Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

volume iii, >tmber si ??? - u ,v|!] i;in; s_ ^ Tl KSIi\y. u'lill, _?!, i;m. " ~ . twice a week, $uo a tear. [ GOVERNOR BLEASE ON F MILITIA ENCAMPMENT L C|T?S WHOLE HISTORY OF P TRANSACTION. Writes Secretary of War Quoting: EnI tire ftitrtspondenre in the F .Matter. f Special to The Herald and Xewg. Columbia. April 20?Governor Klease's position in the war department controversy is explained in the :'ollowing letter to tlhe secretary of | v.ar. which includes the entire hisk tory of the transaction: Columbia, April 18, 1914. Hon Liadley M. Garrison, SeScretary of War, Washington, D. C. Dear Sir: Your telegram bearing date Washington* D. C., April 18, has hooe hurrdpn tn me. YOU Sav: Jlw: ' "Your telegram of April 18th just i ? received and I note that in it you state i that you maintain the position which you have hitherto taken with respect to the joint encampment. The war department, proceeding in the regular m way, after communications held with the adjutant generals of the various States concerned, selected the Isle of i Palms, South Carolina, for this encampment, and that selection was made public. You had previously wired this department recommending this place to be cnosen. suDsequenuy and on the 9th of April, you wrote a personal letter to me statiug thst unt iess you were further consulted about this mat.er, you did not propose to liave troops brought in:o your State/' Allow me, sir, to correct you. iFirst, I know nothing of any communications held with tae adjutant \ general of this State. The adjutant general in this State is merely a staJ oc ii. ~ -er .u ? [ Qiucvr upon uie stem, ui mc nnd has no powers except those given * directly by sta'.ute law, and all orders of every description issued from his office are issued by the governor, an^ only countersigned by the adjutant general. Therefore, I held, and I conI . tinue to hold, that under the constitu 'ion of tJis State, wrncn maKes tae governor the commander-in-chief of the military forces of this State, and . under the statu;e laws of this State, that i: was a proper courtesy due to ' me as commander-in-chief of the military forces of the State that ;he war s department should take this matcer up witih me. I so hold now, with all due respect ;o the secretary of war of the United States. Your s:atement just quoted, "You had previously wired this department vaPAmmeiHin^ thic nlapp fn hp ohns en" is incorrec:. I presume as to That, you have been misinformed by ihose handling this communication. The communication, a copy of which now on file in my office shows, is as r'ollows: "Charleston, S. C.? Feb. 11, 1914. Adjutant General Mills, Washington, D. C. "Regarding tlie Southeastern National guard encampment for nex: summer, I beg leave to suggest that 1--- - i.-> .n-.- T 1 _ you nave 1 us pet-ieu iue isie ui jraima, -at Charleston, S. C. In my opinion, this famous resort possesses equal fan cili-ies for this encampment with any place in the South. "Cole. L. Blease, "Governor and Commander-in-Chief.'' mere was a wuu-yvcis) gumg uu between this location and others in this State, and I assure you, my dear sir, that under no conditions or circumstances would I have chosen between those sites, unless it had been j a mat:er in which my duty required a decision. I have been in politics t^o long to be caugut in that kind of a snap. Therefore, I have never requested. nor do I now request, that the encampmen: be held at the Isle of Palms, but I do request hat it be held within the Slate of South Carolina. On the 9th of April, having heard no more of the matter, having been entirely igDored by everybody con1 * nec:ed with it. congressmen and United S'.ates senators from this State, secretary of war, chief of division militia affairs, and everybody pise con*?>cred wiCi the matter, wien I received a letter from y^u in reference :o :'i<- rtinspe^or: o.f Ci.i*ta5j military companies in this S -ate, in my reply to that letter I did take occasion to call your a tention to the tact that I did not consider that i had been treated courtesly. I enclose you copy of that let er. To this letier i have never received any reply from you saying whether you intended 'o treat me with the proper courtesy or not. i You further sta:e "that unless you were further consulted about t/ais mat'er, you did not propose to have troops brought into your State." Again, Mr. Secretary, you misquote the record and are incorrect. What my letter of April 9th said was: "Before the State troops of Suoth Carolina attend any such maneuvers, I assure you that 1 will be consulted, or ihe'.'e will be no troops in this State," referring directly, as