- "yTwrwwr; v
The Commoner
VOL. 18, xo. n
Unique Political
Convention
Tho Atlanta, Georgia, Journal of October 20,
rIvch tho following report of a unlquo political
convention In which William D. Upshaw was
placod In nomination for congress by his friend
and pastor, Ilov. C. A. Ridley. Ed.
William D. Upshaw was formally nominated
as democratic candidate for congress from tho
. fifth congressional district at tho democratic
convention hold at 12 o'clock Saturday In tho
sonato chamber in tho stato capitol.
Mr. Upshaw wont into the convention with
twolvo or tho Blxtoon electoral votes to which
tho district is entitled. At tho general primary
of September 11, ho carried three of tho five
countios, and his nomination Saturday was a
matter of formality as tho dologatcs from Ful
ton, Dekalb and Campboll counties constituted
an overwhelming majority.
Ilov. Calob A. Hldloy, pastor of the Contral
Baptist church of this city, of which Mr. Upshaw
Is a mombor, mado tho nominating speech and
placod Mr. Upshaw'fl name before tho conven
tion It is unlquo in tho history of Georgia
that (ho candidate's pastor and spiritual advisor
placed him in nomination for offlce. Dr. Ridley
paid splendid tribute to tho intellectual and
moral qualifications of Mr. Upshaw. Ho spoke
touchingly of tho natural glory and beauty of
Georgia, and of tho strong fiber of its men.
"Man is tho crowning gift of divine handi
craft," said Dr. Ridley. "When tho spirit of
duicnosB lay upon tho deep, a hand moved and
tho mountains liftod their heads high In tho
fading distance, tho soas began cradling thom
solvfcs into thoir channels and tho groat sun
leaped forth in broadest glory; but when all tho
suns and moons and galaxies were lit, God said:
" 'Let us make man.' Man is tho key to ovory
th'ng! "The fifth district has long boon represented
by mon 'of fiber. The retiring congressman is
one of tho most brilliant and most approachablo
men of tho ontiro south. Born boncath her skies,
cradled in her arms, nurtured from hor bosom,
ho has proven unflinchingly loyal to all her in
terests. But tho man I'm about to nominato to
day is tho equal of any man ho over shared
this honor from tho fifth district. True, he has
no political rocord; but that also may bo in his
favor! Ho has a rocord of loyalty and patriotism
and bonofaction that roaches back for a quarter
of a contury of public Hfo and is undiramed by
a single stain.
"To struggling, aspiring youth he has brought
education; to tho holpless ho has boon staff and
crutch; to tho sinking sailor ho has boon a life
boat; to tho drifting mariner ho has been a
lighthouse, and to the sick and dying he has
boon an evangel of Hfo.
"Ho is tho son of a Confederato soldier who
askod no higher privilege than of laying his Hfo
on tho altar of his stato. Ho has to his credit
tho most notablo campaign ever waged beneath
southern skies.- Ho began without a dollar and
won without a campaign committee. His only
assets wero an ompty purso, a clean character
r.nd tho unboundod confldonco of tho people. Tho
pooplo know ho could bo trusted.
"His good name provod a groator asset than
all the political exporionco and money of his
oppononts. And what mado him" congressman
this time will Icoop him thore for years to come.
"Liko tho immortal Alex Stephens, ho has
beon forced to live in a brokon body, but through
tho shattered walls ho, too, has caught clearor
visions of duty than those of ur who know noth
ing of such handicaps. And now that tho pooplo
have callod him forth with a mighty voice, I
predict that, like Stophons, ho will carvo his
name high up among tho notablo names of his
tory. "As his friond in collogo in days now dead,
his pastor now, and as his comrado in a long
battle for good government, it gives me a very
rare ordor of ploasuro to place before this con
vention tho democratic nomineo for congress
from tho fifth district of Georgia, tho Honorable
William David Upshaw, of the county of Fulton."
Mr. Upshaw, in accepting the nomination, de
livered an oloquont address, in which he pledged
himself to loyally, faithfully and sincerely "re
present tho fifth district, and expressed his grat
ification at tho result of tho primary.
"All that is within me responds with deepest
emotion to tho beautiful and gonorous speeches
of nomination, and to tho splendid vote that
made these speeches possible," said Mr. Upshaw.
"To be called by such an emphatic yo ce to
represent the chiefest district of the south in tho
halls of national legislation is. an honor which
overwhelms me with gratitude and challenges
me to a passionate sense of consecration. Ana
this feeling of responsibility deepens with every
passing hour as I recall how this honor has como
to a man hitherto untried in the realm of per
sonal politics.
"But if any of my loyal supporters who
honestly wished and earnestly sought the best
for mo arc not quite satisfied with the twelve
county unit votes out of a possible sixteen, that
are hero to assure my nomination, permit me
modestly to remind them that this is my very
first effort at vote-getting, and if they will just
stand by me in congress as they helped me in
my campaign,- I will try to do better next time.
"If someone should think it a bit unsual that
tho noxt congressman from the fifth district
should have been nominated by a preacher, who
happens to bo my pastor, I confess that this is
a fancy of mine, based on a long-time rule of
action. In my work, both on the platform and
as an editor, I have rejoiced to crown the
preacher citizen as a living hero in the great
battle for the betterment of the world. Side by
sido with the preachers of the gospel I have
fought for a stainless flag, a spotless ballot and
a regnant political conscience. So I somehow
felt that on th's, my natal day politically, I
should like to give new emphasis to my admira
tion for tho preacher citizen in this instance
the preacher who was a -man before he was a
preacher, by having him make my nominating
speech.
