Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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PUBLISHED THBEE Tj SCORES FELDER Gov. Blease Has a Letter Exposing That Geji?eniaQ to the Glare. TRIED TO CHEAT STATE The Letter Claims That Felder Of fered to Form a Conspiracy With H. H. Evaiy by Which the State Would be Defrauded Out of a Large Sum of Money. A letter which Gov. Blease says was written by Thomas B. Felder of Atlanta offering to frame up a $500*, 000 deal with H. H. Evans, former member of the State dispensary "board of control, now under indict ment for conspiracy to defraud, was! given out Sacurday by Gov. Bleasej as "his first grain of sand" on the | dispensary investigation situation. The following is the letter: "Dear Hub: I have just returned j from Peoria, 111. I have framed up] our company in such a way that we; will be able :o make all the mone> out of it by the time your term as| commissioner expires as we will rea-i sonably need and you can then retire. 1 want you to think seriously of the plan which I submit and make an i appointment as soon as possible, j either here or elsewhere, and I can I discuss with you more fully and sat isfactorily the details. The plan is| sufficiently feasible to justify our tak lng your associates in on the ground floor. It is this: The capital stock of our company at present is $100, 000, owned by you and I. It is all paid for and I have the actual cus-j tody of the stock. Hull, the general manager of Clark Brothers & Co., wants an interest and we may need him, but not. at present. If we can get for October, November and De cember large orders from Carolina, i can issue $5(>0,000 of preferred stock of the company, sell it to partieb ?who have already agreed to pur chase; we can divide the proceeds from the sale of the preferred and then do one or two things?sell thw common and let some new company run it or rue it ourselves. Meantime we will have in hand $250,000 eacn, less such sums as we may have to p&y to^ others to secure business in the meantime. "Now, Hub, I want you to give this matter your serious considera tion and cooperation. If you will do It I will make you a fortune and that very quickly. Write me when and where j-ou will meet me upon receipt of this. We have very little time 'to pull the scheme together.' Have been working on the plan sev eral months and now have It per fected. I have a brother-in-law In Indiana, a millionaire, who assisted me in working out the plans and will assist me in selling the preferred stock as soon as we can make a good showing. He has, as all other very rich men, accumulated his for tune by th;) manipulation of stocks. There is enough in the plan to justi-j fy us in paying more for business than any one else can afford, as you will perceive. Then, too, as Clark! Brothers & Co. are the largest dis tillers in the United States, no one can be criticised for giving them! large order;;. Whatever is done must' be speedily done. Can you get your' associates io meet us here in At-1 lanta or in Augusta right away? | Now, Hub. don't, dilly-dally about this, for after months of labor my plans are mature and we can make a killing." This letter was signed "T. B." The letter was dated "Atlanta, Ga., October 2, 1905." T. B. Felder yesterday when told of the letter that had been given out by Gov. Biease said that "It was a forgery." He denied ever visiting] Peoria, 111., and said that the letter; had been "faked" up by the gov-i ernor of Scaith Carolina. H. H. Evans, when asked as to the letter, deciared vehemently that hej had received the letter in question and many others and that T. B. Fel der had tried "to frame up" with sev-1 eral of th.? members of the dispen sary board of control. Gov. Bl?ase announced the letter had been obtained after months of hard work He said he knew the let ter had been written telling of such a deal to H. H. Evans and that it was not until a few days ago that he was able to secure the original manu script. "H. II. Evans told me that this let ter was from T. P.. Felder. ' This statement was made by Gov. Blease. Gov. Blease declares that there is no doubt but that the letter is in the same handwriting as that of T. B. Folder. Ho placed the letter by sev eral letters from T. B. Felde-; and he said that the handwriting was the same. Gov. Blease said rhaf tlvj original Utter was locked up in one of the vaults of a bank in Columbia. Gov. Blease said that several other persons had road the letter and de clared the handwriting to be the same as the letters signed by T. B. Felder. At the conclusion of the letter the following signed by A. W. Todd, R. M. McCown and L. M. Overstrcet appears: "We. the undersigned, have read the