Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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The Abbeville Press and y: : . -r. ?*. ; : ,' ; ' " \ _ - .. w y.ifm r. $2.00 A YEAH ABBEVILLE, 8. O., WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1912. ESTABLISHED 1844 ,i?* SENATOR TI QOV OPE* LETTEK TO tiOVEKMOlt bV U. S. SENATOK TILL HAM. The newspapers have received for publication the following open letter trorn Senator B. R. Tillman: Hon. Cole. L. Blease, Columbia, S. C. My Dear Sir: While the returns from the nrlmarv election are not complete, enough is known to make it certain that you and I are both reelected to the high offices we now hold. In every way possible you have tried to make my old friends among "the people believe that you are the rep resentative of Tillinanism, and there fore entitled to be my political heir. Permit me to explain briefly the difference between Tillmanism and Bleaseism as I understand them. Till manism means genuine democracy, the rule of the people?of all the white people, rich and poor alike, with special privilege and favors to none, with equality of opportunity and equality of burden to all. It was so understood by the Tillmanites in 1890 and 1S92, and it Is oo understood by them still. Bleaseism on the contrary means personal ambition and greed for of fice?the office to be UBed not for the welfare of all the people and the state, but office for "Blease and his friends. None other need apply". When Tillman as governor did not hesitate to pardon a constable by tele graph who had been unrighteously punished by the liquor e'ement in Charleston for raiding Chicco's house, Tillman always tried and did admin ister the law equally and ustly as he understood it. He had no favorites and tried to obey the will of the ma^ jority of the people, even iu those counties which had voted against him. He refused appointments as trial Justice to some of his bitter political opponents, but they had not been elected at a primary, but were nomi nated by his political enemies in the legislature. Tillman in Washington has never asked whether a man from South Carolina who has apj lied to him for a favor, for promotion or for protec tion was a Tillmanite or an "anti", his only purpose being to try to dis cover whether the man was trust worthy, honorable and clean and wuulu make good if lie got lilimanb indorsement. Sticks iu liight Way. I believe in sticking Dy my friends, 1 goveruur, but 1 want to stick by tnem hi the right wuy, and not in the 1 wrong way as you Lave doue. Again 1 Tillman said many harsh and bilier things on the stump because be waa 1 tantalized and howled at worse than * you have ever been, but he always ' tried to tell the truth, and never un- ) . uer the greatest provocation did he threaten to make anybody "sweat 1 blood" or indulge in indeceut speech, 1 blackguardism or vulgarity on the ' stump. It is not the business of a ' governor nor ought it to be permitteu 1 to him to threaten his constituents. The law is for the protection of every man and not for a governor's friends : only. The one thing which gave Tillman 1 the most concern was dealing with pe- 1 iiuous ior paraon?me me, aeatn ana liberty of the poor wretches for whom the petitions were filed. Blease is charged with selling pardons through his lawyer friends and sharing the money. Governor, you know whether there is -any shadow of reason or ; foundation for thiB. I do not, but for your own fame and good name as well as for the good name of the state you pus saAiasuidqi joj eujuuajop ubd saaqjo *9nJ) si am? ;ou jo jaqjaqA^ avjs )ou ubo puB Bpaoooj dq} paujiuBxa jou e.\Bq i "aidoad oqj jo aAU^juasaj -d3J 9AHB18J891 aq} sb UBqj jaq*BJ aaj b joj JdifAiBi b sb aan)Bis|3ai aq} uj paiOA SiujABq qijM. paSJBqo sj asBaig v -pBq aq sb saijianjjoddo sores aq} psq pBq Xaqj ;i uoio;9 3At;q pino.u SujiBajs qij.n uiiq poSJEqo oq.w esoq} }Bqj sba asuaj -ap dAipoSd isoui s(h paonppB j9a? rUd.w sjoojd ou )nq 'AJBSuadsjp aq) u[ SupjBJS jo pasnooB sbm. ubuiiiij, jBqj umop jou jua aoj '-jduiajuoo )uaus qiiM. }{ 1B9J} oj pjojju }ou ubo t?o.