"In pledging my loyalty to the fundamental
principles of government, to a square deal al
ways to labor and capital, and to every measure
and every movement that makes for real demo
cracy and human betterment, I recognize the
fact that I have had set for me a high standard
of attainment in the superb legislative record of
Congressman William Schley Howard, whose
successor I am to be by the providence of God
and tho grace of tho people. With a record
which tho Athens Banner declared to be a hun
dred per cent pure in loyalty and effectiveness.
I can Jiardly hope to equal what Mr. Howard
has done as a representative of this great
district; but with the assurance that I do not
expect to have any post-mortem examination of
ballot boxes to find who voted for me, I expect
to do my best to be everybody's congressman,
forgetting what the future may hold and crown
ing always the present hour of duty duty to
the God we worship duty to the district I
reprosont duty to the state of my birth and
to the flag of the country which we love so well.
"With this sacred pledge, gentlemen, I accept
your high commission."
HIGH TRIBUTE TO PREACHER-CITIZEN
The Atlanta, Georgia, Constitution of October
21 -carried the following report:
"One of the features of the fifth district con
gressional convention, which on Saturday formal
ly nominated William D. Upshaw as the demo
cratic candidate for congress, was the tribute
paid by Mr Upshaw to the preacher-citizen as
represented by Dp . C. A. Ridley, his pastor, who
made tho nominating speech.
"Mr. Upshaw also paid a tribute to his pre
decessor, Congressman William Schley Howard
SHmXt in Cngress' h0 said' was 10 pe;
i"Th0 consressman-to-be left no doubt in the
minds of his hearers that he was going to afind
by the President in the winning of hf war and
making a 'strong' peace with Germany
The speaker also made it clear that while
not neglecting all other legislative duties ho was
going to devote his time to all forms of lelis!
of hniity.Primarily makC fr the tterSt
MR; UPSHAW'S ADDRESS
., In accepting the nomination, Mr. Upshaw
?nrVh,nnWnB the convenon and the distriX
as'foHows:0' Cnferred UPn him' Spoke in
" 'If some one should think it a bit unusiml
that the next congressman from the fifth distric
should have been nominated by a preacher S
happens to be my pastor, I confess tha tills is
a fancy of mine, based on a long-time rule of
action. In my work, both on the platform and
as an editor, I have rejoiced the crow 5
preacher-citizen as a living heroin t !
battle for the betterment of the world XiET
side with the preachers of the Gospel I "liave
fought for a stainless flag a spotless ballot
regnant political conscience, and I soniehow 2
that on this, my natal day politically, i shon, ,
like to give new emphasis to my admiration Z
the preacher-citizen in this instance thl
preacher who was a man before he was I
preacher by having him make my nominate
speech. - B
" 'And this fellowship which I as a layman
have had with the preachers -idely over Amer
ica, battling for clean government and thn
general problems of Christian itinenship, QauZ
me to emphasize two thir First, that preach
ers as a class are the most unselfish, the most
fearless and faithful set of men I have ever
known, and the second is this, that it will hi
natural for me to follow in my legislative career
in Washington the practical bent of a life time
Some men in congress give themselves especially
to the tariff, soma intricate questions of finance
some to navies and navigation and some to for
eign relations and problems of diplomacy I ex
pect to neglect none of these economic and patrl"
otic questions as I face them in the path of my
legislative duty, but as humanity has always
bren my hero and as all other questions touch
by legislation absolutely lose their value unless
humanity sustains a proper relationship to them
I expect to give mp special, attention to all forms
of legislation that make primarily for human
betterment.
" 'The glory of the first four years ofWoodrow
Wilson's administration is he fact that its ag
gressive legislation touched humanity at even
angle. Indeed,, so practical and fundamental was
tUs upplied statesmanship that farseeing busi
ness men of commanding genius and patriotism
like Henry Fcrd and Thomas Edison, who had
been lifelong republicans, tupported Wilson
heartily lor his second tern because they said,
lie had done more good, had put on the statute
books of the nation more laws that touched
humanity with consideration and freedom than
the republican party had done during its whole
existence.
" 'And common gratitude should cause us not
to forget that the major part of this human
itarian legislative progress was the dream and
plan of that gre-t Apostle of Jeffersonian demo
cracy. William Jennings 'Bryan, who is the
acknowledged father of that political renaissance
which crowned the moral ideal as the supreme
thing in all legislation.' "
,-Our knowledge of geography would have been
immeasurably extended by the war if it were
not for the fact that one small mind can not
contain all that has been dumped into it. Thus
we hear of white Russia and darkest Russia and
little Russia and great Russia, and all it ex
plains to us is what was meant when tho one
time emperor was referred to as the czar of all
the Russias.
In putting dry zones around camps and war
plants congress and the President were actuated
by a desire to add to the efficiency of the sol
diers and the workers, and knew that the only
-way to insure it was to banish the saloon. The
same economic reason is a sufficient reason for
the entire nation going dry. That is why na
tional prohibition will win.
THE BOY-LOOK
Bud, you .are against the hardest game
That ever a man may buck.
I want to call you the old chum-name
And I want to wish you luck.
It s just plain hell you'll be going through,
But if you outlast tho muss,
There's something, Buddy, I'am asking you
A something to bring to us.
It isn't a feat of arms I "ask;
It is more of the heart and head;
it s sort of a token to show your task
is the work of a thoroughbred.
So when you have triumphed by sword and gun,
And our proud cheers ring like mad,
gud, bring me back not the head of a Hun.
But the heart of a Yankee lad. .
I have seen men march to the wars, and then
I have watched their homeward tread,
And they brought back bodies of living men,
ut their eyes were cold and dead.
So, Buddy, no matter what else the fame,
No matter what else the prize,
nLyou t0 come Dac through the flame
with the boy-look still in your eyes!
By Edmund Vance Cooke.
(Copyright, 1918.)
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