the letter plainly shows, to the i trooos of Snurh Carolina onlv suiri as you should knc.w, because I would nave no jurisdiction Whatever over any orher troops. Tais statement plainly means, and can only be construed 'to mean, that if any State troops in South Carolina attend tlhat encampment without my consent I would muster them out of the service. Again, I must presume that you have been misinformed as to what was in the original record. I j. u\, umi nuuuua.jvu x icucivcu was a telegram under date of April 13th, signed Richard S. Whaley, as follows: "Washington. D. C., April 13-14. "Hod. Cole. I-.. Blease. Governor of South Carolina, Coiumbia, S. C. "Will selection of Isle cf Palms as site for Southeastern encampment be satisfactory to you and meet wkh your approval? Will appreciate | promp: reply. (Signed) "Richard S. Whaley." In reply to that, r wired you on April 14th, as follows: "as commander-in-chief of the milj itary forces of this State, I desire and | urge the holding of the encampment | in South Carolina, and will do all in I my power to make the same successful | and pleasan:." The next communication I received was from yourself, dated April loth, as follows: "Am 1 correct in assuming that by your telegram of April 14th you intend to completely revoke so much of your letter of April 9th as deals with j the matter of tJIie joint encampmei> in South Carolina?" In reply to that, I wired you on the same date, as follows: "I received from one of our conj gressmen yesierdav the fallowing tel| egram: " 'Will selection of Isle of Palms as site for Southeastern encampment be satisfactory to you and meet wirii your approval?"' In response to that wire and certain conversations over long dis.ance phone with parties in Charleston, I wired you from Rock Hill, as follows: "As commander-in-chief of the military forces oi' this State, I desire and urge the holding of the encampment in South Carolina, and will do all in my power to make the same successful and pleasan;. "My letter of April 9th stands, and 1 am still of tue opinion that your department s'aould consult me direct, and not through others." (Signed) "Cole. L. Bealse,'' "Governor." I received no reply from you 10 that message, you still not disclaiming tihat T'AII i A v\ /\f /3 + ^ ^ ysju UIU UVl lutcuu IV Ui^UUUCUUi to the governor of this State. The next communication I received was tram ihe mayor of Charleston, .copy of which is as follows: "Charles on. S. C., April 13th. 1914. "Hon. Cole. L. Bleas^, Governor, Columbia, S. C. < 14- . 4- ^ 4.U ^ ^ T,.:h II ULXUI S IU lilt" UUIL XI > yu v\ ill I wire me as mayor that you as goverj nor have no objections to the encampment within t.ie limits of Sou Ja Carolina, and if you care to do so you can even go as far as ;o say that you would be glad if it would be helcfciere, I think I could tfsen, as mayor of Charleston, wire the secretary of war tha: I have been so advised by you. Party here will appreciate this very much. CSigned) "John P. Grace, "Mayor of Charleston. To which I replied as follows: "April 15th, 1914. "Hon. Jno. P. Grace, Mayor, Charleston, S. C. "Your wire. Wired secretary or t war from Rock Hill as follows: "As eomniander-in-cl:ief of t'iie military forces of this State. I desire and urge tne holding of tile encampment in Soui!i Carolina, and will do all id my power to make the same successful ! and pleasant. j (Signed* "C ;le. L. Dlease, "Governor." I then had long distance Telephone talks with the mayor of Charleston, Mr. James Sotille, Mr. J. S. Farnum, Mr. P. H. Gadsden and others, and I received the following telegram from Mr. Gadsden: "Philadelphia Pa., April 15th. 1914. ? "Governor Cole. L. Blease, Mansion, 1 Columbia, S>. C. "The war department has practically agreed to bave encampment at Isle of Palms of National guard of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and r ionaa, proviueu yuu uuuuui ui mcu selection cf Isle of Falms and will cooperate. The whole people of Charleston are anxious for this encampment and will be greatly disappointed if we fi.il to get it. I know we can always depend on you to do everything in your power to help Charleston. I have an appointment with secj retary cf war tomorrow, Thursday morning, at 9:30, and will greatly appreciate it If you will send me a wire New wniard hotel, wasnington, at j once, which I can show secretary of ! war. that you will be pleased to have encampment of North Carolina, South i Carolina, Georgia, and Florida Na! tional guard at Isle of Palms, and will cooperate 10 make same a great success, and that I am authorized to so 1 state to secretary of war. I am dependi ing on you to help me in this matter. (Signed) "P. H. Gadsden.'