\ 'dn aSjBqa sjqj juajo oj -jqSuo convict or acquit you according to the evidence. When the question was asked by the infuriated Tillmanites who felt that they had been betrayed by their leader, "What induced him to do this?" some .of them in their rage -1 i.J "uJT Kaa? VAimht" rage snouieu ue uao uccu . Who in South Carolina knows what the price of a Tillman is?? In Wash ington where he has worked for the last IS years for the state and nation he had opportunities almost innumer able to get money for official action. When he was in charge of the railroad rate bill, where there were hundreds of millions and even billions of dol lars worth of property involved and a LLMAN AND 'ERNOR BLE. WRITE OP slight change iu the law, which Till .. iiute aiued to obtain, rneaut uiitold money tor the railroad inter pinoqs tUBajp aq} juoAa am u[ auop oq oj )suq se.w }Kq.\i. paaapjsuoj pue uiaqj paptajp aidoad aqj tin saouanb -asaoa aq* hb j3ao jqauoqj j ajjEAiu Ann; Suiuioaas "..papaia s{ asua[Q? aui p[0} auiqjauios qjiq.u ui uiBaap e pKq x uoipaia aqi jo )qS}u aqj uq 4u?ajQ ? pBH * uojj[dsns aAoqs ui|q apBca suq d[doad oq) jo juBAjaa b sb Ajj-ind asoqA pue eji[ ajBAjJd aj Ajjnd asoqM uboi b 'sabuS aqi jo jtujjq aqj uo SajjaAoq ubui pjo ub }B nA.^.^ono csitii i inn ni ?fTl(5taaT?3ICT HUM UU|U|U0>ID "JM+ 1?1 -T j IU -IT,? 3{UIUP 'UBJUJlOaBQ UiUOS jtZBJO euios joj pauiBraaa ssq ?i ad^e^qjaq b bb aiqBqoBoaddB suai yq eAdiisq J9A3 duo -aqb pip jou pajujq J^.ve auo ou 'sjse prove true. 1 thought of your threat to make the people "sweat blood" and of what it really meant or could pos sibly mean. The only Interpretation that occured to me was that the gov ernor would make a general jail de livery by emptying the penitentiary and turning the convicts loose upon society. You have thai power, sir. It was given you for purposes of mer cy and not for the punishtn?ut of yo*r fellow < it i.;.. The % i irnor Uk?< a'u oath to see that the "laws are exe cuted in mercy". There is in the con stitution nothing which permits him to trample tne iaw unaeriooi on ia? pretense of mercy, and nothing but venality and greed of money can make him place the pardoning power in the hands of a lawyer who charges big feeB to obtain pardons. As for par doning the criminals by wholesale no body but a lunatic would do such a thing and nobody but a lunatic would threaten it. Let me beg you to be ware what you do and say hereafter. Put a bridle on that unlicensed ton gue of yours. You owe it to your friends, you owe It to yourself, and you owe it to the state. 1 have been trusted by the people as well as you. They have shown their love and confidence in no uncertain way and I therefore claim the right to warn and to offer to help you in oil mnHovo nf nirHnns if vnu will deign to ask my advice. Nobody in South Carolina will doubt the justice of any pardon I reco-.mend. This a thankless burden I am willing to assume for the public welfare, and I do not expect to do any of the drudg ery of it, but I know men I can trust whose honor and patriotism are not only above suspicion, but who have the respect and confidence of their fellow citizens. 1 will enlist the help, if I can, of these to examine the peti tions in order to help you, but you shall not, if 1 can prevent it, carry out your threat to make the people of South Carolina "sweat blood" be-1 cause so many of hem have not been bamboozled and debauched" by your demagogic appeals. Consider, gover nor, what it means to turn loose crim inals, murderers and cut-throats, and then consider the infamy of boldly md openly offering to pardon any wan who would kill certain people. Don't you see to what criminal folly you have been led to give people the right to think that you will pardon men who assassinate your enemies? Such an infamous idea never entered any but a crazy man's brain. In your desperation attempting to reply to my indictment of you in the Ferguson letter you were unscrupu lous enough to say: "I fear no evil fr6m Senator Till man's letter, except that possibly his mind has become more diseased of late than it was when I had my last talk with his confidential physician". Everyone knows that you alluded to Dr. Babcock. And a more knightly gentleman or a more loyal friend to me never breathed, and I know you had no authority for it. He is not the type of doctor who discusses his pa tients and their ailments with Tom, Dick and Harry. Hind is Stronger. I want to say to you that I know since my last stroke of paralysis in February, 1910, my memory has .been very much impaired, but the other parts of my brain have gradually and very preceptibly increased in efficien cy and vigor and I am now fully cap able of doing as good work as I ever did. The only reason why I have felt unwilling to make speeches in