Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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ESTABLISHED EST IS TAFT OR TEDDY. The Republican Party Must Take One or the Other. :t is cut and dried. President Commits Error For Which He Criticised an Illustrious Prede cessor. Signific.'ince of the Nebras ka Democratic Platform. Reflects Views of Bryan. His Attitude To ward Railroads. By WILLIS J. ABBOT. The growing belief in Washington that President Roosevelt is not merely a receptive but a positive candidate for renomination has led to some Investi gation of his public utterances when he was a literary man rather than a politician. Theoretically Mr. Roosevelt is trying to name his successor. The threat is openly made that if Mr. Taft shall not be named to succeed him the presidential party in the Chicago con vention will stampede it for Roosevelt. In short, there is offered to the Repub lican party only a choice between two men, both of whom its leaders dislike equally. If they will uot have Taft, they must take Roosevelt. This matter of a president selecting his successor and perpetuating his ?dynasty was very accurately described by Theodore Roosevelt in his "Life of Benton." Writing then of Andrew Jackson, who did absolutely dictate his successor and wrecked his party for a time, Mr. Roosevelt said: T!ie Jacksonian Democracy was com pletely ruled by a machine, of which the most important cogs were the countless offlcohnlders. whom the spoils system had already converted Into a bund of political mercenaries. ? ? ? Besides this, such an organization requires ? ? ? to have as Its leader and figurehead a man who really has a great hold on the people at large, anil who yet can be managed by such politicians as possess the requisite adroitness. ? ? ? Jackson liked Van Buren because the latter had served him tooth personally and politically?indeed. Jackson was Incapable of distinguishing between a political and a personal serv ice. ? ? ? (The members of the kitchen cabinet) used his name and enormous in fluence with the masses, coupled with their own mustery of machine methods, v> bring about the New Yorker's nomina tion. It is perfectly true that Van Buren was elected. It is equally true that the action of President Jackson In forcing him upon an unwilling party resulted in the disintegration of that party and stands us the one serious 'blot on the Jackson escutcheon. President Roosevelt's criticisms of Jackson are well founded, but today he is doing the same thing which he criticised his more illustrious predeces sor for having done. Either he is In sisting tbat he shall nominate his suc cessor or else he is using Secretary Taft as a stalking horse for himself. There is absolutely no third explana tion of his conduct. Upon one of the horns of.this dilemma he must be im paled. The Nebraska Convention. Of course Washington was not sur prised by the action of the Democratic state convention in Nebraska in in dorsing Mr. Bryan for the presidency and adopting a platform largely dic tated by him. But public men here are Interested In the platform itself and in speculations as to its significance. It is a Bryan platform clearly. Certain things which Mr. Bryan has been charged with Insisting upon do not ap pear in it. No one was surprised that government ownership of railroads was not mentioned, becau. e Mr. Bryan's at titude has always be-n tha; govern ment regulation should be submitted to the most complete and liual tests before the alternative uf public owner ship should be appealed to. Only men dacious opponents of the Democratic party have ever accused Mr. Bryan of any other position than this. That the question of the initiative and referen dum was for the moment ignored sug gests that in goiug iuto the coming campaign Mr. Bryan is likely to adopt the tactics set down some centuries ago by oue Julius Caesar, who in his commentaries says that when he went into battle he left everythiug which might impede his actions behind. Not that I mean that Mr. Bryan Is not a believer in direct legislation, but that evidently he is inclined to confine his platform and his utterances to those things on which his party Is a unit. Some months ago Mr. Bryan remark ed to me that he would like to see a national platform that could be printed on a postal card. The Nebraska plat form hardly meets this ideal, and per haps it would be impossible ever to at tain it. Few people who have neither sat in a committee on resolutions of either great national party nor had op portunity to talk with those who have been members of that committee have any idea of the enormous number of suggestions presented to the commit tee* and the pressure brought to bear to get these suggestions incorporated in the platform. Yet it is probably true that the first convention which would break away from the establish ed custom of a platform almost as long as a president's message and adopt oue dealing only with