Tom Watson and Anthony Wilson at Sparta, Georgia, 1892

From People's Party Paper, September 2, 1892.

WATSON AT SPARTA.

________

A GREAT CROWD REMAINS TO HEAR HIS DEFENSE

________

Despite Brass Bands, Rowdyism, Bar-becue and Speeches, his Speech is Delivered.

________

Now, I say this, that there are dishonest employers, just as there are dishonest tenants, or dishonest laborers. Have there not been such? (Cries of: "Yes! Yes!") Such a man would work you all the year, whether you were black or white, and at the end of the year he would lock the corn in the crib, and put the key in his pocket; he would send the cotton to Augusta, and put the money he received for it in his pocket; and when you come to ask him for a settlement you had to whistle for your money. Ain't that so? (Cries of: Yes! Yes!") I say here now, that there are not many men who do that, but we said then and there, with reference to a man who would resort to such dishonest practices--no matter how white that land owner was, no matter how rich and powerful that land owner was--if he resorted to such practices to defraud the white tenant or the black tenant, the white laborer or the black laborer, the white hireling or the black hireling, by keeping him working all the year round and then turning him and his wife and helpless children adrift, and not giving him his share of the labor, he was [a] bigger rascal than the man that took the meat, the money, the credit and then failed to perform the stipulation of his contract. (Great applause and cries of: "That's the God's truth.") We said this; if you are going to punish the poor man for non-fulfillment of his contract, punish the rich man for the same offense, if you are going to punish the man who does now own the land, punish the man who does own the land--make no distinction on account of color, or property; feed them both out of the same spoon; accord "equal rights to all special privileges to none." (Clapping of hands and great cheering.)

. . . When I was a member of the legislature I drew up a bill and tried to have it enacted into a law, which would directly help the laborer and the cropper all over the State of Georgia. How? You know that, as the law stands, you may rent a home for the year, and the land attached, and during the year I may take a portion of my rent from you or your wife [and] children, and forget to give you credit for it--I may take some in vegetables, and fail to give you credit for it; I may take some in corn, and forget to give you credit for it; I may take some in poultry, and forget to give you credit for it; and at the end of the year you have two little bales of cotton, and in those little bales of cotton are locked up all your profits for the year's farming. You have watered your mouth thinking of the good things you were going to get when you had the money in your pocket. Perhaps you had promised the old lady a new dress, and your daughter a dress and a brand new red handkerchief each; perhaps you promised the boys new hats and boots, and yourself a new outfit, but in comes the sheriff and levies on these two bales of cotton. I tell you that gives you a shrinkage about the vitals that will not be forgotten in many a day. You say, "Boys, I paid nearly all that rent in such and such commodities; I owe only about ten or fifteen dollars." Well, the sheriff says: "Go and see your lawyer," and you go to long John Jordon (laughter,) and say, "I paid all but ten or fifteen dollars on my rent, and here the sheriff has come and levied on the two bales of cotton that I depended upon to keep me in supplies and get myself and the old lady and children necessary clothing for the winter." And what does long John say? He tells you that you can go into the court house and fight the case if you give a bond for the costs of the suit, and the payment of the debt. Now, people do not like to go security for each other, and the poorer you are the less likely you are to find any one willing to go on your bond and save your cotton, and on account of your poverty, whether you be a poor white tenant or a poor black tenant, you have to go home with tears of disappointment in your eyes, and crushed hopes in your hearts because you could not go into the court house and defend your rights. (A brawny farmer: "I have seen the very thing done, that is the God's truth.")