the senate and on the hustings this sum mer is because I know I can not speak " * TirUhnnf turn Wltn any iun;o ui ?if,ui ing on the full voltage of the dynamo. Under excitement the blood rushes to the brain for that is the way the mind works. Dr. Babcock had warned me that to attempt to make a speech would mean grave danger and he probable bursting of a blood vessel followed by paralysis or death. Therefore I have refrained and re strained myself, though at times the temptation has been very, very great. But. governor, while my memory is ASE EN LETTERS poor the moral fibre in me is as sound as it ever was, and mj\ patriotism burns with an even brighter flame than when my health was vigorous. And my conscience is in fine working order, too, I can assure you. When I told my wife that I intend ed to write an open letter to you and outlined some of the things I intend ed to say, she pleaded with me thus: "Blease is not a wholly bad man. He is passionate and has been tantalized, abused and misrepresented until he has lost all sense of responsibility and self-control". Recollect, gover nor, this same noble woman has been your advocate with me until your re cent statement came out about what occurred last spring in "Washington. She knows you told an untruth and has never forgiven you. It is in this spirit I now speak. You have been lied on, slandered and abused almost be yond endurance, but so was I. 1 bad courage and self-control enough to rise above it You have been weak * 4 ~ tn tho fmnillfip euuugu IU UUUCUUgi vu VMV ?j| to strike back and to strike below the belt I want those who consider Blease ism as Tillmanism to take this con trast is consideration when they make up their final judgment. Till manism as Tillman preaches it and has always preached it is noble, high and elevating. Bleaaeii^n is selfish, low, dirty and revengeful. I have been very greatly blessed in my life and every day I return ttianks to the Creator for his many blessings. The greatest among these has been a good woman whom God gave me in her youth and purity 45 years ago. I have had one grief and that was the knowledge that so many good men in South Carolina seemed implacable and irreconcilable in their hatted of me. These men truly and honestly hated me as badly as many South Carolinians hate you now, but there are more of them in your case than there ever were in mine, thank God. Honesty compels me to say that you deserve the hate and distrust in which they hold you. I never did. You had an opportunity when you went into the governor's office such as comes to few men in this life. Your inaugural was a great disappointment to your friends and provoked your en emies to renewed and relentless ac tivity. You had shown yourself too little and narrow to be governor of any state for, my dear sir, the gover ship is a very high honor indeed, but it also carries the very heaviest re sponsibilities. You will recall when you were elected two years ago I wired you congratulations and added, "let the heathen rage", me neamen have raged, but the righteous have al so moaned and their cries are now ris ing to heaven In accusation of you. One Satisfaction. Returning to the blessings which have been showered upon me, I have before I die the satisfaction of know ing, as I now do know, that I have won the admiration, love and confi dence of the anti-Tillmanites of old, and of the Haskelites even, I owe my redaction to the senate to these men tnat came to m/i wncn some of my old frk-nds, the "wool-hat one-gallus boyu" and my fellow citibens who wnrk in the cotton mills were shout ing, "crucify him!" "retire him to pri vate life!" "we can no longer trust him!" etc. My reelection to the sen ate is Ai>sui<d and I shall die in har ness "when the Lord'e time cornea for me to go. conscious that all of the good people of the state now appre ciate me and realize at last what manner of man I am. It is a sweet thought to feel that many of the Haskellites voted for me, and right here I want to say that "Haskellites" ought not to be an epi thet of opprobrium in South Carolina any longer. Judge Haskell and I made friends before he died and I always felt that he was a blind fa natic who had been led off into the frenzy of independentism by the same emotions which your election has pro duced. He was a knightly gentleman -.iji? fA Kit, ana a Drave suiuiei. rea^e w um ashes. Haskellism and Bleaselsm ought to be buried in the same grave