* In reply to these conversations and this message, and at the request of ! these parties and others, I had wired to you personally the following tele gram: "April loth. 1914. ' Secretary of War, Washington, D. C. "The governor has 110 objection to ! ihe encampment being held in this State, and by request consents to order bei^g issued. | (Signed) "Jno. K. Aull, "Private Secretary." The next was conversations over the long distance telephone with parties interested in the mat:er. Tnen Attorney General Peoples, of this State, ! filed in my office the following telegram from Representative Byrnes: J "Washington, D. C., April 17th, 1914. "Thomas H. Peeples, Columbia, S. C. j "Unless governor wires war dei partment by 6 o'clock that his teleI gram supersedes le.ter previously written, the State will lose encampment because war department can not I ask militia of other S.ates to visit Sou.li Carolina ever the objection o: the governor contained in letter. As you called on me. this matter, suggest I you see governor immediately. (Signed t - "James F. Byrnes." I immediately wired Congressman , Byrnes as follows: J "Columbia, S. C., April 17;:h, 1914. I "Hon. James F. Byrnes, Member of Congress. Washington, D. C. ' "Your wire to Peeples s'h.cwn me. Statement that I objected to encampment in this State is false. Xo record the' e or :here bea<rs out any such con j ciusio^. i nave never oeen consulted ! as to whether I wanted encampment ; here or not. As matter of fact, I have ! no objection whatever to its being held I in this State and so wired war de! part-meat. ! (Signed) "Cole. L. Blease, "Governor." To which he replied. April 17th. | 1914. as follows: "Hon Cole. L. Blease, Columbia, S. C. "My telegraph Peeples based entirely on information from Whaley who has conferred \vi h Secretary Ga' rison. Int nded investigation personally to' morrow. | I immediately replied to him as *ol lows: "Columbia, S. C., April 17th, 1914. "Hon. James F. Byrnes, Member of Congress, Washington, D. C. "I have not a: any time objected to encampment being held in this S ate, but thaught and yet think that I should be consulted by authorities before final orders issued. However. I r m willing for order to issue and ?ou can so s'ar.e, but can no: understand wh> war | department does net taiie matter up | direct with me unless it is pjlitical conspiracy endeavoring; to injure me. Let eneampme;.: come and 1 will take care ol' political side. (Signed) "C >le. L. Blease, "Governor." He called me up over long distance leiepnone uns morning, anu a iter ue and 1 had had conversation, [ wired your department, April 18th, 1914: as , follows: i "Columbia. S. April lSt'li, 1914. i "The Secretary of War, Washington. D. C. "In response to request from Congressman Byrnes, I wire you: I have I no objection to encampment being j held in this State. This has been my j position all the time, as the true rec-j ord will show. (Signed) "Cole. L. Blease, "Governor." , Now, you say further in your mes- j {sage, "Unless I receive from you an; j unequivocal withdrawal from the po-( i sition hitherto taken by you in this j | ma:ter, and an invitation tha I place j ! the camp at the Isle of Palms in your j I Qi-oto <1 am r-rm?;trainpd tr> nlace the ! camp at some o.'her place than in the' ! State of South Carolina." I assure you, sir, thai the people of | | South Carolina would be pleased to i j have the encampment, at least many J ; of them would be, but 1 do not believe j i that there is one who would want it a: j j a sacrifice of the dignity of the gover-1 i nor of the State. 1 sta:ed in my let- j ? ter of the Oth that 1 considered that I j ~ J troota/^ Tl'itVl fho T"1 T* H T~l P T ! UilU iJUL upcn utaLtu niui mi, j,. courtesy in t'iie matter. Under no conditions or circumstances on earta would I withdraw tha: sta.ement, because 1 still think that 1 was not treated witii the proper courtesy. I have never objected to the encamp- j i men: being held in this State, on the j j contrary, 1 wired, as my Rock Hill j message shows, not only that 1 wanted it in the State, bui that I would do what 1 could to make it successful.' I am s ill of the opinion that I was ' not treated wita che proper courtesy ! in tho matter. Mnd I will always say J sj until you, as secretary of war, say j j that you did not intend to treat the I i governor of South Carolina with dis- j courtesy. When you say that, I will j be pleased to accept your statement. | ! Until then, I will maintain that I j ! should have been consulted before the ! final order was issued in this matter. ; i As to the other statement of yours, J i "An invitation that I place the camp , J at the Isle of Palms in your State,' I ! will, under no conditions send that in I | vitation. T\iere are otaer cines 111 my j State "Jiiat want this encampment, and ; for me to take sides with one would, j not be treating the o hers with proper courtesy, and would be taking a political position which no man,'who l 1 knows conditions in South Carolina, ' would think of doing, and which he i would be a fool to take if he did so. It seems to me that I have a perfect right under the conditions to presume that political enemies of mine ! !