Well, I introduced a bill into the legislature to open the court house door to the poorest tenant, whether black or white, just as it was opened to the richest farmer. (Cries of "Thank you, thank you! God bless you.") I introduced a bill into the legislature to allow the tenant to swear that he could not pay that rent, that he could not give that bond, and then he could go into the Court House and appeal to a jury of his white neighbors who would not turn that cotton loose. Was not that a good and a fair law? (Cries of: "Yes, Yes!") We proposed that should a jury of his neighbors decide in his favor, he should have his cotton, and not allow the landlord to pick it up and carry it away, and force him, whether white or black, to introduce a suit, and give a bond, in order to get the cotton back. Now, I introduced that in the legislature, and how many Democrats do you think voted for the bill? Only twenty-five. How many do you think voted against it, and said by their votes that because a man was poor and could not give a bond, the doors of the court house were closed against him--he could not contest with his landlord, and that is the law today? (Cries of: Shame Shame!") Do you want to know the names of some of them men that voted against that just law? L. L. Columbus, the leader of the House, of Wilkes County, who is a candidate for the Democratic party, and who pretends to be such a friend of the people in general, and the negroes in particular. Mr. Reese said, by his vote, that there ought to be discriminating conditions imposed on the tenant and not on the landlord. Who else voted against this bill so manifestly faire and equitable, down in Richmond county? Why in the name of God don't they mention Mr. Reese and Robey, if they want to show who have been hitting the poor negroes and the poor whites? (Several voices: "They know they are lying, and they don't try to tell the truth.") Then when I was in the legislature you were taxed heavily to build bridges, and we did not see any reason why the great railroad corporations should not be taxed as well as the poorest man who had to come up and pay taxes on his wash pan; we did not see why your stump-tail cows, your hogs and your horses or mules should be taxed and the great mogul engine, that could haul thirty cars for these railroads, should be exempt. We thought that every man should pay taxes according to his means. Who were some of the men who said by their votes that it was right for you to pay tax on your wagon, and wrong for the railroad to have to pay tax on the palace car; that it was right for you to be taxed to death to keep up roads and bridges, but it was wrong for the Central railroad to pay taxes? Who were some of the men who showed by their votes that they were in favor of that great wrong? Mr. Calvin, of Richmond county, and one of the men who is now running as elector at large on the Democratic ticket. then there is another--long John Jordan (laughter), John T. Jordan. (Renewed laughter.) The Honorable John T. Jordan. (Snickering), go a head John Jordan. (A voice: "Ugly John Jordan." Great merriment.) He says, by his vote, that it is all right for the farmer to pay tax but it is all wrong for the railroads to do likewise. Who else? Mr. Hamilton Reese, of Wilkes County, voted the same way; Mr. Robey, of Jefferson County, and several others, voted with them. All men who are high up in the councils of the Democratic party.

. . . When the Hon. (?) John Jordan speaks to you again about my being the enemy of the poor colored man, or the poor white man, ask him why he thinks it is not right to tax the railroads on their mogul engines, their cars, their trucks, and their palace sleepers, and it is right to tax you on your horses, mules, wagons, household furniture and garden implements.

When in the legislature I voted against the school bill making an appropriation for one year. Why? I will tell you. We had just passed a bill to tax you to the extent of $1,000,000 to build a new State house, and immediately on the heels of that Mr. Calvin came in with a bill to tax you heavily for schools. I thought that in consideration of the million dollar tax just passed for the purpose of building the capitol, it would be too heavy. It was on the principle of a man wanting to build two houses, and having only enough money to build one. What does he do? He puts up the one most needful and lets the other go until a more convenient season. A vote against that bill, when you were already saddled with a million dollar tax for the capitol, was no indication of my attitude on the school question. )Several voices: "That's so.") Four years ago, when they were trying to build up the colleges of the State to the neglect of the common schools, you all know that I made a fight to the very best of my ability for the schools. (A voice: We know it, Tom.") I said it was all wrong to tax all the people for the purpose of establishing colleges remote from the great body of the people, where only the rich farmers, who were able to send their boys and girls, and pay board, could get the benefit, but when you established schools at every cross roads where the pupils can be cheaply fed at, while they could be kept under the parental eye, where the poor man would not be debarred from their benefit by his inability to pay railroad fare and board bills, they would be a blessing, and for them I was willing to work and vote. In other words, I was opposed to taxing the few to benefit the rich. . . .

