Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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AULL, BLEi DENY IS I liaeh oi tlie Three Men Answers the] Open Letter of John L. McLaurin j and Expresses Some Sentiments i .ibont Him. To the Editor of The State: I hardly ieel it neecssary for me to nscake any comment on the letter of John L. McLaurin, which you published this morning. I am satisfied that Mr. McLaurin's past conduct in | South Carolina politics, especially as a member of the senate of the United States, is such that no honest-thinking cian would give credence to any statement which he might make in reference to my attempting to bolt the Democratic - party, in view* of my service to the party in the past, and in Yiew of the further fact that every friend that I have within the state of . South Carolina knows that I discour- , f aged any effort at a bolt in 1916, and \ man i*?r? ?hr>w a. line that I have i. - ever written, or honestly repeat a word that I have ever spoken, encouraging any bolt on that occasion. This ; was so plain that even you yourself wrote an editorial, in which you-stated itt your issue of October 13, 1916: , - ""Weeks ago The State expressed j unqualifiedly the opinion that ex- J Governor Blease would not lead a bolt from the Democratic party in the state, is the approaching general elec- , tioiL The State adheres to that opin- . ion. \ "The great mass of Bleasites are i fconest men who would scorn the sug- j gfcstka* of repudiating their oaths to , support the nominees of the party, state and national . . .There will be j no bolt is 1916 with the sanction of ( the Bleasite organization A } nprsnns mav vote Against Mr. Manning and against President Wilson but there is no like'fStood that Mr. Blease will lead a v; mutiny". , -Ab& tSte Greenville Piedmont, the *"* :v$ditor of which is a very close friend 4 <tf Mr. McLaurin, said editorially in <- "Ms fesaie of November 8, 1916: 'Vusfc as The Piedmont predicted, . the regular Democratic tickets in1 South Carolina was elected yesterday r -with practically no opposition, * though some hot-headed friends of j ex-Governor Blease did not listen to j hfca and distributed tickets on which kis name appeared as a candidate for governor instead of that of the regular nominee, Richard I. Manning. * "There were lots of talk of a bolt, but ' it ended in talk. The Piedmont felt * jsure that it would so end, because no ^ bolt in this state has ever come from - - - ? the class of people who furnish the I ~ bolk of the strength of the Bleasite ? iaction, and because the suggestion of ^ Lolt received no encouragement Iron* either Blease or any of his lieu- , -tenants". As to the transactions between Mr. -'Anil and Mr. McLaurin on their "Washington trip, Mr. Aull reported this matter to me immediately upon bis return, for the reason, as he ( stated* that he felt that it was due j <iste that 2 should know, and he told i -me then that he was going to resign s from the warehouse commission and J iave nothing further to do with it, I Trhicit he did. I saw Mr. Aull very a -seWcm while he was Mr. McLaurins t secretary, and he has never yet said r word to me in reference to the j personal or public transactions of p Mr. McLaurin as warehouse commis- l saaner. except when he told me about the Washington trip and said he wa3 t going to get out immediately. And v thsre isn't a man in South Carolina \ iarho fcnows John Aull but knows that! 1 lie is too honorable a . gentleman to j J jbetray any trust reposed in him. He t rserrod the old Eighth circuit as court i C i-stenographer for eight years, and has if - Seen made court stenographer of thist - circuity a position of honor and trust, j 3 and I &B?tw that lie would be willing j 1 to leave his reputation for square I dealing in the hands of the members fc i ot the bar among whom he has workart. and with the supreme court and circuit judges who have presided ,1 over the many courts which he has t .reported. jl Ute statement that I encouraged i Beard fit patting out a ticket is as r - &]&ck a lie as has ever been put in a print Ob the contrary, I warned I Beard against any such step, and told j t iSm aot to do it, and when he came to j r .me complaining that he had spent;c money to have tickets printed and il wasted me to help reimburse him, I e absolutely refused. to have anything t v to do with it; and there isn't a man t 