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STATEMENTS 0 McLAURIN, BLI i ! Cooper Proves Charge Of McLaurin Wrong ? i HAS NOT BEEN GUILTY OF ANY: UNFAIR CAMPAIGN METHODS McLAURIN'S STATEMENT DENIED BY CRUM. Laurens, June 30.?Hon. R. A. ^ 4 Cooper issued this evening the fol-j lowing statement: To the Democratic Voters of South Carolina: I have just read _ the statement , which John L. McLaurin has ad-| dressed "To the People of South j Carolina," published in Sunday's j papers in which he makes certain j accusations which are intended byj hirii to reflect on me personally and; politically. My first impulse was to have made answer other than through the public prints, but upon' reflection I think I am hardly justified in giving him this notice. His past political history as well as the confession which he makes in his long article and his effort to show that he was only trying to entrap Blease are-sufficient to condemn him in the eyes of all good and true men. His statment that John K. Aull had furnished me the proof of his, McLaurin's efforts to betray the democracy of the State causes him to explain a letter which I had never seen or herad of. Conscious of his own guilt, he attempts to turn state's evidence before the evidence! which he knew existed had been pro | dueed against him. He now asks the public to be lieve that all concerned in the plot as exposed by him were guilty except himself. It happens however, that I did not have any copy of his alleged "dummy" letter to John G. j Capers, the Republican boss of South Carolina. The only copy of a letter which I had was one* written by John K.~ Afi!rtrr-Vri?r~t?heshi?e,- editor of The Anderson Tribune, which letter Mr. W. J. Cormack, in charge j of the Columiba bureau of the News| 1 and Courier, he has set out in full j in a statement which he has furnish-1 ed to me. A copy of this letter was; furnished me by Mr. Cormack, who Btated at that time that signed copies of this had been furnished the Columbia State, Gov. Richard I. Manning and himself on the night of January 25th, of this year and was released by Mr. Aull for immediate publication; that he, Mr. Cormick, considered anything contained in that letter to be the property of the public. Won J Crum. of Denmark, in-1 forms "me this afternoon, over long distance telephone that he did not make the statement attributed to him by Mr. McLaurin, to wit; that I had told him I did not propose to use the Aull letter against McLaurin until after the campaign when McLaurin could not answer it, and further Mr. Crum stated that I made no such statement to him and Mr. Crum | informed me that Mr. Kennerlyj Mayfield says that he, Mayfield, made ^ no such statement to McLaurin. l| did show Mr. Crum the copy of the letter written by John K. Aull to V. B. Cheshire which had been given me by Mr. Cormack, as Mr. Cormack has explained, and which I knew had been read by a number of other persons before it came into my pos-j session. I was debating in my own mind whether I would use it at all. I knew that the people of South j Carolina had conclusive evidence of j Mr. McLaurin's political perfidy inj the "Dear Archbold" letter of Mayj 29, 1902, in which Mr. McLaurin says: "I can beat Tillman if properly and generously supported." With this knowledge and other matters connected with Mr. McLaurin's political life familiar to the people of the State, I did not regard him as a factor in the race and did not care to stultify my manhood by striking a cripple. I did feel, how-| ever, that the people ought to know, of McLaurin's efforts to lead the: State into the Republican party in 1916 as alleged in the Aull letter and conferred with Mr. Crum and other friends as to the course I i should pursue. JL ' ' > <??*( ? a . i F COOPER, ASE AND AULL I have never supported Blease nor have I ever entered into or considered any combination with him. Blease, McLaurin and all the Blease leaders know this. I supported Governor Manning in. the second primary in 1914 and in 1916 and so announced myself in the press of the State immediately after the result of the first primary was known. The effort, therefore, to align me with Blease is too ridiculous to merit serious thought. The statement furnished me by Mr. W. J. Cormack to show howl came into possession of the Aull letter is as follows: "Although vocationally and personally I am disinclined to be involved in a political controversy of any kind, yet, in the interest of truth and to keep the record straight I feel constrained to make the following statement: In his address