, and after the latter had been speaking for
half an hour he turned to Colonel Rector and said: "Col
onel, what have you got that old pistol in your pocket fori
It is in your hip pocket and not in your grip. You want to
murder me, don't you? You Avhipped George B. Cook, an
unarmed school teacher, Avith that same old pistol. Will
you let the sheriff of Lonoke County search you and show
these ladies that gun and then get up here and tell these
people that you are a law-abiding citizen Avho Avants to be
their Governor? Nay, nay, Pauline," said the Senator.
On another occasion when the Senator met a prohibition
candidate for Governor by the name of Adams, who lived in
Mena, in a joint debate at Danville, the Senator was told by
a friend that he had put a bottle of whiskey in Adams's grip
and that Adams had the grip on the platform. The Senator
turned to Adams and said: "Old Sodapop, when did you
come to town? You say you are a Prohi. I can take two

22 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
green persimmons and squeeze on you and make you so
drunk you wouldn't know your heels from a shotgun. Open
up your old grip and let the crowd see that whiskey."
"I haven't got whiskey in my grip," said Brother Adams.
"Yes, you have; let's examine, and if you haven't I Avdll
donate $100 to the churches in DauAdlle."
The bottle of whiskey was produced and the crowd yelled
for Jeff.
A number of times the Senator would amuse his audience
when he had a large crowd, by saying: "Will some of you
men get up and give Grandma a seat? Come in. Grandma; I
am glad you are here ; it makes me think of my mother to see
your sweet, wrinkled face. ' '

CHAPTER II
SENATOR DAVIS'S DEATH AND FUNERAL.
L
His Death.
Jeff Davis was born in Little River County, May 6, 1862.
He was admitted to the bar in Pope County at the age of
nineteen years. He Avas elected prosecuting attorney of the
Fifth Judicial District in 1892, and re-elected in 1894. He
was elected Attorney General of the State in 1898. In 1901
he Avas elected Governor and re-elected in 1903 and 1905,
being the only Governor of the State to serve three terms.
February 29, 1907, he Avas elected to the United States Sen
ate for the term beginning March 4, 1907. His term would
haA'e expired on March 4, 1913.
Senator DaAds 's death January 2, 1913, came as a shock
to every one, many persons not realizing that he was even
under the care of physicians.
WTien the news of his death reached Washington great
regret was expressed at the loss of the popular statesman.
Congress convened for only a few minutes Friday morning
out of respect for the deceased.
The foUoAAdng Senators Avere appointed to attend the fun
eral and represent Congress: Clarke of Arkansas, Bryan
of Florida, Ashurst of Arizona, Martine of Ncav Jersey, Cur
tis of Kansas, Clapp of Minnesota, 0 'Gorman of New York
and Pomerene of Ohio.
Speaker Clark named the following committee to attend
the funeral: Representatives Robinson, GoodAAdn, Macon,
Cravens, Floyd, Oldfield and Jacoway of Arkansas, CuUop
of Indiana, Davenport of Oklahoma, Nelson of Wisconsin,
Miller of Minnesota, Greene of Vermont, Reese of Kansas
and Kinkaid of Nebraska.
When Governor Donaghey learned of the death of Senator
DaAds he immediately issued the folloAving proclamation,
which caused all State business to be suspended for the day:
"Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God in His A\dsdom
to remove from our midst Hon. Jeff Davis, formerly Gov
ernor and now United States Senator from this State; and,
"Whereas, It is meet and proper that we pay due respect
to his memory; now.

24 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

"Therefore, I, George W. Donaghey, Governor of Arkan
sas, do hereby direct that all State departments be closed
for this day and that all business in same be suspended as an
evidence of respect for the memory of so prominent a citizen
and statesman, one Avho has served the people of this State
so long."
State officials without exception expressed themselves as
shocked and grieved at the untimely ending of the Senator.
All sent their condolences to the bereaved family.
Governor Donaghey made the following statement:
"I am greatly grieved to learn of the death of our distin
guished Senator, and his family and friends have my sincere
sympathy. Although his enemies charged Senator DaAds
with many faults, yet no one can deny that he has done a
great deal of good for Arkansas."
As a result of the death of Senator Davis a political con
dition arose Avith many complex sides. Who AAdll be the next
Senator? This Avas the question being asked everywhere.
Many possibilities were suggested, among them being Gov.
George W. Donaghey, Governor-elect Joe T. Robinson, Attor
ney General Hal L. Norwood, Stephen Brundidge, and others.
Governor Robinson, Attorney General Norwood, Colonel
Brundidge and Judge W. F. Kirby were candidates before
the Legislature and Governor Robinson Avas elected.
Governor Donaghey appointed J. N. Heiskell, editor of the
Arkansas Gazette, successor to Senator DaAds, but the ap
pointee served only a short time, as the Constitution of the
United States proAddes that the appointment is good only
until the Legislature of a State meets and elects a man or
confirms the Governor's appointment.
Mr. Davis's term would have expired in March. He Avas
selected for another term at the preceding primary, hoAvever,
and his election was to have been confirmed at the 1913 ses
sion of the Legislature.
Soon after the inauguration of Joe T. Robinson as Gov
ernor the Legislature elected Judge W. M. Kavanaugh of
Little Rock as United States Senator to succeed Senator J.
N. Heiskell, and he served in the Senate until Senator Robin
son quahfied in March, a feAv days before the adjournment
of the Legislature.
The resignation of Governor Robinson brought about a
fight for the governorship, which Avas not finally settled until
Judge George W. Hays, of Camden, Avas elected Governor at
the special election in July, defeating Colonel Brundidge in a

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 25

special primary and Harry H. Myers, Repubhcan, and George
W. Murphy, Progressive, in the special election. So it came
about that through the death of Senator Davis, Arkansas
had in three months five United States Senators— Clarke,
Davis, Heiskell, Kavanaugh and Robinson— and in six
months, through a combination of circumstances, six Gover
nors and Acting Governors — Donaghey, Robinson, Oldham,
Rogers, Futrell and Hays.
At the time of his death the Arkansas Gazette said of
Senator DaAds:
"Mr. Davis Ayas a unique figure in the polities of Arkan
sas. His principal support came from the country people
of the State, of whom his constant expression was that he
was one.
"While the departed Senator had been subjected to a great
deal of criticism by the press of the country, he was not the
man pictured by them. He was straightforward in his man
ner and stuck to his friends and made a practice of Avorking
for the class he claimed to represent — the farmers and poor
men of the State.
"WTien Mr. Davis first took his seat in Congress he cre
ated a sensation throughout the country by making a speech
during the first term of his senatorship. This was breaking
all preAdous precedents for the Senate. At another time he
was called to account for an alleged expression said to haA^e
been made in regard to an Arkansas land case which Avas
before the United States Senate." II.
The Funeral.
The Arkansas Gazette published the following account of
the funeral:
Senator Davis was buried here Sunday afternoon with all
honors that could be accorded any man.
The funeral was one of the largest and most impressive
ever seen in this section of the United States.
Many men of note were present to pay their last respects
to the dead. Senators, Congressmen, State officials, legisla
tors, city and county officials and many others gathered at the
graveside. Thousands of people who could not gain admittance to the
church where the funeral was held stood on the outside Avith
heads bared until the serAdce was over.

26 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

Promptly at 3 o'clock as appointed the funeral procession
left the home of the Davis family, where the dead Senator
had been lying in state since his death, and moved toward
the church where the pubhc services Avere to be held.
The procession was headed by the First Regiment Band of
the Arkansas State Mihtia; foUoAving the band was a battal
ion of soldiers from the military post located m the city,
these were followed by two companies of Arkansas State
Mihtia. After the mihtary sections followed the congressional com
mittee in carriages, and these by State officials and honorary
pallbearers who A\ere on foot. Then folloAved the hearse
with the active pall bearers AvalMng beside it. The imme
diate family and friends Avere behind the hearse in carriages.
It was an impressive sight to look doAvn the. line of march
and see the long procession coming up the street with the
soldiers keeping perfect time and moAdng at a slow walk.
The procession Avas many blocks long, and the first part had
reached the church before the last part has leaving the Davis
home. When the church Avas reached the soldiers Avere lined up in
ranks and stood at attention as the body of the late Senator
Avas carried into the church.
At the entrance of the church, extending from the side
walk into the church, were many members of the Robert C.
Newton bugle and drum corps, who stood at attention as the
people filed into the church.
As the body was borne into the church it was preceded by
Rev. Ben Cox, pastor of the First Baptist Church, and by
Dr. R. G. Bowers, president of Ouachita College, a life-long
friend of the dead statesman.
Behind the casket came the active pall bearers, the com
mittee from Congress, the honorary pall bearers, State offi
cials and members of the family of the late Senator. On the
arm of her grandson and leaning on her cane for further
support, the bent form of the Senator's aged mother tottered
down the aisle and sank into a pew, crushed Avith grief. The
pipe organ played softly as the funeral party entered.
After the choir had sung "My Faith Looks Up to Thee,"
Doctor Bowers read from the Scriptures and offered prayer.
He prayed that the grief of the family be mitigated by the
assurance of a meeting after death, asked a blessing upon
the National Congress and upon the people of Arkansas

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 27
who were gathered to pay a last tribute to the memory of
the man they admired so greatly.
"No Arkansas man Avho ever has died has been so sincerely
mourned as our departed brother. Senator Jeff Davis," said
the Rev. Ben Cox. He referred to the admirable qualities
of the dead Senator, of his loyalty to his friends and devo
tion to his aged mother and members of his family, as well
as his liberality to the church. Then he gave a short sketch
of the life of Senator Davis and deplored the untimeliness of
his death.
"It was with joyous anticipation," said the speaker, "that
he was looking forAvard to the next meeting of the Senate,
with a Democratic majority and a Democratic President."
Then he told of the Senator's interest in the church of which
he was a member. The Senator, he said, was not able to
attend sendees vdth regularity, because of his political duties,
but never failed in his financial support. Some of the pas
tor's most cherished possessions were letters, he said, from
Senator Davis concerning the church's finances.
"Senator Davis was intense in his likes and intense in his
dislikes," said the pastor, "but always he was a friend of
those who were his friends. He was much criticised, but
never Avas he accused of crookedness in politics. He was a
man who heartily despised shams and had little use for frills.
By his death we are impressed that the most certain thing
about life is its uncertainty." The remainder of his sermon
he devoted to extending words of consolation to members of
the family. "While there is grief here today there is a jubi
lee across the river."
The services at the church lasted over an hour on account
of the immense crowd who desired to see the remains. The
First Baptist Church, where the services were held, has a
seating capacity of over 2,000 people, but the church would
not near hold all that desired to attend.
After the funeral services the cortege moved to the ceme
tery where the burial services were held.
At Mount Holly Cemetery where Senator DaAdp Avas buried
was the largest crowd ever assembled for any like occasion.
rt was estimated that between five and ten thousand people
were at the graveside to do honor to the departed.
Amid tall' and aged oaks the last rites were said as the
immense crowd stood Arith bared heads and listened.
The space about the burial place had been kept cleared.
To the east of the grave were seated the members of Con-

28

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

gress, while directly behind them had been placed chairs for
the State officials. Within to the lot and to the north ot the
grave the members of the family and relatives were seated.
The regular soldiers and militiamen formed fines south and
west of the grave and along the roadway, standing at Present
arms as the casket was lowered to its last resting place. Ihe
burial ritual and prayer were said at the grave by the Rev.
Ben Cox. -, • . ,^ j
A choir sang as the casket was lowered into the grave and
the grave filled. III.
Eulogy by Judge Jeptha H. Evans.
Judge Jeptha H. Evans, of Booneville, a Hfe-long friend of
the late Senator Davis, spoke at the grave as it was being
filled. He eulogized and praised the departed, and in gloA\dng
terms gave a brief sketch of the Senator's life as it was
known to him.
"When a giant carrying easily the loads of life in the full
ness of his poAver falls dumb and prostrate in the earth,
heart-stricken, by the darts of death," said Judge Evans,
"we, his surviAdng friends, gather in confused agony around
his unbreathing form, and unavailing tears spring unbidden
to the surface and baptize with sorrow's sacred streams the
pale countenance of those who loved him while he lived. How
utterly worthless do we feel in death's mysterious presence.
"I knew this tower of strength that lies in human ruin
before me for a long term of years. Senator Davis was
reared in the same section of the State A\diere I have lived
since boyhood. We lived about fifty or sixty miles apart,
and I am his senior by a year or two. I was born at the
beginning of the fratricidal struggles between the States and
he just as the conflict became flagrant. His father was a
minister of the Baptist Church and mine a minister in the
Methodist Church, and both bore arms as members of the
Arkansas troops in the Confederate Army. On reaching
manhood Senator Davis went to the law, and I have made
some struggling efforts in the same direction.
"I knew Senator Davis first as a young laAvyer at the
bar. He Avas from the beginning a man of marked abiHty
and adaption to the law. I was frequently in his judicial
circuit and often Avitnessed his forensic strength. He was

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 29

possessed of a legal mind of the intuitive kind. Where other
men painfully sought out precedents and tried to follow legal
principles along centuries of deviating counsel in order to
ascertain the law, young Davis, with the precision of first
hand knoAAdedge — of intuition — announced the right result.
"Senator DaAds was one of the finest trial lawyers I have
ever known. He forgot nothing, overlooked nothing, neg
lected nothing and saAV through everything. The principles
of the law favorable to his client's cause he stated clearly
and handled Avith consummate skill. The evidence entitling
his client to Avin he presented to courts and juries with such
force that avoidance of the result he sought was all but im
possible. He could come nearer than any laAvyer I have ever
knoAvti ignoring out of the judicial equation the principles of
law and the testimony of A\dtnesses unfavorable to his client's
side. "He was not A'ery well suited to try a cause for a rich
citizen against a common citizen. Indeed, I do not think
he ever engaged in such a serAdce. His great delight was to
champion in court and vindicate the rights of the poor and
weak against the rich and strong. His feelings and sympa
thies were always intensely human. While he was one of
the ablest and most successful prosecuting attorneys the
State of Arkansas ever had in its commission, I have fre
quently heard him thank God that no man Avas ever executed
as result of his four-years' service as prosecuting attorney
of the Fifth Judicial District.
His legal successes Avere ahvays phenomenal, and at the
time of his death his law firm from every quarter of the State
Avas looked to as the champion of the weak against the strong,
as capable of securing in the courts of justice the legal right
of the poor against the illegal right of the rich. The Lord
Erskine, lord by divine right of poverty, ability, sympathy
and eloquence, of the Arkansas bar, lies voiceless before me.
He has gone to a higher court, a court where justice never
miscarries, where the juries are never bribed and where the
judge ncA^er nods.
"Can we believe that before such a tribunal the man who
lived and died in the service of his fellow-men can ever be
condemned? Can he who always loved justice and mercy,
and devoted all the powers of a great personality to securing
these for others ever find himself stripped and naked in the
hour of his greatest need? The man who can answer this

30 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

question in the affirmative can find consolation in blackening
the name of God.
"Senator Davis really entered into deepest sympathy Avith
the common men and no greater tribune of the people has
lived and died on the banks of the great Mississippi. Their
sorrows were his sorrows and their triumphs were his tri
umphs. With him his friends were always uppermost and
their welfare his constant soficitude. No man was ever more
devoted and considerate of mother, Avife or children. His
unfaltering loyalty to these was a proverb everywhere.
Love, loyalty and devotion were his in full perfection.
"Back to the Infinite Presence out of which he came as a
half century of benedictions to his fellow-men, we reverently
commit our friend, thankful for his coming, and grieved,
inexpressibly grieved, at his going away. LiAdng he was' in
all things great and he is greater in his death. ' '
Girl friends of the DaAds family, after the grave had been
filled, placed the floral tributes about the grave, and for
many feet around the ground was literally covered Avith
flowers. As the mourners filed away from the grave it was groAving
dark and threatening rain every moment. Many people re
mained after the street lights had been lighted to see the
beautiful fioral tributes that had been placed about the grave.
The honorary pall-bearers were Judge T. H. Humphreys,
FayetteAdlle ; Judge J. V. Bourland, Fort Smith ; Judge Jacob
Trieber, Little Rock; Henry Stroup, Paris; T. M. Mehaffy,
Little Rock; Judge W. M. Kavanaugh, Little Rock; J. C.
Marshall, Little Rock; T. A. Pettigrew, Charleston; Dan
Quinn, Little Rock; J. S. Maloney, Little Rock; G. G. Dan-
dridge, Paris; Dr. H. C. Stinson, Little Rock; H. S. Powell,
Camden; Judge R. E. Jeffrey, Newport; Judge J. G. Wallace,
RussellAdlle ; Thad Bradsher, Harrisburg; 0. B. Gordon,
Prescott; C. D. James, Eureka Springs; Troy Pace, Harri
son ; R. A. Young, Greenwood ; West Humphrey, Russellville.
The active pall-bearers were Judge W. F. Kirby, Little
Rock; former Congressman C. C. Reid, Little Rock; Judge
E. A. Mahoney, El Dorado; Judge Jeptha H. Evans, Boone
ville; James Surridge, Walnut Ridge; George R. Belding,
Hot Springs ; Judge George W. Hays, Camden.

CHAPTER III
SAYINGS OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS.
"If any of you farmers Avant to buy a little squirrel-headed
editor, and haven't got change for a nickel just rub up against
a slot machine — take one on and act like you had good sense."

"I do not know that I Avill ever marry again, but if I do I
am coming out here in the country and marry one of these
big, fat country girls, that can cook an oven of hot biscuit,
throw them up the chimney, and run around and catch them
in her apron before I can get my boots on."

"Some men Avant a Avoman to sing 'Amazing Grace How
Sweet the Sound,' and knoAv how to tune a piano, but I want
one that knows hoAV to tune a hot stove and bake big, hot
biscuit with pimples on them."

' ' The campaign is getting as hot as a cooking stove, but if
the Old Guard will stand A\dth me we will Avhip the gang one
more time."

"Some of the gang in Little Rock wanted that one-armed
Frank Vaughan to run against me for Governor, and he
would if it had not been for breaking up a poker game. They
broke up the choir in the Second Baptist Church getting
Judge Wood to run, but they didn't want to break up a
poker game and the choir, too."

After spending the night at a farm house near Drake's
Creek, in Washington County, a twenty-five-mile drive was
completed to an old-fashioned barbecue in Madison County.
The hay-binders were there from all parts of the county.
Farm A^'agons and teams were scattered for over a mile. Two
bands played while a number of youngsters were seated on
the platform singing until the arrival of Governor Davis,
who was the center of attraction for the immense crowd.
Among other things Governor DaAds said:
"Myself and this Gazette Yankee spent the night Arith Mat
Grubbs. We were royally entertained and I spent a very
pleasant night at one of the most beautiful farm homes I

32 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

ever had the pleasure of visiting. We had hot biscuits for
supper, big sfices of country ham, Avith hot gravy, onions,
turnip greens, hog jowls and buttermilk. This Gazette Yan
kee ate eggs until he had every hen in the valley cackhng.
If there is anything in the world that I do love it is cornbread
hog jowls, turnip greens and buttermilk. Mr. Chairman,
don't that make your mouth water? I went to Napper's
house after supper. I enjoyed a good night's sleep and was
awakened by the smell of fried country ham, and the bark of
the friendly Avatch dog. I dressed and went on the front
porch, looking down the hillside and valleys; there I saw
Nature robed Avith all its beauty. I looked to the right and
saw the cattle on the hillside; I looked to the left and saw
more than a. dozen bee-gums. I looked into the cow lot, and
there I saw more than a half dozen loads of manure piled up,
and on the right was more than three cords of stove wood
placed in proper order. The house was beautifully painted,
'the old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, the moss-cov
ered bucket which hangs in the well' was in the proper place.
The chickens were flying down from the hen roosts; the sun
was rising in the eastern horizon and kissing the morning
dew drops. Ah, ladies and gentlemen, there was a beautiful
picture of Nature in all of its glory. Last, but not least, I
looked down upon the hillside and there I saAV more than a
hundred goats, enjoying the morning dew drops from General
Green's pasture. Did you farmers know that goats were one
of the finest things a farmer ever raised? The sheriff don't
get after them, the tax assessor don't put them on the books,
you don't have to feed them anything, only just throw them
a copy of the Gazette or Democrat once a week, give them
an old tin can, or throw them an old home-made gourd. The
beauty of it is if one of them dies you do not lose anything —
only a stink."

"If the boys in the hills will only touch hands with the boys
in the valley, we will win one more victory for good govern
ment, and in the meantime whip these yankees out on dry
land and let them stink themselves to death."
"A committee of you farmers can take Judge Wood, Van
deventer and this Gazette Yankee out back of the smokehouse
take off their vests, shake them around like a dog would a
two-year-old 'possum, and you can put skates on a negro boy

^i '

"V^

jumtilf^

JUDGE JEPTHA H. EVANS.
A Man of the People, with Many Characteristics Similar
to Those of Jeff Davis. Judge Evans Delivered the
Oration at Senator Davis's Funeral.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 33
and have him skating around on railroad passes for ten feet.
If you lack a foot or tAvo having enough to plaster on the
railroad passes go doAvn in the Judge's pocket and get a few
street car tickets. ' '

One time Governor DaAds addressed about three thousand
people at Cabot, in Lonoke County. Farmers came from
Faulkner, White, Pulaski and Lonoke counties, and the Gov
ernor made them a two-hours' speech. Mayor J. H. Braw-
ley was chairman of the meeting, and the Old Guard was out
in full force, Avith their jeans pants. Governor Davis re
ferred to them as the "Wool Hat Brigade." Judge W, V.
Tompkins, of Prescott, represented Judge Wood at the speak
ing. Governor Davis said: "The opposition hasn't friends
enough here to get up a poker game, and if I Avould let nay
friends do as they want to do they would put you on the train
and send you back to your wife at Prescott."
After the speaking was over, about 1 o 'clock, the reception
committee took the distinguished speakers in charge and
started over to the hotel for a 1 o'clock lunch. At his earnest
soficitation, one Meredith Shirley, a farmer, living near the
Faulkner County fine, had the pleasure of entertaining the
Governor instead of the reception committee. ' ' I had rather
eat turnip greens, hog jowls and cornbread Arith you fellows
out here around the wagon than to go into the hotel and eat
ynth the high-collared crowd," said the Governor. Before
Governor Davis had finished eating his dinner at least two
hundred farmers had gathered around the wagon watching
him eat and shaking hands with the guest of the day.
As we returned on the train Governor Davis said: "I
caught that entire crowd of farmers by staying out at that
farm wagon and eating that good country grub and brag
ging on Mr. Shirley's children."
Senator Davis, Judge Wood and Vandeventer spoke at
Redfield once, and a heavy rain drenched the entire crowd
of four thousand people. Doctor Reynolds was chairman of
the meeting and the Old Guard was out in full force. The
next day they addressed a large audience at Sheridan, in
Grant County, and among other things the Governor said:
"I was sorry, my friends, all got mad at me yesterday at
Redfield, but I couldn't help it; they all got as wet as droAvned
rats. Just before the. speaking began the winds blew and
the floods came. Judge Wood had his Avife's parasol Avdth

34 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

him, and he got all of his friends under his A\dfe's parasol and
kept them dry. Judge Vandeventer sent up to the store,
bought a dollar and a half umbrella and kept all of his friends
dry. All of my friends stayed out in the rain and got wet.
Women, Avith babies in their arms, shuffled around for shel
ter, and the babies got so wet they would slip out of their
mother's arms just hke eels."
One time Governor Davis was invited out to Cologne Bay
in Arkansas County, several miles from DeWitt, It was
late in the fall of the year, and this was the last old-time bar
becue of the season. After the band had entertained the
audience for some time and after two or three dog-fights
around the camp grounds. Governor Davis was introduced by
one of the Old Guard. Among other things he said :
"Ah, ladies and gentlemen, as I came through on the sun-
kissed prairies of Arkansas County, down to the beautiful
city of DeWitt, it recalled old times to me. It recalled the
time when I was a bare-foot boy Avith laughing eyes, chasing
the winged butterfly up at Dover, in good old Pope Comity,
away up there off the railroad, where the moon, the sun and
the stars shine thirteen months in the year ; recalled the time
when I learned to play ' Naught is a naught, figure is a figure,
multiply the white man and subtract the nigger ; ' recalled the
time when I learned to play the flute and fiddle, and of course
to part my hair in the middle. Many a moonfight October
night have I turned my hounds out o'er the hills and valleys
of good old Pope County and the most beautiful music that
would ever come from the keys of an organ would come from
those long, flop-eared hounds of mine. I have picked cotton,
'possum-hunted and raised great big old yellow yam potatoes
and pumpkins. Mr. Chairman, isn't your mouth watering?
The next night I would pore over my books, as I would learn
geometry, common fractions, long division, subtraction and
addition, take doAvn the map and learn to bound everything
except the political geography of Arkansas ; and while I was
doing all of that these Yankees running against me were in
North Dakota learning how to make macaroni. ' '
At this juncture Governor Davis turned towards his oppo
nent and said: "Aunt Jufie, I understand you can make
better chile concarne, hot tamales and macaroni than any
bare-footed nigger in Little Rock. If you can, you had better
put on your Avhite apron and get busy, as you Avill never be
Governor of Arkansas."

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 35
This caused a great deal of laughter, and the old wool hats
went up into the trees and looked like buzzards flying over.

Once while Governor Davis was making a drive from Mel
bourne, Izard County, to Mountain Home, Baxter County,
one or two days were spent in a pleasant way. The Gover
nor had appointments every ten miles, and from two to four
speeches would be made each day. He would always refer
to the gang in Little Rock; how they were opposing him, and
said: "If you farmers will stay Avith me we'll lick the gang
in Little Rock one more time."
At different times while driAdng along the road we would
meet a farmer or a chicken peddler and the Governor would
say, "Captain, I would like to get a chew of hillside naA^.
My name is Governor DaAds, and I am sure glad to meet
you." He would always take particular pains in asking the
price of the yoke of oxen, how old the mules were, or how
many chickens there were in the coop. At one time he bought
two dozen chickens and three large country hams from a
chicken peddler, and had them shipped from Guion to his
residence in Little Rock.

Several years ago Governor Davis was invited to Rogers,
where he opened the Benton County Fair. After he had been
talking for some time, an old farmer in the audience yelled
out, "Go on, Jeff, and speak as long as you want to; we are
all for you," which caused a great deal of laughter. In reply
Governor Davis said: "Much obliged. Captain; but I Avish
you would sit down and let one fool talk at a time."
Over in Madison County a farmer wore a $2 wool hat at
the expense of Governor DaAds. It came up in this way:
Once before when Governor Davis was addressing a Madison
County audience, a lonsr-whiskered farmer bawled the Gov
ernor out. "If you AAdll have that fellow to get in the back
end of the house and bawl me out," said the Governor, "I
Avill buy you a new hat," and the trade was soon made. After
court had opened and the jury was empanelled Governor
Davis began giving his experience to the highlanders from
up at the forks of the creek. He was telfing about the con
vict eating pork and beans, and about negro guards using
shotguns watching the couAdcts plow and hoe on the State
farm. "Go on back to Little Rock, where you belong," said
the native with the long whiskers. "Mr. Sheriff, take that

36 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
old coon out, lock him up in jail, and if you don't I Avdll have
one of these farmers take a froe and shave that alfalfa off
Ms face." The crowd yelled, and no one in the audience
knew how the trick was worked.

"The campaign is getting as hot as a cooking stove. I
hope the Old Guard Arill all rally to me one more time. If
you Avill we A\dll whip that gang in Little Rock once more. I
see the Gazette agent out there in the audience giAdng out
that old red harlot, the Arkansas Gazette. I had rather be
caught with a dead buzzard under my arm or a dead pole

cat.

j>

Referring to the Supreme Court of Arkansas, Governor
Davis said: "There is old Judge B. B. Battle, a member of
the Supreme Court, who is president of the ice trust in Little
Rock. WTien I brought suit against them who do you think
we had to serve the papers on? An old coon out on a limb
by Mmself — Judge Battle. One of you farmers can take a
pickaxe and run up under his tooth and dig out a quid of
gold as big as a young puppy. ' '

One time Senator Davis was making one of Ms famous
campaign speeches to an audience of three thousand people,
and after he had been speaking for half an hour he asked
them to excuse him as he was "hot as goat's wool." Just
after he had pulled off his coat two large dogs began fighting
out at one side and the audience began to disperse, AA^hen the
Senator said: "Keep your seats. It is just one dog wal-
loAvdng another like I am wallovdng my opponents. I didn't
know that I was going to have a row among the dogs or I
wouldn't have removed my coat."

"I have whipped the squirrel-headed editors in Little Rock;
in fact, all over Arkansas, until you couldn't convict a negro
for stealing on the testimony of half a dozen of these squir-

rel heads.

"I fied on Judge Vandeventer the other day. I went off
half-cocked and said that while Judge Vandeventer was run
ning against me for Governor Ms Avife was at home taking
in wasMng for a living. I fied about this, as I made a fittle
investigation and found out she was only drawing the water."

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 37

"Judge Bryant, you come up here on the platform; come
ap here where the ladies can see you. Ladies and gentlemen,
I want to show you the color of one man's hair that never
hugged a woman in his life. Look at the Judge's bald head.
I can shave one of these eighteen-year-old boys, put an old
dress on Mm and run Judge Bryant out of toAvn."
"I am going to put knee breeches on Judge Wood and run
Mm for page when the Legislature meets. I A\dll also try to
get Vandeventer some kind of a job, even if I have to have
Mm put in as chambermaid around the Statehouse.

"During the sitting of the last Legislature you couldn't
even get the Holy Bible through the Legislature until you got
the O. K. of Dodge & Johnson, railroad attorneys, who kept
a paid lobby hanging around the Legislature."

"Everything has been put on the free list except acorns
and persimmons, and I said for God's sake put 'possums on
the free fist as I can eat more 'possums and yellow yam pota
toes than any negro out of jail. TMs Gazette Yankee gets
into everything except shooting scrapes. He can actually
smell barbecued meat a mile. Well, I am lying about that;
he can't smell it over half a mile."

"When I was prosecuting attorney of my district I prose
cuted criminals and put them in jail until I would actually
have their feet hanging out of the Avindows."

"I have got eight children and nine pointer dogs in Lit
tle Rock. If any of you farmers should come to the city
come to my house and make it your horne. The fatted calf
will be MUed, and I will roll down a few big yellow yams, fry
some country hams and cook about two dozen eggs and we
will eat eggs until we have every old hen on the Arkansas
River cackling. Just come down there and act like you had
good sense."

In one of Senator DaAds 's famous speeches, delivered
November 5, 1903, among other things he said: "Ladies and
gentlemen, it affords me very great pleasure to come to the
good county of Carroll and address this audience of its rep-

38 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

resentative citizensMp. I have always loved the people in
the mountains ; since I was a small boy and read the tale of
the Scottish CMef s I have always loved the hardy highlander.
When I was prosecuting attorney of my district and rode
over the hills and valleys of my home county, often at night
I have seen far up on the mountain-side a tiny fight. I have
heard the bleating of the goats or the tinkle of the cow bell
or the baying of the friendly watch dog. I have gone to that
home, humble though it was, and there received the most
generous hospitafity the world can afford — and I love the
people of the hills, and if they Avill but touch hands AAdth the
boys in the valleys we vdll in this campaign gain a victory for
good government and good citizensMp in Arkansas.
"I come to you today, my fellow-citizens, to tell you what
I have done since I have been your Governor, to tell you
what I hope to do if I am again elected to that honorable
position. I believe that any public servant ought to be vdll-
ing and ready at all times to give to the people faithful and
true an account of his stewardship since they have honored
Mm, and that is why I am here today. ' '

"I am a Hard Shell Baptist in refigion; I befieve in foot-
wasMng, saving your seed potatoes, and paying your honest
debts."

"Aunt Jufie, when did you come to town? If any of you
farmers want to get a pardon after the election you Avill have
to call and see Aunt Puss."

"The other day an old hay-binder from SMpper's Gap
attended our speaMng. He took Judge Wood off by the nap
of the coat tail, and I supposed they were going out behind
the smokehouse to get a drink of booze. The fellow asked
Judge Wood who his campaign manager Avas, and Judge
Wood repfied that it was a fittle laAvyer down at Little Rock.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a little two-by-four of an up-start
of a laAvyer in Little Rock by the name of Wylie, Avho hasn't
got sense enough to bound PulasM County. The farmer
also drug me off to one side and I thought he was going to
bum me for a chew of Mil-side navy. He asked me who my
campaign manager was, and I told him it was just the farm
ers of Arkansas."

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 39

"I am getting tired of politics; politics Avill ruin anybody
in the world; it has almost ruined me."

"When Judge Wood gets up to speak I want you farmers
to call on him for one of his songs. He is the singing candi
date in tMs race. I can't sing. I ruined my voice crying
for graA^ when I was little. Judge Wood makes more racket
singing in the choir in Little Rock than one of you farmers
would calling your hogs at home."

"Once the Democratic State Central Committee arranged
for me to meet in joint debate a noted Popufist speaker by
the name of Cyclone Davis from Texas. We were to meet
at BatesAdlle. I was called to St. Louis on some business
two days before, and was to take an early train out of St.
Loms for Newport. I noissed my train. Somebody stole
my pants, and I was so glad. When I got up next morning
I couldn't get out in time to buy another pair and catch the
train, and I have always been so thankful to some St. Louis
tMef for keeping me from getting a good sMnmng from a
Popufist speaker from Texas."

"I was invited over to Dallas, Texas, the other day to
make them a speech. I told them all about the resources,
the razor-backs, the squirrel-heads, our navigable streams,
our good-looking women, and our million dollars in the State
treasury. I told our sister State of Texas to come over in
Arkansas Avith some blank notes, and we would lend them
all the cash she wanted."

"Old Armour and Cudahy never raised a sow and pigs in
their fives. Yet the prices of meat are so Mgh that I can
hardly buy breakfast bacon in Little Rock enough to support
my family. I just buy one little slice, hang it up by a long
string, and let each one of my Mds jump up and grease their
mouths and go on to bed,"

"If you Arill send me up to WasMngton I Avill let that gang
know I am in town. I Avill pull off a speech that Avill knock
doAvn the cobwebs before I am there two weeks. (An old
farmer at tMs stage of the game yelled out, ' ' That is all right,
Jeff; we are going to send you to Washington," and threw
Ms hat ten feet Mgh over the audience.)

40 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

"TMs is a very prosperous country, for all along the road
I have not been able to see anything but children, watermel
ons and hill-side navy. The amount of tobacco the farmers
of Arkansas raise should make the price of Star Navy and
plug tobacco go down."
"I have been led many a time to a farm house on the Mil-
side or valley by the smell of fried meat, as I can smell it
further than I can hear a dinner horn or an old cow bell."

"If there is any one profession in the world that the Amer
ican people can do Avithout it is the laAA^er. Most of them
want to go to the Legislature, and become the proprietor of
a railroad pass or be appointed beer-inspector. LaAvyers
don't do anytMng but raise a row, and get you farmers into
a lawsuit. There are more little puny, hook-nosed lawyers
around Little Rock than any town of its size in the Umted
States. They are always onto their job."

"I have got a little eight-year-old boy at home. I have
been thinking of making a preacher out of him. Some want
me to make a lawyer out of him, but I don't care if he makes
a chicken peddler or anything else, but when he gets grown
and I find he hasn't got any sense at all I am going to make
an editor out of Mm; then there avlU be one more sqmrrel-
head in Arkansas. Most newspaper editors can live on saw
dust and Avdnd and make the wind themselves."

"My campaign against my opponents is going to be as
easy as taMng candy from a baby. I want all you fellows
who ever took a drink to vote for me, and all of those who
haven't may vote for Judge Wood. I can stay at home and
sleep and beat Judge Wood or this Yankee from Morrilton.
I am depending on the horny-handed, sun-burned sons of toil,
the men that pull the bell-rope over the mule, to help me fight
tMs battle, and if the boys in the hills Avill only touch hands
with the boys in the valley we Arill gain one more Adctory for
good government."
"Judge Wood, who is your campaign manager? I know
who he is. It is a fittle two-by-four of an upstart of a pofi-
tician in Little Rock that has hold of the throttle for the
morafity crowd. Who has charge of my campaign? It is

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 4I
the laboring class. It is the farmer. It is the mechanic. It
is the brickmason and the Avool-hat brigade of this State
who are assigned the duty of looMng out after my interests
in tMs contest."

"The other day an old farmer caught Judge Wood by the
nape of the coat tail and took him off to one side like he was
going to ask about a horse thief and said, 'Judge, who got
you into this race?' The Judge said, 'Oh, for God's sake,
don't ask me who got me into it; ask me who is going to get
me out.' I will tell you, ladies and gentlemen, who is going
to get the Judge out of the race. It is the farmer, the me
chanic, the wood-haulers, the red-necks and the patched-
britches brigade. They are going to put the Judge out on
dry land."

In discussing the legislative hearing on the Anti-Trust Bill,
Senator DaAds said: "The committee sent for Aritnesses, and
whom did they send for, my fellow-citizens? Did they send
for the farmer? Did they send for the laborer? Did they
send for the manufacturer? Did they send for the mechanic?
Did they send for the merchant? Did they send for the class
of citizens who bare their breasts and their arms and their
backs to the heat and burden of the day? No. They sent
for the insurance agents from Pine Bluff, and Helena, and
from Fort Smith, and for a high-collared crowd that wear
collars so Mgh they can't see the sun except at high noon
looMng over the tops of their collars. They sent for the
crowd that when they shake hands Arith you they only give
you the tip of their finger. The crowd that you can't tell
from their tracks whether they are going or coming back."

"Gentlemen, I may never see you again. I hope that I
Avill hold out physically in this race. If God will only give
me strength, that is all I ask. When you present a thing to
the people and they see it they Avill always do right. I love
my native State. I love its hills and its valleys. I love its
bright waters. From the health-giving waters of Eureka
Springs on the north to the great Father of Waters on the
east, that finally loses itself in the tepid waters of the Gulf;
from the pine lands and prairies of the west to our eastern
borders, all up and down the hills and valleys of Arkansas,
there lives as noble, as brave, as generous, as gentle a race
of people as ever sunned themselves in the smile of OmmpO-

42 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

tent God. The papers say that nobody Arill vote for me
except the feUows that wear patched britches and one gallus^
and five up the forks of the creek, and don't pay anytMng
except their poll tax. I don't know how true that is, but I
want to tell you that there is no great reformation that ever
originated on this earth that did not come from the ranks
of the humble and lowly of the land. Jesus Christ, when He
went out and started the greatest reformation that ever
blessed mankind, went to the humble and the lowly. He went
to the fisherman's cot, to the stone-cutter's bench; He didn't
have but one smart man in the crowd and He had to knock
the fining out of Mm before He could use him."

"The fight is on; it is between the trusts and the corpora
tions and the people. If I Avin tMs race I have got to AAdn it
from 525 insurance agents scattered all over the State; I
have to win it from every railroad, every bank, two-thirds
of the laAvyers and most of the big politicians; but, if I can
get the plain people of the country to help me, God bless you,
we Avill clean the thing up. Do you mean it? Are you in
earnest? If so, help me; as I say, all that I am, all that I
ever expect to be, I commit into your hands and your keeping,
knowing that if I deserve your confidence I Avill receive it.
If I do not merit it, you Avill Arithhold it. ' '

"If you red-necks or hill-billies ever come to Little Rock
be sure and come to see me — come to my house. Don't go
to the hotels or the wagon-yards, but come to my house and
make it your home while you are in the Capital City. If I
am not at home tell my Avife who you are; tell her you are
my friend and that you belong to the sun-burned sons of
toil. Tell her to give you some hog jowl and turnip greens.
She may be busy making soap, but that Avill be all right ; you
Avill be properly cared for, and it will save you a hotel bill.
The word 'Welcome' is written on the outside of the door for
my friends."

"The other day after the speaking a farmer vdth a patch
on the seat of his pants as big as the map of South America
came to me and took me by the hand and said, 'Jeff, you sure
warmed up that gang in Little Rock ; I am for you until the
rope breaks.' "

THE^IFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 43
"I knew that all the sqmrrel-headed editors in Arkansas
were fined up against me, but they tell me that every fittle
old pill-roller in the county is against me, too."

"The other day a farmer asked me what Vandeventer did
at Morrilton before he got into the Governor's race. I told
Mm he was in the lumber business — that he just lumbered
around town. ' '

"Bob Rogers, you threatened to kill me. I am not afraid
of you. I can take a corncob Avith a fightmng bug on the
end of it and can run you into the river. ' '

"You remember I told you that if you would elect me Gov
ernor I would make the gang in Little Rock sit up and take
notice. I told you that I would turn Red River through the
Statehouse. Unless tMngs are changed and unless tMngs
are dammed up by the Gazette and Democrat, I am going
to do so."

One time Governor DaAds was addressing about three thou
sand people at Pearson, in Cleburne County, and said: "If
there is a man in tMs crowd that is going to vote for Vande
venter I AAdsh you would hold up your hand, for I want to
see who you are." At tMs juncture Lawrence Shaner, a
farmer, who fived near Pearson and who now fives at Heber
Springs, held up his hand and said, 'I am for Van,' and Gov
ernor DaAds said, in a jocular way, "Don't you feel lone
some? Just one fittle, measley fellow who is going to vote
wrong." The Governor paid a Mgh tribute to Uncle Jim
Bettis, of Pearson, one of the Old Guard, who always got
out on the firing fine during the campaign for Governor.
"Just look at Uncle Jim Bettis here, Asdth his homespun
clothes, Avith Ms home-kmt socks. These are my kind of
folks — fellows that chew MU-side navy, smoke a cob pipe and
sing in the choir."

"When I ficked that gang in Little Rock during the last
campaign they went around on the streets Avith faces as long
as a saddle blanket. The barbers in Little Rock would actu
ally charge them forty cents each for a shave, their faces
were so long. Some of them call them Colonel, some of them
call them Captain and some of them call them Judge. Judge

44 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

of what, ladies and gentlemen? Judge of good-looking women
and good wMskey? There's where the judge shines. The
Mgh-coUared crowd haven't got sense enough to beat me for
Governor, but they know whether it is Schfitz, Budweiser or
Pabst."

"When I was running for prosecuting attorney of my dis
trict I told the boys around Morrilton, Plumerville and Rus
sellville that if they would elect me their prosecuting attor
ney I would fill the pemtentiary so full of negroes that their
feet would be sticking out of the Arindows. If you will look
up my record you Avill see that I made good in tMs respect.
I now ask you to elect me Governor. It has been the dream
of my fife. It has been the heart-throb of a Hfetime, and I
promise you here and now that I Avill run the pardon mill
fair and impartial, and none but my friends need come around
me begging for pardons."

"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, but I want to apologize
to you for lying to you. The last time I spoke here I fied to
you. I now want to apologize. You remember I told you we
had a million-dollar Statehouse steal on our hands. I lied
about this ; it was a million and a half. ' '

"I have been so busy the past three weeks fighting these
Yankees" (meamng Ms opponents) "that I haven't had time
to Mss my wife."

"Ah, gentlemen, I see in tMs audience many battle-worn,
gray-headed veterans who have passed through the CiAdl
War. Many of you are fast fimsMng up the shady side of a
long, successful career. When I see you I always want to
take off my hat to you. I always want to do honor to you,
especially when I see you Avith an empty sleeve and an empty
boot leg."

Governor Davis opened his campaign for United States
Senator at Conway, July 4, 1905. People came from far and
near to hear Ms opening speech, which had been extensively
advertised. Jo Frauenthal, one of the Old Guard at that time,
was chairman of the reception committee. Among other
tMngs, Governor Davis said: "Ladies and gentlemen, ex
cuse me, I want to refer to one of your most distingmshed

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 45
citizens. I want to refer to a man who has stood lone-handed
and fought the biggest gang of grafters and thieves that CA'^er
invaded our State. He has saved the taxpayers of Arkansas
hundreds and thousands of dollars. I refer you to honest
George Donaghey, of your own city." Governor Donaghey
was unusually popular at Conway and contributed a great
deal to the barbecue. The citizenship of Faulkner County
appreciated the remarks made by Governor Davis regarding
Mr. Donaghey.

CHAPTER IV
JEFF DAVIS'S FIRST SPEECH FOR GOVERNOR.
I.
His Center Point Speech.
Jeff DaAds 's first speech in Ms campaign for the nomina
tion for Governor, against John G. Fletcher of Little Rock,
Edgar E. Bryant of Fort Smith and A. F. Vandeventer of
Morrilton was defivered at Center Point, February 12, 1900,
as follows:
Mr. Chairman, Gentlemen and Fellow-Citizens of Howard
County :
I have never had the pleasure of speaking to an audience
in Howard County before in my fife. TMs is my first appear
ance in the good County of Howard. In my race for Attor
ney General, my physical strength would not permit me to
come here. I was paralyzed in my left side and arm. I
made only one real speech in that race. I made it at Eureka
Springs sitting down in a chair most of the time. I sent it
as a message to the great throbbing heart of Democracy in
Arkansas, asking for their support, and the good County of
Howard, receiving that message, responded to it most nobly
and gave me tMs county. And I sincerely thank you for it
today. TMs is the first meeting, gentlemen, in a joint discussion,
and I was glad that the battle ground was selected in the good
County of Howard, because just across your borders in that
territory wMch originally comprised the counties of Little
River and SeAder, I first saw the light of day. Under the
wMspering pines of old BroAvustown lies buried my old grand
father, and I was glad when they pitched the battle ground
here. And, if the boys of the valley Avill but touch hands
A\dth the boys of the hills, the people of Arkansas Avill have
gained one of the greatest victories that has been acMeved in
tMs State in a quarter of a century. Every word that I say,
gentlemen, is misconstrued by the metropofitan press of tMs
State. I brought a stenographer here at my own expense
that he might take down every Avord that I say in tMs discus
sion, that no misconstruction may be put upon it.
Gentlemen, in this contest I am unequally pitted. Against
me is pitted the silver-tongued orator. Judge Edgar E. Bry-

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 47
ant, of Fort Smith, who has made you a most beautiful speech
this mormng, but it was a prepared effort. Did you not see
Mm lay it before Mm when he began to speak? On the other
hand, I am pitted against the distinguished gentleman from
Pulaski, the strong, solid stage-horse of the business interests
of Arkansas, Col. John G. Fletcher. On the other hand, the
candidacy of Mr. Vandeventer; and the effect of Ms candi
dacy, if I should allow it, would be to engage me in a discus
sion of personalities wMle Judge Bryant and Colonel
Fletcher run for Governor. That shall not be done. I am
going to watch the guns.
I have been your Attorney General one year. Since the
17th day of January last a year ago, I have had the honor to
be your Attorney General. Never in the history of pubfic
offices in Arkansas has such an unjust, merciless, cruel, unnec
essary war been waged against any official in Arkansas as
has been made against me by the metropolitan press of the
city of Little Rock. Why has that war been made, gentlemen?
There is always a reason for everything. There is no
fact in tMs world of ours but that if you look behind it you
vdll find the cause. Go to Nature — go anywhere, wherever
you see an effect, look back of it and you Avill find the cause.
I am going to give you the cause here today.
I readily join hands Avith my brethren when they say no
personalities shall be indulged in in this canvass. Ah, gen
tlemen, before I would do that I would quit this race. But
my pubfic record as prosecuting attorney of my district and
the public record which I have made as Attorney General of
your State is subject to criticism. The public record wMch
Judge Bryant made as circuit judge or any other pubfic
capacity is subject to criticism. The public record which my
distinsruished friend, Col. John G. Fletcher, has made for
Mmself in the great State of Arkansas is subject to criticism.
In fact, gentlemen and fellow-citizens, the only way to purify
the pofitical atmosphere is by just criticism. Is that not
true? As fightning purifies the elements so just criticism
purifies the pofitical horizon.
The charge has been made against me by the press of the
State that I have neglected my duties, traipsing around over
the State asMng for another office before I had performed
the duties of the one to which you have elected me. If that
charge is trua, then you ought not to vote for me for another
position. Is not that a fair statement? Is that true? Let

48 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

the books be opened ; let the record be unfolded ; let the facts
speak and you be the judge.
You all know that it is my duty as Attorney General to
represent the criminal appeals in the Supreme Court of tMs
State, just as it is the duty of the prosecuting attorney to
represent the criminal cases in this court. I state to you
that the Supreme Court of this State has never been called
upon to continue a single case upon that docket at the in
stance of the State.
Not only that, gentlemen, but since I have been in office,
and at the time the charge was made by the press of the
State, I have served the State as Attorney General for thirty-
two weeks. During these thirty-two weeks I prepared thirty-
four briefs on criminal cases for the Supreme Court. These
briefs averaged from twenty to one hundred pages each of
printed matter. I submit to any laAvyer in this audience if
that is not some work. Not only that, but I have written on
an average of tAventy business letters per day, answering
every proposition that has been submitted to me by anybody,
justices of the peace, school directors, road overseers, county
officials and everybody else. It has been the custom of tMs
office, I am told, up to this time to submit these questions to
the Prosecuting Attorney of the various districts, but I
endeavored to answer them all as intelligently as I could.
And anybody knows that road overseers and school directors
can ask questions that AAdll take a Philadelphia laAA^-er a week
to look up.
Not only that, gentlemen, but in that tMrty-two weeks I
have prepared and submitted forty written opinions on im
portant questions, all of wMch require more or less investiga
tion. Now, to that just for a minute, and I Avill stop that
part of the discussion. I was asked by Mr. Wilson, Assessor
of Clark County, whether or not the paid-up cash surrender
value of life insurance policies were taxable. You know the
Collins Bill, taxing this character of property, was presented
and defeated. The question that Mr. Wilson asked me, as
cMef law officer of this State, was, "Is the cash surrender
value of fife insurance policies taxable under the Constitu
tion and laws as they exist now?" I instructed him that
they were. For instance, I have a $10,000 policy upon my
life. I have carried it ten years. I could surrender it tomor
row to Mr. Remmel and get a given amount of cash for it.
If that is true, and it is true, then, when I come to list my
property, I should give that amount in for taxes. Ever since

— s.yv

JAMES SURRIDGE.
Of Walnut Ridge, Who Was a. Personal Friend of the Senator.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 49

the rendering of that opinion every life insurance agent in
Arkansas is in the saddle actively against me.
Not only that, but Scipio A. Jones, a "nigger" lawyer in
Little Rock, an insignificant personage, submitted to me and
to my office a very important question, and that was tMs:
"How much shall county couAdcts confined upon the county
farm to work out their fine and costs be allowed upon their
fine and costs for each day that they labor?" I do not know
what your practice is, but Adth us it is this way: A man is
tried for carrying a pistol here. He is fined fifty dollars.
The sheriff's and clerk's costs are about ten dollars. The
Prosecuting Attorney's is ten dollars more. This makes sev
enty dollars. If he can not pay it he has to go to the county
farm and work it out.
Up to the time of rendering tMs opinion, the practice had
prevailed all down the Mississippi river and in Pope County
on the Arkansas river, to allow him fifty cents a day. If
he was sick and did not work, he was charged fifty cents for
his board; if it was a rainy day and he could not work, he
was charged fifty cents per day for his board ; if it was Sun
day and he could not work, he was charged fifty cents a day
for Ms board. So, gentlemen, an unfortunate man was abso
lutely worMng into the county farm instead of working out.
I instructed Scipio A. Jones, a "nigger" laAvyer, that, in
my judgment, every convict that was confined upon the county
farm to work out his fine and costs should be allowed under
the law seventy-five cents per day for the time he was con
fined, whether he labored or not. That revolutionized the
county farm in Arkansas. Men were turned out of the farm.
They had been kept over time. One of them sued at Pine
Bluff for being worked overtime, and Judge Tony Grace of
Pine Bluff sustained that construction of the law. It is now
upon appeal in the Supreme Court of Arkansas, and briefs
of myself and opposing counsel have been filed. What that
court vnl\ decide I do not know.
But I befieve that the law ought to be administered in
mercy. It is not the severity but the certainty of punishment
that deters men from committing crime. These are a few of
the things that I have done. I have not the time to tell you
about it all ; it would take me a week.

50 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 
n.
The Anti-Tbust Law.
Last, but not least, my construction of the Anti-Trust Law.
That has brought on this whole fight. I intended, ladies and
gentlemen, if I ever told the truth in my life, when my two
years' term of office as Attorney General expired, to go back
to my home and family. I had rather be in the bosom of my
family and surrounded by my Arife and children and my
friends, Avith my little law practice, small as it is, in the good
fittle town of RussellAdlle, than to have any office in the gift
of the people. That is the truth, if I ever told it. NotAvith-
standing the fact that the Legislature, at my request, in
creased the salary of the Attorney General's office from
$1,500 to $2,500; notAvithstanding the fact that possibly I
might have had that office again Arithout opposition (at least
I flatter myself so), I had told the people at Eureka Springs
in that speech that I would not again be a candidate and I
stuck to my word. Remember, gentlemen, that the increase
in salary does not go to me, as these papers state, but to my
successor in office. I state that in the presence of any laAvyer.
The papers say that the Legislature gave me $1,000 more to
run for Governor on. Ah, they know that is not true. Let's
see the facts. The meanest criminal in the courts of the coun
try is entitled to a hearing, is he not? All I ask is for a
hearing before the bar of Justice.
Gentlemen, my construction of the Anti-Trust Law brought
on this whole fight. Wbat is that? Can you understand it?
I Avill try to make it just as plain to you as I possibly can. I
want to say to you, gentlemen, that the Legislature wMch
assembled in Little Rock was one of the braA'^est bodies of
men that has ever assembled in that city, according to my
judgment. Out of that whole body, there was not a braver
man, or a man who stood more faithfully by me in the dis
charge of my duties, than the good representative from the
good county of Howard. That man deserves that compfi-
ment. I give it to him freely and cheerfully.
Ah, gentlemen, what is my construction of that law wMch
has brought on tMs whole fight? Let's see what it is. The
laAvyer that can present Ms case the plainest, the minister
that can present his sermon the plainest, is the best laAvyer
and the best minister, is he not?
Let's see what is my construction. The Legislature passed
this law. I hold it in my hand. It is the best law that has

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFFa.DAVlS 51

been passed in Arkansas in a quarter of a century if it could
be executed.
What is it? It says, "Mr. Corporation, if you are a mem
ber of ANY, a-n-y pool or trust you can not do business in
Arkansas." Ah, but the newspapers say that I am wrong.
What are these newspapers? What is the Arkansas
Gazette and the Arkansas Democrat? The Arkansas Gazette
is supposed to be the leading Democratic organ in tMs State.
Who OA^ns it? Who controls it? John R. Dos Passos, a great
lawyer in the city of New York owns a large interest. John
R. Dos Passos owns for himself or Ms clients all the Holford
bonds that were foisted upon the people of Arkansas by the
Carpet Bag admimstration from 1868 to 1874. A man by
the name of Smithee was employed as editor, and the first
editorial wMch appeared in that paper after Ms employment
was an editorial looking to the redemption of those "bonds.
I state in your presence as a laA\^er, and in the presence of
tMs court, that all that is necessary in order to redeem these
bonds is to get a two-tMrds majority of both houses of the
Legislature to say so. Go and look at your Constitution.
Who is the editor of that paper now? One Richard Brug-
man — Dick, we call Mm in Little Rock — the meanest, most
contemptible fittle Republican in Arkansas, who just a few
years ago was the president of a "nigger" club in Little
Rock. I stood their vituperation land abuse until it was
unbearable. I had no idea of entering into tMs race, but
finally tMs proposition was made: "We AAdll make Ms name
infamous in Arkansas." "Infamous" in the State where I
was born, where my cMldren were born, where I was married
and received my education, and hope to be buried when I die.
I took that paper home and showed it to my Avdfe, as good
and brave a fittle Southern woman as God ever gave to any
man, and asked her what I should do. She said: "Not-
Arithstanding the fact that we are poor, notArithstanding the
fact that we had fittle when we were married, notAvithstand
ing the fact that we have little now, yet, if it takes everytMng
that we have, even the fittle home over our heads, and we
have to walk out into the street, and begin life over again, go
before the people of the State and give the reason for the
faith that is in you. ' ' And that is the reason why I am here
today. Ah, gentlemen, the war is on. Not a battle between my
opponents and me — they are gentlemen — but the war is on.
It is kmfe to knife, Mlt to Mlt, foot to foot, knee to knee,

52 THE^LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF^DAVIS
between the corporations of Arkansas and the people. The
Helena World says that I am a carrot-haired, red-faced, loud
mouthed, strong-fimbed, ox-driAdng mountaineer lawyer that
has come to Little Rock to get a reputation; that I am a
friend to the fellow that brews forty-rod bug-juice back in the
mountains, and all that sort of stuff. I have a fittle boy,
God bless Mm, a fittle pale-faced, wMte-haired fellow. I love
Mm better than anybody on earth except Ms mother. If I
find that boy is a smart boy. Judge Bryant, I Avill go and
make a preacher out of Mm; if I find he is not so smart a
boy, I am going to make a lawyer out of Mm, and if I find
that he has not a bit of sense upon earth I am going to make
an editor out of him and send Mm to Little Rock to edit the
Arkansas Democrat. A lot of squirrel-headed newspaper
editors who could not buy five cents worth of beef steak in
the town where they five, try to tell the people how to vote.
Shall it be done or not? Let the books be opened.
You Avill not see a word said in the metropofitan press of
Little Rock against my distinguished friend, Colonel Fletcher;
you AvdU not see a word said against Mr. Vandeventer; you
will not see a word said against my distinguished friend,
Judge Bryant; it is all against me the fight is being made.
"I am up against the real tMng now."
What is the matter Avith my construction of tMs law? Let
us answer it: "Mr. Corporation" (here is the law), "get
your acts of 1899 and read them." "If you are a member
of any pool or trust you can't do business in Arkansas."
' ' Any pool or trust. ' ' What do you mean by that ? It means
what it says; just what any plain man would understand it
to mean. What does "any" mean? The United States
Supreme Court has said in the case of Paul vs. Virgima, 8
Wallace, U. S. Sup. Ct. Rep., that the Legislature has power
to say that a foreign corporation can't do business in the
State at all; that the consent of the Legislature must be
obtained before a foreign corporation can do business here
at all. If they have the power to say that, the only question
that remains is, did they say it by tMs act? Therefore, there
is where the bravery of the Legislature comes in.
What does it say? "If you are a member of any pool or
trust you can't do business in Arkansas." There are two
elements — "being a member of any pool or trust" and "doing
business in Arkansas. " I submit tMs to the lawyers. "Be
ing a member of a pool or trust" and "doing business in
Arkansas" are the constituent elements of the offense. I

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 53
can illustrate it in a minute. Suppose tMs fittle town of
Center Point is an incorporated town, and you hear that a
man Avith smallpox is coming into your town. What do you
do? The officers meet Mm at your city border and say to
him, "As long as you have the smallpox you can't come into
Center Point." You have that power; you have no other
power than that. You can not say to him, ' ' You can not go
to Nashville or can not go over to Lockesburg," but you can
say to Mm, "You can not come into Center Point as long as
you have the smallpox. ' ' There is no extra-territorial effect
in tMs law. What is the result? You keep Mm out. You
say to him, "The very minute you get well of smallpox you
can come here." We can not keep you from going to these
other places. Whenever you get well of smallpox you can
come here as much as you please, but as long as you have
the smallpox you can not come here."
Ah, gentlemen and fellow-citizens, these trusts are
affected with a much more loathsome disease and more dan
gerous to the body pofitic than smallpox is to the human
body.
; I construed tMs law. I said, "If you are a member of any
pool or trust anywhere on earth you can not come into Ark
ansas and do business." That is the remedy. What was
the result? Ah, the trust agents went to see their laAvyer,
Judge U. M. Rose, the best lawyer in Arkansas. They took
that opimon to Judge Rose. What does he say? Here it is;
let the books be opened; let the record be unfolded.
Mr. L. B. Leigh, who is probably one of the best known
fife insurance men in the South, was called on for an expla
nation as to the effect of the bill. He spoke briefly and to
the point, saying among other tMngs: "I first Avish to cor
rect an error in the Gazette of today in reference to yester
day's remarks by me in tMs hall. I was referred to as con
nected with the Board of Underwriters. No such an orgam-
zation now exists here. When the Anti-Trust Law went into
effect it was disbanded."
Mr. Leigh told of a visit Mr. John Boyle and Mmself paid
to the Auditor and asked Mm the meaning of the word "any"
in the biU just passed, whether it meant that any company
could do business in Arkansas belonging to a pool, etc., in
Arkansas or whether it prevented them from doing business
in Arkansas if they belonged to any association outside of
the State.