fundamental princi ples, leaving it to the candidate to ex pand upon them if he saw fit, would make a tremendous hit. Mr. Bryan is a platform in himself. Theodore Roose velt Is a platform. I doubt whether there are any qualified voters in the United States who if these two men should be pitted against each other would look to the formally adopted platform of either party for explana tion as to what were the views of ei ther candidate or what might be ex pected in the event of his election. The Minnesota Situation. The Democratic state committee of Minnesota has indorsed the candidacy 169. of Governor John Johnson for the presidential nomination. It Is quite | within the province of the committee j to express such an opiniou. I have al ways held in this correspondence that it would be better for the Democratic party if there should l>e several names presented to the Denver convention. Governor Johnson's name may well be offered. So also the name of Mr. Chan ler of New York might properly be presented. 'Senator Culbersou's name ought surely to go before the conven tion, because there is no man in the United States senate today who more thoroughly represents true democracy than he. if I am charged with speak iug for the Bryan Democracy I will plead guilty to being quite ready and quite eager to see the name of Senator Culberson presented to the convention. A Democra;ic convention should con sider the names of ail prominent Demo crats. It is for the convention to de termine which one most closely repre sents the policies of the party. True, the state conventions should Instruct their own delegates so that each dele gation may represent the voters of the state who selected it. There is no rea son why Governor Johnson should not have his delegation if the Democratic voters of Minnesota desire him. In deed, it would seem proper that as he is offered as what they call in machine politics "a favorite son" his state might well be conceded to him. The Republican organization has taken this view In the cases of Governor Hughes, Vice President Fairbanks. Senator Knox and Senator La Follette. There seems to be every reason why Governor Johnson, if he desires to be a candidate, should be given the support of his state delegation without serious opposition. Probably he would have none except for the violent enthusiasm shown for him by the Washington Post and Cincinnati Enquirer, owned by John R. McLean, who also owns many of the public service corporations in both of those cities; by the New York Sun, believed to be owned by J. Fier pont Morgan, and by the New York World. Governor Hughes and New York. Few people in Washington take very seriously the candidacy of Governor Hushes for the presidency?if indeed he is a candidate. He Is too new to national affairs?too noncommittal, as a Republican senator who really ad mires him said to uie. to attract the support of a majority of the Republic an convention. But Hughes, without chance of nomination, received a few days ago the indorsement of the Re publican smte committee of New York. The New York man has been a good insurance investigator and. with one exception, a popular governor. The exception was his veto of the two ceut fare bill in New York state. That ac tion Indicated a willingness to put the burden of proof, In an Issue arising l>e tween the people and the railroads, upon the people rather than upon the roads. But the chief criticism upon Governor Hughes among national poli ticiaus lu Washington Is that It will take four years to make him known to the people of the United States. He has seldom been west of the Niagara river. In his public spescb.es he has dispensed fine sounding phrases and accepted platitudes. But with an elect orate which seems now to be interest ed in Roosevelt or Bryan, Hearst or La Follette, the old line of underground politicians of whom New York has produced so many must be regarded as shopworn and only fit to be laid on the shelf. A View of Roosevelt. And when it comes to considering Roosevelt as a real politician, one of the most practical type, some things which were said to me the other day by a southern senator, who, though a Democrat, yields to nobody in his ad miration for the political skill of the president, may seem pertinent. "You may remember," said he, "that when It was announced that Governor Hughes would make a statement of his position on national affairs on a Saturday night Roosevelt was clever enough to get the senate to remain iu session, though its practice Is to ad journ Thursday night over until the following Monday. Then he sen: in a j message so fierce iu its tone that it would draw away from the Hughes j speech the attention of the entire conn- j try. That is so receut au incident that everybody remembers it. but how many people do remember now thai when the revelation was made thai 'the malefactor of great wealth.' E. H. Harrlman. had raised more than $250,000 for the Roosevelt campaign fund at