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1"* VOL XLIII. NO. 29. NEWBERRY. S. C. TUESDAY. APRIL 10. 1908. TWICE A WEEK. $1 50 A YEAR I. FRASER LYON PUTS A HOT SHOT SAYS TTTJMAN IS TRYING TO BELITTLE COMMITTEE. They Will Investigate Him-The Dispensary Is So Corrupt That Even the Investigators Are Suspected, He Writes. Senator Tillman in a manifesto which he gave to the public recently attacked a great many people and officials, not even sparing the mem bers of the committee appointed to investigate the affairs of the state dispensary. That reference has been taken by Mr. J. Fraser Lyon as an effort to discredit the investigating committee and in a letter to the at torney for a liquor house Mr. Lyon has expressed himself rather forcibly in regard to Senator Tillman's state ment. The letter of Mr. Lyon -has been se cured. for publication after some effort on the part of the State, but the at torney to whom it is addresed asks that his name be kept out of it. Fol lowing is the comunication: - Abbeville, S. C. April 3, 1906. My Dear Sir: Your two letters of recent date were received by me upon my return home yesterday after an absence of about two weeks. You will, therefoie, understand why you have not had an earlier reply. While it is true that I do not think there is any good reason for withholding payment of the elsim of the Cook & Bernhei-n er company of New York still, as I have said heretofore, I will not give my consent to the payment of this or any other dispensary claim now held up until the matter of such payment is .discussed at a public session of our committee. I feel sure that you will appreciate my position in this matter, especially sinde the publication of Senator Till man's "Address to the People of South Carolina,'" in which he says: "Is there not plenty of opportunity for more graft and secret transactions in regard to the settlement of these accounts? Will not the legislative committee be suspected of corruption if it does not get in the middle of the road and stay there-that is, stand by the law, obey it itself and re-' quire others to do so? Why so much delay?" You see this additional reason for my position. It is unfortunate for your clients to have had dealings with an institution which no one can even investigate without Isaving it suggest ed or insinuated that he may be a grafter, or at least has a good oppor timnity to steal. While I regard this reference to our committee as only a shrewd, attempt to shake public confi dence in us'and intend to obstruct' and ini;erfere with our work, which is evidently becoming distasteful to many of those -who are irrevocably wedded to the dispensary, still when Jsee this proneness to criticise us I wish to be especially careful not to put myself in a position that could with even a color of justice be criti cised. In your letter of March 26 you practiceally asked the question and sincerely, "Why so much delay?'' I know of no fact that I have learned in the .dispensary investigation that I shall intentionally withhold from the public. Sometimes I do not think it best for the success of the investiga tion to reveal facts and suspicions as soon as they coine to me, or to disclose our plans for the future, so in this ease 1I will answer your question only so far as I think the present status of the investigation justifies. We are trying to get the facts in regard to several suspicious matters which we think should be investigat ed. Among them is the statement as I recall it, of Senator Tillman that he returned certain rebates to a dis tillery. We wish to find the credits on the books of the distillery showing the amount of rebates which Senator Tillman said he returned as a gift for the gratitude he felt to the liquor concern crediting the state of South Carolina. Besides this there had come to my ears a rumor-the source of which I do not now recall, but a ..mr whih I think should be looked into-that Senator Tiliman when crov ernor was presented with a piano by a liquor concern. It may be that re ceipts may be shown for the rebates which may have been returned and also for payment of this piano which may have been received as was ru mored to be the satisfactory explana tion in the case of the Towill horse matter. Still we do not know 'the facts in regard to these things and think the legislature intended for us to inves tigate such transactions as these as well .as other vague and uncertain matters to which common rumor gives currency. We must do our duty in looking into these things and you may judge by the above ~amples that we must have much time in doing it. Furthermore, it is not expedient and I would not approve .of the commit tee holding public session every time Senator Christensen and I have done all we can in examining each claim. I recognize the fact that we may be chasing a "will-o'-the-wisp" in all of these matters, and that your clients may suffer in the meantime, but, whether our efforts be such a chase or not, it seems certain that in all events our committee must walk through the mire. The opinion is so prevalent that the dispensary has been a breeder of so much corruption that no one can touch it without the suspicion of some one being aroused. Unfortu nately, in the case of our committee, the insinuation of this suspicion is cast upon us in the public prints by one who, above all others, may know of the innermost affairs of the dispen sary as transacted. by its officers since its inception. I trust, however, that we will final ly emerge from our distasteful task meriting the confidence and approv al of all honest citizens. Believing that this will satisfactorily explain our delay, I am, Yours very truly, J. Fraser Lyon. Senator Tillman Replies to Mr. Fra ser Lyon's Letter. Greenville, April 8.