and the world hear no more of either. It is time for South Carolinians to quit wounding each other's feelingB and fighting like cats and dogs. No good can come of it and much harm has already come of it, and more will follow if we do not realize that a "house divided against itself can not stand". A3 good men voted for Blease ae voted for JoneB. They felt It to be their right as citizens, and many of them religiously believed that their liberties were in danger, for you, gov ernor, are reported as saying that if Jones was elected they would never vote again. Jefferson said once that as between government without newspapers and newspapers without government he ' would take the latter, for the news I . - , -.7 mWm. $& #%>/'*. - 'WvHsssffi-yft fWw ' * * News Snapshots a^JL' 01 the Week ' of Ids testimony the grand jnry retnrni rd 00 company, declared Oat the moo papers would kcp the people informed and they would have intelligence eu ough to give themselves good 'gov-i eminent in some way. Our newspa pers in South Carolina have lost sight of th? necessity for fair and square dealing with their readers, so much bo that they have not the influence with the people that they ought to have. There is room for a great many' reforms in this particular and I sin cerely hope that the editors of the South Carolina papers will seriously consider how they can regain the con-j fldence of the people again. So great, has been the distrust caused by the dishonesty and partisanship that hun dreds, nay thousands of my friends j could not be made to believe that I had written the letter to Ferguson or given out the statement accompanying it. I received many, many telegrams and letters asking whether it was au inenuc. HUB CUIIUIHUH ui iuc jruunv mind has been brought about by see ing that the newspapers in their head lines and in the body of the articles themselves distort and color unright eously the facts. When the people are taught they can always be trusted, but when the people distrust the newspapers and believe them corrupt and dishonest and given to all man ner of lying they lose that respect for them that is necessary to preserve free government Would Talk to Friends. If I ever get able to spealr again I want to go to three counties in South Carolina and talk to my old friends face to face, Anderson, Laurens and York.. You have stolen the love and confidence of those people?I did not lose it; you stole it. Who would ever nave ueutjveu n pusoiuie wai un w&u who 22 years ago were bo frenzied in their Tillmanism and worship of Till man as to unhitch the horses from his carriage and hitch themselves in to drag him in triumph through the stree would come to distrust knd abuse him without cause. Madame Roland before she was guilloined exclaimed: "0 liberty what crimes are committed in thy name!" Noting the progress which has been made toward the demoralization among the Democrats in South Caror una- one tCciU suuui, yju, uciuuv;i aw i will the people never learn to know their true friends from their false leaders, never to distinguish between a statesman and a demagogue, always listening to flattery and sweet words without looking below the surface and the true inwardness of things and men". To think that the very men for whom I have done most, the poor farmers and factory people, should turn and rend me this way! I gave them Clemson college and Winthrop. At least I had more to do with it than any other one man. I gave them the primary, for I wrote the Democratic State constitution with my own hand in conjuuction with my brother, G, W. Tillman, and made the rules govern ing the primary and safeguarded in every possible way their rights, so that now every citizen has a voice in the government and can protect him self if he has sense enough. All pleasure and satisfaction tn my reelection to the senate is gone be ? ilADAPHAn r\t Hipao nlrf friends and followers of mine. It makes me doubt seriously whether I l*ve not erred grieviously In giving the power of self-government to these people and teaching them their rights. They show such a woeful lack of grat itude. I feel that when I am dead and In 4he grave that they will realize \nd understand the criminal folly ol their action and the enormity of the betrayal of heir best friend. I know if I could have spoken to them this summer this tragedy could not have occurred. When these old friends have had time to cool off and think it all over