to the "people of South Carolina" published this morn ing, former Senator John Lownes McLaurin, unintentionally wronged both Mr. Robert A. Cooper, of Laurens, and Col. John K. Aull, of Columbia, when he assumed that the Aull letter, on which he based his \ statement, was nanaea mr. cooper by its author. It was not. Mr. Cooper received the letter from me. When I read Senator McLaurin's published article this mroning, I immediately rang him up from Columbia on long distance telephone and informed him of the circumstances under which Mr. .Cooper got the letter. They were? Shortly before the opening of the itinerary for State offices, Mr. Cooper was in my office at Columbia discussing the coming campaign. I incidentally told him of the Aull letter, a copy fif which I let him read. When received it was "released" for publication by the author and was then public property and is now. For that reason I gave Mr. Cooper a copy. The circumstances leading up to my possession _of .a signed copy_of the Aull letter, which I still hold, were: During the session of the last General Assembly the Anderson Tribune contained the following: ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH? "WHO? all of the newspaper reporters of The State, The News and Courier and The Charleston American when the Hon. W. W. Moore and the would-be Hon. Henry T. Thompson had a fight in the Adjutant General's office, or if not asleep they were too cowardly to publish the fight. If it had been a fight between some good men it would have been published in big headlines, so why hide it for these two quarterbacks?" Parenthetically, 1 might state that the causes of the suppression of the alleged fisticuff were: First, it was of doubtful news value, the publication of which would have necessitated a statement from the participants; second, heralding it to the world would have menaced a policy of State which was and is,of para mount benefit and safety to the people of South Carolina, and perhaps would have opened an interminable controversy of little news value, of doubtful interest to the people and of probably embarrassment to the principles; and, third, the matter was thoroughly considered at a conference between Governor Manning and the reporters of the . Columbia papers and the correspondents of the out-of-town papers, at which it was deemed wise to let the matter remain quiescent. Mr. Aull, being cognizant of these facts . and knowing the underlying causes of suppression, was very indignant at the "story" which appeared in The Tri bune. He wrote a refutation of it, sending the letter to the editor and the publisher of The Tribune, furnishing signed copies of it to Mr. F. H. McMaster, of the Columbia State; Governor Richard I. Manningand me. It was released for immediate publication, but the newspapers, for various reasons, decided not to use it. The letter signed by Mr. Aull follows: \ - - "Columbia, S. C., Jan. 25, 1918. is "Col. V. B. Cheshire, v "Editor Tribune, n "Anderson, S. C. c "Dear Vic: ( This letter is for publication only I upon the day the Legislature ad- f journs, if you will regard anything j] I in confidence. If you do not, I personally do not care. ^ "In your last issue you criticise j; the Columbia newspaper men for t not printing a story of the fisticuff ^ between Adjutant General Moore t and Col. Thompson. There was a ^ fight. Where you got the informa- _ tion I do not know dnd I do not j, cai'e. You have been in the habit of j pirating ndws. That is neither here ^ nor there. The story of the fight, ^ which w?s not really much of a news stdry, anyway, Was riot carried by c [ The American from my bureau be- t cauSe, aft6r due consideration, 11 j concluded it would not be to the f best interests of the State of South ^ Carolina, along the line you have been preaching, in view of the negro ^ question. , j "2nd. So far as cowardice is coh- r cerned, I think it tfbuld be better f for you to come to Columbia and c make that statement than to pro- ^ mulgate it from Anderson. It will be pVoperly taken care of here. "3rd. None of the newspaper men * involved is sub&idifced by a candidate 5 foi Governor, as you are, and n6ne T of them is supporting a man, who, " in the face of his previous record, [ went to Washington, after the caita- 1 paigh in 1916, and offered to carry the State Republican if one thou- ( sand dollars for each county was put up by the Republican commit- ^ tee. If you want the facts, I have the proof. "4th. What the riewi3pap6r men 1 of Columbia mint to know is, Why vou don't have somebody here to , handle the stuff, if you Want it printed, instead of pirating it next day. ( "5th. Another question: Who is writing' your editorials, anyway, and ] why don't you write thrift ytturself, j if you have either thfe ability Or the ^ newspaper acumen? (Signed) "JOHN. K. AULL." * "Copy to: 1 "W. J. Cormack, of The News . ajjd?Ctmriet?