3a thfc state of any honor who will c aatr tiat I ever mentioned the matter s of an independent ticket to him, ex- t cept to discourage it s mxr "^psprtion" of Beard, I i .AS tu iu^ wvmv ?? tftinft it only necessary for me to sayjl that I warned Beard frequently about Is Articles that he was writing, and told 4am that if he was not careful he was j going to get into serious trouble. It i E is unnecessary for me to say what t hx& seiily was, for he is now serving j & sentence for the charge which was j preferred against him. i As to the matter of having my j iarne and Mr. McLaurin s name plac- i, on the electoral tickets, I have'. never heard of that before, and as a'{ matter of fact, Duncan Adams was . not the Republican state chairman, < as everybody with any seLse knows, j tost Joe Tolbert of Ninety-Six held > thee and holds now that position. h A^ to Mr. McLaurin's personal h opinioa of me, that is quite laughable,!; L*- JnTmtod oorviVp and ex-i i 3Iter* cis vei v _ j>ez>diture of time and money trying . to put me in the governor's office for j a third term. If I was such, a very i iad man as he says he knew I was, . wij should he attempt to foster me j once again upon the people of the . ?tate? , ' Ol course everybody knows and has {>een knowing for many months past ' hat I was not supporting and would ] not support John L. McLaurin for < governor. That is what makes him ] mad and what makes him, in his des- i juration, attempt to drag me Into his ; tfetss of political deserters. Referring to what he says about his \SE AND C< /IcLAURIN'i warehouse commissionership, surely the man must be out of his mind or have taken something which caused him to have hallucinations. Some of my friends talked to me in reference to running for warehouse commissioner after the position was established, and I said that under no conditions or circumstances could I accept it. And Claud N. Sapp, thea a member of the legislature from Lancaster county, almost spontaneously, you might say, just at the last moment, arose in his seat and nominated Mr. McLaurin for this position. I really do not think Mr. McLaurin was looking for the position. It came to him without any solicitation on hi part, so far as I am informed, and 1 V* 1V I>ttrAfi o 11/iVi on mrioAfl 11 111IV. uc V> Cto auv/ut ao xuuou oui iov/u when Mr. Sa,pp nominated him as anybody else was, and I addressed a communication to the legislature, in which I said: "I congratulate you upon the pasage of the acreage bill and the warehouse bill, and upon your electing as manager of the warehouse system, he logical man for the place?he who understands it best and who, if it can be made a success, surely is the one to have the credit". Therefore, the public can readily ?ee that there was absolutely no deal with McLaurin to make Aull his secMAIA AM 4-Vi A AAMIwa M* ft ^10 lCUd.IV , UUL UU L11C wuuaij, uiki tuo election, he came into my office with Mr. Aull and said he didn't see how tie could run the business unless I svould let him have Aull to help him. [ remember the conversation distinctly. And I said to Mr. Aull, "John, I lon't like to sive you up; my busiless is in such shape bow, winding] ap the affairs of the office; but I lon't want to deprive you of a good position, because I will have nothing ;o offer you after I leave the goverlor's office, and while I do so withj nuch reluctance, I am willing for you X) accept the position". And I turned immediately to W. F. Blackburn, vho was in the room, and said, 'Frank, I will appoint you private 5ecretary, and I guess we can get ilong". Mr. Blackburn replied that \*e could, because "John would be landy if we needed him on any specal matters". I regret to have taken this much f your space; in fact, I thought just is good idea as any was noi 10 pay i my attention to this man's ravings j ind hallucinations, but for fear my; ilence might be misunderstood, 11 rould be glad if you would give this irticle the same prominence that you; rave the article this morning, in vhich, as you put it, "McLaurin Flays Please and Attacks R. A. Cooper". Cole L. Blease. Columbia, June 30. . ? ? i Statement oy mr. ahu. yo the Editor of The State: The address to the people of South | Carolina by Former Senator John L. j >IcLaurm, which you publish in your! ssue this morning, seems to be in-j pired by a letter written by me last j January, which evidently Mr. Mc-aurin has not yet even