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RMES THOSE HOLDING TWO STATE POSITIONS NAXE OF SENATOR TILLMAN HEADS BLEASE LIST. etter Sent to Committee Appointed to Investigate Violation of State Constitution. Governor Coleman L. Blease, in al letter to the committee appointed to nvesitigate the holding of two posi ons of "profit or trust," names those he considers are "openly violat the letter and spirit of our State1 stitution." Heading the list given the committee in Governor Blease's ter is the Hon. BenJan.in Ryan Till n, senior senator from South Caro a, who as also a trustee of Clemson. e committee, consisting of two embers of the senate and three from a e house, will get to work immediate under the concurrent resolution . g them to investigate theI charges brought by G6vernor Blease. . Mr. Mauldin said that theqcomit tee will bgin its) ivgestigaton of the governor's charges as soon as the letter is officially received. The com mittee, which was appointed in con nance with a resolution passed Jan ry 30, consists of five members, two from the senace and three from the house. The members, besides Sena jor Mauldin, aze Senator LeGrand Wailker, of Geogetown, T. P. Brown, of Florence, George .S. Mower, of New e1wry, and F. B. Gary.,. The Governor's Letter. The following is the letter of Gov. e which he addressed to Senator of the 2nd instant received. ly will state that I am in rormed that the Hon. B. R. Tillman is a jnited States senator and trusteel of Clemson and Wilthrop colleges. "'That the Hon. Francis H. Weston -a State senator and trustee of the i University of South Carolina. 3 "That the Hon. John G. Richards is I a railroad commissioner and trustee of Clemson college. "That the Hon. Alan Johnstone is I a State senator, a trustee of Clemson< eollege and president of the board of trustees of Clemson college. "That the Hon. D. J. Bradham is a trustee of the colored college and a magistrate. "That the Hon. D. W. McLa.urin is land agent of the sinking fund and trustee of Winthrop callege. "At the time .of the message you speakt of in your letter, the Hon. Hart ,well M. Ayer was a menmber of the house of representatives and a trus tee oIf the State reformatory. "The Hon. L. M. Gasque was a member of the house of representa-K tves and a member 'of the board of> fish commission for South Carolina. ''There may be others; I have nc: taken the pains to look the matter up. These 'have been called to my atten tion and believing that each of the positions 'held by them, respectively, came within the meaning of the State constitution, I sent -in the message' referred to. "Article 3, section 24, of the consti tution of 1895 reads: The Constitution. "'No person shall be eligible to a seat in the general assenmbly while he holds any office or position of profit or trust under this State, the UTnited States of America, or any of them, or under any other power, etc.' "If the trustees of a college that' handles hundreds of thousands of dol ars, and by his vote 'may expend th'e same, is not a position, I am at a loss to know the meaning of the word. If a railroad commissioner or a United States senator is not 'an office, I am badly misinformed. ~'The 'onstitutioni says 'or under any 4 tler power.' Cain a man hold an office or position without it being under some power? Is a man's will, donat ing large amounts of money, to be held; in trust for certain purposes, a pow er; and, is not one of the trustees; holding a position of trust? "The supreme court of this State, in the c2se of Hopkins against Clemson college, holds that the board of trus tees are State officeErs and holds that, for that reason, they can not be sued, and dismissed Hopkins' complaint. That question is now before the su preme court of the United States. "If your committee holds that these men are not State officers, then I sub mit that the general assembly should pass an act, allowing these men to bring their suit. While I think there; is no mnerit in their claimi, yet if the' supreme court is wrong these men. should have a right to a trial by a; jury. "Article 2, section 2, of the conlSii tution, provides: -''But no person shall hold two of fices of honor or profit at the same time.' Repeats His Charges. "T is needless for me to rep eat that c.+riied that all of the gen tlemen na:ned are opeinly violating thE letter and the spirit of our State' constituton. Others may differ witt me. This is my construction of thE law and I felt that it was my duty under my oath, to see that the consti tution and laws of my State are up held, to call the matte-- to the atten Lion of the general assembly. "Personally, I have absolutely nc interest in the matter. I hold thE highest office within the gift of thE people of my State. I am neither en vious or jealous of any man and I thank God that I hold in my heart nc malice. Many of those gentlemen arE my personal and political friends and [ would be pleased to see them hold is many positions as they can obtain [f it is not in violation of the law. "There may be others violating this ame section of the constitution. If [ knew of it, I would be pleased tc ,ive you the names, as your commit ,ee requests. If I learn of any othere he information shall be furnsihed you. "I have the honor to be, "Very respectfully, "Cole L. Blease, "Governor." "P. S.