ANTHONY WILSON'S SPEECH

Fellow citizens of Hancock county: It affords me much pleasure to be in your presence to-day, and especially on this occasion. Having heard my name ringing in the papers, and deeply conscious that I was becoming a campaign document, and hearing so much sympathy expressed for me in particular, and the colored people in general, it occurred to me that it was no more than right that I should appear before you for the purpose of setting this matter in its true light. (Applause.)

In the year 1862 I was elected to the Georgia Legislature as a member from the county of Cambeden. (A voice, "1882, not '62.") Did I say '62? It was 1882, thank you. Well, Mr. Watson was there and Mr. McGregor was there, and many other gentlemen from all over the State. That contest came up in its form, but, as Mr. Watson told you a few moments ago, there were legal questions involved, and while I had the votes, my opponent had the law.

Mr. Rountree, who held the minority at the time, told me that I had a good case, "but" says he, "you have left out the legal points in the case, and for that reason the committee is compelled to report against you, and we will make a minority report on the matter."

But the facts in the case were behind the returns: the committee went behind the returns and they disclosed certain facts, but certain legal technicalities had not been complied with; then came the vote in the House, and when that vote came on, Mr. Watson, as well as many other gentlemen on the other side voted against me, voting the facts as disclosed on the legal side of the question. They expressed themselves as being satisfied with the justice of my rights, and so they do now, but my case was not put in legal shape, and the law was against me. In view of all the facts, so are as I am concerned, I have only to say that, as far as that vote is concerned, there is nothing rankling in my bosom; there is no hardness in my heart against Mr. Watson or the other sixty-one members who voted against me that time. There is another thing I want to call to your attention--you colored men, I mean. It is right, it is just that we colored men should stand by each other as the white men stand by each other, and I would not give the snap [of] my finger for the colored man that would sell his birth-right, or his State-right. Now, so far as you are concerned, when you come to cast your vote, exercise an intelligent discrimination in casting it for the cause of right and justice--I am not going to say how that should be. So far as I am concerned, I say to you (addressing his remarks to Mr. Watson,) as I said to Mr. Rountree, there is no feeling rankling in my bosom against you or any other gentleman who voted against me, and if these other honorable gentlemen were genuine in their sympathy my colored friends here would have heard of it two years ago. (Laughter.) They would not have waited until this late date. You never heard of Anthony Wilson until a few days ago. (Cries of: "No! We did not.") To-day you are called upon to sympathize with Anthony Wilson. You are called to cast your votes against the man who voted against Anthony Wilson, but I say, boys, examine the case well and go and cast your vote intelligently, and to please yourselves.

. . . Now gentlemen and fellow-citizens, this is a race for Congress. this is a movement called the People's party movement. there is a division between the people of the State of Georgia, and it behooves you as colored people, to say which is the best course to pursue. Seventeen years ago you were told to get the scalawags and carpet-baggers from among you--to give them the cold shoulder. God be praised, the carpet-baggers and the scalawags are gone, and you to-day say by your enthusiasm that you are willing to go with the Southern people; yet, there is another batch of Southern men who say that you are wrong yet. (Laughter and applause.) Well, according to that, I do not see that we are able to please anybody. If we go with the carpet-baggers and scalawags, we are wrong; if we go with the Southern people, we are wrong; if we go by ourselves, we are wrong. When will we do right? Where is the right place for the negro? (A voice, "In the third party.") Well, sir, decide for yourselves, that is what brought you out to-day; and I put this matter plainly before you that you may decide for yourselves. You have been trying to have other decide for you, and you see that there is no chance for you to be set right by them, now decide for yourselves; and if you decide that the third party is the right thing, why, put your feet down and stay there. . . .