original of the above letter and certify that this is an ex act copy "hereof." R. M. McCown, secretary of state, and A. W. TodJ is a member of the house. H. H. Evans, when asked last night why he gave the much-desired [MES A WEEK. _J_ SOME COOD JOBS MANY* GOOD PLACES FOR THE FAITHFUL DEMOCRATS. Will be Distributed When Congress, Meets in Extra Session First of Next Month. With the near approach otf the as sembling of the sixty-second congress the gathering of the office seekers has given the hotel lobbies at Wash ington an appearance of old times. While the extension of the civil ser vice in late years has greatly reduced the number of official positions to be distributed among the faithful, the new Democratic house will etil] have at its disposal 500 or more joDs, many of them of excellei t salary propositions. The two best positions are those of clerk of the bouse and sergeant-: at-arms. They pay $5,001) each a year. The doorkeeper's place pays! $4,500, and is next best on the lisc,! these being big jobs, and a few more of the $3,000 and $3,500 class are filled by party caucus. There are more good positions un-j der the clerk of the house than in any other branch. The journal clerk draws $4,000, the chief clerk $4,-! 000, the reading clerk '$3,000, tally; clerk $3,000, parliamentary clerk $3,000, printing clerk $2,500, dis-l bursing clerk, $2,500, file clerk $2,-j 750, enrolling clerk $3,000. In ad dition, there are more than fifty minor clerks under the clerk of the house drawing anywhere from $750, a year to $2,250. There is another set .of employeb under the sergeant-at-arms. Thej deputy makes $2,500 a year, thej cashier $3,000, and nine or ten morei who make $712 a year up t.o $2,500. The house postmastership is a comfortable berth. It pays $3,000 annually, and there is aii assistant who gets $2,000. Also there are twelve messengers to distribute the mail and receive for their work $1, 200 a year each. The largest number of employes in any one branch works under the doorkeeper. There are no less than seventy-two of them. The assistant doorkeeper gets $2,500 a year, while the assistants and others in that de partment get paid from $'.'50 a year up to $2,250. The superitendent of the house document room draws $2,500 a year, and his chief assistant $1,300. Thtre are about ten other assistants who are paid $1,200 to $1,400 for their services. In all there are about sixty jobs in the house folding room. These employes fold and send out the speeches of the individual congress men. The superintendent of the fold ing corps gets $2,500 a jrekgtf and thje others are paid f^ogr^6A<!;)?o $2,000 a year. The other house emplcves include ten cloak room attendants, who get about $1,000 a year each, and there are twice that many pages who are on the rolls at $75 a mo.ith during sessions. * I Workmen Find Skeleton. Workmen installing a heating! system at Alvah S. Braim-rd's house, ? near Hazardville, Mass., found a kegj in an old-fashioned chimney contain ing a human skeleton. The remains were those of a child. Nothing was left but the bones and a few ashes., The Brainerd family is at a loss to : explain the mystery. * ! Causes Sensation. A sensation has been caused in' London financial circles by the sui cide of R. F. Carnegie, manager of i the Lombard Street branch of Parrs Bank, Limited, who shot himself at his residence Friday. The affairs of : the institution are said to be in per i feet order. * Fireman Was Killed. , At Milwaukee the M. Hilty lumber yard was practically wiped out by1 fire Thursday. The loss is $200, 000, partly insuraced. Fireman Fred Clark was overcome by ihe cold and fell from a ladder and was killed. * letter to Gov. Blease, refused to make a statement, stating that he was not being cross-examined. "Why certainly," he said, "Tom Felder wrote me several letters of fering to 'frame up' a big deal. lie came to Newberry with Hull and 1 told them to put tln ir proposition in writing. The letter that Gov. Blease der which I turned down. I swear on gave out i~ the proposition of Fel a million stacks of Bibles that Tom Felder wrote me that letter and if you will come up to Newberry 1 will tell you some not stuff about other deals that they tried to frame up. It is a bona fide letter and I swear it. I can prove by living witnesses that Tom Felder wrote the Iett< r. You don't know half the inside business and if you will come up here 1 will tell you all about it. Gov. P.lease declared that he had many letters which would cause sen sations and that they will be given out at the proper time. "Have you any information as to (he acts of the members of the old State dispensary winding-up com mission that would show unfair deal ings?" he was asked. "Not so far. I know they are all honorable men. I have beard ru mors about them," was the reply. "Will you sign the measure au thorizing an investigation of the dis pensary?" "I have not yet decided," was the answer. ; OKANGKEBU PROVE FALSE Mrs. and Miss Hail Accused of Smug-! gliog Yalaable Necklace. BAGGAGE IS SEARCHED The Tip Given Custom House Officials Turns Out to be Untrue?Over j Zealous Customs Authorities Find Minor Undervaluation of Clothing. The Victims are Very Indignant.