-Senator B. R. Tillman was seen yesterday by a rep resentative of the State as the sena tor was on his way from Washington to Clemson college to attend an im portant meeting of the board of trus tees. He was asked if he had any thing to say in reply to the letter of Mr. J. Fraser Lyon, published in the State Saturday. The senator had not seen the letter, and when a copy of it was handed to him, he read it and grew wrathy as he read. Being under the impression that the publication shown him was only an outline of Mr. Lyon's letter, he was at first dis inclined to say much, but when he became satisfied that he was in pos session of a complete copy of the let ter, he threw off the silence and talk ed with characteristic freedom, de nouning the letter as sneaking and Mr. Lyon 's reference to the rumor that a whiskey house had presented Senator Tillman with a piano, as ''a dirty, cowardly insinuation.'' .The senator was first approached by the newspaper man as he sat in tle new passenger station at Char lotte scanning a large number of South Carolina newspapers with which his travelling bag was packed. The interview continued interrupted ly on board the Southern Southwest ern-Limited as far as Greenville. Grew Indignant. After reading the letter, Senator Tillman was indignant and grew more so as he talked. ''I am surprised,'' hes aid, ''that a gentleman, such as I thought Mr. Lyon to be would go in the papers in such a sneaking way as this. Even the name of a lawyer to whom he wrote is not given, but whether he authorized its publicity or not, I as sume it to be authentic. ''I have not attacked the investi gating committee; I only warned it in a fi-iendly spirit. And why? Ei ther the $700.000 worth of claims against the state board are valid and binding or they are not. I say they are not. because the whiskey was bought contrary to law and the state is not legally bound for payment. ''The committee knows this now as well as it will ever know it. Messrs. ed certain firms: the presumption is they have discovered evidene.s of fraud. If those firms have acted dis honestly the old board cannot be clean: but leaving Messrs. Lyon and Christensen to hunt for proofs. to which I do not object. again I ask: 'Why the delay?' "Whether fraud is proven or not, no decent lawyer will contend that these large purchases of whiskey are legal: First, because there was not competitive bidding, as the law re quires; second because the law ex pressly limits the amount that may be on hand to $400,000 and instead of dickering with lawyers employed to collect the money, it is the investiga ting committee's plain duty to repu diate the whole transaction, forbid the new board to pay for any liquor and thus have an end to it. Messrs. Lyon and Christensen will be respon sible to the taxpayers of the state if they 0. K. a single purchase that was illegally bought." "What About the Piano?" "What about the piano,"- Senatoi Tillman was asked. "Well." he replied, "I have heard it said if you throw a rock in the dark and dog howls you may swear he is hit. "I have not sought to discredit the investigating committee,' the senator continued, "but to warn it, and when Mr. Lyon, without provocation makes public its dirty and cowardly insinuations 'that a whiskey house gave me a piano, it is pretty clear to my mind that he howls because he is hit. It was easy enough for him to have found out all about the piano. Mr. Malone, the music dealer in Co lumbia, knows to whom he sold it 4nd who paid for it and he knows when it was bought. "I note also Mr. Lyon's pretext for delay is that he may look into the rec ords of the Mill Creek Distilling com pany to see whether there are any credits. Senator Tillman's reference to "credits'" applied to that part of Mr. Lyon's letter which reads as fol lows: "We wish to find the credits on the books of the ditillery showing the amount of rebates which Senator Tillman said he returned as a gift for the gratitude he felt to the liquot concern crediting the state of South Carolina. Besides this+ there had come to my ears a rumor-the source of which I do not now recall, but a rumor which I think should be look ed. into-that Senator Tillman when governor was presented with a pianc by a liquor concern. "It may be that receipts may be shown for the rebates which may have been returned and also for payment of this piano which may have been re eived as was rumored to be the sat isfactory -explanation in the esse of the Towill horse matter.'' "Mr. Lyon heard my testimony in Columbia and he knows I said noth ing about returning any money, fo I never received any'' said Senator Tillman. "If the books do not show that any money was ever paid they certainly will not show that any wa~ ever returned. "I want to reiterate and empha size, .in the most positive way my b)e lief that the investigating committee: Icharged with such a great responsibil Iit; should do its duty by deciding al oncee what is lawful to be dons about these whiskey claims; the more lawyers they write letters to or set about this matter, the greater is the danger that there will be a meat scandal. Advice to the New Board. "While I am on the dispensary,' said the senator, "I want to give the new b)oard a friendly warning, too IIt cannot purchase liquor under the law unless the bidding is clearly corn petitive, and the lowest priced. With Iout defining the article t.o be bough' by som'ething other than 'X,' is no competitive bidding. "Then I notice that wvhile 14 coun tv dispensary have been closed. there i no r educt ion~ ini the force of sala ied inspec-tors and (other emloyees. I am ear-nestly desirous, both foi their own sake and the dispensary that the new board 's actions sBall b< approved by the people, but there ear THE STATE CAMPAIGN. . Democratic Executive Committee - Provides for State and County I Conventions-Former to be Held on 16th of May, Latter on May 7. Columbia, April 5.