Mr. Watson: They tried to make you believe that some great crime had been committed against Anthony Wilson; they tried to get Anthony Wilson to go everywhere and tell you so, and what does he tell you? (A voice, "He tells the truth.") Yes, my friend, he tells you the truth; he tells you that I cast my vote just the same way that sixty other members did, believing that the law was against him; and he tells you furthermore that he has not been outraged at my hands; that I did not denounce him in the legislature; that I did not denounce his color in the legislature; that I acted as a sworn juror, doing what I believed to be right, and he says, further, that he believes I acted conscientiously. . . .

I tell you we country boys can get ahead of these silk-hatted city politicians, and give them two in the game. We understand this fight; we understand this sudden affection for the negro; we understand why the democrats have woke up to such a sudden affection for the colored people in general, and to Anthony Wilson in particular. Your votes have become very precious in their sight all at once. . . .

You men of Georgia, and of other great States, know what was the matter. Hence, the farmer in the field, the skilled mechanic in the shop, the laborer in the factory, in the corn patch, in the cotton patch, rose in their majesty and said: "This is a government of the people, and by the people and for the people," and that no little crowd of town politicians, that no little spindle shank editor should rule the people and make the laws. They said that the people should have a voice in the government; that the laborer should be heard; that the rights of the mechanic should be respected; that the farmer should get there; so they formed a great league in 1889. Col. Northen was down there. Col. Livingston was down there. Your great representatives of the Knights of Labor were down there. Your great representatives of the Farmer's Alliance were down there. And when they met they said this: "The more we work, the poorer we are; the more we toil, the more we suffer; but the men who do not toil are arrayed like Solomon in all his glory." (Great applause, laughter and cries of: "True, true, every word of it,") They said when the people are in rags, it must be from some other cause than that they produce too much clothing. If it was owing to the people producing too much cotton, they would have more clothing instead of less. . . .

Oh, my friends, if there ever was a time when the people could not be bought, now is the time! If there ever was a time when the true, manly American people would not sell out their birth rights for a mess of democratic hog and hominy, now is the time! (Tumultuous applause.) They may spread their feasts; they may hire their brass bands; they may have their Governors; they may have their corporation lawyers; they may have the ringsters; but there is one thing they cannot have--that I have--and that is the great hears of the common people. (The scene at this point was simply indescribable.). . . .

They say I am an advocate of social equality between the whites and the blacks. THAT IS AN ABSOLUTE FALSEHOOD, and the man who utter[s] it, knows it. I have done no such thing, and you colored men know it as well as the men who formulated the slander. (Several colored men: "We know it to be lies.") It is best for your race and my race that we dwell apart in our private affairs. (Many voices among the colored: "That's so, boss.") It is best for you to go to your churches, and I will go to mine; it is best that you send your children to your colored school, and I'll send my children to mine; you invite your colored friends to your home, and I'll invite my friends to mine. (A voice from a colored man: "Now you're talking sense," and murmurs of approval all through the audience.") Now here is the truth. . . . I have said that there is no reason why the black man should not understand that the law that hurts me, as a farmer, hurts him, as a farmer; that the same laws that hurts me as a cropper, hurts you, as a cropper; that the same law that hurts me, as a laborer, hurts you, as a laborer; that the same law that hurts me, as a mechanic, hurts you, as a mechanic. (A voice out in the audience: "Boys, ain't he getting there?" Another voice, at my elbow: He's been dar, all the time." Still others: "Yes, and he'll be dar in November, sho'.")

I said that you ought not take a certain position, just because you are black. In other words, you ought not to go one way just because the whites went the other, but that each race should study these questions, and try to do the right thing by each other--should consider the interest of all--should vote for the enactment of just laws, and against unjust laws. (Great applause.) That the colored farmer and the white farmer, that the colored cropper, and the white cropper, that the white laborer and the colored laborer should stand shoulder to shoulder, and foot to foot, and win the victory that will bring blessings alike to all. That will benefit the black without injuring the whites; that will give the poor, of whatever color, compensation for their honest labor, without injuring the rich. (Long continued applause.)