**' The wife and daughter of Joseph j Hull of Savannah, Ga., one of the' wealthiest and most influential men | in the South, were required to dis robe in their stateroom aboard the steamship Lusitania at New York on Friday while a customs inspectress, acting on a mysterious tip, subse.-: quently found to be false, made a; vain search for a diamond necklace thought to have been purchased abroad. The search proving futile, Mrs. j Hull and the daughter. Miss Eliza; Lamar Hull, were allowed to proceed : to their hotel, where another daugh-j ter, Miss Nina Hull, convalescing from an attack of typhoid fever, had preceded them without having been subjected to search. The necklace rumor dismissed, customs inspectors searched the fam i ily baggage, and, charging underval-j nation in the case of Mrs. Hull and Miss Eliza Hull, seized the articles ? in question. Mother and daughter; claimed they had acted in good faith, but their explanations were not con sidered satisfactory to Collector Loeb and the articles were seized. They consist entirely of wearing apparel and will be held until "the home value," that is the foreign cost, plus duty, Is paid. Joseph Hull, the husband and father, was on the pier to greet his wife and daughter, as was a son, Daniel, a cotton broker in this city. All were indignant at the proceed ings and threaten to carry the mat ter to the courts If necessary. "We were made to take off even our stockings," said Mrs. Hull. "Ev ery stitch of our clothing was searched and even our hair did not escape. I consider this treatment an outrage and I had no idea such a thing could happen on American soil." It was explained for the family that the report concerning the neck lace had probably come from Savan nah, where there was jealousy over the fact that the Hulls were fortu nate enough to afford luxuries^ and finery. As- to the undervaluation j charges, Daniel Hull said: "My sister Eliza was the only one \ of the three who had previously; been abroad, so I and my father senti wireless to be very cautious and par-! ticular in making their declarations. As to the alleged undervaluation, tht; total can be no more than $150 and that was due to ignorance of my mother and sister and was done with no malicious intent." "My sister Eliza has a diamond necklace which she purchased five years ago in Savannah. A customs inspector there heard of this and got the mistaken impression that she bought the trinket in Paris and was bringing it with her on this trip. Of course she had no such jewels." It was pointed out at the law de partment of the custom house to night that federal authorities have full power to search passengers sus pected of having dutiable articles concealed about them, and it was added that there has never been a suit brought as the result of such a search. Joseph Hull came on here from Savannah to meet his returning wife and daughter. He is president of the Merchants' National bank of that city, chairman of the board of di rectors of the Savannah Trust com pany, a director of the Central rdi road and president of the Prairie Phosphate company. He is credit"!: with having made many millions out of phosphate properties. * Robbed Mrs. Bryan. Mrs. William Jennings Bryan was robbed at the Majectis Theatre New York of a handsome seal hand bag, containing $7? and valuable souve nirs collected by her and her hus band in their recent travels, last Sal urtday afternoon. .Mrs. Stephen B. Ayres, wife of the Congressman, whose guests Mr. and Mrs. Bryan wer? in the Bronx, made the fact public. * Divorce in Six Months. Nevada's popularity as a place for quick action in divorce cases was in creased Friday night. The legisla ture lei down the bars further, notn 'aousos p;.ss<d a bill making a resi dence of six months the only require ment in divorce actions. The privi lege of leaving the state "when nec essary" will be accorded all who es tablish their residence (here. * Rescued Alive. At Kansas City for fifteen minutes Thursday Ernest Boldinger, a labor er, was buried under eight feet of dirt in a well, but he was rescued alive and physicians say he suffered no serious injury. He was at the bottom of a sixteen-foot well when the wall caved in. Workmen heard his cries