Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Oa. VOL XLVI TNO 4-- NEWBERRY, S. C.. T-UESDAY. JANUTARY 12. 1909. TIEAWE.S5AYA IAN ELECTIONS FOR GENERAL ISSEMBLY SEVERAL JUDGES, CHIBF JUS TICE AND OTHER PLACES. Session of the General Assembly in 1909 Will be Occupied With Many Matters. Today at noon the general assem bly of the State of South Carolina will convene for a session of probably legs than 40 -gays, says the Columbia State., There is meh to bre consid ered, but it is thought that as the members get a flat salary of $200 per session instead of $4 per day for not more than 40 days as heretofore, the business will be accomplished. wit'h more dispatch. Mention has been made from time to time of the principal mattei-s to * be considered. The public will look forward with interest -to the fate of he bill providing for tax reform, the prohibition bill, the repeal of the lien aw, the increase in the -salaries of State offleers, the erection of another building for the State officers, the eompusory education law and many otihers. A great deal of the time, however, is going to be taken up with the sev eral elections. The resignation of Chief Justice Pope has changed the ealoulations of many who have fig raTed on their friends for various judi Cial positions. Should a member of the supreme bench be raised to that position it will also be necessary to elect his suecessor. The circuit judges to be selected at this session are :t'he successors 1o dge D.* E. Hydriek of the seventh cireuit, -whose term expires on Decem ber 15, 1909; Judge R. W. Mem minger of Charleston. of the Ninth eireuit, whose term expires on Feb ruary 17, and Judge George E. Trince of Anderson, cf the Tenth cir *uit, whose tearm expires on the same date. The above are elected during the first session of the general assembly, and there are s-veral others to be hosen in 1910. Those who terms expire in 1910 are: Judge Robert Aldrich of Barn well, of the Second eireuit, who was ~leeted as sucessor .to Judge James Aldrieh, resigned; R. C. Watts of C~heraw, of the Fourth circuit, whose Sterm expires; Jno. -S. Wilson of Man nig, of 'the Third circu<it, .who sue 'eeeded Judge R. O. Purdy, resigned; Geo. W. Gage of rbester, of' the Sixth circuit, and J. C. Klugh of Ab beville, of the Eighth circuit. The term of Associate Just.ice Ira B. Jones of Lancaster also 'expires in 1910. Justice Jones is serving his second term. The terms of three members of the *penitentiary board of diretors ex .pire 'this year, and it will be neees sary for -The board to elect their sue cessors as well as a successor to Capt. D. J. G.riffith, the superint;endent. There has been no opposition to Capt. Griffith, and unless some asnnounee-. ment is made by some candidate wit:h ~in the next few days he will again be 'reelec ted without opposition. The members of the board whose terms expire are: J. W. Smith of Smoak. J. G. M.obleyv of Winnsboro, arnd A. K. Sanders of Sumter. There will probably be a.number .nominated for t:bese positions, among the names imentioned beinez Cap>t. J1. H. Brooks of Greenwood. a former senator and a genih-:an well known throughout the State. There will be several vacancies on boards of t.rustees to be filled at tis session. In addition to the terms ex pliring, Mr. Peake of Lexington has resigned as he is now a tea'eher at Clemson. and ex-Senator Efird is an nounced as a candidate for th~at place. According to statements maide pre viously by memnbers of :he incmmne general assembliy. these elections will be disposed of as quickly as possible and in order that the other hbusiness may be disposed of. it being the ex pe'rie'nee of .the older mnembIers that for .at leaist two or three (i:'I' Mpf' an eleetion it is almost impossible to annact any business. TILLMAN AND ROOSEVELT.. Tillman Was to Reply Yesterday ti President's Accusations With Regard to Land Deal. Washington, Jan. 10.-No subjeet has been gossipped about ,recantly at the capitol with such fervor as Pi esi dent Roosevelt's diseclosure of Sena tor Trillman's alleged connection with an Oregon land deal, but tha collea gaes of the South Carolinian are in clined to withhold judgment. until he has had .an opportunity to explain. The fact that the senator will read his explanation probably -will rob it of some of the sharp and homely -api grams usual to his speeches. Many expressions of dissatisfaction are heard because of the manner in which the president mad,, public the material gathered by postoffice in spectoqs about Senator Tillman. It is pointed out by senators that ,the mat ter sent to Senator Hale was not in responsa .to the