they will curse themselves for such base ingratitude, and for their idiocy in being misled by a dem agogue. To think that they had been such fools as not to understand and grant the old man's last pita to "die in harness" serving them and serv Sherman and Governor Thomas R. Mare i and Democratic tickets respectively, ed. Bramweil Booth socceeded his fatb Bam Scfaeppe confessed his part In the dd seven Indictments for the crime Sei gey was a contribution to the political cat ing he state and nation. Oh, it is \ pitiful! The object of every true patriot should be to pour oil upon the trou bled waters and bring a return of harmony and good will among our people. "Let us have peace". And if that can not be given afe, let us sea what a retam to decency and sanity will accomplish. If you clear yourself of the foul ac- i cusations made against you in the 1 governor's office and will pursue a ' wholly different policy hereafter, there is some future for you in the | state yet. Ifyou do not, your name ' will go down in history as the very worst native South Carolina who was \ ever governor. Moses not excepted. I ] repeat you are "eminently qualified to I be governor as far as brains go," and J if you reform and make good in the two years you have yet to 6erve in ! that office the people may forgive you. ' But ,you must be governor of the whole people and not of your friends j alone and they will take care of your l future destiny, always supposing that ! you clear yourself of the infamous j charges that have been brougM | against you. For unless you do tin. I vmi r>?n never hone to aspire to hjgh- j' er promotion, for the people of South n] Carolina will never send to Washing- ' ton a man not above suspicion. Your < destiny is largely in your own hands, 1 governor. For the honor of the state 1 I hope you can and will clean your- ( self. May God forgive you for the j sins you have committed against your- j self and the people of this state. ( Gov. Blease, you are given another , opportunity. Will you make use of it and show that you are a man and i not a demon! .Put the devil behind 1 you and be the governor of all the ( people instead of your friendB alone; cbnquer yourself and instead of being < the governor of 72,000 become the '' governor of the 140,000 men in South , Carolina! If you do this, the "heath- ] en will quit raging," ^hile the right- ' eous will rejoice. You have the brains, j Make use of them instead of giving } way to your evil passions. I do as- t sure you that you will die a happier ( man if you will follow this advice. 1 ~ ? ?hv kindness Conquer yuur cu^mivw and justice. You can not conquer j them in any other way. f ' B. R. Tillamn. J Trenton, Aug. 30. * Blease Replies to B. ft. Tillman by c Open Letter. Has frothing "Harsh" to Say. Hon B. R. Tillman, Trenton, 8. C. t Dear Sir: Your letter, in this morn- l ing's News and Courier and the Col- j umbia State, has been carefully read, t and it (but adds to the efforts which t have already been made by he news- i papers and others to discredit the * people of South Carolina by charging ^ them with dishonesty ana liijunug ( them by holding them up to the world < that her government is selfish and 1 corrupt. However, I shall say noth- j iflg harsh in reply thereto. t The newspapers have abused me t most wilfully and maliciously, and * after my inauguration, they had a bill ( introduced which gave to them un- t limited power in their abuse of can- < didate for public offices. I vetoed 1 that bill and succeeded in having it ^ rejected. Since then, no act of mine y has met with the approval of the edi- i ors, but, on the contrary, every sug- * gestion of mine?whether it be for ( the best interest of the state or not t ?has been fought and sneered at. The i result has been that great injury has J been done to the state by the news-1 ? I papers, the people Insiae or mc knowing that the newspapers were publishing what was untrue and that j they were unfair, have been made stronger for me. t During this campaign I have been 1 most maliciously lied on. My speeches 1 have been misconstrued , distorted ( and parts of sentences which I used t have been published which have madi> t !t appear that I said things which I J (Continued to last page.. is wrnmm bail were formally notified of their n< At the Marshall notification the grand ier, the late General -William Booth, a > morder of Herman Rosenthal, the Nei lator Penrose of Pennsylvania, accused npalgn of 1904. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmarntmmmmm State Coins Did Not Result, I . i The following account of the meet- . Ing of the State Democratic Execu-! tive Committee in Columbia last Fri day is taken from The State: Charges of Illegal voting in the South Caroling primary last Tuesday will be rigidly probed by the execu tive committee of the Democratic parry. The committee, after two ses 3IUU5 J CStCl UQ>J) aujvui ucu uum uvav Wednesday at noon, when the investi gation will begin. Several specific :hargea have been filed with John 3aiy Evans, State chairman. The following resolution by W. P. Stevenson of Cheraw was adopted by the committee yesterday: . "Whereas, an unprecedented vot^ is reported and widespread charges of fraud and irregularities have been brought as to the election on the 3tate ticket, and it is the duty of this committee to see that whatever nom inations have been made have been lonestly made, and if the charge is .rue it shall be corrected, and if not true it shall be refuted and the pri mary election system vindicated and preserved: "Resolved, That the chairman shall :all on each county chairman, where fraud or irregularities are chaged, to take charge of the club rolls and compare them with the poll lists and T>/>11 liatc with pnrh nther. iJUIlipaiC liic iiovu ?r <?u _ ^ and take such evidence as shall be I available and pertinent and send up Slub rolls and poll ligts or certified 2opies of the same to his committee and report all irregularities: Resolved, further, That the chair mac of this committee do furnish 3uch assistance to the respective 30unty chairmen as may be necessary to facilitate the completion of this work and that the candidates for gov ernor be each allowed a representative at such hearing if desired. "Resolved, further, That this com mittee hereby declare it to be its pur pose to see that every effort be made to see that t/he primary be honestly jonducted and detect and punish all 'rauds committed, vindicate the pri nary system and rid it'of all imputa iong of crookedness and to call on all citizens to cooperate with this com nittee in such work and save the pri nary system from destruction. > "This committee calls on cuizeuo, ind especially all members of the ex-' ;cutive committee and all club offi ;ers, to swear out warrants for per sons violating the primary laws in jonnection with the said election and lave the offenders bound over to :ourt" The Only Work. , . The resolution, which was generally Uscussed by the members, is the sum md substance of the work accom jlished at the meeting of the executive :ommittee yesterday. Several mem )ers objected to the introduction of he resolution, given above on .he grounds that there was no fraud eported in their counties. The reso ution was ably defended by Mr. Ste venson. The position of Gov. Blease vas fully explained to the committee ~ * A ^ e )y E. S. Biease, oruwci v? 0_. irnor, and his substitute on the com nittee from Newberry county. State Chairman John Gary Evans ast night sent the following telegram o county chairmen in accordance with he resolution adopted by the execu ive committee: "If any fraud or ir regularities are charged in your :ounty as to any part of the State icket, investigate it thoroughly. Take :harg? of club rolla, compare them rith poll li&ts, poll list* with each >ther, taking such evidence as is ivailable and pertinent. Then for vard all records bearing on matter, ncluding those above named with evidence to Christie Benet, secretary, Columbia. If you need assistance call >n me. Act promptly. State comrait .ee has adjourned until Wednesday lext, Have reports here as soon as possible. Letter confirming above in itmctions follow. "John Gary Evans, "State chairman." Mamhars of the executive commit ee made it very plain that the 110m nation for governor and other State >ffice8 would not be declared until he committee, after a thorough in vestigation, was able to write the ivords "clean and fair" across that lomination. Mr. Stevenson made it ;lear that it was not the intention of lie Jones members of the committee o show favoritism, but if illegal votes were found for Jones they would :>e thrown out. The members of the committee expressed themselves as jeiug in favor of investigating tin* sit i ; 7 ;uuuauuua ivr vivv pmuuvui uu iuc stand fell and a number of persons s commander In chief of the Salvsr