- ? -j "P. H. McMaster, of The Colum- ' bia State. "ITornW Rnrllref TTlP flnllim bia Record. ' "Governor Manning." On the night of .'January 25th, I think it was, in conversation in Co- . lumbia with me ami another man of Columbia, whose na.nie I do not care to divulge without his consent, Mr. Aull, in discussing the letter, said that the man he charged with offering to "carry, the State Republican" was former Senator John L. McLaurin. The other circumstances under lying and bolstering his charge against Mr. McLauriin, if they are to be made public as narrated to me by Mr. Aull, will have to be given out by him. During the course of our conversation of January 25th I A ..11 A iUn4> MnnnoooTV mr. nun awicu niavf u j, he would give out whatever proof he had in substantiation, of his charge. This he reiterated at Aiken last Wed nesday when I told him that I had given Mr. Cooper a copy of his letter, although he stated he hoped it would not be necessary as he did not care to become involved in a controversy with Senator McLaurin. When I gave Mr. Cooper a copy of the Aull letter I gave him the substance, of Mr. Aull's allegations against Senator McLaurin. I also told hrm that, as neithre the letter nor the conversation with Mr. Aull| were confidential, I considered themj public property, particularly the letter. W. J. CORMACK. Columbia, S. C., June 30, 1918. McLaurin Attacks Blease and Cooper CHARGES IN LETTER THAT BLEASE SOUGHT REPUBLICAN PARTY IN 1916 FOR BIG MONEY CONSIDERATION i The following letter from John L. McLaurin appeared in Sunday's papers: To the'People of South Carolina*: I wish to prove to you by letters and the testimony of responsible men, that R. A. Cooper, who is openly tb.e gubernatorial candidate of Maiming and the Manning crowd, and yet secretly an ally of Blease, he selection of John It. Aull as secetary if the bill went through. The ill passed and I, as its author, was lected commissioner. I kept my argain and appointed Aull secretary le was efficient and did his work veil. I thought him a friend. In the spring of 1916 Blease can^e 0 me in person and also wrote me tsking me to support him for gove? lor against Manning. I told him hat I would not do it?that Manring had been standing behind the Warehouse development, and that I lad faith in Manning's future sup)Ort of this institution. Prom that date I noticed a difference in the attitude and conduct of \ull, and before long I Was morally :ertain that he was in my office as 1 tbttl and spy of Blease. I knew >' "? fli?i+ RlMito tomtlrf fwrm that i a coward and a character assassin t rho operates under cover of dark- r ess and behind a mask of hypoc- t risy; and to prove further that e 'ole L. Blease is a traitor to the b )emocratic party and would sell it I or money price?as he was and is \ n spirit a traitor to his country. I entered this campaign as a can- * lidate for governor of South Caro- 1 iha with the intention of rendering r hre^ distinct services to my state. t Jo personal ambition could have 1 emoted me. But there was work to ^ lo, and rio other man who wtfs * ible to do the Work would put His I ifc^d to the plow. First, I desire to perfect and am- * iffy the state warehouse system 1 hat I gave to South Carolina. Second, I desired to rid the state J ?f useless expenses, and to loWer 1 axes that have become unbearably 1 ifeiavy through the carelessness and 'oly of those who have been the 1 >bwer behind the state government. ' Third, I desired to strip the mask ] 'i-om Cole L. Blease, expose him be- ' 'ore the people as a self-seeking de- 1 rtagogue without scruple or honor, ] ihd disbar him forever from the :buncils of a free, clean and intelli- 1 jfent Democracy. Unintentionally, and through the , Ack of wisdom and fairness that ikotild be the possession of every Aim big eifaugh to be governor of a itate, R. A. Cooper has precipitated Ay exposure of Blease and in so do hg expressed his own real character. When this campaign began, Coopannounced on the stump that he pfould not criticise another CandiJate and a few days later said that 1e would not have the office if he ted to win it by he faults of his opjdnents instead of his own merits. This was a high and fair sentiment ,and he gained