Aiding And Abetting Norris

That the readers may know the ends to which false brethren will go in their determination to wreak personal vengeance, we let them look into some of the following letters. It is humiliating to know that certain brethren among us would actually aid and abet J. Frank Norris in his diabolical plans to destroy some of us individually - and because they wanted to see us destroyed, they gave him aid. In doing so, they thought only of the satiation of their malice, never considering the harm they were doing to the Cause of the Lord. We have never retaliated - not once. But in giving to the public the documents that belong to this exposure, the particular letters that contain this information, and some of the names, cannot in fairness be withheld. We let them pass for their merits, or demerits, the latter being far greater than the former.

First of all, a letter from Mr. Norris revealing his conniving with a certain "doctor" among us, whom he referred to as his "good friend," and "other brethren in Tennessee." The source of this "information" is revealing, indeed.

Feb. 16, 1935

My Dear Sir:

Your extended communication received, and ninety-five percent of it is untrue. I am not going to re-debate the questions with you.

Sufficient to say that several members of your denomination have joined my church, but none of mine has joined yours, as a result of the debate. We have names and addresses.

You are at perfect liberty to "cross swords" whenever you desire. I am going to have much to say about it on the air, and I am going to read my side of the debate over the radio, and the whole circumstances will be given out from time to time.

Most certainly your record was the deciding factor in causing me to protect my interest. For your information I have your full record from Dr. George C. Brewer and other brethren in Tennessee, also have your record in California. And I say it you most kindly that all your ill temper that you showed in your letter and which ruined your side of the debate-all that amuses me. I think you are a young man of a certain amount of ability, but not nearly as much in the opinion of others as in your own.

Yours with best wishes for a continued improvement, J. Frank Norris.

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Note: This letter from Mr. Norris was not answered. The answer to it is found in our notes and comments in the preceding pages. The letter bears unmistakable evidence of his deep disappointment, bitter defeat and his determination for revenge. Every letter received from Mr. Norris contained personal insults and character assaults. And in each case he revealed clearly that he was being coached by Brewer, Boll and Neal, with help from other sources unmentioned by him but not unknown to me.

It will be noted that Mr. Norris says that he had my "full record from Dr. G. C. Brewer" et. al. -- they were "full" of gossip with Norris!

The next interesting reference will be found in a letter from J. A. Dickey, who was at that time assisting in every way that seemed possible in thwarting the schemes of Mr. Norris. The efforts of the one from Memphis, and "other brethren in Tennessee" had come to Brother Dickey's attention, and he rightly wanted to take effective steps to expose them.

At the time of this letter I had just been released from the hospital at Temple, Tex., and had been convalescing in the home of my brother, Cled E. Wallace, at Georgetown, Texas.

Feb. 6, 1935

Dear Foy:

I tried to get you by phone last night at Georgetown and found out you had gone. I was preparing to come down and talk over the situation with you.

I have been waiting, expecting to see something "officially," as Showalter says, concerning the publication of the book. Maybe somebody is waiting for somebody else.

We feel that something should be said to satisfy our own brethren who do not know the facts. All that has ever been published was concerning the injunction, and no reasons were assigned for the injunction. Norris has broadcasted the thing over radio and through his paper, and as we have never made any kind of reply, our own brethren are asking me why the book was not published.

If you have been listening to him lately, you have heard his brags, and also his story as to why the book has not been published. I went to see Queen yesterday and intended to see you today, with this thing in mind; get all the data, i. e., all correspondence from McQuiddy, you, Nolan, Collins, and Stubblefield. Compile this in order; prepare it in manuscript, and then give a copy to the F. F. and the G. A. for publication of as much as they see fit, and in addition go on the radio for as much time as it will take to read it, advertising before hand in our daily papers here that we are going to read the facts concerning the publication. I believe I can raise enough to go on WBAP if not we will go on KTAT. Queen told me to see you, and call him later and he would come over with all the data necessary and we would prepare the article. What do you think of it? If you think well, send me whatever you have from Norris pertaining to the case, especially the correspondence you had while at Lubbock, and the letter he sent Queen saying that he would not try to publish the book.

Norris has also been saying many nasty things about you personally. He says he received his information from a leading member of the church in Memphis. He says if

we don't let him alone, he will tell over the radio why you had to leave Nashville suddenly without leaving a forwarding address, and that your own father didn't know for several days where you were. Now isn't that just too bad? But regardless of what he has heard, would it take you long to guess where he got his information? I think the gentleman will be in Fort Worth next Monday. If he is and I can see him, I've got the nerve to ask him. Do you care?

We don't want to get into a personal fight with Norris but if we write and read an article, I think it would do well in passing, to mention these tactics, and show to the public his efforts to cover up an inglorious defeat.

Let me hear from you as soon as possible. I trust you are doing nicely. 1 am sorry I did not get at this a day, sooner so you could have come by here on your way home. Fraternally,

J. A. Dickey.

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The mad efforts to besmear character traveled far to the North of us, and brought responses from many other states. The following extracts from letters received from F. L. Rowe, and his paper, the Christian Leader, serve as an example:

February 12, 1935

Dear Brother Wallace:

I have your letter and have read it with special interest. I have been getting Copeland's paper from Waco. Those Texas Baptists are certainly the most ungodly bunch of pretended Christians I ever knew. The language Copeland uses is something frightful. I am enclosing a clipping from the last Leader, which makes reference to some of Norris' haranguing over the radio. I don't believe Norris will stay in Detroit very long. They won't stand for his rough stuff. Fraternally yours, , F. L. Rowe,

FLR:MHK Enc.

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Baptist Dirty Work

It is almost unthinkable that any one can resort to the extremity of trying to destroy a person's character when ' he can't meet his arguments. But that seems to be what

Norris has attempted to do in Ft. Worth. On a recent evening, he broadcasted that he had "the low-down on Wallace and that he had dug into his shady character at Memphis, and Nashville and where he is now, and had discovered a character that all Ft. Worth needed to know about and that he was determined to tell it in all of its blackness." He further said, "that of all the black characters among white men, Wallace was the blackest--has character was unspeakable."

To all of us who have followed Brother Wallace and have known his record, we brand the above as absolute falsehood, prompted by insane jealousy of Wallace's ability. It is an old trick in court when a lawyer finds he is losing his case to try to dig up character witnesses who will testify, on oath, against the character of the one the lawyer wants to destroy. There are plenty who will give such testimony "to get even," but it is a most unscrupulous method of trying to win a case in court; and a thousand times more contemptible to attempt in the name of religion. Most of us have tried to think that Norris was half way a man, but this begins to look as though he has fallen into the slime of total depravity.

F. L. R.

(In Christian Leader)