latter's request to the -heads -of the executive departments for a statement of the operations of the secret service, as the investiga tion of Senator Tillman's alleged at tempt to obtain Oregon lands was proseeuted by inspectors of the post office department. It was rumored at the capitol to day that the president told a friend, who -repeated ithe remark, that an ef fort was made by Senators Hale and Aldrich to suppress the facts'.aboat Senator Tinlman. Undoubtedly this simprassion was gained by a visit to the president by Mr. Hale, who sug gested that the mat.ter relating to Mr. Tillman be withdrawn. iPtesident Roosevelt deelinedl to withd:.aw the .reference. Tfhre is no question that the con ditior of Senator Tillman's health is serious. Close friends on the Demo era.tic side of the senate ehamber ad mit their anxiety over the effect the president's chairges may have upon Mr. Tillman. Some of the .senators who have ex amined all of the evidence produced by the.president and the postoffice in spectors say that if the facts are as represen-ted. the offense was one of impropriety and indiseretion, but that no crimi-nality is involved. T was said that Mr. Tillman might have in troduced his resolution calling upon the department of justice to begin proceedings to compel the sale of the Oregon land at $2.50 an aere, in ac cordance with the original grant, and 'at bhe same :time apply for some of the land withdrawn withou.t making himself the 'target for several critie Iai his .t:.zement in February last the senator said that he had not bonght any Wat.erni land nor had he 'undertaken'' to buy any. The evidence submitted by the president -shows t,hat prior to this statement Mr. Tillman had made ap plication for nine quarter sections. Defending thimnself against the ap pearanee of 'having made a mislead in sta.tement, Senator Tillman told his friend's today tha.t he should have said on t<he floor that 'he had "not contrated " -to buy anly l'and, and that the whole case against him *has been built upon the interpret ation placed upon the word "undertaken. THAT CLEMSON TRUSTEESHIP, What About Members of the General Assembly Who Are Holding Sim ilar Trusteeship? T1he followving is an editorial from: he Columbia State o)f ye4terda.) morng: "It is Such a Little One," Pleads The Mail. The Anderson Mail does not take (tMn 1r i2h e'rV11a in defense of Sentor Tillman's necuneyC of two. or several offiees. in opposition to the constitution. It urges that .the sena* tor's explanation tiat he was a trus tee of Clemson when t'he constitution was adopted "should be satisfac torv" for "a i-s a well eettled legal prieinle that laws es forward and nt backward.'' Had the Mail fol lowed the d'iSenS'ion-. it wol have known that that point had been met by the S* ata e'.Wn we aid that a of sen:ator exd.'l. M, h If the eonotttion did not af.ul,y t( eonditions existing in 1895, it did ap ply when those conditions changed, and they changed when ti-e term of senaltor, then being served by Till ma-n, expired. "But wh-y all this discussion over t:he m.fter? What principle is in volved? What in.terests are suffer ing?" queries -the Mail. In answer we -say that this disuession was not introdtced by any person or papers rated as tha senator's "enemies." The County Record of Ki.ngstree first made brief comment. No other pap er took it up until Sena-tor Tillman presented a. -lengthy reply to the Re cord. His assumption Was in direct opposittion to the position taken years ago by the State and by several niem bers of the legislature, an, it was in opposition to our understandlinu- of the law. To have permitted that a's sumption to go' inehalienged would have been -neglect of duty. He press ed the issue, and we presented the law. and challenged him to get a de cision from the courts. The pin-eiple involved is a ve.ry great principle. Tt is the principle oL whether any man shall be above the law; it is 'the principle of whether the law Ohall be obeyed by ell, or twisted to favor certain persons. Th- 01es tion is not whether Tillman ,stablish ed Clemson, it is not whether the peo ple wish him to be the trastee - of Clemson, it is simply whether tbc law forbidding the holding of two o'ees of hionor or profi-t shall be abeyed by Tillman. And if it need not be obey ed by him. why should it be obeyed by any one ? Clemson, we arA in formed, pays its trustees per diem and mileage-and the funds for payment come chiefly from S.uth Carolina. So far as the .State is eoncerned, we do not ca,re a red coppeir how many trusteeships Tillman holds, No. do we eare for the prejudiced ignor ance which says 'Oh, it is