credit by it, Jut it w88 hypocritical. It was a 4iask to cover the real man. For since that time, while apparEfntily friendly with me, he has been slipping around behind my back and lowing to some of his supporters a letter given him by a weak and bitter man, imputing to me a crime of which I am not and?could not be fuilty. I pm informed that the letter ?iven to Gooper by John K. Aull, of STewberry/"vfrio is the chief-lieutenant and advisor of Cole L. Blease, charges that I endeavored to sell out the Democracy of Sotfth Carolina in the fall of 1916 for the sum of forty-five thousand dollars. If Cooper had been a man, and if he hacl delivered this charge to be true, he would have faced me before an audi$hce of South Carolina people, pointed his finger in my face and said, "That man tried to sell this state to the Republicans/-' In that case I would have called him a liar if it had cost me my life. But lacking the manhood to do this, and knowing that it would damage me if he could circulate it secretly, he slipped behind my back and hid his sneaking treachery with a smile. On its very face the charge is a lie. No man who knows me?and the majority of the people of South Carolina do know me?would suspect me of selling my honor at any price. I am not a money grabber and I do not need more than I have. This letter has been shown to a number of men Who loved decency and fair play, and several of them have written me about it. Mr. Ken-j nerly Mayfield, of Denmark, was the) first to tell me of its existence. He had been informed by Mr. Crum, a supporter of Cooper, to whom Cooper showed the letter. Cooper told Mr. Criim that he would notj use the letter openly until after thei close of the campaign, so that I would have no opportunity to reply to it and defend myself. I love a fight with a brave enemy who will face me in the open. I despise-an assassin* who knifes me in the back under cover of darkness. I I will no\7 tell the story of that! letter from the beginning, and ex-j pose the crookedness and rascality I that brought it into existence. In 1914 whn I was serving in the state senate and Blease was serving his last term as governor, I introduced the bill providing for what has since become famous as the South Carolina state warehouse system. I knew the great good this system would do. I had to make the fight for it single-handed, and I knew that I could- not win unless I made concessions to the Blease faction. In order to win this support, and preven4--the veto of Blease, I agreed to * | :iftie on use arty mearts to "get" me. I \telcomed the ffeht, for I had already determined that it was my to show him up before the people and drvie him out of South Caro lina politics. Later, Manning's attitude on the in?urance matter forced me to support Blease, against my (frill, to protect the warehouse system. . . After1 the tfecdrtd primary of 1916, When Blease had b?en repudiated by the pedple, he told me a number of times, as he told others, that he would go before the people at the general election as an independent Candidate. I knew that he would not do this fo rhe is not a* fool. But I said nothing to discourage him, for I was beginning to outline in mji mind the plans of a trap that would datch him. A little later he asked me to run as an independent candidate. Of course I refused. He came back again with another proposition, asking me to put up the mftriov tn financp an ' indenf?ndf?nt ticket, and I of course refused him also. By this time I saw that he would certainly boh and attempt to set up An independent party if he could find the money to finance the scheme, and I suggested to him that he might be able to get the money through John Capers, who was high in the councils of the Republican par ty. This was absurd, but Blease apto lead him on I frequently called John Aull to take dictation for letters on this subject addressed to cooper. Of course the letters were never mailed, for the whole proposition was silly, but Aull took the matter seriously and I felt sure that he was keeping: Blease informed and that Blease would sooner or later expose very properly filed and preserved carbon copies of these letters. The originals I destroyed as soon as Aull was out of^sight. They had accomplished thier "work as soon as they had fooled Aull and through Aull led Blease nearer to the Trap. The whole course of Blease at"this 4-imtx waa Air+atdA hv Viib helief that lillliV ? MU ...w Hughes would be elected president While the Republican state committee was in session at the Jefferson Hotel, in Columbia, I was in