54 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
"It was Ms impression that the law related only to Arkan
sas," said Mr. Leigh. "Then they went on about their busi
ness, but have been brought up Arith a round turn by the
Attorney General, who holds that the law proMbits compa
nies doing business in Arkansas who are in 'associations'
anywhere. We have called on him, and he has restated Ms
opimon; the language is plain, but he tells us that the Legis
lature is still here and if it deems best it can amend the law.
He even says in Ms opimon the compames are now doing
business in Adolation of tMs law, and doing so at their peril;
that they have been in peril since the 7th of March. We
have sought counsel as to the meaning of the bill, and our
adAdce has been that the opinion of the Attorney General
would be sustained and it could not be successfully resisted.
If I have not stated the name of our adAdser I A\dll do so
now — Judge U. M. Rose."
All my competitors tell me, and I am glad they take sides
Avith tMs decision as the court renders it. Judge U. M. Rose
said that I was right. Up to that time the corporations paid
no attention to the red-faced, carrot-haired, loud-mouthed,
deep-lunged, strong-fimbed, ox-driAdng mountaineer laAvyer.
But what was the result? Something ought to be done. They
called a big business men's meeting in Little Rock. About
five thousand men met at Glenwood Park in the city of Little
Rock prior to that decision. My distinguished friend. Col.
John G. Fletcher, was a delegate to that convention. What
must be done? Something must be done. They met. That
convention was composed largely of goldbugs, insurance
agents and Republicans. They cussed and discussed the Leg
islature that passed this law, but they qmckly folded their
tents fike the Arab and sneaked away in the morning.
The Legislature stood firm; the Legislature stood by me.
The Legislature appropriated $5,000 to help me carry into
effect tMs construction. Ah, gentlemen. Judge Bryant says
I only sued the fire insurance companies. I know that he
does not intend to misrepresent the facts. I sued the Stand
ard Oil Company, I sued the American Tobacco Company, I
sued the Continental Tobacco Company, I sued the Cotton
Seed Oil Trust, I sued the express compames, I sued every
tMng that looked fike a trust. I sued them all. I know one
tMng, as an officer, you must stand upon the broad, Mgh
plane of the law. As long as an officer stands upon that high
plane he is safe and secure. The turbid waters of pubfic
sentiment may break around Ms feet, but as long as he stands

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 55
upon that broad high plane of the law he is safe and secure.
Public sentiment is the most fickle thing on earth. Today
she fondles and caresses; tomorrow she scorns and scoffs.
But I am a sort of hard-shelled Baptist in my faith. I befieve
in foot-Avashing, I befieve in baptism by immersion, and be
lieve in using the straight edge. What is the "straight
edge" in physical conduct? The law. I sued them all. TMs
business men's meeting met. That wasn't enough. They
must have public sentiment manufactured. They had a mock
trial out there at Glenwood Park. The Federal judge_ pre
sided. Mr. BlackAvood, of the firm of Blackwood & Williams,
represented one side. Mr. Fay Hempstead, one of the most
noted men in Arkansas, represented the other side. Some
of the judges were there, I am told. All the efite of the city
were there. What was it? Public sentiment must be manu
factured. What was the result? Why, the law was crucified
at the very foot of the Temple of j;ustice and its mangled
corpse was left dead and helpless.
I said, "If you come into the State as a trust you shall not
do business here." Ah, gentlemen, the proudest day of my
fife was in St. Louis on the 20th day of September, at the
great Anti-Trust conference. Twelve Governors and twelve
Attorneys General of the South and West were present. The
folloAAdng resolution, prepared by me, was adopted. Gover
nor McMillan of Tennessee was chairman of the committee
on resolutions. Twelve Governors and twelve Attorneys
General adopted this resolution as one of the best to extermi
nate the trusts. Here is the resolution written upon the
paper of the Planter's Hotel. What does it say?
"Recognizing that a trust is composed of corporations, and
that they are creatures of the law, can only exist in the place
of their creation and can not migrate to another sovereignty
Adthout the consent of that sovereignty, and that this consent
may be Avithheld, we recommend that it is the sense of this
conference that each State pass laws providing that no cor
poration which is a member of any pool or trust in that State
or elsewhere can do business in that State."
That is a perfect defense of my oavq record. I paid my
own expenses to that Anti-Trust conference and to the Anti-
Trust conference at Chicago to help carry on the fight. I
have felt the fire ; I have stood in the breach ; I am not gun
shy. They know I am not.
I make no reflection upon my distinguished opponents.
They may be just as honest as I am and just as sincere. But

56 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

their election, mark my words, Avill be counted as a victory
by the corporations of Arkansas.
Why? Conceding that they are honest and conscientious,
conceding that they want to do what is right about trusts,
the fight is being made upon me, not by them ; that would be
too plain; the people could see it; but by the corporations,
and their election means victory for the corporations. I do
not impugn their motives. Do you understand me? Look
and see if anytMng is said about them by the metropolitan
papers of this State. Oh, no.
Now, do you understand that Anti-Trust Law? My con
struction was to shut off their field of operation; shut it off;
don't let them come here. They organize in Ncav Jersey, not
for the purpose of doing business there, but to come here in
the South and West. Whenever you shut off their field of
operations, that minute you Mil the trusts, destroy their field
of operations. That's what I want to do; that's what the
Anti-Trust conference in St. Louis was in favor of.
You can not dally Avith tMs matter; you can not tempor
ize; you must destroy. Are you in earnest about it? Do
you mean it? The Democratic Party in its platform has
always said, "We are against trusts, we are fighting them."
Are you in earnest about it? Do you mean it? Or is it just
in the play? My brother there (pointing to a laAvyer in the
audience) and myself may have almost fought in the court
room ; but if you Avill follow us to the back door you Arill see
us doing sometMng that enemies do not always do. That is
all in the play, you know. Are you in earnest about this
thing? If you are, cut off their field of operations; tell them
they shall not come into our borders. That is what the law
meant before the court construed it away.
Ah, gentlemen, I don't abuse anybody; I have never abused
anybody. A paper published at Camden, Judge Bunn's OAvn
home, the Ouachita Herald, says this: "In the first genuine
tilt between the people and the trusts in this State the people
have been defeated, and that, too, through a tribunal estab
lished for their OAvn protection. This is not said in any
offensive sense, nor to imply that the members of the court
are corruptly in league Avdth the trusts. They are a pure
and honorable body of men and would not wilfully do wrong,
but they, like others, are creatures of environment and no
one can read the decision critically and impartially Avithout
being impressed Arith the idea that the act, in their judgment,
was about to do a great and irreparable wrong to the business

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 57
interests of the State, and that it would not be right, there
fore, to explain it away by giving it a meaning other than
that contended for by Attorney General Davis. Public senti
ment to create this impression was manufactured for the
occasion, and the result is before us in tMs decision." They
are the creatures of euAdronment. I have never said that
the court was corrupt; I never said that they could be bought
or bribed; every man is a creature of environment. If you
tell me what a man's circumstances and what a man's sur
roundings are, I will tell you Avhat Ms conduct will be. The
Democrat howled trusts at them from night till morning and
the Gazette from night to morning.
They were met upon the street by trust agents; they
breathed an atmosphere of trusts. The farmers were not
there to meet them, shake hands Avith them and let their
interests be known. They are the creatures of environment.
TMs pubfic sentiment Avas manufactured. They fell into its
wake. I have said everywhere, and I say it here, that we
need a Supreme Court, and need it awful bad, and I hope the
people in the coming election Avill defeat every one of these
gentlemen that asks for their support. Why do I say that?
I have the greatest respect for the honest, upright, noble and
conscientious judge, who holds the scales of justice in equal
poise and does not permit extraneous matter to be cast into
the scales Avdth or against either party. But the judge, like
old Shiras, who took a somersault at night on the income tax
case, and reversed himself in the morning ought to be held
up to the severest condemnation of every liberty-loving,
patriotic citizen.
Didn't Abraham Lincoln, back in 1857, criticise the
Supreme Court of the Umted States for their Dred-Scott
decision? He criticised the Supreme Court in language much
more severe than I could possibly use. Is there anything
wrong in this?
Wasn't Lincoln a patriot? Next to Jeff DaAds, he was
one of the greatest men tMs country ever produced. In his
last message to Congress he said: "I see in the near future
a crisis approacMng that unnerves me and causes me to trem
ble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war,
corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption
in high places Avill follow and the money power of the coun
try Arill endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the
prejudices of the people until wealth is aggregated in a fcAV
hands and the repubfic is destroyed. I feel at this moment

58 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

more anxiety for the safety of the country than ever before,
even in the midst of civil war. ' '
Is not that prophecy becoming fulfilled? Take the lan
guage of the Hon. Justice Harlan in the income tax case.
Does he not criticise Ms own bench much more severely than
I could possibly do ?
Ah, gentlemen, I said to the court in arguing this case, in
the presence of five hundred insurance agents, that if we
ever have another civil war it would be brought about by
judge-made law. What do I mean by that? I consider that
it is the duty of the court in construing an act to get the leg
islative intent out of the statute, not to inject the judicial
intent into it. Is not that the rule, my brother 1
What does H. C. Caldwell, the greatest judge of the Fed
eral bench today, say? "The modern Avrit of injunction is
used for purposes which bear no more resemblance to the
ancient writ of that name than the milky way bears to the
sun. Formerly it was used to conserve the property in dis
pute between private litigants, but in modern times it has
taken the place of the police poAvers of the State and Nation.
It enforces and restrains Avith equal facility the criminal laws
of the State and Nation. With it the judge not only restrains
and punishes the commission of crimes defined by statutes,
but he proceeds to frame a criminal code of his own as
extended as he sees proper, by wMch various acts innocent
in law and morals are made criminal, such as standing, walk
ing or marching on the public MghAvay, or talMng, speaking
or preaching and other like acts. In proceedings for con
tempt for alleged violation of the injunction, the judge is the
law-maker, the injured party, the prosecutor, the judge and
jury. It is not surprising that, uniting in Mmself all these
characters, he is commonly able to obtain a conviction."
If I had said this I would have been denounced by every
paper in Arkansas as an anarchist. What does he say fur
ther? He said this: "The people are always singularly
patient of abuses in the administration of the law. This is
due to their confidence and respect for the judicial office.
But when that confidence is shaken by abuses open and
obvious to their comprehension, they Avill put an end to them
by the exercise of their own true and imperial sovereign
power. ' '
What does that mean? It means revolution. Ah, I trem
ble for the safety of my country. The Legislature may pass
laws, but the courts can construe them away if they are not

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 59
held accountable at the bar of public justice. The court
decided against me. I appealed from that decision to the
people; I want to empanel you here as a jury to try the issues
involved in this controversy. I Avill submit to your own cir
cuit judge, who sits upon that bench, if my construction of
that laAv was not right. That's the remedy for trusts; shut
them out; don't let them come here; don't let them come into
your borders.
But my distinguished friend, Judge Bryant, gave you no
remedy. He is a pretty word painter. Ah, I am not here to
talk about the PMlippines or expansion; I am not here to
paint words. I am here for the purpose of letting the people
know the situation. I said everywhere, and I say it here
now, that the farmers are the bravest class of men upon the
face of the earth. Why do I say that? The men who
marched up the bloody heights of El Caney, or who stormed
the forts of Manila were not braver than the farmers and
laborers. Why?
The farmers toil day in and out trying to support them
selves and famifies as God Almighty has commanded them,
in the sweat of their faces, but if they were to sit doAvn at
mght and figure up what they are going to make they would
quit the next morning, and you know it. The fellow at the
other end of the line is controlling prices. Are you going to
dally vdth it; are you in earnest about this matter? Then,
shut them out; don't let them come here.
Arkansas started this strong agitation ; Texas has taken it
up ; the South and West has taken it up. That]s my remedy.
That was the law before the court construed it away. Ah,
my friend, Judge Bryant, makes the decision mighty nice.
It is easily covered up, but I want to take the kernel out and
show it to you, and I have done this. Suppose you could
divide this great country into two classes; on one side you
put the wealth-producing element, on that side the wealth-
consuming element. WTiich side would be the biggest? You
know that the wealth-producing side would be. Who makes
the laws largely? The Avealth-consumers and not the wealth-
producers. Who executes the laws largely? The wealth-con
sumers. Who construes the laws largely? The wealth-con
sumers. Now, if you expect the wealth-consumers _ of this
country to make, execute and construe the laws Avith that
even and exact justice you are mighty badly mistaken. As
Bill Arp says, "Human nater is the same the world over."
I will tell you there is a good deal in that old man's prayer:

60 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
"God bless me and my Avife, my son John and Ms wife, us
four and no more ; amen. ' '
You have come to the parting of the ways ; you have come
to the dividing line. My opponents might do just as well as
I. I have no doubt they might be just as good; but I have
been tried; they have not. It is a question of principle and
not of a man ; they are maMng no fight upon my opponents,
they are maMng the fight upon me. Read the newspapers;
they tell the tale. Now, gentlemen, that's the Anti-Trust
Law. Is it a good law or a bad one?
If I had wanted to take what apparently seemed to be the
popular side at that time, wouldn't I have gone A\dth the busi
ness men, where my distinguished friend. Col. John G.
Fletcher, was? If I had wanted money out of it, as the
newspapers seem to think I want out of the Governor's office,
couldn't I have just held my hand behind me and got all I
wanted? Then, ladies and gentlemen, at least give me credit
for being honest. I have stood by the guns. I have gone
through the fiery furnace, my opponents have not. There is
no chance for trusts Avith me in this office. There might be
Avdth my opponents.
The fight is on. Howard County holds first. If I lose
Howard it AAdll be heralded all over the State that the people
have 'repudiated this doctrine. I have no money to Mre
newspapers. I mortgaged my office at Russellville two weeks
ago to get money to make this canvass.
I have nothing to say against these distinguished gentle
men. Mr. Vandeventer will tell you that I have a carpet on
the floor of my office. Every State official has that. He AviU
tell you that I have a bed in my office. That I pay for myself.
He AAdll say that I have a comb and brush that cost $2.50.
That's all right. He Arill tell you that my office is a palace.
The Legislature gave me $45 to fit up that office. It was torn
down and had an old dirty carpet on the floor. I had it repa-
pered and the casings repainted. Out of my contingent fund
I bought a new carpet and put it upon the floor. That's the
property of the State. Isn't that awful?
m.
His Opponents and State Issues.
I Arill give you his record. He talks fluently as a free silver
man, but when Wm. J. Bryan was invited to address the Leg
islature he was Speaker and appointed a committee to soUcit

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 61

funds to defray Mr. Bryan's expenses while attending to
address that body. Mr. Charles Parker of Stephens, Ark.,
was on that committee. Each member of the Legislature
assessed himself one dollar to pay these expenses. When
Mr. Parker asked Mr. Vandeventer, the Speaker, for a doUar
he said: "Damn that Bryan committee," and refused to
pay anytMng at that time. This Mcked up such a big row
that he afterwards paid the dofiar. He said at ClarksAdlle
that any one who said that he (Vandeventer) had said
"Damn the Bryan committee" lied. He said at Hope that
he didnot say this at Clarksville. I hold in my hands the
affidavit of Charles Parker that he did say "Damn the Bryan
committee." I hold in my hands the written statement of
the clerk of the court at ClarksAdlle that he said there that
whoever said that was a liar. I hold in my hands a letter
from Mr. Vandeventer to Mr. Parker that he did not say tMs
at ClarksAdlle. Now, gentlemen, taMng these facts as his
record, who would pay any attention to anything that he
would say?
Mr. Vandeventer AAdll also tell you that I have not attended
the Penitentiary Board meetings. They have been held in
the private office of Governor Jones. Governor Jones does
not speak to me. I told Mr. Sloan, the president, that as
long as they met in Governor Jones's private office I would
not be with them. When I fight a man upon principles I
want to fight him beside the clear Avaters, under the blue sky,
in open, noble combat. I don't want to get shot in the back.
If I die I want to die with my face to the rising sun, Avith
my vdndoAvs open towards Jerusalem. As long as they hold
meetings there I vdll not be present. The law does not
require them to hold meetings there.
He Avill tell you that I don't attend the Old Confederate
Soldier Board. The old Confederate soldier fund is in this
State, say $60,000, for illustration. You can not make it any
more or less. You have to furmsh proof before the clerk of
your court as to how much you are worth and your disabili
ties. If you have less than $300 worth of property you can
share in tMs fund. If you have more than that you can not
share in it. So, you make proof before the clerk and send
the papers to Little Rock. After that, it is a mere matter
of mathematical calculation. I went in and asked Mr. Sloan,
the president of the board, if my clerk could not attend to it,
and he said that he could, and he did. That's all there is to it.

62 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
I want to taik about the Bush Bill, a bill by which they
propose to build a railway from Little Rock out into the zinc
fields. That's a rich country and ought to have a railroad,
but can you afford to pay the price? I hold this bill in my
hands. I fought it in the Legislature. It is a measure by
which they propose to build this road, and they are going to
issue bonds for the purpose of taxing the people of Arkansas
to bmld it.
Ah, but the friends of tMs measure say that the State is
not liable for the payment of these bonds. Take the Acts of
1897 and look on page 96, at section 6, and see what it says:
"The State board (the Auditor, Governor and Attorney Gen
eral) created by this act, and their successors forever, shall
constitute a body corporate AAdth full power to sue and be
sued." Read section 7 of the act. It says: "The State
shall not be liable for any debt created by said board under
the proAdsions of this act." If it stopped there there might
be some sense to their contention. But it does not stop there.
It says "but" — but what? It jerks you straight around in
the road. "But all contracts of such corporation shall be
forever iuAdolate." What does that mean? It means "for
ever incontestable."
They are to issue these bonds to build tMs railroad. How
are they going to equip the road? They have got to get the
money. How get it? Issue bonds and get it. Who is going
to pay the bonds ? Do you expect the board to pay them per
sonally? But the friends of the measure say that the State
does not have to pay them. But, in the name of common
sense, who does? Men who have money usually have sense.
Under the bill, they could issue an unlimited amount, as it is
discretionary vdth the board. I was the first man to speak
upon the subject in my speech at Eureka Springs for Attor
ney General.
The papers said that I was crazy; that the matter was
dead. It is not true ; it like to have passed the last Legisla
ture in a more violent form. It lacked only one vote. They
are going to build tMs road and issue bonds. Governor Jones
told the Legislature that he was going to issue bonds payable
in gold. He says now he didn't say that. Here is a' tele
gram, wMch, if I had time to explain, would conAdnce you
that he did say so. Grover Cleveland was the only Demo
cratic leader who wanted to issue bonds except Jones. There
is Ms telegram to Mr. Vandeventer. Mr. Vandeventer read
this telegram once, but never read it again. I have a certified

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 63
copy of the telegram Avith me. Mr. Vandeventer then went
and got another Avritten statement from the Governor, wMch
he noAv reads. They are going to build the road and issue
gold bonds, an unlimited amount of them. Is that right?
I submit tMs to you as a lawyer: If I had ten acres of
land out there and Avant to Mre a "nigger" to clear it, and
tell you. Judge Bryant, as my agent to Mre a "nigger," you
teU Mm that you personally A\dll not pay him, and you tell
Mm that I, the owner and beneficiary of the contract, will not
pay Mm. Do you tMnk you could get a one-eyed "nigger"
Avdth half sense to do tMs work? But if you do, and he did
it in a good and workman-like manner, would not I, the bene
ficiary of the contract, be held fiable by any court or jury for
the price of Ms labor? You know I would. So would the
State, who got the benefit of the issuance of these bonds, be
held fiable for their payment. The man who wrote tMs bill
was writing for future generations, because the bonds could
not be made payable except tMrty years hence, when he
hoped to find some court that did not know what "any pool
or trust" meant, but who would know that the State was
bound for the payment of these bonds.
But they say that the roadbed shall be held responsible.
Suppose bonds are issued in excess of the value of the road
bed and the roadbed when sold would not pay them. Who
would have to pay the deficit? The State. How? By taxa
tion. How did they try to get an amendment to this bill passed
by the last Legislature? A gentleman by the name of Festus
Orestus Butt, member from CarroU County, was put in the
chair. Look at section 7 of the original act. Butt in the
chair and "but" in the act. The bill was tabled on a motion
of Jim Head, of Little River County. All people who know
anytMng about legislative matters know that the tabling of a
bill means its death. Mr. Butt held that a two-tMrds vote
would take the bill off of the table. They tried to get that
and failed. Mr. Herrn, a member from Sharp County, and
the sharpest man in the House, got up and read Jefferson's
Manual and said that only a majority vote was necessary to
take the bill from the table, and he appealed from the decision
of the chair. TMs meant that a bare majority could reverse
the chair. To reverse the chair meant to take the bill off the
table. Festus Orestus, Presto, Change ! Now you see it, and now
you don't see it, fike the shell game at a circus. But, thank

64 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

God, they didn't get a majority and the bill was defeated.
Then what was the result? Why the distinguished Senator
from Baxter, the distinguished member from Sharp and Mr.
Vandeventer were appointed commissioners to build a mil
lion dollar Statehouse in Little Rock for the State of Arkan
sas at a salary of $5 a day and mileage, but the Senate sat
down upon those appointments. God bless the Senate.
I say to you that the building of this Statehouse under the
present plan is the biggest steal that was ever attempted to
be perpetrated upon the people of Arkansas. Not that the
commissioners are going to steal anything, but the plan is a
steal. How? They are going to abandon this property
where the old Statehouse is, and they are going to tear down
the property at the penitentiary. They are doing it right
now. That costs you six or seven hundred thousand dollars..
They had fifty thousand dollars in the treasury that arose
from the sale of forfeited lands. When that is exhausted,
the Legislature will have to take care of it. Ah, gentlemen,
what's the remedy? They are going to tear down tMs prop
erty. I say that when you quit the present Statehouse it Avill
revert to the Ashley heirs. Judge Cockrill said that it would
not, but I doubt his opinion. He might change his opinion
like Judge Rose did on the trust question. Therefore, I don't
care to follow him. They will also have to build a new pem
tentiary at an enormous cost to the taxpayers. When I say
"they" I mean Governor Jones and Hon. Alex C. Hull.
I did not start this row, but I am going to keep it up. They
went out the other day on the Nineteenth Street Pike and
bought fifteen acres of land upon which to build a new peni
tentiary. What did they give for it? Five thousand dollars.
Fifteen acres of land ! That land is so poor that two drunken
men could not raise a difficulty upon it. It is so poor you
could not raise an umbrella upon it. It is so poor you have
to manure it to make brick out of it. They paid for it Avith
the State's money — $5,000. Is not this a nice mess? Ought
I to show it to you? Will you. Judge Bryant and Colonel
Fletcher, take sides upon that proposition? Why don't you
do it before these people?
Now, gentlemen, what's the result? You have that State-
house upon your hands. I don't object so much to building
a Statehouse if we were able to; I object to the plan. What
is that? The commissioners; they are getting salaries, clerk
hire and everything. WHiy don't they let the contract to the
lowest bidder and take a bond for its faithful performance?

SENATOR JAMES P. CLARKE.
Jeff Davis's Colleague in the United States Senate, and One of the
State's Most Prominent Figures During the liast 20 Years.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 65
Let the contractor build it at the lowest price, if you must
have it. I tMnk it best for the State to lose that $50,000 for
the present, at least, until we get able. The people are not
able to have their taxes increased. You paid last year $4.75
on the thousand. You will pay tMs year $5.50 on the thou
sand. An increase, and yet they want to build a Statehouse
and still further burden the people. Little Rock is interested
in a crop of taxes — the bigger the crop the better.
I am not trying to array the country against Little Rock.
There are many noble men and women fiving there; lots of
them. God bless them. But there is a gang down there that
needs cleaning out, and needs it aAvful bad. I would give
ten years of my life in jail, if it Avere possible, to be Governor
of the State of Arkansas tAvo years to clean out some of the
tMngs doAvn there; I will clean that gang so clean, if I am
elected, that it Avill look like the Red" River had run through
it, and that's why they are after me.
What about my opponents? I have nothing to say about
them. I have always been a Democrat. You can not make
anytMng but a Democrat out of me. My distinguished oppo
nent. Colonel Fletcher, says he is a good Democrat. Here is
Ms speech delivered to the Wheelers in 1886, where he said :
"Thank God, I was not born a Democrat." In 1884 he had
just been defeated in a Democratic convention by Simon P.
Hughes. In 1886 he was nominated by the Wheelers. He
said to them, "Thank God, I was not born a Democrat." He
said, "Pofitics makes strange bed-feUows." And it does.
There's the situation. He said many noble tMngs to the
farmers in that speech that day, but actually he reneged on
them the next day. This shoAVS he is not a steadfast man.
He said the next day, "I was mistaken, I am going back to
the Democratic Party." You can whip me in this race, but
I AAdll be a better Democrat than I was before, and I wiU
work for the nominee.
Wlien the fight came up in 1886, the old sMp of Democracy
was in the toils. They could not have picked a stronger man
than Colonel Fletcher to have manned the opposition, and
they knew it. We were being assailed upon every side, our
foes were firing upon us from every fine. They picked one
of the strongest men in the Democratic Party. We needed
your help then. Colonel Fletcher. Ah, you deserted us then.
You said, ' ' Thank God, you was not born a Democrat. ' ' You
may say in answer to this that you was born a WMg. I thank
God that I was born a Democrat and I am a Democrat yet. I

66 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 
have never camped in the camp of the enemy, even for one
mght. I was a Presidential Elector in 1886. I Avas a Presi
dential Elector in 1896. I retired from the ticket to give a
Popufist my place in order to effect harmony. TMs was at
the request of Senator Jones and Mr. Bryan. I never
accepted a Popufist nomination. There are lots of good men
in the Po.pufist Party. Why don't you stick to them?
Ah, gentlemen, he says he is in favor of good roads. _ So
am I. He says that he is in favor of an Arkansas Univer
sity; so am 1. He says he is in favor of charitable institu
tions ; so am I. I am in favor of a just and equitable fellow-
servant laAv; that there was an effort made to get me to con
strue the anti-trust law so as to embrace the laboring ele
ments of the country. I did not do it, because labor is not
a "tMng" in the sense used in this act. I am for the protec
tion of the weak. Be just to the strong; they will protect
themselves. And he says he is against trusts, and he would make it a
felony for any officer of a corporation to issue more stock
than the actual amount of capital paid in. Didn't you visit
Governor Jones and ask that a special message be sent to the
Legislature to modify or amend this trust law? He does not
ansAver. He is the president of a National Bank, in the
biggest trust on earth. Hoav? They get bonds from the
Government ; they put up 10 per cent in money and get 90 per
cent bonds and issue money. They get interest on the bonds
and loan money to the people at 10 per cent; so the candle is
burning at both ends. Gentlemen, didn't the National Banks,
as a rule, help to defeat Mr. Bryan? Didn't Jefferson refuse
to recharter them? Doesn't McEanley propose to turn the
issuance of all the money of the country over to the National
Banks? The money trust is the biggest trust on earth. He
is the president of a National Bank. There is not a State
in tMs Union that would dare to nominate as their leader the
president of a National Bank, Avhere party lines are closely
drawn. What does my silver-tongued friend, Judge Bryant, haA'e
to say in a speech delivered to a Yankee audience at Chicago
in 1893? How many old Confederate soldiers are there here?
Hold your hands up. (A great many hold up their hands.)
God bless you; you are the sentinels upon the Avatch towers
of Liberty. I love the old Confederate soldier. Most of them
have already crossed the dark river and pitched their tents
upon Fame's eternal camping ground. God bless you. No

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 67

man will bow vdth greater reverence to the old Confederate
soldier than I.
What did Bryant say in Chicago? Here it is: The CM-
cago Tribune of June 11, 1893, said that it took ten minutes
for the ladies to quit throwing bouquets at Mm. Speaking to
a Yankee audience, what did he say: "I am conscious that
I voice the sentiment of my people when, standing here in
this presence, before my country and my God, as a son of
the South, born on Southern soil, and draAring my humble
lineage from Southern sires, A\dth not a tie of Mnship of per
sonal interest north of the Mason & Dixon line, loving its
memories, its traditions, and its history, cherisMng the sad
story of the 'Lost Cause' as a sacred and priceless heritage,
and cfinging as to the horns of an altar to a firm faith and
belief in the sincerity and patriotic purposes of its lead
ers" — that is as pretty as anybody could say it; but tMs is
only the sugar-coating for the pill he is going to give you
now — "when in tMs presence, measuring my Avords, and
knoAnng their full purport and extent, I declare that in the
great strife of the sections, the victorious finger touch of God
rested at last upon the banner of the Union." Ah, he says
now in explanation that he is a patriot. He wants the Union
preserved. So do I. Wliat did he say at BentouAdlle at the
Confederate reunion? That was quite another Mnd of audi
ence. "We stand upon the arbitrament of the sword, fully,
finally and completely, and Avith a groAving consciousness that
after all a Divine Providence, who watchfully kept the City
of His Love, may have ordained it all for the best." Quite
a different sentiment. God bless that sentiment. I can
approve of it. If I come to you, my brother, and say to you,
"You ought not to haA^e had that difficulty vdth this man;
you are wrong;" that's one thing. But when I come and say,
"I don't regret that you got licked" — that's quite a different
tMng. He either regrets that we lost, or he is glad of it.
There is no other legitimate conclusion.
Ah, gentlemen, the Arkansas Democrat adAdses that I be
arrested and be put in jail. I have the editorial ; it was the
issue of January 31; here it is in part: "When the chief
law officer of the State Avdll denounce the Supreme Court and
the Governor as Attorney General DaAds has done, it is time
to inquire whether there is any protection against such vitu
peration and billingsgate. Is there no remedy for this? Are
the courts powerless to protect themselves?" This means
that I should be arrested and be imprisoned for contempt of

68 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

court. This means the throttling of free speech. Ah, gentle
men, the man whose historic name I bear was once indicted by
a picked grand jury for that purpose, put in irons and thrown
in jail for his construction of the Constitution of the United
States. He always pleaded for a trial. So if I should be
arrested, I would be entitled to a hearing in the courts in my
defense. TMs could not be denied me. Will it be done?
When I was nominated Attorney General the Arkansas
Gazette of June 22, 1898, said this: "Hon. Jeff Davis, of
Russellville, Pope County, who was yesterday nominated
Attorney General of Arkansas, is a successful lawyer and
developed sprinting qualities in his recent campaign which
indicate incomparable energy and magnetic qualities. He
is a native of Arkansas, and his every interest is centered in
this State. He was bom in the lap of poA^erty, but his indom
itable Arill and ambition pushed him forAvard and upward.
"Circumscribed by circumstances which would have
daunted a less energetic young man, he toiled without cessa
tion and worked his way Avith distinguished honors through
the A. L U. From October 30, 1890, to October 31, 1894,
he was prosecuting attorney of the Fifth District and served
Ms people Avith credit and distinction. He is an orator of
fine qualities, well qualified in the law to fill the position to
wMch he aspired so successfully, and in every particular emi
nently fitted for the office."
Why such a change of heart? My prosecution of the
Trusts. My distinguished friend, Judge Bryant, has been in
the State about sixteen years. He held office eiffht years, and
has been running most of the other eight. He struck the
State running, and has been running ever since. Colonel
Fletcher has. heen running for Governor ever since I can
recollect. Now, gentlemen, the question is this: "Shall the people
rule?" Are you in earnest about it? Judge Bryant was
born AAdth a silver spoon in his mouth. I don't say that to
his disparagement — he could not help it. I was born over
here in the swamps of Red River Valley, where the ladies
had to wear boots when it was muddy.
All that I am, all that I have, all that I expect to be is cen
tered in Arkansas. It is the land of my nativity.
Judge Bryant said he was a patriot; he is glad the Union
is preserved. If Judge Bryant is' glad we got ficked let me
tell you the legitimate deduction. How far is it from Rich
mond, Va., to Washington, D. C? One hundred and sixteen

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 69

miles. How long did it take the North to march from Wash
ington to Richmond? Four long years. Every inch of the
way was strewn Avith blood. He said that he didn't regret
that our old flag trailed in the dust ; he did not regret that we
lost. I do; but it may have been for the best, just as he said
at Bentonville. You will never get me to say that I don't
regret it. God bless you, I am not bmlt that Avay. Now,
whatshall the people do? Let them choose between the men;
that is a fair and square statement of the proposition.
Gentlemen, I may never see you again. I hope that I AAdll
hold out physically in this race, if God Avill only give me
strength. That is all I ask. When you present a thing to
the people and they see it they will always do right. I love
my natiA^e State; I love its hills and its valleys; I love its
bright waters. From the health-giAdng waters of Eureka
Springs on the north to the great Father of Waters on the
east that finally loses itself in the tepid waters of the Gulf,
from the pine lands and prairies upon our west to our eastern
borders, all up and down the hills and valleys of Arkansas
there lives as noble, as brave, as generous, as gentle a race
of people as ever sunned themselves in the smile of Omnipo
tent God. The papers say that nobody Avill vote for me
except the fellow who wears patched breeches and one gallus
and lives up the forks of the creek, and don't pay anything
except his poll tax. I don't know hoAv true that is, but I
want to tell you that there is no great reformation that origi
nated on the earth that did not come from the ranks of the
humble and lowly of the land." Jesus Christ, when he went
out and started the greatest reformation that ever blessed
mankind, went to the humble and lowly. He went to the
fisherman's cot, to the stone-cutter's bench. He did not have
but one smart man in the crowd, and he had to knock the
filling out of him in the sand before he could use him.
Do with this race as you see proper ; act upon it AAdsely, act
upon it well. But when you vote, vote intelligently. The
fight is on. It is betAveen the trusts and the corporations and
the people. If I Arin this race I have got to Arin it from 525
insurance agents scattered all over the State. I have to Arin
it from every railroad, every bank and tAvo-thirds of the law
yers and most of the big politicians. But if I can get the
plain people of the country to help me, God bless you, we Avill
clean the thing out. Do you mean it? Are you in earnest?
If so, help me.

70 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

As I say, all that I am, all that I expect to be, I commit into
your hands and into your keeping, knoAAdng that if I deserve
your confidence I will receive it. If I do not merit it you
will Arithhold it. Gentlemen, I thank you.
Addendum.
Gentlemen and Fellow-Citizens:
After maMng the above speech, on the next day, the 13th
day of February, at Nashville, in Howard County, I sub
mitted to Colonel Fletcher and Judge Bryant this proposi
tion: If the Legislature at its next session should pass an
anti-trust law shutting trusts and combines out of the State,
if you were elected Governor would you sign it? They
refused to answer it, and refuse to answer now, which is
borne out by the following certificate of the chairman of the
meeting at Nashville, which is as follows :
Nashville, Ark., February 13, 1900.
I, J. S. Compere, state that I was chairman of this meeting
at this place when Colonel Fletcher, Judge Bryant, Hon. A.
F. Vandeventer and Jeff Davis spoke. I heard Mr. Davis
ask in his speech publicly to Judge Bryant and Colonel
Fletcher "If the next Legislature should pass and prepare a
bill shutting trusts and combines out of Arkansas, if you
were elected Governor, would you sign it?" and neither of
them answered this question. (Signed) J. S. Compere.
I have just discovered a letter which Judge Bryant has
written to James E. Hogue, of Hot Springs (and I presume
all over the State). In it the following statement is made.
I read it in my speech in his presence at Arkadelphia the
14th day of February, and he does not deny it. The state
ment is this: "DaAds is the man to beat, say what you Arill
about him. He has a large foUoAving in the back townships
and is using methods that appeal to the prejudices of the
masses." This, gentlemen, shows the cloven hoof. This
shows the conspiracy. This shoAvs where the fight really is.

CHAPTER^V
GOVERNOR DAVIS'S SPEECH AT EUREKA SPRINGS.
I.
Davis vs. Wood.
Soon after opemng the campaign of 1903, for a second
term, AAdth Associate Justice Carroll D. Wood opposing him,
Governor Davis delivered a speech at Eureka Springs, in
wMch he said:
But Judge Wood says, "What have you done for Arkansas
since you have been Governor?" My fefiow-eitizens, it is not
so much what I have done as what I have kept the other fel
low from doing. If you had a Miss Nancy, a man Avithout a
backbone, as Governor of your State, that gang doAvn there
in Little Rock would run over Mm in a week. He asked what
have I done for Arkansas. You have done much for me.
The State in wMch I was born, where my Arife and children
were born, and where I hope to be buried, has done more for
me than I ever can repay; but I want to tell you some of the
things that I have done.
When I went in as your Governor, you had no building for
the deaf-mute school, it having burned down during Governor
Jones's administration. I asked the Legislature of 1901 to
make an appropriation to rebuild these buildings, eqmp them
thoroughly and completely, and that I would proAdde for the
money and that, too, by taxation not upon the common people
of the State. The Legislature took me at my word. They
passed an appropriation of $80,000 to rebuild these buildings,
and today we have the most complete and perfect Deaf -Mute
Institute with more than 200 students, cared for Mndly and
tenderly by the State, with all its expense of transportation
and fiAdng provided without taxing the people.
How did I pay for this, my fellow-citizens? During my
first term as Governor, I introduced a resolution before the
board that assesses the railroads of the State for taxation.
I got it passed, raising the assessment on the railroads of
tMs State about $5,000,000 in excess of anything that had
ever been assessed against them before. Multiply tMs
$5,000,000 by $1.75 per thousand, which is the ordinary
amount of taxes in this State for State, county, city and school
purposes, and you have more than $80,000, the amount neces-

72 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
sary to bmld and equip the Deaf -Mute Institute, all paid for
by the railroads. And at the last meeting of this board for
assessment of railroad property I raised the assessment on
the railroads again $1,200,000 more than during my first
term. TMs brings into the State about $100,000 in actual
cash, maMng nearly $300,000 in cash that has been collected
and that will be collected in taxes from the railroads more
than any Governor of Arkansas ever collected from them.
Do you wonder that the railroads are against me? I saw
Judge Wood and Col. Ben Davidson, the general attorney for
the Frisco system, with their heads together consulting the
other day just like two old summer coons. Do you Avonder
that Sam Wilson, the detective for the Iron Mountain rail
road, is traveling over Arkansas to elect a man against me
and declaring to the people of tMs State that I would be
defeated for Governor?
My fellow-citizens, there is method in their madness.
They know that the corporations do not pay their just pro
portion of taxes. When I went into office the Cotton Belt,
Kansas City Southern, Frisco and Iron Mountain railroads
were assessed at about $4,000 per mile. Noav they are as
sessed at $17,500 per mile. Is this unjust? I say no. Every
year the railroads are required to file a sworn statement from
the auditor of each road with the Railroad Commission of
tMs State shoAving how much it costs per mile to build and
equip their roads. The Cotton Belt road last year — and it is
true of the others in like proportion — swore before the Rail
road Commission that it cost them $84,000 per mile to build
and equip their road. They put this high assessment upon
it in order to justify a Mgh freight rate on the merchants
and planters of tMs State.
Gentlemen and fellow-citizens, what is sauce for the goose
is sauce for the gander. If they can put this high valuation
upon their road in order to justify the high freight rate,
should they not be fairly taxed as other citizens are taxed?
Is $17,500 per nfile unjust? Ladies and gentlemen, you need
not worry about the railroads and other corporations. Your
representatives need not lose any sleep fearing that they
vsdll not get their rights in this country; they would better
protect the man who has the short end of the hand-stick, lift
ing the burdens of life ; the railroads Avill take care of them
selves. But it is said, my fellow-citizens, by my enemies, that I
pardoned too many people. That may be true, I don't know,

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 73
but I do know this, that I pardoned people while Judge Wood
pardoned the railroads. Let me for a moment give you Ms
railroad record.
In 1894 a man by the name of Tomlinson Avas Idlled at the
Union Depot in the city of Little Rock. He left a wife and
an infant baby boy in her arms nursing at her breast. Cock
rill & Cockrill, of Little Rock, brought suit against the Iron
Mountain railroad in favor of this little woman and her child
for damages for the killing of the husband and father. They
recovered judgment for $20,000 in the Safine Circuit Court;
the railroad company took an appeal to the Supreme Court,
and there the case lay for more than three years, and upon
technical grounds it was reversed and sent back for another
trial. The railroad company took a change of venue and
another trial was had, and a second judgment for $20,000 was
obtained, and the railroad company again appealed to the
Supreme Court, and there the case is resting today, unde
cided, undisposed of.
WTiy don't you go home, Judge Wood, and try this case?
Why don't you give this fittle woman a judgment, if she is
entitled to it? WTiy this delay? The boy that was left an
infant in its mother's arms when its father Avas Ml led is now
ten years old. This fittle woman, if she Avas entitled to any
tMng from the railroad company, ought to have had it when
she Avas struggfing to support this infant child. Judge, if
you don't soon decide this case, this fittle boy, Tomfinson's
fittle baby son, Avill be old enough to vote for me to beat you
for Governor.
My fellow-citizens, the Supreme Court is now more than
three years behind Avith its work; they have on hand 2,617
cases on the docket; they decide on an average 365 cases a
year; at tMs rate it would take them eight years to decide
the last felloAv's case on the present docket. They are so far
behind on their work that the last Legislature proAdded for
the submission of a constitutional amendment by which an
extra jud?e could be appointed to help them out with their
work, and I want to tell you, my fellow-citizens, how hard
they work. These judges are an awfully overworked set of
fellows. They come down to their offices about 10 in the
morning, leave at noon, come back at 2 and leave at 4. Judge,
you must be worked to death, to stand such a constant strain.
Upon what meat do you feed. Judge Wood, that you are
enabled to do such heavy work?

74 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

Ah, gentlemen, I could take one good lawyer and put Mm
on the records of the court and decide every case that they
have on hand correctly and properly in twelve months. Yet
Judge Wood is out running for Governor, absolutely neglect
ing Ms official business (no one can decide a case for him),
asMng you to vote for him when he is thus derefict m Ms
duty. Why doesn't he resign his judgeship if he tMnks he
can be Governor? He answers that he don't want _me to
appoint his successor; that I am not worthy to appoint. I
think anybody could appoint a successor to Judge Wood on
the Supreme Bench. He claims to be a profound laAvyer, yet
he never attended a law school in his life, he never had a
legal education, yet he tells you that I am unAvorthy to appoint
his successor, and he is holding to his office wMle he is run
ning for Governor.
Ladies and gentlemen, I now come to a question in Judge
Wood's life, in his official career, that is unequaled, that has
no parallel in Arkansas politics. He served as circuit judge
from 1887 for six years. Ashley and Drew, two large Demo
cratic, two large white counties, were in the judicial district.
At each term of the court while he served as judge he ap
pointed three men as jury commissioners to select the petit
and grand juries for the next term. Whom do you think he
selected as jury commissioners to do this work? He selected
two wMte men and one negro at every term of the court.
^Did you ever hear of such a thing in Arkansas before?
Would the circuit judge of your district do such a thing? My
fellow-citizens, the statute of this State does not require that
the jury commissioners be even selected from opposite polit
ical parties, and no one would presume that a white man,
bom and raised in the South, would select a negro as a jury
commissioner to select a jury for the country, to pass upon
the right of white people in the civil and criminal courts of
the country. But Judge Wood did this ; he does not deny it.
I have in my possession a certified copy of the records of the
court under the official seal of the clerk of Ashley and Drew
counties showing that he did this. His only excuse that he
made today for his outrageous conduct Avas that he did it in
order to secure the negro vote for circuit judge. My fellow-
citizens, if he would do this to secure the negro vote for
circuit judge, what would he do to be elected Governor of
Arkansas? If he v^ould give negroes this recognition to get
their vote for circuit judge, what recognition would he give
them if he were Governor ?

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 75

My fellow-citizens, he trails in the dust, the dirt and the
mire, according to Ms own confession, the judicial ermine in
order to procure votes for office, and these were the mgger
Votes that he sought. TMs same mantle he now wears as
judge of the Supreme Court. He says he should not be criti
cized now; I say to you that he is trailing Ms mantle in the
dust, not to get votes as Supreme Judge, perhaps, but to get
the influence of the corporations, the railroads, the pools and
combines of tMs country. Am I not justified in maMng this
harsh criticism of Ms record wMch I have shown you before ?
My fellow-citizens, the negro question is the biggest ques
tion now confronting the American people. Teddy Roose
velt is trying to force it upon us, is trying to force negro
equafity in the South. Roosevelt only wanted to eat AAdth
negroes; Judge Wood appointed them as jury commission
ers and on the juries of the country. How would you, my
fellow-citizen, fike to sit on a jury with a negro? His cam
paign manager, George Pugh, has forgotten that at one term
of the court in Ashley County Wood forced his father. Col
onel Pugh, of Hamburg, to serve Avith a nigger as jury com-
nussioner. Do you know what the quafifications of jury commissioners
are? The statute says that they shall be men of good judg
ment, reasonable information and approved integrity. We
do not have any negroes fike that in my country; we do not
have any negroes possessing these quafifications where I live.
Do you in your county?
We will imagine for a moment that Judge Wood is calfing
up three gentlemen who are to serve as jury commissioners
at a term of court. He calls up two wMte men and swears
them, according to these qualifications ; then he calls up a big,
tMck-lipped, kinky-headed negro. Sambo Jones, saying to
him, "Come around here and be sworn as jury commissioner
in tMs honorable court for the next term. Sambo, are you a
man of good judgment?"
"Oh, yas, boss; I'se got good jedgment. My jedgment
nevah is questioned. I'se got the best jedgment of any nig
ger in tMs country. ' '
"Well, Sambo, have you reasonable information?"
"Oh, yas, Jedge; I'se got good information; I knows where
all the hogs is in the bottom, and I knows where all the de
corncribs is that has no locks on 'em. Jedge, I knows where
all the hen roosts is; dat am a fac', and I is a nigger of fine
inflammation."

76 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
"Well, Sambo, what about your integrity?"
"Oh, yas, Jedge; I pleads guilty dat I'se got 'tegrity. My
'tegrity nevah is done been questioned. Now, of cose, Jedge,
my hand jest fits a hog's ear, but, Jedge, I is a nigger of
good 'tegrity; I doesn't shoot any craps; doesn't do notMng
that a mgger oughtn't to do; I is a nigger of the most perfect
'tegrity in dis country."
Ah, my fellow-citizens, imagine a judge appointing such a
character as tMs as a jury commissioner. But, in justifica
tion of this, he says I appointed two negroes as justices of the
peace since I have been in office, in CMcot County.
I want to say to you that I never in my life knowingly
appointed a negro to any office. I find upon examination in
my office that my private secretary in my absence signed a
comnnssion for a negro in CMcot County as justice of the
peace, who had been elected but had failed to be sworn in,
and the sheriff" and the clerk of that county asked that a com
mission be issued to him inasmuch as he had been elected.
This was done without my knowledge. Of course, I am respon
sible for the action of my priA'ate secretary, but I say to you,
ladies and gentlemen, that when I went into office as Gover
nor that I announced tMs rule, and have never knoAvingly
violated it: that no man could be appointed to office under
my adnnnistration unless he Avas a wMte man, a Democrat
and a Jeff Davis man. These have been the qualifications and
the requirements for appointments in my adnnnistration.
Judge Wood's action in appointing these negroes on a jury
was deliberate and vsdlful; not once or tAvice, but at every
term of the court. He says that he did it in order to get rid
of the carpet-baggers in that country. I call your attention,
my fellow-citizens, to the fact that there were no carpet-bag
gers in tMs State in 1887; we ousted the carpet-baggers for
forcing negroes on us, the very tMng that Judge Wood is
doing, and I do not imagine that a negro would smell any
sweeter to a wMte man or be any more preferable if appointed
by Judge Wood than a carpet-bagger. His action in tMs
matter is A\dthout parallel.
Neither his predecessor nor the judges that followed him
ever appointed a negro in these counties, and when he tells
the people that he appointed negroes in order to get rid of
carpet-baggers he must know that Judge Sorrells, a Demo
crat, had served two terms as judge before him, that an inde
pendent Democrat had run against Judge SorreUs at the time
of his last election, and that under these iuAdting circum-

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 77
stances to the Republicans they could not and did not elect a
Republican, or carpet-bagger, as Judge Wood would say.
AsMey nor Drew County had for years had Republican offi
cials, and there were no carpet-baggers in office there at that
time. Judge Wood appointed the negro for his own polit
ical benefit, if anybody's.. The party conditions at that time
will not excuse it. III.
His Pabdon Record.
But, they say I pardon too many people. I don't know,
gentlemen; I may have pardoned too many. Judge Wood
will tell you that since I have been in office I have pardoned
more than seven hundred men, and by tMs statement he would
have you befieve that I pardoned that many out of the peni
tentiary. This is not true; about half this number I have
pardoned and restored to citizenship; that is, when a couAdct
conducts himself properly and shows that he is ready to go
out in life and take up its tangled thread where he left off
and is ready to make a good citizen, it is the policy of the
State just before Ms term expires to restore his citizensMp,
to give back to Mm that which he has lost, to enable Mm to
start out in life again, to give Mm another chance, and about
half the pardons I have granted have been like tMs; one-
fourth has been straight out of the penitentiary.
But, gentlemen, the newspapers do not tell you of more
than seven hundred applications for pardon that I have re
fused. I have Arith me a list of these I have refused to par
don. The newspapers would not publish this list; they have
no room to print the truth, but worlds of space to slander
and abuse me. Gentlemen and fellow-citizens of Carroll
County, I never pardon a man unless the people of the county
in wMch the offense was committed ask me to do it. I never
pardon a man unless the best citizens in the county send me a
petition. I can not know the facts of every case ; I am sup
posed to be governed by what the citizens of the commumty
know about it, and if an offense is committed in the good
county of Carroll, and I received a petition asking me to par
don the offender, signed by the best people of your county,
can not I presume that you are honest? Can not I presume
that you are telling me the truth? Ought you to ask me to
pardon a man that you think should not be pardoned? Don't
you tMnk you ought to treat me fairly? Don't you tMnk you

78 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

ought to treat me honest? Gentlemen, deal fairly Avith me;
do not ask me to pardon a man if you do not tMnk it is right
for me to pardon Mm, and when you see a petition is brought
to you that you do not think is right do not sign it.
Judge Wood says that I pardoned a man by the name of
Simmons in Jackson County wrongfully for selfing wMskey.
TMs case has been settled for two years ; it has gone through
two campaigns, since wMch I have carried Jackson County
by overwhelming majorities. The town of Newport and the
towrisMp in wMch the defendant fives have both gone for
me. These are local matters, and if the people of Jackson
County are satisfied A\dth my action in the Simmons matter,
how does it concern the people of Carroll Coimty and the
State of Arkansas at large?
Here is the petition upon wMch I pardoned Simmons. It
contains nearly five hundred names of the best people in
Jackson County. At Fayetteville, the other day, Judge Wood
said he would give me $10 if I would let Mm have the peti
tion to keep over night so that he might see if there were
some negroes on the petition. My dear Judge, you are very
much interested in negroes. I would have given Mm the
petition for nothing, it is a pubfic record, and he is entitled
to it, but he kept bluffing at me, and I made Mm give me the
ten dollars. I took it over to Goshen, a little village in Wash
ington County, and gave it to a poor Methodist preacher, and
I want to say to you now. Judge, that if you do not stop your
bluffing I am going to bust you or bmld up every little
preacher in tMs country.
But they say that I pardoned a negro — Pomp Brown, of
Conway — for assaulting a white girl. Gentlemen, I am a
Southern man, imbibing all the traditions and sentiments of
the Southern people, and you know full well that I had good
reasons for so doing. In our country when we have no doubt
about a negro 's guilt we do not give Mm a trial ; we mob Mm,
and that ends it ; and I want to say to you, my fellow-citizens,
of Carroll County, that the mere fact that tMs negro got a
trial is evidence that there was some doubt of his guilt. He
was tried before a jury at Morrilton; public excitement was
Mgh; he was given fifteen years in the penitentiary and
served five. The judge who tried him. Judge J. G. Wallace,
now fiAdng at RusselMlle, in this State, wrote me a letter
shortly after I went in as Governor, telling me that he had
doubts about tMs negro's gmlt, and begging me to pardon
Mm. The prosecuting attorney, at that time, Hon. C. C.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 79

Reid, of Morrilton, now Congressman of that district, wrote
me a letter, saying that the negro was not guilty and insist
ing upon his pardon. These two letters Avere accompamed
by a lengthy petition, signed by such men as R. A. DoAvdle,
W. W. Mayo, 0. T. Bentley, J. G. Hanniford, E. 0. Hamon,
W. J. Stowers, W. M. Riddick, brother of the Supreme Judge,
and a number of the most prominent men in Morrilton, tell
ing me that this negro was not guilty and asMng that I par
don him. What else could I do, my fellow-citizens, AAdth such
a shoAring? Recently Judge Wood and Mr. Vandeventer hatched up an
affidavit purporting to be from the young lady's father, but
this affidavit was only procured on the 17th of last month, if
indeed they have an affidavit that is genuine and bona fide.
It was procured for political purposes. More than two years
have elapsed since this pardon was granted; it was never
spoken of until this campaign. The opposition is groAAdng
desperate and must find something that they think will dam
age me in my race. But, my fellow-citizens, I have a copy
of the sworn statement of the father of the young lady, given
to me on the 24th day of October, which is self-explanatory
and which I think ought to settle this question.
IV.
Anti-Teust.
If you will remember I was elected your Attorney General
in 1899, and during the session of the Legislature of that
year what is now commonly known as the Rector Anti-Trust
Law was passed. This law immediately after its passage
became famous, not only in Arkansas but in the South and
the West as well, because of the construction which I, as your
Attorney General, placed upon it.
Shortly after this act was passed the trust agents of this and
other States called upon me to know what construction, what
meaning I would place upon this act. I construed it, my fel
low-citizens, the only way I could construe it; I can under
stand the Engfish language. I could not construe it except
what the plain English of it meant.
My distinguished opponent, Judge Carroll D. Wood, Avill
tell you, and has told the people of this State, that an ordi
nary man can not understand the Anti-Trust LaAv; that it
takes a man vdth trained mind, or that it takes a laAvyer to
understand it. My fellow-citizens, I say to you that the hum-

80 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

blest, the most uneducated sun-burned son of toil can under
stand the plain wording of this plain statute. Get the acts
of 1899 and read for yourself and see if you do not under
stand it. The statute in question reads as folloAvs :
"Any corporation organized either in this State or any
other State, or in any other country and transacting any kind
of business in Arkansas, that shall become a member of any
pool or trust, shall be subject to the penalties of this act and
be fined in any sum not less than $200 nor more than $500
for each day they Adolate this law."
Is this statute easy of comprehension, my fellow-citizens?
Can not any of you understand it? Do you need a laAvyer to
construe it for you? Listen to the statute again: "Any
corporation" — how many does that mean, my fellow-citizens?
Does it not include them all? — "that shall organize either in
tMs State" — it is broader than that — "or in any other State
or in any other country" — does not that include every cor
poration on the face of the earth? — "that shall become a
member of any pool or trust, shall be subject to the penalties
of this act."
I told the trust agents, in construing tMs statute, that it
means that no corporation, no matter where organized,
whether in Hong Kong, China, or New Jersey, the home of
the trusts, that if this same corporation was a member of a
pool or a trust, that it could not come to Arkansas to do
business AAdthout Adolating this statute. This construction
caused consternation in the ranks of the enemy. They imme
diately assembled in Little Rock, more than five thousand
men, had what they pleased to term a "business men's meet
ing," at Glenwood Park, in the city of Little Rock. The
trust agents were there, the trust heelers were there, more
than 5,000 of them. They said they were the business men
of the country, but, my friends, I have a different definition
for business men. The farmer at Ms plow is a business man,
the blacksmith at his auAdl is a business man, the carpenter
in his shop is a business riaan, the railroad employee at Ms
hazardous task is a business man, the lawyer vdth his client,
the minister in the pulpit, the merchant behind his counter,
are all business men. We are all united by a community of
interests binding us together, that comes down to us from the
great WMte Throne of God himself. We are all business
men.

BEN L. GRIFFIN.
Former State Secretary of the Farmers' Union Who Senator Davis Styled
as a "Red-Headed, Sly Old Fox."

CHAPTER VI
GOVERNOR DAVIS'S SPEECH AT BENTONVILLE,
1905. I.
Daatis vs. Berky.
The keynote speech of Governor Davis 's first campaign for
the Senate was made at Bentonville, December 2, 1905, in
joint debate with Senator James H. Berry. Among other
tMngs he said:
Gentlemen and Fellow-Citizens:
I am proud to speak today to such a magnificent audience
of the representative citizenship of Benton County. It is
always a pleasure to me to address the good people of this
county, and I would make almost any personal sacrifice to
meet Avdth and speak to your people. I have never asked a
gift at the hands of the people of my State which has not been
cheerfully and freely accorded me; and I come to you today
Arith the Mghest ambition of my life — the capstone of my
political career. I ask you for the highest office in your
gift — to be the Senator from my native State, an office for
which I have longed since I was a boy. If the people of tMs
State believe that I Avill make them a good and faithful officer
in that position, I ask your suffrage and support ; if not, then
it is your duty as good citizens to support my adversary.
I had thought until recently that I would not have active
opposition in this race. Senator Berry announced in the
beginmng of this campaign that Ms throat was so sore, and
Ms health so much impaired, that he would not make an
active campaign, and that Ms financial condition would not
permit him to do so. I had credited the Senator Avith entire
sincerity until I picked up a copy of the Boone Banner, pub
lished at Harrison, in Boone County, on November 8, in which
Senator Berry announces a list of appointments, beginning
at Mountain Home, in Baxter County, on the 22d of Novem
ber, and concluding I do not know when.
Mr. Chairman and friends, I have iuAdted Senator Berry
to be here today, and am glad that he has accepted. This is
his home, and if there is any place in Arkansas where he
could afford to meet me in joint debate it is certainly in his
home toAAm. I tMnk Senator Berry owes it to the people of
tMs State, and especially to the people of tMs entire county

82 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
and the other counties of his old judicial district, to meet me
at other points, rather than at Bentonville, where he is sur
rounded by Ms friends and partisans; but he has chosen
rather to fix tMs fist of appointments, taMng up the back
trail, as it were, coming in beMnd me, speaMng where I have
spoken, declining to meet me in joint debate after I had writ
ten him iuAdting Mm to meet me at all of my appointments,
and not shoAring to the people of this State that courtesy
and consideration which he has shoAvn in former campaigns.
He met Governor Fishback in joint debate; he met Gov
ernor Jones in joint debate; he did the people of this State
the courtesy to discuss the issues in those campaigns Arith
Ms opponents ; but he says noAV that the joint campaigns are
quite out of order; that his throat vdll not permit him; that
the doctors have advised him not to engage in joint debate;
that his financial condition vdll not permit him to engage in
joint discussion ; yet I say that he is folloAving in my footsteps
and Avill not meet me. Just why, I am at a loss to know,
because I believe, my fellow-citizens, that any man who has
won his laurels, as Senator Berry says he has, 'mid shot and
shell, on the forum, on the political hustings, can afford to
show the people of this State the consideration that is due
them, and that he meet me, his opponent, a mere "young
man," in joint debate and allow you to say who shall be
elevated to this high office.
A letter floated into my room while here today, written by
the Senator from Warren on November 9, in which he says
it is raining doAvn there, and that he A\dll not have much, of a
crowd; in which he says that I am to speak at BentonAdlle
on the 2d of December, and that he is seriously considering
meeting me there, and he asked the gentleman to whom he
wrote this letter to give Mm his most candid judgment as to
whether or not he should meet me in joint debate in his oato
toAvn. Gentlemen, I am not here today to abuse Senator
Berry. If any man has come here to listen at me do this he
Arill have to go away disappointed; I Avill not do so; I like
Senator Berry; he is a good old man; but you must remem
ber that every Democratic Senator that you have had from
this State, save and except one, has gone through the Gov
ernor's office. Senator Berry was your Governor; Senator
Clarke was your Governor; Senator Garland was your Gov
ernor, and every Senator that you have ever had, save Sena
tor Jones, was your Governor. You Avill also remember, my
friends, that Senator Berry has held this office for twenty

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 83

years; that he has been constantly in office since 1866; that
when Ms present term as Senator expires he will have held
tMs office for twenty-two years; certainly, then, he has ac
quired all the honor there is in the office. He will have drawn
$110,000 in salary when his term expires, yet he is too finan
cially embarassed in the beginmng of tMs campaign to make
a joint debate, but he is now seriously considering the pro
priety of meeting his opponent in joint debate at Benton
ville. Ah, my friends, I have never credited the Senator Avdth
insincerity until tMs campaign. You will also remember that
the State Convention, wMch met at Hot Springs last Jime,
passed a resolution that the Senator from this State should
be elected by a popular vote. Senator Berry has always
demanded tMs; has apparently wanted tMs. TMs declara
tion of the Democratic Party is a part of its platform. Sena
tor Berry was a delegate to tMs convention from Benton
County. TMs resolution, demanding that the people of tMs
State should vote on tMs race as a whole, Avas subnutted to
the committee on platform. It was discussed in open meet
ing; every one knew what the report of the committee would
be; Senator Berry kncAV it; every delegate from Benton
County knew it, and that was, that county lines should be
wiped out and that the people of the entire State should vote
on tMs question, and that the candidate receiving the Mghest
number of votes throughout the State should be declared the
Democratic nominee for tMs office, and that the vote of the
people should bind the Democratic State Senators and Repre
sentatives in tMs matter. However, when this resolution
came up for adoption. Senator Berry and the entire delega
tion from Benton were absent. He explains Ms absence by
saying that a fittle cMld, Ms relative, had become seriously
hurt at Bentonville, and that he had a telegram to come home
(I do not suppose the relatives of every delegate from Ben
ton County were in tMs condition.) He says that he left
the convention on tMs account, and that he hastened home;
yet I find that he stopped at Little Rock a whole day and
gave out interAdews to the papers and congratulated Ms
friends on Ms success in being one of the "Big Four" to the
National Convention. I find that he went to Fort Smith the
next day and gaA^e out another interview about Ms wonderful
success, and that he did not reaeh Bentonville until the third
day after he left Hot Springs.