>m foirlpnvnrino- to nersuade YOU not to le: the encampment be held in this State, in order that they may say i* was Blease's fault, and thereby en-1 (leaver to injure me politically. I cer-i tainlv consider ic a discourtesy that} you have not consulted with me in the | matter and can only understand it upon the ground that I have been maliciously misrepresented to you. i Pardon me for taking up so much of ycur rime, but I have seen it stated j that "Blease objected to the encampj ment being held in South Carolina." i There is no record tfaat sfftows tnat I have. and. in fact, I nave not. I also saw it heralded to ;h ? world this evenins;. in larse headlines,?"Blease must come down, as he did once before, says Garrison." Blease is not coming down, and he j did not c?me down before, as the re| cords show, and I can hardly believe, i cir t nt f] man hnldinir the his:h posi lion tha: you do would have used this slang attributed to you, and I must believe tha: you have been misrepresented by the repjrter who sent out this j statement. This is the eirJre transaction; the official history. In conchision, I do net object to the I encampniret being held within the J ! Ctn*a Q-mrb Parnlii na At the re-i U LU I ?>'v/U\,U WM* quest of certain pa-rties I ask you to allow the oncampmen: to be held within the State of South Carolina,?but, (CONTINUED ON PAGE 4.) * Refuses to Sal ?/. S. Pla> j m\m rniOFW ! FOR NEEDED AUTHORITY HIKRTA FLATLY REFUSES TO j ACCEDE TO DEMAND. ! Arined Force to Iphold Honor and* fv* !i i.1. . I* !1 I i* 1?1. -.. nisruiry 01 nie Lniiea oiaies. Plan of Action* < / . <v <6 <j> <$><$> <8> ^ <S> ^ I <& 3> ? Condition Unchanged. <$ * Special to The Herald and News. <S> <? r'rvlnmhia Anril 20?A dis- <S> & patch to the Columbia Record <j> j <$' from v "ashington stated tfnat at <$> j ^ noon today the Mexican crisis v J 3- was unchanged, that no new pro^ posal had come from Huerta and <?> President Wilson was ready to ; ' lay t'ae case before the joint ses- ^ ( sion of congress at 6 p. m. rne v | tone of the dispatches it that the $> j $ measures taken may possibly not <?> <? involve war. ^ j ' * President Wilson delivered his ^ 1 j message to both houses of con- -$ ; . gress at 3 o'clock asking permis- v <? sion to take such measures as he $>: might deem necessary. He did <?> I <e> not ask for authority to call for i- volunteers. Resolutions were of- I fered giving him the authority f, 4'- wiaich he requested. <$> I *?> <J> * <*' <*> '*> <$ <%> $> 'b & <? [ I Washintgon, April 19.?Gen. Vic-, toriano Hue:y.a, provisional president of Mexico, flatly refused tonight to ; a?TT-de to the unconditional demands or' t.ie I'nited States that he salute . iie American flag, and congress will be asked bv President Wilson tJmor- , row far authority to use armed 1 forces to uphold the honor a.ul dig- ' nity of the nation. -Negotiations with Huerta over the' demand for a salu.e in reparation for j the arrest of American bluejackets a: I Tampico on April 10 came to a close' tonight at 6 o'clock, the last hour J given by President Wilson for a favor- j able response from the Mexican dictator. The final word of Huerta io Charge O'Shaughnessy was a refusal :o comply, unless the United States would guarantee in writing that his salute be returned. President Wilson a: midnight was j on fiis way to vvasmngton irom j WT.iite Sulphur Springs, preparing to j read a message to congress in joint j session as early as 11 can be arranged tomorrow. In the meantime American war fleets were moving down both coasts on their way to Mexican waters to carry out the president's plan for reprisal. The crisis thus reached does not mean that there will be a formal dec- \ la ration of war, because the Uni;ed ] States could not declare war against a government which it does not recognize. President Wilson will s^ek authority, however, to send armed forces into Mexico to seize firs: the ports of Tampico and Vera Cruz and the railroad trestle leading from Vera Cruz toward Mexico City. The president directed that a cabinet mpprin? hp railed for 10:*30 o'clock tomorrow When final arrangements for a peaceful blockade of