the office of Blease. He told W. P. Beard to go to the hotel, see Dunk Adams, who was Republican state chairman, and tell him to put the names of Cole L. Blease and John L. McLaurin on the ticket# as delegates at laTge. I offered'no objection in the presence of Blease, but as soon as Beard left I followed and caught him and told him that he must not use my name and that I would have nothing to do with it. To make doubly rare, I called Adams on the phone and told him mat if Beard mentioned my name about any proposition it was without my consent. Blease had an interview in a Chicago paper in which he predicted the election of Hughes. He used to wonder why no one attacked him about it. He really believed that Hughes would be elected, and he fully expected to control federal patronage in South Carolina. But while he hoped for much from the Republicans, he was shrewd enough to hold to the Democratic party and shove ** 1 A AiifeftinH oearu to ine uum, <>o ui? ing leader of the independent movement. One day I had to go to Washington and New York on business connected with the Federal Reserve Board and the insuring of stored cotton, and took Aull with me. He was familiar with the details of the warehouse busrr.esa and I had n^ed of him. ^ In Washington we" BawjESBBB ets. What transpired explained by the follojfr|B|aBB from Mr. Capers. II Hon. John L. McLaurin, ^hH Bennettsville, ~Jc||Hfl South Carolina. Dear McLaurin: I was amazed at you^^KraHH you had written me a letflre^H fall of 1916, saying the be carried for the! RepubIi9||9B if an amunt equal to a tbofiP|j9| lars to the county cotid A|3m I do not believe yon evefflK|wB such a thing possible, ^althcqRiiKffi have had no experience* the Republican party. .^SpsS I have had a verv nlea^aniSflfl ience with that party iti fairs for over twenty yeaflKH very sad and discouraging^^MH ence With its affairs in Sou^^Bfl lina. As a result of which^HBHj that the state coi^nrdtTltat|^RH 1916 for fifty thousand dotinE the county or in fact, amount I do not know the contents of the copy of jMB| Mr. Aull is said to have ixraH9 session purporting to be . 'ff^^D a letter written to me -by 'H9KH September or October, 1916i4Hg| I know the date or conteriijjEg^R; original of which it is alIegjB?J holds a copy. I do not find' anflffl a letter in my files, after an^gHH ?tive search, nor have I eny.-SS lection of receiving itf' ' ' f xjSMM I do remember, however, the last week in September, I jH it was, you and Mr. Aull callfejH my office and you introduced to me as your secretary. I niw^H been considerably impregalBH what he told me after yoifsfltijH the office, especially as you hrtB troduced him as your secrewrjiS I presumed you were in BysjflH with the statements he mada ran So much so, that beforfe your to the office I sent a wire to h|H leader of the remnants of publican party in South Car?l asking him to come up to WinH ton. I find a copy of that teiegfl and have it in my hand at .. Whpn von told me our subsequent talk, thatpect to have nothing whate^fl^H with an independent mov? H South Carolina, that you ficial of the state democra^KV| istration and very warmlj^HH pf President Wilson, had lost a great deal^HB^H time with Mr. Aull, i^HBjHH fact that his represej^H^HH bitterness of primaries and thfl^BBj^^Hg at the election ^K^99j^BH of thousand^H^HHSHH stand by the pri^^HH^^^HH couraging prospeH^HHHHfl dent movement at least the basi^H^^H^HH of two political Your stateme^H|^^H9H| i you would iiuu- ll0iMwnw| | do with -fty satisl^^HHjEHS put myself in riHRHflj^^^B I took the matte^^nHHHH ters in New York^^HRBHB^B ance of men of and characte^H^HBBBNflj My Dear Mac.,^^K|^^^HH enemies charge many things but heard you accusedHHH^^BH and you would cer^^^^HB^H yourself in that clat^KI^H^Hj leaving a high sate o^B^^MKB ocratic administrate with bright prospects^B^^HS or for the senate in vacating the office yoiaSHflBn the party you belong tWMHfl you had rendered dis?^^IHH vices to lead or lend y<^nH|^^9 to a forlorn hope of thaH^^HH who are trying to beat nomination for governoA^HH very hard pressed for a^^HDB which to bring about yo j|^DD9 Very sincerely yours^^HflH JOHN G. CAPB| Aull got into such a sha<^BBg ?i'" fiir>tVior> travel imnnasi^^Bfle uiurvu x w*. I brought him homp and New York trip later. Anyway, I ha daccidentHBH| what I wanted?a disint^rt^^M ness to the fact that the cflR manager and chief lieutei^^S Blease had appealed to a worker in the Republican pj^^H an effort to get funds to^^^J * Carolina an dexpose this ?H| ^bolt. And I knew that withT|fiw| 1?