84 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
My friends, I thought that the absence of the entire Ben
ton County delegation, including Senator Berry, when tMs
resolution was adopted, submitting to the Democratic voters
of tMs State the senatorial race, meant sometMng, and I have
contmually prodded the Senator ever since to say pubficly
whether or not he would be bound by tMs resolution, but up
to tMs good day he has not repfied, and I warn my friends
now that the only hope the opposition have to defeat me in
tMs race is to elect a Legislature so unfriendly to my cause
that they vdll disregard the mandates of the Democratic Party
of tMs State. Some of the opposition are so bitter that they
would even elect a Republican Legislature in order to defeat
me, and I wonder if tMs old stage-horse of Democracy, who
has been honored so long, would accept an office contrary to
the overwhelnungly expressed A\dll of the Democracy of tMs
State. He seems to be playing to tMs sentiment; he seems
to be wanting to get in in violation of tMs rule; otherwise,
he would have expressed himself; he would have told the
people of tMs State, as I tell you now, that if Senator Berry
receives the Mghest number of votes cast at the Democratic
primary, he shall have the office. Will he say as much? Can
I induce him to say as much? Perhaps he had better consult
Ms friends in another city, to whom he wrote tMs letter, as
to whether or not he should meet me at BentonAdlle in joint
debate today. I have iuAdted Senator Berry, as I say, to
meet me at all my appointments, but I can not compel him to
come, and in Ms absence I can only lay out the lines of debate
as I myself may suggest. I wish he would meet me, because
it would be more profitable to the people and more pleasant
to me to have these issues fought out in joint campaign
instead of the Senator, who claims to have won his laurels
in joint debate, trailing in my footsteps and declimng to
meet me.
Ladies and gentlemen, I know of no better AA-ay to proceed
Avith tMs discussion than to compare records Avith him; I tell
you of some of the things that I have done since I have been
your Governor, to tell you what Senator Berry did while he
was your Governor ; what he has done since he has been your
Senator, and v'hat I hope to do if I am elected to tMs Mgh
office. You vdll remember, my friends, when I was chosen
Governor, five years ago, almost the entire press of the State
said that if Jeff Davis was elected Governor the State would
go to the bad ; the State would go to the bow-wows ; that it
would be rmned. Now, let us see if tMs prediction has proven

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 85

true ; let us see if tMs statement can be borne out by the rec
ords; let the books be opened; let the records speak.
My fellow-citizens, when I became your Governor, five
years ago, how much was the State of Arkansas indebted?
How much did you owe in valid outstanding indebtedness?
You owed $64,000. Hoav much do you owe today? Ah, my
fellow-citizens, I am proud to say to you that you do not owe
one dollar; that you do not oAve one penny; that the entire
debt of the State, during my administration, has been wiped
out. This has been my Mghest aspiration; it has been one
of my Mghest ambitions, that when I leave the Governor's
office I shall leave my State absolutely free from indebted
ness. But, you may say. Governor, how much money have
you in the State treasury ? Gentlemen, I want to say to you
today that we have in the State treasury, in money and secur
ities convertible into cash, $3,855,000.
But you say. Governor, this is Populism, that it is rot. I
do not know whether there are any Populists here today, and
I do not care. I used to hate the Populists worse than any
man in the State. I used to fight them. In 1888 I was chosen
by the Democracy of tMs State, a freckle-faced, red-headed
boy, as one of their presidential electors, and nothing gave
me more pleasure than to fight the Pops of our State. You
will remember, my fellow-citizens, that in 1888 Grover Cleve
land tried to turn over to the goldbugs the Government of the
Umted States and that 30,000 true and brave souls in this
State rebelled and established the Populist Party. You will
also remember that in 1896, when we nominated the grandest
and truest man the world ever knew — ^William Jennings
Bryan — for President, we stole all the Populists had ; we stole
their platform, we stole their candidate, we stole them out
lock, stock and barrel, and today these same men have come
back into the Democratic Party and are voting the Demo
cratic ticket as bravely and loyally as any men that ever cast
an honest ballot.
Populists — ^why, I used to hate them ; but I did not knoAV as
much then as I do now; I did not have as much sense then
as I have now. These old Populists twenty years ago saw
what we are seeing today. Bryan today is advocating just
what the Populists advocated twenty years ago; that is, the
public ownersMp of public francMses; and I say to you, as
Mr. Bryan says, that if tMs Government does not soon own
public francMses, if it does not soon own public carriers, that
the pubfic carriers will own tMs Government. I came very

86 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
nearly getting mixed up Ari.th "Cyclone" DaAds one time, the
Popufist leader of Texas. I had been invited to make a
speech in Batesville in 1888 while I Avas a mere boy. They
telegraphed for "Cyclone," who was in St. Louis. When I
discovered this, I was almost scared to death, knoAving what
a mighty man he was, but the old Pops received a wire from
Mm saying that he could not come. Some one had slipped
into Ms room the night before and stolen his pants and Ms
money, and the train left so early that he could not get out
and get more, and I have thanked God ever since that
"Cyclone" lost his breeches.
Ah, my fellow-citizens, tMs old Populist Party advocated
some of the grandest doctrines that the world ever knew.
Among them was tMs: that you could legislate prosperity
into a country. I used to befieve that tMs was a fool idea,
but I had not been tangled up AAdth the Arkansas Legislature
as I have since. I thought at that time you might as well
say that a man could take himself by his boot-straps and fift
Mmself over the fence. In a town where he was preacMng,
Sam Jones once found tMs sign, "Vote as you pray." In
Ms sermon that night he said: "Yes, brethren and sisters,
vote as you pray, but be careful that you have no foolish
praying around the house;" and I say to you here that you
can legislate prosperity into a country if you have the right
Mnd of men to do the legislating.
You remember the Hatch Bill. You remember that about
fifteen years ago a fellow by the name of Hatch broke into
Congress of the Umted States. The other fellows looked at
Mm in perfect amazement and said: "Old Hayseed, why
are you here?" He said: "I came from a Democratic
county in Missouri and I am loaded." Loaded Avith what?
"Loaded with a bill to prevent the gamblers from gambling
in the products of the soil of the Southland."
Ah, my fellow-citizens, whether you be growers of corn,
wheat, hogs or cotton, do you control the price of your prod
ucts? I say no. Who does control it? Not the merchant,
because he gives you only prices quoted in the market. Who
controls these quotations? Not you, nor the merchant. You
growers of the products of the soil are as helpless as an
unborn babe ; you do not control the prices of your hogs, your
wheat, your corn, your cotton. Who does control it, then,
you say. Governor? I Arill tell you. There is a crowd of
gamblers in New York City, called the Board of Exchange,
that controls these prices. Did any of you ever visit the

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 87
Board of Exchange in New York? I presume not. I was
there about two years ago. I visited New York Avith Gov
ernor Clarke to try a laAvsuit, and while there we Ad sited this
gambling house. You say. Governor, you should not call it
a gambling house; it is a Board of Exchange. I say to you
that it is a gambling house. The poor boy in this audience
that steals a pig is sent to the penitentiary for larceny. The
man that steals a million dollars or a railroad of this country
is called a financier and sent to Congress. That is the differ
ence. As I say, we went to this gambling house. Let me describe
it to you just for a moment. We went up into a gallery; we
could not get down on the lower floor. I saw there a room
probably about two hundred feet square, and all around the
wall were telegraph instruments ticMng, ticking, ticMng; in
the center was a circle enclosed by a brass railing, perhaps
eighteen inches Mgh. Around this railing, which was per
haps eighteen or tAventy feet in diameter, sat eight or ten
men. I could not hear what they said ; little boys were run
ning from the telegraph instruments to this brass railing
carrying telegrams. How many men comprise this institu
tion called the Board of Exchange? Four hundred — no more,
no less. How much does it cost to be a member? Forty
thousand dollars. There is but one man in Arkansas, so far
as I am adAdsed, that belongs to this institution. His name
is Taylor and he fives at Texarkana.
As I say, these men were sitting there tearing open tele
grams and going yow, yow, yow. I could not understand
what they said, but in less than five minutes Clarke said,
"Jeff, look there!" A price had been posted; they had
changed the price of cotton the world over $5 a bale. Did
they ever OAvn a bale of cotton, my fellow-citizens? Did they
ever see a cotton field ripening under a Southern sun? Do
they ever expect to own a bale? No. What were they
doing? Gambling in the products of the South. As I came
up White River the other day along that stream, more beau
tiful than the Hudson, out of the car vdndow I saw little chil
dren, girls and boys, thinly clad on a cold, frosty morning,
children just as dear to their parents as yours or mine are
to us, picking the cotton, pulfing it from the bolls, their fittle
hands almost frozen.
When I saw this sight, my fellow-citizens, my mind turned
back to that other scene in New York City, where the gam
blers of Wall street sat around the gambling table gambfing,

88 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
not only in the products of the soil of the South, but gam
bfing in the flesh and blood and bone of the children of the
South, and my heart cried aloud: "My God! Is there no
help in Israel? Is there no help for the cMldren of the
South?" Then the old Popufist doctrine announced twenty
years ago came ringing back into my ears, like the voice of
one crying in the AAdlderness, saying: "Yes; organization at
home; obtain friendly legislation in Congress."
Ah, my friends, tMs poor man Hatch said to the other
members : "I am loaded Avith a bill that will stop these gam
blers." You must stop the gamblers, my fellow-citizens, be
cause if you stop the plows and hoes of the South, if you stop
the cMldren, this old Republic will tremble and crumble into
dust. You must stop the gamblers. Hatch said we will stop
them. The other members of Congress asked in amazement,
"How?" "We AAdll tax them out of business; we Avill tax
the cotton gamblers ten cents a bale on every bale of cotton
they sell; we Avill tax the wheat gamblers, the gamblers in
wheat and other products, and we Avill put them out of busi
ness, ' '
Did you know, my fellow-citizens, that these gamblers sold
75,000,000 bales of cotton last year against your 13,000,000-
crop? And yet you tell me that they do not control the price
of cotton? I say that it does. Hatch wanted to put a pro
hibitive tax on these gamblers. The bill was introduced and
passed through the House of Representatives like fire in a
stubblefield. It went to the Senate; there it met opposition.
Who was the first man that opposed it? Turn, my fellow-
citizens, to the Congressional Record, volume 26, part 2, of
of the Fifty-second Congress, second session, page 1857, and
there you vdll find the vote on tMs bill, and the first name
that appears of those who voted against this Hatch bill was
that of Senator Berry, of Arkansas, also that of Senator
Mills of Texas, Butler of South Carolina, Senator Coke and
other Senators who stood in opposition to this great reform,
which the farmers of this Union demanded ; and, I am proud
to tell you today that every Senator, living in a Southern
State, in a cotton-groAving State save Senator Berry, who
voted against this bill has been defeated.
What became of the bill? It was lost in the Senate. Sena
tor Berry said in his speech, printed, as I have shown you,
in this record, that it Avas unconstitutional ; that it was licens
ing the gamblers. Hatch said: "No, Senator, it is not
ficensing the gamblers. We simply want to tax them out of

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 89
business. We want to put a prohibitive tax on these gam
blers." But the Hatch biU was defeated, the gamblers were
successful. Poor Hatch went back home, the gamblers
bought Ms district and a Republican was sent to Congress in
his stead and he died of a broken heart.
_ Senator Berry tells you now, my fellow-citizens, that this
bill was unconstitutional, that it was licensing gambling, and
for this reason he would not support it; that he supported
the bill introduced by Senator George, who was a great law
yer, he said. Ah, my fellow-citizens, the George bill was
introduced in the Senate as a substitute for the Hatch bill;
it was defeated as a substitute in the Senate, and when it
came to a vote on the Hatch bill. Senator George refrained
from voting, saying he would not vote against this measure.
Yet Senator Berry did. Hatch is dead, and the cause is
injured. I say to you today that what the Senate of the
Umted States needs is a man Avho will stand on the Avatch-
tower and cry loud and spare not. I say to you today that
it would scarcely be unconstitutional to take this croAvd of
thieves and gamblers out and hang them; and I want to tell
you that if you will send me to the United States Senate, I
\rill let tMs crowd know that I am in town when I get there.
But Senator Berry says : ' ' Governor, you do me a great
injury. I have a bill noAv, better than the Hatch bill; a bill
that Avill stop gambling in the products of the soil." When
did you introduce it. Senator? Ah, my felloAv-citizens, I hold
it here in my hand; it is Senate Bill No. 7201, introduced by
Senator Berry on the 15th day of February, 1905, read twice
and referred to the committee on judiciary, and there it rests.
Ladies and gentlemen, here and now I challenge Senator
Berry, or any friend he has in Arkansas, to show one bill
bearing the name of Berry that has ever become a law in
the United States. During the twenty years of service in
the Senate he has passed no bill of any character. If he
could not do this in twenty years, how can he hope in the
declining years of Ms official life to be of any benefit to his
people? He says, "Governor, I have a bill now that Avdll
stop the gamblers." What is it. Senator? On exarmnation,
my fellow-citizens, I find it but a copy, absolutely a copy, of
the old George bill. He says that he Avill put these gamblers
in the penitentiary. Senator, don't you tMnk it is a little
late now to introduce this bill? Don't you tMnk you had bet
ter have helped poor Hatch when he was alive? Don't you
tMnk you would have better voted for the Hatch bill and for

90 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF. DAVIS
the interests of the farmers of the South, and let the courts
have determined its constitutionafity ?
Hatch has been dead now for years, Ms bill has been
defeated ; you introduced your bill on the 16th day of Febru
ary, 1905. Its "runmng time" now. Senator; don't you
tMnk the people of tMs State can understand your motive?
Ah, my felloAV-citizens, Senator Berry says he will put the
gamblers in the penitentiary. If he can do tMs I say, amen I
I Avill be glad to help Mm. But don't you tMnk he ought to
have tried tMs long years ago, and not now, while he is in
the toils, Avhen he declines to be governed by a majority of
the Democratic votes of tMs State, and when Ms county
(Benton), once 1,900 Democratic majority, only gave me
twenty -nine majority against the Republican candidate,
Myers, in the last election? Of course. Senator Berry voted
for me, but he Avinked in the other eye, and I came very near
losing his county. I did lose Ms township (Osage).
Don't you think. Senator, it would have been better to have
helped this cause long years ago? "But," you say, "I Anil
put the gamblers in the penitentiary ; Ave will not license them
as poor Hatch wanted to do, as you saj^" Ah, my fellow-
citizens, I want to tell you that Senator Berry's bill, a copy
of the George bill, wMch defeated the Hatch bill, is a fraud
and a subterfuge. Let me shoAV you why. Suppose today
I should go to the telegraph office in this toAvn and Avire to a
broker in Ncav York City to buy me a thousand bales of cot
ton or ten thousand bushels of v^heat at a given price, and it
should be bought, and I should be brought into the Federal
Court under Senator Berry's bill, to be put in the peniten
tiary. The judge would ask me, "Davis, did you not buy
cotton or Avheat on the 18th day of November in Fayetteville,
in the State of Arkansas, in violation of tMs bill?" I could
truthfully ansAver that I did not. Why, my fellow-citizens?
Because I only sent a telegram to Ncav York City ; the trans
action is spfit ; half of it is in Arkansas ; half in New York
City. _
I Avill make it so plain that no man can misunderstand it.
This is a proMbition toAvn; you can not buy wMskey here
legally. If some gentleman in the audience Avants a gallon
of wMskey he goes to a telephone office, phones to Fort
Smith, and has a gallon of whiskey sent to Mm at Fayette
ville. He gets drunk, and we have all the disgraceful scenes
incident to a drunken man. Your circmt court brings him
before the grand jury and asks him if he did not on the 18th

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 91
of November, buy a gallon of whiskey in FayetteAdlle, and he
says no, that he did not. The judge asks him, "Did you not
have wMskey here?" He says he did. "How did you get
it?" He says, "I sent a phone message to Fort Smith, and
a saloon keeper there sent the gallon of whiskey to me here. ' '
Don't you see, my fellow-citizens, that the transaction is
split? Half of it in Fort Smith, half of it in Fayetteville.
Can't you see that this bill of Senator Berry, proposing to
put these gamblers in the penitentiary, is a fraud, a subter
fuge — that it can not be enforced? Senator Berry, I want
to ask you, WTiy did you not help poor Hatch when he had
Ms bill in the Senate? You said then it was unconstitutional,
and you would not help him. You have copied that George
bill since, because you see you are in the toils. It is "run
ning time" now. Senator; "running time."
But Senator Berry says v^e had too much politics in Ark
ansas; that the State is agitated; that the State is ruined;
that in the last five years we have turned father against son,
brother against brother; that the State is .absolutely de
stroyed by politics. I want to say to you, my fellow-citizens,
that I do not believe that you Avill ever hurt any pubfic trans
action to turn the sunlight of truth upon it. Senator Berry
says there is too much politics. How do you ladies in this
audience make butter? Do you make it by setting your chum
in the yard and letting it set there all day? No; you take
the dasher and stir, and stir, and stir; then you get golden,
yellow butter. How does God purify the atmosphere? By
fiffhtning. This is the only remedy He has provided. It may
MH some men, but that is the only remedy.
What did the Master say to the apostles in regard to the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? He said : "Go ye into all
the world and preach the Gospel." Agitate, stir. How do
you purify yonr water? Ah, my fellow-citizens, is there a
man in this audience that has a well at Ms house with an old-
fashioned windlass on it? Go out tomorrow rnoraing and
draw a bucket of water from your well; pour it back, and
pour it back, and pour it back. Work this Avay until break
fast time. Scientists tell us that agitation of your water
gives it fife and strength and vitality. Stir your well. Stir
it up from the bottom. It makes it better, but you do not
stir a well that has mud in it. Don't stir that Mnd of a well.
But I say, .gentlemen, take the well-bucket of truth and go to
the very bottom of every well of public transaction and stir
it up.

92 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
Senator Berry says there is too much pofitics. He has not
seen any pofitics yet. I have not got started. It is like an
old man that lived in Thayer, Mo., who had never seen a rail
road train. (You know this is only three miles from the
Arkansas fine on the north.) He said to his son. Bill, one
morning: "Take me down there and let me see that thing."
His son carried him down there. A freight train Avas run
ning through the mountains, wMzzing around the curves at
about thirty miles an hour. Bill said, "Father, Avhat do you
tMnk of it?" and the latter repfied, "Stop it. Bill; stop it.
It AAdll Mil somebody in the country." His son answered,
"Why Father, it has been running here for two months and
has not hurt anybody yet." He said, "l''es. Bill, but the
durned thing is running endways now ; wait till it turns side
ways and it Avill kill everything in the country." So I say
to Senator Berry that this senatorial race has hardly started
yet ; wait until the senatorial race turns sideways and he Arill
see some politics. in.
Statehouse a Steal.
Did I not tell you, my fellow-citizens, that your Statehouse
was a steal? Did I not tell you this six years ago, when I
ran for Governor? They said they only wanted to spend one
milhon dollars on this building. I tried to stop them. I knew
that they could not build it for this amount, and I told you
that every man connected AAdth it would not live long enough
to see tMs scandal and disgrace obfiterated. The contract
provides that it should be built for a milfion dollars, from
pure marble stone, excavated from the quarries near Bates
Adlle. My opponent in the last race for Governor said it could
not cost more than a milfion dollars, because the bond and
contract cafied for this sum. I told you that it could not be
built for this amount, and on the 29th day of last July I sat
in the courtroom in Pulaski County and heard a sfick, smooth
scoundrel, by the name of Caldwell, one of the contractors,
swear that he had paid $17,500 to buy the Arkansas Legis
lature. _ Buy them for what, my fellow-citizens? Buy them
to do right? No; buy them to do wrong; buy them to place
an additional tax burden of $800,000 upon the shoulders of
the people of my State.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 93
When I heard this statement my heart bled for Arkansas.
I love her hills; I love her valleys; I love her history; I love
her traditions; I love her past; I love her future. Here I
was born, here mj^ wife Avas born, here we were married, here
my children Avere born, and when I die I hope to be buried
in the Avarm and tender embrace of my native State. And
when tMs scoundrel said that he paid $17,500 to bribe the
Legislature to place this tax burden of $800,000 on the shoul
ders of the people of this State, my heart bled for Arkansas.
He" said he paid it to your Legislature. This was a cheap
Legislature if he could buy them for this amount.
I told you six years ago that this Capitol could not be built
for a milfion dollars, and I have told you this every campaign
since. Two years ago my opponents said that they had a
bond, a contract for a million dollars, and that nothing more
could be spent in the erection of this building, but when I
went into the PulasM Circuit Court, in the trial of the boodle
cases of tMs State, I found that this bond and contract
opened at one end to let them in and opened at the other end
to let them out. Like the nigger's fish trap, it caught them
"comin' and gAAdne." It was a contract to let them in and
to let them out, and I say to you today, my fefiow-eitizens,
tMs building AAdll not be erected for less than $3,000,000, if
constructed according to the original plans and specifications.
Did any of you ever see the State Capitol building? I
hope you have. It covers eight acres of floor space. You
could "put every man, woman and child in Arkansas, stand
them up just as this audience is today, inside this building,
and then leave plenty of room for me to beat Senator Berry
for the Senate ; and if we could get this race pulled off under
the shelter inside this building perhaps the Senator would
jig around on the corners and let me meet him. He Avill not
do so now.
This man Caldwell says that he paid $17,500 to buy the
Arkansas Legislature. To whom did he pay it? He said
he paid it to a man named Tom Cox, who has controfied the
Arkansas Senate for the last ten years, and a man named
M. D. L. Cook, a dirty, sfick boodler, who was formerly finan
cial agent for the penitentiary. Mr. Rogers says that 1
elected Cook financial agent of the penitentiary. This is
false. He was elected financial agent during Governor
Jones's administration. I never voted for him in my fife.
I always knew that he was a boodler and scoundrel, and have
told the people of this State so for the past four years.

94 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

Mr. Caldwell says he paid $17,500 to these two men to buy
the Arkansas Legislature. Did I not tell you six years ago,
and in every campaign that I have made since then, that Cox
and Cook should be in the penitentiary, that they should have
stripes on them? Have I not told you, my fellow-citizens,
that we were going to turn Red River through the Statehouse,
that we were going to clean out that old gang there? They
blocked up the old stream for awMle; they dammed it up,
but, thank God, we have got it opened now, and it is turned
toward the Statehouse, and we are going to clean it out.
I crossed Buffalo River, a stream in Northwest Arkansas,
a few days ago. It was so sAvift and people were floating
logs down it so that I had to hire a guide to conduct me
across it. The logs were floating so rapidly that this guide
had to wade in and push logs back while I could wMp my
horse across. I thank God we have a guide at Little Rock.
His name is Levds Rhoton. He has a backbone of steel, as
big as tMs old grip I carry, and I Arish he were a candidate
for Governor. He is after those thieves and boodlers. He
is after Cox and Cook, and if you AAdll just be patient for a
short while we AAdll show you Cook and Cox Avith two of the
prettiest pairs of striped breeches on you ever saw in your
fife. How is Cook, this boodler, to get out of the peniteti-
tiary? There is but one way, ladies and gentlemen, and that
is for him to be pardoned out. I say to you that I have some
sympathy for a man who, in the heat of passion, Mils his
fellow-man, or, from other cause, commits some other crime;
but I want to tell you, here and now, that I have only con
tempt for the man who Avill go to the Capital City as a mem
ber of the Legislature and sell his vote, corrupt Ms honor
and betray the people of his country; and if any of these
boodlers and bribe-takers get in the penitentiary, I want to
say to you that they Avill rot there, as far as I am concerned ;
that there is no pardon on ice waiting for them from me.
How is Cook to get out of the penitentiary? There is but
one way, and that is the election of Bob Rogers as your Gov
ernor. Cook says publicly on the streets of Little Rock that
he does not give a d — n how often he is convicted, if Bob
Rogers is elected Governor: that Bob Rogers Arill pardon
him. Laflies and gentlemen, I say to you today that I am not
here for the purpose of dictating to you how you shall vote,
or who shall manage the State Government of Arkansas. I
shall soon surrender the reins of government to some other
official, be that who he may ; but I believe that it is my duty,

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 95

as your pubfic servant, to tell you what I know as to the char
acter and surroundings of tMs man Rogers. I say to you
that he ought not to be elected your Governor. I say today,
as I have said aU over this State and in Ms presence, that he
is the wilfing tool, that he is the servant of the worst gang
of tMeves and boodlers that ever attempted to loot the treas
ury of the State.
_ He said at Cross Roads, in WMte County, when I charged
Mm thus as their candidate, that he barely knew Cook, that
he had never seen Mm but once, and that was when he was a
mere boy and Ms nose was broken in a game of ball; that
Cook took him to a pump and washed his face and sent him
to a hospital, and that he had never seen Cook since, and that
he did not know Cook, tMs boodler and bribe-giver. Ladies
and gentlemen, I knew this was not true. My office door
opens just in front of the Attorney General's, and I have
seen Cook during the session of the last Legislature go in
and out of the Attorney General's office so often and so fast
that I thought he would set the old building afire. You can
ask your Representative if it were necessary that he should
be approached to know that there was boodling going 014
there. It was so tMck you could cut it Avith a knife; you
could see it and smell it and feel it.
Bob Rogers and M. D. L. Cook, during the last session of
the Legislature, were as busy as two cranberry merchants;
they were awful tMck ; yet Bob Rogers tells you in his speech
that he barely knew Cook. Gentlemen, I want to tell you
just what did occur: At Cross Roads, in White County, I
charged Mm with being the candidate of tMs gang of tMeves
and boodlers and he said, "I have never had a business
transaction AAdth Cook." I knew tMs was not true, and I
charge here and noAV that this gang in Little Rock paid Ms
campaign expenses in Ms race for Attorney General; and
when he said in Cross Roads, Wliite County, that he never
had a business transaction with Cook, I knew it was false,
and later I bought from the TavIu City Bank, in Argenta,
Ms note wMch had been protested for nonpayment. I bor
rowed $486.10 to buy his note. Why did I do it, my fellow-
citizens? To expose the poverty of Bob Rogers? No; I
bought it to show to the people of tMs State that he was too
tMck Avith tMs crowd. Who is tMs note signed by? Read
it. I have sent it to you all. It is signed by Robert L. Rog
ers. By whom is it endorsed? It is endorsed first by Wal
lace W. DicMnson, who has 300 couAdcts leased ; next, by J. J.

96 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
Ball, who has 200 convicts leased; next, by M. D. L. Cook,
tMs boodler, perjurer and bribe-giver, who has 150 convicts
leased, with whom Bob Rogers has deafings every day in the
management of the penitentiary.
But he says that he did not know that Cook was a boodler
or bribe-giver, or he would not have let Cook go on Ms note.
Ah, my f eiloAv-citizens ; at Cross Roads he said he would let
a mgger go on his note. Ah, gentlemen, Ave do not want a
man for Governor who would let a nigger go on Ms note.
Recently, when the President was here, I helped entertain
Mm. There must have been 40,000 people in our Capital
City, one-half of whom were niggers. I never saw as many
niggers in my fife. I had to take four baths to take the smell
off' my person. The papers say that I did not treat the
President courteously. I stayed with him all day; I showed
Mm all the courtesy any official could shoAV another ; but when
we came to the banquet table, I found that Powell Clayton
was to sit at the same table, and I said, "Mr. President, I
can not eat vdth the old one-armed villain; Ms hell-hounds
and Adllains murdered my aunt in Little River County during
the Reconstruction."
Many a night has my mother laid out with me, a baby, in
the woods, to escape the ravages of these demons. He mur
dered our citizens, he pillaged our homes, he depleted our
treasury, and my mother would have no respect for me if I
should sit down and eat with him. The food would sour on
my stomach. I delivered the President to the banquet hafi,
where the luncheon was being served, and I said to the guard,
"Cut the ropes; let me out. My God, let me away from
Powell Clayton and his nigger gang!" Ah, my fellow-citi
zens, I did not eat vdth PoAvell Clayton, and the next time
you hear from Jeff Davis he will not be sitting as Senator
Berry did, at a banquet board Arith this despoiler of our
homes. But Bob Rogers said that he would let a nigger go on Ms
note; that he was so poor; that he was a boy just raised in
the sticks; that he Avorked for a poor old AAddowed mother,
and he cries and says that he never had but one mother, and
cries and cries. He says he vdfi MU me if I tell some inci
dent in his private fife. Ah, ladies and gentlemen, Ms life
must be dark, indeed, when he threatens to kill your Gover
nor, to commit murder, if it be disclosed.
He says he did not know Cook was a boodler. Read the
note wMch I have purchased from the Twin City Bank. You

"W...

,«^^^^^^jftl.w.,a^

EX-GOV. GEORGE W. DONAGHEY.
To Whom Jeff Davis Referred in His Conway Speech as
"Honest George," and Who I^ater Became His
Most Bitter Political Antagonist.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 97
will see it is dated on June 7, 1905. At this time the boodle
prosecutions were under full sway. All the boodlers had
been indicted, everybody knew that Cook was a boodler except
Bob Rogers. Cook A\dll be convicted; he will be sent to the
penitentiary ; so will Cox. Their cases wdll be appealed from
the circuit to the Supreme Court. Who will have to prose
cute them in the Supreme Court? Bob Rogers. Don't you
tMnk he is a little too tMck vdth tMs gang?
I am not here to dictate who shall be your Governor. Judge
Little is a candidate, and also Mr. Sevier. They are not
mixed up vdth tMs crowd of tMeves, and I befieve that the
honest yoemanry of tMs State, when they know Bob Rogers,
will decfine to vote for Mm. The treasury of tMs State is
full of money. Like an old bee tree, which has bursted in the
woods, tMs gang can smell, feel and almost taste it. They
have been kept out of the Governor's office for almost five
years; they are hungry, and they want to get their hands in
the State treasury up to their armpits. I have kept them out.
Be careful how you vote. If I were called upon to select a
candidate for Governor, I could pick a thousand men that
would suit me better than any of the opponents of Bob Rog
ers, but I know them to be honest men, and I advise you to
be careful how you vote. I have never yet told you a tMng
in politics that has not proven true — our Statehouse, our
penitentiary, all have proven just as I told you — and I ask
you now to be careful. IV.
The Penitentiaby Ckowd and Senator Davis.
Among other things Governor Davis discussed at Benton
ville were the State convict farm and what he called "the
pemtentiary crowd." SpeaMng of the State farm, he said:
' ' They found there miasma, frogs, tadpoles, pestilence, dis
eases and Johnson grass; they found a stockade, 30 by 40,
Avith fifty men confined therein — niggers and white men there
together. They found they were almost wMpped to death,
starved to death, eaten up Avith lice, sores all over their
bodies ; they found that a man by the name of Bradford, son
of the Commissioner of Mines, Manufactures and Agricul
ture, a member of the penitentiary board, was doing the whip
ping; they found that he had a perfect mania for the whip
ping ; that he whipped one white man three times in one day ;
that he whipped him until the blood slashed in his shoes and

98 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
until he fell prostrated in the row, until they thought he
was dead. Yet Bob Rogers says they are reforming the
penitentiary. Who is it, my felloAv-citizens, that runs the pemtentiary?
Bob iiogers, Mr. Ludwig and Mr. Bradford. Doctor Moore
and myself, iiie other two members of the pemtentiary board,
have no more to do with it than an unborn babe. We are in
the minority. They will not let us manage it. But Bob
Rogers says they have reformed the penitentiary since he
has been Attorney General; that it is now in good condition.
I say to you that mggers are guarding wMte men on the
wafis of the pemtentiary, armed with rifles and authorized
to Mil. I say to you that mggers are guarding wMte men
at the railroad camps in tMs State, armed and prepared to
MU. TMs is in direct violation of the statutes. Mr. Pitcock,
the superintendent of the penitentiary, admitted that this
was the case, and, by resolution of the board recently passed,
he was instructed, on my motion, to refrain from further use
of negro guards.
Bob Rogers says that he has reformed the penitentiary.
Ah, my fellow-citizens, I want to tell you that tMs peniten
tiary, under the present management, is as rotten as hell
itself, and if I were on a jury in your county I would hesi
tate long before I sent a wMte man to tMs hell-hole of filth
and corruption for a trivial offense.
Did you know that your last Legislature passed an appro
priation of more than a million dollars in excess of your
taxes for the next two years, if I had permitted it to stand?
One Saturday afternoon I felt a veto spell coming over me,
and I vetoed $150,000 of this foolish, reckless appropriation
before I went to supper; when I came back I vetoed a lot
more. The $150,000 was for the penitentiary — $70,000 to pay
on the convict farm, wMch is worthless; $50,000 to pay for
the support of the convicts; and the balance to pay the sala
ries of the officers. I said to them: "Gentlemen, you can
steal what the convicts, eight hundred in number, make, but
I iwear by all the gods in the calendar that you shall not
steal and use in riotous living the money of the taxpayers of
the people of Arkansas; you shall not get your hands in the
State treasury. If you can not make these eight hundred
lable-bodied convicts self-sustaining, you Avill have to get
another Governor and another Legislature before you can
steal the tax money of the people of tMs State to support
them."

THE^LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 99
Ah, my fellow-citizens, this penitentiary gang is mad today;
they are as mad as they can be. Why? Because I have
dehorned that crowd in Little Rock. They are walMng
around the streets like ar old cow Arith one horn knocked off;
they do not know where to get the money to pay this man
Bradford for whipping the couAdcts to death, or the preacher
for praying for them, or the scoundrel at the couAdct farm
for starving them to death. They are mad, my fellow-citi
zens ; they are awfully mad ; but I tell you, my fellow-citizens,
that as long as I am Governor they shall never steal the tax
money of the people to support the convicts of the State.
But they say, ' ' Governor, you are a bad man ; you pardon
too many people; you have pardoned eight or nine hundred
men since you have been Governor." I do not know, ladies
and gentlemen, but I would to God I had legal excuse to par
don more of them today. I am always glad to reach down
and pull a boy out of hell and give him back to his mother;
I am always glad to pull a poor fallen man from this cess
pool of filth and corruption, the Arkansas penitentiary, and
start Mm out again on the road of right living.
Ladies, they call me the pardoning Governor of the State.
I am glad to be called the pardonins: GoA'^emor; I am glad
that I have been able, during my administration, to lift so
many shadows and sorrows from the hearts and homes of
the people of my State; I am glad that I have been able to
make so many hearts happier, because of the pardoning
power. My fellow-citizens, never criticise a man because he
is merciful. What is mercv? Mercy is God. God is mercy.
Without mercy we would have no God. The sunshine, the
flowers, the birds, the trees, the brooks — everything in nature
tells us in glad, loving tones of God and His merf^y. Do not
be unkind to a man because he is merciful; you do not know
what shadoAT lies across your pathway; you do not know
what cloud overhan.a's your home. My bov today, a student
at the State Universitv, the pride of my heart, mav commit
an offense before mghtfall that will incarcerate him in a
felon's cell; and I say to you, ladies and gentlemen, that if
it were true, I would crawl to Little Rock, if it were possible,
I would crawl at the very feet of the Governor, I would wash
Ms feet with my tears to obtain his pardon. Don't be unMnd
to a man because he is merciful.
I witnessed the most tender scene at Calico Rock a few
days ago while I was there that I ever witnessed in my life.
A poor woman was there when I walked into the hotel. She

100 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS'
had with her six little cMldren, who were tMnly clad. I
could tell they were poor and distressed. When I walked
into the hotel; she grasped me by the hand and said: "Is
this Governor Davis?" I told her yes, and asked her what
she wanted. She said she wanted to talk to me about her
husband; that she wanted me to pardon him. She told me
her name and broke down crying, and then the children went
to crying; so did I. Ah, my friends, if you had passed the
hotel at that time you would have thought that there was a
funeral there. There was weeping and moaning there. T
told this poor woman that I could not pardon her husband
because he was a fugitive from justice; that she would have
to have him surrendered before I could pardon him. This
did not satisfy her or the children, and I have been unable
yet to get this terrible scene from my mind. I can see this
woman and the six little pitiful children in my dreams; I can
hear them as I sleep. Ah, gentlemen, do not be unMnd to a
man that is merciful.
A few days ago I went into mv office one Sunday morning,
and there sat a woman Arith two fittle sirls, ragged and bare
footed. As I walked in, she said: "Is this Governor Davis?"
I told her ves, and asked her name, and she said her name
was Mrs. Harris: that she liA^ed in Pike County. I saAv she
was footsore and tired; her shoes were worn and her dress
bedraggled. I nsked her what she wanted, and she said the
pardon of her husband. She had no lavrver, no petition, but
I listened to her pitiful story. She said her husband was
accused of shootinsr at a man. I asked her if he had hurt
the man. Her renlv, mv fellow-citizens, mav make you lau.<rh,
but it did not make me laugh. She said, "No, Governor; he
never totched the man." But, ladies and gentlemen, that
pathetic story "totched" me, and I befieve it touched the
great White Throne of God. I told her I would look into
her case, and on the following Tuesday when I was in my
office I examined the case, vdth the result that I sent a par
don into the blue mountains of Pike County, Avhich "totched"
that fittle home and the hearts of that woman and little chil
dren that were Avith her, and I believe that the Recording
Angel of God dipped Ms wing in a fount of eternal gold and
wrote to my credit that deed of charity, that act of kindness.

CHAPTER VII
SENATOR DAVIS'S CELEBRATED COB-WEB SPEECH.
L
Suppression of Pools, Trusts and Combinations in Trade.
December 11, 1907, nine days after Jeff Davis entered the
United States Senate, he delivered a celebrated speech on
"The Suppression of Pools, Trusts and Combinations in
Trade." It shattered precedents, which usually constrain a
new member to keep silent for at least a year before he makes
a speech on the floor of the Senate. In an interview widely
published a few days later, he said that he had "sAvept the
cob-webs off the ceiling of the Senate Chamber" with his
great speech, wMch was more than a nine days' wonder at the
Capitol.
The Senate having under consideration the hill (S. 100) to suppress pools,
trusts, and comhinatlons in trade and to provide penalties for violations of
its provisions, and for other purposes —
Mr. Davis said:
Mr. President : It was not my purpose when I entered this
honorable body to retain my seat in silence, if possible, until
my hair should have grown gray in service, until I had grown
out of the knowledge of my constituents and lost my identity
Arith them. It was my ambition, sir, to present quickly, fear
lessly, forcefully, and as intelligently as I might, some of the
fiAdng and Adtal questions which are today before the Amer
ican people and in which they are deeply and vitally inter
ested. I know of no question, sir, before the American people
that lies closer to their great throbbing hearts than that ques
tion the proper solution of which is in this bill under con
sideration. Mr. President, it would be useless of me, in this body of
eminent lawyers, to attempt a strict legal definition of a trust,
but I shall content myself, sir, Arith that common, every-day
definition known and understood of all men — that is, any
combination of capital having for its object and purpose the
restraint of trade or the fixing of prices.
Ah, sir, the question before the American people today is.
Is a trust a good thing? If it is, Mr. President, then in the
name of the toiling masses of the earth, in the name of the
men upon whose shoulders the burdens of government rest, I
ask that we have more of them. If they are bad tMngs, then

102 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
in the name of the power that is vested in this body and in
the Congress of the United States, I ask, sir, that trusts be
suppressed ; that trusts be destroyed. The object and purpose
of this bill is indicated in its title, which shows the purpose for
wMch the bill is framed; that is that trusts, pools, conspir
acies, and combinations in restraint of trade and unlawful
attempts to fix prices be suppressed, be destroyed.
Mr. President, the bifi speaks for itself. Without reading
it at length, how plain, how simple are its terms. Section 1
of the bill proAddes, in short, that any corporation organized
under the laws of the United States of America, or under the
laws of any other country, and transacting any kind of inter
state or international business in the United States of Amer
ica, that shall become a member of any pool or any trust, shall
be subject to the penalties prescribed by this bill and come
under its prohibitions.
Ah, Mr. President, this is a simple bill, but it is far-reach
ing. Its consequences can not be in a short discussion of this
Mnd foretold. I am told that perhaps the bill would not accom
plish the purposes sought. I assert, sir, most emphatically,
that if this bill becomes a law and is honestly and intelligently
enforced, it Arill suppress trusts. What is the language of the
bill? "Any corporation." Does not that include them all?
Organized where ? Anywhere in the United States of America
or in any country on earth. That shall do what? That shall
engage in or become a member of any pool or any trust for
the purpose of fixing prices unlawfully shall come within the
pains and under the penalties of this bill. Sir, do not the
words "any trust" embrace all trusts organized anywhere
in this land or elsewhere? I say that this bill reaches the
desired result. What is the result desired? To MU trusts.
I shall not enter into any long dissertation upon the ori,gin
of trusts or the cause of their origin. It suffices to say that
trusts are here, that trusts are Arith us. How can they be de
stroyed? Why should they not be destroyed? Shall they be
permitted to run riot in this land?
Mr. President, section 2 of this bill provides that in the case
of a riolation of its proAdsions by a domestic corporation or
ganized under the laws of the United States we shall take
away their charter rights to transact business in this country,
and in case of violation by a foreign corporation the bill pro
hibits it entering upon our shores. Have we the power to do
that? Is there a laAvyer on this floor — I challenge Mm to the
contest — ^is there a laAvyer on this floor who would deny the

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 103
right of tMs Government to say to a home corporation, "If
you engage in tMs Mnd of business we will take from you your
charter; we will take from you your corporate rights to do
business?" Can any man deny that tMs Government, in its
sovereign capacity, has the right to say to a foreign corpora
tion engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to fix prices, ' ' You
shaU not come into our country ? ' '
Ah, sir, the CMnaman by the law of the United States is
proMbited from coming to our shores, and any foreigner may
be restricted in Ms rights and subject to the restrictions of
human society. Then, sir, if a man made in the image of God
can be met at the very borders of our country and told that
he shaU not cross the border fine, I ask why it is that it may
be insisted that we have no power to stop a corporation — a
creature of the law — a law-made creature — that we can not
stop them there? That would be strange indeed. If we have
the power, as undemably we have, then AriU some Senator rep
resenting the majority on tMs floor have the Mndness to teU
me why we do not do it?
It may be said that we have a sufficient anti-trust law; that
the Sherman Act of 1890 is amply sufficient to meet tMs emer
gency. Is that true? Ah, Mr. President, I have only to quote
you the language of Judge Grosscup, one of the most eminent
jurists upon the Repubfican side in tMs land, who recently
made a speech in Coiumbus, Ind., in which he said that if we
but call the fist of all the great so-called "trusts" orgamzed
since the passage of the Sherman Act we would be calling the
fist of all the great trusts and corporations of the day. Judge
Grosscup asked the pertinent question, "Have wages been
increased or has the cost of living been reduced by the efforts
at enforcement of the Sherman law?" He said, "No." Mr.
President, can Ms word be disputed; can this statement be
demed? Has there been an honest and effective effort to
crush a single trust under the Sherman Act? If there has
been, AriU the majority lay their hand on it? If you have
crippled one, tell me where you hit it? You have not even
crippled a trust; you have not lamed a trust, and you have
not disturbed a trust.
Mr. President, the bill wMch I here propose intends to Aripe
trusts off the face of the earth. You have the power to do it.
Let the Democrats in this body, let the men from the South
and West stand by me in this contest, and I promise you that
this bill shall not be lacMng in effectiveness, neither shall it
take the course that has been the fate of other trust bills.

104 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
sleeping the sleep that knoAVS no waMng in committee rooms.
Mr. President, 1 am in earnest upon tMs subject. I mean what
I say. Senators, what are some of the other features of tMs bill?
The fui"ther down into the bill you get the better it is; the
deeper you dig, the more sound Democratic doctrine you find.
Who created the trusts ? What were the causes wMch led to
their formation? Before the Industrial Commission ap
pointed by Congress for that purpose, Mr. Smith, in summing
up the testimony of the Aritnesses there, took the testimony
first, of Mr. Havemeyer, the great sugar king. Mr. Have-
meyer is dead and gone to Ms reward; whether a good or bad
one I do not know; but, at least, Mr. President, he has gone
to that place and clime where St. Peter don't take sugar in
Ms'n. [Laughter.]
Mr. Havemeyer said in the testimony before this Commis
sion that the tariff was the immediate and prime cause of the
formation of trusts.
Mr, Gates, the great Arire Mng of the country, said that Ms
trust was formed on wire that they might become the wire
manufacturers of the world. They all say that it is done to
shut out competition ; that it is done to throttle trade. Then,
sir, if the trusts Avere formed for that purpose, you have shut
them out, you have not Mlled them by the Sherman law.
Let us take this bill and consider it and see whether it is
effective, whether it will accompfish the purpose. Section 6
of the bill provides that a corporation organized for the pur
pose of forming a trust shall not sell goods for notMng;
that they shall not sell them at a cost less than the cost
of production ; that they shaU not give them away ; that they
shall not sell them in such a way as to injure legitimate com
petition; that they shall not seU them in one section of the
country at a less price than in another section of the country.
Is there anytMng wrong in that, Mr. President? Is there any
Senator upon the majority side of this great body who can
point to me any wrong in that provision? If there is, let me
hear it. We say to these corporations you can not do what?
You can not sell goods at less than the cost of manufacture ;
you shaU not give them away ; you shaU not sell them in one
section of the country at a less price than in another section
of the country ; you shaU not do any act that will injure legiti
mate competition.
Sir, I can only cite you to an instance in my own State. A
local company in our capital city of Little Rock was selfing

 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS  105
oil at 10 cents a gallon in the city and 15 cents a gallon in the
country. The Standard Oil Company, seeing that they were
an independent concern and desiring to drive them out of the
market, sent their oil to Little Rock, and these men saw bank
ruptcy staring them in the face. The Standard Oil Company
began to sell oil at 6, at 4, at 3, at 2 cents a gallon, and these
men, who were selling the independent oil, were forced out of
existence. Immediately after that was done the Standard Oil
Company placed the price of their oil not at the old price of
10 cents in the city and 15 cents in the country, but at 15 cents
in the city and 25 cents in the country. My friends were
driven out of business. Ah, sir, is that fair? Is it right?
Will you sit here in your seats as Senators representing a
sovereign constituency and allow these things to go on when
you know that they are wrong? You can not fool the coun
try. You may fool all the people a part of the time, you may
fool a part of the people all the time, but you can not, thank
God, fool all the people all the time. They know that the
trusts are bad things; they know that you have the power to
suppress them under proper leadslation ; and I place this bur
den on the shoulders of the majority in this body. What will
you do, gentlemen? Will you pass this bill?
I do not contend that this bill is perfect. I do not contend
that the bill is Arithout fault or blemish. If there are defects
in it, it can be amended in committee; but, sir, I say to you
Arithout fear of successful contradiction that there is not a
laAA^er Arithin the sound of my voice who will seriously con
tend that there is a prorision of the bill that does not strictly
follow the law. We have the power to suppress trusts, and we
can do it. Section 6 of the bill is worth its weight in gold.
What are the further proAdsions of the bill? It provides the
manner of taMng the testimony — a mere matter of detail
wMch I shall not stop to enlarge upon. It proAddes that it
shall be enforced bv the Attorney General of the United
States and by the district attorneys of the various districts
of the State in which the offense may be committed. It pro
Addes that in the case of a man who lives more than a hundred
miles from the place of trial, his deposition may be taken. It
provides for the appointment of commissions ; for the procur
ing of books and eAddence from the corporation itself, and
provides, gentlemen, that if the testimony is withheld by the
corporation after the notice prorided in this bill is given, then
the trial judge may dismiss the pleas that have been filed by

106 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

the corporation and may render judgment by default
against it.
Gentlemen, can this be done ? I say it can. The law permits
it. Then, why do you vdthhold it from the American people?
When are we going to MU trusts, gentlemen? I wiU teU you.
We are going to dc it whenever we lay aside partisan feeling;
whenever we lay aside partisan bickering and partisan bitter
ness and rise to the true standard of American manhood;
when we get upon the broad plane of American citizenship,
and work for the great good of the great common people.
Then, and not until then, can we suppress trusts. We, the
minority, recognize, gentlemen, that we are in your hands —
in the hands of the majority. The biU is presented, and I ask
for it your respectful consideration.
Section 2 of the bill is the best of all. It provides the pen
alties. The penalties proAdded by this section are these : Any
corporation riolating the act may be fined in any sum not less
than $5,000 for each day's offense, and each day the offense
shall be continued shall be considered a separate offense.
More than that, Mr. President, it provides for a penitentiary
sentence of not less than five nor more than twenty-one years
for any man riolating its solemn mandates. Ah, Mr. Presi
dent, make this penaltv the law. Even if you defeat the bill,
if you refuse to consider it, if you trample it under your Sen
atorial feet, leave the penalty clause as a part of the Sherman
laAv. Let the great trust magnates of the land understand,
sir, that they are not above the law; that the strong arm of
the law can reach them, and that the strong arm of the law
Arill reach them. Prosecute them just like vou would any other
felons; prosecute them just like you would an ordinary horse
thief. The man who steals your horse commits a very small
injury to your property, indeed, but the man who, under the
trust process, grinds and oppresses and destroys American
manhood and shuts the door of opportunity to millions and
millions of men does a wrong and an injury, Mr. President,
that can not be compensated in mere fines. Put them in the
penitentiary. Do you know the best object lesson today for the suppres
sion of the trusts, sir, Avould be to see John D. Rockefeller or
some fellow just like him Arith stripes on. That is strong lan
guage, but I mean it. Let every man, no matter Avho he is or
how big he is, come under the law. If he violates it, place
upon him felon 's stripes, the doxology of a misspent life, and
he Arill respect the law. Let no guilty man escape, Mr. Presi-

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 107
dent. Let the great American people understand that the law
is made tor ail alike. Protect ihe weak man in Ms cabin and
protect the great man in Ms castle, but protect all afike. I
say the remedy, Mr. President, is to make the strong arm of
the law reach out and get those who violate the law.
What next does tMs bill proride ? It defines what is a mo
nopoly and what is a trust. Without intending to read all of
section 5, 1 shall read a portion of it so as to be entirely accu
rate. It says :
Sec. 0. That a monopoly or trust intended to be prohibited by this act
is any union or combination or consolidation or affiliation of capital, credit,
property, assets, trade, customs, slcill or acts or any other valuable thing
or possession by or between persons, firms, or corporations or associations of
persons, firms, or corporations, whereby any one of the purposes or objects
mentioned in this act is accomplished or sought to be accomplished, or
whereby any one or more of said purposes are promoted or attempted to be
executed or carried out, or wliereby cne several evil results mentioned herein
are reasonably calculated to be produced, etc.
That defines Avhat a monopoly is. I shall not take the time
of the Senate to read the whole section, but the detiMtion em
braces all Mnds of trusts. n.
Swollen Fortunes.
Now, sir, I want to say that in my judgment the American
people are looMng to this Congress for some refief on tlu:^
great question. Talk about the pame that is on hand. What
is the cause of the pamc? I shall not attempt to discuss that
because it would not be germane to this question ; but, sir, no
longer can it be claimed by the Repubfican party of tMs na
tion that pamcs do not occur when the G. 0. P. is in power.
The people of this country today are aroused as they never
have been stirred before.
Mr. Havemeyer says in Ms testimony, from wMch I have
quoted, that the tariff' is the mother of trusts and that the
trusts are but reaping and gathering the benefits they have
been enabled to gather by reason of the tariff. Ah, sir, if that
is true, then the tariff", as he says, is the mother of trusts, and
the trusts are reaping the benefit of the tariff. Today, sir, we
see the amazing spectacle of fifty-one men in the United
States, beginning with John D. RockefeUer, owning $3,295,-
000,000 of the wealth of this country. In this connection, Mr.
President, I ask leave to submit as a part of my remarks, to
be printed as an appendix, a very carefully prepared manu
script upon this subject, giving a fist of fifty-one men in tMs

108

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

great country of ours who have amassed large fortunes, and
the amount that each one has amassed.
The Vice President: The Senator from Arkansas asks
unanimous consent to insert as a part of Ms remarks the state
ment referred to by Mm. In the absence of objection per
mission is granted.
The statement referred to is as follows:
THE HIGHEST FIFTY-ONE IN THE UNITED STATES.
When the average present-day millionaire is bluntly asked to name the
value of his earthly possessions, he finds it difficult to answer the question
correctly. It may be that he is not willing to take the questioner Into his
confidence. It is doubtful whether he really knows.
If this is true of the millionaire himself, it follows that when others at
tempt the task of estimating the amount of his wealth the results must be
conflicting. Still, excellent authorities are not lacking on this subject, and
t 3 list of the richest fifty-one persons in the United States has been satis
factorily compiled.
The following list is taken from Munsey's Scrap Book of June, 1906, and
Is a fair presentation of the property owned by fifty-one of the very richest
men of the United States:

aa
K 1234
567

10111213
14151617
18
1920
2122232425
26 2728
2930
31 32
33

Name.

John D. Rockefeller. .
Andrew Carnegie 
W. W. Astor 
J. Plerpont Morgan..
William Rockefeller.,
H. H. Rogers 
W. K. Vanderbilt 
Senator Clark 
John Jacob Aster....
Russell Sage 
H. C. Frick 
D. 0. Mills 
Marshall Field, Jr 
Henry M. Flagler 
J. J. Hin 
John D. Archbold....
Oliver Payne 
J. B. Haggin 
Harry Field 
James Henry Smith. .
Henry Phipps 
Alfred G. Vanderbilt.
H. 0. Havemeyer 
Mrs. Hetty Green....
Thomas F. Ryan 
Mrs. W. Walker 
George Gould 
J. Ogden Armour....
E. T. Gerry 
Robert W. Goelet 
J. H. Flager 
Claus Spreckels

How made.

Oil 
Steel 
Real estate 
Finance 
Oil 
.... do 
Railroads 
Copper 
Real estate 
Finance 
Steel and coke.
Banker 
Inherited 
Oil 
Railroads 
Oil 
.... do 
Gold 
Inherited 
.... do 
Steel 
Railroads 
Sugar 
Finance 
.... do 
Inherited 
Railroads 
Meat 
Inherited 
Real estate 
Finance 
Sugar

Total fortune.

W. F. Havemeyer   do

$600,000,000 300,000,000300,000,009
150,000,000 100,000,000100,000,000
100,000,000100,000,000100,000,000 80,000,000 80,000,000
75,000,000 75,000,000
60,000,00060,000,000
50,000,000
50,000,000 50,000,000
60,000,000
40,000,00040,000,00040,000,000
40,000,00040,000,000
40,000,00035,000,000
35,000,000
30,000,00030,000,000
30,000,00030,000,000
80,000,000
30,000,000

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

109

«843536
37 38 sy40 4142 4844 46 46
47 4849 SO61

Name.

Jacob H. Schltl 
P. A. B. Wldener 
George F. Baker 
August Belmont 
James Sulllran 
John W. Gates 
Norman B. Ream 
Joseph Pulitzer 
James G. Bennett 
John G. Moore 
D. O. Reid 
Frederick Pabst 
William D. Sloane 
William B. Leeds 
James P. Duke 
Anthony N. Brady....
George W. Vanderbilt.
Fred W. Vanderbilt...
Total 

How made.

Banker . . . .
Street cars.
Banker . . . .
Finance . . .
Banker 
Finance . . .
 do 
Journalist .
.... do ... .
Finance . . .
Steel 
Brewer ...
Inherited .
Railroads .
Tobacco . .
Finance . .
Railroads .
.... do ...

Total fortune.