Roosevelt's inceutivo. a spokes man of the president suddenly discov ered that there was a conspiracy among rich men to raise $"?,01)0.000 t<> defeat the president's re-election? The mere suggesiion of the conspiracy was so much more dramatic than the proof of the corporation boodle put up for his election that everybody talked about the former and forgot about in surance moneys used in his behalf. When California was up in arms against Japanese immigration and the rights of Japanese students in Ameri can schools, Mr. Roosevelt, as com-1 mander in chief of the navy, found the time propitious to send the greatest fleet the United States has ever put un der one command to the Pacific. "They talk about there being a Knox press bureau in Washington or a Hughe* press bureau in New York or organizations to support this or that candidate?Democratic or Republican. I want to tell you that the greatest press bureau, in charge of the clever est political advertiser and manager ever known, is maintained today in the executive offices at the White House." Four or five newspaper men and two members of congress who listened to j this outburst of oratory applauded the southern senator and said he was right. Washington, D. C Ten Were Injured. Ten persons were injured, none seriously, in a trolley car accident at Philadelphia yesterday. OKANGEBTJ From interview with John C WENT FOR TEDDY Senator Tillman Arraigns Presi dent's Encroachment On LEGISLATIVE POWER. He Says Congress Is Subservient to the President's Will, and Says He Exercises Too Much Influence on the Other Departments of the Gov ernment. House Declared to be Speaker's Tool. With a caution unusual for him, Senator Tillman reecntly read a part of his speech in the Senate, In which he denounced Executive encroach ment on legislative power. With this apparent caution he proceeded to de liver one of the most direct and de nunciatory addresses ever heard in that body. He was given a careful hearing. His speech was based on his resolution instructing the commit tee on finance to inquire whether na tional banks of New York are in the habit of furnishing permanent capi tal for speculative enterprises, etc. The resolution was adopted. Mr. Tillman traced what he termed a "swinging of the pendulum" from the regime of Andrew Jackson, when Congress assumed control almost to the exclusion of the President from legislative influence, to the adminis trations which followed, which, he declared, witnessed a growth of Pres idential powers. The dominating in fluence and control of the Executive branch over the legislature and in a degree over the judicial branches of the Government were the most mark ed features of the American politics at this time. "It has taken," said .Mr. Tillman, "just forty-one years for the pendulum to swing from one extreme to the other." "Now," he said, "the House of Representatives has degenerated into little more than a recording machine to do the will of the Speaker and his lieutenants." Freedom of debate in the old and true sense has disappear ed from the other end of the Cap itol, he added. In the Senate "ser vility and cowardice are the order ] of the day," he declared, "and the J shadow of the Executive hangs over j all and the President's wishes are almost the only law. "There is," he added, "some show of resistance on matter affecting the multi-millionaires and the great cor porations. The President writes scolding messages and makes inflam matory speeches appealing to the unthinking and ignorant masses. He has the potent influence of the press at his command; he has used the newspapers and magazines in exploit ing what he calls 'my politics' with a skill and daring that compel admir ation. With bated breath Senators denounce his radical ideas in pri vate and oppose in every possible way the measures which he clamors for by the passive resistance of non action. No one of the dominant par ty dares lift his voice in opposition or denunciation, but the Executive influence is the only influence in evi dence, while the Senate cowers in si !eni resistance. ? The cause of this condition." de clared Mr. Tillman, "is Federal pat ronage." "The theory that the Senate must 'advise and consent' before appoint ments are made," he said, is of lit tle or no moment when Senators show such want of courage and self-respect and bow submissively to the onlers from the White House. The mem bers of the minority party, of course, were largely ignored. Appointments in the South, where the Democracy TRG, S. C FRIDAY, MAI A HAND FOR' EVERYBODY. >. Rockefeller: "Standard oil is always ? retains control, are in the hands of 'referees' who fill the offices for the sole purpose for maintaining ma chines. The Senators of the domi nant party are afraid to resist the executive will, lest they themselves should fail to obtain the patronage of their States." They have also, he declared, a dread lest they should be forced into retirement When clashes have come between the President and Senators or Representatives the people have in almost every instance sided witu the President, he said. "The people, poor, simple .