Hays, Brooks

Description

Speech reflecting on recent Congressional election defeat Can Moderation Succeed in the South? My defeat in the recent election has led many people to say that the cause of moderation has been completely repudiated in the South. I can only answer that some defeats are inevitable before final victory is won and that Southern moderates are now gaining strength after reaching their lowest ebb a few months ago. I shall present evidence of this fact later, but I believe that my failure to obtain a majority of the votes as reported in the fifth district of Arkansas has helped awaken many people to the need to stop the extremists. While reference to the days preceding the outbreak of hostilities in 1861 may not be exactly relevant, it was because such moderates as Lincoln and Lee were unable to prevent the “hotheads” on both sides from fanning the flames of emotion that war then became inevitable. Men of good will everywhere in the region are now alerted to the need to halt the dangerous drift to defiance and violence. The appeal to emotion rather than reason is a difficult one to offset. The methods used by Orval Faubus and others like him are specifically designed to prevent logic from prevailing. It was for this reason that I decided not to contest the outcome of my election personally, even though I was aware of some irregularities if not the full extent of them at that time.

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Brooks Hays Materials

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University of Arkansas