the same old fight on Tillaman." When wF make a 'ight, it is backed bv argu ment and' t.hose who refuse to consid er the reason of reasoning argument, but fall baek -upon ch.arging prejn1dien to us. are too narrow to be cons'dered. Nor has t Mail or any, otlr de fender of Tillman's course theright to asse,-t that any newsnaper or publit! man has been "blind and unrca.'n ing'" in "opposition to Senator Till man on all thinzs.'' Who are they! And what pa,pers and men have ''weakened'' themselves by this poli e.y, and ''strengthened'' Tillman! Those eeneral'i.ties are not arguments. .and they convince no one. Buh: il they w'ere true, it would still be the duty of the papers to combat what t:hey believe to be a wrong, whetthe Senador Tillman or a ba.ekwoods m?ag istrate is t'he offender. It may ha as tthe Mail says, ''.mueh ado over m litt.le matter,'' bi:t it is cheeking ag gressions 'in little matters that pre vents aggressions in greait matters And it is standi.ng fir the law at all times that tinspires respect 'for the law. SENATE ROUSED. Would Know President's Authorit3 for Approving Steel Combine Passes Resolution. Washi.ngton, Jan. 8.-By a vive voce vcote the senate today passei Senator Culberson 's tresolution in structing the commnittee 'on the jud'i' eiary to report to the senite whether~ the pr 'nt r aI'+h!rbed to per. m i dh -h>p.t- of t.he Teniosc Coland Tron co m pa ny by the Un ir ed St:te';Steel corrpor:'tion. Praelingt'i t noti'}n. Senatoi H'> --i, -. trenewelnz his i bieet j'i t' the resolution on the ground that thE pre'sidenit did .not :lpprove the aet ol t *'acel ( or'm ; t' n 'in absorbinz th( Tennessee Cosal and Tron compiany mo-ed to lav Senator Cuilbe.reon '< r rhition on the table as soon as it wat alBed by the Texas senator. On that motio'.n the v,te was: 1 yea-s and 47 nays. All of the seniators voting to 1in the resolution on -the tah)l were Re publieans and of 'the 47 rvte ne'-"insi tihat motion 21 were enat by Demo erats and 26 by Republicans. A; soon as 'this test vote was anno)nneed Mr. Culberson 'moved t he adlopt ion ol H& resolution 'and he a vi r-.1 rve voitr it was adopted, no division hein2' e-ill ed for. TILLIN SHADOWED 1 BY SECRET SERVIGE th' PRESIDENT SUSPECTED HIM IN pl: OREGON "LAND 'rRAB." NI w< Report Before -Senate-Result of In- pr vestigation Communicated to Up- ua per House by President. , 1he Washington, Jan. 7.-By direction of President Roosevelt secret service Mi men shadiowed Senator Tillman of of South Carolina on the theory that hi 'he possibly was interested in an Ore- -s gon ''land grab." and the result of na that investigation is now before the ai senate. ra The information was contained in er a communication from President 00 Roosevelt sent in response ito request ed made by Senator Hale to the heads m of .the executive departments for a SE sbatement of the aetitvities of 'secret in service operatives. Exhaustive re plies were made by the various de- tO partments -and all of these were for- in warded to 'Senator Hale by the la president. They have not been made " public and Senator Hale announced Ti that they would not be given out until in after they had been considered by a subcommitftee of t)he committee on ap propriations, which will be charged b( witih the duty of acting upon the ' president's .annual message relating I to the secret service and criticising m4 members of congress for their re- tb striction of its use. Soon after President Roosevelt's communication ;to 'Senator Hale was treceived at the capitol yesterday it beam-e noised about that it contain-A ed a reflection upon .a senator from a. Southern State. The name of the senator in question was not divulged for a time a'nd as a result the atmos- R I phere of the-senate was saturated with i eiiosi-tv and much speculation. When it finally became known ttb-t Senator Tillman was the member .named. fur -ther effmrts to procure information concerninz the charaeter. of, the charges were made, but they were without avail. Advance Information. Throu*h the faet that several sena tors had advance inform-ation of the R character of the ireport which was to be sent to the senate, it was learned that the inre-,tgat.ion of -Senator Till- a man followed 'an at.tack which h.e C' made in the senate nearly a year ago0 upon an Oregon and company, which had used -his ,name as one of the per- h sons -interested in the concer.n. Pre vious to that -attack Senato,r Tilhnan si had introduced a resoluition direiting ' tie attorney general to prosecute t snits -aeainst 'an Oregon railroad eor pc.ration which had reeeived land C sirants in the kite 60s for :a