seen, and I isk that you permit me to make reply o the portions of his effusion which : nake charges against me, and that/ rou do me the fairness to give it as irominent space in your paper as you tave given Mr. McLaurin's address. In the first place, I desire to say hat Mr. McLaurin gives some facts1 vhich are absolutely news to me, and j rhich I had never even dreamed or. j ie says that he "frequently called! ohn Aull to take dictation for let- j ers on this subject addressed to | Papers", referring to securing money; or a bolt from the Democratic party,1 n order to lead Blease into a trap.' -Ir. McLaurin states that I wrote thel etters and retained carbon copies, ?ut that as soon as I was out of sight' le destroyed the originals. This is the first time I have everj iven heard of his writing any such I ~ TT? ( etters to jur. uapers. nc occuio , hink that I have a copy of some such ' etter that he wrote to John G. Capers i n Washington. I knew absolutely! lothing of any such letter or letters, md have never said or written that did, and I have no letter purporting o be a copy of any such letter. What nade Mr. McLaurin think I was :harging him with this is more than can understand. He may have giv:n me dictation for letters to Capers, >ut I have no recollection of any leter to Capers of any special signifi:ance, and during my course with the itate warehouse system, as secretary o Senator McLaurin, I never tried to secure copies of any of his letters and lever mentioned to a living soul any etter that he had ever written to mybody. I am sorry that Mr. McLaurin felt1 ;hat he was using me while I was his I secretary as a tool to lead Blease into j i trap. If that was his game he failed, J jecause none of Mr. McLaurin's let-j ;ers were ever mentioned by me to Vlr. Blease or anybody else; and the Papers correspondence need give him 20 further concern, so far as I am iffetced, because I can assure him :hat I have no copy of any of it, nor * "f irf- TJio lot.' my recollection 01 aa* ui u. :er in the Columbia State this mornng is the first I ever heard of it. I was present in the Evans buildins:, in Washington, at a conference ie had with John G. Capers, in which [ took absolutely no part; and how little that conference met with my approval is shown by the fact that immediately upon my return from Washington I severed my connection * * v. cvatom An witii me sicim >v<ucuuuo& ? the very day that I was given a balance sheet upon my books by State Auditor Wideinan W. Bradley and Mr. Walton ,special accountant, who were checking up the system, by appointment by Governor Manning, upon request of Senator McLaurin, who had asked the governor to have the entire records checked up by official accountants, following some statement which the governor had made in the public prints in regard to the OOPEE '{ >CHARGES I 0 ' R management oi the system. Mr. Capers may save himself tb* ^ trouble of searching any files in az. * i a4Tr?f r\ Ci'r? ^ n 1 n riA^ w Af ^ i ciiui l uv iiau clul7 a v* which I may have. 'C( Mr. McLaurin says that, in order to win the support of the Bi&ase faction to his warehouse measure during the ^ extra session of 1914 he agreed rn & make me his secretary. His letter P1 in this mornicg's State is the first j s< had ever heard of that. Governor J* Bleasc called the extra session main- T ly for the purpose of getting a ware- e< house measure through. When it 1 jcame to him he promptly signed it tc j Later Senator McLaurin came to ni?and offered me the position of his sec- ^ Iretarv. I told him I wis inclined tx .1 accept it, but would first have ic a] consult Governor Biease, under whomj I then held the position of secretary;** to the governor. Next day Mr. Mc- e( Laurin came into Governor Blease't M private office and mentioned the ma:-'!*" ter to him, in my presence. 1 know n" j from the conversation that ensued w j hat that was the first time Mr. 01 1 Biease ever knew of it. I accepted the i ( ] position, and for two years, until i J* i resigned following the Washington *? j rip, I gave Mr. McLaurin as loyal R :and conscientious service as I wa&. j capable of. If I was being used as a j tool to lead Blease into a trap I unew iu ;nothing of it; and if I had had anj ^ j such idea that Senator McLaurin ai i would use the state warehouse sys- ^ ttem for any such purpose I never e(i j would have accepted a position undei in i him, in the first instance. ^ } The letter which Mr. McLaurinini says somebody has told him has been P] seen in the possession of Mr. Cooper, and which he charges that I gave Mr. Cooper at the request of Former Gov-jP1 ernor Blease, is a letter I wrote the.w edtor of the Anderson Tribune laatt^ - - ?