26,000,00025,000,000 26,000,009 20,000,00020.000,09« 20,000,00* 20,000,099 20,000,00*20,000,00* 20,000,0*0
20,0*0,*** 20,000,00*20,000,00* 20,000,00* 20,000,00* 20,000,00*20,000,00020,000,009
$3,29(,000,«0*

It will thus be seen that fifty-one persons in the United States, with a
population of nearly yu,0UO,00u people, own approximately one thirty-fifth of
the entire wealth of the United States. The Statistical Abstract of the
United States, twenty-ninth number, 1901, prepared under the direction of
the Secretary of Commerce and Labor of the United States, gives the esti
mated true value of all property In the Unlied States for that year at $107,-
104,211,917. Each of the favored fifty-one owns a wealth of somewhat more thaa
$64,6UU,U00, while each of the remaining 89,999,950 people get $1,100. Na
one ot these fifty-one owns less than $20,000,000, and no one on the arerace
owns less than $64,600,000. Men owning from $1,000,000 to $20,000,000 are
no longer caned rich men. There are approximately 4,000 millionaires in the
United States, but the aggregate of their holdings is difficult to obtain. If all
their holdings be deducted from the total true value of all the property iB
the United States, the average share of each ot the other 88,996,000 people
would be less than $500.
John Jacob Astor is reputed to have been the first American millloBalre,
although this is a matter Impossible to decide. It Is also claimed that
Nicholas Longworth, of Cincinnati, the great grandfather of Congressman
Longworth, was the first man west of the Allegheny Mountains to amass
a million. It Is difficult to prove either one of these propositions, but they
prove that the age of the millionaire in the United States la a comparatively
recent thing. In 1870 to own a single million was to be a very rich man; im
1890 It required at least $10,000,000, while today a man with a single million,
or even ten millions, is not in the swim. To be enumerated as one of the
world's richest men you must own not less than $20,000,000. The age of
the multi-milllonalre began with the high tariff of the Republican party In
1897 and is now in the zenith of its glory. Havemeyer, of the sugar trust, la
his sworn testimony before the Industrial Commission, aaid that the tariff
was the mother of all the trusts, and everybody concedes that the trusts
breed multi-millionaires.
Me. Davis: Government statistics, sir, show the true and
total wealth of the 89,000,000 people of tMs country is, in
round numbers, $107,000,000,000. Fifty-one men today oato
$3,295,000^000 of tMs amount, or one-tMrty-fifth of the entire

J 10 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
wealth of the country. TMs does not include men who own
simply a milfion dollars ' worth of property. Men who today
own not more than a milfion dollars are poor men indeed. In
1870, sir, a man was a rich man if he was a millionaire. In
1890 the standard had moved up and it required $10,000,000
to be counted in the swim; but today, sir, a man is not con
sidered a rich man unless he owns at least $20,000,000.
Take the fifty-one men— trust magnates, if you please, men
who have grown rich by these processes — ^ovming $3,295,000,-
000 of the wealth of the country; add to that the wealth of
the other 4,000 millionaires who own as much as a milfion
dollars each, but not so much as $20,000,00, and you have, sir,
an appalling state of affairs. The men own about 87 1/^ per
cent of the wealth of the country. The common, ordinary,
every-day man of the 89,000,000 people firing under this great
Government owns, on an average, less than $500 in property.
You ask, is that true? Ah, your own statistics show it. Can
you answer to the country why and how tMs occurred?
Sir, what is money that it has grown so priceless? Money
is simply a means to an end. This is a day of commercialism.
The country has gone wild about money. This is a day, Mr.
President, when gold is placed above God and money is placed
above men, when we would sell our souls, our Government, our
aU for dollars. There is a mad desire to get money, and
everybody has the fever.
Sir, there is some trouble somewhere. What is that trou
ble ? Happy, indeed, and beneficial to mankind AriU be the man
who can solve the problem, diagnose the case, and apply the
remedy. Mr. President, our fathers, when they framed this Govern
ment more than a hundred years ago, embarked in an un
known undertaMng. They embarked upon a sea Arithout rud
der and without compass. They had neither precedent nor
example. They intended to form a Government that should
be a simple Government, that should be a pure Government,
that should be a Government, indeed, of the people, for the
people, and by the people. But, sir, is that the condition pre-
vaifing today? Mr. Lincoln, the great patron saint of the
Republican party — God bless his memory — in his latter days
spoke a great truth when, looMng down upon this Government
from Ms lofty height in the travail of Ms soul, he said, "I see
an era approacMng wMch gives me more concern than did the
Ciril war. I see a period approacMng when all the wealth of
the country AriU be concentrated in the hands of a few, and

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 111
when that day shall arrive I tremble, sir, for the Republic
itself." I do not quote Mr. Lincoln exactly, but that is the
substance of what he said.
Mr. President, I am not an alarmist. I am not a socialist.
Neither am I an anarchist. But I stand here today to tell you
that there is something wrong — radically wrong. This is not
the Government handed down to us by our fathers. The old
ship of State has drifted far from her moorings, and unless
we tow her back to the old-time democratic simplicity, I stand
here today to tell you, sir, that we are upon the very threshold
of a national calamity.
Who was the greatest President, save and except George
WasMngton, that this country ever had? I say without fear
of successful contradiction that Old Hickory, Old Blue Jeans,
was the greatest President this country ever produced. When
he was sworn in as Chief ExecutiA^e of this great Nation, he
came to the White House on horseback. He rode his horse
out here, hitched it to a rack, and, dressed in a suit of blue
jeans, walked into the White House and took the oath of office.
How simple was that ceremony 1 How plain I If a man should
do that today, he would be called crazy. Today there iis too
much gloss, there is too much glitter, there is too much gold,
there is too much tinsel. If things continue for another quar
ter of a century as they have for the past twenty-five years,
the statesmen of America AriU be wearing knee breeches with
brass buckles, and poAvdered vdgs, and when they go to the
White House AriU be boAring down to semi -royalty.
We are going too fast. The world is moving too fast. We
want to get money. Gold is God. Sir, what did the last Con
gress appropriate for the current expenses of this Govern
ment? If I remember the figures correctly, $900,000,000, or
thereabout. Nine hundred million dollars! Sirs, this is a
sum of money which staggers the human mind to contemplate.
Nine hundred million dollars! If you were to pile it up on
this floor and let my good looMng young friend, the Senator
from Indiana (Mr. Beveridge) start to count it, and let him
count $2 a minute, and let him work as strenuously as the
Senate itself works, he would be old as Methuselah before he
could count half the money. Nine hundred million dollars ap
propriated to run the Government! Too much money, Mr.
President. What else occurred? In addition to the ordinary appro
priation for the President's salary, $50,000, you gave him $25,-
000 to ride over the county on business trips and otherwise. I

112 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

speak of the President in most respectful terms. You not only
did that, but you gave him sixty or seventy thousand doUars
for sometMng else — I do not know for what purposes — and
altogether it takes about $120,000 to support GUI' distinguished
President and his family. While I have the greatest admira
tion for Mr. Roosevelt, t understand he has only five children.
I have him sMnned a city block. [Laughter.] I have eight
cMldren, and it does not take $120,000 to support me and my
family. Mr. President, why do I mention these things? To show
the trend of the times; to show hoAV the old ship of state is
sailing; to show how gold is God. Sir, money today is all
powerful. You know, every one of you know, that it opens
the door of opportunity to all men ; that the lack of it locks the
door of opportunity to all. It opens the door to society and
great functions. In some instances I am sorry to say that
the doors of the Church itself are not opened so Aridely and so
gladly to men in tatters and rags as they are to the man with
money. Money is powerful. Everybody respects money.
Whether a fellow ever expects to get a dollar or not he looks
at it Arith awe and trembling. He walks up to it Arith a great
deal of fear. He doffs his hat and tosses it Mgh in the air at
the sight of this great monster.
You say, sir, this bill is radical ; this bill is extreme ; it AriU
tear up the business interests of the country: it AriU destroy
confidence; it AriU ruin the Republic. I pause to ask the ques
tion. Will you destroy the Republic or AriU you destroy the
trusts? "Choose you this day whom ye AriU serve," whether
God or Mammon. Are you going to serve the trusts or are
you going to serve the people? "Wake up." Sir, disturb
business relations ; disturb business conditions. If it is neces
sary to save the Republic, I say disturb anything, disturb
anybody. I know, sir, that business is easily frightened. I know, sir,
that money is timid. I know, sir, that there are a great many
interests in this country that do not want any radical changes;
that would rather submit supinely and let present conditions
alone, no matter how harmful or how hurtful, than to disturb
business conditions. The cry of disturbing financial condi
tions and business relations is too often the shield behind
which cowardly public servants hide themeslves when they
are called upon to face an outraged constituency. You say
the biU is too drastic, too strong; it would really accomplish
the intended purpose if it is passed; it would really destroy

/¦'-

FORMER CONGRESSMAN S. BRUNDIDGE.
Who is one of the Ablest Debaters in a
Campaign in Arkansas-
THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 113

the trusts. Can anything be too strong that will reach the
seat of this disease? The trust on the body politic is a can
cerous sore just as is a similar sore on the human body. The
only remedy is the surgeon's knife. Take it. Cut it out by
the root. Destroy it before it destroys the human body. If
a Senator on this floor should see his child, the loved one of
Ms heart, in danger of being bitten by an adder, would he
strike Arith fear, v^ould he strike Arith trepidation? No, sir.
He would strike to kill. He Avould strike to destroy. That is
what this bill means; that is its object; that is its purpose.
And I tell you, Mr. President, that if I could, get the assist
ance, as I knoAv I can, of the Democratic minority of this
august body, the Senate shall not deride and put to sleep a
bill that has for its object and purpose the destruction of this
great evil. If there is any power in the Democratic minority,
if there is any poAver left in Democratic Senators, this bill has
got to be brought back here, if I can see that it is done or if
the minority can. It has got to be reported, favorably or un
favorably, and it must be fought out on the floor.
Mr. President, I say there is something wrong. Our fathers
did not intend this when they framed the Government. Let
us stop and study the history of our Government for just a
moment. Let us study its objects and purposes. Let us see
just what the fathers did intend. Sir, they intended that the
people should rule this country. They did not intend that the
creatures of the law should rule. They intended that the sov
ereign people should be all pov^erful, and in their hands they
vested all power except that Avhich is especially delegated to
Congress. Our fathers started out in this matter of Government-mak
ing. They were on a rough sea, I say. Their course Avas upon
unknown waters. But, thank God, they wrote a great declara
tion. They wrote the most immortal document that has ever
been conceived by the human mind, or that Avas ever penned
by the human hand. What was that declaration, Mr. Presi
dent? What was that document? The great Declaration of
Independence itself. That document declares certain immor
tal tmths, the most important of AvMch, in my judgment, are
these: That document guarantees to us certain inafienable
rights, rights that can not be transferred, rights that can not
be afienated. These rights are fife, fiberty, and happiness.
Did I quotethat document correctly, Mr. President? No, gen
tlemen, I misquoted it purposely, that I might caU your atten
tion to its meamng. That great document declares that aU

114 THE LIFE'^OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
men are created free and equal. When we come from the
plastic hand of God Ave are all equal ; none better, none greater
than another. It declares that we are endowed with these in
afienable rights — life, liberty, and happiness. I infer from
that language that by "pursuit" our fathers meant that we
might run after happiness ; that we might chase happiness ;
that we might overtake it if we could.
Happiness, sir, is a condition desired by all men, whether
rich or poor, whether Mgh or low. That is the ultimate ob
ject; that is the highest and best ambition of man — happiness.
Our fathers did not guarantee to us happiness itself. They
guaranteed to us the right to pursue happiness. I infer that
that meant a fair pursuit, that that meant a fair race, that that
meant a fair chase. I ask you, is that true in this Government
today? It is not, Mr. President, in my humble judgment. The
rich man's boy, the trust magnate's boy sails upon flowery
beds of ease, wMle the boy of the laboring man from the very
start of the race of life is handcuffed, manacled, and chained.
I say the door of opportunity is not today open to all afike,
as the law intended and as the laAV should be.
Go Arith me, please, to the shops and the field. Go Arith me
to the laboring man. Wherever he goes to provide the neces
sities of fife he is met by the tax-gatherer, sent by the trust
magnate. The cotton on my shirt is produced by a trust. The
leather in the shoes of my good-looking friend, Mr. Beveridge,
of Indiana, is produced by a trust. The wool in this coat is
produced by a trust. EverytMng that one can imagine,
whether a necessity, a comfort, or a charity, is in a trust. Sir,
the Holy Bible itself is in a trust, and when you hear the
Chaplain read from that blessed book every mormng, he reads
from a book made by a trust. Everything that I can imagine
is in a trust except acorns and persimmons. Those are aU
that are left for the poor people of tMs country.
Mr. President, stop, study, and think where are we going,
wMther are we drifting, where is our Government tending?
When the laboring man takes his bucket or his basket and
goes to the beef shop to get his beef he pays tribute to Armour.
When he goes to a vdre or steel shop to get wire to make Ms
fence or to get nails he pays tribute to the Arire or the nail
trust. When he goes to the coffin shop to get a coffin to bury
his baby he pays tribute to the coffin trust. When he goes to
church on Sunday he hears the words of the blessed God and
listens to the dirine doctrine expounded from a trust-made
Bible. Has not the G. 0. P. got tMs country in a mce mess —

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 115
the wealth of the country concentrated in the hands of a few
men, the great masses, the mighty millions, paying tribute!
How true the declaration of Mr. Lincoln; how well he foresaw
and foreshadowed coming events.
Mr. President, this is a great subject. Would that I had
the power to handle it as it justly deserves. The people of
tMs great country are long-suifering and patient. God bless
the laboring man of the country. God bless the man upon
whose shoulders rest the burdens of the Government. He
bears its burdens in times of peace. He supports and defends
it in time of war. God bless the man with the Mckory sMrt
and the overalls, who works, toils, and sweats.
Mr. President, I find in Holy Writ that the Master says
work is honorable. The Master says: "Go into the vine
yard and work." I find, nowhere, sir, a permission to go
into the vineyard and corner all the grapes and become so rich
and opulent that when the Master comes you can defy Mm
and turn Mm from the garden.
Sir, stop, study, tMnk. WMther is our Government drifting
today? If the trust magnates are not wiped off the face of
the earth; if they are not destroyed, instead of the Govern
ment prescribing the conditions upon wMch they may do busi
ness, they Avill be telling you directly how the Government
shaU do its business. Is that true or not?
HI.
Would Send Trust Magnates to Peison.
Mr. Littlefield gives about 400 industrial trusts, with a cap
ital amounting to sometMng fike $9,231,000,000. The trusts
today are telling the Government how to do business instead
of the Government telling the trusts hoAV to do business. It
is said that "we fined Mr. Rockefeller at CMcago in the
great prosecution there. ' ' Yes ; we did ; and Mr. Rockefeller 's
testimony, if properly reported by the newspapers of the
country, amused me very much. Mr. Rockefeller said, "I do
not know just exactly whether I am in a trust or not. I do
not know whether my business bears the earmarks of a trust
or not. In fact, if your honor please, I have not been in my
place of business for a number of years." Sir, if you AriU
pass tMs bill, if you will enact this penalty, prescribing a pem
tentiary sentence of not less than five nor more than twenty-
one years, Mr. Rockefeller AriU go down to Ms business place
every morning. [Laughter,]

116 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

Fear of a penitentiary sentence is the most awakening thing
on earth. It AriU wake up Mr. RockefeUer. He wiU go down
and say, "Boys, let us see about this tMng. Have you really
got a trust here?" What does he care for $29,000,000? By
one simple twist of the wrist, by one simple manipulation in
the trust market, he grinds from the American people tArice
$29,000,000 and goes off smiling. He has the smile that never
wears off. In order to ease his conscience he and some of the
other trust magnates make large contributions to charities,
thereby endeavoring to cover up the fact that they have taken
the very money AvMch they contribute from the toiling masses
of the American people by a wrongful system of enforced con
tribution to their wealth. Sir, stop, study, think. The trusts
are directing the Government today. The Government is not
directing the trusts. We have but to go to the testimony of
Mr. Harriman, the great railroad magnate, who tells us that
he contributed $200,000 to the campaign fund in the last pres
idential campaign. It is true Mr. Cortelyou denies it, but I
take it that the evidence is indisputable. But the trusts of
the country are dictating the terms, not the Government.
I hold in my hand a letter. I do not care to disclose its
author, neither do I care to disclose to whom it is written,
because it is a private communication ; but it is from a banker
in my State and was written to an eastern bank. He wants to
know if he can get some money — a sum of money that the bank
itself had deposited in the eastern bank as a reserve to draw
agMnst. The eastern bank repfies — tMs letter is under date
of November 23 — "No; you can not get any money from us;
not even your own money. Things are tight ; tMngs are close.
But we will go out into the market, and we will buy you some
money at 3 or 4 per cent premium."
Mr. President, stop and tMnk of that for a minute. Eighty-
nine millions of people — the greatest upon God's green earth
— with a country abounding in natural resources that can not
even be estimated or g-uessed at, much less computed ; a brave,
courageous, generous people, Arith a Government estabfished
for their protection and their preservation, reduced to the
mean and groveling necessity of going out and bujdng money
— buying the thing which the Government should make ; buy
ing the thing wMch the Government should control — buying
money! Is it any wonder that our distinguished President,
seeing the trend of the times, looMng into the future, seeing
the rocks of Scylla and Chary bdis, seeing the danger to the
old sMp of state, took y€' the dollars the motto "In God we

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 117
trust?" It is time to take it off. It is time to disconnect God
Almighty from the dollar when you have to go out and buy it.
Who ever thought of it? Let the fathers in their spirit hover
over tMs Government and protect it from the money sharks
who would destroy and uproot it. Buying money ! i want to
meet some Republican Senator before the most elite audience
of the East some time and discuss the proposition of the
Grand Old Party buying money. Oh, we have come to our last
extremity. The trusts are controUing the Government. The
trusts are running it.
i Qo not want any money that I have to buy. I do not fike
that kind ol money, i want money issued as tue UonBtitution
01 tins umou declares it sliaii oe issued — oy tne uovernment
itseu — and circulated among its people, i do not want any
trust money, i wonaer wUat the Crraud Old rarty is going to
put on tlie dollar, ihey do not trust in God any more. I
wonder in whom they do trust. [Laugliter.J i wonder Avhere
you are going, gentlemen, to get your trust. That is the Dig-
gest trust i ever heard of.
Mr. President, there is another combination. I am taMng
\ip more time with these brief remarks than i intended m tJie
beginmng. There is another combination that is closely allied
to tne trust eviL it is a voluntary association of persons, not
incorporated, and it does not come strictly witlun tlie legal
detmition ot a trust, but its operations and its tendencies are
just as harmful and just as hurtful, and wMle it could not be
brought strictly under the provisions of tMs bill, should it
become a law, still the trust question can not be discussed
Arithout discussing its tArin sister — the stock exchanges of
New York and the great cotton exchange, if you please.
From Mr. Moody 's Manual of Industrial and Miscellaneous
Securities I find that the Stock Exchange of New York is a
voluntary association and not incorporated. I find, sir, that
they have eleven htmdred seats there — ^never more, never less.
I find that these seats sell at varying prices. They sold in
1870 as low as $14,000, They sold in 1895 as high as $95,000.
They have sold at $84,000, they have sold at $38,000, and they
have sold at other amounts.
What is a seat on tMs board of exchange, Mr. President?
It is an opportumty to get on the ground floor for the purpose
of controlfing the price of the commodities of this country.
That comes very nearly being a trust. That very nearly
comes under the prohibitions of tMs biU.

118 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
In the Stock Exchange of New York eleven hundred men
pay as Mgh as $95,000 for their seats, for what? To pilfer
and rob tne people of the country of their products.
Sir, I hail from that section of the Southiand where cotton
is Mng. God Almighty has given us a corner on the greatest
commodity upon the face of the earth — cotton. I, sir, would
fike to take you today in your imagination to the cotton fields
of my section. There 1 could show you little cMldren not
larger than that little page, thinly clad, on frosty, cold, freez
ing mormngs picMng cotton with their little frosty hands.
Sir, those children are just as dear to the hearts of their
parents as are your cMldren dear to you and as my cMldren
are dear to me.
Do we in the South control the price of this product? Have
we the power to control it? I answer no. it is controlled
absolutely by the stock gamblers and by the tMeves of Wall
Street. Mr. President, 75 per cent — yes, 90 per cent — of the busi
ness of that exchange is purely speculative or gambfing busi
ness. Kjiock out the speculative feature, destroy the gambfing
privilege, and the cotton exchange dies of its own weight.
Mr. President, at some other day at tMs session of Con
gress I hope to introduce a bill having for its object and its
purpose the destruction of that great eril, and I hope that it
may have at least the respectful consideration of the majority
of tMs body.
Sir, do the parents of the fittle cMldren in the South control
the price of tMs product? Do they control the price of cotton?
I say, sir, to you they have got no more to do vdth it than an
unborn babe, except that they make the crop and carry it to
market. Who controls the price? These felloAvs just over here in
Wall Street. The stock gamblers do it.
We raised last year in round numbers 13,000,000 bales of
cotton. The stock exchange of New York sold from six to ten
times as much. Seventy-five million bales is the lowest esti
mate I have seen. Yet I am told that this manipulation of tMs
board of exchange does not control the price of this com
modity. I say it does.
Ah, sir, thank God the laborers of this country are organiz
ing today. From Maine to California, from Cape Cod to Kala
mazoo, they are getting ready for a fight. This is going to be
a great fight. It is an unequal fight. Upon the one hand we
have trained men, we have trained financiers, we have money,

THE^LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 119
we have wealth. On the other hand, we have the poor of the
earth, Arith all the best of the earth at last, but untrained and
unskilled in this character of warfare.
Ah, Mr. President, this is going to be a fight, and I hope the
day AriU soon come Avhen Ave can see the stock gamblers of New
York in felon's stripes. Why, sir, the penitentiary house
would be a summer resort as compared Arith what they ought
to have if they had their just deserts.
Do you tell me that those men do not control the price of
our products ? The man Avho asserts that brings down on his
own head the ridicule and the contempt of the stock gambler
himself, because that is their boast. That is what they claim.
What they want to be knoAvn as doing is controUing the mar
ket. Knock out their gambling, I say, and they drop of their
own weight.
Ah, Mr. President, in the southland we are organizing. We
are organizing fast. We are organizing quick. We are de
manding of the poAvers that be that the poor people of the
earth shall have a just recognition of their rights in the great
administration of public affairs. Sir, I would that the labor
ing people would organize all over this land, no matter
whether on the great railroad thoroughfares, in the printing
offices, in the shops, in the factories, or on the farms. God
speed the day when their organization will prove so strong
that Senators on this floor AriU turn to them eager and anxious
to know their desires and Arishes.
As I know, the best way on earth to control a politician is
just to get the public behind him. I know two or three men
doAvn in my State who have absolutely worn the right ear
nearly off holding it to the ground listening for the expression
of public sentiment. I say when the labor organizations of
this great country get to that point where they can command
respect, then there will be a change in the sentiment of tMs
august body.
Ah, Mr. President, I am for the under dog in every fight.
I do not care what kind of a dog fight it is. You can just pick
out your Mnd of dog, and every time you see a dog fight you
may just swear that Jeff Davis is for the under dog in that
fight. I am for him every time.
Sir, I hope the day AriU come when these labor organizations
may be strong enough to cope Arith this great evil. We of the
South are starting right. We are organizing. We are getting
together. We are demanding just recognition, and I believe
we are going to get it.

120 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
Sir, this panic, in my humble judgment, started by the trust
magnates and their coconspirators and confederates, the stock
gamblers, had no other object and no other purpose than to
Avrongfully take from the cotton producers of the South half
of their property. They are trying to do it. You can not get
money. You have got to buy money, you have got to buy cot
ton, you have got to buy products, you have got to buy every
thing from the trusts. I say, sir, it is an unequal fight.
May I get one ray of hope from the Republican side on this
question? Is there one Senator on the other side who will
dare to face their expressed policy and the public declaration
of the Republican party and step across the line and give his
hand and say he will help to fight this battle ? Ah, sir, this is
a just cause. It is a just fight.
************ Sir, I Arish to refer to the Standard Oil for just a moment,
and will leave the stock question for that purpose. The Stan
dard Oil of course is the old he-trust of the country. It is the
one that has all the paraphernalia and the earmarks of a trust.
I dislike Standard Oil. I hate the smell of coal oil. Petroleum
makes me sick.
Sir, I ask today that something be done to curtail the great
power of this monster trust, Mr. John D. Rockefeller's trust,
the great Standard Oil Trust.
Repeating, I say that this panic had for its object and its
purpose the taking of our crops away from us. What have we
got doAATi in the South? I appeal to every Southern Senator,
aye, I appeal to every Southern man to stand ready for this
fight. The poor laboring men of the South today are organ
izing. They are trying to stem the tide. They are trying to
resist the force. They are trying to command a decent price
for their products. They ask by petition, they ask by memo
rial, they ask through their Representatives that the Congress
of the United States, their sworn servants, shall come to their
assistance. God bless the people of the South, my home land, God bless
the people of Arkansas. Mr. President, I never expect to hold
an office that shall not be given to me by the people of my na
tive State. I never expect to hold an office that shaU not be
given to me by their generous hands.
When I speak the name of Arkansas, sir, I am swept Arith
a flood of memories. It carries me back to my home Arith my
wife and babies. It carries me back to the fields and the farms
and the shops. It carries me back to a people as brave, as

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 121
loyal, as true, and withal as intelfigent as any people who live
upon God's green earth.
They today ask for a respectful consideration of the bill that
I introduce. I may present it awkwardly, I may present it
Arithout the necessary dignified address of Senatorial dec
orum, but, sir, the meat is there, the thing is there, and I want
to know if the Republicans of tMs Nation can afford to go
before the country in the great contest that is now on and say
by their action on tMs great subject, "We do not intend to
harm the trusts ; Ave do not intend to disturb them ; we do not
want to disturb business." Can you afford to do it, gentle
men? Are you going to do it?
Is this bill going to be put to sleep? Shall that be its fate?
Oh, if you do, I say to you today that as long as I have the
honor to occupy tMs seat, as a peer of any Senator on this
floor, this bill shall rise from its ashes ; this bill shall rise to
fret you, and you had just as Avell dispose of it now. You had
just as well defeat it now, because you have got to beat it at
last. You have got to beat it finally. If you want to go to the
country Arith your publicly expressed declaration that you are
in favor of Mlling trusts, and if you want to leave that pledge
unredeemed, then I challenge any Senator from Maine to
California, no matter where he is from, if he will get an audi
ence of his own people intelligent enough to consider the
merits of this bill, and there, sir, I AriU meet him, and we AriU
fight tMs question out before his own constituents.
This is the bill which I present, sir, and I ask that it be
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
The Vice President : The bill AriU be referred to the Com
mittee on the Judiciary.

CHAPTER VIII
SENATOR DAVIS'S SPEECH AT OZARK.
In a speech defivered at Ozark, February 18, 1908, in the
interest of Judge W. F. Earby for Governor, Senator Davis
said: I.
Anti-Trust Law.
For the last six years I have fought for an effective, force
ful anti-trust law in Arkansas, and for its honest and faithful
enforcement. By your help and assistance my efforts were
finally crowned with success. The Legislature of our State
in 1905 enacted just such a law as we demanded, and the
Supreme Court of our State sustained their enactment, but
the enemies of the people, never slothful, always watchful
for an opportunity to destroy whatever reforms may be
accompfished, set about in an insidious, underhanded, clandes
tine way to destroy this law, and in 1907 Ave witnessed in
our Legislature the most shameful riolation of jjarty pledges
and Democratic precedents that has ever occurred in any
State of this Union — the anti-trust law, which Avas written
upon your statute books almost in blood itself, was torn into
shreds, demolished, trampled upon by the subsidized press of
this State and by the hired minions of corporate wealth.
Before that foul and dastardly crime was committed by your
Legislature, I met them in their assembly hall and warned
them that the people of this State would rise up in their
wrath and demand an accounting of their stewardship, and
I swore then that their doings should be knoAA^n, and I am
here today to make that promise good. Ah, my friends, since
this anti-trust law went on the statute books of our State,
there has never been an honest effort made to enforce it,
except by our present Attorney General. It has been bar
tered and sold, and hawked and peddled, hoping thereby to
make it a stench in the nostrils of the people, hoping that the
treachery and perfidy of your legislators who violated their
party pledges might in some measure be overshadowed and
forgotten, and in a measure condoned. Ah, gentlemen, I
Arish you could have been at that Legislature. I Arish you
could have seen the maneuvers of the trust agents and trust
heelers, worMng for the destruction of that law — the great-

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 123
est, in my judgment, that has ever been written on our stat
ute books, or on the statute books of any State in tMs Union.
The trust agents were there — the trust heelers were there.
Their mode of operation was somewhat changed from that
employed by them in 1905. The services of Tom Cox and
M. D. L. Cook, the noted boodlers and corruptionists of 1905,
Avere dispensed Arith, and the so-called great lawyers of Lit
tle Rock Avere hired to influence, to cajole and to wheedle
them into the destruction of tMs great law.
Rooms were fitted up at the Hotel Marion in the city of
Little Rock, with champagne, whiskey and cigars ; legislators
forgot their people, legislators closed their eyes to their
duty — they struck the fatal blow; they destroyed the law.
Gentlemen, I come to you today and ask you, and I ask the
sovereign voters of this entire State, to look up the record of
every man in the Arkansas Legislature, whether in the Sen
ate or in the House, that voted for the Lee-BroAvning bill in
1907, and see to it that they shall never again disgrace Ark
ansas in our halls of legislation. Friends, we have fought
too hard, we have contended too long, we have accomplished
too much, to have it ruthlessly stolen from us in the night
time by a crowd of freebooters as Arilful and determined as
any band of pirates that ever sailed the high seas, and I come
to you today to Avarn you against a repetition of this crime.
The trust question, gentlemen and fellow-citizens, is the
greatest question before the American people today. It Avill
be the great leading issue in the national campaign, and
upon its correct solution and proper presentation the Demo
cratic Party, in my judgment, must win or lose the coming
fight which means so much for the welfare of our country at
large. Gentlemen, I promised you if you elected me to the
United States Senate that I would let the trust magnates and
trust agents know that I was in town when I got to Washing
ton, and I come today to give you an accounting of my stew
ardship thus far performed. On the second day of advent
into the Senate I introduced an anti-trust bill that Avill exter
minate this great eril, if it shall be put into force and effect,
and on the 11th day of December, nine days after I had been
inducted into office, I bearded the lion in his den, the Douglas
in his hall, and gave the trust interest of this country such
a drubbing on the floor of that august body as they shall not
soon forget. Ah, my friends, as your public servant I am in
Washington striring and worMng day and night to carry into
national legislation the great principles of government for

124 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
wMch we have fought so hard at home. WMle I am away
shall these great principles be repudiated at home? Shall
my influence and usefulness be crippled and destroyed? I
come back to you today to plead with you to hold up my
hands; yet the press of Little Rock would muzzle me, a few
politicians would muzzle me; they say that Jeff Davis must
not speak to his people; that he AriU deceive them, that he
AriU misguide them. Ah, gentlemen, they know full well that
if the people are properly adrised and properly awakened on
tMs great question, their chances for despoiling and tearing
down the work we have thus far accomplished AriU be de
stroyed. The Arkansas Gazette, in a lengthy editorial of
recent date, charges that I am only trying to strengthen my
hold upon the people of the State of Arkansas and perpetu
ate myself in office. n.
Guns Turned On Jeff Daahis.
Gentlemen, the opposition in the present campaign have
turned their guns upon me. The fight is now waged, and the
declaration openly and publicly made that if they can get
charge of the State Government for the next four years they
AriU then defeat me for my seat in the Senate. But, my
friends, I am not awed by this threat. I know full well that
my political life has been one continuous warfare from the
time I started, and that it must be a warfare to the end. I
know that the enemies of good government in Arkansas would
destroy me if they could. I know that if I should sit quietly
in my place and raise no hand against their machinations
they would devour me as would a pack of hungry wolves.
My friends, I thank God that this office was given to me by
the poor man who toils, who labors, v^ho earns his bread as
God commanded, in the sweat of his face; the kindest, gen
tlest, truest people on God's green footstool, and when they
demand that I shall surrender back to them the senatorial
toga I will return it, just as I did the Governor's office, as
pure and as clean as when they delivered it to me.
I defy tMs whole gang of Mgh-coUared roosters that are
today seeMng my undoing. I chaUenge them to the contest—
I AriU meet them before the bar of pubfic opinion and there
fight out the issues involved in tMs campaign. I Avill not sit
quietly in my seat in Washington and allow the work that I
have been endeavoring to perform in the interest of the peo-

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 125
pie for the past six years to be destroyed by them. Ah, Mr.
Chairman and gentlemen, they say that I should not raise
my voice in the interest of Mr. Kirby for Governor ; they say
that this is intermeddling — that this is interloping — that the
result of his election does not concern me. On one hand, gen
tlemen and fellow-citizens, they charge Mr. Kirby with being
the Jeff Davis candidate ; they brand him Arith what they con
sider to be a stigma, and by this they hope to array every
anti-Jeff Davis man in Arkansas against Mm; then, when I
raise my voice and ask my friends to rally to his assistance,
to his support, the subsidized press of this State would raise
its hands in holy horror, and say, "You are meddfing in State
politics — it is none of your fight."
Ah, my friends, I hope the day AriU never come in Arkansas
when the welfare of the people of my native State shall cease
to concern me, when the cause of the people and good govern
ment will not elicit my most earnest endeavor — my very best
efforts. I want to say to my friends throughout the State
of Arkansas that W. F. Kirby is the only candidate in this
race for Governor who has ever been my personal or political
friend. I want to say to my friends that he is the only can
didate in the race who avouM carry out the policies and princi
ples of government which I have inaugurated and Avhich I
yet hope to see succeed, despite the efforts of the despoilers.
I want to say to my friends throughout the State that he is
the only candidate in the race for Governor who is really
and truly the friend of the common people of the State. I
want to say to the people of this State that William F. Kirby
is an honest, clean, pure, courageous man, that AriU make
Arkansas one of the best Governors that ever occupied the
executive chair. in.
George W. Donaghey and Ben Griffin.
If you have to beat Will Kirby, preserve the Farmers'
Umon. It has been said that your State Secretary, Mr.
Griffin, is attempting to control this splendid order to pro
mote the candidacy of George W. Donaghey for Governor.
It has been said that he has been hired to deliver the votes
of the Farmers' Union to tMs man for Governor. Whether
that be true, or false, I know not, but I do know, my friends,
that Mr. Griffin is in close touch Arith the men that compose
this umon, and I do know that he publicly says that he, indi-

126 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
Addually, is espousing the cause of George W. Donaghey, but
that he is not doing it officially, as secretary of the union.
Gentlemen, if you can separate Mr. Griffin individually from
Mr. Griffin's official personage, then I would be glad if some
gentleman would give me the distinction.
Ben Griffin, today, is trying to turn the Farmers' Umon
vote from its natural and normal channel to the support of
Mr. Donaghey. Strange, indeed, it is, my fellow-citizens, if
this is not true, that every Farmers ' Union man in Arkansas
has a copy of Donaghey 's speech. Where did he get your
name and where did he get your postoffice address? Things
don't happen in this world by chance, gentlemen; but I thank
God that Ben Griffin can't deliver the Farmers' Union to
George Donaghey. I thank God that there are true and
noble men in this great order that will not be driven like
sheep to the shambles to be sheared, but AriU stand up like
patriotic men and vote for the best interests of the country.
If Ben Griffin is permitted to control and dominate your
union, and turn it to the political advantage of any one, or
any candidate, then I say, gentlemen, the sooner you get rid
of the union the better it vdll be for the country ; but I have
encouraging news from all parts of the State that the Farm
ers' Union men are finding out Mr. Donaghey; they are find
ing out Mr. Griffin, and they are finding out that an attempt
is being made to prostitute this great order for political pur
poses, and, like rats deserting a sinking ship, they are leav
ing the camp of Donaghey.
Who is Mr. Donaghey that he should receive the support
of the Farmers' Union? Ah, my friends, I believe in unions.
I believe that the laborers of this country, whether in the
shops, at the carpenter's bench, upon the railroad trains, in
the mines or wherever they may be, have the right to organ
ize. I believe that it is their solemn duty to organize for
their oAvn protection and against the tyrannical oppression
of capital. There should be a brotherly unity of action and
sentiment between the various organizations of labor, no mat
ter what their avocation may be. Capital is organized, and
if labor does not resist its encroachment it AriU be bound and
shackled, handcuffed and crushed; so I say, let the laboring
men of this country organize, and organize qmck.
George W. Donaghey is a contractor by profession; I
charge, and it can not be successfully denied, that he has
never yet in any contract that he has ever had employed
umon labor as Ms workmen. He is not in sympathy Arith

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 127
umon labor. His every act has been against organized labor.
He recently erected for Mmself two magnificent brick build
ings in the city of Little Rock. He has erected for the
various railroads of this State depots and public buildings,
and on tMs work he has uniformly employed nonunion labor,
and absolutely refused to give a union man a day's work,
and that, too, simplj^ because he was a umon man. He is
trying to make the farmers of this State believe that he is a
friend of the farmers' organization, when he is the enemy of
their brother laborers' organizations.
And I see in the press of the State a statement emanating
from Ben Griffin's paper at Conway, saying that when I made
a speech there in my race for the Senate I characterized
George Donaghey as "Honest George Donaghey." I don't
characterize Mm now as dishonest, gentlemen. It is stated
further in tMs article that I should have said in that speech
that he saved the taxpayers of this State $800,000 in the
attempted Statehouse steal. Gentlemen, I say to you today
that never such words as these escaped my lips on tMs earth,
and I brand the statement as absolutely false. I could not
have said that and told the truth, because George Donaghey
did not save the State $800,000 in the attempted Statehouse
steal, nor any other sum of money. Before he ever raised
Ms voice in this matter, I was fighting these Statehouse
tMeves on the public hustings, in the courts of the country
and in the Legislature. He was on the State Capitol Board
when I became Governor ; I saw that he had an itcMng pafin
to get charge of the Statehouse contract ; I saw that he had
a desire to be the contractor on that great bmlding, and I
know that in 1903 he put in a bid for the erection of the
Statehouse, under the name and style of "Donaghey Con
struction Company."
Ah, my friends, who composed the Donaghey Construction
Company? I charge today that it was composed of George
W. Donaghey, Henry Ingram, Ms relative in Conway; Oscar
Davis, the cashier of the German National Bank of Little
Rock; W. W. Dickinson, one of the lessees of the convicts of
Arkansas, and Thomas L. Cox, the old he-boodler and grafter
of tMs State. Articles of agreement were drawn up, but
never peri'ected. Donaghey was to have the majority of the
stock; DicMnson, Daris and Henry Ingram were to have a
certain per cent of the stock. Tom Cox was to receive his
stock absolutely for nothing. For what was he to be used,
my friends? By Mr. Donaghey. Legislation must be influ-

128 THE LIFE OF SENATO.^ JEFF DAVIS
enced — Cox was a handy man to have as a partner. Dona
ghey failed to get the contract and his construction company
was never perfected, never organized. Immediately he got
a "sore toe," and he has been growling and fussing and fum
ing ever since about the Statehouse, following along in my
tracks in a blind, uncertain, disconnected way, evidencing at
every state of the proceedings that he was mad because he
didn't get the contract to construct the building.
Then, seeing that pubfic sentiment had turned this infa
mous steal, that I told you four years ago would remain as a
stench in the nostrils of the people of this State, he leaps
upon tMs tide of public disfavor, hoping that it may safely
bear Mm to the executive chair. Gentlemen of the Farmers'
Union, Donaghey is not your friend. He boasts today that
he is worth $500,000; that he began fifteen years ago as a
hod-carrier, and claims that he made his money as the frmts
of honest, legitimate toil. If he has made five hundred thou
sand dollars in fifteen years, he has sMnned somebody, hasn 't
he? He hasn't made his money off the poor people of the
country, because they had no contracts to let, but he has made
Ms money off' the rich people of the land, and if elected Gov
ernor, fellow-citizens, he would look up to the rich and opu
lent — the men who have given him Ms wealth. He would be
as perfectly controlled by the ringsters and politicians of
Little Rock, the Board of Trade, and George Russ BroAvn,
as your little boy would be controlled by you, or my fittle
boy controlled by me. Ah, my friends, I ask you to stop,
study, tMnk before tMs great calamity overtakes my native
State. George W. Donaghey should not be your Governor. He is
flooding the State Arith Ms literature, written by paid attor
neys, not Arilling to meet his opponents on the stump in open,
fair discussion, claiming that he is no orator or public
speaker, yet he slips and sfides from place to place and with
out his opponents present, discusses, what he claims to be,
the issues of the campaign. Gentlemen, I say to you today
that I would not vote for any man for any office who did not
have the manhood, courage and ability to meet his oppo
nents face to face before his constituents and there fight out
the issues between them. Stop, study, tMnk, my friends,
where are we going, whither are we drifting. I have no per
sonal grievance with Mm. Some of his friends have been my
warmest friends and most ardent supporters, but I know if
he should be elected to this high office that the opposition vdll

JUDGE W. F. KIRBY.
Attorney General of Arkansas, Associate Justice of Arkansas
Supreme Court, and Political Leader Whose Cause as
a Candidate for Governor Jeff Davis Espoused in a
Sensational Campaign in Which George W.
Donaghey Was Elected.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 129

have captured the State Government, and AriU laugh you to
scorn after you have made your mistake.
A little story in Grecian mythology illustrates to my mind
more perfectly than anytMng I can recall the candidacy of
George W. Donaghey. It is said when the Greeks attempted
to capture Troy and Avere unsuccessful they made a great
Avooden horse and filled it with armed Greek soldiers, left it
upon the shores just outside the gates of Troy, and the Gre
cian fleet sailed away as if abandoning the conflict. The
Trojans, firmly entrenched vdthin the walls, having resisted
every onslaught of the Greeks, saw them depart, leaving this
curious eridence of their handiwork. Led on by curiosity
alone, the Trojans ventured out and examined tMs wooden
horse, and in order that the people Arithin the walls might
see and examine it they rolled it inside their gates. The
sides of the old horse began to swell and vibrate, secret Mnges
and locks sprung loose, and the armed Greek soldiers Md
AritMn sprang out full panoplied for the fray, sounded the
signal for their friends to return, threw Aride the gates and
despoiled that fair city. Now, I want to say to the Farmers '
Umon in tMs State that the ringsters and tricksters, trust
heelers and trust magnates of Arkansas have left poor old
George Donaghey standing sofitary and alone just outside
the Farmers' Umon gates, hoping that curiosity may lead
you to carry him into your fold and into the Governor 's office,
but I warn you that if tMs stalking horse of these interests
ever crosses the executive threshold you will see creep from
beneath the fold of his garments faces that haven't been seen
in the Governor's office for six years; people that have been
out of the breastworks; people that have sworn that Jeff
Daris and Jeff Darisism must be destroyed. First to come
forth AriU be Col. Joseph W. House ; next W. E. Hemingway,
the wet-nurse of the last Legislature; then will come George
Russ Brown, who says that the Farmers' Union is a calam
ity to Arkansas; then Avill come the penitentiary gang; then
AriU come the railroad interests; then AriU come the trust
heelers and the trust magnates; and, looking away up in the
burr of the ear of the great horse AriU be found poor little
X. 0. Pindall, the mouthpiece and representative of the peni
tentiary interests in Arkansas.
Gentlemen, don't be deceived — don't be fooled by tMs stalk
ing horse. Stop before it is too late^stop before the enemy
shall capture the citadel; stop before the gates are thrown
Aride open and the city destroyed.

130 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

In 1903, when Donaghey put in Ms bid to bmld the State
Capitol, no one ever thought that he would be the Governor
of Arkansas, or ever dreamed for a moment that he would
be a candidate for tMs Mgh office; hence there was no secret
made, and no reason for secrecy, as to who were to be Ms
partners in tMs contract, provided he got it, and it was thor-
ougMy understood in the city of Little Rock and openly
talked on the streets that Ms partners were to be Henry
Ingram of Conway, Oscar Davis, casMer of the German Na
tional Bank of Little Rock, who was to finance the affair;
W. W. DicMnson, the penitentiary convict lessee, who was
to furmsh the brick and material, and Tom Cox, who was to
control the Legislature. Of course, Donaghey didn't get the
contract and the articles of agreement between these men
were never fully perfected.
Ah, my fellow-citizens, I call your attention to the demal
wMch Donaghey has recently published as to tMs matter.
Mark his language. He says he never was a partner Arith
Tom Cox in any transaction, and that if he were a partner
with Cox he ought to be defeated for Governor. Of course,
in the abstract he tells the truth in tMs statement — he never
was the real partner of Cox, because Ms bid to bmld the State
house was never accepted, and the contract between Mm and
Cox and Ms associates was not completed; but he does not
say in Ms demal that there was not an understanding and
contract that he was to be a partner with Cox, Dickinson and
Davis if his bid had been successful and he had received tMs
job. Mr. Donaghey now admits very nearly tMs whole trans
action in private conversation Arith reputable men, whose
names I can give on demand, that he did put in a bid to build
the State Capitol, under the name of the Donaghey Construc
tion Company. He admits that Henry Ingram, at Conway,
was to be Ms partner, also Oscar Daris of the German Na
tional Bank and W. W. DicMnson, of the brick contract noto
riety, and admits further that Davis suggested to Mm the
propriety of baring Tom Cox associated vdth them for the
purpose of controlling legislation. Of course, he says he
scornfully refused tMs suggestion of Davis, but my friends,
would you expect Mm to plead guilty to tMs charge— would
you expect Mm to admit Ms connection vdth the boodlers of
Arkansas? If he did admit it— if he should plead gmlty, he
had as weU go home and quit this race, because the people
of tMs State AriU never vote for any man whose sMrts are

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 131
contaminated by association with Tom Cox, or any of his
boodfing gang.
Ah, my friends, why didn't Mr. Donaghey come out and
unbosom Mmself as to tMs whole transaction? Why has it
been necessary for me to disclose these facts in this connec
tion? In his denial, when Mr. McFarlane made this charge,
why didn't he tell the whole facts in the case? Why does he
sit back and ffippantly say, "I am worth $500,000; I make
tMs statement, and, if you don't think it is true, sue me.
Any judgment that can be obtained against me would be
good," flaunting his money and his wealth in the face of the
people, when he ought to take them into Ms confidence and
tell them the whole truth about this matter. This is too im
portant a matter, my friends, to pass by Arith a wave of the
hand; tMs is too important a matter for Mr. Donaghey to
expect the people of the State to accept his theory, simply
upon Ms mere denial. If McFarlane has told a lie on him,
then McFarlane says he AriU accept serrice of summons, and
answer Arithin five days, and bring into court Daris and Dick
inson, and his other partners and prove the truthfulness of
the assertion, but I don't need McFarlane 's word to tell you
that this is true.
You say, what proof have you of it, Governor? I chal
lenge Mr. Donaghey to get an affidarit from Oscar Daris or
Hon. M. A. Austin, an attorney at Pine Bluff, both honorable
business men that AriU not lie, that these facts are not true.
They both know that they are true and will swear it in court ;
and, besides, I tell you that I was Governor of the State of
Arkansas at that time, and I knew pretty generally what was
going on around Little Rock Arith reference to the State Capi
tol. I tell you that it was public talk, and never denied by
Mr. Donaghey until he became a candidate for Governor,
when it was to his interest to deny — it meant his defeat if
he did not deny it. Ah, my friends, I tell you that you are
treading on dangerous ground when you elevate this man
to the high office of Governor and place in his hands the
power and prestige of this great position.
IV.
Pays His Respects to Goaternor Pindall.
Referring to Governor Pindall in his speech, he said:
He goes further than tMs. He holds a secret meeting at
Memphis Arith the representatives of 0. C. Ludvdg, Secre-

132 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
tary of State, and other officials and brings before them the
local pofiticians of several counties in Eastern Arkansas,
where the Republicans and Independents are strong, and
says to these politicians who are candidates for office, "If
you don 't bow down and worship at the shrine of Donaghey —
if you don't draw your knife and stab to death Kirby and
Ms friends in your several counties, Mr. LudArig and I, who
are a majority of the board to appoint election commission
ers, vdll appoint such commissioners as AriU count you out
and defeat you in the September election. It is well knoAvn
to everybody that a few counties in Eastern Arkansas are
doubtful in the September election as between the Independ
ent and Republican and the straight Democratic ticket if inde
pendent voters should unite Arith the radicals. Pindall, in
order to intimidate the timid office-holders of these particu
lar counties, used his official lash and the lash of 0. C. Lud
Arig, threatening their downfall and destruction if Kirby were
elected in their counties.
In certain counties in Eastern Arkansas whiskey is counted
in or counted out at AriU, and he openly threatens that he
and LudArig AriU appoint such commissioners as will best
serve their purpose on the liquor question if Kirby isn't
defeated. Don't this look railroady to you, felloAV-citizens?
Ah, my friends, I am deeply interested in the St. Francis
Levee District, and some of the warmest, truest, best friends
I ever had in my life live in this great basin. I would not
do one thing to hurt them, or their political fortunes, and I
don't believe that they vdll be sold like slaves upon the block
to satisfy the whims of any man.
Since I have been your representative in the National Con
gress I have attempted to make good my promise that the
Govemment should take charge of the levee interests of East-
em Arkansas; shall pay the debt the people have contracted
for this great improvement and that the Government shall
maintain and support these levees at her own expense, and I
have entered a bill to this effect, and I frankly and candidly
say to you, today, that this is a new idea, that some of the
Senators interested along that great Fathers of Waters, and
while I may not be able to pass my bill at this session of
Congress, because the Republicans, as is their custom, get
foxy just before the Presidential election and do as little as
possible to jeopardize their chances of Arinning in that great
contest. But I AriU put into the fight to pass this bill the
same energy and persistence that has characterized my efforts

THE LIFE OF SEANTOR JEFF DAVIS 133
as your Governor, and I hope and believe that my efforts vdll
be crowned with success.
How much better is tMs for the taxpayers of Eastern
Arkansas? Already their property is burdened with a tax
of eight cents per acre and a heavy debt of a million dollars
hangs over their heads as a lien upon their homes itself.
Gentlemen, the great Mississippi River is a public thorough
fare, is the great artery of trade and commerce. The move
ment that has been set on foot by the Deep Waterway Con
vention that has been held at various times and places has
called to the attention of the National Congress the impor
tance of this great highway. My colleague. Senator James
P. Clarke, is a member of the Commerce Committee of the
Senate, which has the matter of the appropriation for the
improvement of this great thoroughfare in their hands and
control, and I know his sentiments along this line so well
that I feel safe in speaMng for him, that he AriU bend his
every energy and every effort, not only for large appropria
tions for river improvements, but is heartily in accord
Arith the idea presented by my bill. Gentlemen, while I am
in Washington as your representative fighting for these great
principles, working to carry out your Arishes in this behalf,
AriU you see my efforts thwarted, Avill you see my energy and
endeavor crippled, AriU you see my hopes and aspirations
destroyed by allowing such a man as X. 0. Pindall to barter
and trade off your birthright, to bulldoze and browbeat your
citizens into humble submission to his dictates, when that dic
tation leads you into the camp of the penitentiary crowd of
Arkansas? It leads you into the camp of the railroad inter
est, and forces you to vote for a candidate who AriU feel him
self under obligation to these influences and will be compelled
to carry out their mandate.
Gentlemen, indiridual voters of the St. Francis Levee
Basin, stop, study, tMnk, before it shall be everlastingly too
late. Another matter, fellow-citizens, to which I desire to call
your attention is tMs "Sister" Hinemon has no chance in
tMs race. If I were cartooning him, I would present him
holding a negro baby in his arms Arith a placard across his
back, "Exempt from taxes." Bob McFarlane is not even in
the running and will not even be an "also ran." The con
test in this race is between Bill Kirby, on the one hand, and
George Donaghey on the other.

134 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
V.
An Appeal for Judge Kirby.
Ah, my friends, I hope the day Arill never come in Arkan
sas when the welfare of the people of my native State shall
cease to concern me; when the cause of the people and good
government will not elicit my most earnest endeavor — my
very best efforts.
The farmers of Arkansas have always been my friends;
they know that through thick and thin I have been their
friend; they know that I have stood the ridicule, the jeers
and the taunts of the press of Arkansas and the trust mag
nates and the trust agents and have fought their battles
against odds which at times seemed overwhelming.
Ah, my friends, I am told that the Farmers' Union of Ark
ansas is against Mr. Kirby. I am told that the tillers of the
soil are against him. Of all the men on earth that ought to
support him, these are the men; they should give Mm their
hearty support, their hearty endorsement. He has done more
in one swoop for this good order of the Farmers' Union
than any other candidate in this race could do in a thousand
years. He has sustained our laws that has driven from our
borders these vampires that suck the very life-blood from the
toiling masses of the earth.
We are to have a Presidential campaign in this good year
of 1908. The Republicans vdll meet at CMcago and nomi
nate, in my judgment, Theodore Roosevelt for a third term.
The Democrats AriU meet in the far West in July and nomi
nate that matchless leader, that fearless champion of the peo
ple's rights, William J. Bryan, of Nebraska. The lines AriU
be draAvn, the choice AriU be made. Ah, my friends, the Re
publicans already have their eyes on Arkansas, not Arith the
hopes, perhaps, of capturing it from the Democratic column,
but Arith the hope of largely reducing our Democratic
strength. Who are the Democratic candidates that now seek the
nomination that best carry Democratic flags? Who are the
Democratic candidates for Governor who best represent the
Democratic Party, not only in Arkansas but of the Nation
itself? WiUiam F. Kirby, my friends, the friend of the
plain, common people of this State. Gentlemen, do you want
the flag of Democracy to trail in the dust? Do you want to
feel humifiated and discouraged in the next campaign by
putting George W. Donaghey forward as the standard-bearer

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 135
of Democracy and baring to call upon a substitute to meet Ms
opponent on the stump? I am a Democrat from the croAVTi of
my head to the sole of my feet, and if Donaghey is the nomi
nee and my services are demanded I am Arilfing to campaign
every county in the State in Ms interest to beat a Repubfi
can; but, gentlemen, why bring about tMs necessity? Why
bring upon us tMs chagrin, tMs mortification? Why elect a
man Governor of our State that can not properly and fittingly
represent us in a foreign State upon a great occasion or that
can not meet Ms Republican opponent upon the hustings?
Gentlemen, I call your attention to these tMngs that you may
ponder them well before you make tMs mistake of tMs cam-
pMgn. Ah, my friends, I am in earnest about this matter.
My whole soul is wrapped up in the welfare of Arkansas and
her people. Here I was born, here I expect to die and be
buried by my good father in the fittle cemetery at Russell-
rille. All my interests are here, everything I have, every
thing I hope to have, every heart throb, every ambition of
my fife is clustered around and centered in the future wel
fare of my native State.

CHAPTER IX
ANTI-TRUST SPEECH IN THE SENATE.
I.
To Discharge Committee on Judiciary.
The Senate having under consideration the following resolution submitted
by Mr. Davis April 28, 1908—
"Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be, and the same Is
hereby, discharged from the further consideration of the bill (S. 100) to
suppress pools, trusts and combinations in trade and to provide penalties
for violations of its provisions, and for other purposes" —
Senator Davis delivered Ms great speech on the "Suppres
sion of Trusts" in the United States Senate, May 1, 1908.
Mr. Davis said:
Mr. President : The resolution introduced by myself seeks
to discharge the Judiciary Committee having in charge Sen
ate Bill No. 100, introduced by myself on the 4th day of
December, 1907, from the further consideration of said bill,
they haring failed to report it to the Senate, and I ask that
said bill be laid before the Senate for its consideration, and
Arith the indulgence of the Senate, I shall give my reasons
for such resolution, and that there may be no doubt as to the
reasons given, and that no intemperate or unguarded lan
guage may escape my lips on tMs occasion, I have chosen to
do that which I have never done before in my life — committed
to writing the things of which I speak on this occasion.
Why shall this bill not be reported by the committee? Can
any Senator of the majority give me a valid, intelligent rea
son? Does the bill not accomplish in legal effect the eril at
wMeh it is leveled, or is the majority, the Republicans in tMs
Senate, just preceding the Presidential election, afraid to
meet the issue before the American people involved in this
bill, namely, the suppression of trusts, pools and combina
tions in trade? Do they prefer to go before the American
people in the coming contest, notArithstanding the fact that
the President of the United States has insisted upon legisla
tion along this line, Arith no bill passed, no legislative effort
made looMng to the relief of the people against this mon
strous eril? I say to the majority today, however much they
may dread the issue and however much they may delay it, it
Arill not down. The people are demanding relief along this
fine, and, like Banquo's ghost, it will rise in the coming cam
paign and in coming years to fret you.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 137
Except in so far as a proper discharge of public duty meets
rirtuous approbation, I have little ambition to attract atten
tion to myself or to what I may do. To the importance of
the present bill I therefore turn as an excuse, if excuse be
needed, for venturing again so early in my career as Senator
to consume the time of the Senate. And within the abound
ing virtues of that measure may I not hope to sink, at least
for the time, whatever deficiencies I myself may personally
possess ; for, sir, even if mere applause were, under any cir
cumstances, desirable for its own sake, still my own untrained
abilities, when tested here, constantly warn me that only a
plodding directness of speech, unadorned, is the unenried lot
to which alone by nature I am assigned. It is known to the
Senate that my serrice upon this floor has just begun, nor
would I seem to disregard your staid and dignified customs,
or lack at all in respect for whatever usage has indicated as
decorous and seemly. Under other circumstances I would
yield to a natural inclination and defer addressing the Sen
ate until time had matured my tenure of office; but I deem
the bill now before the Senate too important, too rital to my
country; delay, sir, Avould prove fatal to it. But for that, I
should most likely defer to that long usage here which in
some quarters has been thought needful as probatory for new
Senators. My cause alone, then, I trust will acquit me of
presumption. Indeed, Mr. President, earnestly devoted to
what seems to be of transcendent importance to the people.
Senators AriU not, I pray, believe me too forward if, indeed,
I shall note conditions which provoke need of this measure.
Not that I propose arsrument, or that argument is deemed
necessary; none, absolutely none. The arguments, sirs, have
all been made, all of them. Not here? Not in this chamber?
Ah, that asseveration may be true. As to that personally I do
not know. Austere, staid, ultra-conservative, the Senate may
not have given ear to all that has been heard, or all that is
being resolved by and amonar those whose backs are straining
and bending under the weight of govemment.
Arguments, sir, indeed, which justify, aye, which demand
the passage of effective anti-trust legislation, are being made
daily, hourly made throughout the land. Not in words, in
gifted speech, not by leading statesmen and orators, no ; most
generally, no; not in classic rhythm nor word vaporings
always. For all such, sir, for the most part, are aarainst us.
Here and there, it is true, a brave soul cries from the watch-
towers and Ms great eloquence, like the voice of a bell at sea.

138 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
is resonant, clear, and loud, amidst the befogged and rolfing
waters. But, sir, would you hear the muffled swish and sob
of the undertow, hear the moan, the deepening roar, the fitful
slash; hear the grinding, thudding beat upon dark and deso
late shores. Ah, sir, in poverty, in unrequited toil through
out the land, conditions consequent upon discriminating laws,
are the arguments made. Moreover, these are arguments
AritMn themselves, sir, wMch gifted speech can not turn. The
sad plight of the people everywhere in comparison Arith the
unholy acquisitors of your policies, are arguments wMch
storm the very citadel of national justice. I hope here to
note only some of these conditions. The Senate, I hope, has
not deemed me so vain as to attempt to offer anytMng new,
or even to present old arguments more eloquently or other-
Arise in stronger or better lights. There is not only nothing
original to be offered, but, Mr. President, to drone away time
upon this floor in restating, upon the one hand, what all so
well know, or, upon the other hand, by embarrassing this bill
Arith tedious technical criticism, were crimes, red-handed,
against decency itself, say nothing of the patient suffering of
our people. My wish, therefore, at this hour is not argu
ment, but action. Still, did I not believe such a course unnec
essary, I should attempt a detailed analysis of the measure;
for, in my feebleness, I would attempt whatever is vdtMn the
energies of man to strike down those causes which are grind
ing into dust all that is best in this Republic. But, sir, as I
can see, detail is unnecessary. To pursue it would be so
much time lost. The biU has been printed. Every Senator
has had or may have had a copy of it. It has been upon
every desk in this chamber. Its terms are plain, simple,
direct, and ample. And, too, all have read it or may read it
unless there be those amongst us wholly given over to fiddling
while torrents and tempests of fire deluge the streets of Rome.
This bill, sir, is calculated to be most effective. But I chal
lenge Senators to make issue upon any prorision of it if
anywhere it may be made better, pointing in good faith to its
defects, if such there be. As to its salutary purpose, there
can be no dirision of opinion. Directed, vdthout ambiguity,
against trusts and conspiracies which infest our commerce,
erils, sir, that have sprang up, grown and fattened under
favor of Republican laws, impoverishing labor and robbing
the farm of its annual substance, and dominating in all enter
prise until liberty itself is stifled. I earnestly beseech Sena
tors to lend to tMs measure most thoughtful attention.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 139
n.
Penalties Are Not Too Severe.
Ah, sirs, it has been suavely suggested that the penalties
proposed by tMs bill are unusual; that they are too severe.
True It is that heavy lines are provided; true, it is intended
to confine maletactors of the class defined by its terms in
pemtentiaries. i'or myself, sir, I see no objection to those
provisions. Sensible, too, of the general tone and temper of
tMs body, 1 can but hope that, as to tMs, no Senator can be
foimd who does object. Ah, sir, upon what are such objec
tions founded? The crime, what crime save treason itself
more vitally threatens, not merely domestic feficity, but the
security of free institutions? Trusts! Has any one been
so bold as to deny that they, those who conceive and execute
them, are robbing the people? Robbing, I say; and what,
pray, is robbery? A tMef is a tMef, is he not, sir? These
insolent predatories for years have surreptitiously filched
from industry and labor indiscriminately until their aggre
gate booty runs far into the billions. Bilfions, sir, I repeat!
Methuselah could not have counted it by dollars in tArice Ms
fifetime. Adam, indeed, had he survived till tMs day, and
computing a thousand dollars every nunute since Ms expul
sion from Paradise, must have fived 50,000 other years to
have completed the task. Let no one take alarm; these are
conservative estimates. Upon what pretext, therefore, do we
hear the word "severity" deftly connected Arith what is so
justly proposed as pumshment for so great a crime? No;
let trusts and trust magnates be placed precisely upon the
same level of infamy as other tMeves; let them be punished
with unerring certainty according to their crimes. Ah, what
is the true significance of tMs deft suggestion? Whence
comes it? Resting upon the false basis it does, the sugges
tion is an insult to intelfigence and an affront to the spirit
of American institutions. There is not and there can be
naught in mere wealth, notMng in so-called "station in fife"
to excuse or palfiate. What odds in "station," Mr. Presi
dent, if one be an enemy to society, a felon in every moral
aspect? Away, then, Arith considerations so unworthy of
honorable men. A tMef is a tMef, and so, I affirm before all
manMnd, that trusts and trust promoters deserve the consid
eration wMch becomes tMeves. "Station," "wealth," in
deed!