li'ne from " a California point to Portia.nd. Ore. ~ Mr. Tillman had said th.at the use of 9 his name was withou.t authority and ~ as .a result -it is deeleired that several ' persons interested in t.he land grants became -a.ngered.0 Some of the interested parties are reported 'to have sent to President n Roosevelt copies of letters alleged to ~ have been written by Senator Till- b man indiec.ting that he had an inter est either in one of the land comn--f ranies or would be benefi-ted through ii the land company's obtai-ning posses- P ion of the grants in question. Af- p ter receiving .this informati~on, it i-s il s-ad. Pre,siden't Roo;evelt directed -a & seeret service op'er.ceive to inves'tienite d1 'e r-o.rt 9m,to: T:lln.ln ws alleged {s -' hare in U'e 1:' i ('e. The ren:::t seng~ *.) the scna:te is un dersto'd tb can.tain an account of m> th investizatIion made o'f Senatm I Tilman. It is known that the secret ' ser SCI'operative procured p)h -to erphie copiies of T.ill:a' er*. re*t P 1ndrnee, but whether these e:hibits were .enlt .to Sena:tor H1ale is o nor tI Iknown. Sentor Refuses to Comment. I Senato:r Tillman wvas not :rre' o1 the fact tha.t his name figu:e'l in the reprts until la-te today. He then .11.. pa-ins to assure himself ! ith ' - reports c(,neerninlg the mnftion of I N me1f we-re well fonnded. but he :e fused 'to commen.t uno" the f'~i "' ,ther tii.nu to siy that -he wo'ihi not onke any; statemen1t until the fret ii ei.1, b-0,1->)?ted, when he w" addre- him4elf to the subjoet , hi sa in the senate. It is k-nown Immediately after the conclusion of the chaplain's prayer Monday Mr. Tillman will ask the recognition of the chair on a question of personal privilege. Departing from . his eus tom of extemporaneous speaking, he will read his statement, thus insur ing more careful adherence to what he desilres to say than -he would be able to give in an offhand speech. The" eommuniciation to Senator Hale is nearly 3,000 words long and in addition there are appended hnmn erous exhibits, including copies of let :ters written by .Senator Tillman and his agent, William E. Lee, showing that othey did make an effort to se enre several quarter sections of the Oregon land, and the reports of the postoffice inspectors who investigat ed the transactions of the land agents. It was-through ,tthis investigation that the alleged interest of Senator Till man was brought to light, and fate fully, it appears, it was -at Ins insti gation that the.inquiry was began. Investigation a Duty. The president's communication 'to Senator Hale opens with the state ment that the secured for the sen ate information touching the employ ment of special attorneys, special agents, inspectors, etc., and the re ports conveying this information 'he was trainsmitting. 'Dhen he says that it is "not only the right but the duty of congress to investig4ate the work ings of the secret service or d-etective agents by which alone the govern -ment can :effeetually safeguard itself against wrongdoing, punish crime, -and bring to justice oriminels. The prsident continues:.b "It nevertheless remains true that this system, is bsolutely indispensa ble if the popular interest -is to be adequatelg safeguarded and wrong doers staught to fear the -law. *lhe president says: "I -would like to state here that very frequently accusaitioris have been made to me privately by members of the 'two houses to the effect that the secret service has been used as 'police of morals' cr ito shadow senators, con gressmen .and other public officials. Hitherto ,the effort ito discover the basis for such allega-tions has always been frust.rated. I should.be greatly obliged if any information could be fornished me tending to show any instance wdiere this has been done in times past." The president enters upon a discus sion of the operations of t'he special agen.ts 'and inspec4tors, saying that in A the investigation of specific frauds the operaitors "somhet.imes come across wholly unexpected phases of miseonduet." Often, says ,t'he president, the abuse of t'he frariking -privilege is unknow.n 'to ,the eongressmen themn selves. Then,' leading up to the Till man matter, he says: Case "of a Different Kind." "'But a case has just arisen of a different kind, which, it seems to .me, I shoQuld put before you a's ilhiustrat 'ing in st.riking fashion the way in -'which investitgation begun by any of the various agencies -in 'the strict line of thiei.r duty may develop facts of high importance, which the investiga -tors would not in ;the first instance have sough>t to discover, which dis covered, ought -not to be hidden or suppressed, but .the developme:.t of uThich may tend to crea.te an erron eous -impression that the agents in question were being used for purposes not within the line of their lawful c1The' comnmu nication then recites -tet Sena.tor Tillman on Februarf 19 1ast. e-alled .the attention of the sen :te to the circular of 'the Oregon land syndir-ate, which alleged that Sena tor Tillman was -among those who had spoken for a part of 1the land to h"a disipose'd of and qiuotes 'Senator T;ll'man's denial as follows: ''1 'have not bought any land any where in the West, nor undertaken to buy any. I have made some inquir esas one naturally would, in roaming through the West. I simply want 'the. tpeople of the country to be put on notice that this swindler at Portland hsno wanrant whatever for endeav oring to inveigle others into his game." Enclosed, the president says. Mr. Hale would find photographic simniles of lette'rs and enve-lopes from Senator Tillman 'and ;his agent. William E. Lee. baring on the matter. A letter wever, that Mr. Tillman regarded e mention of his name as an at ek upon himself by the president, d he has indicated to friends that will -not mince matters in his re v. He also had declared to those th whom he eonversed that he >uld welcome the opiportunity to ex ess his views and explain the sit -ion. . It is probable Mr. Tillman will ba a-rd on Monday next. On February 19, 1908, Senator Till In rose in the senate -to a question personal privilege and said that s ettention ihad been called to a hem-, of swindling in which his me had been used .ather unpleas .tly and without the slightest -war nt. The .senator held in his hand a 7eular hea'ded, "How to make $5, 0 ou,t of $200." This circular call .attetnition to ee.rtain la-nd' grants Oregon and ,to the activity of nator Tillman in iaving the senate vestigate t<hem. It stated that Senator Tillman takes 11 quar rs," and that the lawsuits to be stitated in order to recov!r these nds were promised to be pressed th great vigor, because Senator lman was behind them. Commr.?nt g upon ithis situation Senator Til.1 an -at that time said: "As a matter of fact, I have rot >ugh,t -any lands anywhere in the est, nor do I intend -to buy any. have made some inquiries, as one iturally would. in .roaming through e West. I simply want- the peop-a ithe country to be put on notice at this swindler at Pontland has no arrant wbatever for endeavoring to veigle others into his game.' HE PRESIDENT'S bHARGES AGAINST SENATOR TILLMAN oosevelt, in His Report to gale on Work of Secret Service, Accuse4 South Carolinian of Using His In. fluence in Upper House to Forc Railroad to Relinquish its Title tc Land Grants 'That He and His Family Might Profit by Purchase of Real Estate in West-Also Al leges Abuse of Franking Prilivege. Washington. Jan. 8.-Presideni oosevelt to?iOht made public the Atails of an investigation by post ee inspectors and secret service zents of Senator Tilhn11n-'s a.lleged nnection witth a "land grab''ir reon. As 'he presents the evidence 'Senator Hale in response to thE titer's request to the heads of ,th( rious exeentive departments for 2 a.teiernt of the operations of th wret service .the presid.ent under kes t'6 show: "Tner, Mr. Tillman us3d his influ ice as a sena'tor in an effort to faret e governmlent to compel a railroad iroaton 'to relinquish its cont-ro land grant's from 'the United States order .tha.t he and his fa:mily and~ is seeretary. J. B. Knight. mighi ofit t'hrngh 'the purchase of somE E the land. "That the senator used his govern ent franking privillege in numerous Lstanes for the conduct of privatE Comparatively few senators wer. irared witah -the opportuni,ty of read ig the president 's report to Senato ale, bpt those who did read the re rt 'took a serious view of it. al imuh mo-t of the sen'.tars refused >beiere +:hat Mr. Tilinm n'ad evel on~ ernvthing in vialbtion of his ihas senator. Sen, tar Tillm' n. did nit permilt the .t t .:he pre.'ident was givins it the charges against him to altei isdetermin:vtion t-o :r'ke ni: state K-nt rutil M)lndarP. lHe -'a thia could not m"ki h-i. reply o <rm lete? as hie would die fot r : eno a' paper's and thi he v:i :'eref; re withhIiold w'he: ever rem'arks a might have to make until Monday hn he 'would make a statement .t( le senate. Tried to Get Land. No effort was miade by him to con 'l ,the fact ,that when lhe had learn 1 .the facts co.necirning the railroad rt he had ma:de :in effort to oh Sportions of 'the land in the namnes 'him.mlf and members of his famn . ht dleThrred tha:t as. a-t most, hi '..e!' .ilf "f thr. --u -b i nd .t eseall in his own interest.