-ouls, reading the special pleas and fiOphls tical excuses of Republican editors, are 'fd to think the PreHideu* alone is honest and patriotic." said Mr. Till man. "They believe religiously that the Senate is corrupt and the White House debauched and that the j.oli tics?my politics, which are so ex ploited in the press?must prevail and become law before any relief can be obtained. Senators who do not agree with the Executive and who refuse to obey his will must be re tired. Congressmen who resist Exec utive dictation must be replaced by those who will obey . "In the mad rush to placate the negro vote we may expect to see be fore the Chicago Convention meets, to quote a great New England paper, "the President reviewing the re-en listed battalion on the White House green, after which there will be lun cheon at the Executive mansion.' The President's action in that was hasty and unjust, inasmuch as the innocent were punished along with the guilty, but it is a pitiable spec tacle all the same to see the mad race for negro votes. "Mr. Roosevelt is .always loud mouthed and even vehement in the proclamation of his own purity of purpose and patriotism. He has ab solute faith in his own infalihilityand is apparently so drunk with power that he unconsciously lapses into the imperial 'we' and sends cablegrams about 'me and my people.' But these things are of small moment?'vaga ries of a noble and impetuous spirit,' and we could pass them by were it not for the existence of cold-blooded facts to show Executive responsibil ity for many of the evils which ex ist without dispute." Paul Morton, as vice-president of the Santa Fe Railroad, said Mr. Till man, "in the rebate cases laid him self open to indictment and liability to personal punishment, but the Pres ident peremptorily refused to permit Messrs Judson and Harmon to pros ecute him." Senator Tillman denounced Presi dent Roosevelt for not prosecuting land grafters, and Senator Beveridge interrupted to say that the only dif ference between the President and Senator Tillman was that the former prosecutes upon evidence and the latter without it. Mr. Beveridge j wanted to know why Senator Tillman I in his hood of messages has not cov U-red the subject. Mr Tillman replied that if Mr. Beveridge "wants me to imake more criticisms than I have the Senator from Indiana is a great big glutton." j Mr. Tillman reviewed the events of the recent currency crisis and j charged Wall street with many mis demeanors. "The profits of this nefarious stock ?monp;ering have." he said, "found ; their way into the pockets of the ] very man who with evil results of ltheir fraud manifest pose as "saviors'; and 'and crowned kings' and are | j lauded to the skies when they were1 really trying to save themselves from j j the disasters which threatened to overwhelm them along with their de luded victims. One of these 'sav iors' had done more than any other I of the money kintrs to deluge tiie stock market with watered stocks." A long review was given by Mr. Beveridge of Democratic politics, and he declared that aconferencehadbeen held in Washington for the purpose! of coming to a plan for asking for j iCU 20, 1908. living so. e one a hand." ?Taylor in Los Angeles Times. TALE OF HOROR. Men and Women Beaten on Cer tain ^Islands. HORRIBLE PICTURE By Gen. Pienaer, Who Says He Has Seen Children Beateii Until Their Rlood Covered the Ground Aronnd Cocoa Plantations. IMen to Por tugese Goaernment to Have It Stopped. At Washington a vivid description of atrocities alleged to he perpetuat ed upon slave lahorers on cocoa plan tations on the Islands of Principe and Saint Thome, Portugese West Africa, was given in an address on "Children's Lives in Africa," by Gen. Joubert Pienaer, of South Af rica, of the International congress on the welfare of the child under the auspices of the National Mother's Congress. "The atrocities I have witnessed in Portuguese West Africa have tak en such a 'hold upon me," declared Gen. Pienaer. "that I cut myself loose from all my business and leav ing my family thousands of miles away, I have consecrated my life to the freeing of the men and women that are daily being done to death and the little children that .I have seen beaten until the blood flowed to the ground." The speaker said that be had form ed an association with the intention of petitioning the Portuguese gov ernment on behalf of the slaves to establish missionary settlements to civilize and Christianize them and to act as a guard over the slave trade and to report the atrocities to the association "This seems to me." he said, "the only effective way of putting a stop to this iniquity." He asked for the support of the Mother's Congress in his mission of humanity. After stating that " the cruelties meted our. to those degraded human