Mexican porrs and other steps in t'he president's programme will be deliberated. The breach that finally has come : I with Mexico will make it impossible, I i: v/as declared tonight on high au-j\ thoritv, for the I'nited States fur'.her. to protec* foreigners in that republic,; d foreign governments have been notified of the situation in ibis regard. I i iThe president, it was declared, not only would ask congress for au:horitv to use the armed forces to uvoold < tihe honor of the nation, but alsD for an appropriation, a deficiency already j, having been created because of ex-! pensive naval operations in aiticipa- j. tion of Hue"ta's defiance of this gov-. erana-ent. | The president probably will ask: further that the senate pass the vol- j unteer act, which already has passed j the house, providing for pressing into , % , v I fute Flag ns For Action regular service the militia regiments in various States. In preparation for the crisis that must be met, Senator Shively, chairman nf f he? <ST1 -J to nroio'n roloti/vno vr. v? WV..*VV i ^iauvruo committee, ana Representative Flood, chairman of the h:>use foreign affairs committee, called meetings of these committees for tomorrow morning. Representative Flood, who is on his honeymoon, telephoned from New York that he would return immed' lately. Throughout today the Mexican crisig was the absorbing topic in of ncial circles, dispelling the usual calm of a beautiful mid-spring Sunday. President Wilson arrived at White Sulphur Springe, W. Va., early in the day, after a night ride from Washington and there joined Mrs. Wilson. Secretary Bryan remained up virtually all of last nigtht. awaiting definite word from Mexico City. He was at the state department until after midnight, and after going "home continued telephoning to thos^in the cipher room at the state department until 4 o'clock this morning. ' Shortly after 9 o'clock Mr. Bryan had received two messages from Mexico Ci y, both from Charge O'Shaughnessy. The first was merely formal, seating that the message * / of President Wilson, giving Huerta * until 6 o'clock tonight to yield, ha?been communicated to Prtilloy Rojas, die minister for foreign affairs, an<t that a reply would follow. The second dispatch was in the nature of a reply, although official quickiy .perceived that it was not clearly responsive and definite as to tne demands made by this government. but raised a new issue as to the United States agreeing in writing to retu?i the Huerta salute. Mr. Bryan summarised the Huerta reply in a telegram to rhe president at White Sulphur Springs and soon thereafter held a lengtalv long distance conference with tlie president, going over t'.ie points Huerta ~ad raised. While the reply, was considered favorable in i:s general purport as to salutfng the American flag, yet it again parleyed over details. As a result of the l:>ng distance talk Mr. ' Bryan dispatched a further message tJ Mexico City making it plain that President Wilson would not listen to counter prop-sals or suggestions, but must have an unequivocal acceptance of the American demand at the time J s*aed. 6 o'clock tonight. >aval Heady Busy. While t:iese exchanges were going on by cable between Washington and Mexico City the navy department was centreing its attention on further preparations for an eventuality which might occur. At 10:30 o'clock?shortly after Huerta's latest dilatory message had been received?were sent to the battleship Mississippi with an ^ aeroplane corps and 600 marines and the torpedo flotilla a Pensacola, Fla., to get under way immediately, joining Admiral Badger's fleet as it entered the Gulf of Mexico, and proceeding with rhe fleet to Tampico. The torpedo flotilla consists of 22 destroyers, 'he tender Dixie and the scout cruiser P.inninerh?m. Several of the destroy ers are in reserve and it is probable tbat only 14 will sail. Secretary Bryan had planned to go ? tD church ar 11 o'clock, but as the cabie messages began to come in !he changed his plans and went to the sta'e department. There he was joined by John Lind and the two went to the private relegrapn office of the state department to consult over a difficult piece cf deciphering iij the latest message from Huerta. Later he secretary and Mr. Lind joined Secretary Jumulty at the White House and the latest exchanges were further gone over in detail. It became known that tfie message showed that Huer'a was not raising objection to the salute itself, but as to the details under which the salute would be returned. The Mexican condition was that the United S*.ates agree in writing that the salute be fired instead of relyins: on the assurance given by Ad(COXTIXUED ON PAGE 5)