and dug him out. He was unconscious. ? RG, S. C lUESRDAY. M. WILSON A WINNER COL. HARVEY POINTS TO HIM AS WINNING HEAD. Declares That Only Progressive Dem ocrat Has a Chance to Carry Ban ner in Triumphant Campaign. "Careful diagnosis of the present temper of the people clearly indi cates that, if an election were to be held tomorrow, a Democratic candi date regarded by the people less pro gressive than President Taft would be defeated, and that candidate gen erally recognized as being more pro giessive, more liberal, more radical, If you like, than President Taft would almost as surely win.'' So declared Col. Harvey of New York, in regard to the next presi dential campaign, in the concluding address at the 99th annual banquet; of the Hibernian society at Savannah^: Friday night. Then he said: "Let the apportionment of respon-l sibilities be even. The West has tui nished the party, as well as the op { position, with the majority, thougn not the greatest, of its issues. Th'j South is to enforce harmony and amalgamation. The East presents the maD?Woodrow Wilson, thej highly Americanized Scotch-Irish man, descended from Ohio, born in Virginia, developed in Maryland, married in Georgia and now deliver- j ing from political bondage the State of New Jersey." These'"two state ments from the framework of Col. Harvey's address on "The Problem, the Solution and the Man," or, re duced to plain English, the chance the Democratic party has of elect ing a president in 1912. With Gov. Wilson of New Jersey as the candi date, Col. Harvey sees the party's success. The Hibernian society banquet was the climax to an unusual cele bration of St. Patrick's day which began with a military parade, vari ous Irish society meetings and church services. In addition to Col. Harvey's addresses were made at the banquet by Michael J. Jordan of Bos ton, Mass.; Congressman William G. Brantly of Georgia; Murphy G. Can dler, railroad commissioner, of Geor gia; Georgia Supreme Court Justice Joseph H. Lumpkin; the Rev. Dr. Charit..; H. Strong of Savannah and Thos. W. Loyless, editpr of the Au gusta (Ga.) Chronicle. * GALLMAN HUGGED GOVERNOR. Blease Personally Delivered Parole J to Convict. | J. W. Gallman, who was paroleo from th'3 penitentiary by Governor Blease Thursday, came up to ? Jonesville Friday morning and then went to Lockhart, where hisj family resides. Gallman was serv-| in? a fi'teen-year sentence for killing! Sims Gilmore, in Jonesville, on the 16th of May, 1907. Gallman says that day before yes terday afternoon, about three ho'jrs, before the time for the work at the penitentiary to close, Governor Bleas*. j drove down in his carriage and called for him, and he was brought out to! the office and the Governor asked him if he wanted to go home. He tola him he "sure did" and the Governor said: "Here is a parole for you." Gallman says he hugged the Go' ernor till he hardly knew when to i let him loose. Gallman said he never, feit so good in all his life, and he was shaking hands with his friends and was happy, indeed. He went down to Lockhart on the mid-day train, to join his family, a free, happy man. * i * m o READY FOR THE PUMPS. Wreck of the Maine Will be Inspected Within Six Weeks. The dam about the wreck of thei battleship Maine will be completed1 within a week and pumping will start, according to an announcement by Col. Black, of the Maine commis sion. The battleship will be on dry ground within six weeks, he says, ready to be inspected by the official | commission which is to discover the exact cause of the explosion. Col. Black says the divers' reports indicate that the hull is in very bad condition. The top of the forward turret was found buried th's week in the mild of the harbor. It was lifted to the surface, intact, but with I he rivets torn and twisted, showing the great force of the explosion. Electric Lamps Cheaper. As the first direct result of the no'.ernnieiii's ant:?:ru:-l suit against the so-called "Electric Lamp Trust," the department of justice has receiv ed intimations that the prices of all electric bulbs will be red net il s:s 1-3 per cent all over the United States. By such a cut in present prices?folks who buy the electric lamps will save more than $6,000,000 a yetr. 1'h* department continues to receive word that the various pools in the so-called trust are breaking up, in anticipation of suits. * Suicides After Five Trials. At Hartford, Conn., .Mrs. Sarah E. Ash bell tried four times to kill her S'if, and on her fifth trial was suc cessful. Thursday, she tried hang ing and her husband sat up all nighl to keep watch over her. While he d -zed. Mrs. Ash bell drank carbolic a- id, and the husband woke to find her dead. * MICH. 21, 1911. THE PRESS