140 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
If the poor steal, are not the poor punished? The hungry,
the halt, the sick, Avho has excused from punishment these,
although in extremity demands of humanity may sometimes
force appropriation of the necessities of fife? Yet this is a
crime; for such is the law. Who, then, I ask, would soften
the same punishment when it is proposed to visit it upon the
rich thief, whose very crimes, indeed, have made Mm rich?
Ah, Mr. President, my estimate of this body forbids the sup
position that a single Senator may be found who is so sensi
tive, so bfind to what is just, as that. There is no severity;
the terms of the bill, in the light of criminal codes every
where, are temperate and conservative. An ordinary horse
tMef is as severely punished in most of the States. Besides,
sir, penitentiary walls, what terrors have they for honest
men? And even those now guilty, they Arith all their booty,
may, if they AriU, escape so horrible humility. If the rich
and patrician would avert it, there is an easy road. Let them
forego brigandage, abandon rillainy; they have, then, but to
seek forgiveness for the past before the throne of heaven.
That there are imperfections in tMs bill I do not question;
but I am sure, if any, they are of a minor character, though
I know of none. The best legislation, sir, must be perfected
by trial and experience. Let the Senate enter upon a trial
of tMs. It will at least begin what has been deferred far too
long — so long, Mr. President, that not only has untold treas
ure been swept away forever, but that predatory wealth has
become eminently perilous to the Repubfic itself. I beg the
Senate, therefore, to pass tMs bill. Delay at tMs late day
vdll prove most disastrous to it.
Procrastination vdll but afford its enemies time to fortify
against it. Or do you vdsh to wait until the trusts them
selves or their friends give to it their assent? They do not
ask tMs bill. Naturally neither do their friends want it, and
now there is notMng left to them, if it be not objection and
obstmction. Secretly or more openly, aU who are in sympa
thy with "Mgh criminafity" will object and obstruct. Less,
the country does not expect. Naturally, furthermore, it vdll,
I have no doubt, be their tactics by indirection to overthrow
it. No one looks for open, doctrinal attack, though each day
adding to their power and audacity, these giants in rapacity
have grown most bold and daring. But we expect them, true
to stealth, to adopt the surreptitious assault; to hear from
them feigned professions of regard and love, seeMng ten
derly (?) only to cure by amendments, assumed defects.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS I4I
These, or similar methods, I am informed, are generally the
resort of those who would strangle legislation proposed in
the interest of the people. But, Mr. President, the trusts
have no place in this chamber; and shall we not refuse to be
deceived by trust lobbyists and agents about tMs Capitol?
Shall we cower or fear their taunts and jeers; tremble before
their poisomng mouth or biting pen; shall we Mde from the
fury of their long-pampered pride? Ah, Senators, weU you
know that, laying wait for the halting and timid, is a de
bauched, mercenary press, who with false, but seductive or
more dire and threatemng, arguments heaped upon desks
here, undertake to intimidate the American Senate. This
bill, calculated as it is to bring untold blessings to the coun
try and harmful to none, normally here, should be received
\rith most general favor; for, sir, its principles, fundament
ally comporting Arith the true American conception of fiberty
and justice, are infimtely above party, above partisan preju
dice, and party poficies.
I appeal to that intelfigence and to those Mgher sentiments
wMch have actuated men aforetimes when dire and appalfing
crisis had befallen humanity ; aye, to that bond of brotherhood
wMch indiridually in the silent hour provokes contemplation
and awakens Arithin us a sense of our obligations to God. At
such times, AritMn the experience of every man, however rich
or exalted before the world, thoughts, as if apart or proceed
ing from voiceless speech somewhere witMn the mystery of
our being, engages the mind Arith problems of human fife, its
relations and its ends. Worldly pomp, glory, and power, effer
vescent ; wealth, pageantry, resplendence, ambition — these, all
these, sir, at such times turn to wormwood, and, as a sick
cMld, we roll upon our pillow and cry for God. Then it is
that the human heart exclaims, "What is all this worth?"
Then it is, too, there comes a counter query, "What shall it
profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose Ms own
soul?" And, too, Mr. President, then it is to every man
there comes but one reply. What? Every Senator bears
me ample answer. Be your creed what it may, each expe
rience exemplifies ; We are bound indissolubly in a brother
hood whose fatherhood is God; and in the solitude of self-
commumon no man fails to apprehend that material condi
tions in so far as they disregard these principles inhere in
eril and must decay. Sir, it behooves us here, not simply
^and only from official obfigation, but from what is infinitely
more binding, the imperative dictates of our common human-

142 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
ity to strike doAvn the greedy despoilers of ciric and domes
tic peace and tranquility. The bill now before the Senate
is a proposition to scourge the thieves from our temple. It
proposes notMng more, and certainly nothing less AriU be
offered or suggested. Yet, sir, if there is to be attack, spring
it, I say to the trusts, in the open field and let us behold to
whom the country shall point Arith the finger of contempt and
scorn. Ah, sir, conscious of its fullest meaning, I challenge open,
direct attack, if there be enemies anywhere who have designs
upon the life of this measure. Whence shall it come? Sir, I
do not predict that it will come from witMn tMs chamber, for
Senators here represent the people. No Senator sits in the
Senate under false color or false pretense. Your commis
sion is, I know, directly under the seal of your General Assem
bly, but your people are beMnd your General Assembly.
Whatever of technicafity there may be against it, still. Sena
tors, you represent your people; your only allegiance is to
them. Moreover, I halt to say that time has demonstrated
that you should in all good faith be elected directly by the
people themselves. However that may be, you in fact repre
sent only them. You vdsh it not declared, you dare not your
selves declare, that you hold allegiance to another master.
Wherefore let this bill come to a vote. By our unammity
for such a bill put forever at rest any question of our fidel
ity to what is best for the masses in every quarter of tMs
Union. In such a body as this, if guerrilla warfare from
Arithout be superinduced, honorable Senators all, it shall be
spurned with contempt. TMs bill, then, must come to a vote.
If, perchance, there be Senators whose principles require
opposition to minor features of the measure, let such objec
tion be made here ; if finally the bill is to them objectionable,
surely, sir, no objection can be so indefensible as not finally
to be openly supported by the vote of such objectors. Upon
a final vote on the bill, Mr. President, affecting, as it obri-
ously does, the well-being of the whole people, any doubt may
thus be expelled, if doubts anywhere exist, that a single Sena
tor would Mde from Ms constituents Ms true sentiments upon
it. If such doubt there be, I devoutly trust that upon final
submision that doubt AriU take wings and fly far away and be
at rest.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 143
III.
Comparison With the Sherman Act.
Mr. Fulton: Mr. President —
The Vice President: Does the Senator from Arkansas
yield to the Senator from Oregon?
Mr. Daris: Yes, sir.
Mr. Fulton: As the Senator is complaining of the Com
mittee on the Judiciary in not reporting this measure, and
Ms argument is simply to show the importance, I take it, of
proceeding against combinations in restraint of trade, I sug
gest that he Mndly tell us wherein his proposals differ from
the existing law, the act of 1890, commonly known as the
"Sherman Act."
Mr. Daris: Yes, sir. It differs most materially in the
penalties of the act. It proposes to put malefactors in the
penitentiary. Mr. Fulton: The only difference, then, is —
Mr. Daris: Not only that, sir, but it differs in many re
spects, if I could take the time of the Senate to point them
out. The bill is upon my desk.
Mr. Fulton : Does the Senator contend that the prorisions
of tMs bill would cover any combination in restraint of inter
state commerce or interstate trade that is not fully and com
pletely covered now by existing law?
Mr. Davis: I certainly do.
Mr. Fulton: Will the Senator indicate any particular act
that this bill would cover that the existing law does not cover?
Mr. Daris : I AriU do so before I conclude.
Sir, I would dispel whatever of injustice toward the Sen
ate may finger anywhere in the minds of the people. I
defend the Senate against the charge of indirection. For
myself, but an integral here, the whole world may know by
my vote, as well upon all other as upon this question, what
has been my ultimate decision and action.
Sir, the sinister arts of seductive agencies may hurl what
ever of ridicule or of contumely for hindering and embarrass
ing legislation, but for one, this bill shall have my undis
mayed support, treading the Arine press alone, if it be so
decreed, one Senator if no more, here shall voice a conriction
that humanity and justice are more to be prized than aggran
dizement or glory. Thanks be to God, however, I shall not
be alone. Without regard to party, there are others in this
chamber, tried and faithful, on either side, sir, who deeply

144 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
reafize the value of this legislation to the country. Devotion
to the well-being of the people characterizes many independ
ent minds amongst us irrespective of party, and however par
tisan when partisanry is the tug of war. I but send Avord of
cheer and hope among the oppressed in every State when I
proclaim, as I gladly do, that the breadwinners, those united
toilers whose brain and braAvn sustain this Republic, still have
friends in the Senate of the United States. Whatever befiefs
exist in any part of the country, I Avould defend from asper
sion, unless truth be barred me, any or all departments of the
Govemment. Upon crucial exigencies I haA^e faith that no
department will fail, that they, each and all, will prove in
the critical hour, a most sincere and unbending adherent to
public weal. I can not permit my mind to dAvell upon the
contrary, nor AriU I allow my thoughts to speculate concern
ing what may be the consequences of such improbable contin
gencies. Yet, popularly, sir, you may be not aware, this
greatest of deliberative bodies has been likened in some of
its important tendencies to the House of Lords of the British
Parfiament. Throughout this Republic the belief for years
has steadily grown that the Senate has acquired a fixed bias
against the people. Whatever legislation be proposed here
which is designed justly to restrain the acquisition or the
exaction of wealth, has been supposed very generally to enter
upon a rocky road, meeting at last at your hands a melan
choly doom.
I but state a fact, sir, when I say that the trusts, according
to a popular belief, whatever the injustice to the Senate, are
here peculiarly influential; that measures looMng to reform
in that behalf, that any legislative program leveled against
their predatory sway, is somehow and in some way summa
rily executed, court-martialed, drumhead court-martialed, sir,
and shot upon the spot. And, Mr. President, in view of that
erroneous belief I now ask what has been done, v^hat is being
done, or AriU be done?
Sir, as was so properly said by the distinguished Senator
from Rhode Island (Mr. Aldrich) upon the question of the
bmlding of four battleships, this Congress AAdll go down in
history as the most extravagant Congress that ever assem
bled on the American continent. He said that there was the
largest deficiency in the treasurA'- today that had ever existed.
Ah, Mr. President, I pause to say that Avhen the people of
tMs great Nation ask of Congress bread, they give them a
stone; when they ask of Congress a fish, they give them a

LEWIS RHOTON
The Prosecuting Attorney Who Became Famous for His Prose
cutions of Legislative Corruption. During the Early Part
of Jeff Davis's Political Career They were Friends
and Senator Davis Said, "Lewis Rhoton Has '
a Backbone as big as my old grip."
Later they became political ene
mies and criticised each
other unmercifully.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 145
serpent. What have you done at this session for the amelior
ation of the condition of the toiling masses of this country?
You have passed one bill, the employer's liability act, which
is as full of holes as a kitchen sifter ; a bill, sir, that the Presi
dent thought so little of that for days and days he threatened
its veto. Ah, Mr. President, well may it be asked what has
been done to reassure the public mind or to dispel these vain
beliefs. For, howcA^er far from the facts, a condition con
fronts the Senate. People in all ages have been swayed by
their beliefs, however fanciful or elusiA'e. Human nature is
what it is ; but great AriU be our error if Ave rest upon a belief,
equally false or elusive, that the people found their beliefs
wholly upon either passion, ignorance or prejudice.
Mr. Fulton : Mr. President—
The Vice President: Does the Senator from Arkansas
yield to the Senator from Oregon?
Mr. Daris: Yes, sir.
Mr. Fulton: Before the Senator passes from the employ
ers' liability act, which he has denounced in such strong terms
as being full of deficiencies and defects, will he not kindly
point out the particular point wherein it is unconstitutional?
Mr. Daris: Mr. President, I do not intend that tMs dis
cussion shall be diverted from the question under considera
tion. If the Senator from Oregon desires me to teach a law
school and if he A\dll Mndly indicate that desire, I AriU be glad
to have Mm as a pupil. He himself, sir, well knows that the
employers' liability act is but a sop thrown out to the Ameri
can laborer just preceding a Presidential election.
Mr. Fulton: Mr. President —
The Vice President: Does the Senator from Arkansas
yield further to the Senator from Oregon?
Mr. Daris : Yes, sir.
Mr. Fulton: The Senator asks do I want him to teach a
law school. I ask him to teach only me. Before we are
asked to enter upon that broader field, I should like to see
whether or not he really understands the bill.
Mr. Daris : I do not mean to be disrespectful to the Sena
tor, but I do not care to have the discussion diverted at this
time. True, the public mind is not invariably judicial ; it does
not wait upon demonstration, or demand that eridence be or
derly, circumstantial, or particular. Men in all the more se
rious affairs of life form opinions as frequently upon what
does not as upon what does transpire. The Senate is judged
in large part by what it has not accomplished. So, sir, I say let

146 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
popular judgment be founded never so erroneously, want of
confidence in this body is the fact to which all must give heed.
Ah, just now there comes from "captains of industry" a
specious plea that "want of confidence," that tMs element
alone, want of confidence in business stability precipitates a
panic; that AritMn the tArinkling of an eye what was full and
fat became lean and poor ; that so vital to prosperity is mere
confidence of the people that to Arithdraw that confidence is
to convulse enterprise with disorder and bring to ruin in a
day the mighty fabric of business and commerce. As to that
I now take no issue.
But, Mr. President, what then are we to understand is the
nature or value of confidence? Can you say "confidence" is
substantive, a thing which may be owed, borrowed, or loaned ;
a tangible quality inhering in all things, if they are to have
consistency, cohesion, and durability? Or, sir, is that subtle
agency something less or more; AriU you rank it among the
mechanical or rital forces, so precipitate and dreadful are its
effects, buoying by its favor, or destroying in cyclonic fury
by a nod, universal prosperity? Moreover, whatever be the
constituents or the caprices of "confidence," none have sup
posed it capable of extension or Arithdrawal, unsupported,
and at AriU. Repeating, therefore, I ask what has the Senate
done to restore the confidence among the people? What of
want of confidence in the Senate? What ere long AriU that
precipitate? Mr. President, the Senate must be judged, has
been judged, will be judged as other men generally are
judged, by their actions, by nonaction, by their sympatMes
and associations. I repeat again, sir, that the Senate is con
fronted by a condition. It may not be just. Upon the whole,
I am persuaded that it is unjust. But persuasion of others
do not meet what the Senate must meet for itself. Nor,
indeed, can we longer fold about us the silent dignity, a self-
consciousness of innocence, and ignore tMs condition.
Suavely attribute it in silence to ignorance or prejudice ? No ;
that AriU not do; sometMng more must now be done. This,
sir, is a representative body. While there may be a just lofti
ness appurtenant to our place here, Senators can not forget
nor treat Arith contempt the political truth that we are but
servants of the people, and, what is more, that our masters
hold our conduct under suspicion. Deny, again and again,
that trusts have peculiar influence upon this floor? Denial is
proper vdthin itself, comporting as it does the truth, but
denial alone, unattended Arith something more substantial.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 147
and demonstrable, AriU wander back unladen, a vagrant echo
from the mountains of discontent. Denial, sir, is no longer
open as an efficient remedy. Denial has been sent forth year
after year, but not one has found where to rest its feet.
Moreover, noAv, everywhere the flood does not abate. Upon
the contrary, discontent is rising, mountain peaks are disap
pearing, landmarks are submerged. Most alarming of all,
over the whole sky a dismal pall warns us of impending tor
rents. Sir, befieve me, there must be action. I pray God
most earnestly that the Senate be up and doing. Act for the
people, not in excitement, not suddenly in fright, but let what
is done be decently done, promptly and amply.
IV.
Influence of Predatory Wealth.
Mr. President, let no Senator, from what has been said,
receive misunderstanding as to my own temper or sentiments.
Aye, sir, if demal be worth anytMng, I deny the direct influ
ence upon tMs body of predatory wealth. Such demal, dur
ing my short experience here, has been in many ways con
firmed. No, sir; if the trusts have influence in the Senate
chamber, that influence is not direct; whatever at all there
may be of that influence, I feel that it can be only conse
quential and remote. So it is to be reflected that we are but
men. I do not say that Senators chosen by the people to so
great an office are, as respects character and rirtue, even
ordinary men, yet men, after all, possessed, too, it is fair to
assume, of the weakness, the fears, the temptations and hopes
of other men. If, therefore, unworthy influences have had
effect here to stay legislation, there are still pecufiar condi
tions wMch render Senators generally — and I doubt if there
be a single exception — ^wholly insensible to it. It must be
remembered where we are and what relation tMs body bears
to commerce and to all that pertains to pubfic good. Who
can affirm that environment is a condition wMch, if regarded
at all, may be set apart as separate from ourselves. Insensi
bly, sir, whatever we are or hope to become, is referable
directly or broadly to enrironment. And, surrounded as we
are by the allurements of luxury, seeing hourly the scintilla
tions and gfitter of wealth, it need not be doubted that pubfic
servants are made the objects of its enticements. Devotees
of Mammon, ever ready to afford gayety vrithout stint, their
arts for entertainment are unrivaled, wMle bcAritcMng smiles

148 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
all the wMle plausibly disarm fear. Prodigal liberality is
their stock in trade, appeafing to the natural appetites of
man, and, sir, as the country well knows, tMs Capital City is
overflowing with seductive measures, which, although failing
often to enthrall, are designed to ensnare the stoutest heart.
Thus daily surrounded, some men are borne unconsciously,
as in a dream, upon angel wings.
ExMlarated by that inexplicable effluvium characteristic of
pageantry and pomp, the mind passes rapidly through in
creasing stages of intoxication, the heart glows, the head rings
Arith subdued, though altogether pleasurable sounds, wMle
the rictim sinks painlessly, if not joyfully, into a sort of stu
pefaction. Among the first effects of this condition upon the
mind is forgetfulness. Singularly, what of the past has to
the victim been true and real, now is apprehended only as a
dream. Home, faces of the confiding people — all these ; pledges
at the hustings, duty, honor, valor, devotion, justice, law,
float aimlessly, as dispersing clouds, and if seen at all, are
seen only as far aAvay and unreal. It, sir, is the hypnotism
of worldliness — the spell of wealth. At every turn now Arily
incantations of Mammon euAvrap the attention; there is no
longer either desire or opportumty for escape, and the poor,
weak creature, in a sort of frenzied gladness, falls down in
hopeless idolatry. These conditions are ever present about
many great capitals, seen of all men. Approach Senators
directly? No. Not that the trusts would not, did not the
honor of the Senator warn them that they dare not. Sir,
assured thus of the rebuke wMch must follow direct approach,
a system infimtely removed and wholly metaphysical is
adroitly woven around the habitat of legislation. "Necro
mancy," "hypnotism," sir, is the better, and more nearly
the word. It is the hypnotism of wealth. By its exqmsite
agency, though neither the person nor the honor is harmed,
the AriU is unconsciously controlled.
But let me hasten to more substantial tMngs. Mr. Presi
dent, who does not know that American Government origi
nated out of bitter hostility to those very principles AvMch
today seem under its administration to thrive, wMle fiberty
and justice themselves vdther and die? I deny that any
there be who defiberately refuse to see. No; but blind are
they rather, so constant and fierce has been the glow of gold.
Ah, no one is now assuming the authority of a Moses, but I
bid the Senate hearken to a discontent wMch is daily groAring
more ominous. "Brazen serpent," say you, "Arithout vir-

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 149
tue!" Yes, I appeal to the Senate. Look! Else, sir, as
God fives the Repubfic must perish. Ineritable it is. If it
be destiny, call it destiny; but be assured, Senators, that
except we return to righteousness national fife must ternu-
nate in nation dissolution. If truth be truth, there is no
escape. Ever Aridemng the chasm between capital and labor,
bitter fruits of national legislation, tMs Congress must span
quicMy and well, else soon witMn that dismal abyss Arill tum
ble in conglomerate hopelessness the cracMng and creaMng
waUs of tMs Repubfic. Ah, well I know how ready some may
be to cry ' ' Prophet I Prophet ! " in mockery and disdain. In
the self -same spirit which the Hebrews, upon a far different
occasion, scoffingly cried, "All hail. King of the Jews 1 ' ' Life,
sir, has its own laws. Fundamentally righteousness and jus
tice, infimtely varied in forms, are its essential remonstrance.
All else is death. Ye can not escape. In the all of the one
is life; beyond, Mr. President, death stalks, stern, remorse
less and sofitary through halls where laughter has not en
tered, and silence, in sabled stiffness enshrouds obfirion. Be
warned, I say, Senators, Federal policies must be SAriftly
reformed. Sir, the time is propitious, and here and now, put
ting aside party interest and f eefing, let the Senate for proof
turn in retrospection upon tMs Government. Its original
designs you know full well, you know its Mstory. Federal
Umon — Union of free States in America! Sir, when first
proclaimed that glory palsied the heart of Europe, ashen
were the fips of monarchy in alarm, and then and there plu
tocracy furtively indicted its last AriU and testament.
Proridential resolution had crowned fiberty, and American
valor sworn allegiance to justice. Here, home of the free,
there was constituted a safe haven for every craft, ocean liner
or smack, that should be dashed unequally amidst the reefs
of human struggle. Behold today that Govemment, not as
now, but in the beginning. History, sir, Arill tell the story.
Ah, some may accuse me, if they choose, of academics, but
what of Mstory if from Mstory, in times like the present, we
may not again take our bearings, so riolently have greed and
glory driven us. Look, then, I beg, at tMs Republic in the
earfier lights; -see her unimpaired splendor unfurled before
the world an unconquerable spangle of stars; behold her
unrivaled grace in the flash and glare and roar of war, her
imsparing sacrifice of blood and treasure to the cause of
human fiberty. Behold, too, now her rirgin lovefiness in the
first fuU flush of bfissful reafization of joys wMch just ric-

150 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
tory brings. Sir, the story of Mstory need not be repeated
here; yet, Mr. President, who dare alter, who forget it? For
my own part, I love to dwell upon its pages, to pour its pre
cious treasures into the laps of my children, to hold its price
less lesson for their emulation. And even the Senate, sir,
may weU review, candidly review, those early events; and
then if there remains amongst us the least of those deeper
sentiments wMch actuated our sires, answer, if you can, how
far, alas, how dangerously far, government has at last been
given over to its original enemies. That somewhere and
somehow there has been betrayal not even hardihood is auda
cious enough to deny. Deliberately, solemnly, in my place
here, representative of a sovereign State, do I challenge
demal that fiberty today in America, as liberty was meant
and understood in the bloody baptismal of revolution, so far
from being an occasional welcome visitor, has been a total
stranger to tMs Government for many years. Let no one
start; if there be contrary sentiments, I am ready to main
tain it. For, poor and weak though I be, truth is mighty.
I am prepared to hear some soft-handed, timid creature,
anxious lest by sometMng said here the people be disturbed
from their bondage, charge me with ' ' intemperate language. ' '
The country knows, however, that I dare hold up plain truth
to tMs body. Doubt not that the truth is everywhere recog
nized, whatever, in certain quarters, interest or cupidity dis
pose some to deny. Fully conscious am I that plainness of
speech subjects me, among the foolish, to ammadversion ; but
to disgmse truth or to withhold from it aught were, under
the circumstances, Avorse than treason. Sir, special interests
seek, I know, bj^ intimidation to make plain speaMng unpopu
lar. Certain of the press even, allured by vain glory or gold,
have set a fasMon to deride and decry whatever is calculated
to arouse the country to its true condition. Indeed, so strong
has become insolence, feeding upon its own offal, that, let
whomsoever desire action here which savors of public weal,
and that Senator is at once denounced as a demagogue from
one end of the Union to the other.
Here, Senators, I would be indulged, if but for a moment,
in sfight personal allusion; its illustrative character AriU be
too apparent to require explanation or apology. It is knoAVu
to most Senators that, by the indulgence of the Senate, I ven
tured a few observations, on the 11th day of December last,
when this bill was referred. Whatever was then said, sir,
was the natural overflow of a heart in deep sympathy Arith

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 151
the poor, the laborer, Arith honest workers in every walk of
fife. For, saying notMng of disinterested justice to all such,
upon the shoulders of these rests the security and glory of
the Repubfic. That this is but simple truth only knaves are
despicable enough either to disregard or to deny. From the
sturdy mass of our people proceeds all — yes, all, I repeat —
that is worthy the name of man amongst us ; by their author
ity do Senators hold places of responsibility, and from the
frmts of their industry are we sustained. By them, too, was
not government itself ordained? Sir, if, then, that be true,
how beastial the doctrine that mere wealth, for its own sake,
may seize upon the potencies of govemment for its own
aggrandizement. V.
The Mission of Government.
Speaking broadly, government was instituted among men
as a bar to eril in all forms. Covetousness and greed, espe
cially — have these egregious enemies of sweat and toil, never
theless, "rights?" Rights, sir, I say, vested rights, wMch
government is bound to respect. Too well you know hov^
utterly wreckful is such a pretense. Yet, Mr. President, tak
ing these, my very words, watch plutocracy, you who care to
busy your curiosity Arith the arts of low cunning and system
atic rillainy; for, even while I speak, spies and sentinels are
impatient, and ere my last word shall be spoken a line of
craven newspapers, seizing upon what has been so truthfully
said, AriU contort it to deceive the public, as if anarchy were
ranting treason in the Senate. Yet, let me repeat, govern
ment, American govemment, was not ordained to protect
wealth for its own sake, aside from the fair fruits of honest
toil. No vested rights may be imputed to wealth. I go fur
ther; government was not designed to foster wealth for its
OAvn sake; certainly not where, by conspiracy, it assumes
monopofistic forms. Legislative favor, therefore, laws
framed whereby acqmsition may be accelerated beyond what
is natural, favoring one against another, favoring one section
above the rest of the country, thus impoverishing many and
enriching the few, the veritable Pandora's box, sir, whence
sprang all our erils, criminally outraging justice and flush
ing every statute of fiberty vdth shame, burning, mortifying
shame. Sir, this is a serious business, and I challenge any
to a denial. I charge that in every essential part the Consti
tution has been trampled under foot and American institu
tions overthrown. What? Ah, the form may still remain,

152 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
but of what value, pray, is form, if the substance be gone?
But I bid plutocracy be not too exultant; it is not gone for
ever. Thank God, it will return, soon return; triumphant
Democracy, ere long, will restore to the temple our ark of the
covenant from Republican hands. Plutocracy, be Avarned, I
say, God's people shall have their own. And yet, sir, so
accustomed have favored interests become, that now they
audaciously plead illicit favors as if rights in themselves,
marvelously appropriating estoppel, as they have AvrongfuUy
appropriated everytMng to themselves, since endurance and
patience have been mistaken for laches on the part of the
people. So that, Mr. President, on the occasion named my few sim
ple words on behalf of truth and justice scarcely left my lips
when a pampered, silken-robed, scriveling set of conspirators,
surprised and alarmed, curled haughtily, though nervously,
at their choppy mustaches, and bit patrician finger nails in
puzzled haste, so importunate was their eagerness to hurry
a polluted press to mock and ridicule a homely friend of
labor. Instantly paid trust journals up and down the coun
try, Arith one accord, in the selfsame breath, and manifestly
upon identical command, thiuMng to discredit my cause, cen
tered upon me from a thousand sources rituperation, art
fully put as news, and consummate wrath covertly dressed in
the habiliments of humor. Upon that occasion I had ven
tured — an unsMUed, plain man — to speak in honest terms
upon a subject which I know to be near the hearts of that
large army of men who wear overalls and hickory shirts.
What offense, pray? Meet the issues. Shall no one speak
for them in the Senate? Trae, I had essayed the unexpected
and unconventional — had addressed the Senate — a new Sena
tor — upon the eleventh day of my serrice. Why should there
have been delay? Arkansas, sir, is she not the equal of any
State upon this floor? For her I reply "Yes." Against
whom, then, has one of her Senators offended? Precedent?
"Precedent," indeed! Mr. President, I care not for prece
dents, unless they be good precedents ; and a precedent which
binds the hands or closes the mouth of a Senator when duty
bids him speak is a bad precedent, suited only to tempera
ments wMch shrink from responsibility. Still my conduct
was by the press scouted as a boldness, against Avhich they
affected to scowl and sneer. Moreover, what at that time
came from my heart, unstudied and unkempt — and for aught
I know or care was ungrammatical, as was vdth much delib-

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 153
eration charged — ^nevertheless proceeding from a brain busied
wholly Arith truth — conditional limitations, sir, to wMch the
plutocratic newspapers are, in the nature of the case, total
strangers. Modestly arraigning the protective) system by
quoting from a well-known trust magnate "As the mother of
trusts," tMs was heralded as a most grievous fault. But it
seems wherein I chiefly offended is yet to be mentioned.
Upon the occasion named I had adverted briefly and truth
fully, if somewhat fervently, to the nature of the punishment
proposed by this bill. Believing punishment by fine only
abortive, I urged and still urge, as part of this bill, penal
serritude as vdsest and best. Fine a trust? A poficy of that
sort can have no other effect than to excite contempt, if it
does not irritate to renewed exorbitance, for what Senator
is too bfind to know, what everybody else realizes, that only
to fine a trust is but to add to operating expenses ; a veritable
fine upon the innocent consumer at last. Ah, Mr. President,
let the Senate meet bravely and patriotically the issue wMch
is set before us. It is square and sharp. Shall autocracy
or democracy dominate; shall the Republic endure, or shall
there arise from its ruins a despotism of w^ealth? Sir, if con
stitutional government, think you, be worth the saving, then,
in God's name, lend your might and main to rescue it from
gluttony and greed! Trusts must be destroyed or they AriU
destroy all else. That trusts are criminal, aye, that they are
ethically treasonable, is everywhere known, if not openly
charged or admitted. I am aware, to the contrary, of the
specious pretext offered that the trusts are benefactors ; that
they develop industries and reduce the cost of commodities.
Fundamentally false, Avhat is stronger proof of their egre
gious infamy? I have neither time nor inclination to dignify
tMs falsehood by argument ; but I remind the Senate that this
Government Avas builded for something loftier than cheap
tea, cheap steel, cheap tobacco, and cheap petroleum. Nor,
sir, is American slavery to be compensated by any of these.
Your stalMng horse, Troy, is not to be again subjugated by
disguises like that. Away Arith madness and folly. Trusts
are Aricked conspiracies and combinations of men; punish
them, I say — not the shadow, but the substance. Let flesh
and blood feel the inexorable mandate of law.
What say your criminal codes? Are conspiracies to MU,
to rob, or burglarize foolishly denounced or punished? Are
only conspiracies fined? No; you apprehend and punish
men. Your specious rejoinder I readily anticipate and grant,

154 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
that corporations are entities owmng estates and may be
pumshed by fines; let their officers act for them as other
agents and should not be held personally for what is done
officially, but, sir, I deny that an officer can rob "officially,"
that he can violate the law ' ' officially, ' ' wMle the entity itself
can only act by law ; so that but for the evil purposes of men
going beyond law the entity only would prove harmless. What
then? Sir, I say the pemtentiary. Open prison doors; set
that alternative before conspiracy, graft and greed. The
penitentiary; that prospect alone can now restore the coun
try. And, sir, the term of imprisonment must be formidable ;
let even men of wealth or station, if guilty, feel the draw of
the inexorable halter of the law.
Such, upon the occasion named, were my sentiments delib
erately expressed before the Senate and the country, though
not in my present language. Nor do I offer now the slight
est apology. No new theory or strange doctrine has been
advanced. Hired scriveners will cry out, as of late they
invariably cry out whenever honest men speak in behalf of
truth and justice, "Anarchy!" "Socialist!" but it is only an
old stratagem of guilt in new form — it is but the hue and
cry of the tMef, made as he runs. No; Avhat I have main
tained is as old as time. Every criminal code is based upon
it. From the beginning of English history that doctrine has
been applied readily to the poor, the ordinary, the common
thief. Upon what, then, is the Senate asked to delay? Why,
pray, shall not men, such as Rockefeller, Harriman, Rogers,
and that ilk, be treated by the Government upon the same
level as other tMeves ? And yet, sir, Avhen I ventured to sug
gest it, lo, there arose a shout of derision. Certain of the
press, mostly Republican, but some pretendedly Democratic —
for money AriU sometimes buy either — seized upon my words
as if every letter exhaled the foul breath of treason.
VI.
Philippic on the Subsidized Press.
Diminutive editors in paroxyms of frenzy grimaced and
gesticulated as though there had been committed an unpar
donable sin against the Holy Ghost. Puniest of creatures,
miserable, monocarpous, misnamed men, pressed trousers
and aU, slinking cravens at the golden feet of Mammon,
frothed madly, upon seeing my words ; their fittle, weak bod
ies trembled, the limbs twitched and jerked as in spasm; the
eyebaUs roUed nervously, and the eyes emitted a greenish

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 155
fight, wMle the poor, brainless creatures snarled and snapped
aimlessly, as do ordinary dogs, as it is said, affected Arith
hydrophobia. Such seem to have been the first effects upon
a plutocratic press. But, do not misunderstand me. I ar
raign not one honest newspaper. I know and appreciate the
value to liberty of an unmuzzled press. Under wise and
patriotic guidance, no power or influence goes before unbri
dled journalism when justice and freedom are at stake. The
press in the past, I know A\'hat part it accomplished, I know
its valiance, its brave deeds in behalf of government by the
people. Mighty power for good, it is also, in wicked hands,
a power for eril; and designing men, seizing upon the press
wherever possible, are transforming its power into agencies
of eril. Ah, I earnestly pray that infinite Arisdom ever guide
our patriotic editors in this trying hour. Despite iniquitous
tariffs even upon your white paper, roll your ample pages to
the Arinds of heaven and let the farthest reaches of ciriliza-
tion gather truth as it flies. Ah, oh, may your white Arings,
Aride extended, hover always closely about, a protection and
a sMeld to labor everywhere, and to the husbandman whose
industries feed the Nation. Ah, sir, I make no war upon
legitimate journalism; on the contrary, what they stand for
I stand for, what we jointly seek no lover of justice can
despise. Indiridualism universally regarded and developed
is the only hope of man. You may talk of greatness, of
development, and of power, but all these are vain unless indi
ridualism be their highest fruition.
Fearlessly do I proclaim that in proportion as government
neglects indiridual Avell-being it attains not the ends for
which govemment Avas ordained. True, government itself is
a combination; but it is a union not a trust, constituted to
promote fiberty, not of a mass or of an aggregation of men
as a body or of the majority, as is sometimes foolishly sup
posed, but to assure, through the strength of the whole, the
indiridualism of cA'ery part, however weak. All ulterior
combinations, therefore, amongst the parts which are sub
versive of these primary ends to that extent are at enmity
Arith freedom. I am not unaware that the trusts make bold
to deny that they are among combinations or conspiracies of
the class here implied. Indeed, amongst a spawn of other
presumptuous sopMstries advanced it is now audaciously
maintained that so far from being enemies they are benefac
tors to society. Pointing to present prices of some commodi
ties over earfier prices and wholly ignoring favoring condi-

156 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
tions wMch time and developments have wrought in spite of
the trusts, they modestly exclaim, "Behold the fruits of our
benevolence! But, sir, the American people are not objects
of charity. Not the pittanace, but the principle, it was wMch
drove the colonists to annul by sword the tax upon tea. Ah,
"benefactors!" Upon fike plausibility can ordinary larceny
be heralded as benevolence, and the more vddespread and
systematic the thefts — God save the mark! — the Arider and
more general the benefits of so great munificence; for, truth
to say, the subject-matter which provoked tMs sort of "dis
interested thrift" is usually put upon the market "regard
less of cost." But I shall not further dignify a false pre
tense. Benefactors, indeed! Behold the veritable moun
tains of gold piled up and still piling up in the strong vaults
of a few men as a result of their undying charity^ for the
people. Equitably applied, all this unearned wealth, had it been left
Arith the people, would have builded in each State a college
at a cost, inclusive of endoAvment, of $10,000,000; a home for
veterans of the Ciril war at a cost of twenty million; an
agricultural academy at a cost of forty million; an orphan
asylum, a poorhouse in every county, ample for all coming
demands; museums and art institutes in every hamlet, boun
tifully endowed the school fund of each State, threaded the
land Arith macadamized roads, bridged rivers and streams,
reduced State and other taxes to a minimum, and left the
people Arith good homes, unacquainted Arith debt or grinding
poverty, while peace, quietude and contentment would every
where abound.
The sober, sane, simple truth! Let scavengers of plu
tocracy howl! Truth, God's living truth — where are its
defenders? Miserable travesty rtpon noble manhood.
post-graduates in all arts of slander or defamation, I
challenge a subsidized press! The people know your
design and spurn your pretenses, whether under show of
argument or more servient hypocrisy. Go! damnable
imps of pelf and greed, I defy your taunts! Tear to
fragments my political career, if it comport with your
execrable will; stifle and distort my every utterance; not
satisfied, if such be your brutal frenzy, lash my poor
form into insensibility; then, if it be your further pleas
ure, gnaw from my stiffening limbs every vestige of quiv
ering flesh; howl in wretched bestiality through my own
innocent blood as it drips from your fiendish visages;

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 157
drag then, if you want what remains, into the filth and
vermin of your foul den and burn it upon the altar of
Baal, or scatter it before the friendly winds of heaven to
your betters, the carrion crows of the field! All that
may they do, all and more, if there yet be open further
depths of infamy to a polluted, besotten press. These
ready servants of greed, what have they not done or
attempted to fasten still more securely an autocracy upon
us? It seems to be their special function, not simply to
pervert triith, but to threaten and terrorize public men.
Bare a Senator align himself with the people? What?
Yes; many illustrious servants of the people have lifted
honest voices here and elsewhere against the march of
plutocracy, to fall ambushed, politically assassinated, and
by whom? By the trusts, wearing masks. Ah, sir,
newspaper masks. But, Mr. President, insignificant as
am I, if my political career be marked, let them sharpen
their blade, for I ivill be here at the appointed hour, and
while here only God can stay my voice in behalf of organ
ized, united labor and the yeomanry of America.
Mr. President, it was said of old, "Ye can not serve God
and Mammon." Ah, Senators, I would dare assert tMs im
mortal truth even upon this floor, for in that simple doctrine
is to be found the root principles of all just government.
Analyze or differentiate, but it remains the sum total. Not
from superstition ; not necessarily from sectarian riews. But
resting in the essential polarity of a mortal mind, the affec
tions of man can not embrace objects wMch are fundament
ally repulsive. Nor, sir, is that doctrine applicable only to
indiriduals. Governments dare not disregard it. Time can
not alter or abate its force. You may content yourselves Arith
procrastination or assure me that God no lonarer deals vdth
nations. The Bible is plain; the orthodox belief is explicit.
As to personality and personal relations, as affecting concep
tions of God, I leave to each for himself ; but for myself, one
thing I know: Baal is not God; and I reason that while Baal
deals Arith nations for eril, God must continue to combat him
and rule for good. Skepticism may stalk, but be warned.
Senators, the rule of Mammon is the rule of ruin, and sooner
or later govemment must pay the penalty. Bring, sir, to
your assistance the history of Europe. What has been the
doom of empires who knew not God? Good, sir, if you vdll
have my creed, for "good" and "God" are identical princi
ples — the frmts and essence of the dirine mind. And if we

158 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
are to profit by Mstory, turn your thoughts upon our dis
tracted country, where Mammon has stormed the very walls
and holds the strong places vdth brutal fury.
Mr. President, to enter upon an elaborate reriew of condi
tions wMch distract this unhappy country would be superer-
rogation. So long and cheerless is the Mstory of man's in
humanity to man. Trusts and their cause, predatory wealth
in all its forms, fittle as may be supposed, is, sir, a matter
of common knowledge. In vain is hidden their perfidy under
such high-sounding terms as "science" and "finance;" in
vain it is assumed that "business" is a thing peculiar to the
elect and wholly apart from the so-called "common people;"
terms, sir, ill chosen to designate the sturdy citizensMp of
America. In vain, too, has it been sought to throw about
modem methods of "finance" an appearance of legality and
respectability. Repeated and rapidly increasing crimes have
found them out.
And I charge, sir, that such conditions could not have sur-
rived a day save by favor of this Government. The field is
inriting, but time forbids that I now descend into particulars.
But in what manner Federal policies for more than forty
years have steadily wrought, involving a recital of wretched
detail, even to an American schoolboy, it were folly to re
count. From the close of the Ciril war to this hour Mam
mon has been as busy as busy can be. Who does not recall
his sinister manipulation of our greenback currency? Erect
ing a national bauMng system despite the Constitution, these
banks are temples all over the land adapted especially to Ms
worship. Who inspired resumption to his glory? It was
Mammon, sir, who bound and gagged the people in the galling
bonds of protection, a system which for bold outlawry and
despotic confiscation distances far the remorseless tribute of
Caesar. Who but the god of gold demonetized our silver?
Monopoly has been intrenched ; favorites have been advanced ;
his worship, even in the Christian churches and colleges, fos
tered; his code is graft, Ms followers are thieves, and his
heaven is hell. Moreover, so powerful and insolent has groAvn
tMs money god that no sooner do the people seek to over
throw his power or to retard his further subjugation of our
fair country than straightway he, in wrath, brings down upon
the suffering millions — men, women and children — a panic,
a pestilence of ruin. Oh, boasted Republic, brightest star in
the constellation, blessed stay and security to and for the
Mghest good of man ; once glorified not less in prayer than in

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 159
song the world over wherever hope dared wMsper to sinMng
fiberty, what shall be thy ultimate destiny under the mad
ness and inhumanity of man? Sir, it is the old story — selfish
ambition and love of power. When shall men come to that
glorious understanding, basic in all righteousness, that only
conformity to the good insures real feficity? Homiletic, am
I told? Does the Senate find itself beyond or above recur
rence to the simple truths which make for godliness? It has
been said that the Senate is dignified. Very well; there be
digmty. Dignity, true dignity, always gentle, unassuming,
and simple, denotes probity and justice.
Dignity marks Mm who loves truth, whose life is a daily
expression of inward harmony with the real and good, while
false dignity is an attempt to disguise what is Mdeous and
bald. Then, in simple terms, I make bold to speak, and I say
to the Senate I know its acknowledgment of those simple,
though more sublime truths which uphold the right in all
tMngs. And if there be the least confusion, disenthrall your
self from the artificial modes or befiefs, so that from the
eternal fountain of homiletic truth you may drink copiously.
To destroy eril, the minds and purposes of men must rightly
apprehend its genesis. Eril, broadly, is conditional, not per
sonal. It is a negation, a disregard of law, erroneous con
ceptions of what is good. Under ignorant beliefs men seek
ing the good yet set up and worship error, entailing, logically,
a brood of our present eril consequences. It follows that
many, as well indiridual as national, beliefs — ^idols, indeed,
sir — ^must be altered and demolished. Erroneous principles,
as they are called, must give way to righteousness ere again
in America a sense of supreme brotherhood shall give char
acter to our laws. In considering the great question now
before tMs body, therefore, I pray Senators to drink deeply
from pure fountains of homiletic truth.
VII.
Trusts a Legitimate Breed of Noxious Parentage.
Mr. President, our present commercial disorders, trusts
and concomitant erils are bitter fruits of noxious seed long
ago soAvn. Deliberately do I affirm that, despicable as is the
blood, trusts are a legitimate breed. Specifically stated, con
ceived in special privilege, nurtured by protective tariff, and
fattened upon public SArill of every Mnd, the overgroAvn wards
of Republicanism, folloAring the principles of their being,

160 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
turn naturally to pillage as a duck to water or a sow to her
wallow. Their denial, I doubt not, will be forthcoming. The
country expects not a plea of guilty. In the State of Florida
an old negro, arraigned upon a charge of larceny of an alfi-
gator from a farm Avhere the young of these quadrupeds are
reared, is said to have pleaded "not gmlty" to "de allerga-
shuns" and to have defied "de allergater." You insolently
"stand pat," a paraphrase of the negro's plea; but to "stand
pat," as a plea, is dilatory — is the eqmvalent of standing
mute; but you shall be put to trial. Trusts, I repeat, are a
legitimate breed. By no accepted tables can they be looked
upon as bastards.
Trusts have conformed, if to none other, to the law of bio
genesis, for their strain of blood, such as it is, has remained
unmixed for generations. True in every trait and lineament,
from father to son, their ancestral line, not heading in, but
finking with the Tories of Revolutionary times, reaches its
polluted source in George III; and well do they boast such
princely ancestry, for, although possessed not of the prince's
courage, they inherit both his meanness and his rapacity.
Here, however, sir, I must pause, for, sir, not at tMs late day
would I by word or deed do aught of injustice to even that
cruel monarch. George III, to be sure, was narrow and cruel,
but Ms tyranny was a direct force. As Mng did he stifle
justice and look with disdain upon liberty. By brute force
was Ms royal prerogative maintained. He therefore laid
tribute Arithout mercy, taxed Arithout representation, filled
Ms dominions Arith squalor, and trampled ruthlessly upon Ms
subjects. Yet all this, Mr. President, was in strict accord
Arith the genius of monarchy. As Mng, so went the theory,
he could do no wrong. That despised prince, let it be said
here in strict justice to Ms memory, however, abhorred a
tMef; a tMef, sir, in the ordinary development of cupidity.
Unfike Ms descendants, George hated not his colonies, but
far different sentiments stimulated his policies toward them.
His conduct in America showed forth but the genius of em
pire, and colonial challenge ef Mngly prerogative, the asser
tion of the right of self-government — these were the tMngs
wMch started royal armies Mtherward. But I mean not to
dwell upon events of the Revolution. All that was hateful to
American liberty, however, did not depart from our shores
vdth the departure of British arms. British sentiment, dis
trust of the people, and love of power found lodgment still.
Toryism, though despoiled of its personal Mng, demanded "a

T. L. COX.
Whom Jeff Davis Always Referred to as the Head of the "Little Rock Ring.'

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 161
strong government," one rested upon wealth, pririlege and
class. Nor during all these years has Toryism abandoned
its claim to the throne. Born to rule, according to their
creed, the classes view the masses only as slaves, by nature
constituted by their work to enrich and glorify the Mug.
Such is the spirit of the class; and so, I say, the spirit of
George III still ammates persons and parties in this country.
You have but to look about and around you. Tribute and
favoritism, pofitical debauchery in its most malignant forms,
coafition, combination and conspiracy rule the hour ; whereby,
sir, so mighty has become predatory wealth, so vddespread
and assertive have become the dominions of Mammon, that
did their illustrious ancestor behold the vast extent of their
power, typified in the Standard Oil Company and fike aggre
gations of iniquity, George III must groan in disappointment,
wMle the very devil Mmself, swelfing the chorus of Ms imps
in hell, chants in fiendish exultation. And yet, tMs is Amer
ica ; America, proud, boasted America, home of the free 1 Ah,
yes, the selfsame; the same, Mr. President, AA^Mch aforetime,
pledged her all for independence ; the same which, in the crisis
of revolution, testing the deA^otion of her people, put mon
archy everywhere, for the first time in the Mstory of the
world, in mortal terror. Oh, America, albeit today! May
the God of Moses, in infinite mercy and pity, rescue fiberty
in America from a thralldom more abject than Egyptian bond
age, to the infidelity of gold. His faithful poor in every State
in the American Union may He deliver from that sweat and
toil wMch brings no reward ! Strike down the power of Pha
raoh, oh, God of Israel !
Ah, Mr. President, looking now over our past, I would ask
what, after all, is indeed independence? Harnessed by a
hundred favoring Mays, our commerce terminates in the lap
of luxury, wMle the people, robbed of its fruits, are lashed
Arithout mercy to renewed toil. And in a country, too, blessed
by Proridence beyond other portions of the earth. Behold,
in proof, the extent of this Republic; its boundless area of
fruitful soil, its mountain ranges, its deep carrying rivers,
its lakes and seas. The very bowels of the earth are over-
floAring, so generous has been the bounty of Almighty God.
Charged, too, are now found to be the very heavens Arith inex
haustible riches ; and everywhere the needs and pleasures of
fife are piled Arith Godly prodigality and paternal amplitude.
Sir, I indulge no poetic fancy ; for language in its meagerness
may not depict the natural glories of this Repubfic. Indeed,

162 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
from the beginning America seems to have been foreordained
a special habitat for fiberty and independence. As if by
specification and plan divinely prepared, here has been
wrought a Utopia in bfissful reafity for us and for our cMl
dren. For, I can not forego the proud declaration, and I
make it in reverential thankfulness to God, that nowhere has
the sun yet Mssed a spot nor set upon a foot of earth where
liberty is more indigenous or where by nature independence
is courted with the same passionate abandon as in America.
Such, too, was the grateful realization of the fathers when
first they came into their so glorious inheritance. Re-read
our blood-stained history ; read it in the yet gfimmering lights
of Concord and Lexington, when, for the sake of liberty on
tMs continent, the very foundations of the deep were broken
up and the heavens opened for independence. The doctrines
at that time enshrined it were needless now to recount.
Enough that today they are the sum total of Democratic
faith; and heaven vouchsafe that those principles once again
inspire administration, diffusing uniformly the blessings of
free government amongst the people of every section, to the
utter rout of Mammon from our affairs, public and private.
Mr. President, pardon me again for sfight personal allu
sion. It will, I trust, tend to advance the thought wMch I
have desired to impress upon this body. It will be readily
recalled that a Republican President only recently sent to
the Congress a most remarkable Democratic special message.
In that document, the Chief Executive, rising above his party,
boldly, bravely, and truthfully dealt with conditions to which
I have here alluded. Without regard to party that message
thrilled the American people from Florida to California. It
was a bugle call as from the skies ; the people heard and took
hope, for its truth Avent to the heart of the Nation. Yet, sir,
quite a contrary though simultaneous effect was produced in
other quarters. Indeed, the livid streak through the Senate
wMch marked the passage of that document had not faded
from sight ere proof of good markmanship told that the
President had hit his aim; for instantly from plutocratic
press and spokesman there arose, as from sewer mouths, a
dense sickening odor which stifled the air and affronted the
nostrils of all decency.
TMnking to abate the force of that message, members of
the President's own party joined, more or less openly, in
whatever criticisms might serve their purpose, for the Chief
Executive, deliberately defying adverse influences, had added

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 163

fuel to a Democratic conflagration which must sweep the land.
Mark you. Senators, I say "sweep the land;" yes, sweep the
land until corporate power be controlled, predatory methods
all consumed and their ashes sifted upon the Arinds. Not as
a Senator only but as a citizen of tMs Republic do I proclaim
that of right this is a free country. "Equal rights to all"
is at eternal enmity Arith "special pririlege." Monopoly is
an alien, therefore, and an enemy. Not the person, but the
Aricked policy of George III, in whatever form of disguise it
were, that threatened the inalienable rights of man. Ah, sir,
those policies must be driven from our coundls. For if at
last we have but to choose as between forms of tyranny, then
the infidelity of gold is more to be despised. And yet, so bold
has become this tyranny, seeing the arousing temper of the
people and failing longer to besruile them, the trusts inso
lently, by traduction, seek to drive and intimidate our lead
ers. But America is not Russia; nor are Americans Rus
sians. Lovers of peace, still Americans love liberty as noth
ing else; and, sir, they have both the courage and ability to
defend it. Ah, my words in certain quarters may be laughed
to scorn, while plutocracy revels in feigned security amidst
dance and song. Sir, their songs are not music; their rev
elry proceeds not from joy, for music is the languaare of love
and joy; true joy is the flower of righteousness which blooms
in a heart softened by love. I know, Mr. President, that in
what we are weak the trusts are strong. There is a magic
potency in wealth, gold, stocks and bonds. Yet a weakness
there is to be found, and against that weakness the people
are peculiarly stronsr; for the trasts, bold, brazen and
hausrhty, they are stiU as Gofiath meetins: Darid. The God
of Israel is vdth the people of this Repubfic; He shaU be
their strength, so that the powers of heU shaU not prevail
against them.
Nor do I care for your denial that this is a Christian coun
try. Be not, however, deceived. God is the same todav and
forever. Be warned — ye can not serve two masters. If Baal
be God, serve Mm, but, sir, we chaUenge you to a test of fire
from heaven. The trust of the people is in the firing God.
In our hearts, if this motto has been stricken from our coin.
His love there is ineffaceable. By His power shall be fifted
the cause of right and justice.
Sir, I would not by any allusion leave myself open to mis
construction. By an executive order "In God we trast" was
stricken from our coin. I have just aUuded to that. Yet T

164 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
Arish to make defimte a statement of my opinion that, under
the circumstances, whatever the purpose, the order was con
sistent vdth the practices of the Republican party. "In God
we trust" upon money which, controlled by national banks,
is daily prostituted to do the work of the deril was blas
phemous in the eyes of mankind. Upon a money system so
utterly Christless Avhat a bald hypocrisy ! Yes, strike it off,
out of decent respect for Almighty God, and leave to the peo
ple its restoration when government itself shall be rescued
from debauchery and greed. Yes, doff the very livery of
heaven; for by the authority of God's word I charge that you
serve the deril. Strong language? If I be admonished of
the teachings of Christ that "if one take your cloak give him
your coat also," I reply that the selfsame Christ scourged
the tMeves from the temple.
But, Mr. President, at this junctcure my mind has been
somewhat diverted from its original course. Observations
concerning Christ and God, naturally suggest to the mind
the early Mstory and some of the early professions of the
Republican party. And turning to history, I would ask,
where is that great party of boasted emancipation, that
vaunted God and morality band of crusaders who, more than
forty years ago, assumed administration of this Government?
Did some echo answer, "Wedded, hopelessly wedded, to the
idolatry of gold?" Yes, and that, too, from the very begin
ning of its career. Prating long and loud of freedom, Avork
ing at hypocrisy, in season and out, that party, direct de
scendant of George III, under cover of solicitude for human
ity has steadily intrenched against the ultimate indignation
and vengeance of the people. Departing from its early pro
fessions, that party has erected in every portion of tMs fair
land altars to the money god, and in them installed the priest
hood of Mammon. vni.
Fruits of a Protective Tariff.
Through protective tariffs merciless tribute is forced upon
the masses; commerce, bound hand and foot, is brought a
helpless though straggling rictim; labor, blessed hope of
manMnd under free institutions, brutally driven as galley
slaves, as national banks bind as with cords of steel our every
energy wMle plutocracy in fiendish glee and ravenous glut
tony gorges its putrid stomach. Stop, Senators; in God's

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 165
name I beseech you, tMnk. Still, sir, I ask, what do you?
Today you fiddle while Rome is burning. You sit here mark
ing time lest you do something. Today, pending a frightful,
a criminal, panic, made out of the whole cloth, conspired Arith
aforethought and brutal malignancy as a pretext to accom
plish what the Aldrich bill is now attempting for the national
banks under cover of relief to the country, you drone away
the time here and hide your conduct and purposes pending
an election. What the whole world knows you might know
if you Arished to know, that tinkering with the currency is the
very worst thing that could be done, unless with one fell
swoop the Congress Aripe from existence every vestige of the
national banMng system. Building upon a rotten foundation,
adding to the superstructure, may postpone but it AriU not
avert what must ineritably come. A stable currency, if you
really Arish it, bottom your entire circulation upon Govern
ment notes at par Arith all coin in paying the debts, public
and private, and expenses of the Government. But no, con-
traryArise, you hug the national bank in fond embrace, so
effective has this system demonstrated itself to bind the peo
ple in hopeless slavery. Ah, "slavery!" The very term
awakens some of my earliest recollections. Mr. President, it
is said to be not in good form to speak carelessly upon the
subject of ropes in a family some member of which has
been hanged. But the word "slavery" — this term, in
riew of the present condition of the people, reminds me of the
early oratory of the Republican party, when Toryism was
struggling for power. I recall the language of Charles Sum
ner, speaking at great Fanueil Hall, so early as 1855. Re
ferring to the subject of tenure slavery, a system superin
duced by Northern sales of negroes into the South, Mr. Sum
ner then said:
Not that I love the Union less, but freedom more, do I now, in pleading
this great cause, Insist that freedom, at all hazards, shall be preserved. God
forbid that for the sake of the Union we shall sacrifice the very thing for
¦which the Union was made.
Yes; "God forbid;" such was the invocation. "God for
bid that for the sake of the Union" we should sacrifice free
dom. Freedom was more to be prized than Union, was it
not, sir? And what was freedom at that time, that it should
be of so great value? Sir, I tender no sectional issue. Nor
do I Arish now to detract one iota from what was then said
of the freedom as applied solely to tenure slavery. What
was said so long ago by Charles Sumner is brought forward
only to prove the value of freedom, that it is worth more

166 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
than Union. The party of Charles Sumner, then, was ready,
if confronted Arith such a last alternative to secure liberty for
the tenure slaves of the South, to overthrow our Government.
I shall not here enter upon any analysis of the motives wMch
actuated men during that period. Much ferrid oratory was
indulged, humanity was stirred, tenure slavery was doomed.
I here make no issue; no one now defends that system; in
that form negro slavery is gone forever. Indeed, I make
bold to say that to the indiAdduals who suffered it that system
was wrong; not at that period wrong legally, for, wrong as
it was etMcally and morally, the law permitted sales by the
North to the South and recognized property in slaves. But
what I emphasize is that even under those circumstances
negro freedom, so Republicans proclaimed, was more to be
desired than Union itself. Freedom from tenure serritude
let it be ; no one elsewhere, certainly none in the South, would
Arish it othenrise. Nor can my mere mention of it in tMs
connection afford opportunity, by seizing upon a dead issue,
to divert the public mind from the firing present. But your
professions of devotion to liberty; how do your professions
comport Arith what you have actually done ? Your great love
of freedom; where may we now look — what has been its
depths, its lengths, and breadths? Ah, foUowing appeals to
sentiments of humanity which secured to you a long lease of
power, what eridence of your love, what, indeed, have you not
done to fasten upon whites and blacks alike a serritude in
comparison Arith whose hopelessness slavery were a boon?
"God forbid that for the sake of the Union we should
sacrifice the very thing for which the Union was made."
"God forbid;" and yet both have been sacrificed, for upon
the ruins of our erstwhile Repubfic flourishes today a feudal
dynasty whose base servitudes rival Normandy or England
in the palmiest periods of feudal tenures. Your doctrines
have not been extended, your great love seems to have
stopped vdth the negro, and even Mm you have finally be
trayed. Sir, confronted as is the country with dire calamity, I
should in aU just reason afford not to even the narrower
souls the sfightest pretext for stirring up passion or sectional
discord, whereby to draw away the public mind. A ruse of
that sort, however, can but produce general disgust. Tran
quility between North and South concerning sectional issues
has closed, I feel sure, forever. Be destiny what it may, the
future is our own. What is best for one shaU be best for aU,

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 167
for by our united hands, worMng to a common purpose, be
neath a common flag which floats proudly and resolutely over
the dead past, seen and respected emblem of an unconquer-
jable people, it is within our determination at every hazard to
strive Arithout ceasing until there shall be an equal and exact
diffusion of justice, wholly disregardful of class, creed or
station. And therefore I can have no ambition to stir up
memories of the past, for their own sake. Yet, Mr. Presi
dent, I am not sensible of any just demand that on this occa
sion I lend myself wholly to mere oversensitiveness. Duty
forbids that I shut my eyes out of a false delicacy. History,
sir; shall we be truant to that? Upon the contrary, I, for
one, shall dare look there at all times for what may be made
of service to my country. And looking to history, what, I
ask, under the influence of benign Republican love, has been
the sad plight of the people, blacks no less than wMtes, now
for more than one whole generation? Ah, what a long fu
neral train, what a dreary catalogue of evils. Behold the
Repubfic prior to the sixties and behold it now; in the spe
cial fight of that love for freedom wMch was so lustily pro
claimed. With the ending of the Ciril war, "freedom" vin
dicated, rictorious humanitariamsm fully empowered, there
began the work of love whose endearing tokens we now
behold. Reriew, sir, the panoplied retinue, moring in somber state-
finess before your enrapt and rarished imagination. Head
ing the column are national banks, croAvned and vdth ermine
flowing, bearing each for itself the flag of our Union, emblazed
in gfittering letters upon its undulating folds, "In God we
trust;" next are a long line by fours, tariff barons, capari
soned and sable plumed; trusts, by tens abreast, fill the cen
ter, constituting more than a tMrd of all; following these,
currency mampulators, bearing gold standards; then, in the
order named, a motley swarm, headed by 2,500 multi-million
aires, 25,000 millionaires, and, still coming, railway mergers,
bank frauds, insurance frauds, corruption funds, market
gamblers, bucket shops, graft, commercial three-card monte
men, blighting panic, lockouts, government by injunction, po
fitical filibusterers, legislative abasement to plutocracy, gag
rules, billion-dollar appropriations, waste, fraud, public de
bauchery, oppression of the poor, and a thousand other erils
make up the endless train. Oh, what wondrous love! Hu
manity, sir, the Aride world over, hearing your early cries in
behalf of freedom, has given heart and hand to the Republi-

168 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
can party, thus plighting faith to its fidelity and devotion.
And now, sir, that great fidelity — what has been its course?
Ah, in vain do you seek to cover the fact or to divert atten
tion from the worst. The whole world knows of your mor
ganatic loves ; denial can not longer defer the hour of domes
tic wrath. Oh, erstwhile devotee of gentle, winsome liberty,
for shame that the love of gold has enslaved; that power's
lecherous lust has enthralled your manhood. Return, oh,
return, truant spouse to a proper sense of domestic fidelity
and felicity, for, related morganatically, though you may
boast, to English royalty through George III, know, vain
and foolish one, that your bastard ancestor is none other than
whom, once upon a time, George Washington flung, flagrante
delicto, from the throat of his beloved country. Be assured,
too, that history AriU repeat itself in its own good time. You
can not avert it. Conciliatory, and slow to resistance, the
American people now mean to drive you from power.
Paul Revere, riding again, is shouting from house to house
in SArift warnings, for your recent panic, Arithering industry
fike a hot blast, only too plainly nov^ manifests your ultimate
purpose. Whatever hope of peace existed, this last means
war — war to the extermination of autocracy, war upon pred
atory wealth in all its forms. But, Mr. President, there is
something more to which I Arish to invite attention as mani
festing the present alarming temper and power of the trusts.
Sir, I charge that they have adopted a system to corrupt the
very fountains of individualism and of pubfic morafity. Our
very children, the hope of the future, these they have insidi
ously set craftily to ensnare. Entering our churches and
schools, masked and covered by pretended bounty and munifi
cence, cold, calculating autocracy Avould metamorphose child
hood, dry up the very springs of love, and steal aAvay that
soft and guileless innocence which characterizes the heart in
the first flush of virginity, manly rigor and poAver. Not con
tent Arith robbing the present, they calculate upon enslaving
the future. Not only would they steal from the tabernacle
the ark of our covenant, but transform our colleges into tem
ples to Baal. Broadcast would they sow seed of disloyalty,
not alone to the brotherhood of man, but to the Fatherhood
of God. Deny it? Ah, yes; denial is the expected, the uni
versal resort of guilt. But, if you dare, I challenge you to
put yourself upon the country. Ah, upon the contrary, what
do they? Throw themselves, sir, upon the ample bosom of a
grasping press, wMle generously enlarging endowments to

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 169
churches and colleges — throwing up defenses, making ram
parts against the power of the people.
Only recently, think, sir, here was published a denunciation
and slander of your Chief Executive by a stall-fattened col
lege professor, all because in a brave, democratic, special
message, bluntly Western in directness, the President dared
to call a spade a spade. And this most mighty prodigy of
conservatism and Arisdom — who is he? Whoever he may be,
it was quite fitting that at the very crest of the present panic
the music of his oration should have delighted the ear, as
doubtless it did, of the New York Bankers' Association. Ah,
"Day," I aru told; Day is the name! James R. Day, the
very same, sir! James R., chancellor of Syracuse Univer
sity, paradoxical as it may seem. "Day," indeed! Period
of effulgence, the antipode of darkness and nigrht ! Nowhere
do our common calendars show it ; nor have astronomical re
searches taken note of such a Day. In Genesis, it is true, the
first seven days only are mentioned. Presumably, then,
James R. is not of these. Logically, therefore, I take it he
must have been prior in time; in fact the sum total of that
darkness and void immediately antedatinsr that nearative or
nebulous status spoken of in Genesis as "In the beginning,"
thus identifying James R. vdth the primitive, plutonic Day!
His frantic frothings I should not stoop for a moment to dig-
mfy before the world did not they, made Avhen and where
they were, fittingly show forth the strattins: boastfulness and
daring arroarance of the money power. It is not enough that
he_ has slunk out of sight into the stiff, thick niarht of his
original obscurity. His sentiments were representative, nor
shall the trasts go unwhipped for his bestial vomit against
democratic truth.
Among other things, speaMng of the recent special mes
sage, James R., taMng a arolden spoon temporarily from Ms
mouth, said; "I charge the whole business with bearing the
earmarks" ("the whole business" being the whole message,
sir) "of disloyal slander and defamation of the commerce of
the country." "Earmarks of disloyal slander"— those are
Ms words— "disloyal slander to the commerce of the coun
try;" as if there was a loyalty OAring anywhere other than
to the Constitution of the Union." "They are not," savs
Mr. Day (refernnar to the President's "attacks") "judicial,
specific, and particular. They are sweeping, reckless, indis
criminate, and, upon their face, for the most part, false."
Thus pleads the incomparable criminal laAvyer, the paradox-

170 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
ical, sunless Day. With the green-bag load, bent upon tech-
mcafity and delay, he ludicrously strides up and down, wrink
ling Ms brow vdth Arisdom, and the while busying Mmself
Arith a show of assurance characteristic of the professional
shyster who counts as success whatever wins. After roundly
denouncing the President, tMs little Syracuse monstrosity
counsels to New York banks, as if also master of the people,
"to stop the Tarings of the demagogue, serve rigorous notice
upon the men" (the President he means, and others who hold
to Democratic doctrine of the kind mentioned) "serve vig
orous notice upon the men who are defaming our business
men and discrediting our trade by representing our products
as the sum of all rillainies in fraud and adulteration." "If
you AriU call to account," said he — "call to account" was Ms
language — "call to account the men who are depreciating our
bonds and stocks by comparing our great centers" (the
bucket shops, he means, sir) "of brokerage and exchange with
a den of tMeves," and so forth, "sixty days" — so he speaks
for those who precipitated the panic — "Avill put an end to
our hard times." Only sixty days; so criminal, then, is their
control and manipulation of the panic! Confession, indeed!
What egregious effrontery! But, further, Mr. Day counsels
his masters "to see to it" — the language of command and
authority — to see to it that our great railways have fair
play in their efforts to make new adjustments" {new adjust
ments is what he caUs it) "to meet the demands of a fabu
lously grovdng country."
_ God save the mark I We now are made aware for the first
time to what must be refer ed the interminable, vexations,
mergers, and rebating delays and overcharges Arith which
the country has been so long inflicted. Mr. Day, foUoAring
this grave counsel, turns to the people and in stilted pedan-
tics warns them that they "must rise up out of suspicion,
ignorance and distrast concerning economic conditions and
refuse to give their votes to men who defame their country,"
terms, sir, manifestly synonymous, in the vocabulary of Syra
cuse Umversity, Arith "men who defame our tariff barons and
trust magnates of New England." "If you acquiesce," con
tinues Mr. Day, now again speaMng to the bankers of New
York, "if you acquiesce and by silence consent to the infa
mous work of the slander-monger and permit"— permit is the
exact word— "permit the Aridening of the breach between our
thrifty classes (stock gamblers and captains of graft, I take
it, was immodest, sir), "and the restless, anarcMstic Social-

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 171
ists" (the toifing masses is a proper translation); "if you
look on Arithout uttering a word against an agitation which
invites the anarchist to sharpen Ms dagger, that invites the
poor" — mark Ms words — "that invites the poor to take prop
erty from the rich by violence because it has been stolen from
them * * * then before another half decade blood will flow in
our streets and the Night Riders ' torch vdll fight the heavens
with appalfing glare." Thus, in plutomc gloom, perched
upon Syracuse Jmversity, quoth its sable-robed, though
filfiputian, prophet. With what boldness, Avhat assumption,
does plutocracy at last outfine its campaign against pubfic
servants who dare challenge its unbridled sway. Ah, sir,
there has been demal that Mr, Day speaks for the trusts.
For whom, then, does he speak? Not certainly for the peo
ple at large whom he has characterized as ' ' anarcMstic Social
ists." "The Avhole people" are grovefing "in suspicion,
ignorance and distrust concermng economic conditions, ' ' does
he not charge? His, sir, is emphatically a special plea for
* ' our thrifty classes, ' ' and he speaks for them.
The wrongs of the railways are called "efforts at new
adjustments," and he speaks for them. His whole plea is a
sugar-coated, techmcal evasion in defense of commercial brig
andage and is meant to arouse wealth to greater relentless-
ness and riolence. In one breath it is maintained that "the
attack is not judicial, specific, defimte;" in another he charges
that the message ' * upon its face, for the most part, is false. ' '
Too defimte to be understood, yet most of it, prima facie,
false! False, most of it, upon its face, against nobody in
particular. "A slander," says the voice from Syracuse,
"upon our great centers of exchange, upon our thrifty
classes ! ' ' The charges, it is complained, have not been defi
mte, not specific; the allegations are not ample to constitute
the offense. Very well; there is a new indictment : "We, the
people of America, of whatever party, adherents to the doc
trine of equal rights to all, in the name and by authority of
the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, do
accuse the Standard Oil Company and John D. Rockefeller,
its Mgh priest, of the crime of treason, plutocratic robbery,
and conspiracy to subvert government, committed as foUows,
toArit: "The said Standard Oil Company, and John D. Rockefel
ler, vdtMn and without the United States of America, for the
last twenty-five or more years then and there, not having the
fear of Almighty God before their eyes, but being seduced.