beings on the mainland were be yond description." General Pienaer continued: "children are torn from the breasts of mothers and sold as slaves. Slaves in the employ of their task masters are beaten to death, men .'".id women and children are mutilated. Often a native has been done to deUh he is quartered and the different portions of his body are hung on the trees to terrorize the other natives. Corset Killed Her. At Brigham, Utah, Mrs. Carl Gun kle laced her corset so tightly that she crushed her heart, causing the blood to shoot to her head. Her husband, hearing her fall, ran to the room and summoned a physician, but .Mrs. Gunkle was dead before the doctor arrived. ? Mad Dog Bite Kills. Little .Jennings White Russell, son of Mr. V. V. Russell, of Newberry, died in Atlanta Tuesday from a bite of a mad dog received there some days ago. Bryan not to again be a candidate on the Democratic ticket, but when Mr. Bryan was there, he said, not one of them had the courage to tell him what they had planned to do. This statement called forth denials from Mr. Tillman, Mr. McCleary and Mr, Rainey, all of whom declared that there had never been any idea of ask ing Mr. Bryan not to run on the Dem ocratic ticket and that stories to that effect were mere myths. AWFUL TRAGEDY JUDGE BUCHANAN SHOT WHILE RIDING ON TRAIN. Ho is Fatally Wounded and is Taken to a Hospital in Augusta Where He Died. A dispatch from Augusta to The News and Courier says former Judge 0. W. Buchanan, of Winnsboro, S. C, died there Tuesday at 11-30 o'clock as the result of the 22-calibre rifle wound which he received while sitting in a railway car at Ward's Station. S. C, Monday afternoon. Judge Buchanan was coining from Winnsboro to Augusta and was sit ting by an open wndow reading a newspaper when wil hour warning the small leaden missile whizzed through the opening and buried it self in his right side, the shot having been fired by some unknown party, the only theory- entertained here be ing that it was a stra/ oullet fired by some person practicing shooting. The wounded man whs brought to this city and an operation at Dr. T. R. Wright's private sanitarium resulted in the successful extraction of the bullet, but the intestines had been pierced in several places. The remains were taken to Winnsboro for interment. Judge Buchanan was ro meet a party in Augusta composed of his brothers-in-law, Messrs. James H. Tillman, A. R. Fuller, of Laurens, and his sister-in-Uw, Mrs. G. A. Eunch. He was siting In a seat with Judge Lyon, and as the (rain was leaving Ward's Station, thirty-five miles from Augusta, he exclaim ed that a brick had strucic him, arose from h''s seat, and in a tew mJnutes j later fainted from the shock of his [ wound. . j A dispatch from Edgefield says that three boys were out hunting near Ward's and one of them acci dentally shot in the train with a rifle. It is reported that the boys have been arrested, but no names are given and it is impossible to get. authentic in formation as to the real facts of the sad tragedy. It is suoposed that a ful investigation will be had and the matter clarified CAN'T DO IT A?. 'IN. Congressman James Says Corruption Funds Defeated Bryan Twice. Loud Democratic applause greet ed Congressman James while making a speech in the House on Tuesday, when he asserted his belief that in the last two campaigns against Mr. Bryan, "but or the corruption brought by the Republicans on the monopolies and trusts of the country Bryan would have been elected Presi ident of the United States." Mr. Bryan, he said. *-'ood for some thing and had convictions and the courage to express them. "He has never prostituted his garments for money," he said. "He has never sold the love of the American people for corporation gold." "The people of the country," he said, would "in just time do proper meed and credit to the man who draws the naked sword in their de fense and in their rights," and he believed that these people, "are go ing to elect for President that grand, that splendid, that matchless Demo crat: W. J. Bryan. DROPS DEAD. While Looking at the Corpse of a Drowned Baby. In Dunk 1 in Township, in Green ville County, three miles from Green ville, the 1-year-old child of Joe Say les, colored, fell into a tub which drowned. The child's mother had left it alone to go into the house and when she returned it was dead. The news quickly spread through the neighborhood and a number of people gathered at the house, among them Joe Jordan, the 18-year-old son of Mr. J. B. Jordan. He walked up to the tub, in which the child had J been drowned, looked at it and drop-j ped dead. Mr. Jordan says his son had a nar row escape from drowning in the same manner when a child. The boy had a weak heart and it is supposed that the recollection of his narrow escape when a child and the horror of the negro child's death caused a shock to his system which resulted in his death. PRETTY WELL FIXED. Senator Latillicr Left a Large