-Since writing the above, I iave been informd that W. W. Brad .oy is private secretary to Congress nan Aiken and also trustee of Clem on college, and that Mr. Rawl, who iolds a position under the United 3ttes, in the city of Wasbington, D. is also a trustee of Clemson coa ege. "The law says "office of positior:" tnd I call these to your attention." Error as to Weston. Governor Blease made an error in he portion of his letter to the invesli pating committee, referring to Sen'at>r :rancis H. Weston, who is not a trus :ee of the University of South Car Aina. He was at one time, but follow ng the adoption of the State constitu ion he resigned, under the very con ,truction of that instrument the gcv .rnor now seeks to enforce. Senalor ieston was very much surprised -.o 21ght "When informed that he was lamed in the governor's letter. Governor Blease sent another let ter D the investigatipg committee, car -ecting the error about Senlator Fran s H. Weston. * * * * * * * * * * * ** * :~* THE STATE PR~ESS ON TWO * OFFICES. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A Correct Powtion. olumbia State~. That one of the messages of the ~oierno&r directing attention to the ~iolatio.ns of the law 'by persons hold nfg mfore than one office or position mder 'the State or the United States leserves to be commended. For years, nany years, The State has from time o time insisted that the spirit and he lettei' of the State constitution hould be carried out and the gover aor echoes in his message a criticisne hat has been aime~d with justice at more than one South Carolinian of >rommnence. In some of the cases, the duality of ffic -holding is in doubt, some ques ion remaining as to whether both of ies held are of the nature conitem plated in the language of the constitu ion. In others, there is no doubt that the law is violated and as to them he :law shouild be 'enforced. The wisdom of the savleepin~g inhibi ion of the constitution is not here liscussed. The amendmnent proposed i the pending school law which wouad enable members of the legisla ture, for instance, to be school trus ees, is fortified by strong argumen.ts, but, until the constitution is amend ed, it should be obeyed. To that prop osition, there is but one side. Predicts Inaction. Rock Hill Record. -There is no doubt about Go.verno1 Blease being right, in his "muessage No. 7," that there are many violating the constitution of this State by hold' ng two offices of trust or honor. W( hope the liegislature will c'orrect this evil, but it is a bet that nothing will be done. Message No. 7. Yorkvile Enquirer. It gives us pleasure to be able tt announce that at last Governor Bleasa has sent to the general ass embly message in which we can fiin. n< fault, either as to the subject mat ter or manner of handling. We ref e to the message of last Saturday witi referenc :to obedience to the constitu 'on and laws of the State. The suggestion has been made tha the message referred to is p)urely po l:.eal, for the purpose of evening u] with a political opponent in the gor ernor's own county; but with this w have nothing to do. It is ours oni: to consider the paper on its merits a a message fromt the governor of Sout] Carolina to the general ssembly c South CarolEna, and beyond that w a re ncnerned. Tecom of Nei Capita, SurplU The affair with that co: enterprise f which makE factory ban] new account The manal Bank believE formed on a a reasonable That liberal thing for noI has ample ce portion to makes safet and is ope lines, is entil due proporti The bank strong peral fact that Th years held it petition indi has not lost ferences bet ing: With t talization ti large. It m erate size th contact with them direct. necessary fo tangling all such an ins customers t they thrive. its first thou; is founded depositors, titled to ac< first-never conservative the develop Bank. The: eration throi istence. The You are co account witi Four Savi We Sot The Banli Juc.a M. Kinard, President. 