The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, July 05, 1918, Image 3
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?