*-- -1~ l? J TUT- TViT?_ . tO 'January, ana wmcu, uau i*u. un,-, Laurin seen, he would probably have,8* kept silent as to letters he wrote Mr.(:w Capers, of which I knew absolutely ?* nothing until the Columbia State reached my home this morning. I,th never even knew before that Senator !n( McLaurin had ever suggested to any-;th body here that money might be se-,*3* cured from Capers in Washington to ar finance a bolt from the Democratic! party. I never knew before that Sen-;of ator McLaurin had taken me to \Vash-jfu ington to get me into another trap:*1* there. I do know if that was his purpose that he failed, because after1 *a I heard that conference my resignation as secretary went to Senator Mc- :0r Laurin the very day the official au-st ditors finished their check, and however much Mr. Capers may address ' Senator McLaurin as "My Dear MacVw there is absolutely no truth in anyito assertion by anybody that I took any part in that conference except as an innocent onlooker, who did not evenj know there was going to be a confer- > ^ ence, and the records down here in ** " ? :J. mnr, he the state house win snow umi *v w&a, a very few days afterwards that l!ri ceased to draw a salary from theit0 state warehouse system. And myias disapproval of that conference was*'0* the cause of my resignation. I have never given Mr., Cooperany political letter at the request on8* Mr. Blease or any one else; nor haveic^ I ever furnished him. with any letter ,t0 at all in any of his campaigns for governor. From the inception of this ;v: campaign I have seen him only once or twice, when we have spoken in^i passing. He has not mentioned hit;re race to me, nor have I mentioned the *n ? campaign to him, either directly or; ? indirectly. It seems to be necessary that I ^ give a brief recital of the reasons. . which actuated me in writing a letter1 to the editor of the Anderson Trib-.!in une in January of this year, which seems to have aroused the fire of Mr. ^ McLaurin. and brought about the con-;, fession as to how he was trying to ^ use everybody connected with him,:^ for his own personal political ambi-j*, ??n. jse During the session of the generalJto assembly just passed there was a fist-'m icuff between a state official ana u nc military officer, which was really g more amusing than serious. At the hi request of Governor Manning, who'cu urged it as a war measure of con-'oi cern to the state at the particular j ?< time, the newspapers did not publish id it, and I agreed not to mention it;he because I was appealed to upon the m proposition that it might interfere in with the securing of funds necessary !th to equip the home militia, which was|l| an organization for the protection of;to the homes of the state during the ab- m 1 of ffiA K/ sence or me ixauuuai uuam ?,v ~^ I front. Rightly or wrongly I yielded in to the appeal and said nothing about>i lit. Nobody had been seriously hurt.'ps anyway. A bloody nose comprised tb about the entire casualty list. 'te The Anderson Tribune heard of the'pi affair and undertook to take the sc (newspaper correspondents of Colum- m jbia to task for suppressing the news.'gi il would have paid no attention to tt I this, except for the fact that I had e\ jbeen noticing that The Tribune was h< | publishing a good deal of inspired se (stuff, which I was convinced was} based upon financial considerations 'm I had learned the inside or now us u editor had secured the soeulJed :'en- of dorsement" of Senator McLaurin for tt governor by certain members of the a] Anderson delegation. Even that did fe /not effect me, because I didn't cr>re. cc But alone: with all these other things tl; 11 was constantly receiving informa- w jtion of Senator McLaurin's assertions ai I that while I was his secretary he had m ac o to set other peo-,h< pie into traps, and -that he was poing ;X> to "show up" certain things, and tell w how a certain politician had used me it) an attempt to get money to bolt M the Democratic party, and how he a: was going to raise itterrv political jit cain generally, in all of which I was ;p< I to be the goat Then I heard that he fe was down in Bennetisville laborious-!ui ly preparing what he considered was h< the ereatest political annunciation :r> jf |the history of South Carolina, which Er ( 1 *as forever to retire iJi-.ase and Til lan iiuo oolivion. and that when V nislied it lie was going to Chariot! nd give it to the press. That al.