172 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

persuaded, aUured and instigated by the blandishments and
enticements of the devil and Ms imps of hell, inclusive of
"standpatters" against tariff' revision, unlawfully, felo-
Mously, wilfully, maficiously, defiberately, wantonly, wick
edly, mendaciously and without decency or f eefings of human
ity; by means of national banks, tariffs, currency manipula
tions, gold standard, by stock exchanges, by produce ex
changes, by bucket shops, and other gambfing derices; by
merger, conspiracy, pools, trusts, combinations; by subsi
dizing legislation and press and public institutions, including
churches and colleges whenever and wherever practicable ; by
watering stocks, by fraud, deceit, common lying, rebating,
overcharge, adulteration, fraudulent insurance, and thefts of
insurance funds ; by boodle election funds, graft, thefts, three-
card monte tricks, by a wicked colonial poficy, by a pubfic
profligacy, by special legislation, and by other Aricked and
devifish means and devices, conceived by the devil aforesaid,
and, in Ms absence, by Pierpont Morgan and John D. Rocke
feller and their abettors, whereby the defendants, and each
of them, have despoiled all the people, brought fiberty to
shame, and in the manner and by the means aforesaid the
said corporations, trusts, and other defendant conspirators,
instigated by the deril aforesaid and by his imps of hell,
including the said " standpattei-s, " have wickedly, jointly and
severally set up, and attempted to set up, over the free peo
ple of America an ofigarchy of gold, against the inafienable
rights of men, the justice and peace of God, and the exalted
dignity of organized labor.
Such is the charge wMch the country makes against preda
tory wealth.
Sir, I now take leave of a fittle chancellor of a big umver
sity. Let Ms original obscurity fold again silently and con-
geniaUy about Mm. In the amplitude of time sufficient intel
figence may there penetrate to quicken sensibifity, if not to
repentance, nevertheless to the truth that obscurity is the
proper habitat of smaU minds. The alarming sentiment, sir,
of wMch Mr. Day was made the voice is alone what concerns
the country. Upon every hand coming conflict presses nearer
and nearer. Insatiate greed and vaunting ambition out of
desperated pride wiU rule, if possible, or rmn. I repeat, as
applicable, the words of the immortal Lincoln : "The Repub
lic can not long endure half slave and half free!" If not
exact, it is the substance; and what was then said of negro
slavery appfies broadly today to wMtes and blacks, slaves of

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 173
graft and greed. And, Mr. President, seeing now the resolu
tion of plutocracy, let the Democarcy, let patriotic men in
every State, indifferent to party lash and party fine, make
common cause in the November elections. Not as a partisan,
but as a Senator and a citizen I pray God that the people,
perceiring, vdU act resolutely in time to avert the danger.
Party fines in such a crisis ; let them, sir, go to the Arinds. I
care not whom, joimng hands Arith me in a common cause
against the enermes of my country, be Ms tenets what they
may, I hold him my brother. But woe to defenders of plu
tocracy, crawfing, creeping, cringing travesties in the degen
erate fine of Adam, so wholly lost are all such to humanity!
Before the forum of the people let plutocracy answer. In
the nature of debate here, if argument were necessary, such a
remedy is inadequate. To debate is futile, for those who AriU
not hear are deaf to your entreaties, wMle the Arilfing mil-
fions have been long conrinced. Action, decisive action, must
be our motto. But, sir, at this time I can not wholly forbear,
indeed, the intolerant insolence of gold, so deep-seated is its
arrogance, a royal swagger so characterizes its bearing, its
tone and manner is so insistently threatening and rirulent,
that I can not at tMs hour whoUy ignore it Arithout a sense
that duty to my country remains undischarged.
It is false, the deceptive cry, that Americans, any consider
able portion, or that any part in America is at enmity Arith
honest wealth. Nor has riolence against plutocracy any
where been counseled. The despotism of gold, wMle there is
determined resolution to overthrow it, it is to be done in
order and Arith decency by the American ballot. Violence?
Sir, whatever of tMs has been counseled is found in pubfica-
tions and speeches inspired by plutocracy itself. But, sir,
what would they understand or mean as "riolence?" Godly
wrath? Scourging tMeves? Say you that such is riolence?
Ah, Mr. President, what means open, defiant denunciation of
the masses "as suspicious, ignorant and distrustful?" A
merciless pamc, criminally precipitated, foUowed by brazen
boasting that it will be fifted only at the price of submission
to Maminon? Here, then, is your riolence! And if blood
at any time shall flow in our streets or the heavens be fighted
up by the Night Riders, be assured. Senators, that that glare,
however appalfing, heating the crimson flood at the feet of
plutocracy, vdll metamorphose into a lake of everlasting fire.
Mr. President, be it far from me to excite needless alarm,
but be not deceived by the conservatism of the people. For

174 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
forty years or more patience has marked their every action;
but patience, worn and discredited, has given place to resolu
tion. iCaoical reiorms must now be inaugurated, a SAVift
return to lundamental justice. Dallying ana procrastination,
frmimg in mock periormances here, must give place to ear
nest ODedience to public demands. Sir, shall it be deemed
cMmerical, such a sentiment expressed in tMs great body —
for here and now 1 ao proclaim that tMs country, if it shaU
enjoy true prosperity, it it shall again take its place as lead
ing among the ijhristian nations of the earth, must return
to the oia ways, the old sentiments, the old befiefs. Not to
superstition, not to old errors. No, but to old simpficity,
wMch regards justice ; to old honesty and love whose correla
tion is the brotherhood of man. Turnmg backward? No!
Turmng forward and upward — manward and GodwardI
Ah, do I dare declare before the Senate, before the wide
woncL, that putting doAvn the lust for gold, American ideals
must now be conformed to those simpler, aye, grander truths
of immortal being. The false and dishonest wMch honey
comb commercial fife, misnomered "thrift," a synonym for
"graft," these, all these, and their Mndred pestilentialUy
swarming everywhere must perish tmder the tread of right
and justice. Severe as have been its tests, the temper of the
American people can endure no more. Rotten business and
commercial structurals, if I mistake not the American tem
per, are doomed. The wonder is that, considering that tem
per, there has been tolerated for a moment amongst them a
system wMch must ultimately work destruction to aU for
wMch government was instituted. Proudly have we boasted
of the vastness and greatness of our Repubfio. Press and
pubfic men alike magnify the splendor of great cities in
almost every State. The pubfic domain is ample to house
and feed the habitable globe. Unparalleled systems of rail
way, threading into rich mimng, manufacturing and agricul
tural sections, are laden Arith incomparable carrying, wMle
phenomenal works, both pubfic and private, everywhere meet
the eye; all, aU to what end? Glory, sir; only glory! That
glory wMch has regard only for the jealousies and ambitions
of surrounding nations. Prowess and statecraft "glory,"
wMch means "might" in war; greatness in comparison vdth
other parts of the world. But, Mr. President, true glory in
none of these is to be found. Besides, the people of America
are a Christian people; and is not ours a Repubfic? Essen
tially groimded upon justice, its cardinal principle the broth-

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 175
erhood of man, all glory is vain, every mark of greatness
must grow dim and fade away, if it be not rested firmly upon
indi\ddualism, which, sir, is the chief glory of man. Ah, the
glory of the Repubfic! IX.
His Powerful Peroration.
Mr. President, be the Senate not in doubt, my sentiments
are my own; and so, in my place here, denying that what
glitters, or that mere brute power is glory, I charge that until
equality is assured and labor and merit accorded justice, so
that individuals, men, be unshackled in life 's fitful race, shame
rather than glory must be the portion of this Republic. Baby
lon, Egypt, Rome, begloomed in paganism, splendid in na
tional acMevements, unsurpassed in arts, letters and arcM-
tecture, whose wealth dazzled manMnd and whose arms ter
rified, what, nevertheless, have we at last more than they?
The towers of Babylon have crumbled; ruins, it is true, of
the coliseum, yet the name, but the glory of Rome is only
ruins. Ah, I need not be assured that there, sir, "still stands
the Pyramids." Yes; but bald and dead. Amidst the sti-
fiing solitude, massively, brutally, the Pyramids have with
stood decay, vain moniunents of stone, blindly peering into
obfirion, as if fated to mock that national glory whose foun
dations are reared not in the hearts or affections of man.
Sir, I honestly pray you, let us promise for tMs Republic a
different glory. I would put it down to ravages of time,
make it impregnable to the elements of decay. I hold Arith
the befief of perpetuity in government. Dissolution and
death are penal, necessarily — the awful price Arith wMch gov
ernments no less than men purchase so-called "pleasure and
glory" for a season. Contraryvrise, whatever is good in the
essential constitution of being survives forever. Condition
the Repubfic, then, sir, if you would avert its destruction;
conform its resultants to an immortal enrironment from
whence alone proceeds whatever is of lasting moment. Re
store tMs Repubfic, therefore, I pray the Senate, to her prim
itive purpose; moor her back to an anchorage where justice
is deep, where contentment and peace, as green sward, line
the shore and far and Aride overspreading the sMes, where
eternal morning, from horizon to horizon seem ribrant in the
rising glory of fratermty and umon. Deem me not to impor
tune ; for what tMnk you portends the unrest, the strikes, the

176 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

distress, the suffering, and poverty in a land so naturally
blessed? Sir, do men seek out these things of free choice and hug
them in a fond embrace as so many blessings to themselves
and to their children? Or are these conditions but incident
to and irremedial even in boasted American government?
No ! Let us for once try justice. To dispel unrest, murmur
ing discontent, suffering,' and poverty, try happiness upon
the American plan. Let the Government send amongst them
an army of equal blessings and equal opportunity. Unfrock
captains of^ industry and colonels of tariff regiments. Re
lieve from duty Major Privilege and Brigadier Favor. Court-
martial General Graft ; put in the guardhouse his LordsMp
Monopoly, and shoot, as a camp-following traitor, Avherever
and whenever found, venal vagabond journalism. With such
an army thus unhampered, armed with justice, you may mow
down discontent, put poverty to flight, and bind the people in
the everlasting bonds of peace and happiness. With nay
whole heart I challenge you to assure to the people a fair
and equal race for those prizes v^Mch the God of nature has
set before us. A consummation so much to be desired AriU
demand all of our energies and all of our courage. Deep-
seated the influences which must be dislodged and routed.
False standards, long unchallenged, are now to be supplanted
by probity and fairness, v^hile trusts and associated erils
shall be summarily executed; beheaded, sir, Arithout benefit
of clergy. Monopoly, every vestige of it, if this Government
shall be restored to the affection of the people, must be stran
gled Arithout cessation while one spasm of ebbing life retoains.
Moreover, Mr. President, even corporate actirity, useful as,
with legal restraints, corporations may be, demands rigidity
of legal control. Soulless and artificial, corporations only
of all persons are by nature and constitution slaves, bereft of
every right and pririlege save those of slaves. Yet, under
favoring laws, corporations, how have these baseborn crea
tures presumed to the place of master. Or can it be that,
haring builded other than was dreamed, there now, at the
full tide of our material hopes, spring from the loins of the
Republic monsters to seize upon and devour before our eyes
the last hope of liberty?
Sir, to this what some would make reply I am fully aware.
Great public and private enterprise, it is observed Arith singu
lar irrelevance, call for united minds and means beyond the
dream of indiridual effort. Sophistry such as that — the best.

REV. BEN COX.
Senator Davis's Pastor.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 177
to be sure, where all is bad — ^is offered but to deceive. Never
for a moment, as the enemy well knows, has the most radical
of my school of believing inveighed against great corporate
enterprise, public or private. Development, progress, ad
vancement, broad and deep and high, strike boldly for these
and, in God's name, whateA'^er betides, I shall follow you,
scouting mere partisanry as but a shadow whose objective
alone appeals to the highest hopes of the race. For one, I
stand for govemment which for a verity assures to all men
life, liberty and happiness — ^not to some, not to a few, but to
all. Not for the greatest good to some, or even to all. No;
but let Arise laws he so ordered that the weak and lowly, the
minority, and the indiridual citizen shall be amply assured.
Utopian dream? Nay, nay! Majorities whipped by passion
or swayed by selfishness, hurried blindly out of loA'e of power,
or maddened, as leaders often are, under the spell of wealth,
crucify minorities; indiridualism is trampled upon merci
lessly and men by the thousands — men, women and children —
are fed to the crunching wheels of Mammon, while other thou
sands are offered up in sacrificial piles to the god of gold.
Mr. President, this Government, be assured, was designed
to be, and so it shall remain, a government of, for and by the
people. Regardless of party, then, I pray that it may be
restored to them. Short of that all exertion, all progress,
though there be transitory gratulation, will at last disinte
grate and fall away. I, sir, would that we rear a great gov
emment. builded not for the present alone, but for our chil
dren. Ideal govemment, so far from being: incompatible, is
in accord Arith more comprehensive enterprise, Arith broader
and deeper currents of ciric and industrial life. Indeed,
ideally a republic aspirant in all material progress may righ
teously challenge the envy of nations and court world-Aride
the admiration of civilized man. Good government is not
incompatible Arith the acquisition of wealth nor Arith the Arise
and beneficial disposition of it, but, sir, this is yet to be
reaffirmed : That govemment possesses not elements of per
petuity where administration disregards justice and where
pubfic laws defy the equality of man.
Mr. President, I can not bring myself to a conclusion of
these remarks Arithout some word of entreaty, something ad
dressed to a sense of humamty no less than to a sense of
official responsibility. Before high heaven I implore the Sen
ate by the equanimity, justice and Aride influence of your
poficies to Arin back the hearts of our people. I entreat not

178 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
for the present alone, but for the future. I know, and you
know, that Arithout contentment there must be injustice, and
if there be room for injustice, government, if fiberty be not
sacrificed, must be reformed. Sir, I am awfully sensiblethat
we are but men; nor is there, therefore, unwarrant if it be
inferred that we are possessed of the hopes, the weaknesses
and the ambitions of men. Seize then. Senators, upon a pro
pitious moment. Restore the Republic to her primitive
moorings. For fleeting shoAV only at last is wealth, ambition,
and power. WMle their enticements are seductive to selfish
ness and love of glory, be reminded in the full flush of life
that in death they are separated from us. Besides, looMng
to posterity, the heritage which must be left them, can it be
that at so enormous a cost we are Arilfing to sacrifice our
very children upon the altar of Moloch? Mr. President, in
all ages monuments have been reared to perpetuate men and
deeds. In our own day, libraries, beautifully emblazoned,
and rich endowments to colleges, mark the yearning of men
to be remembered. These monuments of stone, however,
must decay. Not one stone AriU be left upon another. Disin
tegration ultimately shall sweep, as fine sand before the
Arinds, every particle of the monumental piles. Mr. Presi
dent, cMde me not when I plead for this Republic. To her,
sir, have I given of my best love, and devoutly do I pray that
it may be perpetuated to our cMldren. I invoke all the power
of this great body, therefore, to bmld here a monument.
LooMng abroad, nowhere is there beheld a single ray of hope
for liberty if at last American institutions shall prove too
weak to endure the strain which is now upon them. Let us
bmld a firing monument, mortar its foundations deeply, se
curely in the hearts of the people. Rising, sir, supremely
above selfish considerations and awaMng from every sinister
or partisan dream, let the great Senate of the United States
scourge from power predatory Avealth and assure forever to
us and to posterity the priceless blessings of equal rights and
universal liberty. To such a consummation, while yet it is
day, may God in Ms Arisdom concentrate every energy of the
Senate.

CHAPTER X
TO SUPPRESS DEALING IN FUTURES.
I.
One of Country's Greatest Evils.
The Senate having under consideration January 26, 1909, the bill (S. 1730)
to prohibit and suppress gambling in futures, etc., In certain cases —
Mr, Daais said:
Mr. President : The bill wMch I present for the considera
tion of tMs honorable body is leveled at one of the greatest
erils that exists in tMs Government, namely, gambling in the
products of the soil ; gambling in the fruits of human industry,
the frmts of honest toil. The object and purpose of tMs bill
is to suppress this character of gambling, and I feel secure,
sir, in the position I take, that if this bill shall receive the
favorable consideration of Congress and shall become a law,
it AriU accomplish the purpose for wMch it is intended and
eradicate and destroy this great eril.
The proAdsions of the bill, to my mind, are plain, simple, yet
effective. Section 1 of the bill prorides that it shall be unlaw
ful for any person, association of persons, corporation, or
association of corporations, being in any State or Territory
in the United States or any foreign country, to deliver, re
ceive, or transmit, directly or indirectly, or to be interested in
or to aid in the receipt, delivery, or transmission, by means
of the mail, telegraph, or telephone, any intelfigence or infor
mation, message, letter, or card, or other device whereby any
intelligence or information may be conveyed to any other
parties, persons, or associations, or corporations, for their use
and benefl*, relating to or in any way concerning any trans
action suggested or proposed, whose true intent may be to
gamble or speculate as to the future market price of any
product of the soil, commonly known as "buying and selling
futures," prorided, that bona fide sales and delivery, accord
ing to contract, shall not subject the parties to such trans
actions to the penalties of this act.
Mr. President, tMs section, when boiled down to its last
analysis and refieved of its legal technical verbiage, prorides
tMs: That in any interstate or international transaction it
shall be unlawful to use the mails, or the telegraph, or the tele
phone system for the purpose of conveying gambfing proposi
tions between buyer and seller.

180 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

That tMs may be done can not be disputed by any one who
has given the subject careful consideration. For the present
purpose of the argument, let us concede that buying and sell
ing tutures, as commonly understood among men, is a gam
bling transaction ; then, i take it, sir, that it will not be gam-
said or demed that Congress, by proper bill, may proAnde that
the public mails may not be used tor the purpose of assisting,
aiding, or encouraging such a gambfing transaction, in fike
manner. Congress may say that the teiegrapn system and the
telephone system of the country shall not be used for the pur
pose of conveying intelligence ±rom buyer to seUer, or vice
versa, in any transaction of tMs character. These, Mr. Pres
ident — the mail, tne teiegrapn, and tne teleplione — are the
three great means of commumcation, and if Congress shall,
by law, place an inMbition upon their use for this purpose,
the day of the speculator in tue products of the soil Avill bave
ended, and the business of the cotton and other exchanges of
the country will have ceased. Whenever we, by means of
legislation, stop the means of commumcation between the
buyer and the seller, tMs business of the gambler falls of its
own weight, because when the feeders, through the instrumen-
tafity ot the mail, the telegraph, and the telephone, are shut
olf, the gamblers at the f ountam head ot tMs nefarious scheme
can not gamble among themselves, and their business is at
once at an end.
Section 1 of tMs bill, Mr. President, prorides a penalty not
only against the telegraph and telephone compames who re
ceive and transmit these messages, but it provides a penalty
against the man who sends the message ; also against the man
who receives the mesyage. It so hedges in tMs illegal trans
action and makes the continuation of it so hazardous and un
certain that few Arill care to risk being caught in the meshes of
the law in order to carry on tMs character of enterprise. Sec
tion 3 of the biU provides that it shaU be unlawful for the
postal authorities of the United States to receive for trans-
nussion, whether properly stamped or not, any letter or other
tMng mentioned in section 1 of this act ; and if such unlawful
letter or card shall at any time come into the custody of any
postal official, it shall be marked "unlawful," filed in a place
securely locked under the superrision of the proper postmas
ter or postal official, and notice of its possession given at once
to the district attorney in the district in wMch it is taken, or
to the Attorney General, and the Postmaster General shall

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 181
make and pubfish proper rules and regulations for carrying
into effect tMs prorision.
Section 4 provides that if any officer of the Postal Depart
ment haring the lawful possession of any such letter or other
tMng mentioned in sections 1 and 3 of this act, and shall,
knoAring the unlawful character of said letter, deliver the
same, either to whom addressed or to any other person, except
as provided in section 3, to the district attorney or Attorney
General, shall be subject to indictment, and, upon conriction,
shall be fined in any sum not less than $100 nor more than
$5,000, and shall be removed from office, and thereafter shall
not be efigible to hold any office of pubfic trust.
Section 5 of tMs act provides that any other person, other
than postal officials, who shall riolate this act shall be gmlty
of a felony, and upon conviction shall be confined in the peni
tentiary for not less than five nor more than fifteen years.
Section 6 of tMs act prorides that any corporation riolating
the prorisions of tMs act shall forfeit and pay to the United
•States of America for each unlawful act not less than $10,000
nor more than $100,000, to be recovered by proper suit, one-
half to go to the informant and one-half to the Government.
Besides, if the district attorney or the Attorney General shall
be derefict in Ms duty, or shall neglect or refuse to enforce the
prorisions of tMs act, then section 6 empowers the President
of the Umted States to appoint some suitable and proper per
son that AriU enforce it.
TMs act, Mr. President, brief as it is, plain and expficit as
are its terms, in my judgment, is a thorough and a complete
remedy for the evil at which it is directed.
Of course, it is not contended that Congress can regulate
transactions happemng or occurring wholly AritMn any given
State. It can only regulate such transactions as are inter
state or international, and tMs is all that is intended or con
templated by the bill under consideration.
I had the honor, Mr. President, wMle Governor of my State,
to draft a bill along these lines, applying to gambling trans
actions occurring wholly vdtMn the State of Arkansas.
TMs bill, as drafted by me, was enacted into a law by the
Legislature of Arkansas, and can be seen by reference to the
acts of Arkansas for the session of 1907, and is much more
drastic in its terms than the bill now under consideration. It
prorides a penalty against the use of the telegraph or tele
phone fines wholly AritMn the State of Arkansas, for the pur
pose of conveying information between buyer and seller in

182 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
one of these gambfing transactions. The Western Union Tele
graph Company resisted the enforcement of tMs law in the
Umted States District Court in the city of Little Rock, Ark.,
and was defeated at every point, the court upholding the law
absolutely as written, and so thorough was the construction
given the statute in tMs case and so satisfactory the reasoning
of the court that an appeal was not taken, and today there can
be no buying and selling of futures in the State of Arkansas,
and no bucket shops are permitted to carry on their crooked
transactions. Now, Mr. President, the only difference between the Ark
ansas statute and the bill under consideration is that, in the
bill now presented, we proMbit the use of the mails for tMs
unlawful purpose. TMs, of course, can not be done by State
statute, and I appeal to Senators here to help me in the enact
ment of tMs law to suppress tMs great eril.
Deafing in futures, either in cotton or grain, is conducted
through the agency of exchanges, the most notable of wMch is
the New York Cotton Exchange, and to this I desire to direct
your attention especially. The New York Cotton Exchange,
as is well known to each Senator, is a corporation organized
under the laws of that State ; it is composed of less than 500
members, and the number can not be increased beyond that;
the initiation fee is $10,000, and ncAv members are elected by
the old; no man can deal directly in cotton futures unless he
is a member of tMs exchange.
It is not contended, Mr. President, that every sale of cotton
made by the New York Cotton Exchange is a gambling trans
action, but I desire to say that during the fight before the
Legislature of my State, for the passage of the Arkansas
statute against this evil, I personally cross examined, under
oath, one of the brightest members of that exchange, and in
Ms testimony before the committee haring the matter in
charge, he admitted that 90 per cent of their deafings were
purely speculative, and that to rob the New York Cotton
Exchange of its speculative feature would be to destroy the
business itself.
TMs bill is not directed against legitimate transactions,
where the delivery is made, or can be made, but is only di
rected against that character of transactions where no deliv
ery is ever contemplated, either by the buyer or the seller,
and nothing is expected to be done in the way of the comple
tion of the contract except to pay the margin or difference
between the price at which the produce is sold or bought and

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 183
the price of the market at the time delivery is to be had; in
other words, to pay the difference in the fluctuations of the
market, which is purely speculative, and as sworn to by tMs
member of the New York Cotton Exchange, 90 per cent of
their transactions are of this character. As further proof
upon this point, Mr. President, I submit an extract from a
report of the Senate committee appointed by this honorable
body to investigate and report upon this subject, such com
mittee being presided over by that able jurist and statesman,
the late Senator George, of Mississippi. This committee made
a full examination of the entire option question, took the
fullest testimony from the ablest representatives of the ex
changes, and made a report, Senate Report 986, third session
of the Fifty-third Congress. Here is what that committee
had to say as to the option system :
In the first place, let it be noted that only in and through and under the
regulations of the two cotton exchanges in New York and New Orleans can
this business be transacted. The cotton exchange in New York is a corpora
tion under the laws of that State. It is composed of less than 500 members,
and the number can not be increased beyond that. The initiation fee is
$10,000, and the new members are elected by the old. No man can deal
directly in futures unless he is a member.
The corporation has absolute power over the dealings. All disputes or
controversies are settled by a court established by the corporation itself,
In what is called "arbitration proceedings." Neither party is allowed to call
In a Federal or State court. It fixes the grades of all cotton, designates the
warehouses in which it shall be stored, fixes the fee, and charges for storage,
weighing, and all other work done in relation to cotton. It fixes the quota
tion of prices which are to be published to the world, and these quotations
are thus fixed under its rules for months for which there are no actual sales.
It and its members have such wealth that It is claimed, In a published
letter of one of the principal members, made in response to argument made
on the floor of this body, that the exchange can absolutely dominate and fix
prices, as against all others, by flooding the market with offers of an unlim
ited supply of futures when at other places prices are, in its opinion, too
high, and thus break the market; and, on the other hand, when it deems
prices too low at other places, may immediately buy all that can be offered.
The New Orleans Cotton Exchange, though located In the largest cotton
market this side of the Atlantic, is a mere annex to and a subordinate of
the New York Cotton Exchange, and so need not be described further than
by saying if It had the will tc do good It has not the power.
. iSuch are the agencies and localities of these dealings, and they are the
sole agencies and places for transacting this business.
n.
Its Relation to Cotton.
Mr. President, I select the one product, cotton, for the pur
pose of this argument, notwdthstanding the bill here proposed
forbids future dealing in any product of the soil. I select
cotton because I hail from the Southland where cotton is Mng,
is our staple commodity; where cotton is our all. God has

184 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
blessed the Southland as he has no other portion of this great
Commonwealth. He has given us in soil and climate a comer
on the production of this great staple, and it is to prevent the
gambler from despoiling our agricultural people, not only of
the South, but of the West as well, that I ask for the passage
of tMs bill. If it be insisted that the New York Cotton Ex
change is a legitimate business, and that it is not a gambling
derice and should not be disturbed by legislative enactment, I
have but to call attention to the fact that the average yield of
cotton for the past ten years has been about 11,000,000 bales.
Ah, Mr. President, how many bales of cotton have been so' 1
by the tMeves and gamblers in this Ncav York Exchange?
More than ten times the amount annually produced by the
farmers of the Southland. More than 10 bales for 1. Then I
ask the Senators upon this floor who would oppose the passage
of this bill, how can delivery be made?
Do you not know, as a matter of fact, Mr. President, that
delivery is never contemplated? Then, if this is true, this
New York Cotton Exchange is one great big gambling insti
tution; and shall it be contended that simply because it is a
gambling house upon a large scale, controlled by the wealthi
est men in the land, that it shall go unwhipped of justice, that
it shall go unpunished by law, when the small gambler that
risks but little on the throw of the dice is punished by the
laws of every State in the Union and would not be counte
nanced bv any Senator upon this floor? With an aA^erage an
nual yield of 11.000 000 bales of cotton, this exchange has sold
more than 100,000,000 bales annually, and I say to you, Mr.
President, that this 11,000,000 bales actually produced, by no
process of reasoning known to myself, can be rubberized so as
to cover 100,000,000 bales of fictitious cotton sold by this crowd
of gamblers ; and it is well known to every dealer that a deliv
ery is a physical impossibility, and no delivery is contemplated
in the transaction. The whole transaction is a pure gamble,
a bucket shop transaction of the Avorst Mnd, and no exchange
should be laAA^fulh^ emwowered to continue this gambling game.
If we needed further proof that the business of the New
York Cotton Exchange is purely a gamblinar derice, we have
but to examine the case of IrArin against Miller, 110 United
States, 499-507-50S, where that court of last resort, the Su
preme Court of the United States, sanctioned the charge of
the trial judge to the jury, which was as foUows :
If, however, at the time of entering Into a contract for a sale of personal
property for future delivery it be contemplated by both parties that at the
time fixed for delivery the purchaser shall merely receive or pay the differ-

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 185
ence between the contract and the market price, the transaction is a wager,
and nothing more. It makes no difference that a bet or wager is made to
assume the form of a contract. Gambling is none the less such because it is
carried on in the form or guise of legitimate trade.
The Supreme Court of the United States said :
We accept this as a correct statement of the law upon that point.
It is estimated by the press of the country that the average
daily sale of future cotton by the New York Cotton Exchange
wiU equal a milfion bales per day, or 300,000,000 bales an-
nuaUy, or more than 30 times the entire actual product of the
soil. WMle tMs estimate of the press may be excessive, yet it
is in the neighborhood of correct, and shoAvs conclusively that
no defivery is contemplated by the parties to the transaction,
but that it is gambfing pure and simple.
If additional proof Avere necessary, Mr. President, to estab-
fish the fact that tMs future deafing in cotton is but a gam
bfing transaction, I may quote more liberally from the report
of the Senate comrmttee above referred to. TMs report is
based upon the testimony of cotton experts, cotton growers,
cotton merchants, and men schooled in cA'ery phase of cotton
production in each of the ten States that grow cotton. TMs
testimony is full and complete and covers more than 500 pages
of printed matter in the Senate document to wMch I have
referred. In the testimony taken before tMs committee it is
contended by the advocates of future gambling that there is
or can be an actual delivery in each of these future sales. The
committee, however, say, after a careful analysis of tMs
testimony :
It is shown very conclusively that the actual deliveries, as they are
claimed to be, are, in fact, fictitious. It is shown that a certain number of
bales are classed, weighed, and certificated, and deposited in a warehouse.
Each certificate Is for 100 bales and is a legal tender for delivery under one
of these contracts. It is negotiable and passes around from hand to hand,
as other negotiable paper. It is tendered and accepted on an average at
least 30 times before it rests. In this way it is claimed 3,000 bales are deliv
ered to one certificate, yet, in all these various transactions, not a bale of
cotton is seen or actually passes from one man to another.
The cotton all the time rests in the warehouse for delivery, it is true, to
the holder of the certificate, but the holder is a mere gambler in futurs and
does not want the cotton any more than the purchaser under the futures
contract wants It. So he does not call for the delivery, but makes it the
basis of further dealings in futures. He makes other sales, and, in compli
ance with these, delivers the same certificate; and It thus goes the active
round of transfer and the negotiation till It settles another 3,000 bales or
more, and so continues till the twelve months for which it runs has expired.
Nor does this necessarily end it. It may be certificated again for another
twelve months, and so on ad infinitum, or until, having performed its office
In being the foundation for innumerable pseudo deliveries, it may be retired
from active business by a real sale and delivery to the paper manufacturer
or some other user of inferior cotton.
The Ingenuity of these dealers thus, in the settlement as In the making
of contracts, simulates real transactions so well as to give color to their

186 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
claim that these dealings are not, as they are in law, pure gambling on the
future price of cotton. In the contracts the stipulation to deliver is mere
sham, never intended to ue fulfilled, compliance being evaded by ring settle
ments and by the sham deliveries ^;e have described, the certificates alluded
to being less in real substance than the gambler's checks, which, as repre
sentatives of money, go through many transfers, according to the varying
fortunes of the game, but are supposed to be redeemable in actual money at
the end of the play.
I am wilfing to rest my case, Mr. President, upon this point
in the controversy, on the findings of the Senate committee,
wMch, in my judgment, shows conclusively that this buying
and selfing of cotton futures is gambfing of the worst type.
Why the worst type ? Because it is gambfing not only in the
products of the soil, but it is gambfing in the flesh, in the
blood, and in the bones of the women and cMldren of the
South, who are forced by the robbery and spoliation of these
gamblers to toil from daylight until dark to produce the sub
ject-matter of tMs gambfing transaction. It will be noted, Mr.
President, that the bill under consideration does not make it
a crime or attempt to punish these gambfing transactions
per se, for the reason that it would be difficult to locate the
situs or body of the offense. It is a divided transaction, occur
ring partly in New York and partly in the State where the
buyer may reside, and it would be difficult for the courts of the
country to determine just where the jurisdiction rests that
might pumsh this offense. But, sir, the bill under considera
tion seeks to destroy the means of communication between
the gambler and Ms patron, to inflict such penalties for the
use of the mail, the telegraph and telephone systems for this
unlawful gambling transaction as that it may leave the gam
bler, the stockjobber, the perpetrator of tMs gambling device
Arithout a means of reacMng his customer for the purpose of
plying his Aricked vocation. If this bill shall become a law, it
AriU be easy to locate the jurisdiction that shall have power to
punish the offenses, and I apprehend that but few that now
fritter away their substance chasing this will-o'-the-wisp, cot
ton future gambfing, will dare take a chance to run amuck the
penalties of the laAv, as provided in tMs bill.
The best method, Mr. President, to break up a gambling
house is not to fine the proprietor at stated intervals for the
pririlege of runmng the game, but arrest and pumsh the fre
quenters of the gambfing resort ; and Avhen tMs is known and
understood there will be but few players. That is the object
and purpose of my bill, to make it burdensome to the player as
weU as to the proprietor, and burdensome to the corpora
tions — the great telegraph and telephone systems — who per-

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 187
mit their Arires to be used for the purpose of notifying players
and rictims of this great gambling house to be sacrificed and
slaughtered by these gambling kings. It may be insisted, Mr.
President, that tMs character of legislation does not fall
vdthin the power of Congress to enact. Ah, sir, the Constitu
tion of the United States provides that Congress shall have
the power to regulate commerce between the States and be
tween tMs Government and foreign countries. Cotton is
essentially an article of commerce. The committee to whose
report I have referred finds conclusively that this gambling
in cotton futures is injurious to the commerce of the country,
and that Congress has the power, and should exercise it, to
stop this character of gambling. Then, sir, I contend that if
Congress has the power to punish the thing itself — that is, the
gambling in cotton futures — it also has the power to prevent
the use of the mails and the telegraph and telephone systems
to carry intelligence and adrice and inritations from the buyer
to the seller in these gambling transactions that might be abso
lutely proMbited by law.
Let us consider, in the second place, the eril consequences
of this character of gambling. I understand, Mr. President,
that by it these gamblers fix the price of the products of the
soil. They fix the price absolutely and unalterably of every
bale of cotton, of every bushel of wheat, of every bushel of
corn that is produced in this country. Again referring to
the report of the Senate committee for proof of this propo
sition :
The corporation fraeaning the New York Cotton Exchange) has abso
lute power over the dealings. All disputes and controversies are settled by a
court established by the corporation itself, in what Is called "arbitration
proceedings." Neither party is allowed to call in a Federal or State court.
It fixes the grades of all cotton, designates the warehouses In which It shall
be stored, fixes the fees and charges for storage, weighing, and all other
work done in relation to cotton. It fixes the quotations of prices which are
to be published to the world, and these quotations are thus fixed under its
rules for months for which there were no actual sales.
It and Its members have such wealth that It is claimed, in a published
letter of one of the princlnal members, made In response to arguments made
on the floor of this body, that the exchange can absolutely dominate and fix
prices, as against all others, by flooding the market with offers of an unlim
ited supply of futures when at other places prices are, In Its opinion, too
high, and thus break the market; and on the other hand, when it deems
prices too low at other places, may immediately buy all that can be offered.
They are. in fact, an oligarchy of wealth, self-created and self -perpetuated,
which hold in su'biection to their will the interests of the people of at least
ten States in the Union.
In all these they assum,e and exercise a power of regulating interstate
and foreign commerce in cotton which is vested hy the Constitution in Con
gress alone.

188 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
TMs is strong language, Mr. President, deliberately ex
pressed after months of careful study and investigation, based
upon the testimony that these gamblers form an oligarchy of
wealth self-created and self-perpetuated, which hold in sub
jection to their AriU the interests of the people of at least ten
States of tMs Union. I say to you, sir, a fact which is well
known in every cotton State in this Umon, in every rillage, in
every hamlet, in every town, that cotton, this great staple, this
great commodity, can not be moved, can not be sold except at
the AriU and bidding of this oligarchy of wealth built up by
these gamblers — wealth wrung from the very heart's blood
of the people of the South. The smallest farmer when he
carries his cotton to town, three or four bales, perhaps, the
fruits of the toil of himself and Ms Arife and babies, is met by
the cotton buyer, who says to him :
I can not make you a pnce upon this, the product of your labor upon this
great commodity which you are producing, until I consult the exchange;
until I receive a wire telling me the price fixed upon your cotton.
By this great oligarchy of wealth, by this great gambling
institution which is fast sapping the lifeblood of our people.
Sir, the great law of supply and demand that should regu
late the price of all commodities has been Ariped out, has been
destroyed by this great combination of gamblers, this oli
garchy of wealth that holds in subjection to their AriU the
people of ten sovereign States of this Republic. Now, Mr.
President and Senators, if these future dealings are gambling,
and if they fix the price of the commodity, not by any law of
supply and demand, but by the law of the manipulator, shall
it be contended by any Senator upon this floor that this sys
tem shall longer continue? If we can not reach it by a direct
law maMng it a crime to sell cotton futures, then, I pray you,
sirs, let us reach it by this indirect method, by cutting off
communication between the buyer and seller, by rendering
the jarambler helpless and impotent, bv alloAring Ms wicked
and hellish business to die of its own filth and of its own pu
trid corruption.
Mr. President, it is no fulsome flattery for me to say that
the agriculturist, that the farmer, is the most important factor
in this great Government of ours; that he is the great basic
rock upon wMch this great superstructure rests; that upon
his shoulders rest the burdens of the Govemment. Ah, Mr.
President, we can do vdthout the merchant, we can five vdth
out the doctor, we can live Arithout the banker, we can live
Arithout the railroad magnate, we can live Arithout the bond
holder who clips at stated periods Ms coupons, we can get

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 189
along Arithout the Senate of the Umted States, or the Presi
dent of the Unites States; but, sir, this Govemment can not
last for the tvdnkling of an eye Arithout the man who toils,
who labors, and who sweats. This Government can not exist
for one minute Arithout the man who feeds and clothes the
toifing millions of the earth; it can not exist, Mr. President,
Arithout the farmer. Upon Ms efforts, upon Ms exertions,
upon his daily toil aa'c all depend, not only for the sustenance
of fife, for the very clothes we wear, for the food we eat, but
the luxuries that surround us today, because from his labors
and from Ms alone spring all the blessings of life. Then
shall it be said, sir, that the Congress of the United States, the
servants of the people, shall sit here in stolid silence and close
their eyes to tMs great eril, refusing to enact a law that vdll
give to this great wealth-producing class their just rights
under this Government, that vdll tear down tMs oligarchy of
wealth bmlt up by these gamblers, and restore to the people
the great law of supply and demand to regulate the sale of
their products.
Mr. President, I plead Arith this Congress today to enact a
law that vdll take the white women and white children of the
South out of the cotton fields, that AriU give to the producers
of this great commodity a fair return for their husbandry and
their toil, that AriU build up schoolhouses and churches in the
waste places of our land, that AriU make better citizensMp,
that AriU give better opportunities for education and develop
ment, that vdll make the Southland, the fairest spot on God's
green footstool, bloom and blossom fike the roses, and AriU
return to honest husbandmen a fair compensation for their
industry and their labor.
Mr. President, there is another great agency for eril so
closely connected, so closely alfied Arith srambling in futures
that one can not be discussed independently of the other, and
while the bill under consideration is not directly leveled at the
New York Stock Exehanee, yet, sir, to properly understand
the one, a consideration of the other becomes necessary. The
New York Stock Exchange is a voluntary association of per
sons and is not incorporated, Arith a membersMp fimited to
1,100. These memberships are knoAvn as "seats," and are
sold at varying prices — ^in 1900 as low as $14,000 a seat, and
prior to that time as Mgh as $95,000 a seat. The membersMp
of these two exchanges is almost identical, one, of course, not
haring as many members as the other, but they together em
brace the richest, the most influential, the most powerful

190 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

moneyed men of the country. The dealings of each and both
ramify every avenue of business and trade, are seen and felt
in every feature of our commercial life, and control either di
rectly or indirectly every business transaction of our country
Avhich shapes and determines its destiny. The combined
wealth of the members of these two great exchanges whose
interests interlock and entArine is fabulous, indeed, and stag
gers the mind of ordinary men to comprehend it.
ni.
The Wealth and Influence of These Men.
Mr. President, of the original 24 founders, no one of them
was a millionaire, and their combined wealth was less than
one-fourth of what it now costs for a hundred seats. The
eleven hundred members of the New York Stock Exchange
comprise among its numbers the richest men of the world, but
it has been said by several writers that many of them are
very poor. It takes $20,000, however, to join, and at this rate
per member, the New York Stock Exchange denotes an invest
ment of $22,000,000. TMrteen of its members, beginning vdth
John D. Rockefeller, are credited Arith the fabulous wealth of
$1,355,000,000, as estimated in the table of the 51 plutocrats
heretofore enumerated by me. The New York Stock Ex
change, then, through 13 of its members, represents a wealth
of more than $1,000,000,000, and the other 1,087 members may
be safely credited vdth ten times this amount, or $13,550,000.-
000, in aU about $15,000,000,000, or about one-seventh of aU
the wealth OAvned by the 90,000,000 people that constitute the
United States. This is their estimated actual wealth. The
ramifications of the membership of the Stock Exchange Arith
other business enterprises make the influence of the exchange
enormously greater. In the first place nearly every one of the
members of the exchange is put down as a member of a firm
or corporation, so that he represents, not only Ms OAVn, but
the aggregate wealth and interest of the firm or corporation
of which he is a part. In addition to this, several hundred
of these members are either directors or officers of other
corporations or trusts, a fact which seems to give them the
controlling influence in financial matters in the United States,
an influence eagerly desired by the exchange and an influence
wMch history proclaims has been exercised Arith very great
frequency in the manipulation of prices, the cornering of
stocks, the orgamzation and management of panics, and, in

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 191
fact, the exploitation of every species of stock gambfing and
stock jobbing known to man. The Imancial history of the
covmtry teems with accounts, not only of the individual wrecks
caused by the New York Stock Exchange, but also of the cy-
clomc pamcs wMch have endangered the pofitical and indus
trial fabric of our country, it is useless to enumerate these,
as they are the common knowledge of all intelligent men. Such
an influence can only be originated in a body whose wealth
and influence is so great as to insure the success of its plans,
whether right or wrong.
For instance, Wilfiam Rockefeller is credited Arith an indi
ridual wealth of $100,000,000 ; he is also a member of the most
gigantic corporation m the world — the Standard Oil trust ; he
IS a director of the Lake Shore and MicMgan Southern Rail
road, whose capital stock is $50,000,000, and wMch owns $92,-
000,000 of stocks and bonds in 45 subsidiary compames of the
Lake Shore and MicMgan Southern ; he is also a director of the
Michigan Central, the New York, CMcago and St. Loms Rail
road, and the Pittsburg and Lake Erie Railroad, whose aggre
gate capital is about $33,000,000 and whose aggregate mileage
is about 2,500 miles; he is also a director of the New York,
New Haven and Hartford Railroad, Arith a capital of $100,-
000,000 and mileage of 3,500 miles, controlfing 34 constituent
compames ; he is also a director of the Delaware and Lacka
wanna Railroad, vdth a capital of $26,000,000 ; also a director
of the New York Central Railroad, Arith a capital of $180,000,-
000, and operating 12,000 miles of road. TMs road owned
stocks or bonds on December 31, 1906, amounting to $147,000,-
000 in 75 constituent lines. The influence of tMs man alone,
when interested in the mampulation of the prices of transpor
tation in the Umted States, is enormous, and becomes simply
fabulous when united Arith the interests of other corporation
magnates and trust sharks who desire to rob the public by
bankrupting smaller and competing roads.
J. Pierpont Morgan is not a member of the Stock Exchange,
but Ms son, J. Pierpont Morgan, Jr., of the firm J. P. Morgan
& Co., represents the firm in the Stock Exchange. J. P. Mor
gan is a director in all the roads of wMch Wilfiam Rockefeller
is a director, Arith the exception of the Delaware and Lacka
wanna. To make up for this, he is a director of the Northern
Pacific Railroad, with its 6,000 miles of road and $155,000,000
of capital.
H. H. Rogers is not a member of the Stock Exchange, but
is a member of the Consofidated Stock and Petroleum Ex-

192 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
change. He is a director, also, of the AtcMson, Topeka and
Santa Fe Railroad, Arith a capital of $382,000,000 ; also a direc
tor of the CMcago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, of 10,000
miles and a capital of $50,000,000; and he is also a director
of the Umted States Steel Corporation and many other cor
porations and trusts.
August Belmont is a member of the exchange, representing
himself and the combined Belmont interests. He is a director
of th» LomsviUe and Nashville Railroad, with its $60,000,000
oapiiai and controlling about 7,000 miles of road, besides rep
resenting scores of other corporations and trusts in the same
capacity. E. H. Harriman is a member of the exchange ; a director of
the Baltimore and OMo, with its capital of $212,750,000 and
operating 4,500 miles of road ; also a director of the Chicago
and Alton Railroad, with its $40,000,000 capital; also of the
Erie Railroad Company, with its $217,000,000 capital ; also of
the Illinois Central, with $105,000,000 capital, and at the same
time of the Union Pacific, made up of the Union Pacific, the
Southern Pacific, and the Leavenworth, Kansas and Western
railroads, operating 15,000 miles of road, Arith a combined
capital of $396,000,000.
George J. Gould is a member of the exchange and a director
of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, Arith a capital of
$88,000,000; also a director of the International and Great
Northern Railroad, with a capital of $25,000,000 ; also of the
Missouri Pacific Railroad, with a capital of $150,000,000, in
cluding St. Loms, Iron Mountain and Southern; also of the
Texas & Pacific RaUroad, with a capital of $50,000,000.
Others of the stock exchange membersMp are either officers
or directors of other railroads throughout the country, and
their combined influence in the exchange makes it possible to
murder or maim any small railroad in the country at pleasure,
as the various demands of stock gambling in the exchange may
require. In tMs way not only the stocks and bonds of the
smaller railroads of the country are placed at the mercy of
the stock gamblers and robbers of the exchange, but the trans
portation of the whole country injuriously affected.
Not only does this membership of the exchange manipulate
the question of transportation and transportation charges in
its own interests and against the interests of the people, but
it also exercises a tremendous influence on the telegraphic and
telephonic connection of the country. On the directorate of
the Western Union Telegraph Company, in bold relief, you

GOV. GEO. W. HAYS.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 193
Arill find the names of George J. Gould, J. P. Morgan, and E.
H. Harriman. On the directorate of the United States Steel
Corporation you AriU find the names of J. P. Morgan, John D.
Rockefeller, Jr., and H. H. Rogers. The names of these eleven
hundred men, or at least the names of those representing its
greatest wealth, may be found as officers and directors of iron
trusts, steel trusts, lumber trusts, paper trusts, leather trusts,
and all and every species of trusts known to mankind, besides
being intimately connected with corporations allied to trusts
and to corporations not so allied. They are officers and direc
tors of the great national banks of their country and can
manipulate a money panic whenever their greed demands.
The Stock Exchange has its legitimate function, but stock job
bing and stock gambling form no part of tMs function.
There are economical writers who so far prostitute their
talents under the seductive influence of corporation gold as to
claim that there is no stock gambling and no stock jobbing in
the New York Stock Exchange or the various other exchanges
of the country. There are other economic writers who, under
the same pay, admit what can not be denied, that a very large
portion, in fact the greatest part, of the business of all of the
exchanges is gambling pure and simple, but justify it on the
ground of its necessity. Almost every great newspaper of the
country keeps an eaitor, reporter, or correspondent at head
quarters in Wall Street ostensibly to keep the people informed
as to the news, but really, under the pay of corporations, to
gloss over the knavery of exchange transactions and to Avrite
stilted reviews of exchange dishonesty and fraud.
In the Washington Post of December 29, 1908, one of these
' ' financial owls ' ' had the following to say :
Ten points down and 10 points up — that is the record of Union Pacific
performance in the last two weeks. On Monday, December 14, the stock sold
at 184%, practically the highest of the year. A week later, on Monday, De
cember 21, it fell to mVi. Today it got up again to the starting point and
a fraction beyond. Naturally many persons are asking who engineered the
shake out. Even the most experienced operator is forced to admit it was
clever, and if, following that, he said things that were not complimentary,
it was because he had been bumped.
There is not a word in the article concerning the morality
or legality of the transaction; on the contrary, the whole
article is a silent tribute to the masterly rascality of the mem
bers of the close corporation, the New York Stock Exchange.
I would like to ask any person who believes that there is no
gambling in the exchanges of the country a simple question.
By what right, moral or legal, does any man sell the stocks
or bonds of a corporation in which he owns no share of stock.

194 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
nor in the sale of which does he propose to buy in order to
comply Arith the terms of sale? By what authority does any
man sell stocks or bonds in a corporation wMch he does not
own and wMeh he does not propose to buy in order to make a
defivery? I know that the rules of the New York Stock Ex
change reqmre a defivery in order to make the transaction
show some shade of honesty. I also know that the very larg
est proportion of these transactions carry no real delivery —
stocks are borrowed to meet the demands of the exchange rule,
profits pocketed, and the stocks returned without a semblance
of oAvnersMp in them, save that wMch is necessary to cover a
gambfing deal.
So notonous was tMs gambfing device, "borrowing to per
fect a gambfing deal," that the Legislature of New York was
asked to make an investigation. TMs virtuous body, consort
ing with race-track gamblers of that State, refused to make
the investigation. Ine Governor of that commonwealth, how
ever, smarting under the charges made against the New York
Stock Exchange with reference to the panic of 1907, and to
keep a consistent record with Mmself as to all forms of gam-
bhng. Wall Street, as well as race tracks, felt it incumbent
upon him to make an investigation notwithstanding the failure
of the Legislature to authorize it. To Ms credit be it said
that he has found competent men who are Avilfing to serve
Arithout pay to act as a committee of investigation, and despite
the handicap of such an investigation, it is to be hoped that
tMs committee Arill ascertain who engineered the shakedown
in the case of the Union Pacific of December, 1908, the greater
shakedown of March, 1907, and the thousands of other shake
downs that go on day by day under the sanctity of the New
York Stock Exchange.
In 1707, more than two hundred years ago, a great writer in
London, in a remarkable pamphlet, attacked the London Stock
Exchange as a band of tMeves and robbers, and held that it
was Mgh treason against the Kingdom of England to be a
member of that body. He argued and proved that every panic
known to Engfish Mstory owed its origin to the tMeves and
robbers who made up the London Stock Exchange.
In 1871, J. F. Richmond, for years city missionary of the
city of New York, and who has written a splendid fittle book
on early fife in New York City, has this to say of the New
York Stock Exchange :
The board of brokers claim to be composed of honest and honorable men
only. Besides this board there are various other specific boards of all kinds
•f Bp«eulator»— ^tock brokers, lold brokers, oil broken, and eliqu«»— nnlMng

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 195

and resolving as occasion may offer opportunities of gain to ambitious and
unscrupulous men. Among these originate the gold scrambles, the railroad
wars, the raids on the banks, and other panics which crowd the streets with
well-dressed but frenzied men, some flushed and violent, sem« pal* and
¦taEgering, turning prematurely gray over the wreck of their earthly hep««.
I might multiply these quotations indefimtely, but tMs one
covers the whole case. The laws of all States are severe in
penalty as to pure gambling, which has led a noted writer, in
a book quoted by Charles A. Conant, to use the foUoAring
lan.guage ;
If, Instead of betting on something so small as falling dice, one bets on
the rise and fall of stocks or on the price which wheat will reach some
months hence, and If by such betting one corners the community In an article
essential to its welfare, throwing a continent Into confusion, the law will not
pay the slightest attention. A gambling house for these larger purpossa
may be built conspicuously in any city, the sign "Stock Exchange" be set
over its door, influential men appointed its ofllcers, and the law will protect
them as It does the churches. How Infamous to forbid gambling on a small
scale and almost encourage it on a large.
Charles A. Conant answered, or attempted to answer, it in
the Atlantic Monthly for April, 1903. He admitted, frankly
and purposely, that betting on the rise and fall of stocks as
carried on in the New York Stock Exchange was gambling,
but that it was nevertheless trae that betting on the fall of a
dice was wrong, while betting on the fall of a stock was right.
This shrewd economist justified the righteousness of stock
gambling on the basis of its necessity. That such gambfing
entered into the business relations of the entire country and
could not be disassociated therefrom Arithout a revolution,
which would bring universal disaster. He argued further that
there was no pure betting in the New York Stock Exchange,
while admitting that a large part of the transactions partook
of the nature of gambling. In other vords, he differentiated
gambling into two forms, pure and mixed. Pure betting, he
said, was done in bucket shops, admitted that it was of no use
to the community, and charged that it was destructive to the
morals and pockets of young men, and argued that it could not
be too highly censured.
_ Right here Charles A. Conant aligns himself vdth me, our
difference being that what he calls the mixed gambling of the
exchanges is nothing but bucket shop .gambfing, and my bill
seeks to drive out this form of unrighteous speculation from
the exchanges of the country deafing in the products of the
soil. We are all opposed to an open bucket shop, and we
should be opposed to the same bucket shop disguised as an
influential stock exchange. For I hold, and I think it can not
be successfully denied, that every bet on the rise or faU of
stock where no delivery is made or intended to be made or

196 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
even thought of, except as borrovdng enables the gambler to
semble righteousness, is nothing but a pure bet, nothing but
a bucket shop transaction.
In aU speculation there is, first, the actual investor ;_he buys
for two purposes, the interest and the probable rise, and
exacts a delivery of the stock. This is not gambfing, and my
biU does not propose to interfere with it. This is honest busi
ness, honestly conducted, and deserves no reprimand at my
hands. There is, second, the semi-investor, who buys on a
Aride percentage of margin, but keeps an eje to the interest
and exacts an actual delivery. This man is something of a
shark, but I can not say that my bill seeks to limit his sphere
of operation. Then there is the margin investor, who pays
no regard to the interest of the stock, does not intend to exact
a delivery, except so far as the rules demand a delivery, and
which will be met by borroAring — one who buys and sells
purely upon the possible rising and falling of the stock, look
ing to this rise or fall for his profit. This is pure betting, pure
bucket shop dealing, and the New York Stock Exchange and
other exchang-es show a far greater number of deals of this
Mnd than of the two others combined. It is this phase of
exchana:e operations that has induced so many plutocrats to
join the New York Stock Exchange.
McConihe & Co., of New York, in their little book issued in
1906, used these words :
Of recent vears. however, and since the countrv at laree has erown enor-
mouslv rich, there has arisen a set of what mifht be called "millionaire
speculators." Thev have more siirnliis irionev than thev need to live upon
and are men of hie ideas. Tbev li^e auick results on their transactions, and
In no other form can thev obtain them so readilv as throueb the purchase
and sale of stock. These men wiH bnv or sell thousands of shares at a time
and have recently become one of the biggest factors in the market.
These are the millionaire gamblers, the colossal bucket shop
bettors of the exchanges, who are lauded to the skies by subsi
dized literary men, while the little nigger shooting craps is
picked up and sent to jail.
I know that it is difficult to draw with exactness the line
between bona fide business and business gambling, but at the
same time it is not difficult to define the thousands of gambling
derices that go unchecked under the cover of the sanctity of
the New York Stock Exchange. Arthur Crump, in his "The
ory of Stock Exchange Speculation," says:
Because it is difficult for governments to define in stock exchange gambling
where bona fide business ends and the gambling begins, the most injurious
of all the games of chance is played year after year upon an increasing scale.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 197
Because of the difficulty we, as legislators, are not to be ex
cused if we permit these most injurious games of chance to
be played year after year, and I think that a careful study of
my bill AriU disclose a remedy for the wrong; and I believe
that if it shall be enacted it AriU at once put a curb to the dis
graceful and disastrous gambling features of the New York
Cotton Exchange and the other exchanges of the country. It
is almost universally admitted that gambling of the worst kind
goes on under cover of these exchanges, and it is our duty, as
I see it, so far as we have the power, to minimize its ferocity,
even though we may not be able to entirely destroy its frenzy.
A careful analysis of this abstract, Mr. President, will show
that 13 members of the New York Stock Exchange are ac
credited Arith a Avealth of more than $1,300,000,000, and the
other 1,087 members may be safely estimated at ten times this
amount, or $13,550,000,000 ; in all, about $15,000,000,000, or 7
per cent of the entire wealth of the 90,000,000 people that
constitute this United States. Add to that, sir, the wealth of
the membership of the New York Cotton Exchange and you
have a sum that equals at least 15 per cent of the entire wealth
of this Nation ; add to tMs the wealth of the men directly and
indirectly associated and affiliated in business relations with
these two great exchanges and you have 51 men whose wealth
equals 35 per cent of the entire wealth of the United States,
and 4,051 men whose wealth equals 871/2 per cent of the entire
wealth of the Government, a list of which was given by me in
a speech delivered on December 11, 1907. Seeing, Mr. Presi
dent, this great combination of wealth of these two great gam
bling institutions and their allied forces, that control 871/2
per cent of the wealth of this entire Nation, is it a Avonder that
the committee of this Senate, headed by Senator George,
found that the New York Cotton Exchange, one of the ten
tacles of this great octopus, had built up an oligarchy of
wealth that held subject to its will the chief product of 10 of
the sovereign States of this Republic. Not only so, Mr. Presi
dent, but this combined force of gamblers can murder and
stifle competition, can bring about a panic at will in the money
markets of the country, can cause stagnation in business at
wiU, and thus reap golden harvests by means of their iUegal
transactions. The bill which I here present, and for which I bespeak the
careful consideration of the Senate, is directed at the lesser
of these tAvo great evils and is intended to so cripple it and so
destroy its power of communication Arith its patrons that its

198 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
evil effect may be destroyed. Gentlemen of the Senate, can
there be any wrong in this bill? In your own hearts and con
sciences answer me the question. Ought not tMs great gam
bling institution to be destroyed? It may be said that the
penalties of tMs act are too severe. I think not, Mr. Presi
dent. If a postal official, knoAring the illegal character of a
letter that is being transmitted through the mails, fails to
arrest it and place it in the hands of the proper official, he
shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $5,000; shall
be removed from office and not allowed to again hold an office
of profit or trust under the Government. If the ordinary indi
vidual shall riolate the provisions of this act by sending a
letter or by using the telegraph or the telephone for the pur
pose of engaging in tMs illegal transaction, he shall be ad
judged guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, sentenced to
imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than five nor
more than fifteen years. If a corporation running one of these
gambling institutions or OAvning a telegraph or telephone sys
tem shall be guilty of violating any of the provisions of this
act, they shall be fined in any sum not less than $10,000 nor
more than $100,000, one-half of which shall be paid to the
informant. IV.
Division of the Nation's Wealth.
Ah, Mr. President, if we would destroy this eril we must lay
the ax at its very root; we must, by penalties sufficiently se
vere, dig it up root and branch and make a participation in
this gambling transaction so hazardous, indeed, that none AriU
dare to risk the penalties of this statute. Mr. President, the
suppression of this great eril and the consequent crippling of
the New York Stock Exchange means not only a relief for the
Southland, but for the great West as Avell. Ah, it means more
than this, Mr. President ; it means a brighter day for this Re
public, and renewed hopes for our toiling people. Let us for
a moment consider the condition of our Government today. It
may be repetition, Mr. President, but I say it without fear of
successful contradiction, that the money power of the country
has so tightened its grasp upon the arteries of trade and com
merce, has so stifled competition that the Government itself
is upon its knees today begging quarter at their hands. What
is the wealth of this Government, Mr. President, and of what
is it composed? I submit, sir, a table taken from Goverjinjeot

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 199
statistics shoAring the wealth of tMs Govemment, which I ask
to have printed in my remarks Arithout reading.
The Vice President: If there be no objection, permission
is granted.
The matter referred to is as follows :
Forms of Wealth. 1904.
Real property and improvements, taxed  $ 55,510,247,564
Real property and improvements, exempt  6,831,244,570
Railroads and their equipment  11,244,752,000
Street railways  2,219,966,000
Telegraph systems  227,400,000
Telephone systems  585,840,000
Pullman and private cars  123,000,000
Shipping and canals  846,489,804
Privately owned waterworks  275,000,000
Privately owned central electric light and power stations  562,861,105
Live stock  4,073,791,736
Farm implements and machinery  844,989,863
Manufacturing machinery, tools, and implements  3,297,754,180
Agricultural products  1,899,379,652
Manufactured products  7,409,291,668
Imported merchandise  495,543,685
Mining products  408,066,787
uold and silver coin and bullion  1,998,603,303
Clothing and personal adornment  2,500,000,000
Furniture, carriages, and kindred property  5,750,000,000
Total  $107,104,211,917
Mr. Daris: TMs table, sir, shows in round numbers that
the wealth of this Government is $107,000,000,000. How is
tMs wealth dirided? How is it distributed among the 90,000,-
000 people of tMs Republic? As has been shown by me upon
a former occasion, 51 men, all of whom are directly or indi
rectly connected with these two great gambling institutions,
OAvn 35 per cent of this wealth, and 4,000 other men, who own
not as much as twenty millions in wealth, but more than one
milfion, added to the 51 men and their holdings, makes the
alarming shoAring that 4,051 men own 87i/^ per cent of the
entire wealth of tMs Government. How did this condition oc
cur, Mr. President? How was it brought about? There is a
reason for it. Nothing ever happened in this world but that
beMnd it is a prompting and promoting cause, and as I see it
today the cause of this great concentration of wealth lies
cMefly along these lines. Our people, sir, as a whole — North,
South, East and West — were more prosperous and happy just
subsequent to the great Civil war than now. It is true that the
Southland, from which I hail, in tMs great conflict had been
laid waste and made barren ; our homes had been destroyed,
our fortunes had been dissipated ; but the Confederate soldier.

