The herald and news. (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, August 11, 1905, Image 1
VOL.aXLII. NO. 102 NEWBERRY. S. C.. FRIDAY AUGUST 11, 1905. TWICE A WEEK. $1.50 YEAR
SOMETHING ROTTEN IN
THE DISPENSARI
TESTIMONY TAKEN BY COM
MITTEE IN SPARTANBURC.
Much Damaging Evidence Agains
High and Low Officials-Mr.
Blease's Statement.
The general investigating commit
tee appointed by the last legislaturi
to investigate and examine the stat(
dispensary. began its first publi
hearing in Spartanburg Tuesday af
ternoon.
The following is the condensec
account of Tuesday's proceedings
taken from the News and Courier:
Morris On the Stand.
John P. Mor:is, formerly a bee
dispense.r in Spartanburg county wa:
the only witness put on the stan<
Wednesday afternoon. An affidavi
he made April 25 before the sub-com
mittee was read by Mr. J. Fraze:
Lyon, of Abbeville, who stopped a
intervals to ask certain questions
Mr. Morris said, "I was appointe<
dispenser May ro, 1904. I fitted up a
place to sell beer, which cost m<
about S6oo to $700. This included a
fee to my attorney and his expenses
amounting .to $8o. Mr. C. O. Smith
member of the county board of con
trol, asked me how much expense ]
had been put to. and upon my telling
hirn, he said that was very cheap, thai
it would cost me more than that to
be elected again.
Then followed a string of testimony
abott his (Morris) election or reelec
tior of beer dispenser, which
News and Courier says brought out
-these conditions:
That the county board of contro
for Spartanburg county levied a reg
ular assessment on the dispenser foi
its elec ion or re-etection.
That the average price paid Chas
0. Smith. chairman of the countj
board, was $450. and tihat Morris was
expected to -pay a similiair amount.
'Spartanburg Journal Scandal.
AnotN*r interesting phase of Mor
ris's testimony was made relating t<
the Spartanburg Journal transaction
Mor4, had no direct dealing with
this phase and all he knew was fron
others,. His testimony on this lin<
was: "Recently a petition was pu
in circulation here for the purpose o
having an election on the dispensary
for th:is county. Wahen tihe petitior
for eketion was circulated, J. WV. Har
m->s, dispenser. came to mie and sai<
the Eveninig Journal would take u1
our fight for $30o, and that my par
of this would 'be $25. I gave Mr
Harmon a check on the Merchants
and Farmers' bank for $23. Befort
subscribing t-his, I -saw C. 0. Smit'l
and W. N. Avant abouit it and the:
paid -t would be .all right to give i-1
After-wards Smli.th came to me an<
said 'to keep quiet, that Dunwood:
would give $3o for this purpose an
th'at Joe Huseman had collecte<
from representatives of whis-ke;
houses in Columbia about $285 afte
H.us-:man's expenses h-ad been take
out, an.d that 'he, Smith, -had receive
-a check from Fleischmenn for $23.''
M r. Lyon: "Is this Dun woody th
man d-ho represents the Atlant
Bre->g company?"
"Y&-: sir." "F'ieiscmann & Co."
Wi%n asked whar was the objet
-of ghe'g the Journal money M
Morris said:
"They, saidI all the rest of them wer
givin~g money to fight the prohib
tion: movement and wanted met
come' acro,ss. and I told them
"Yo,n dlidn't have any agreementt
-put eT any' advertising ma'tter in 1
iourna'l?"
"No I don't know \\i'ether jt wei
to tIhe Journal or not. but when
asked rhe hoa.rd abo-ut it I asked thei
why :hey didn't get the Hera!d
inl'e-e that Mr. H-enry had be4
fighting the dispensary all along, and
they said: 'Oh, we can't get tie
Herald, and doubted if they could
get Henry, but if I would give it. I
would be elected again.'
Ir. Lyon, continuing tihe affidavit:
"Shortly after I agreed to Mr. Har
mon's proposition to pay the Journal
t $300. alr. Husernann and Mr. Reib
I ling. beer dispensers, came to me and
said: 'l.et's get Henry.' the newspa
Ir man of the Evening Journal. that
- he would take up the fight for $Soo.
I asked the reason of the increase.
as Mr. Harmon thiad just said that
$300 was the price. They said -'hat
Henry had gone up: that he had said
$300 was not enough, as he would
1 lose subscribers to his paper and his
influence, as he had been fighting on
tilie other side."
Whiskey Houses Asked to Contribute.