4 State U-cials Vo1hillr Constitation. Chester Lantern. Gov. Blease's message calling the at tention of the law makers to the mat ter of State officials holding two of fices at -the sam'e time is timely. For instance, Senator Tillman is a Clem son college trustee and State Senator Johnstone, of Newberry, is chairman of the Clemson board. As the gover nor says when the State officials vio late the constitution how can they ex pect the rank and file of the people to observe the laws. They should set examples in this m3atte,. Timely and Proper. County Record. The Record opposed Governor Blease's election ecn principle, but We shall not hesitate to give him credit for whatever he do:es or tries to do that in our opinion is wise or just or deserving of commendation. We re gard as timely a:d proper his mes sage to the general asembly calling attenetion to certafn men holding high office who are holAing other offices in violation of the letter and the spirit of the constitutia of South. Carolina, which plainly inhibits anyone holding more than one office of honor and trust. Among those who have violat ed this clause of the constitution are United States Senator B. R. Tillman, State Senator Alan Johnstone, of Newberry, and Railroad Commission er John G. Ri6hards. College Trustees as "Officers." Anderson Mail. Under this caption, the Newberry Observer -has a splendid editorial. It :j-lows: "We do not beliewe that the State constitution ever- intended to prevent a public -officer from seirving on the board of trustees of a State college. Talke the case of trustee of Clemson, for instance: The Clemson bequest, with its provisions for life trustees, had been accepted before the consti tution was adopted, and o.f coursikwas accepted with the provision in it. "If the constitutional convention had been so very diesirous of keeping public officers off these boards, why in 'he name of common sense did it provide that the governor, the State supentendent. of !education and two mebers of the legislature, viz., the Ichairman of the educational commit tees in the 'house and senate respelc ively, should be members of these 'boards ? "We are no lawyer, and therefore do not undertake to go into a learn ed cntitutional argument; but that is the -way it strikes ns. "And another thinmg that strikes us is that there is a good deal of per sonal and political spite an4 preju dice at the bottom of the whole busi ness." We think the Observer has inter preted the la'N correctly, and that it has given the right explanation as to the cau2se of the agitation that has been going on. There is nothing morc to be said on the subject. TRAGEDY IN GREENVILLE. Robert MlcAbee Dead, Lee Hollanld Perhaps Fatally Wounded. Gkeenvill'e, Feb. 4.-In a pitched battle tonight, on a public highway, between a posse, headed by L.ee Hol land, intendant of thie'village of Maul din, six miles 'below Greenville, and Robert McAbee and his son, Will, of Enoree, Spartanbu1.rg county, Robert McAbee was shot dead and Lee Hol land probably fa.tally wounded. According 'to the ac'count of the killing, told by Sheriff Poole, of this county, McAbee and his son left Enoree Satu'rday mo'rning to spend ie night with Thomas Fowler, who lives, near Mauldin. -About a mile above the village the two met a 'white man in the roa;d, one Thompson, and fired five times at him, none of the shots taking effect. The incident pass ed and father and son drove into Mauldin. In passing th.rough the vil lage McAbee fired a pistol ball through both wall's of a store conduct ed by Lee Holland and fired up the road with his son. Holland .orgamlz d a posse and started out to arrest McAbe and hs son. Despite the fact that 'he was shot through the breast Holland placed the younger McAbee under arrest and con ~ucted him back to Mau'ldin, where he held him until Sheriff Poole ar I ived, about 11 o'clock. The sheriff brought young McAbee back to Greenville, and he 'now rests in the county jail. The older McAbee les, a corpse, in ,the public highway this side of the village of Mauldin, aawiting the coroner's inquest. G;ICHESTER S PILLS Ta " naN GRA.. L- ised L 3 yo-w )fdrmist, for d G:i-cha-ter iuod yor: -, Pi tl in Re fn o ld I m1e.tFl i DIA OND BRAND! PILLS, for rzo W yerrs kown s IBest, Safest. Always ReliaMse S. SD BY iRUSGISTS EVERYMWERF Now is the time to subscribe to The Heald and News. Mercial B rberry, S. C l M - $50,000 s - - $65,000 - of this bank are governed uservatism, combined with nd up-to-date methods, s for soundness and satis king service. We invite ement of The Commercia! s that banking connections basis of perfect service at conpensation will.endure. terms do not mean some hing. That a bank which pital and reserve in pro its deposit liability, and y the first consideration, rated aloig conservative bled to and will receive its on of the public patronage. with the distinction of -a mality means much. The e Commercial Bank has for s business against all com ates that the public mind sight of these essential dif ween these kinds of bank he bank of moderate capi be personal equation looms ust. In the bank of mod e customer comes in daily. the officers. He deals with There is no red tape or un rmality. Relieved from en iances with other banks, titution has only its own o serve. .It thrives when Having no other interests, ght is of them. Its success on the theory that our of all others, are en ~ommodatiqn. They come last. ..These principles of. banking have governed ment of The Commercial y explain its continuous op igh its many years of ex sy suggest its future policy. rdially invited to open an t us. Per Cent. Interest in ngs Department cit Your Patronage SThat Aiw You Right )1 B. Mayer, V.-Pres. J. Y. Mcf Uamme ink I ay al,Cahe