200 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
as brave and as true and as gentle as ever lived upon God's
green footstool, returned to his desolated home, and with a
bravery and cMvalry unequaled in modern Mstory, that chal
lenged at once the wonder and admiration of the world, set
about to restore his fallen fortune, and how well he has suc
ceeded history itself may repeat.
But the people of this entire Government, I contend, were
more prosperous, taken as a v^hole, just subsequent to the Civil
war than they are today. We had few tramps then. The mil-
fionaires of this Government, Mr. President, at that time
might be numbered upon my one hand. The people, as a rule,
were prosperous, contented, and happy. They naturally were
divided into two great classes, working in two different fields
of industry. The one class, upon my right, the larger class
numerically, set about to work in the fields of human en
deavor, the fields of human enterprise. Every implement of
human industry that could be contrived was brought into play
Avhereby this great army of industrial workers might earn
bread, as God commanded, in the sweat of their faces. They
worked in the fields, they worked in the shops, they worked in
the mines, they worked behind the counters, they did every
tMng whereby an honest penny might be turned for the sup
port of themselves and those dependent upon them. The
other crowd, upon my left, smaller in number, riewing the
situation from a human standpoint of selfishness, from a
standpoint of greed and avarice, chose to work in other fields,
the field of legislation. They sought, Mr. President, to gain
public favor, to secure blessings and benefit through the legis
lative branch of this Government not enjoyed by the toilers
in the fields of human endeavor. What has been the result?
In your mind view the two crowds today. See the workers in
the fields of human industry ; see how their back are bended
beneath the burdens of Government; see how their breasts
and arms are bared to the heat and burden of the day; see
how they toil and sweat. On the other hand, view the crowd
that has chosen to work the fields of legislation. They toiled
not, neither did they spin, yet Solomon in all his glory was
'not arrayed like one of these.
This crowd worMng in the field of legislation first came to
the Government, I shaU not say directly or by improper in
fluences, and they asked of the Government a great benefit, a
great blessing, that was not enjoyed by the other crowd work
ing the fields of human endeavor. They asked, Mr. President,
to be permitted to issue the money of the country. In my

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 201
imagination I can hear the servants of the people, the Con
gress of the United States, denying this request. I can hear
the reply that this is in direct violation of the Constitution of
the United States, Avhich provides that Congress alone shall
have power to coin money and regulate the value thereof, but
by importunities, sir, by continued asking, the Government
finally yielded, and in June, 1864, the Government of the
United States turned over to this croAvd, working the fields of
legislation, the most important function of the Government —
that is, the power to issue the money of the country. To the
national banks was surrendered this important function, and
from time to time they have issued sums varying in amount,
but there is outstanding today money issued contrary to the
Constitution, an amount equal to $700,000,000. Mr. President,
why was the blessing asked by the crowd worMng the fields of
legislation? Because they knew the power of money; they
knew its controlling influences ; they knew that if they could
get a corner on this important function of the Government
they themselves could control the Government. Well did they
know that money is the blood of commerce; that this blood
must circulate freely from the center to the extremities and
back aarain in a free and healthy circulation, if a healthy body
politic should obtain. Looking far into the future, knowing
the power that money would give to them, and a still greater
power by controlling the circulating medium of the country,
they asked and obtained this great benefit from the Govern
ment of the United States. '
Ah, Mr. President, it would seem that this blessing, that
this benefit thus acquired by them, as against their brethren
that worked the fields of human industry, ou.ght to have satis
fied this crowd that worked the fields of legislation ; but, sir,
human experience has taught, the history of all republics that
have gone the ways of the world, have fully demonstrated that
it is difficult to satisfy the maw of greed and avarice ; so tMs
crowd, working the fields of legislation, desired a still further
and a closer corner upon the blood of commerce and the money
of the land ; they turned again to the Govemment and said ;
"Mr. Government, give us yet another blessing, give us yet
another favor, not enjoyed by the toilers of the earth. Place
a tax on all State banks that are empowered to issue money;
place a tax of 10 per cent thereon. This AriU drive these little
banks out of the money-issuing business and will give us yet
a tighter grasp on the control of the money of this Govern
ment." Ah, Mr. President, in February, 1875, Congress

202 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
acceded to their Arish; taxed out of existence the little State
banks that were in competition Arith tMs crowd that worked
the fields of legislation. This, it seems, sir, should have satis
fied tMs crowd, but it did not do so. They again returned to
the Government and they said: "Mr. Government, we want
yet a closer corner on money; we want yet a closer comer
upon the wealth of tMs land. We ask that you retire the
greenbacks of the country, that they may no longer be a cir
culating medium among tMs crowd that works the fields of
human endeavor. ' ' In my imagination I can hear the voice of
Congress when it said: "No; this shall not be done. Green
backs — it is the money of the plain common people of the land;
it is the money of the laborer and wage-earner ; it is the money
of tMs crowd that work the fields of human endeavor ; it shall
not be retired; it shall be left to them as their money." But
the crowd worMng the field of legislation, still persistent, pro
cured an act passed by Congress in January, 1875, ^rithdraw-
ing the money of the people from circulation. While it is in
sisted that three hundred millions of this money is in circula
tion today, yet, sir, I appeal to the American people, I appeal
to the workmen in the fields of human endeavor, to say to me
whether or not this is true.
Ah, Mr. President, it would seem that tMs crowd, worMng
the field of legislation, having acquired so many benefits, so
many advantages, might at this point stay their hand and the
further Arithering, blighting influence of their ill-gotten gains,
but not so. I shall not, Mr. President, attempt from memory
to give these events in chronological order, but they again re
turn to the Government and say: "Mr. Government, give us
another benefit, give us another blessing, give us another ad
vantage not enjoyed by the crowd worMng the fields of human
endeavor. We ask that silver be struck doAATi; we ask that
silver be demonetized ; we ask that gold be made the money of
final redemption, and that silver be made redeemable in gold."
No one was found bold enough, Mr. President, to attempt this
great atrocity; no one was found bold enough to place upon
record a measure that would bring about this diabolical and
dastardly crime, bearing his name, or assume its authorship ;
but, like a thief in the night, Arith cat-like tread, the measure
was slipped through the Congress of the United States under
a false pretext, under a false guise, striking down the money
of the laborer, striMng down the money of the wage-earner,
striMng down the money of the crowd that works the field of
human endeavor, striking down the money of the Constitu-

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVJS 203
tion, giving to the crowd that work the field of legislation yet
a closer grasp, yet a tighter corner on the great volume of
the money of the land, a closer corner on the blood of com
merce. Ah, Mr. President, with these advantages, with these
benefits not enjoyed by their brethren in the field of human
endeavor, is it a matter of astomshment, is it a matter of
wonder that today 51 men oAvn 35 per cent of the entire wealth
of tMs Nation, and 4,051 men own 87 V^ per cent, and the aver
age American citizen, the average man among the remaimng
89,000,000 people, owns less than $500 in property valuation?
Ah, Mr. President, when AriU tMs crowd of cormorants, tMs
crowd of avaricious tMeves and gamblers reach out their long,
bony fingers to grasp the remaining 12i^ per cent of the
wealth of tMs Nation? Just when they feel so secure in their
position that they tMnk the American people will stand it.
Ah, Mr. President, it would seem that tMs should have satis
fied tMs crowd worMng the field of legislation; but not sa
They again return to the Government and, having grown
strong and bold, on July 24, 1897, they demand of the Gov
ernment that they be permitted to tax every article consumed
by the crowd worMng the field of human endeavor. In my
imagination I can hear the Government say that already tMs
crowd is laden with burdens grievous to be borne, and if fur
ther burdens are placed upon them it must be so disguised
that they AriU not understand it, that they Arill not appreciate
it. TMs crowd of despoilers working the field of legislation
reply : Let us so sugarcoat it, so capsule it as that they will
not understand it. We will place a tax ostensibly only upon
foreign-made articles brought into tMs country for consump
tion. Certainly no objection can be raised to this, and we AriU
do tMs under the guise and specious pretex'^ that it is for the
purpose of protecting American labor employed in the fac
tories of the East and North. The Dingley bill was passed ;
a tax was laid upon the consumers of the land, upon the
toilers, upon the shoulders of the men who are the foundation
and support of the Government itself.
Mr. President, I pause for the purpose of saying that if the
tax of the people of this Government, paid not for the purpose
of revenue, but to enrich the coffers of tMs crowd that work
the field of legislation, were paid directly, like our State and
county taxes are paid, to the sheriffs, the American people
would not stand it for twenty-four hours. There would be
such a revolution in tMs country as would shake it from center
to circumference ; but under this pretext that tMs burden was

204 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
laid for the purpose of helping the American laborer and to
support tne (jrovernment, the crowd that works the neid ot
human enaeavor, long-suilering ana patient, have thus tar
borne this burden. How aoes iMs tax, Mr. I'resiaent, make
the rich richer and the poor poorer i is it a tax only upon
importea articles? i say 'I'No," most positively, "No." The
American manufacturer is permitted, under tMs torm of legis
lation, to charge tor an American product a price just a fittle
lower than the toreign article with the tax adaed, ana tnereby
reap not only a wholesome protit, but the beneni ol the tax as
wen ; and it this did, in tact, help the laborers ol the iiiast and
North, It miglit, in a sense, be jusutied, because uoa com
mands that we bear one another's burdens; but, sir, i aeuy
that It benefits the laborer, in 190/ the farmers ot the iSoaiii
ana West were tairly prosperous, the god of tbe Uarvest had
blessed them with bountiful crops, their barns wiere full, their
stores laid m tor the winter, the little country merchant had
bought Ms goods for the coming season, his credit was fairly
good, the local banks throughout the fcjouth and West were
reasonably prosperous, and their money was scattered from
the home bank to the great money centers of New Y'ork to
cover their bills of exchange. EverytMng was moving along
in its usual normal condition, but the South and West awoke
one mormng in the fall of 1907 to find itself in the cold, merci
less grasp of one of the most terrible panics that had ever
occurred in tMs country.
This panic, Mr. President, was organized on less than 5
acres of ground in New York, where these two gigantic gam
bling institutions ply their wicked vocations. If I am told
that this tax laid upon the crowd that works the field of human
endeavor is for the benefit of the laboring man of the North
and East, I ask you to go Arith me to the great cities and there
inspect the great army of the unemployed as it marches with
sober, glum, threatening mien in full review; go with me to
New York, if you please, stand Arith me on the Brooklyn
Bridge at the close of the da/ and see the great throng of
humanity as it surges across that great thoroughfare ; see the
fittle cMldren that ought to be in school or around their
mother's knee coming grimy and dirty from the sweatshop;
see the poor mother with babe in her arms, who has been
trudging the streets aU day begging for bread, going to her
hovel of squalid poverty and want ; see the laboring men out
of employment, with desperation written upon their faces,
returning empty-handed to their helpless, dependent famifies ;

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 205
go to the homes of the poor, go to the homes of the unem
ployed, go to this great army that is marcMng up and down
the land today begging not for bread, not for a hand-out at
your back door, but an opportumty to work, for an oppor
tumty to earn their bread as God commanded, in the sweat of
their face; for an opportunity to run the race of life freely,
unshackled, and unMndered ; and tell me, if you Arill, that this
tax has brought blessings to the laboring man of the North
and the East.
Ah, Mr. President, tMs oligarchy of wealth, builded by legis
lation, and legislation alone, has reduced to almost serfdom
the laborers ol tMs section of our country. They have reached
that pomt in the Mstory of the laboring world that they can
say to tMs man, ' ' Go, and he goeth ; and to another. Come, and
he Cometh," They dare not resist their master's will; and
not satisfied Arith their power there, they are yet conspiring
to subjugate the laborers of the South and the West, and to
bring them under the yoke of their bondage by means of ad
vantages gained in worMng the field of legislation. Ah, Mr.
Presiaent, tMs is a dark picture, i know not what the result
may be. i'or the past twelve months the country has been re
galed Arith an exhaustive and learned argument as to whether
or not the President of the United States had the right to
discharge a lot of kinky-headed niggers from the army, who,
in a drunken riot, shot up a helpless and defenseless people.
And more recently we have been urged to increase the salary
of all our public officials, that they might more closely imitate
royalty. We stand today face to face with a deficit in our pubfic
treasury of $150,000,000. Our Government is bankrupt, yet
we are appropriating the money of the people at the rate of
perhaps a million dollars an hour. The majority in Congress
seem to be drunk on the wine of success. They fiddle and
dance and make merry wMle Rome burns. I say to you, Mr.
President, that it is time we were calling a halt, and that the
Congress of the United States legislate for a fittle while in
the interest of "Old Man People." He is a good old man,
bowed and bent with years; venerable, Arith long, floAring
beard. You have each met him. Simple and confiding, trust
ful and hopeful, he looks to this Congress for some relief, and
I ask the Senators here to lend an attentive ear to Ms demands
before it is everlastingly too late.
Mr. President, to what extremes AriU tMs oligarchy of
wealth go in their desperation and madness? It can be best

206 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
iUustrated by a brief study of ancient Mstory. One of the
greatest reformers that fived in ancient times was Julius
Caesar. He loved the poor people of Rome, and when he re
turned from the wars ot toreign conquests, laden with rich
treasure, he found great throngs ot poor people m the streets
of itome feeding trom the public coners. L>id he use tMs
treasure, Mr. irresident, m riotous hvmg, m great feasts and
entertainments ? No; he commanaea that the rich land along
the lioer be bougbt Avith public lunds, aiviaed into smaa
tracts and given to the people that they mignt earn tiieir
breaa m tne sweat ot tUeir lace. Uaesar louna that a conspir
acy against tne poor naa been lormea by Brutus, Uassius, and
(jaboa, ana tne r^oman uouiaty. He louna tnai iney were
lenuxng money at tne ruinous interest ot 'it) per cent; ne tound
mat me ricn were noaraing tneir weaitn and tnat money, the
biooa ot commerce, was noL circulating treely among tne peo
ple. OaeBur s wiu was law, aua ne atua to Lius crowa oi con-
apiiatoxt) uy legislation, jluu snail not cnarge a greater rate
Oi iuteitiiit man -i-^y^ pet' cent tor tne use oi )'Our money, ana
snail not lenu a gieater sum man one-naii tne amount you
nave invessLea in property; ^ou snaii not noara more tuan
it)i>,uuu. J.I you ao >ou snaii ue subjectea to neavy penalties
01 me law. w ouiu to ixoa we haa oaesar m tbe w iute Mouse
toaay 1 '±his enraged the conspirators, the ±toman ibenate, and
wnen Uaesar, upon mat lateiui aay, waitea into tneir miast
beuevmg tnat ne was among nis trienas, surrounaed by the
treacUeiy ot me money power, twenty-three knile wounds
piercea ms boay, ana wnen he saw the blade of Brutus, Ms
trusted iriena, raisea bigji in air, be drew the mantle ot his
cloaK about his lace ana in ms aying breath, exclaimed, "And
thou, too, Jsrutusl" and tell dead at the feet of the statue of
Pompey. IMs, sir, is a brief history of Rome and its great
reformer, illustrating the terrible fate that fies in the path of
any man who seeks to shake loose from the throat of tMs
Government these parasites of wealth, these stock gamblers,
these stock jobbers that attempt to control the destimes of
the Government.
Ah, Mr. President, the money power may be pressing the
American people too far. In some eril hour, in some un
guarded moment, a match may be touched to the fuse that con
nects Arith the Mdden mine of discontent and dismay that is
planted beneath tMs Republic, and I shudder for the conse
quences.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 207
I read a little story in a New York paper recently, illustrat
ing aptly, I tMnk, the recklessness and wanton disregard of
the people's rights by the money power of the Government.
It is said that a beautiful Italian girl Arith considerable prop
erty married one of her countrymen, believing that he was all
that her young heart had pictured him to be. Soon she dis
covered that he Avas addicted to that terrible rice, the liquor
habit. Their home soon became a drunkard's home, her prop
erty was squandered, poverty in all of its hideous forms
knocked at their door, until finally she was compelled to go out
and earn a firing for her drunken husband. She was finally
brought into court and tried, and to the judge she said :
Judge, he finally suggested that I sell myself for his support; he pressed
me too far, Judge, and I killed him.
Ah, Mr. President, the money power of this Government is
treading upon dangerous ground. They do not know, or else
they do not care, that the people are already ground down
Arith taxation and the weight of Government until their backs
are almost broken beneath its load. They do not seem to
appreciate the fact that in his power and strength "Old Man
People" may rise and smite them. I would not be an alarmist,
sir, but I predict here and now that unless conditions change,
that unless the Consrress of the United States turn a listening
ear to the lamentations of an outraged public, that Arithin ten
years there may be another Shenendoah Valley, there may be
another Gettysburg; the red broom of war may sweep this
Govemment as it has never been swept before, and when that
day shall break in all its fury, woe to the crowd worMna: the
field of lesnslation that have laid these srrievous burdens upon
the backs of the crowd worMnar the field of human endeaA^or.
Mr. President, we of the South make but a simr»le reouest :
we ask onlv the pf)ssa£>-e of a law that AriU r)roteH; the products
of our soil; we ask a law that AriU stay the ruthless hand of
the arambler. and rive to the men and women of the South a
just return for their labor and toil.
And to this end, sir, I submit the bill under consideration,
and ask that it be referred to the Committee on Agriculture
and Forestry.

CHAPTER XI
ARKANSAS GAZETTE'S REVIEW OF JEFF DAVIS'S
CAREER.
August 1, 1906, the Arkansas Gazette published an editorial
reriew of Jeff Daris 's career and political characteristics,
covering more than a page, the longest editorial ever pub
lished in an Arkansas ncAvspaper. It was at a time Avhen Jeff
Davis was at the zenith of his career as a political leader.
The Gazette was not, nor has it ever been, a supporter of
Senator Daris, but the editor, J. N. Heiskell, Avho, by a strange
combination of circumstances, was destined to become his
immediate successor in the United States Senate seven years
later, handled his subject with an analytic power and fairness
that attracted widespread attention. He dealt neither in ful
some eulogy nor bitter denunciation, but set out boldly and
Arith jjsychological exactness the peculiarities of the man, and
the author's opinion of the secret of his popular appeal. As
such the document becomes historic and worthy of preserva
tion in permanent form. Therefore, it has been deemed de
sirable to reproduce it here in full. It will be read Arith inter
est, whether the reader accepts the writer's conclusions or
not: Jeff Davis.
We set our hand to a task, a task created by the exigency
of the hour, by the culmination of political events in Arkansas
during the past half decade— to explain the remarkable career
of a remarkable man, Jeff Daris.
He is indeed a political prodigy. After being Attorney
General for one term he won the governorship three times and
now leads in the race for the senatorship. The mere naming
of his rictories does not half tell the story; he has won his
battles against odds and under circumstances that would have,
we verily believe, sent down to overwhelming defeat any other
man in the whole State of Arkansas.
Whence is his strength and what are the factors of Ms
power? We answer:
He is thoroughly democratic in speech, manner and action,
and is surcharged Arith personal magnetism.
He makes the people think he is persecuted for their sake
and stands between them and oppression.
He appeals to the human element.

JUDGE W. M. KAVANAUGH.
Ex-Sheriff and Bx-County Judge of Pulaski County, Democratic
National Committeeman, and United States Senator
tor the Short Term, 1913.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 209
He cunningly paints things to his liMng and ingeniously and
unscrupulously turns them to his advantage.
He continually does violence to the moral maxim that the
suppression of truth is the suggestion of falsehood.
He audaciously and impudently relies on the public's lack
of information about incidents in issue.
He appropriates credit for about everything creditable.
He has a powerful machine.
He has not met his match. II.
His Infinite Democeacy.
Jeff Daris is genuinely and sincerely democratic. He is
hail-fellow, Avell met, vdth all. His book of etiquette is his
heart, and Ms rules of form and manners are nothing more
than the promptings of his human nature. Any Governor
might give an apparent v^elcome to the poorest and humblest
man or woman that came into his office, but few besides Gov
ernor Davis could make the poor and humble feel the genuine
ness and sincerity of that welcome, make them feel that he
was one of them and that his pleasure at seeing them was real.
And anybody is welcome to call him Jeff, although he is the
CMef Executive of an important State.
An American laAA^er who had been elected to a little judge
ship had to "double up" at an inn Arith a plain Irishman who
drove the conA^eyance in which the judge traveled around his
circuit. "Pat," said the jurist, "you would have been a
mighty old man before you would ever have slept Arith a judge
in Ireland, wouldn't you?" "Yes, Your Honor," answered
Pat, "and you would have been a mighty old man before you
would ever have been a judge in Ireland."
Among the masses of the people Jeff Daris has a word
for everybody. He makes himself one Arith any and all. His
genius for hitting off homely but happy phrases effectually
breaks the ice between him and those Arith whom he would
become acquainted. It is slap-him-on-the-back — Hello, Bill!
How's your family? always Arith .Teff Davis. He is indeed a
"mixer." He is the most miscible element in Arkansas
politics. He labors to diride the people against themselves in order
that he may become the champion of the bigger class, those
whom he inridiously calls "the common people." He makes
honest people out in the State tMnk that at Little Rock there

210 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
is an aristocracy of purse-proud plutocrats who menace the
interests of the plebeians, and that all may be lost unless their
tribune of the people is kept in power, so that he can effectu
ally oppose the sinister machinations of the patricians. To
an audience of worMngmen he ridicules that harmless insti
tution called "society" — that is, the folks who wear formal
dress and play bridge wMst. Then he teUs the worMngmen
that he is one of them, and that if he ever "gives a party"
they are the people he wants for Ms guests. It is an easy
game. Envy inheres in the human breast. In the Reign of
Terror the cry was continually, "Down Arith the hated aristo
crats." Doubtless some aristocrats were guillotined as a
protest against the principle of the lordship of one man over
another in the State, but doubtless many lost their heads sim
ply because they were aristocrats, simply because their better
position in fife had earned for them the envy of the masses.
The inequalities of social and economic conditions in this
world continually yearn for a voice to cry protest to the seats
of power. Hearst came Arithin an ace of being elected mayor
of New York because so many people befieved they were not
getting a square deal, that something was wrong when one
man had a hundred millions and a palace on Fifth avenue
and a thousand others had to struggle to keep soul and body
together in a miserable tenement. In Arkansas Jeff Daris
is more than a man ; he is a sentiment, a belief, a conriction,
a credo ; he is a phychological fetich. A certain proprietary
article is made by a dozen different manufacturers. But
that made by one of them is so well known and its special
name stands for so many rirtues that it is said a million dol
lars has been offered simply for the name. "Jeff" is worth
much in Arkansas, for that one word, "Jeff," means so much
to so many people. It stands for something just as the name
of the proprietary article referred to stands for something.
The aristocratic political dynasty typified by such men as
Matthew Butler and Wade Hampton was overthrown in South
Carolina when Ben Tillman went from his farm and mar
shaled the masses against them. A Tennessee congressman
had for an opponent a rich merchant firing in the largest city
in the district. He would go into the mountains and tell the
honest but gullible people that his rich opponent had mirrors
in his house as big as their cabins ; that when the rich candi
date was inrited to eat at their tables he merely pretended to
partake of their plain rictuals, and when he had left their
homes he pulled ice cream and cake out of the back of Ms

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 211
buggy and feasted on them. The cities voted for the rich mer
chant, but the country voted for the other fellow, and the lat
ter won.
The novefist of the masses gets sympathetic readers by the
miMon Arith a tale of a poor worMng girl who married a nfil-
fionaire. We see the same tMng on the stage. Jeff' Davis has
won to Mmself thousands and thousands of honest men who
see a difference in their station in fife and the station of
others. Thiy rejoice to look upon Mm as one of them, and
they feel themselves honored in Ms being honored. They see
in him their champion. He in turn cultivates their friendsMp
and patromzes them. We have been told that in Ms peregrina
tions over the State he will see some man of the "common
people" standing not far oft" and privately learn what that
man's name is. And then he Arill call that man by name and
speak in the most familiar terms to Mm. Naturally the man
is pleased and flattered when the Governor of the State thus
fraternizes with Mm. More of Mstorical atavism. Napoleon
Bonaparte, who was somewhat of a demagogue in a transcen
dent way, used to learn from the captMn of a company the
name of some deserring private and ascertain what four he
was in and what was his number in that four. Say the sol
dier's name was Pierre Blanc. Napoleon would walk down
the fine secretly counting as he passed the men and when he
reached the right number would suddenly stop with an as-
stuned expression of the greatest surprise. "What!" he would
exclaim; "Pierre Blanc hasn't the cross?" And forthwith
the thunder-bearing emperor of the French would produce a
cross of the Legion of Honor and Arith Ms own hands pin that
distinguished emblem upon the proud breast of tMs private
soldier. Probably one cross thus bestowed was enough for a
whole company or a whole regiment ; the other privates heard
about it. And when Napoleon was fleeing from the fatal field
of Waterloo, beaten and forever vanquished, Ms career ended
and Ms sun gone down, here and there a private soldier,
wounded unto death, would raise himself from the bloody
ground and Arith the last breath in Ms body, cry "Vive
I'empereur!" ni.
His Pseudo-Maetykdom.
If you can make people tMnk, as Jeff Daris does, that you
stand between them and oppression and that you are perse
cuted for their sake, you have a case before the popular tri-

212 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
bunal — you have an issue on wMch to ask a verdict from the
popular jury. You have a reasonable excuse for asMng the
people to give you the office you are seeMng. In a former cam
paign he told his audiences that at Glenwood park a business
men's meeting Mssed, hooted and howled Mm down when he
tried to make a speech "in the interest of the plain people of
the State. ' ' In discussing the legislative hearing on the anti
trust bill he said (in his campaign against Judge Wood), that
the committee had sent for witnesses.
"Whom did they send for, my fellow citizens?" he asked.
"Did they send for the farmer; did they send for the laborer;
did they send for the manufacturer; did they send for the
mechanic ; did they send for the merchant ; did they send for
the class of citizens who bare their breasts and their arms
and their backs to the heat and burdens of the day ? No, they
sent for the insurance agents from Pine Bluff, from Helena,
and from Fort Smith. They sent for a Mgh-coUared crowd-
that crowd that wear collars so high they can't see the sun
except at high noon, looMng over the tops of their collars.
They sent for that crowd that, when they shake hands vdth
you, they only give you the tip of two fingers ; that crowd that
you can't tell from their tracks whether they are going north
or coming back. ' '
"Why do you support Jeff Davis?" And many an honest
man will answer, "Because I believe he is being persecuted."
Human nature is so sympathetic that it readily and willingly
makes some mortal's imagined grievance its own. Take the
famous case of the "Tichbome Claimant" as shovdng tMs
interesting and praiseworthy trait of humanity.
Sir Roger Tichborne sailed from England for Australia
wMle a young man, and his vessel was lost at sea, with afi
hands. Twenty-five years later a man appeared who claimed
to be Sir Roger, and so entitled to the estate, which yielded
an income of $140,000 a year. His claim was contested and
he required enormous amounts of money to pay big lawyers'
fees, bring witnesses from the other side of the world and" sup
port himself in becoming style. Thousands of persons sent
him money, not as an investment, but simply because they,
believed he was about to be defrauded out of Ms rights. "The
Claimant" became a pubfic character, and a considerable
part of the pubfic supported him, both morally and financially.
Finally the fellow's own brother swore that the alleged Sir
Roger Tichborne was Arthur Orton, a butcher of WaUa
WaUa, Austrafia, who had emigrated from London. Then

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 213
the claimant was prosecuted for perjury. But did the public
desert this arrant fraud? No. Many believed the brother
was guilty of perjury in swearing that he was the claimant's
brother and confidently held that he had been paid by the
other side to swear falsely. And so they continued to con
tribute to his defense fund up to the time he was sentenced
to 14 years' imprisonment.
Why did thousands of people that had never seen and prob
ably never heard of the Tichbornes give their sympathy and
their money to this fellow? Because they believed that wealth
and power had conspired against him to keep him out of his
title and his property. All a man needs to do to get the sup
port of the public is to make that public think he is being
unfairly treated, that he is being persecuted, that he is a
martyr. IV.
A Master of Humanics.
Jeff Davis constantly and sMlfuUy appeals to the human
element. His speeches are devoid of either dry ashes or
frigid icicles, and are full of heart interest. He smartly real
izes that you must be human to the human if you would reach
and move the human. Hearts throb only in sympathy Arith
other hearts, and tears start quickest at the sight of their
own Mnd. Newspapers — some of the biggest in the country —
tell their reporters and correspondents to get stories Arith
"heart interest" in them. For are not the papers to be sold
to people that have hearts? A report of a speech delivered
in the United States Senate by the most distinguished laAvyer
in that body on the constitutional aspects of some pending
treaty is a very important matter, and a newspaper would
commonly give it the space its importance deserves. Yes,
such a speech would be very important, but, really, who would
read it? Then let a newspaper pubfish a story of heart inter
est — about a girl who falls in love Arith a condemned mur
derer, who conceives and executes a daring plot to effect his
escape, who flies Arith him and receives in her own heart the
bullet that the pursuing officers intended for her lover — who
fails to read it?
Why do people that go to libraries leave dusty on the
shelves the works of the master minds of all ages while they
devour the cheap and. tawdry tales of the loves of man and
womanMnd? The play that fills the theater is the one that
moves the emotions of the audience. These shrewd actor

214 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVlS
people show us a maiden that has seen better days and is pre
vented from seeing them again only by the monstrous macM-
nations of a paid and perfidious villain. The audience sor
rows and grieves for the oppressed and unfortunate leading
lady, only to Aripe away its tears and rejoice when she tri
umphs over every temptation and difficulty and Arins the goal
of perfect love and happiness just before time for the com
pany to take the train for Pine Bluff.
Jeff Daris makes his speeches throb like a human heart.
In Ms campaign against Colonel Rector he told of visiting one
of the State conrict camps. "The first sight that greeted
my eyes," he said, "was a great, big, black negro with a pump
gun guarding the white men and driving them down the row
and saying: 'Hoe that cotton, damn you, or I Avill MU you.' "
Now what could more effectively rouse Southern white people
than such a picture as that? Here he anticipated "The Clans
man" several years.
"I have always loved the people in the mountains," he said
in Ms Eureka Springs speech (in the Wood campaign). Since
I was a small boy and read the tale of the Scottish Chiefs I
have always loved the hardy Highlander. When I was prose
cuting attorney of my district and rode over the Mils and
valleys of my home county, often at night I have seen far up
on the mountain side a tiny light; I have heard the bleating
of a goat or the tinkle of a cowbell or the baying of the
friendly watchdog. I have gone to that home, humble though
it was, and there received the most generous hospitality the
world can afford — and I love the people of the hills," etc.
Judge Wood delivered a dissenting opinion in the anti-trust
smts brought by Jeff Davis as Attorney General. Governor
Daris attacked Judge Wood for this, but he did not talk in
terms of lawyers and courts. "When I was prosecuting attor
ney of my district, ' ' he said, ' ' I never failed to procure a con
riction of a defendant when I could show that he fired a shot
into the prostrate and inanimate body of the deceased after
he had fallen to the ground, and I tell you here today that
Judge Wood, not satisfied vdth the decision of the other four
judges in this case, rendered an independent decision, ran
ahead of the hounds and fired a shot into the dead and help
less corpse of the anti-trust law of 1899 ; and the good people
of Ms State AriU conrict him at the ballot box for this out
rage." He referred to the alleged Little Rock ice combination as
"a trust on tMrst and fever, a trust on the sickroom."

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 215
Called to account for pardoning some conrict richly deserv
ing of punishment — some convict whose release may have
been secured through a "pardon attorney," Jeff Daris can
paint a picture of youthful innocence or white-haired old age
kept from a dying mother or suffering family by the dark
walls of the Arkansas penitentiary. His audience begins to
cry and in its tears the charge against the Governor is washed
away. "My fellow-citizens," he said in one of Ms speeches, "you
do not know what it is to be Governor of Arkansas ; you do
not know what it is to hold the power of life and death in your
hands, to hold the power of punishment and forgiveness. On
the one hand you are besieged by the white-Aringed angels of
mercy, on the other hand by the stern demand of law. Do not
criticise, my fellow citizens, an executive for exercising mercy.
I have a little boy at home eight years old, God bless Ms little
soul ! If he should get into trouble in after years and get into
the pemtentiary, I would Mss the very feet of the Governor
who would give Mm a pardon. I would wash his feet vdth
my tears. If it were your son or your brother or father, I
could not write the pardon quick enough; I could
not sign my name quick enough. Judge Wood said the
other day in one of his speeches that any old woman could get
a pardon at my office who came there crying. I want to say
to you, my fellow citizens, that I thank God that my heart has
not become so stilled, so cold and callous that the tears of the
mothers in Israel AriU not move me to pity, and when I get
this way I want God to take me not only out of the Governor's
office, but off this old earth of ours. God bless you old
mothers in Israel; God bless their prayers and their tears;
and mothers, when you offer up your devotion tonight, if you
can spare one moment, lisp a prayer for the pardoning Gov
ernor of Arkansas. If you don't want your boys pardoned,
don't come crying around my office, because I can not stand
it, and do not try to stand it."
The pardoning Governor did not mention the blind tiger
proprietors for whom the white-winged angels of mercy have
done such yeoman work in getting relief from the penalties
in hundreds of conrictions. And the Governor's hearerswere
too polite or too suffused Arith tears in their eyes to inject
an interpolation concerning this class of cases.
In the Wood campaign Governor Davis played unceasingly
upon the emotions if not the passions of his hearers by the
use he made of the Esther Waren lawsuit, in wMch a child

216 THE LIFE OE SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
two and one-half years old had had both hands cut off by a
freight train. It was a pitiful case, and the jury in the lower
court gave the child a verdict for $40,000, but the Supreme
Court, by a vote of three to two, reversed the case and sent
it back for a new trial. Governor Davis's opponent for the
Democratic nomination for Governor was a justice of the
Supreme Court that reversed this case. He made powerful
and effective use of it.
After exaggerating the sufferings of this cMld, which were
surely terrible enough Arithout exaggeration. Governor Daris
charged that the case was "delayed" in the Supreme Court
for two years until it was thought the child would die. "For
more than two years the case lay there," he said. "The Su
preme Court finally reversed the case and sent it back for a
new trial, saying that $40,000, in their judgment, Avas too much
for this injury, and in delivering the opinion of the court,
Judge Wood and this bench said : ' ' TMs little child, had he
lived, could not be supposed to have amounted to more than
the ordinary man." Ah, my friends, this is a supposition in
favor of the railroad company. Was the .goddess of justice
blind then, or did she have one eye open seeing that the rail
road company was involved against the little child? Why
should the court presume anything about the case? Whv not
let the verdict of the jury that saw the child and kneAV all the
facts stand? But if they were .sroing to indulge in presump
tion, why not presume that this little child would have been
president of a railroad company, president of a bank, even a
judge of the Supreme Court, or perhaps President of the
United States? Judge Wood, when you indulged in this pre
sumption against the little child the goddess of justice was
not blind; and when the attorneys knew that you had reversed
the case on account of too much damage they went to you
and begged you to remit so much of the damages as you
thought were excessive. You refused to do this, but reversed
the case and sent it back for a new trial. The child died and
the railroad went scot free. * * * Ah, Judge Wood, we
are told by the ministers and by Holy Writ that when we go
to that blessed land where there is no sorrow, and no sin, and
no death, that we AriU know each other then as we know each
other on earth ; that you, Judge Wood, AriU know your father
there, and that I vdll know my four little babies that have
gone on ahead. Oh, Judge Wood, I pray the good Lord that
when you get to that better land, that little Esther Waren Arill
have been supplied vdth Ms hands and feet, and that you vdll

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 217
not hear him screaming, "Where are my hands, mamma?
Where are my hands ? ' Judge Wood, this case ought to burn
your conscience and soul at night; it ought to haunt j^ou in
your sleep; it ought to visit you in your dreams, tMs little
child screaming for his hands. ' '
Governor Davis has viciously attacked Senatory Berry for
voting againts the Hatch bill which proposed to put a tax on
dealing in futures. Senator Berry believed this bill to be un
constitutional and favored the George bill, Avhich prohibited
absolutely dealing in futures. But what we Avant to call atten
tion to here is Governor Davis 's skill in vitalizing — in human
izing — this matter. After describing the Cotton Exchange at
New York, where he saw them "change the price of cotton
the world over $5 a bale," he said :
As I came up White River the other day, along that stream more heautiful
than the Hudson, out of the car window I saw little children, girls and hoys,
thinly clad on a cold, frosty morning, children just as dear to their parents
as yours or mine are to us, picking the cotton, pulling it from the bolls,
their little hands almost frozen. When I saw this sight, my fellow-citizens,
my mind turned back to that other scene in New York City, where the
gamblers of Wall Street sat around the gambling table gambling, not only in
the products of the soil of the South, but gambling in the flesh and blood
and bone of the children of the South, and my heart cried aloud: "My God!
Is there no help in Israel? Is there no help for the children of the South?"
V.
A Magician in Woed Effects.
Jeff Davis is a genius at painting things to Ms liking and
turmng them to his advantage. In tMs he is both unscrupu
lous and ingenious. He can make white appear black and
black white. He is a magician, a veritable prestidigitator.
It is Presto! Change, and something that was hurtful to Jeff
Daris has become something helpful to him.
As everybody knows. Governor Daris was excluded from
fellowsMp in the Second Baptist Church of Little Rock on
charges. It would seem that such an experience as that would
be a terrible handicap to a candidate for Governor, especially
in a State where there are thousands of Baptists. Not so vdth
this magician. He made it a thing of advantage to him.
"My fellow citizens," he would say, "I was excluded from
the Second Baptist Church in Little Rock. A lot of Mgh-
combed roosters down there. Judge Wood among the mem
bers, turned me out of the church for political purposes with
out a trial, vdthout a hearing, thinking that they could ruin
me in that way; but Avhen the little church at Russellville,
where I was raised, heard of this indignity, tMs outrage, they

218 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
sent for me to come home and join the church of wMch I had
been a member for twenty years, and more than a hundred
members were present when I was restored. ' '
Judge Wood showed that the attention of the Little Rock
church was first called to Governor Davis by " a fittle country
church at Mammoth Spring," in wMch, presumably, there
were no "Mgh-combed roosters;" that the charges were pre
ferred during one of Governor Daris 's campaigns, but the
Little Rock church refused to take action before the primaries
had been held because it wanted to avoid every suspicion of
preferring charges against the Governor for political pur
poses; that a committee delivered the charges to Governor
Davis and took his written receipt for them, also notifying
Mm of the date of the trial, but when the time came, Judge
Wood said, Governor Davis was in CMcot County on a fishing
expedition. Judge Wood had testimony saying that the total
number of persons present when Governor Davis was rein
stated in the Russellville Baptist church was twelve, and sev
eral of these were Ms relatives.
But, no. A man who had been turned out of a Little Rock
church for pofitical purposes by a lot of high-combed roosters
was a martyr, was entitled to the sympathy and votes of the
people — and got a large quantity of each.
In 1904 he was running against a Supreme Court judge for
the nomination for Governor. Obviously by one of the very
first of his rules of war, the tMng to do was to attack the
court in an effort to create feeling against tMs one of its mem
bers who was opposing Mm. How did he do it? This way,
for instance :
A poor farmer lost some personal property by the burning
of a railroad freight depot. He sued for damages and lost
Ms case in the Supreme Court. Governor Davis would tell
these facts to Ms audience and then ask, "Ah, my fellow-citi
zens, doesn't that look a little railroady to you?" Of course,
it is easily conceivable that justice and law may have been
wholly on the side of the railroad in this case. But what
would be the use of any one trying to explain to a political
gathering some fine point of law? The farmer was poor, he
lost Ms goods, and the Supreme Court decided in favor of
the railroad. Therefore, according to Davis logic, the court is
a railroad court — or at least it is "a fittle railroady," and
no justice of that court is a friend of the people.
How did he turn to good account his attempted impeach
ment in the Legislature of 1903 and make himself appear a

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 219
suffering martyr? "Gentlemen," he told his audiences in the
Wood campaign, "during this anti-trust fight the Legislature
began a warfare on me that was cruel and unjust. I can
imagine that I was in their caucus, that I was in their council,
that I heard their plans. They said, we must do sometMng
Arith Jeff Davis or he AriU pass this anti-trust law; we must
tie Ms hands, we must do something; the case is desperate.
Then they said, we will impeach him. My fellow-citizens, you
know what impeachment means ? If any of you should be sent
to the penitentiary it would take away your citizensMp, your
right to vote, to sit on a jury or to hold office, but the Gov
ernor of this State, by his pardoning power, could restore
your citizenship; but if the Learislpture should impeach your
Governor, no power on earth could restore Ms citizensMp; he
would be sent out in the world a disarraced and undone man.
You know that the State of Arkansas has been in the Union
since 1836. We have had all Mnds of Governors, and no one,
not even old Powell Clayton, that hell-hound and demon that
ran roua:h-shod and rampant over the rights of the people of
this State — no attempt was ever made to impeach him — no
one but me. Ah. my ffood women, did you ever read that
sweet book, the "Scarlet Letter?" Do you remember how
that erood woman was compelled to sro throusrh life Arith that
scarlet letter of infamy and shame branded upon her breast?
This Arkansas Ledslature said, we will brand the scarlet let
ter of infamy and shame, not only upon his breast, but ur)on
the breast of his aged father and mother, upon the breast of
his vdfe and babies ; we wiU disgrace him, we AriU rain him,
we Arill impeach him. ' '
Notice how cunningly Governor Daris arave his hearers the
impression that the attempt to impeach him was an effort to
prevent the anti-trust biU from passing. Notice that he says
the Leadslature bearan the "cruel and um'nst warfare" on him
"during this anti-trust fight;" that the legislators said, "We
must do something vdth Jeff Daris or he wiU pass this anti-
trast law; we must tie his hands. * • * Then they said,
we AriU impeach Mm. ' '
Of course the facts are, that this "warfare" on Governor
Davis was an investigation by the Ways and Means Com
mittee of the House, and was brought on by charges made by
Governor Davis, in his message to the Legislature, concern
ing the purchase of the Cummins place for a conrict farm.
The "warfare" resulted from the warfare he made in Ms

220 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
message on other members of the penitentiary board, and
had no earthly connection with the anti-trust bill.
VI.
Trusts in the Public's Lack of Information.
Jeff Daris audaciously and impudently relies on public ig
norance — not on public illiteracy, but on the public's lack of
information. Strange indeed that this could be a safe thing to
rely on, but it is, seemingly. He tells one side of a matter
and counts on the public not knoAring the other side. And the
public seldom fails him.
In the Wood campaign Governor Daris perforce had to deal
Arith his attempted impeachment in the Legislature of 1903.
After summing up for himself, he would say :
This testimony was submitted back to the Legislature; should they not
have found some verdict? Should they not either have acquitted or con
victed me? They refused to do either; they said in substance and in effect:
"We will muddy him up; we will blacken his character; we will ruin his
family; we will destroy his good name if we can; we'll neither acquit nor
convict him, but we will refer it back to the people for their judgment and
determination." But Governor Davis did not tell that the plurality report of
the Ways and Means Committee, though it said the committee
had no power to make "comments or suggestions," was a con
demnation of him ; that it got 43 ayes to 44 noes in the house
and that a change of one vote would have adopted this report.
Is it safe to rely on the public's lack of information? In his
recent race Governor Davis pleaded for the support of ex-
Confederates by bringing up his father's war record. "He
was a Baptist minister when the war broke out," said Gov
ernor Davis from every stump, "but he laid down his Bible
and picked up his rifle, and if history speaks the truth, he
bore it as gallantly and as bravely as any soldier in tMs great
conflict." Ex-Confederates who should know say his father
was conscripted in 1864, served a few days as a private and
then got a chaplain's commission.
VII.
Telling Half the Teuth.
Jeff Daris seems to be utterly obfirions to the moral maxim,
"Suppressio veri; suggestio falsi." Of course, everybody
knows that a false impression may be conveyed by sup
pressing a part of the truth about a matter, Harry, angered

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 221
at Jimmie, says to their mother in Jimmie's absence, " Jimmie
took a pie out of the pantry today." Mother vows punish
ment for Jimmie and gives a pie to Harry as a reward of
rirtue. On returning, Jimmie explains that Ms grandmother,
who had the disposing authority, gave him the pie.
Governor Davis fiercely attacked Senator Berry on the
ground that when Berry Avas Governor he had allowed the
railroads to escape taxation. He said:
What does this act of 1883 say, signed by Senator Berry and executed
by him?
"The railroads of this State shall list their property for taxation every
two years, but they shall not include or value for taxation embankments,
tunnels, cuts, ties, trestles or bridges."
The railroads shall not do what?
They shall not Include for taxation embankments, tunnels, cuts, ties,
trestles or bridges.
Ah, my friends, cut out this property, and how much railroad have you
left? Nothing but the iron rails, the depot buildings and the trains them
selves. In other words, by this act of 1883, Senator Berry exempted three-
fourths of the railroad property in this State from taxation.
"And if I had been your Governor in 1883, 1 certainly would
have vetoed this act. that exempted embankments, tunnels,
cuts, ties, trestles and bridges from taxation," said Governor
Daris. "Is there any man in this audience that has any prop
erty exempted from taxation ? ' '
Now what are the facts, Avhich must be known to Governor
Daris perfectly well? Governor Berry recommended that the
railroads be taxed. He had nothing to do vdth the biU ex
empting tunnels, bridges, etc. The bill did not reach him
untU after the Legislature had adjourned. If he had vetoed
it the raUroads would have paid no taxes whatever.
Did Governor Daris teU that? Not a word of it. Notice
how cunningly he attempts to make the Legislature's action
Governor Berry's action. He said in his speeches in the last
campaign :
What does this act of 1883 say, signed by Senator Berry and executed by
him? In other words, by this act of 1883 Senator Berry exempted three-fourths
of the railroad property in this State from taxation.
Yet Senator Berry, by the act of 1883, exempted embankments, tunnels,
ties, cuts, trestles and bridges, the property of the railroad company, from
taxation. Of course. Senator (Governor) Berry did not exempt tMs
property; the Legislature exempted it. Governor Berry
signed the bill, but, as said, if he had vetoed it, the railroads
would have paid no taxes whatever. But Ms vetoing the biU
would not necessarily have saved him from attack by Gov
ernor Davis, for Davis would doubtless have charged that
while the Legislature exempted tunnels, cuts, etc.. Governor

222 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
Berry "ran ahead of the hounds," and by vetoing the bill
after the Legislature adjourned, saved the railroads from
paying even those taxes they would have had to pay under the
Legislature's act.
Governor Daris attacked Senator Berry on the settlement
between Arkansas and the United States. He showed that
Senator Berry, in a speech in the Senate, had fiercely de
nounced the amendment giving to the Iron Mountain the lands
that the State claimed, and yet two months later had urged
that the Arkansas Legislature ratify the settlement Arith tMs
amendment in the bill.
"Is tMs the same man?" asked Governor Daris in his
speeches. "Ah, Senator Berry, that monster that looked so
hideous to you then became gentle and pleasing in its mien.
That wrong that looked so wrong became right. You turned
a somersault ; you faced right about and you ask the Arkansas
Legislature to give away these lands," etc. But Governor
Daris did not tell that Senator Berry favored the Legislature
ratifying the settlement simply because he thought there was
no chance to get the bill through the house Arithout the objec
tionable amendment.
In attacMng Senator Berry for voting against the Hatch
anti-option bill. Governor Davis told his hearers to turn to
the Congressional Record, "and there you will find the vote on
tMs bill, and the first name that appears of those who voted
against this Hatch bill was that of Senator Berry of Arkan
sas." Governor Daris did not explain that on roll calls the
names of the Senators are called alphabetically, and that
necessarily a Senator whose name begins with "B" would be
among the first to vote for or against any measure. If Sen
ator Berry had voted for the Hatch bill and his name began
Arith "Z" instead of "B," Governor Daris might say, "Yes,
my fellow-citizens, he voted for the bill, but the Congressional
Record shows that he was the very last Senator to do so."
vin.
Takes Credit Foe About All That Is Good.
Governor Daris audaciously appropriates to himself credit
for about everything creditable. He is the personification of
jactant egotism. His is not vanity. He is not conceited. His
offense consists in Ms maMng pretense that about all that is
good in Arkansas, from enlargement of an eleemosynary in-

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 223
stitution to the surplus in the treasury, has its legal situs in
the ego of which he is the owner and proprietor.
He mentions the $64,000 of bonds retired by the Funding
Board and says "the entire debt of the State during my ad
mimstration has been wiped out." "TMs has been one of
my Mghest ambitions," he would say, "that when I leave the
Governor's office I shall leave my State absolutely free from
indebtedness. ' ' He takes credit for the condition of the treas
ury, for the enlargement of the State Hospital for Nervous
Diseases, for the rebuilding of the deaf mute buildings that
were destroyed by fire — and he is careful to point out that the
fire occurred during Governor Jones's administration. His
OAva is fireproof, presumably. He takes credit for the addi
tional money the taxpayers have paid to the school fund, and
for the additional money paid to Confederate veterans as
pensions, for the money appropriated by the Legislature for
additional buildings at the Umversity of Arkansas. In speak
ing of the assessment of the railroads for taxation he says "I
had steadily increased their valuation until 1903."
IX.
His Poweeful Machine.
But it is not merely by verbal appeals to the people that
Jeff Davis has succeeded. He has built up one of the most
powerful and effective political macMnes that any man in
pubfic fife in Arkansas has ever had. The great central motor
shaft rises out of the executive office in the Capitol at Little
Rock. To it are geared wheels that correspond with the coun
ties surrounding PulasM. These engage other wheels repre
senting other counties and so on until the whole State is cov
ered— untU when the master shaft revolves its cogs impart its
motion to the wheels in all the other counties.
In organization Governor Davis follows the scheme of the
ancient Persian empire or that of China of today. He has a
right bower in each county whom he holds responsible for that
county just as the Great King had a satrap and the CMnese
emperor has a riceroy in each prorince. These are thebig
wheels that are geared at last into the great shaft at Little
Rock. But tMs is only the skeleton of the macMne. It is
bmlt up of offices, employments, honors and pardons.
In Ms five years' tenure he has appointed numerous men
to good offices. He has gratified others vdth honors. He has
pardoned hundreds upon hundreds. He has favored and

224 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
accommodated many men and interests. He has drawn to him
thousands of men and solidified them into a dependable fol-
loAring. He has been the Jehu of the band wagon, into which
so many thousands of men must have a seat even though they
chuck their late convictions into the tall grass by the side of
the road only the moment they see the dust that indicates the
coming of the most popular of vehicular impedimenta. The
love that all the Avorld bears for a lover is Platonic affection of
cold storage temperature compared to the love that the world
has for a Arinner.
You must knoAV that a man is some pumpkins in Ms baifi-
Arick when he can say, "I'll get the Governor to do so and so,"
Arith the certainty of being able to deliver the goods by jump
ing on the train and paying a visit to Little Rock or by making
the long distance electric current the swift Mercury of Ms
desire. The high sheriff of the county is generally the king bee of
the politics of his shire. Probably tAvo-tMrds of the sheriffs
in Arkansas are component parts of the Governor's machine.
They are a great and effective force. It can not be denied
that Governor Daris, by the use of the veto pen and the par
don blank, has been a valuable friend to the liquor interests
of Arkansas. These interests, accustomed to combination and
active participation in politics — being forced at times to en
gage in a struggle for their very existence, for the right to
five — are a powerful political machine in themselves, but their
machine has been merely a part of that far greater and more
powerful enginery that serves the political fortunes of Jeff
Daris. And the wheels and levers of all this enginery are always
moring. Governor Davis sits in his office Avith the long dis
tance telephone at ear and mouth. He is in constant touch
Arith the subengineers of Ms great macMne — he continually
talks to them and adrises Arith them. These subengineers are
often in Little Rock, in personal conference Arith the chief.
And then the head of the machine Mmself visits every county
in the State in his campaigns and sees to it that each part of
the State-Aride engine is in good order and ready for the work
appointed to it.
This machine continually grinds out campaign literature.
Governor Daris has a mailing list containing the names of
many thousands of Arkansas voters. Some charge is made
against him, he writes a reply, has thousands of circulars or
pamphlets struck off and through the mails they are sowed

•'¦*!«?^

GOV. JEFF DAVIS AND OFFICERS ARKANSAS STATE GUARD.
Front Row, Lett to Right: Col, Henry Stroup, Col. W. K. Surridge, Gov. Jeff Davis, Maj.-Gen
W. H. Haynes, Chaplain Ben Cox and Brig. -Gen. B. W. Green.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 225
broadcast over the State. During the last five years he must
have spent a fortune for printing and postage.

He Has Not Met His Match.
Then no man has appeared in Arkansas politics in the last
half decade who was a match for Jeff Davis in the rough-and-
tumble style of fighting of Avhich he is the exponent. We be
fieve Attorney General Rogers could have fought Davis to
a standstill, for Rogers is a power before an audience and can
and will turn just as many tricks as Davis. But Rogers has
never run against Daris; they have "sideswiped" each other
a few times, that's all. A Webster or Sumner might utterly
fail at combating Jeff Davis on the stump. He would eat 'em
afive. Rhetoric and logic do not always win. James Cham
berlain Jones of Tennessee, whom the older generation AriU
remember as "Lean Jimmie Jones," Avas a candidate for Gov
ernor of that State in 1841 against Governor James K. Polk,
afterward President of the United States. But on the stump.
Lean Jimmie made fun of James K., laughed at Mm, cast him
in ridiculous attitudes and painted him in motley colors. Polk
protested that Jones was maMng a circus of the campaign —
but nearly everybody fikes to go to a circus. If a man has
qmck wit and homely humor, a well-developed sense of the
ridicMous and some mimetic ability he could find no better
subject on which to do so with his enchantments than Jeff
Daris. His heroics might be transformed in an instant into
the burlesque, Ms tearful passages into boohoos and Ms
grandiloquent thrills into laughter-making fustian. Cervantes
"laughed" Spain's chivalry away; he did not argue it or
denounce it out of existence. We have been told that in one of
Jeff Daris 's campaigns Ms opponent arose and fiercely de
nounced Daris in unmeasured terms for alleged misrepresen
tations. Did Daris fight, cut, stab or shoot— either bullets
or epithets? No. He simply said to the audience that his
opponent had been put in the race to MU him; that he knew
Ms opponent would take Ms life before the race was over.
"But," said he about to die, saluting them, "all I ask is that
when I am dead, you bury me in the old graveyard and write
on my headstone the words; 'He died a martyr to the com-

226 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

mon people.' " Did Don Quixote ever perpetrate anytMng
richer than that? And Davis never cracked a smile.

Some man should write a treatise, "Historical Parallels
Between the Careers and Methods of Napoleon Bonaparte and
Jeff Davis" — some man who knows as much about the Corsi-
can as about the Arkansan and enough about both. Napoleon
Bonaparte kept indefatigably and everlastingly at it and ac
compfished, at any price possible for Mm to pay, Ms set and
determined purpose. So does Jeff Davis.