-f id not affect me. but in ail tlies tatements that were coming to rr a authority which I did not questioi ly name was constantly being **un I Irn/Mtf tVlM* tllQ r'h o vco tr? } JLj CI II LI X IVIIC W LLiUt CUV V41U4QV vw k Lade, and which had been made, tlic had played any double part, or ha nything to do with any Washingto inference, or any bolt from the i>ai i, was absolutely and unequivocal! ilse, and I was getting tired 01 bein rawn into the political mess whic enator McLaufin was stirring in th ot which he always has handy, iems, down in Marlboro. In orde > put ')oth Senator McLaurin an he Tribune on notice, I wrote tb iitor of The Tribune, about ihe tim calculated Senator McLaurin wa ) start for Charlotte to give out hi reat political annunciation, and tol heshire that I thought it would b fnrt Vlim 1 r\ Til O- tn f.nlllmlli JilCI 1U1 JLliXU l?W VsVtMW id make certain statements face, t ice rather than to he publishin lem from long range, and also warn 1 him that "none of the newspape en involved is subsidized by a can idate for governor, as you are, an erne of them is supporting a ma ho, in the face of hio previous rec d, went to Washington, after til campaign of 1916, and' offered t< irry the state Republican if $1,00 >r each county was put up by th epublican committee". That's all I said, and it was in tter to Cheshire, in which I did nc ention the name of McLaurin nor c apers, nor did I say anything abou 1 y correspondence between Mc aurin and Capers, of which I loarD I only this morning. As the matte i controversy was the incident her . Columbia, with regard to which th swspaper conference had take: ace in the office of Governor Mac ing's secretary, participated in b ie News and Courier and State re "esentatives and myself, and a hich Governor Manning stated wha i felt would be the injury resultin i South Carolina if the fisticul lould be published at that time?i: hich I agreed?I furnished a cop 11-- i .11 iU. TVi ilie icuui" uu iui-c uilv cuiiui uk ;ate, the Columbia representative o ie News and Courier, and to Gover >r Manning. It was from <one c ese sources that Mr. Cooper mus ive secured the copy of the lette id not from me. Had Mr. McLaurin requested a cop the letter, I would have gladl; imished it to him, and he woul ive saved Mr: Capers a search o s files and saved himself all tha ,r-fetched rigamarole about letter Mr. Capers, dictated to me, and th iginals of which he says he de ~J *" T3!ooco m ? pr n I U} t;u, / 111 U1UC1 tuai. 0 ? ! led into a trap through me. That is about all there is to th hole matter. Mr. Capers' statemen "My dear Mac", as to any over res made by me is absolutely false r. McLaurin's statement that I wa :eeping Blease informed" as to any ing going on in Mr. McLaurin's of ;e is also absolutely untrue. As ive no doubt that Senator McLau a was endeavoring to use me as ; ni- but hp succeeded only in so fa i securing from me the best wor] which I was acapable for him am e state warehouse system. As to any change in my attitude 01 :count of McLaurin's frvquen langes of position in the guberna rial race of 1916, that *.s simply ai idence of the senator's imaginatioi hich too often leads him to believ at those who are trying to serv m have some double purpose. M: collection of the senator's positio] the race is that he wrote Mi lease urging that the Blease candi icy should get out of the race i] rrny r?f Man nine: that, he then play I to the Manning regime until Man ng threw hit. down in the stat invention, and Fred Dominick and J that convention, came to the res ie of the state warehouse systeir len he came out actively and open for Blease, and made speeches ii s behalf. When Blease was defeat [, he then drops Blease. He the: is petitions circulated asking him If to run for governor and in repl; one of these, signed by certaii Kflrc nf fiio Anrip.rsnn delegation O VA. VUV v. w 5 takes occasion to excoriate tlies sntlemen who had paid him th ghest compliment they could ises out Tillman and Blease and set it to create a McLaurin faction i: xuth .Carolina. He then has th ea of running for governor. Late