The platform which Pope Brown and I
agreed on, and which wa§ adopted by your
man Smith, led him to unparalelled success.
He was as much surprised at the strength
of that platform, as were the men who went,
up against it.
’ The platform which your man Smith had
adopted in Macon, was an unwise and dis
honest production.
It was unwise in that it pledged Smith to
do so many things he could not possibly
accomplish.
It was dishonest, in that it abolished the
County Unit plan which had not even been
mentioned in the literature or the speech
making of the compaign.
It robbed the country counties of their con
stitutional rights, which they had enjoyed for
thirty years, and it led to Smith’s crushing
defeat in 1908.
During the campaign of 1910, he secured
the support of tens of thousands of Popu
lists, by telling them he w r ould never again
attack the County Unit plan.
One of these leading Populists who was
thus lulled into security w r as J. J. Brown,
whom we are going to make Commissioner of
Agriculture.
Your man Smith sent my friend J. J.
Brown to Thomson, in the summer of 1910,
to tell me of Smith’s positive pledges to let
the County Unit plan alone.
I told Mr. Browm that nobody could believe
Smith, but I supposed he would have sense
enough not to attack the County Unit system
any more.
However, he did not have the sagacity I
gave him credit for, and as soon as he was
re-elected, he abolished the County Unit sys
tem again.
Right there he began to lose out, and he has
been losing ever since.