Mr. Lyon, continuing affidavit:
"Husema:n and Reibling told me my
part would be $50, but I declined to
give this much. Mr. Harmon came
back and said $25 was enough for
me to pay; that they would try and
the balance from the whiskey houses.
Representing the combined dispen
saries hiere and as secretary for C. O.
Smith, James P. McGarty, dispenser,
wrote letters to wihiskey houses for
Smith to get contributions to pay the
Journal. I saw McGarty writing
some of the letters at Smith's dicta
tion. The letters referred to the
movement to abolish the dispensary
and asked for aid to resist it. I
recollect that the Richland Distilling
company was mentioned as subscrib
ing one of the large?s't amounts to this
fund. I idhink Ullman was another
and Mallard's Distilling company,
and J. W. Keley & Co. I so rarely
saw the list that .I forget the names.
That is part of them. It was stiowsr
to me in McGarty's whisky dispensary.
Smith and McGarty went over it and
said Joe went over it. I don't know
how much the amounts were. C. O.
Smith said Hub Evans would also
contribute. I believe he 'Had already
con'tributed.
Money and Election.
Mr. Lyon then called Mr. Morri4'
atterdtion to another affidavit which
he had made as follows:
Q. "Did H. H. Evans tell you and
Mr. Mahaffey some time about last
August to put up S200 or $300 on
the election of legislators in favor
of the dispensary and he would make
it good himself?"
A. "Yes, sir."
Q. "Did you do it?"
-A. "I did all I could in that d,irec
I tion. which cost me a whole lot of
>money, did everything I could for the
tmen he said were his men-. He said
-that a'nyibody who wvas in favor oi
'the dispensary he wanited elected, and
those wihIo were not he didn't if he
rcould help it, and bhe also told Jess
rMahaffey, 'You remember wha-t you
.did for me in Columbia and I will not
I forget it.'"
SQ. "Did Mr. Mahaffey tell you
I what he did for him int Columbia?"
iA. "He said that when he was
Swanting to be elected as chairrnan of
r the statie 'board he had in his room
' nearly eas much whiskey as there is
I in a whiskey .dispensary an.d he said
he would .just invite people in -there
e to take drinks anid 'he said he stuffed
a several $20 bills in his (Mah'affey's)
pockets."
Q. "What do you suppose Mr.
t Mahaffey did with those $20 bills?"
- A. "I don't know, sir, unless he got
drunk on them."
e Q. "Did Mr. Mah.affey tell you -he
-was pret,ending to be opposed to Mr.
o Evans?"
IA. "Yes sir, 'hie said the way he
worked i, he went -on to brag, he
o said that he would get in with a
e crow'd working again-st Mr. Evans
and pretend he was going to be
it against him and find out how they
1were going and size uip certain mem
n bers he could get for Mr. Evans.
's and he would report to Mr. Evans,
and Mr. TEns would tell him how to
in anouver.
Senator Blease in the Mix-Up?
Thlere was intense stress when. Mr
Lyon brought out the .transactior
between Mr. Blease and Mr. Morris
No one seemed to know exactly whal
was coming or what the drift. Mr
Blease took a keen interest. but sal
passive and said nothing whatever.
After the first trip of the sub-com
mittee to Spartanburg ihey took the
mayor's affidavit and on the second
trip the affidavit was :taken. Mr.
Lyon said: "We have anotuhrer affi
davit which we took. You will re
call when Senator Christensen and I
were here. I think in April, or some
time after that, we returned and took
another affidavit. This is that affi
d-avit as our stenographer has taken
it down, and I wish you to pay par
ticul.ar attention to trnse and see it
it is correct."
Mr. Morris: "Since Mr. Christensen
and myself were here the last time,
were you consulted about the dis
pensary situation by Senator Blease.
of Newberry?"
"Yes, sir."
"Did he come to see you about any
thing?"
"Yes, sir. to see me about a set
tlement bertween the Atlanta Brewing
company and mysel-f." .
"Whom did Senator Blease repre
sent?"
Witness: "I thought the Atlanta
Brewing company from the way he
talked."
Mr. Lyon: "'Your answer here is:
He did not say wthiom he represented,
but from 'the start I took it that he
represented the Atlanta Brewing
company or Dunwoody.'
"Did 'he have a bill?. Your answer
as, No, .'e did not have a biI.- I
had the 'bill and he asked me for it.'
Is that correct?"
"Yes, sir, that is correct."
"Did you produce t-ha't bill on his
request?"