MEN Ve Editors Will Visit the City ot New York Very Early in June. WILL TRAVEI BY WATER Ihis Trip Preferred to Editor Foo she's State Outing?State Press Association Meets in Columbia? Executive Committee Passes on Plans for Annual Convention/ In order to suit the convenience of Governor Woodrow Wilson, who will be the chief guest of honor, the dates of the annual convention of the South Carolina Press association in Colum bia this year were changed from May 30 and 31 and June 1, to May 31 and June 1 and 2, at a meeting of the executive committee, held Thursday afternoon in President August Kohn's office. Governor Wilson delivers June 1, at noon, the baccaulaureate address at the University of North Carolina, in Chapel Hill, and speaks on the evening of June 2 to the editors of this State, in the Columbia theatre. After his address Dr. Wilson will be complimented with a reception in Flinn hall, at the University cf South Carolina, on which occasion the for mer Columbian will be greeted In person by many who knew Woodrow Wilson the boy during his father's residence here as a professor in Co lumbia seminary. Sentiment being strongly In favor of a trip to New York by water, the committee regretfully declined an in vitation strongly urged upon it to have the editors, before or after their meeting in Columbia, take a "Saelug South Carolina trk>," of two days, In cluding visits to fie Winnsboro gran ite quarries, to Winnsboro itself, to Chester, to Winthrop College and to the Great Falls hydro-electric plant of the Southern Power company. It was deemed impracticable for the as sociation to undertake both outings this year. The "Seeing South Carolina" trip was urged by a delegation headed by Mr. J. Frank Fooshe, editor of the Winnsboro New6 and Herald, and In cluding besides Col. Jas. Q Davis, the Winnsboro banker; Manager J. C. Thorn of the Winnsboro Granite corporation, RIon, and Dr. D. B. Johnson, president, of Winthrop Col lege, Rock Hill. It was said, among other things, that the Winnsboro quarry is the largest commercial un dertaking in the utilization of mon umental granite in the world and the only plant of the kind in the United States the product of whicn has an international distribution. The mechanical plant alone rep resents an investment of about $300, 000. Mr. Fooshe said that few ol the editors of the State had any ade quate idea of the magnitude of the Southern Power company's opera tions. Mr. Fooshe credited Col. Da vis with being the originator, of the Southern Power company. Dr. John son said Winthrop earnestly desired an opportunity of entertaining the newspaper folk and he would partic ularly like to give the editors a din ner, in the great new dining hall of the college, which comfortably seats 1,200 persons. Fifty dollars will cover the neces sary expenses of the New York trip. The usual rate of $32 from Charles ton to New York and return, this including transportation, meals and berths, has been cut in half for the editors by the Clyde Steamship com pany, and for $1.50 per person each group of four people in the party will have, at the Woodward hotel in New York, a suite of two bed rooms, a sitting room and a bath room. A club breakfast will cost 7.1 cents. The visitors will take their lunch eons and dinners wherever they like, paying for them what they please. The party will sail on the first Clyde boat leaving Charleston northbound after the adjournment of the conven tion, which will end on the night of June 2. Half rates have been se cured for the editors from a sight seeing automobile company of New York. The committee Informally ex pressed its appreciation of the ef forts of Messrs. F. Borron Grier of Greenwood. Frank B. Gary of Abbe ville and Howard I'.. Carlisle of Spar tanburg to put just libel laws upon I he statiile books of the Stale. Mr. Grier gave much of his time ami at tention to preparing the hill and Mr. Gary in the house ami .Senator Car lisle bad it passed. Governor Bleasc has said he will veto this measure. The addresses and essays by mem bers were planned, but announce ment will not be made until the sec retary, Mr. R. L. Free::;an, hears from the persons so invited. it was decided to invite as special guests this year Messrs. John W. Holmes of Barr well and Charles Pet ty of Spartanburg, veteran editors, who were members of the famous Wallace bous - in 187G. Col. R. A. Thompson, surviving member of the Sec. ssion convention, will al^o be in vited specially. Three members were added to the roll yesterday. Messrs. \V. H. Jones of Columbia, editor of School News: McDavId Horton of the Columbia Record, and Leon M. Green of tiie Columbia bureau of the Charleston News and Courier. The members of the committee