The Manning times. (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, February 14, 1912, Page 2, Image 2
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LIm APPriCLT, E&dior.Ia
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~.ANN ING. S. C.. FEB. 14- 1912. C
PUBLISHlED EVERYv WEDNESD)A'
sCBsCRIPTION RATES:
Six in onths...
Foci m onts.-...--..------ ---
ADVERTIsING RATEs:
one square, one timec. e ; ea: su m m In -
sertion. 50 cents. Obituaries ard Tribu'tes of
Respect char e~i for as regular : iver'isements.
Li beral cont racts reade ior thre.s- r a.d tvelve
CAPITAL CORRESOENCE. C
Columbia. S. C., Fei. L1Ih, 1912.
The general assemnbly has
been retarded in its labors to
the extent, that I now bceeve
there will be a continuation of't
the session, or rather a prolong- I
ing of the session beyond the i
usual forty days, however, tis
will be no additional cost to the
taxpayers, as the membership is
not paid by the day as hereto- H
fore, but by the session: there
fore, if the session lasts si 1
montus the memnbers wil receiveii
nio more pay than it it had onlyx
lasted thirty days, as was cou
templated in the beginning.
The paat week the time was i
largely taken up with the dis-|
cussion of the "Anti-Racing"
Bill, and while some object to!
the bill in its entirety, there are
others, me among the nunmberl
wlho object to the feature of thie
measure which provides for the
injunction to enforce its opera
tion. I object to the injunction
because. it is repugnant to the]
principles of democracy, it is
repugnant to the iea of Ame i
ieanism: we boast in this~ cotun
try of being a liety' ioving pet
ple, and when it is attemipted to1
encroach upon our liberties, to
the extent of depriving ai ctize
of the right to a trial by jury. it
is resented, even though a. mnoril
issue la involved not only in ti
State, but throughout the entire
American repuolec. 'The meas
ure before the Senate scel;s.
to declare betting a "commuon
nuisance," theprpntsoth
measure rophrewdty o ite:
the word "injunction," expect
ing that the operative effect of
the omission of the word "in
junction" would be~ ovelooked,
but they counted wrong. Now
their purpose has been exposed
they are openly admitting it is
thieir purpose to apply the i
junction process to stop thec
races, and. while they adm'~it
such a drastic measure is rvpu.r
nlant to the ieals of Ami'-:
citizenship, and especially m
contradiction to every utterance
of the Democratic party, the
attempt to excuse~ themselves o
the ground that unless th m
june-tion process is n~rmittev
t r
expect to mc
uil
H ILJ
66, -
1e law will be ignored in Char- Ifr
stonl. I do not agree with vi
1em, and do not propose to be tI:
party to writing into the l
atutes of this State declara I
on the citizens of Charleston tb:
r any other county, are law-h
ss and- that they should by ti:
rastically legislated against. .1 st
ave no objections to the legis-f
tture making betting a misde-it
eanor with a penalty for the ic
iolation, providing the offence iin
a treated the same as any otheris
etty violation of law. that is tolhi
ay, when a party is charged c e
~ith the violation, he shall have .I
he right to have his case tried i
y a jury, that it be the judge is
f the facts, and the law, as will ib
e given to it by the judge who Crgi
resides at the trial, but to sayjt
,mian cihargeci with a misde-c
1eanor, a petty crime at most. is
hail be haled before a judge lii
pon an affidavit, and that judge w
hall have the power to send thel iin
ian to jail oc the chaingang if
ithout the right to meet his si
ecusers face to face, and ques- si.
ion them, is more than I am ti
aling to stand for even for a i p
oral issue. The Jawv against ; vi
etting is now upon the statute it
)0oks, and needs no additional fj
ower, but the proponents of pi
his measure are not satisfied to.<
tand by the law which has ip<
een on the books for many w
-ears, but in their fanatical zeal pa
roused by a sentiment recently e i
corkedl into, perhaps popular si
favor by some' ministers, they fsi
ave an idea that the end justi- jsi
es the means and would resort ta
o tyranny under the guise of p
aw they lose sight of the awful li
:onsequences which might fol- ti
ow such' legislation. If the in- wv
unction process is once brought i
nto oneration for asmnall offence a
ike betting, it will go on until s1
~he right of trial by jury will be n
seless, and the hberty of the a
~itizen will always be in jeopardy tl
~venever there is a spasm of o
~anatical virtue. I do not be- p
love in it. nor do I1 think the il
nasses do. n:
The c-ounty supply bill has tl
een made up. the t-ax levy will a
e the same as last year. I made a~
p the bill for the c-ounty, hand- ti
d~ it over to the lHouse delega
oun and they gave it to the Ii
Way s and MIeans comiunittee.a
eretofor-e, I have simly put in
he bill the amount of the levy.