w York gambler, and on tbe strength of accepting $25,000 from the Stand* J aittee Declare Meet r'lt-i. di/Ut't nation to save the South Carolina pri mary law from destruction. Every charge or Intimation of fraud in1 the State will be carefully- investigated. Harry D. Calhoun, candidate for Congress in the Second district,; last night wired Chairman Svans, calling ^'v; Viio offonfmn fA ('non r\f vhiobcv and ?B Otltuuuu UVf illegal voting," in th^t district and asked that a thorough investigation be made. 1 To Report on Ticket. r At the -meeting yesterday Christie v-j Benet, secretary of the committee,' ' said that -the governor of the State v?f\ had criticised him and.&at he desired that a special committee be appointed . to Investigate the charges. He said that the governor had "charged In a public speech that-he had not sent & sufficient number of tickets to Pick ens an? Lee counties./ Mr. Benet showed , that he had sent, out 522,000' tickets to the various counties. After some discussion W. T. Crews of Lau- - v rens, R. L Manning of Sumter and J. I. Willis, of Barnwell were appointed as members of a committee to investi gate the charges by ?he governor. The committee will make a report at the*'* next meeting of the committee on Wednesday. ' \ ,, ' ?' ' At the afternoon session of the com mittee R. B. Caldwell. of Chester re! ported that the special committee named during the morning to assist , in canvassing the returns was. not ready to report, as all of the counties had not made reports. ; Chairman Evans read several tele grams intimating fraud in connection, with the election , in several. counties. Two of the telegrams charged fraud in ,-v* Alton nnii Anderson counties. The of-. flcial protest for Anderson county was . SJj lodged with' the . committee. ' Among the telegrams read was one ? from Senator Tillman, in which he ?9 asked the committee to be very sure before acting, but if there was fraud to investigate it and save the primary law from destruction. Several memliers of!the committee objeeted to the resolution as first in troduced by Mr. Stevenson, on the ground that fraud . had not been charged in all of the counties. J. B. Park of Greenwood took the position that it was the duty, of the committee to canvass all the returns. He thought that the committee should be in a po sition to say whether the election was 1?- a* imfoii* T * clean or uncieau, lCtll Ui UUlut* I Must Be Clean. V\ "We must be able to say to the world," said Mr. Park, "we have held a clean and fair election or we have held an unfair election. If the elec tion has been fair we must be able to repudiate the charges. I think that ' the resolution should apply to every county. We must investigate." The resolution was finally amended so as to apply only to counties where fraud has been alleged. J. M. Greer of Union said that he was a Blease supporter, but he wanted a square ; deal for both candidates. He wai satisfied that there was no fraud in Union county. In reply Mr. Stevenson stated his position clearly. Mr. Stevenson said it was the duty of the committee to throw out all illegal votes, no matter who they were cast in favor of. He said that the primary must be saved and cleansed at any cost. ' E. S. Blease of Newberry took the floor before the committee and out lined the position of the governor with reference to the investigation. He said that his brother, the governor, * mpmher of the committee from v Newberry, but did not think it proper to appear in person. He said that he had come as representing his brother and that he desired to make several statements. He outlined his position as a Democrat and said all that "Cole L. Blease wanted was a fair and honest count." He declared that if his broth er had not been fairly elected he did not want the office. "I have never heard of an executive committee attempting to do something on base rumors or reports," said Mr. Blease. Later it was called to the attention of Mr. Blease that official protests had airpadv been filed with the committee. " * * -V Mr. Blease, in the course or nis speecu, charged that the apparent majority of his brother was hurting some peo ple. He discussed the situation itt Newberry and said that he bad tried to be fair to the candidacy of Judge Jones. He referred to a minor contest in that county. Mr. Blease expressed faith in the members of the executive committee and said that he thought (Continued to iast page.) rJ