i concludes he can beat both Till an and Blease, and sets about feel g his way, towards an entrance int e senatorial campaign, before th sts close, however he djrojps back t ? the gubernatorial fight, and no^ his latest political address, if any >dy can figure out what lie is ciriv g at, they can do more than I car happen to recall that in the cam tign of li#14 he sent Beard aroun ie state, in the interest of Manning lling the people that Cooper " ha cmised if elected to make me hi icretary, and that would simpl ean a continuation of the Blease re me, when he had admitted to m Lat he had no idea that Cooper ha rer made any such promise, but tha 5 was doing it for political effect t >cure the election of Manning. 4-f. nt*. .miTinrpferencs t IU aUI ^ y condition, there is also no truth i lat. I was taken by him into th !fice of Capers in Washington, an ley took me up on the mountaii ad showed me all the valleys an rtile lands below, and told me the >uld be mine; but the old order c tings down here in South Carolin as at no time obscured in my vision id I came on back home, severe y connection with the. state ware Dure system and with Senator Mc aurin, and have had no connectio ith either since. I have nothing to do with Senato icLaurin's campaign for governo: ad have no desire to meddle wit ; I have nothing to do with hi ~ 1,11 1 ?? r! act irA >11 CI Ceil recuru, auu uu iv x v ;r to it; but while he is making thi ncalled for and untrue attack on m< * might tell the people of the stat he did not withdraw his cotto om the state warehouse system a l 1- tioon a.-? his connection with it \va sewrt-d. and u he has had any cottoi e in it since. io 1 note the unbuilding of the sys se te:n id one ot' tne three reasons whici ie he says induced him to make the rac n, for governor. o I regret that the matter has com' <e up in this shape, but 1 feel that tt owe it to myself, to make clear ex <1 acily any connection I may have ha< n with the things to which he reiers. r- John K. Aull. g Coopers Answer. h Special to The State. Laurens. June 30.?R. A. Coope: it issued this evening the following jr statement: e To the Democratic Voters of Souti e Carlina: :s 1 have just read the statemen ^ which John L. McLaurin has ad dressed "To the People of South Car e olina", published in Sunday's paper: a in which he makes certain accusa 0 tions which are intended by him t< s reflect on me personally and politi L" cally. My first impulse was to hav< r made answer other than through the l~ public prints, but upon reflection ] think I am hardly justified in giving n him this notice. His past politica ~ history, as well as the confessior 5 which he makes in his long article J! and his effort to show that he was only trying to entrap Blease, are sufc ficient to condemn him in the eyes o] all good and true men. His state * ment that John K. Aull had furnished ' me the prooi' of his (McLaurin'sj ' efforts to betray the Democracy of th( ; state causes him to explain a lettei " which I had never seen or heard of. " Conscious of his own guilt, he at tempts to turn state's evidence whict v?q lrnow ovictorl bar! hppn nroducec ^ U& AU^TT WAiMWV* M ^ v, r against him. He now asks the publi< to believe that all concerned in the " plot as exposed by him were guilt) _ except himself. It happens, however ~ that I did not have any copy of his . alieged "dummy" letters to John G ' Capers, the Republican boss of Soutt | Carolina. The only copy of a lettei ' which I had was one written by Johr K. Aull to V. B. Cheshire, editor ol " the Anderson Tribune, which lettei ? W. J. Cormack, in charge of the Co| lumbia bureau of The News anc ~ Courier, is set out in\ full in a statement which he has furnished to me A copy of this letter was furn^hec me by Mr. Cormack, who statt^ al that time that signed copies of this had been furnished the Columbia ^ State, Gov. Richard I. Manning anc * himself on the night of January 21 x of this year and was released by Mr ? Auli for immediate publication; thai " therefore he (Mr. Cormack) considered anything contained in that lettei I to be the property of the public, i J. "VV. Crum of Denmark informs me this afternoon over long distance telephone that he did not make th< statement attributed to him by Mr McLaurin, to wit: that I had told hiir _* 1 did not propose to use the Aull lets MpTaurin iinHl after the tci auv. i w. v** ? campaign when McLaurin