-At the regular meeting of the state democratic ex ecutive committee here tonight, res olutions were adopted calling for the May State convention, to be held on the 16th of that month, and directing the country chairmen throughout the state to call club meetings on the 28th of April, for the purpose of electing delegates to the county conventions, which will meet on May 7, to elect delegates to the state convention, each county being entitled to doubfe the representation it has in the gener al assembly. I A resolution by D. H. Magill, of Greenwood, caused some comment. It denounced as untrue the statement in Tom Watson's Magazine for March . that it makes no difference whether the south's representation in congress . and the electoral college is reduced, as proposed in the bill of Congress y man-Keifer, of Ohio, an,d went on to "denounce the auth-' and those , who go hand-in-hand with him along such lines, as enemies of the south a and the southern people, such declara tions being unbec6ming a southern r white man." [ Mr. Magill defended his resolution i j with warmth and earnestness, but a other members of the committee took - the view that as Tom Watson is not s a democrat anyway, to adopt the res - olution would be undignified and 7 would give him undue prominence e and his magazine undeserved adver r tising. A. motion was made to table the ' resolution, but Senator Cole L. 9 Blease, of Newberry, wanted to save the comittee voting on the subject 1 and moved to adjourn. This inspered 3 Mr. Magill to relieve the situation by - withdrawing the resolution. Tom Watson got one vote when he ran for president in the last National convention. This vote came from Spartanburg, but the voter never made himself known. ) Tests With Cowpeas. tThe Arkansas Agricultural Experi t ment station in bulletin No. 70 gave the result of valuable tests with cow peas. The bulletin is summarized as followr. 1. The cowpea is thoroughly adap ted to all soils of the state, serves a I greater variety of purposes, and may f be more profi.tably grown than any e other legame. e 2. It is affected less by drouth and heat than any other crop grown on the station grounds. e 3. It is the surest crop and the heapest source of nitrogen. ~4. The wide variation in their hab e its of growth and in the time required for maturity multiply the purposes for which they may be grown. 5. Upon soils deficient in the bac i. teria peculiar to the cowpea their -growth will not be as satisfactory the e jfirst year as in subsequent years. - 6. The proportion between peas - and hay in different varieties varies e from 22.4 pounds of peas to 100 pounds of hay in Red Ripper to 128.2 - pounds of peas to 100 pounds of hay , in Old Man's. 7. The per cent of hay in total weight of plant varies from 36.62 to '76.49 per cent. 8. The per cent of peas in hulls va ries from 65.6 to 75.6 per cent. I 9. Twelve and a half pounds of seed sown per acre gave heavier yields r of both hay and peas than 18.75 e pounds or more. Ten to twenty Lt pounds of seed per acre are recom mended for peas and thirty to sixty pounds for hay. ensilage, pasturage or plowing in. gFayette Dove, of Loudoun county, i Virinia. while in the throes of an i epieptic fit fell into a creek and wa.s drowned. When one girl meets another she 1invariably repeats the conversation sshe had with the last two young men I hea met. GREAT COUNCIL RED MEN. Council Meets in Red Men's Hall This Morning-The Program. The Great Council of Red Men will meet in this city this morning at 10 o'clock. The order in this state has grown very much during the past year. Seven new tribes with 192 charter members have been organized. The order now has about 2,000 mem bers in the state. The tribe a New berry, while only organized about eight years ago, is now one of the largest and most prosperous and has the honor of having two Great Sa chems among its number as well as the Great Representative. There will be about seventy-five representatives here and the meeting will be called to order in the Red Men's hall over Mr. Klettner's store. Tonight at 9 o'clock a banquet will be served in the court house at which 300 plates will be spread. The banquet has been prepared by Mr. James Dunbar. Mayor Brown, who was to deliver the address of welcome on the part ,of the city, was called to Atlanta on business on Saturday, and may not return in time to be present at the opening exercises this morning. In case he is absent, Mr. F. H. Dominick will make the address of welcome in stead. Mnch to the regret of the local committee, Ex-Governor M. B.' Mc Sweeney, who is on the programme to respond at the banquet tonight to the press, wrote on Saturday that sick ness in his family will prevent his being with us. Prof. W. H. Wallace, editor of the