present were: Messrs. August Konn, COCA-COLA CASE DR. KEBLER GIVES EVIDENCE AGAINST THE DRINK. Serious Witness in Government Suit Makes Charges Against Beveridgel and Its Manufacture. In the hearing of the case of the United States against a certain num ber of barrels and kegs of coca-cola in the federal court at Chattanooga, Tenn., Wednesday, some of the most interesting testimony yet brought out was given by Dr. Lyman F. Kebler, chief of the drug department of the bureau of chemistry, Washington, D. C. Dr. Kebler is the chemist who; ' made a test of coca-cola and he testi I fled that coca-cola contains caffeine, ; declaring that to each eight ounce j glass there were one and one-fourth ; grains of caffeine, which he says is I poison. Dr. Kebler cited many authorities I in proof of his statement that caf feine is a poison and cited a number , of deaths reported as being caused by I its use. One of these writers had reported a eise where four and one half grains of the drug had produced death and he declaredd that about three glassies of coca-cola contained this amount of caffeine. Dr. Kebler ' testified as to the finding of vermin and bugs in the vats as the result of his inspection of the ccca-cola plant in Atlanta. He also testified that caramel and brown sugar were added because ot ; their opaqueness tended to conceal : impurities in the coca-cola syrup, i Dr. Rushy, for the government, testified along the line of the name of the drink coca-cola and stated that ; no other product bore the name or either "coca" or "kola." Governmen. chemists stated that : coca-cola contained neither coca nor kola and the effort of the government. I will be to prove that the drink is ! misbranded. ? -9 ? ? PARDONS BY THE GOVERNOR. Only Three Were Granted by Him on Lost Saturday. David Jacobs, a white man, was convicted in Chesterfield county 20 years ago, with Mary Johnson, tot poisoning the husband of the woman and both were sentenced to hang. Just before the trap was sprung Governor Tillraan commuted their sentence. They both came to the penitentiary. The woman died sev eral years ago and Jacobs was par doned today by Governor Blease. The pardon was recommended by Superintendent Griffith. The sentence of George Williams, who was convicted in Lancaster county and given three years on the charge of manslaughter, has been commuted to two years. He was convicted in March of 1909 for kill ing his son Morgan, j The sentence of Daisy Cook has ; been commuted from six to five years i and he will leave the penitentiary tomorrow. Daisy Cook was convicted ' of manslaughter in Hampton county, in 1-906, for killing Hamp Smith, and has been at the penitentiary for ; five years. He killed Smith in a gen eral fight at a tent show. SWAYED OVER AN ABYSS. -? I For Two Hours Was in Suspense, Then Fell Six Inches. While tramping over a field to make a short cut to his home, in Sharon, Pa., George Hoven walked on the boards of an abandoned well and fell through. He was able to grab hold of a crossbeam and suc ceeded in linking his arms about it. Then he screamed for help, but his cries were not heard. After clinging to the support for about two hours Hoven began to prow weak. The freezing air was also telling on hi ill and he was fast lo.-ing his strength. He offered up a prayer and allowed his arms to relax. He fell, expecting to be killed. Instead he dropped only six inches, as the well had been filled in with about seven feet of the top. Two Killed. A special from Selma. Ala., says: At Jones' switch, neat here, two chil dren were killed and .Mrs. C. San ders and Mrs. V.. 0. Co.-setf, their mothers, and a third child were in jured, by being caughl under a pile of lumber, which fell on them as they were walking by. * I'm:;? i] by Women. One officer fatally wounded, an other with a linger .shot off and a third frightened from the scene, is the result of n battle between three women on one side at Lons Fork, near the Pike \ Letcher County herder, in K. :.! : d:y. Wednesday af ternoon. * -? Tluee Sons Perish. Three sous of John Gallaus. miner, were burned lo death eariy Friday in a fire thai destroyed the Gallaus home at lloneybrook, !'a. The victims were asleep on the sec ond floor and could not escape. * William Hanks and \v. E. Gonzales oT Columbia: Kd II. PeCamp of Gaff ney and J. ('. Mace of Marion. The visiting members went out to the Co lonia in the afternoon and were much pleased with the headquarters of ti.e association. Manager Whistler showed them all over the hotel. ? 