could no! j answer it, and further Mr. Crum stated that I made no such statement ic him nnd Mr. Crum informed me thai J ****** ? Kennerly Mayfield says that he 5 (May fie Id) made no such statemenl ^ to McLaurin. I did show Mr. Cruir : he copy of the letter written by Johi K. Aull to V. B. Cheshire which hac t been given m? by Mr. Cormack, at Mr. Cormack has explained, anc ".which I knew had been read by z number of other persons before il came into my possession. I was debating in my own mind whether 3 would use it at all. I knew that the ^ people of South-Carolina had conclu. sive evidence of Mr. McLaurin's pollI tical perfidy in the "Dear Archbold' " letter of May 29, 1902, in which M McLaurin says, "I can beat Tillm~ if properly and generously suppor " ed". With, this knowledge and othe. f matters connected with Mr. McLaurin's political life familiar to the people of the state, I did not regard him as a factor in the race and did not care to stultify my mannooci d> striking a cripple. I did feel, howQ! ver, that the people ought to know of McLaurin's efforts to lead the _ j state into the Republican party ii a 191t> as alleged in the Aull letter and l coinferred with Mr. Crum and othei ' friends as to the course I should pure sue* I have never supported Blease noi g have entered into or considered any Q combination with Blease. Blease, Mce Laurin and all the Blease leaders r know this. I supported Governoi Mft?nin2- in the second primary ii 1914 and in 1916 and so announces 0 myself in the press of the state imQ mediately after the result of thf 5 ? lTT><-ktirn Thf* pffort q iirst priiii2trj v* clo ftav?uf v.? v therefore, to align me with Mr Blease is too ridiculous to merit ser^ ious thought. L ! The statement furnished me by W J. Cormack to show how I came intc j possession of the AU11 letter is as follows: d, Statement by Cormack. \ s | Although vocationally and person y ally I am disinclined to be involvec in a political controversy of an> e kind, yet, in the interest of truth anc d to keep the record straight, I fee x restrained to make the followini o statement: ' In his address to .the "People o: 0 South Carolina" published this morn n ing. former Senator John Lowndes ? McLaurin unintentionally wrongec " both Robert A. Cooper of Laurens anc Col. John K. Aull of Columbia, wher ^ he assumed that the Aull letter, 01 ; which he based his statement, was _ handed Mr. Cooper by its author. Ii a was not. Mr. Cooper received th( ' letter from me. When I read Sena " tor McLaurin's published article this morning, I immediately rang him ui rom Columbia on long distance tele " phone and informed him of the cir 'cumstances under which Mr. Coope: r got tho letter. They were: r?: Shortly before the opening: of th( h itinerary for state offices, Mr. Coop s er was in my office at Columbia dis J- cussing the coming campaign. I in S| identally told him of theAull letter a copy of which I let hiread. Whei e received it was "released" for publia cation by the author and was then s public property and is now. For thai ?======' V s eason I gave ?.Ir. Cooper a copy. ^ it The circumstances leading up to , my possession of a signed copy of thu? I - An 11 letter, which I still hold, were: n. During the session of the last geue eral assembly the Anderson Tribune ~ 1 1 uujiiaxutu nit; lunuwill^ ; q "Asleep at the Switch"I ll "Who? All of the newspaper re porters of The State, The News and 1 Courier and the Charleston American when the Hon. W. W. Moore and the (woiild-be Hon. Henry T. Thompson ** had a fight in the adjutant general's W office, or if not asleep they wera too cowardly to publish the fight. If it ^ r had been a fight between some good ; men it would have been published in big headlines, so why hide it for the [two quarter backs"? Parenthetically, I might state that the causes of the suppression of the t alleged fisticuff were: First, it was of . doubtful news value, the publication . of which would have necessitated a j 3 statement from the participants; sec . ond, heralding it to the world would j have menaced a policy of state which . was and is of paramount benefit and 1 j safety to the people of South Caro? lina, and perhaps would have opened m [ an interminable controversy of little r news value of doubtful interest to the M 1 people and of probable embarrass- ^ i ment to the principals; and, third, > the matter was thoroughly considered