CHAPTER XII
MEMORIAL ADDRESSES DELIVERED IN THE
UNITED STATES SENATE ON THE LIFE AND
SERVICE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS.
.(From the Congressional Record, March 1, 1913.)
Mr. Claeke of Arkansas : Mr. President, I ask unanimous
consent for the present consideration of the resolutions which
I send to the desk.
The Peesiding Offices (Mr. Page in the chair). The reso
lutions submitted by the Senator from Arkansas AriU be read.
The resolutions were read, considered by unanimous con
sent, and unanimously agreed to, as follows :
Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep sorrow of the death of the
Hon. Jeff Davis, late a Senator from the State of Arkansas.
Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased the
business of the Senate be now suspended to enable his associates to pay
proper tribute to his high character and distinguished public services.
Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these resolutions to
the House of Representatives and transmit a copy thereof to the family of
the deceased.
By Me. Claeke of Aekansas.
Mr. President, Senator Jeff DaAds — and he delighted to call
Mmself Jeff, and to have his intimate friends do the same —
died suddenly at his home in Little Rock on January 2, 1913.
As I said on another occasion, thus ended abruptly and prema
turely the career of one of the most extraordinary men who
made Ms appearance in the South in a generation. A simple
recital of the events of his fife, in sufficient detail to make his
methods, Ms purposes, and his plans understood, would
demonstrate this beyond reasonable dispute or cavil, but the
proprieties of the present occasion AriU be satisfied Arith a less
comprehensive treatment of the subject. Perhaps the time
has not as yet come when this can be done impartially and
fully. WMle the tongue of criticism and complaint is stilled
by the shock caused by his death, and in the presence of Ms
sorroAring family and friends, permanent impressions never
theless exist which AriU inevitably find expression, when the
sadness and sympathy of the hour shall have been forgotten,
by those outside of the crushed and sorroAring circle of his
family. This element may demand a hearing before a final
and accepted judgment shall be entered against Ms name and
fame.

228 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
Senator Daris was born in Little River County, Arkansas,
on May 6, 1862. His father was Judge Lewis W. Davis, in
early life a Baptist clergyman, and subsequently a practicing
laAvyer of respectable attainments and high character. His
mother still surrives, and is noted among those who know her
as a woman of strong character, superior intelligence, and
noble qualities as a wife, mother, and as a leader in the
Christian and charitable work of the communities in which she
has resided. While the dead Senator was yet a boy his father
moved Arith his family to the county of Pope, where he resided
until the time of his death, which occurred a few years since.
There young Daris spent his boyhood until he entered the
University of the State of Arkansas, where he remained for a
period less than that required to cover the prescribed course
for graduation. Shortly after he left the university he was
chosen prosecuting attorney of one of the most important
districts of the State. He discharged the duties of that office
in a way that strikingly directed to him the attention of a
section of the State which largely exceeded the boundaries of
his district. At that time there was a well-organized and
fierce conflict raging between what was then known as the
People's Party and the dominant party of the State.
The young prosecuting attorney was frequently taken from
his labors in his district and sent to distant parts of the State
to maintain the principles and support of the candidates of
the Democratic Party. His methods of debate were unique
and forceful, and never failed to leave behind him an impres
sion that caused the event to be recalled for a long time after
his departure. About the time ho was elected prosecuting
attorney he was married to Miss Ina McKenzie, herself ilie
daughter of a Methodist minister. It is worth while, in
passing, to call attention to the remarkable contribution made
to the effective worMng forces of society by the pioneer
Christian preachers of our frontier civilization. The personal
hardships of this ministry, and the ragged qualities of stead
fastness to a high purpose which caused them to devote them
selves to the salvation of a Aveak and fallen humanity, repro
duced their honesty and masterful qualities of fidelity in an
offspring that constitute many of the leaders of the race in
the communities where they cast their lot. The history of
nearly every community in the Southwest will disclose
instances which furnish verification for this observation. The
case of Senator Davis, and that of his beloved and devoted
wife, bear as strong eridence of tMs as any incident within

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 229
my personal observation. Senator Daris was the beneficiary
of much good luck and many fortunate contingencies, but in
my humble opinion none of them have so profoundly affected
Ms career as the circumstances Avhich directed his course
across the pathway of Ina McKenzie and united his destiny
vdth hers. I enjoyed abundant opportunities for knoAring
personally that she was a woman of a masterful mind, strong
conrictions, and of gentle and powerful pfirsonality. She was
the only person I ever knew who could influence Senator Davis
against what appeared to be his settled and fixed wMms or
purposes. With a woman's intuition she knew exactly what
he ought to do, and where her judgment conflicted vdth his,
she generally found means to cause her views and Arishes to
be respected. She was not an unsexed woman who ruled by
force of command, but she employed in her conquest womanly
qualities only. These she possessed vdthout limit, and by the
exertion of them was able to control in such a way as to be in
fact the helpmate of her husband, and to become the head of
a family of children Avhose habits, character, and demeanor
testify to the fact that while she was familiar with the contro
versies and methods of affairs outside of the home circle, that
above all she was at her best in her home. A few years since
she died, leaving behind her a mourning family of splendid
children and a distressed host of friends, all only too sensible
of the fact that they had lost a devoted mother and an inspired
counsellor. A short time before his death. Senator Daris was
married to Miss Lelia Carter, a member of one of the oldest
and most respected families in western Arkansas. A host of
devoted friends have tendered the inadequate and unavailing
consolation of sympathy to her in the hour of her great
bereavement. Shortly after the termination of his service as prosecuting
attorney Senator Daris became a candidate for Attorney Gen
eral, one of the most important offices in the State. In those
days we did not have what is known as a general or blanket
primary election for the selection of party candidates. Each
county selected its delegates to the State convention, and the
method of selection was determined by each county for itself.
These were usually held on different days and by different
methods. Some employed a county primary to express the
preferences to be supported in the State convention, while
some held Avhat is known as township or precinct meetings to
select delegates to a county convention, wMch in turn would
express the preference of the county for the particular State

230 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
offices. There were several candidates in opposition to Davis,
but the principal one was Professor Goar, the head of the
Arkansas Law School. In nearly every county where a con
vention had been held, the instructions had been given in favor
of Professor Goar, and Ms nomination was considered a fore
gone conclusion.
While addressing a meeting of voters in Madison County
he suddenly fell dead, and by this sad and sudden event the
political history of Arkansas for the intervening years has
been cast on lines that could never before have been dreamed
of as a possibility. After the death of Professor Goar, the
tide of political favor began to turn to Senator Daris, so that
when the convention assembled he had a majority of 1 vote
over all of his competitors, and was nominated on the first
ballot. It is part of the history of that struggle that when the
tide of popular favor seemed to be running so strongly in
the direction of Professor Goar, Senator Daris, realizing his
probable defeat, had begun to mature his plans to transfer
Ms residence to the State of Oklahoma. But all this was
changed by his election as Attorney General. From that time
forward began a long career as spectacular and turbulent as
that of any man who ever sought public office and political
control during a period of peace and in a cirilized Common
wealth. Directly upon Ms entering the Attorney General's
office the Legislature passed an act intended to suppress the
depredations of the commercial trusts in so far as their con
spiracies contemplated impositions upon the people of the
State of Arkansas.
A conflict as to the proper interpretation of this act in its
application to insurance companies immediately arose, and
the new Attorney General construed the statute to mean the
absolute exclusion of all such companies from the right to do
business in Arkansas if they were associated in any part of
the world Arith any group of companies haring a common pur
pose to control rates. This attitude was sharply antagonized
by the friends of the insurance companies, and out of tMs
difference of opinion came a pivotal opportunity wMch he had
the ingenuity to seize and develop into a volume of protests
against the monopoly that proved sufficient to land him in the
Governor's office two years later. It is no disparagement to
Senator Daris to say that two years before these events
occurred no one would have ventured the prediction that such
a selection was a political possibility. His election to the
governorship fiterally wrecked all the organized political

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 231
plans and systems that had grown up in the State for half a
century. The resulting demoralization and revolution in the
administration of public affairs was no surprise to those who
knew the real extent of the wreck and ruin wrought upon the
estabfished order thereby. His stay of six years in the Gov
ernor's office was from the very first day to the last a period
of audacious actirity and a constant warfare upon all the old
arrangements and political traditions of the State. As Gov
ernor he was called upon to make a great many appointments
to important public offices. He invariably chose those who
might not have expected promotion under the old regime. It
is compfimentary to the general intelligence and learning of
the citizensMp of the State that notArithstanding Ms ap
pointees were chosen from among persons who would not in
the regular course be mentioned in connection Arith the offices
they were caUed upon by Mm to fill that they invariably
"made good" and vindicated in nearly every instance the
sound judgment which he exercised when he seemed to depart
from the course marked out by the poficy of political heredity.
Ingratitude is a very human quality, and it is so freely exer
cised in the ordinary affairs of men that whilst it is always
hated it is never regarded as a stranger and rarely excites
surprise. It is compfimentary to the sense of appreciation and fidelity
of the hosts that he caUed around him as volunteers serving
the purposes of a carefully created, systematically organized,
and speciaUy favored "macMne" that he was rarely the ric
tim of ingratitude, and those of us who witnessed the 200 or
more beneficiaries of Ms favor as they sorrowfully walked
beMnd the hearse that bore Ms lifeless body to the grave felt
that he had contrived according to a deeper pMlosophy and a
sounder estimate of humanity than many of us suspected when
he called around Mm that body of partisans whom he defighted
to eaU the ' ' Old Guard. ' ' The Tenth Legion never estabfished
its claim to unswerving fidelity and courage by more unmis
takable eridence than did tMs band of loyal and honored
citizens. Shortly after Senator Daris entered upon the discharge of
the duties of the governorship he developed a desire to extend
Ms pofitical career to the Senate, and he accordingly began to
lay Ms plans and to develop issues with tMs end in view. He
inrited strife in certain quarters in order to furmsh him Arith
an issue that he could successfully attack and thereby intern-

232 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
sify the partisansMp of Ms friends and account for the ex
pressed hatred of his enemies.
The essential facts evolved from even a casual study of Ms
methods are that he never permitted any one to become a
half-hearted friend nor a concaled enemy. He early reafized
that half-offended friends might sooner or later find them
selves in a position where they could do him more injury by
encouraging the warfare of Ms enemies indirectly than they
could as part of the open opposition. Therefore, he never
"fell out" halfway with any one. He knew that in pofitics
the relationsMp between individuals is one for the advance
ment of mutual interests, and that such friendsMps too often
endure only so long as mutual rewards bind the coalition. It
is doubtless true that many real friendships groAV out of the
business of pofitics, but the general course is as he under
stood it. He frequently found, in maMng Ms calculations for
future political contingencies, that it would better serve his
purpose to force a realignment than be burdened Arith a
possible mutiny of some vital part of his combination at a
more critical stage of the conflict.
Thus it happened that at different periods of Ms political
career that the same persons were his enemies and friends
alternately. When he once accepted a reconcifiation with a
former enemy he so dealt with him as to convince him that no
resentment groAving out of past differences remained, and
when one of Ms friends or alfies was forced to take up serrice
on the other side he generally ridiculed Mm, less frequently
denounced Mm, into a state of complete harmlessness. Of
course, tMs process could only last as long as he had physical
strength and time to go among his fellows and by Ms personal
presence keep them inspired Arith the sentiments and hostifi-
ties of the hour, and to thus communicate to them the fighting
spirit of the occasion that only one with his magnetic qualities
when aroused could impart. His chief political asset was Ms
power as a stump speaker. In the exercise of this art he
exMbited the qualities of a master to a degree that put Mm in
a class to Mmself. He was not a widely learned man, nor did
he desire to be. He was not willing to devote the time and
self-denial involved in acquiring famifiarity Arith the riews
and methods of those AAdio had gone before. He absorbed
enough out of the general intelligence of the country to be
fairly familiar Arith many of the leading questions of the day
and could discuss them before an audience Arith a sufficient
show of knowledge to impart all the lessons that they seemed

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 233

vdlfing to absorb. He never concerned himself about master
ing in full scope and detail great and absorbing questions,
since he felt that he could only make use of such aspects of it
as his auditors were vdlling and desirous of understanding,
and that he was therefore engaged in a wholly unprofitable
serrice when he talked over the heads of those who listened
to Mm.
He knew humanity as few people know it. He did not deal
largely Arith indiriduals. In fact, as the methods of practical
politics are known and practiced he was not a great mixer.
He did not have an accurate memory for names and faces,
nor did he seek to make a distinct impression upon particular
indiriduals. He stood fairly well with the whole crowd and
said or did something on every occasion that might be recalled
in connection Arith approving comment by nearly eveiy one
who heard him. If any disagreed Arith him they were never
in doubt as to the course they would pursue. He was essen
tially a fighter, and by pursuing tactics that aroused every one
else to the fighting mood he found it easy to enumerate his
followers and to know his enemies.
Those who were not for him were against him. There was
no noncommittal element in the State when he was up for
election. Whether he studied to a finality the pMlosophy
which committed Mm to this policy, I do not know, but he
mastered it as supremely as if he had, and practiced it vdth a
precision and uniformity that could not have been excelled,
no matter how closely he might have considered it. To an
ordinary campaigner this is a dangerous course, and all that
was needed to make it a fatal course was sufficient time, be
cause it is as true in politics as in other lines of effort that
friends fall away from one's standard more rapidly than his
enemies forgive Mm. Napoleon was never more successful
in turning the assaults of an enemy in war than he Avas in
minimizing to nothingness the assaults of his enemies^ in
politics, and mainly by the power of ridicule and denunciation.
He never courted sympathy, because it was certain that his
enemies would never extend it,_ and his friends were bound
to Mm by more ririle and enduring forces.
Probably much of his success as a popular leader was due
to the fact that he came into pofitical prominence at a time
when there existed a Aridespread and deep-seated befief in
the pubfic mind that the powers of the Govemment were being
exerted unfairly in favor of the few and against the interests
of the many. The unequal distribution of the wealth and

234 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

favors of the land were a monumental and simple object lesson
that called for an explanation and inrited an attempt to apply
a remedy. He capitafized tMs spirit of unrest because he did
not seem to understand the situation differently from the
people generally. In fact, it was not necessary to understand
the underlying philosophy of the cause of it. _ The fact itself
was sufficient to demand a thorough investigation and the
application of a remedy, even if fundamentals must be modi
fied in order to prevent a continuance of these conditions. He
therefore took as his text the actual inequalities of the situa
tion, the existence of which all seemed to be aware, and from
the effects of which nearly every one was easily made to un
derstand he was a rictim. Many who heard him did not care
so much for the feasibility of any suggested remedy as they
did to have voice given to their conscious dissatisfaction. He
supplied tMs, and in full measure, and was thus relieved from
worMng out his political advancement by the slower process
of less-gifted aspirants.
I happen to know that he was not satisfied Arith his career
in the Senate. He accounted for that in many ways, and
always promised himself that Arith more favorable conditions
he would be able to place his serrices here upon a higher plane
of achievement in the future. When he first appeared in the
Senate he was smarting under the resentment of wholesale
and unwarranted attacks that had been made upon Mm, and
a sort of retaliation seemed to linger Arith him and to some
what direct and control his actions and expressions. Long
separation from his professional actirities and a constant and
larare outlay incident to an almost constant necessity for cam
paigning had draAvn hearily upon Ms none too large estate,
so that after he entered the Senate he found it necessary to
devote much of his time to the paramount oblisrations of his
family. His attention was therefore largely Arithdrawn from
his official duties, and Ms enforced absence from the Senate
thus prevented him from becoming familiar Arith that routine
which is so essential to effective work here. When taunted
by his opponents because of the modest extent of his achieve
ments here, he found no difficulty in parrying a thrust which
must have proven dangerous to almost any other candidate.
He replied that when he came to the Senate he found it gov
erned by traditions and customs that prevented proper recog
nition of the voice of the people, because its deliberations
were dominated by standpatters and reactionaries, Democrats
and Repubficans alike, and that at the outset of his career'

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 235
he conceived it to be Ms Mghest duty to aid in creating a
pubfic opimon that would cause the people to replace these
customs with those wMch would make more largely for inde
pendence, and its membersMp a keener appreciation of what
the people were entitled to, and a firmer determination to
acMeve it for them. He enlarged upon this idea extensively
and presented it most attractively.
It was erident to those who were more intimately ac
quainted Arith his real opimon that he knew as weU as any one
else could know that Ms frequent and long-continued absences
were interfering with the ethciency of Ms service here. He
readily admitted as much before the last State convention,
wMch declared Ms nomination for a second term, when he
said that he was most gratified to be able to say that Ms busi
ness affairs were now in such condition that he could promise
a more constant serrice in WasMngton, but no more loyal or
devoted one. He said it was Ms purpose to take upon himself
the task of mastering some of the current problems of the
day, and he hoped to make Mmself useful in evolring and
applying remedies of a substantial character. His assurance
was most gratifying to Ms friends and followers, who found
more difficulty than he did in causing Ms first explanation to
be accepted. In the latter days of his fife I found Mm more
disposed to difigently investigate affairs of larger import than
La former days, and I noticed an increasing absence of that
intemperate form of expression wMch usually characterized
Ms comment on official matters. I was much impressed vrith
the befief that it was his fixed purpose to acMeve a name here
that would be creditable to Mm, and he knew affairs of tMs
fife well enough to know that he could only do tMs by the
severest toil and the closest appfication to Ms duties. TMs
change of attitude toward the service here was most grati
fying to me, and encouraged the befief that if he should mar
shal into a coherent force the great qualities of energy, mag
netism, and sincerity wMch he possessed and devote tMs com
bination to the acMevement of th« substantial tMngs in wMch
Ms people were interested Ms task would be easily and cred
itably performed.
There are multitudes who befieve that he died too soon to
afford an opportumty for a proper estimate of Ms real capac
ity and real purposes. His enemies befieved Mm to be a mere
self -seeMng demagogue, who would not scruple to take advan
tage of any want of information or misinformation of Ms
followers to advance Ms OAvn pofitical fortunes, wMle a larger

236 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
number of devoted friends reassured themselves Arith the con
riction that he had a real capacity for statesmansMp, and
that after he had achieved a position where his own tenure
was secure and Ms apprenticeship ended he would mamfest
the quafities of industry and constructive ability that would
show him to be a real man among men in managing the affairs
of the Nation. TMs question may now never be ansAvered to
the satisfaction and acceptance of all. I personally knew
much of him, and I know that his intellectual qualities never
were understood and appreciated to the extent that they de
served. WMle attracting one class he repelled another, and
thus he submitted the question of Ms real abifity and worth
to a jury that may noAv never render a unanimous verdict. He
was a greater lawyer than he ever got credit for being, and he
was a more powerful intellectual force than casual observers
ever believed to be the case. It is creditable to State pride
to know that his death has now silenced every criticism, and
that there is real sorrow throughout the Commonwealth today
because of the event wMch we so regretfully commemorate
today. By Me. Bbyan, of Floeida.
Mr. President : Arkansas was generous to Jeff Daris in
the honors she conferred upon him. He was elected by the peo
ple of that State prosecuting attorney for two terms. Attorney
General for one term. Governor three times in succession,
and United States Senator twice in succession. He was in
public fife twenty years, held the highest offices Arithin the gift
of the people of a great State, and died at the early age of
fifty years. The bare recital of these acMevements proclaim
Mm a remarkable man.
It is not by accident that a public man Arins and retMns
public confidence and respect for so long a time in the great
offices of Governor and United States Senator. The wMte
fight of pubficity is thrown upon the record as it is written,
and there AriU always be found those who are ready to take
advantage of every opportunity to criticize adversely and to
condemn. Senator Daris did not attain his success by default. He
met and overcame opposition, sometimes of the fiercest, at
every stage of Ms career. He had to fight his way.
We all of us have our faults. Jeff Davis had his. I am
sure he would not have us pretend otherArise for him. More
over, men were not slow to call attention to these faults wMle

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 237

he fived. He had Ms loyal friends and supporters, who would
not befieve anytMng except good of him, and he had also Ms
bitter enemies. He reciprocated in Mnd the feelings of each,
Arith all the fervor of a strong, dominant, uncompromising
nature. He asked no quarter and he gave none. He never
surrendered to any foe save death — the great conqueror of
us all.
The sudden ending of his earthly career seemed to draw
closer to him the friends of a fifetime, and also to eradicate
altogether the small and unimportant differences that had
existed between Mm and those who had opposed Mm.
It was my privilege to attend Ms funeral. I saw Ms loyal
friends from every part of the State, and was impressed by
the unusual circumstance that a large number of them
marched in a body to his last resting place. I inquired of
some of those whom I met, to ascertain the secret of the suc
cess of tMs interesting man, and from the information thus
gathered, I attribute his success —
First, to Ms unselfish fight for Ms party in the days when
both the great pofitical parties were strong contenders in his
State for pubfic favor, and
Second, to the claim, which seems well founded, that he
always remained loyal to Ms friends, who befieved that in him
they had not only an able but a courageous leader.
By Me. Ashubst, of Aeizona.
Mr. President: In obedience to a generous impulse of the
human heart, the Senate of the United States, in the midst of
its labors, at the closing hours of Congress, Avhen every mo
ment of time is precious, pauses to pay tribute to the memory
of another of its deceased members, and to contemplate what
has always been regarded as the most profound of life's mys
teries — the mystery of death and the grave. At the grave
Alexander left Ms worlds unconquered, and the rich man
parted Arith Ms gold. At the grave Mozart apparently gave
up Ms music, Lord Bacon forgot Ms learning, and Sir Isaac
Newton abandoned pMlosophy and mathematics ; at the grave
friend is unlocked from the arm of friend and seemingly is
thrust into everlasting and pulseless silence where ambition
can no longer inspire nor glory thrill. During the Sixty-sec
ond Congress the greedy grave, whose ponderous jaws are
never filled, removed from the Senate six Senators and its
honored and beloved presiding officer, the Vice President of

238 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
the Umted States. Indeed, Mr. President, it is startling to
realize that such a large percentage of Senators die in serrice.
From that memorable day — Monday, April 6, 1789, when
Richard Henry Lee, of Virgima, appeared and took his seat
and thus formed a quorum of the whole Senators of the
Umted States for the first meeting of the Senate — down to
tMs date eleven hundred men have been elected to membersMp
in tMs body, and out of tMs roster 149 of them, or 13 6/11 per
cent of the whole number elected to membership, died while in
serrice, Senator Jeff Davis, of Arkansas, being the hundred
and forty-ninth Senator to die in serrice. TMs fist of eleven
hundred men elected to membersMp in tMs body contains the
names of strong men and weak men; the names of philoso
phers, pMlanthropists, and constructive statesmen; contem
plative thinkers whose classic features have been preserved to
us by the sculptor and the portrait painter ; men wearing the
bloody gauntlets of war; men wearing soft gloves of peace;
men who opened and closed the purse of the Nation as they
saw fit; men whose inelegant ostentation caused them to use
their enormous wealth unwisely and unbecomingly ; the names
of sturdy farmers from New England's rock-bound coast; men
fresh from the farms of the Middle States ; planters from the
Southern States; argonauts, ranchers, miners, cowboys, and
Indian fighters from the Western States; orators who pos
sessed, as was said of Mirabeau, ' ' a tongue of fire steeped in
honey;" the names of physicians who anniMlate pain, who
mimster to the ills to wMch human flesh is subject, and who
"charm ache Arith air and agony Arith ether;" historians,
scholars, dirines, and captains of industry; in fact, men of
every creed, occupation, profession, and calling ; men of valor,
honor, and impeiishable renoAvn; men who, step after step, by
honorable pubfic service, have raised themselves from the
ground floor of log cabins to the Mghest eminence of human
distinction, and a remarkably small percentage of men who,
during or after service here, so misbehaved themselves that
they blighted their greatness and fame.
Contemplating tMs long list of men, it is not excessive
eulogy to say that Mstory vdll record Jeff Daris, of Arkansas,
as one of the strong and striMng characters that have come to
tMs body. He was a faithful friend and a faithful enemy ; at
times in Ms fife scorn and contumely were heaped upon Mm,
but he always returned war for war, blow for blow, and scorn
for scorn. He was "lofty and sour to those who loved Mt"
not; but to those who sought Mm, sweet as summer." Ho

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 239
had, or affected to have, a profound indifference as to whether
other men liked him. To his opponents he always presented
defiant belligerency or supercilious disdain, but through the
cracks of the rough veneer of this man there was to be seen
and felt a warm, honest, and loyal heart. He was an inveter
ate foe to what he conceived to be shams, frivolities, and frills.
I said a moment ago that he was a strong man. Mr. Pres
ident, no person could have been rictorious in so many con-
fficts as was Jeff Daris and have attached to himself so many
ardent and loyal friends unless he were indeed a very strong
man. His friends clung to him Arith a beautiful fidelity, and
neither time, nor change, nor false report could alienate their
affections. He understood and appreciated perfectly the
wants and desires of poor people. He was familiar Arith the
disappointments of their daily life ; he knew their broken am
bitions. He knew the high and too frequently the baffled hopes
of those who moil and toil ; he was the especial advocate and
friend of those men who, uncomplainingly, from day to day,
met danger upon the trains, in the mines, and in the work
shops, and it is recorded that in every lawsuit in which he
took part he was invariably on the side of those who most
needed help and mercy and to whom life, like the shirt of
Nessus, the longer worn the more deeply it chafed the raw
flesh and naked nerve. The accomplishment of these things
writes Jeff Daris down as a strong man.
On the night of the 2d of January of this year he was seized
by the sudden retum of a disorder which had clamped itself
about his heart some months preriously. He called for his
son to send for a physician, but before the physician could
arrive Jeff Daris took his seat in the parfiament of the sMes.
By Mb. Maetinb, op New Jbesby.
Mr. President: Jeff Daris was a great splendid specimen
of manhood. My acquaintance Arith Mm was of but short
duration. We seemed, however, during the little time we
knew each other, to rub one another the right way from the
very first we met, and hence each day Arith him to me Avas a
day of defight and pleasantness. Jeff Daris, blessed vdth a
splendid physique and strong personafity, seemed to be a man
who might reach a record of fourscore years and ten. We
were congenial friends at once ; Ms frankness and candor cap
tivated me.
Twice during our acquaintance he said to me, however, when
I mentioned his seemingly good health, "I am not altogether

240 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
myself, Martine ; I am not well. WMle I can not leave to my
family great wealth, I mean to leave them the history of an
honest man;" and, as God knows, I believe he did.
I feel that the best gauge, Mr. President, of a man is the
opinion of Ms fellow citizens. As one of a delegation ap
pointed by the President of this body to attend his funeral, we
went on our sad mission, and as we reached the beautiful city
of Little Rock, Ark., his home, sadness seemed to pervade the
people on all sides ; flags were at half-mast, and gloom seemed
everywhere apparent.
Does some one say that Jeff Daris was bluff and blunt, dif
ferent from others? Yes, in a way he was, but has not the
great God of the universe in His Arisdom made different
shades in the foliage of a forest, yet all blending in a har
monious hue, all most pleasing to the eye? And so, even
though Jeff Davis God had molded and characterized in a dif
ferent way, yet Jeff Davis, broad, generous, liberal-hearted,
and kind, was a splendid specimen of his Maker, an honest
man. On all sides as we wandered around the streets of that beau
tiful city we would hear knots of men and see a gathering of
tearful women all bewailing the loss of their splendid fellow
citizen, Jeff Daris. Rich and poor, white and black, all gath
ered in the tearful cortege to do his memory honor.
I feel, my friends, that as the day went by and as the sun
went down all humanity seemed to testify that there had been
laid away a loyal friend, a true husband, a loring father, a
patriot, and a statesman.
By Me. Kavanaugh, of Aekansas.
Mr. President : It is not simply a perfunctory compliance
Arith an established custom that I ask the indulgence of the
Senate for a few minutes, but a desire upon my part to deliver
in these Halls, Avhere he serA^ed Arith distinction, a tribute to
the memory of my friend the late Senator Jeff Daris.
He was my personal and political friend for a period of
almost a quarter of a century. Our friendship began before
he had been drawn into the maelstrom of political life, Avhere
he gained his greatest acMevements, and before I had been
chained to the treadmill of business. During all this time the
bonds of friendship had grown stronger and stronger, and as
time rolled on I learned to love and appreciate the many good
quafities of my friend whose loss we mourn tonight.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 241
Senator Daris was born in 1862 midst the strife of that
fratricidal conflict AvMch came so near wrecMng tMs Nation.
It has been suggested that the spirit of the times impressed
itself upon his nature, which, after lying dormant through the
period of childhood and boyhood, asserted itself as soon as
he entered public life. The only offspring of indulgent parents,
he was given every advantage which his surroundings and the
circumstances would permit. We find Mm, while yet a youth,
admitted to the bar and to membership in the law firm of
which Ms honored father was the senior partner. He soon
became interested in politics, and from the time he entered
the arena until the moment of his untimely death he was the
"stormy petrel" of Arkansas public life. During his political
career he overturned time-honored precedents, ignored cher
ished and sacred traditions, and ruthlessly shattered the po
litical alignments of a half century, and for what? His ene
mies said he did all of these things to gratify an inordinate
and selfish ambition. He and. his friends said he was actuated
only by a desire to serve the great common people, whose
champion he was, and to restore the affairs of government to
the simplicity and democracy of the forefathers. As citizen.
attorney, and statesman, his every act and utterance was in
behalf of those whom he termed "the under dogs in the battle
of life."
In passing an eulogy upon his life at the grave a noted jurist
of his native State said :
He was not very well suited to try a cause for a rich citizen against a
common citizen * * • . His feeling and sympathies were intensely
human. He held successively the offices of prosecuting attorney of
Ms district. Attorney General and Governor of Ms State, and
United States Senator. The secret of Ms great political suc
cess was that he never allowed himself to be placed on the
defensive. He was so resourceful in maneuvering that he al
ways found — and if he could not find it he made it — an open
ing for attack upon his adversary, and once the attack Avas
begun he pursued it aggressively, fearlessly, and, his enemies
said, rathlessly. As an illustration of his boldness in political
matters. I have known him while engaged in a contest to advo
cate on the stump the cause of another who was a candidate
for a different office, or, upon the other hand, to assail another
who was a candidate for a different office, when he deemed the
man unworthy or that he was advocating a cause which Sen
ator Daris did not approve. It may well be imagined that this
brought down upon Ms head the maledictions of many people

242 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
who nught otherwise have not enrolled themselves among Ms
enemies. Despite such daring actions Ms onward march to
success was never interrupted.
His friends fairly idofized Mm and Arith one accord indorsed
Ms poficies and actions. His enemies denounced Mm as a
demagogue and a disturber, a destroyer of reputations. It
has been said that he was the most beloved man, and, at the
same time, the worst hated man in all Arkansas, but after all
the denunciations have been summed up, his worst enemy
has never accused him of dishonesty or corruption. In fact,
Ms bitterest enemies, wMle raifing at Ms successes and de
nouncing his methods, admitted the sincerity of his purpose
and his devotion to principle. One of Ms most unrelenting
critics was another friend of mine who succeeded by appoint
ment to the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Daris. He
is the editor of a great newspaper, the oldest, I believe, pub-
fished west of the Mississippi River. In his newspaper, on the
31st day of March of last year, he said :
In his race for a second term In the United States Senate, Senator Jeff
Davis has again shown his consummate skill In the pleading of his political
cause before the jury of the people. Former Congressman Stephen Brundidge
has fought a great flght — and at this writing has not made admission of
defeat — In contest with the man against whom no foeman has been able to
prevail these years he has held one high office after another. Jeff Davis Is,
in fact, one of the most remarkable campaigners and one of the most suc
cessful popular advocates American politics has produced. He puts his hand
In the public hand and gives it a grip that makes a firm and feeling bond
between. Thousands of people, men and women, look on him as their
champion, their guardian, their safety, and their hope. He makes his wounds
and injuries theirs, and they would avenge them as they would their own.
Thus, you see, those who opposed him realized Ms elements
of strength. He was wont to say; "My friends are always
right to me." And he expected his friends to reciprocate that
feefing to the extent of its complete acceptance. He despised
hypocrisy, he eschewed formality, and democratic simplicity
marked the entire conduct of his fife. This was the side of
the life of Senator Daris which was presented to the pubfic,
and in presenting it I have stated it candidly and correctly as
I have seen it. As I have said before, we were friends and
neighbors. Our associations lay along vddely divergent lines and our
opinions of matters and men were often far apart, but each
respected the opinion of the other and we were always able,
after a thorough discussion, to reach an understanding which
in no Arise affected our friedship, and it is as such a friend I
speak today.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 243

But, Mr. President, there is another side of the fife of Sen
ator Davis I desire to present, and that is the best and the
most beautiful — his home fife. No man ever lived who en
joyed a more ideal home fife than he. He was twice married.
His first marriage was to Miss Ina McKenzie and to them
were born twelve cMldren, eight of whom five to bless and
honor the names of the parents who gave them birth. There
was no service Senator Daris would not perform; there was
no sacrifice that he could not make that would add to the
pleasure or comfort of his fanuly. He saw to it that Ms
cMldren were given every educational and social advantage
that would enable them to make of themselves useful men and
women, and today there are no brighter, sweeter, gentler
young men or women, boys or girls, in the city of Little Rock
than the cMldren of Senator Daris. His first Arife was one of
the noblest women it has been my good fortune to know. Sen
ator Daris fairly idofized her and was often heard to say he
owed everytMng he was to her. His second marriage to Miss
Leila Carter was no less happy. She entered into the spirit
of Ms ambitions and assisted in his duties as only a devoted
helpmate can do and today in their home in the city of Little
Rock, she, the bride of a year, and the cMldren of her husband
and the aged mother of our departed friend, nfingle their tears
and sorrows together while trying to fathom the mysteries of
fate that has taken from them their protector at the hour
when he was most needed, comforted only by the thoughts
that He does all things for the best — AriU care for them and so
guide their lives that there will be a happy reumon beyond.
And now, Mr. President, may we not unite in saying: A
cMeftain has fallen, peace to Ms ashes, aU honor to his
memory I

244 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
IN THE HOUSE.
Address of Me. Oldfield, of Aekansas.
Mr. Speaker: On tMs occassion we are assembled for the
purpose of paying tribute to the fife, character, and pubfic
serrice of the Hon. Jeff Daris, late a Senator from the State
of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, this is to me a sad, a solemn occa
sion, for Senator DaAds Avas my personal and pofitical friend.
Senator Daris was born in Little River County, Arkansas,
May 6, 1862, was educated in the pubfic schools and the um
versity of Ms State. He was admitted to the bar at the early
age of 19 years. While a successful practitioner of the law,
as a great many young laAvyers do, especially those who five
in small cities and toAvns, he entered politics early in life and
was elected prosecuting attorney of Ms circuit in 1892 at the
age of 30 years. He was re-elected to tMs office, and it is said
of him that he made one of the ablest prosecuting attorneys
Ms eircMt ever had.
Senator Daris entered State poltics at a time when some
of the brainiest men Arkansas has produced were in power.
However, he brooked no obstacle and pressed forward to at
tain the goal of his ambition. He Avas bold and aggressive
and immediately became the dominating figure in the pofitics
of Ms State.
Mr. Speaker, if I Avere called upon to indicate the trait of
character most dcA'eloped in Senator DaAds, I v^ould unhesi
tatingly say it was Ms determination to succeed in Ms under-
taMngs — Ms AriU power.
There is no chance, no destiny, no fate
Can circumvent, or hinder, or control
The firm resolve of a determined soul.
Gifts count for nothing.
Will alone is great.
All things must give way
Before it soon or late.
What obstacles can stay the mighty force
Of the sea-seeking river in its course,
Or cause the ascending Orb of Day to wait?
Each well-born soul must win what it deserves.
Let the fool prate of luck, the fortunate is
He whose earnest purpose never swerves,
Whose slightest action or inaction
Serves the one great aim. Why,
Even Death stands still
And waits an hour, sometimes.
For such a will.
In 1898, at the age of 36 years, Mr. Daris was elected At
torney General of the State of Arkansas, and at the age of

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 245

38 years was elected Governor of Ms State, and to tMs office
he was twice re-elected, being the only man to serve our State
three times as Governor, and in passing, it may be said that
Ms last contest for the Governorship was the fiercest and most
terrific pofitical battle ever waged in Arkansas. In 1906 Gov
ernor Davis was nominated by the Democratic party of Ms
State for the office of United States Senator, defeating former
Senator Berry — a distinguished veteran both of peace and
war, one whom the people of Arkansas had rejoiced to honor
— and was elected by the Legislature of 1907. He was renom
inated in 1912, but before the Legislature convened to carry
out the AriU of the people and re-elect Mm, after answering
to the roll call of the Senate for nearly six years, he was sud
denly summoned by the roll call of eternity. Senator Daris
served nearly six years in the United States Senate, and I
have never heard any man in Arkansas criticise a single vote
he cast in that body. He Avas a strong man before the people,
and he always took Ms fights directly to them. His idea of
govemment was that the people should rule. He thought the
best government was the one closest to the people, and Ms
battles were always for the purpose of bringing the people
and the Government closer together.
Senator Davis was Arithout doubt the most resourceful cam
paigner the State of Arkansas has seen. He was effective
before Ms audiences, because he took the people into his con
fidence and appealed to the masses for support, and, as evi-
denced by his remarkable career, Ms appeals were not made
in A'ain. To Ms friends he was true and loyal, as true as the
stars to their appointed courses. He never forsook a friend
or forgot a favor, and his loyalty to his friends was one of
Ms great sources of strength. In his campaigns he was wont
to refer to his friends as the "Old Guard," and when he
sounded the caU for battle the Old Guard was always ready
for the fray, and when the ballots were counted they invari
ably showed that the "Old Guard" had stood firm and Jeff
Daris had won.
Senator Daris was not one of those who went vdth the cur
rent, but, on the contrary, he spoke out boldly the tMngs he
befieved and the poficies he advocated. If he was for or
against a proposition of policy or legislation, he boldly told
the people and gave them Ms reasons. In his career as Gov
ernor and Senator he always championed the side of the plain
citizen instead of the special interests. His career, indeed,
lends hope and encouragement to those who depend upon the

246 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
support of the people instead of relying upon the agents of
predatory wealth. It is an inspiration to the youth of the
land who, Arithout wealth, powerful friends, or family, must
depend upon the justice and generosity of their countrymen.
In campaigns Senator Davis was Ms own manager, and I
have been told by some of Ms close political adrisers that he
had an intmtion wMch seemed almost marvelous. His com
binations often appeared impossible and Ms plans imprac
ticable, but under his leadersMp and in Ms hands simpficity
marked their development and success vindicated their
adoption. Mr. Speaker, death is the great leveler.
In the democracy of the dead all men at least are equal.
There Is neither rank nor station nor prerogative in the republic of the
grave. At this fatal threshold the philosopher ceases to be wise, and the song
of the poet is silent.
Dives relinquishes his millions and Lazarus his rags.
The poor man is as rich as the richest, and the rich man is as poor as
the pauper.
The creditor loses his usury, and the debtor Is acquitted of his obligations.
There the proud man surrenders his dignity, the politician his honors, the
worldling his pleasures; the Invalid needs no physician, and the laborer rests
from unrequited toil.
Here, at last, is nature's final decree In equity.
The wrongs of time are redeemed; injustice is expatiated; the irony of
fate is refuted; the unequal distribution of wealth, honor, capacity, pleasure,
and opportunity, which make life such a cruel and inexplicable tragedy,
ceases in the realm of death.
The strongest has no supremacy, and the weakest needs no defense.
The mightiest captain succumbs to that invincible adversary who disarms
alike the victor and the vanquished.
Mr. Speaker, a tribute to the life and character of Senator
Davis would be incomplete if reference were not made to the
beauty of his home life. He was a devoted and loving husband,
a generous and indulgent father, and the tenderness with
which his family clung around Mm and to Mm marked the
depth of their love and affection.
The Speaker at this point resumed the chair.
Addeess of Me. Jacoway, of Aekansas.
Mr. Speaker : Of all the sweet and sacred ceremonies that
precedent has estabfished in this body, none, I think, is more
beautiful than the custom of meeting here to do honor to the
memory oi those of our friends and colleagues who have
fallen before the sickle of the Reaper. This is the oppor
tunity and the occasion for the expression of our sentiments
of love, regard, and appreciation for those who have gone

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 247

from among us, who have crossed over the river and rest
under the shade of the trees.
When, hoAvever, I come to the knoAvledge that it is my sad
duty and my pririlege to address you on the life, the char
acter, and the pubfic serrice of the late lamented Senator
Daris, the thought that lies uppermost in my mind is the
reafization of the poverty of my oavu vocabulary, the fact of
the poverty of all human speech to do aught but to depict in
barest words the Mstory of this man. Beyond that words are
but vain and futile. The arcMves of his State and his Nation
bear Aritness to what he has been, but there is no power under
heaven to gauge what he might have been, and none of us
can know the work he left unfinished. God has written the
book. Senator Daris was peculiarly a product of Arkansas. Dur
ing all the days of his life he was an actual resident of the
State. Born in Little River County May 6, 1862, in the early
days of that grim cycle of American history, when the plow
share was left to rust in the furrow while brother strove vdth
brother in bloody conflict, his boyhood was not .greatly dif
ferent from that of the other youths of the period. A simple
country lad, he went his way about his boyish tasks uncom
prehending, I dare say, the distress and the disaster that the
war had laid upon his country, and perhaps but dreaming
only in the vague and unformed way of childhood of the
measure of greatness that some day was to be given Mm.
But after the inscrutable manner of fate, he was early
stamped as a favorite child of fortune, and it was decreed that
the simple and honest love that he bore for the Commonwealth
should some day be paid back to him until his name was a
household word from hovel to haU, that he should hold a place
in the hearts of his people second to none and a position in
the council chamber of his Nation.
The genesis of Ms political career dates from Ms admission
to the bar when but a boy of 19 years. Eleven years later he
was elected prosecuting attomey of the Fifth Judicial District
of Arkansas, comprising the counties of Conway, Johnson,
Pope and YeU. Thence his career was a triumphant march
onward. Measuring legal lances Arith one of the most able
and astute bars of the whole State in daily warfare, Ms early
training equipped him weU for the high honors that were to
foUow Four years later he became the Attorney General ot
the State, and' in 1901 he was made Chief Executive. He was
re-elected in 1903 and again in 1905, es^abhshing a record that

248 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVJS
has never been equaled before or since. Had his political
career ended here, after this chain of unbroken successes, it
might have been sufficient for the average man's ambition,
but above and beyond Avas the ultimate goal. Its attainment
seemed to be the ineritable end of his political policy — to
bring nearer and dearer to him his friends, to stretch out his
magnetic hand to others, until all rie with each other to
search the gardens of their affection for flowers to weave into
wreaths Arith which to crown him. On February 27, 1907, he
was elected to the Senate of the United States, serring his
first term, Arith the exception of a few days. Had he lived he
Avould have succeeded himself in January of the present year.
Whether in the trial of causes in the court room or in the
feverish campaigns that marked the hotly contested battles
he waged for political supremacy, he Avas known as a fighter,
nor does Mstory produce a general who laid his plans or
adapted his tactics to the need of the hour with a skill more
consummate than his. As a campaigner few kncAv human na
ture better than he, and as a public speaker he possessed an
inrincible potency, and few could gauge an audience Arith an
accuracy more unerring than he. Politically he created Ms
own sentiment and asked no man to go where he himself
would not lead. A master in the art of iuA'ective and satire,
it perhaps may be that he was sometimes severely caustic, but
friend and foe alike admitted Ms power.
Born, as it were, in battle, even as the fragrance of the
flowers in his early boyhood was blent Arith the acrid odor of
burnt powder, so in later years the flowers of friendship that
grew along the pathway of his career mingled their odor Arith
the scent of hot fights for power and place. The early years
found Mm a wondering boy, often pausing, perhaps, to fisten
to the dull, dead boom of cannon ; and the later years find him
a strong man, girt for the battle, a leader and a chief. The
secrets of warfare were his, oftentimes the wounds and the
hurt ; but life had been larish Arith its laurels, and even in the
thickest, hottest of his campaigns he was spurred and inspired
by the memory of other hard fights fought and won, and the
knowled.ge of the multitude, the common people, if you AriU,
who looked on him as their champion and whose prayer Avas
that their leader could not fail them.
Such was his public life. That he was loved by those whose
trust he had, whose leader he was, the great concourse of
people, 15,000 strong, who stood at his open grave testifies.
From the home of his boyhood they came, from the field and

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 249

the forum, near and far. Among them stood a coterie of the
Nation's most distingoiished statesmen, the emissaries of Ms
Government, who had journeyed thousands of miles to do Mm
honor, and all listened with bared heads to the rites that con
signed Mm to the earth from Avhence he sprung.
The love and esteem in which he was held was intensified
and deepened and broadened in his oavu home, Avhere he ruled
as a sovereign, a friend, and a comrade in one ; a kind, a de
voted and indulgent father, and a loving husband. Out be
neath the stars in Mount Holly Cemetery at Little Rock he
sleeps beside the Christian wife and devoted mother who went
before him into the great beyond, Avhile in the hushed home,
Arith heartache and heartbreak, the lovely Arife prostrated
vdth grief, the aged and gentle mother who gave Mm birth,
the stalwart sons and the womanly daughters he left, mourn
Ms untimely death.
There is, Mr. Speaker, a consummate tragedy in the death
such as that wMch overtook Senator Davis in the prime of Ms
fife and the full floAver of Ms career. It was not the muster
ing out of the v^ayAvorn Avarrior at the end of the campaign,
nor the docking of the ship at the home port. It came upon
Mm Arith the stealth of an assassin, striking without warning
and Arithout mercy, unheralded and unanticipated. A moment
he stood, a strong man in the pride of life, and then he fell.
Like that mysterious realm that lies beyond the frontier of
fife, so also are the ways of death and its manner of coming
beyond the power of human mind to compass. Some die in the
dawn of life, in that sweet world that is peopled only by loved
ones, and knows no rule but a mother's loving guidance; and
some go out Arith the tAAdlight, vdth the knowledge that fife
could hold no more. But Senator DaAds died at the noontirue
of Ms life, a strong man fuU of force and power, a sachem in
the council. Some one has Avritten ;
Yet after all, it may be best, just in the sunniest, happiest hour of all the
voyage, while eager winds are kissing every sail, to dash against the unseen
rock, and in an Instant hear the billows roar above a sunken ship. For
whether in mid-sea or 'mong the breakers of the farther shore, a wreck at
last must mark the end of each and all.
Mr. Speaker, for us aU Time is beating funeral marches to
the tomb, and "neither wealth nor station nor prerogative"
can stay the coming of our dissolution. In death there ever
remains an unfathomed, unknoAvable mystery and a pMloso
phy that passeth understanding. It is the transition from the
finite to the infinite, the veiled fink between time and eternity.
We know that yesterday this man was here, Mgh m place and

250 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS
power, loring and beloved — ^rital with the rich red blood of
fife. We know today that the finger of God has touched him,
and that he sleeps and is not ; that these halls, or any earthly
halls AriU never again shelter his presence or ring with his
voice; that he has entered into the state that knows no caste
or class, no place or power. Whether it was for the best I
can not say. I do not knoAV, nor does any other man. But I
know that God is, that a deathless force lives on, and that
long after the moss has grown green on the stone that marks
Ms resting place, his name will still be bright on the pages of
Ms Nation's history, and his memory deeply embedded in the
hearts of his countrymen.

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 251

APPENDIX. A.
A bill (S. 100) to suppress pools, trusts, and combinations in trade and to
provide penalties for violations of Us provisions, and for other purposes,
Introduced by Mr. Davis, December 4, 1907.
Be it enacted, etc.. That any corporation organized under the laws of the
United States of America, or under the laws or authority of any foreign
country, and transacting or conducting any kind of Interstate or inter
national business In the United States of America, or any partnership or any
individual or other association of persons whatsoever, and wherever existing
or resident, who are now or shall hereafter create, enter Into, become a mem
ber of or a party to any pool, trust, agreement, combination confederation,
or understanding, whether the same be made in the United States of
America or elsewhere, wich any other corporation, partnership. Individual,
or other person or association of persons, wherever existing or resident, to
regulate or fix, either in the United States of America or elsewhere, in any
interstate or international business or transaction, the price of any article
of manufacture, mechanism, merchandise, commodity, convenience, repair,
any product of mining or any article or tiling whatsoever, the subject of or
that may be the subject of Interstate or International commerce, or who are
now or shall hereafter enter into, become a member of or a party to any
pool, agreement, contract, combination, association, or confederation whether
the same be made in the United States of America or elsewhere to fix or
limit, in the United States of America or elsewhere in any interstate or inter
national manufacture, mechanism, merchandise, commodity, convenience,
repair, and product of mining, or article or thing whatsoever as aforesaid,
shall he deemed and adjudged guilty of a conspiracy to defraud and be sub
ject to the penalties as provided in this act.
Sec. 2. That any person, partnership, firm, or association, or any repre
sentative or agent thereof, or any corporation or company, or any officer,
representative, or agent thereof, violating any of the provisions of this act
shall forfeit not less than |5,000 for every such offense, and each day such
person, corporation, partnership, or association shall continue to do so shall
be a separate offense, the penalty in such case to be recovered by an action
in the name of the United States of America, upon the relation of the
Attorney General of the United States of America or the district attorney in
the district of the State where the offense may be committed, the moneys
thus collected to be applied as ordinary fines and forfeitures as now provided
by statute; and in addition to such forfeiture any person, representative, or
agent of any partnership, association, corporation, or company, or any officer
thereof, within the territory of the said United States, violating the pro
visions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and shall, upon indict
ment and conviction, be imprisoned in the Federal jail or penitentiary house
for a period of not less than five, nor more than twenty-one years; provided,
that it shall be no defense by any such persons, representative, or agent
that any such pool, trust, agreement, combination, confederation, or under
standing was consummated within a foreign country or in part In such for
eign country or countries.
Sec 3 That any corporation created or organized by or under the laws
of the United States of America, or of any State thereof, and transacting
any kind of Interstate or international business which shall violate any or
the%rovls?ons of the preceding sections of this act shall the'-eaft«'-,/°'-^^^"
all riehts to do any such interstate or international business and its cor
porate existence in case of cornorations existing under said Federal laws,
shin upon proper proof being made in any court of competent Jurisdiction
of the United States of America, be by the court declared forfeited, void, and
l\ noneffect and shall thereupon cease and determine. Any corporation

252 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

created or organized by or under the laws of any foreign country which shall
violate any of the provisions of the preceding sections of this act shall forfeit
its right and privilege to do any kind of business in the United States of
America, and upon proper prooi being made of such violation in any court
of competent jurisdiction of the United States of America its right and privi
lege to do business in the United States of America shall be declared for
feited; and in all proceedings to have such forfeiture declared proof that
any person who has been acting as the agent of such foreign corporation in
transacting any kind of interstate or international business in the United
States of America has been, while acting as such agent and in the name,
behalf, or interest of such foreign corporation, violating any of the pro
visions of the preceding sections of this act, shall be received prima facie the
act of the corporation Itself; and It shall be the duty of the clerk of the
court In which said proof is made to certify to the proper oflScer of the
foreign country or State in which said corporation chartered to do business
was authorized the facts of said trial and judgment, of which said officer
shall take notice and be governed thereby as to the corporate powers and
rights of said corporation in the United States of America.
Sec. 4. That the sale, delivery, or disposal of any of the articles, com
modities, or things hereinbefore mentioned by any individual, company, or
corporation in transacting any kind of interstate or international business
contrary to the provisions of this act within the United States of America
is hereby declared to be unlawful and contrary to public policy, and the pur
chaser of any said article, commodity, or thing from any such individual,
company, or corporation shall not be liable for the price or to pay therefor,
whether the purchase was made directly from the individual, company, or
corporation so unlawfully transacting business or indirectly from one who
acted for such individual, company, or corporation, as agent, representative,
solicitor, or canvasser; provided, that where any money or other thing of
value is or shall be paid to such individual, company, or corporation so un
lawfully transacting an interstate or international business within the United
States of America, its agents, representative, solicitor, or canvasser, the per
son so paying the same may recover back the amount of the monev or the
value of the thing so paid by suit In any court of competent jurisdiction in
the United States.
Sec. 5. That a monopoly or trust intended to be prohibited by this act is
any union or combination or consolidation or affiliation of capital, credit,
property, assets, trade, customs, skill, or acts, or any other valuable thing
or possession, by or between persons, firms, or corporations, or associations
of persons, firms, or corporations, whereby any one of the purposes or objects
mentioned In this act is accomplished or sought to be accomplished, or
whereby any one or more of said purposes are promoted or attempted to be
executed or carried out, or whereby the several evil results mentioned herein
are reasonably calculated to be produced; and a monopoly or trust as thus
defined and contemplated includes not merely such combination by and
between two or more persons, firms, and corporations acting for themselves,
but is intended to include all aggregations, amalgamations, affiliations, con
solidations, or Incorporations of capital, skill, credit, assets, property, cus
toms, trade, or other valuable thing or possession, whether effected by the
ordinary methods of partnership or by actual union under the legal form of
a corporation, or any Incorporated body resulting from the union of one or
more distinct firms or corporations, or by the purchase, acquisition, or con
trol of shares or certificates of stocks or bonds or other corporate property
or franchises, and all partnerships and corporations that have been or may
be created by the consolidation or amalgamation of the separate capital,
stock, bonds, assets, credit, property, customs, trade, corporate or firm belong
ings of two or more persons, firms, or corporations or companies are declared
to constitute monopolies or trusts within the meaning of this act, if so
created or entered into for any one or more of the purposes named in this
act; and a monopoly or trust as thus defined in this section is hereby

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 253
declared to be unlawful and against public policy, and any and all persons,
Anns, corporations, or associations of persons engaged therein shall be
deemed and adjudged to be guilty of a conspiracy to defraud and shall be
subject to the penalties prescribed in this act.
Sec. 6. That if any person, persons, company, partnership, firm, associa
tion, corporation, or agent engaged in the manufacture or sale of any article
of commerce or consumption in an interstate or international business, pro
duced, manufactured, or mined in the United States of America or elsewhere,
shall, with the intent and purpose of lessening or driving out competition
or financially Injuring competitors engaged in similar business, or shall sell
at a less price in one section of the United States than in another for the
purpose of lessening competition or injuring competitors engaged in similar
business, said persons or persons, company, partnership, association, cor
poration, or agent resorting to any such methods of securing a monopoly
within tlie United States of America in such business shall be deemed guilty
of a conspiracy to form or secure a trust or monopoly In restraint of trade,
and on conviction thereof shall be subject to the penalties of this act.
Sec. 7. That whenever any proceeding shall be commenced in any court
of competent jurisdiction in the United States of America, by the Attorney
General thereof or the district attorney of the district in any State in which
said offense may be committed, against any corporation or corporations, indi
vidual or individuals or association of individuals, or joint stock associations
or copartnerships, under this act, for the formation and maintenance of
pools or trusts of any kind, monopolies or confederations, combinations or
organizations In restraint of trade, to dissolve the same or to restrain their
formation or maintenance in the United States of America, or to recover the
penalties in this act provided, then and in that case, if the Attorney General
or district attorney as aforesaid desires to take the testimony of any officer,
director, agent, or employee of any corporation or joint stock association
proceeded against, or, in case of a copartnership, any of the members of said
copartnership, or any emplovee thereof, in any court in which said action
may be pending, and the individual or individuals whose testimony is desired
resides more than 100 miles from the place of trial, then and in such case
the Attorney General or district attorney may file in said court in term
time, or with the judge thereof in vacation, a statement In writing setting
forth the name or names of the persons or Individuals whose testimony he
desires to take, and the time when and the place where he desires said
persons to appear; and thereupon the court or judge shall make an order
for the taking of said testimony of such person or persons and for the pro
duction of any books, papers, and documents In his possession or under his
control relating to the merits of any suit, or to any evidence therein, shall
appoint a commission for that purpose, who shall be an officer authtfrized
by law to take depositions, and said commission shall issue immediately a
notice in writing directed to the attorney or attorneys of record in said
cause, or agent or officer or other employee, that the testimony of the person
named in the application of the Attorney General or district attorney Is
desired, and requesting said attorney or attorneys of record, or said officer,
agent, or employee to whom said notice is delivered, and upon whom the
same is served, to have said officer, agent, employee, representative of said
copartnership, or agent thereof, whose evidence it is desired to take, together
with such books, papers, and documents, at the place named In the applica
tion of the Attorney General or district attorney, and that the time fixed in
said annlicatlon then and there to testify; provided, however, that such
application shall always allow in fixing said time three days' travel to reach
the Place so designated for the taking of said testimony; promcZed further,
that n addition to the said three days ten days shall be allowed for the
attorney or attorneys of record, or the agent, officer, or employee upen whom
Notice is served, to notify the person or persons whose testimony Is to be
taken Service of said notice as returned in writing may be made by any
officer authorized to serve a subpoena.

254 THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS

Sbc. 8. That whenever the persons mentioned in the preceding sections
shall be notified, as above provided, to request any officer, agent, director, or
employee to attend before any court, or before any person authorized to
take the testimony in said proceedings, and the person or persons whose
testimony is requested, as above provided, shall fail to appear and testify
and produce any books, papers, and documents, they may be ordered to pro
duce by the court or other officer authorized to take such evidence, then
It shall be the duty of the court, upon motion of the Attorney General er
district attemey, to strike out the answer, motion, reply, demurrer, or other
pleading then or thereafter filed in said action or proceeding by the said
individual, corporation, joint stock association, or copartnership whose
officer, agent, director, or employee has neglected or failed to attend and
testify and produce all books, papers, and documents he or they shall have
been ordered to produce in said action by the court or person authorized to
take said testimony, and said court shall proceed to render judgment by
default against said corporation, joint stock association, or copartnership;
provided, further, that in case any officer, agent, employee, director, or rep
resentative of any individual, corporation, joint stock association, or copart
nership in such proceeding as hereinbefore mentioned, who shall reside or
be found within the United States oi America, or within the district of the
State where such proceedings are had, shall be subpoenaed to appear and
testify or to produce books, papers, and documents, and shall fail, neglect,
or refuse to do so, then the answer, motion, demurrer, or other pleading then
and thereafter filed by said individual, corporation, joint stock association,
or copartnership in any such proceeding, shall, on motion of the Attorney
General or district attorney, be stricken out and judgment in said cause
rendered against said individual, corporation, joint stock association, or
copartnership; provided, further, that upon proper showing to the court
within sixty days that such failure or neglect was due to sickness or un
avoidable accident or unintentional delay, such default judgment may be set
aside, but the court shall not act until such evidence is duly given.
Sec. 9. That it shall be the duty of the Attorney General of the United
States and the district attorneys of each district in the State in which said
offense may be committed, respectively, to enforce the provisions of this act.
The Attorney General or the district attorney, or both, with the assistants,
shall institute and conduct all suits for the enforcement of this act in the
district courts of the State in which said offense may be committed, and upon
appeal the Attorney General of the United States or his assistants shall
prosecute said suit in the Supreme Court of the United States or any courts
of appeal. And all actions authorized and brought under this act shall have
precedence, on motion either of the Attorney General or the district attorney,
of all business, civil or criminal, except in criminal cases where the defend
ants are in jail.
Sec. 10. That all acts and parts of acts In confiict with this act be, and
the same are hereby, repealed, and this act shall be in force and take effect
from and after the date of passage. B.
causes leading to the OBOANIZATION or TBXTSTS.
The Industrial Commission of 1900 and 1901 in summing up the causes
leading to the organization of trusts say that most of the witnesses were of
opinion that competition, so vigorous as to destroy nearly all the profits, was
the chief cause. Mr. Havemeyer agreed with this, but said that this competi
tion had been brought about by the fact that the too high protective tariff
had tempted many rivals into the filed, and named the customs tariff as the
chief cause. Some of the witnesses stated that their organizations were
formed to make economies, to lessen competition, and to get higher profits.
Chairman Gates said that the American Steel and Wire Company was formed
because its organizers "wished to be the wire manufacturers of the world."

THE LIFE OF SENATOR JEFF DAVIS 255

FOBM OF THE OBOANIZATION.
The form of organization that has given them their name, "trusts," was
the one started by the Standard Oil Trust in 1882, afterward followed by the
Whiskey Combination, the Distillers and Cattle Feeders' Trust, and the Sugar
Trust. The stockholders simply assigned their stock in trust to a board of
trustees without the power of revocation. That board of trustees then held
the voting power of the stocks of the different companies and was thus
enabled, through the election of directors, to control them absolutely. These
trusts, owing to hostile legislation, apparently went out of existence, although
this la a matter of much doubt.
The form of organization that seems most common at the present time la
a single large corporation which owns outright the different plants. A com
bination of this kind is formed by a purchase of all the plants of the differ
ent corporations, the corporations then dissolving as separate corporations.
Payments for the plants are largely made in stock of the new corporation,
and the affairs are managed by the stockholders of the one corporatioa
through their board of directors. Host of these companies organize under
New Jersey law.
Another form of organization, which is in many particulars quite like
the original trust form of the old Standard Oil Trust, Is that which has been
taken by the Federal Steel Company, the Distilling Company of America,
and others. In this form the central company. Instead of purchasing the
plants of the different corporations which It is proposed to unite, slmplr
buys a majority of the stock or possibly the entire stock of each one of the
corporations. "The separate corporations keep in separate corporate existence,
but a majority of the stock being held by the one larger corporation, Its
officers of course elect the boards of directors of all the separate corporations,
and in this way hold complete control.
The total capitalization of the new industrial comhinatlons reach an enor
mous sum, well into the billions, and far exceeds the cash value of their
property.

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