"Yes, sir."
"What did he do wi'th it? Your
answer: "He carried it up to the
Argyle hotel and got Dunwoody to
receipt it, so he said.' Is that cor
rect."
"Yes, sir."
"Is this the bill?"
"Yes, sir."
"Now I will tell you I think I re
ceived this bill and settlement in
Stanvarne Wilson's office in the pres
ence of Mr. Howard Carlisle and Mr.
Wilson. He agreed in the beginning
to pay $125 on my ice box."
"You say you had this bill on the
Atlanta Brewing com.pa.ny in yotur
place of business?"
"Yes, sir."
"You say that M.r. Blease returned~
to you with t'his bill receipted by
Mr. Dunwoody?"
"Yes, sir."
"What else transpired at that time?
You statie here that Mr. Blease al-sc
had three -five dollar bills with which~
he offered to pay me the $13-35; it
other words 'the $13.35 which -the
Brewing company owed you for bot
tIes?"
"Yes, sir."
"You say 'ie also presented an
other paper whtich he said was a re
ceipt, but I re-fused 'to sign it and re
fused to take the money until I conlh
consult with my attorney, Mr. Stan
yarne Wilson. Mr. Blease and I thei
went to the office of Mr. Wilson, an<
after consultation with Mr. Wilsoi
and Mr. H. B. Carlisle, I was advise,
to sign t'he receipt for $13.35. I sign
Ied the receipt an accepted th
amount of money that was offere
as well as I cart recollecc, and th
same time think 'he ibhad an itemize
bill from somebody for the amout
of stock T had on hand, which I r<
fused to take for my bottles and oth<
etaff, and afterwards T got more f
them.
"Th-at was after y'ou were talkir
aotut selling your place after yt
"Yes, sir."
"Did Mr. Blease pay that money
there in the presence of Mr., Wilson
and Mr. Carlisle?"
"I ti'ink he paid it to Mr. \Vilson.
and alr. Wilson handed it to me."
"You were all three together?'
Ye,sir."
Mr. Morris testified that mn this
occasion he complained -to Mr. Blease
of having been forced to contribute
$25 to .he Spartanburg newspaper
fund, and that Mr. Blease offered to
try and get his money returned. or
to go and get it himself, and that he
voluntarily wrote an order and sug
gested that Mr. Morris send it to Mr.
Harmon.
BLEASE MAKES STATEMENT.
Attrjutes Disclosures to Political En
mity-Interesting Incident of
Investigation at Spartanburg.
Speci.al to the State.
Spartanburg. Aug. 9.-At the ses
sion of the dispensary investigation
here today Senator Blease made the
following privileged statement:
"I have heard my name brought
into this matter in this manner for
malicious political reasons until T am
tired of it. Toland had no conversa
tion at all with me aboit this commit
tee or its examinations. Mr. Toland
came to me at the hotel yesterday
and said. 'Where is Charlie Smith?'
I 'said. 'I don't know. sir. I have
not got anything to do with Charlie
Smith.' He said, 'If Charlie Smith
will give me $ioo I will not appear
before this committee.' I said, 'I have
nothing to do with Charlie Smith or
,you and don't care to 'have anything
to do with you.' He said. 'Neither
do I want to have a God damned
-tting to do with you.' I turned and
walked into the Argyle hotel and that
is every word Toland has spoken to
me in the last four or five years.
"While I am on my feet I want to
make a statement in regard to the
Morris matter. The two gentlemen
who are conducting this division of
this investigation are political enemies
of the deepest sort of mine."
Mr. Lyon: "I wish to most em
phMatically deny th'at statement."
Mr. Blease: "I can prove it by the
records of the house and senate."
IMr. Lyon: "There is absolutely no
foundation for it. My relations with
him have been pleasant and I have
held him in very great esteem until I
found out abou-t his conduct in Spar
tanburg and since that time my 'opin
ion has dhlanged very materially."
Mr. Blease: "Any man 'that says
that m'iy conduct was not that of a
gentleman is a liar and I am willing
to take care of myself."
Mr. Christensen: "I presume that
while we were in the sena'te together
we did not vote alike on all bills or
take the same position on all ques
tions, .but that does not m.ean any
political enmity."
Mr. Blease: "I can prove wh-at I
say by the record. The indorse
ments given by the people of my owr
county are sufficient for my repu'
tation without getti.ng it from that
class of people."