at a conference between Governor Manning, the reporters of the Colum[ bia papers and ,the correspondents of . the out-of-town papers, at which it [ was ueeiueu wibc tu ivl me ui&ntsi. ici main quiescent Mr. Anil, being cog? nizant of these facts and knowing ; he underlying causes of suppression, was very indignant at the "story" . which appeared in The Tribune. He M i wrote, a refutation of it, sending the I letter to the editor and publisher of | ? The Tribune, furnishing signed copies } of it to P. H. McMaster of the Columr bia State, Governor Richard I. Manf ning and me. It was released for 5 immediate publication, but the newspapers for various reasons, decided i not to use it. The letter signed by Mr. Aull follows:. t; "Columbia, S. C., January 25, 1918. [; 'Col. V. B. Cheshire, ; "Ecif.or Tribune, "Anderson, s. U. t "Dear Vic: This letter is for pub- i - ication only upon the day the legis- J . lature adjourns, if you will regard I anything in confidence- If you do not, t 1 personally do not care. 1 ; "In your last issue you criticise the fl t Columbia newspaper men for not M [ printing a story of the fisticuff be- n > tween Adjutant General Moore and . Colonel Thompson. There was a fight, t Where you got the information I do not know and I do not care. You have been in the habit of pirating news. That is neither here nor there. ; The story of the fight, which was rot - really much of a news story, anyway, ? was not carried by The American . from my bureau because, after duo - T ?+ ,TT/VM 1A L Consideration, l i;uw;iuucu 11 nuuiu - not be to the best interests of the ? state of South Carolina along the line : you have been preaching, in view of ; he negro question. i "Second. So far as cowardice is : concerned, I think it would be better i for you to come to Columbia and t make that statement than to promuli gate it from Anderson. It will, be t properly taken care of here. I; "Third. None of the newspaper men 5' nvolved is subsidized by a candidate I for governor, as you are, a ad none of i them is supported a man, who, in the I ace of his previous record, went to Washington, after the campaign in [ 1916, and offered to carry the state j Republican if $1,000 for each county . - was put up by the Republican com niittee. If you want the facts, I have the proof. 1 ^ "Fourth. What the newspaper men JBflj of Columbia want to know is why youA don't have somebody here to handle? the stuff if you want it printed, in~1^H stead of pirating it next day. ); "Fifth. Another Question: Who is 1 writing your editorials, anyway, aad t why don't you write tbem yourself* if r you have either the- ability or the newspaper acumen? r f "Respectfully, (Signed) "John K. Aoll." i On the night o? January 25, I think I it was. In convocation in Columbia with me and another man of Col una l*n. whose name I do not care zo divulge without his consent, Mr. AutI, In discussing his letter, said that the r man he charged with offering to "c&r ry the state Republican"" was Former j Senator John L. McLaurin. The o:her circumstances underlying and holst^ i ering his chargc against Mr. Mc-^ I Laurin, if they are to be made public, a* narrated to me by Mr. Aull, will < j.bave Co be given out by him. During | , ;tbe course of our conversation ul .! January 25 Mr. AuH stated that if - necessary he would give out whatever ! proof he had in substantiation of his . charge. This he reiterated at Aiken > last Wednesday when I told him thai -,I had given Mr. Cooper a copy of his 'letter, although he stated he hoped it would not be necessary as he di.l not care to become involved in a contro-^JB ' versy with Senator McLaurin. : W^ien 1 gave Mr. Cooper a copy of^^B he Aull letter I gave him the sub! stance of Mr. Aull's allegations 1. rraincf fionatnr MtVLaurin. I also told fl j '! iim that as neither the letter nor the -onversation with Mr. Aull were conCI idential, I considered them public ! )roperty, particularly the letter. * ^ '! W. J. Cormack. ' i Columbia, June 30, 1918. I j i j "i -? >? ? nt rv 1 ! am (XMUMiHO MIU1 t INY WINTER SUFPDf NOW y , . j Consumers must l?iiy their 3J Winter 5irpply af Coal during ) the Spring and Summer ?sr storage itnoduction. is ioJx / Mi maintained, at a p j jfjjl my-^uwg -guxirmrm jrnriffo I I : counter cruWgci ! w90?-08s lr> txld a jerioax -1 I Coal shortage - th5s^mtery a? rtm. Afl*<i>n<TwaiOM I Subscribe u> The Herald and 2fei*?. 31