0 WO CENTS PEE COPY SCORES ?LE?SE ?ie Governor Is Taken to Task for Veto ing the Commission BilL BY THE COMMUNITY CLUB Accused of Prostituting Office ''to tiie Purpose of Petty Spite and Peanut Politics," and of the Ambi tion That Cliarleston Should be His Political Door Mat. The Charleston Community Clnb at a well attended meeting on Thurs day night adopted a letter to be sent to Governor Blease as the official protest of the club against his veto oil the commission government bill. This letter is now released for publication and is as follows: "Charleston, S. C, Mch. 6, 1911. "His Excellency Cole L. Blease, Gov ernor of South Carolina, Columbia, 5. C.?Dear Sir: By vetoing the commission government bill you have seen fit to abuse the powers of i responsible office, never expected to. be exploited for private or political advantage, and arrogate to yourself the right of limiting the franchise or the people of Charleston, and of say ing that our citizens are to have no. further voice in the choice of their form of government. You have, without justification or pretext, other than the selfish Interests of a small minority in this city, who have done you signal service at the polls, un dertaken to veto ?. permissive, local option bill, passed by the General Assembly of the State, at the re quest of fifteen hundred responsible citizens of this community, represent ing over ten million dollars of prop erty interests. This petition repre sented the desire of a subs' antial number of CharIestoriian3, in all probability a number greater than gave you their votes last summer, for a form of government which would give the people of this city a larger voice in.their own home gov ernment and which would make of the $700,000 to be yearly adminis tered in this city a business responsi bility and not a jack pot, or the waste material of an experimental laboratory- "Why you have chosen, In the limelight of your office as Chief Executive, to abandon even a professed adherence to the principle of local option, which you made I much of in your campaign, and to I blazen abroad your opposition "m I toto" to the Democratic principles of ; home rule embodied in the terms of ! the Act you have set aside and ycur ! disapproval of any attempt to safe guard the public purse, (where It did \ not contemplate the salving of a pro \ vate sore,) Is for yourself to under ; stand. The purpose of this com j municatlon is not to remonstrate against an act that was partially an ticipated and is for the present irrc | vocable. It is only to acquaint you : with the indignation and censure ? that your autocratic and partisan conduct has aroused among the cit : Izens of that city to which for your own reasons, you pretend to owo your election. Your utter disregard of their rights urges either a degree ? of insincerity in your former protes tations of friendship, which should I henceforth make your utterances in this respect less likely to deceive, or else a frank admission that your Charleston friends are not so numer ous or outspoken as you or they or : the official count would have us be lieve. We are quite ready to admit that the form of government we ad vocate would prove disastrous to the i political fortunes and ambitions of your friend3 here. But that fprin of : government could not be {nlopted without a vote of the majority of the citizens of Charleston. You are not misled, Mr. Governor, it would seem, by the top-heavy vote of the summer primaries, and not so confident in the finality of that verdict of six to one in your favor. Is it that you thin?c that under the careful restrictions of the commission government pri maries year friends would not fare so well? "Your fears are well founded. However, be assured, most honorable sir. that torn mission government is not dead because you have vetoed tho bill, nor Is the vitality of this move :r .:! powerless to restore this city to i plane of political decency. A moral issno cannot he killed by your li.it. We know of nothing more effective* toward bringing the people of Soiuli Carolina to their senses than the ob i' et lesson they now have of a digni fied public office prostituted to the purposes of petty spite and peanut politics. "Otli r cities have waited Ion? for the coming of their political freedom. Von will find that the ambition of ?>:ir :.rep!?; for a clean, free city will outlast yours that Charleston shall be your political fcot-mat. It sh,.!! also survive your brief opportunity to hamper their efforts. You have confessed to your grievous fear of fhe majority of the citizens of Char leston, and you shall find that fear fuly justified. The campaign butt of your friendship for Chareston and Ol Chareston's friendship for you has been effectively called, and Charles ton's credit to this extent restored. This much good has been already gained. The rest will follow. .Most unsubmlssively, Charleston Community Club. *