Continuing, Mr. Bl'ease said: "1
came to Spartanburg to the May fes
tiva!. I stopped'as I have alway:
been doin.g since Mr. Hester hias be'er
running the Argyle-wirh him. Som<
time during t,he week. I don't remer
1ber the day. Jeff Dunwoody, came in
to the hotel nearly or fully crying.
- met him in the office. I said. 'Helic
Jeff. what is the matter?' I saw h
was very much worked up ahot
sometihing. He said. 'I have neve
'been 'treated as badly in my life a
I w~as awhile ago. I was cursed an
run out of a place of business dow
'here hv a man called Morris.' I IhIa
rnever seeni M.r. Morris nor heard
him before.
"The next morning Mr. Dunwood
came into my room. He said. 'M
mlese m;ll you go down here ar
1 make a settlement with this man Mor
ris for me as my attorney?' I said,
'Yes. sir. I will.' I asked him of
course what the situation was and he
explained it to me. I went down to
Mr. Morris' place of business. I had
n'ver seen him in my life. There wast
a young gentleman in there clerking
for him, named Farley, sitting at a
desk I think, or came in shortly after.
I asked him i.f Mr. Morris was in. He
said he was up stairs. He had not
come down. I presumed from that
thac Mr. Morris was living over his
place of business. I waited a white
and directly Mr. Morris came in or
the man wlhio was said to be Mr. Mor
ris. I was introduced to him as Mr.
Morris. I said to him I came there
as the attorney for the Atlanta Brew
ing and Ice company to have a settle
ment with him. He told me as he was
glad to meet me and invited me to go
back and take a bottle of beer with.
him, whictI we did, and we sat in the
I back of his place and drank a bottle
of beer and I think Mr. Farley join
ed us. I would like to have one now.
"We then talked over this business.
I said to Mr. Morris, 'I have got the
money here to pay your bill and we
will pass receipts and have no more
-trouble about this matter.' He said,
'Wihat about -dhle $125 that Jeff Dun
woody gave to build the ice box?' I
said. 'Let that go. Let's you and I
settle our business.' He said, 'All
right.' He said to me. 'I don't want
to sign any papers until I see my at
torney.' I said, 'You are right, if you
have got an attorney, let's got to
him.'
"Is that right, Mr. Morris," said
Mr. Blease, turning to Mr. Morris in
the court room.
Mr. Morris: "Yes, sir."
Mr. Blease: "I would not advise
any man to settle where he has an at
.torney, because I know wlhlat profes
sional authority is and I have always
practiced it different from some peo
I ple, I am sorry to say. Mr. Morris
stepped to his 'phone and 'phoned 'to
the office of Stanyarne Wilson. Mr.
Wilson 'phoned that he was there.
Mr. Morris and myself went out and
got in a -hack and drove to Mr. Stan
arne Wilson's office u'p here on
Main street, I suppose about the most
public place we could go to. If I had
been doing dirty work I don't sup
pose I would have carried him there.
Mr. Morris asked Mr. Wilson to
'phone for Mr. H. B. Carlisle, a gen
tleman I had -not seen up to th-at time,
o.r if I :had I do not remember it. Mr.
Carlisle came. After discussing the
matter - those gentlemen advised Mr.
Morris to sign the receipt and accept
Ithe money which Mr. Morris did. I
thiink I h'anded three $55 bills to Mr.
Wilson. I think M.r. Morris is right
in that. I have him my receipt and he
gave mte his. We walked down the
steps together, Mr. Morris insisting
upon my going b,ack to his place of
business with -him. In the meantime
Mr. Morris said something to me
about $25 wihlch he had paid for se
newspaper -business. I don't remem
her what it was, and that he -paid with
the understanding that -he was to be
reelected. I said to Mr. Morris, 'Did
you pay that money with the prom
ise of being reelected? He said, said,
'I did.' I said. 'Then you were treat- '
ed damnd <tirty, and if I were you
I would demand my money back.'
Mr. Farley, witness: "I would like
'Ito make a statement to Mr. Blease.
-ISo far as my feelin.gs toward you are
concerned they are of the kindest.
The conversation between me and
Mr. Cathcart last night was when he
tjsaid Mr. Toland had seen you and
knowing you as a member of the comi
mittee I quit trying to persuade him."
dMr. Blease: "1 am glad you told
fl-him. T honor you for not doing the
djdirty work some people are trying to
Mr. Blease. continuing his state
ment: "Mr. Morris said. 'I don't
.know how to get it.' I will write an
Sidc- fo yu, man'A 'I wrote t1ie order