Observer, has kindly consented to take Governor Me Sweeney's place and make the re sponse for the- press. The meeting this morning at which the welcoming speeches and respons es will be made is public. Immediate ly after this part of the programi is over, the Great Council will be called to order by Great Sachem Cole L. Blease. The following is the programme: Monday, April 9th, 8 o'clock p. m.1 Conferring of the Pocahontas Degree by Cateechee Council, No. 4, in Red Men 's hall, under the direction of Otto Klettner, Newberry. Tuesday, April 10th, 10 o'clock a. in.: Public Meeting in Red Men's Hall. Welcome Address on Behalf of the C.ity of Newberry: Mayor A. T. Brown; Newberry. Welcome Address on Behalf of. Bergell Tribe No. 24, I. 0. R. M.: Sachem E. H. Aull, Newberry. Welcome Address on Behalf of the Cateechee Council: J. M. Davis, New berry. Response on Behalf of the Great Council: Great Senior Sagamore C. E. Tolly, Anderson. Response on Behalf of the Pocahon-. tas: W. MI. Fitch, Charleston. Great Council of South Carolina Called to Order in Annual Session for Business by Great Sachem Cole. L. Blease. TOASTS. Tuesday, April 10, 1906, 8:30 P. M. Toast Master: Otto Klettner, New berry. Our Sister Lodges: Rev. S. H. Zim merman, Columbia. Fraternity: Rev. N. A. Hemrick, Columbia. Pocahontas Council: J. H. Hair, Newberry. South Carolina: B. A. Morgan, Grand Chancellor Knights of Pythias, Greenville. Our Visitors: F. E. Harrison, Grand Master A. F. M. of S. C., Abbeville. Great Council Improved Order of Red Men: Cole L. Blease, Great Sa hem I. 0. R. M., Newberry. The Press: Hon. Miles B. Me Sweeney. Hamton? Woman: John J. MeSwain, Grand Master I. 0. R. M., Greenville. Wednesday Morning, April 11, 9:30 o 'clock: Business Session of Great Council. While a woman likes to have a man tell her that he knows her like a book, she is apt to get furious if he can read her between the lines. for men who are not needed. Lithe the (d force was overworked or one third of it ought to be dispensed with "In my efforts to keep the dispen sary from being assassinated, I shal spare no man, be he friend or foe whose actions do not square with tho law and indicate a desire to carry i out loyally." NO REFLECTION ON LYON. Senator Tillman Merely Wanted t4 Keep Committee Straight-Says Some One Should be in Jail. Zack McGlee sends an interview oi statement from Senator Tillman ii reference to the Lyon letter to 'thi State from Washington on 8th an( says: Senator Tillman left tonight fo: Clemson college, where he will atteni the metting of the Clemson boari Monday. He will return to Washing ton immediately afterward, arrivin, here Tuesday. - He had not seen the letter publish ed in The State today from Mr. Lyoi of the dispensary investigating corn mittee, but when told of such a lette: he said he could, of course, make no reference to it until he sees it. "I will say this, though, I had no intention of reflecting on Mr. Lyon Mr. Hay or any of the rest of th committee in my letter to the people I only wanted them to realize thei full responsibility in the matter. believe the people will look to then first to keep themselves strictly to th law and make everybody else concern ed do the same thing. I think thi should be taken as a kindness. Some body has violated the law. The have bought $700,000 worth of liquo when the law allows them to buy onl: $400,000 worth. They have held uj the paying of the accounts. Nos somebody besides these liquor dealer is guilty. The same is also true a to the glass contracts. It has beei clearly shown that the Columbia glas concern has been caught in crooked ness. But they cannot have bee1 crooked unless someb6dy else, wh did the business with them, was crook ed also. Now, why has no one bee: put in jail? "It is the investigating committee' business, when they have said tha there is corruption and have held u] the accounts, to say who is guilty. I just strikes me that somebody ough to be in jail-that's all. Should Cut Expenses. "Another thing that occurs to me,' said the senator, just as he was takin; the train, "I noticed in the paper the other day that the new board ha' been making some appointments o officials and clerks and things lik that. Now, it looks to me that if th dispensary has been run out of near ly half the counties in the state, ther ought to be a cutting down in th force of employees instead of an in crease. If the business of the diu pensary is curtailed, there ought t be a corresponding curtailment in th expenses. But they seem to be ii creasing them.'' Arranging ror Confederate Reunior Columbia, April 6.-General Thou as W. Carwile, commander of th South Carolina division of the Con federate veterans, and a special com mittee of the chamber of commere met here yesterday for the purpose o arranging for the coming state reur ion to be held here May 16 to 18. A a result a general program was lai On Wednesday night, the first dat a reception will be tendered, consisi ing principally of addresses of we come and responses from visitors. At the Thursday morning sessio 'the principal orations will be deliP ered. On Thursday afternoon furthe addresses and responses will be mad following a grand street parade 2 5p. m. IOn Friday morning the main bus ness session will be held. Interest will be added to the r< union b)y a special drama givim scenes of old war days at the loes opera house. to be put on b)y loe~ Italent. When a girl has nice, white teeti 1it's funny how many things she fini o smile at.