Estate to His fliers. At Anderson the will of the late Senator A. C. Latimer has been pro bated by Probate Judge W. P. Nich olson. After each member of the family receives certain legacies the will provides that the estate be di vided equally, share and share alike, among the members of the family, including Mrs. Latimer. The will does not state the value of the estate, but it is generally believed that its valuation is somewhat between $300, 000 aud $500,000. Bryan Will Win. representative Johnson, who is at home at Spartan burg for a few days from Washington, says ho believed Mr. Bryan would be elected Presi dent. In fact, many Republicans he lieve Mr. Bryan will be the next Pres ident and a Democratic House of Representatives will be chosen. 81.50 PEK ANNUM. FIGHT A DUEL Gen. Fock MortellY wounds Gen* Smirnoff at Close Range. PISTOLS WERE USED. Smirnoff Reflected Upon Brother Ot* fleer's Qualities in Memorandum . .on Seige of Port Arthur. Duel Takes Place in Regimental Riding1 School in St. Petersburg in the* Presence of Men and Women. At St. Petersburg, Russia, Lieut* General Smirnoff was probably fat ally wounded in a duel fought Wed nesday morning with Lieut. Gen. Fock. The men were in the riding school of the Chevalier Guard regiment and fought with pistols, standing closo to each other when the shots were exchanged. The duel was caused by a memo randum written by Gen Smirnoff on the seige of Port Arthur, in which he questioned the courage of Gen. Fock. The latter considered that his hon or and reputation was involved and challenged the author of the memo randum. The duel, occuned with the ful2 knowledge and approbation of the military authorities. It was witness ed by several officers of high rank, and it is even reported that several women were present. Shortly before 10 o'clock Gens. Fock and Smirnoff appeared at tha riding school. Without saluting they took the places assigned by their: seconds. The duelists were instructed to* fire until one or the other was hit. At Fock's fourth shot Smirnoff groan ed and sank wounded in the abdo men above the hip. The word "fire" was given by Gen Kirsieff, the Russian authority ont duelling. At the third excaange Smirnoff accidentally fired prematurely, but Fock magnanimously declined ta shoot at a defenceless opponent, and the fourth and final shots were then, exchanged. The duel will be followed by another between Fock and Gen. Gor batoffsky who was criticised by Fock during the court-martial pro ceedings. Gen Smirnoff was acting comman dant of the Port Arthur fortress dur ing the seige and at the time of its surrender to the Japanese. After his return to Russia he prepared a se cret report of the defense of Port Ar thur which was the basis of the indictments on which Gen. Stossel, Gen. Fock and Gen. Reiss were tried! for their lives before court mar tial. MILLS SHUTTING DOWN. Thousands of Operatives Are Affect ed by the Curtailment. Thousands of employees ot New England Mills and factories went on a short time basis following several months of depression. In some places reports com^s of several factories re suming worK arter the shut down or increasing their running time. ? The Hargraves Parker mills in Fall River went on a four days a week basis. The Fisher Manufac turing Company's cotton mills, at Fisherville, Mass., employing 700 hands, were shut down until Monday. The Gabot mills, at Brunswick, Mo., with 800 hands, went on a schedule of four days a week. Cotton mills in several towns own ed by B. B. and R. Knight, and em ploying six thousand operatives, went on a three quarters time schedule. The Putnam Manufacturing Com pany's mills went on three and a half time schedule and the Nightingale land Powhattan mills, of Putnam, Conn., have reduced to four days at week, affecting 700 hands. The Edwards cotton mills, at Au gusta, Maine, employing 1,000 hands, adopted a half schedule, and the Whitin machine shops, at Whltin ville, Mass., making cotton mill ma chinery, with 1.S0U men, reduced time to forty-five hours a week. Curtailment of production is also approved by the Chicopee cotton mills, of Chicopee Falls. 1,300 hands, the Dwight mills, of Chicopee, 500 operatives, Salmon Falls mills, Sal mon Tails, N. H., 700 operatives, Naumbeag cotton milts, of Salem, l,50u hands, and other concerns. RAN AWAY FROM SCHOOL. 1 Young Boy Killed While Riding Un derneath Express Car. Young Dean, the son of a promi nent citizen of Langloy, was killed Tuesday afternoon on the electric car line between Langley and Warren ville, near Alken. It seems that he slipped off or ran away from school and got on the Augusta-Aiken ex press car. It is supposed that he either fell off or was shaken off, falling on the track and was then run over by the car. The men on the express car. it is said, did not know anything about the matter and the boy remained on the track until the car bound for Alken came up a little later. The affair is avery de plorable one.