ut this time I have speciied
ow the money shall be exp~end
d, basing this uon thle e2sti
nates furnished me by, the clerk d
f the board of county commifis-~
oiners. The bill carries about t'
Last Friday I rececivedi a pe-ti- '
on frm citizens of Sammer-ton
~shing meo to sup)port the house
irviamg~ for -a system of t
'uai police in this (coumnty: it is ni
A
4anX
t. short time t
TerCOat
ve wish to re,
'AY YOU
onferred with a large number
f citizens in person, they agree
nth my position in this matter
s to the need of the system in
his county at present, so it can
e seen that while the Summer
ton petitioners no doubt disagrree
ith me there are other citizens
f equal standing who do agree
ith me.
There has broke out in Colm6
bia what begins to look like a!
candal in connection with the
atter of enlarging the State
ouse, but I am sure when all
the evidence is m,. it will turn
out not to be anything more than
misunderstanding of the nature
f the power granted to the com
ittee who was charged with the
atter of carrying out the reso- I
ution relating to the recommen
ation of the governor as to the./
pproaches to~ the State House.
Mr. Todd who is a member from
harleston, and whose firm of!0
architects drew plans by the an
tority of the committee, is (
an of the highest character,
nd he would not for the value,
of the State House be a party to
a graft scheme. His tirm, in comd
pliance with the contract made
ith the committee did draw at
great expense a magniticent set
f plans, and they had built a
odel showing how the building
will look when completed, this
odel is the attraction and ad
miration of all visitors, it cost a
hole lot of money, and if the~
plans are accepted and enlarging
the capitol is authorized it will
ost a whole lot more is self evi
dent, but unless the legislature
adopts the plans and authorizes
thu work to be done. the build
ing will not be enlarged soon. TI
am satistied there is some pohities
in the agitation about the actio~n
of the committee that authorized
the architect to make these plans
and I am also satisfied the resol
lutions did not give them the au
thority they assumed, but they
vent ahead, made the contract
and now it is up to the legisila
tre to endorse what the commit
tee did or repudiate it, and this
can be done too, without reflectd
ing upon the integrity of the
omiittee or the architects eith
er. There are some newspapers
that are endeavoring to conneet
the governor with this business,
but .[ cannot see what lie had t~o
o with it, other that when the
>lans were shown to him, he re
narked like hundreds of others,
"they are oeautiful,'' the papers
go on to say that he said "if the
general assembly passed the bill
e would approve it," all of
which may or may not be true,
but if true, I do not see how thims
would connect him with a scan
dal, admitting there is room for
scandal. Governor Blease may
approve the enlargement of the
capitol, so has every governor
ince Ellerbe, every one of then.m
aas recommended the enlargc
Thenl
ye within i
That a
WILL F
>m those at home, but my
ews on this subject are so
mi~nghly grounded, and I
rve made themi so well known,
Las somewhat surprised to get
a petition, I did not receive it
~wever until after I had killed
e House Bill I was asked to
pport. There is no hurry
r such legislation. Sumter is
in tor the experiment, we
naitosee how it will work
our sister county,if it is sat
actory, then thle matter of
ting such a system can be
usidered for the next session.
ould not support the kind of
tis which have provided the
stemn in some of the counties,
cause I am sure the police are
een powers that are unconsti-.
tiona!. If the people of tis
unty desire such a system, it
my present idea a bill can be
troduced at the next session
sich will permit a policeman
every township in the county,
the citizens of a township de
e it are willmng to pay for the
me. If I uind the people
ink they should have the
lice, then it is niy present
ow to get up a bill providing
at whenever one-fourth of the
ee-hold voters of a township
~tition to the sheriff of the
~unty commissioners for a
)iceman, tihe sheriff shall for
rd the namie of a suitable
~rson or persons to the gov
nor- to be commissioned as
ch ofticer, and that the town
up petitioning for the officer
ali pay the expense of main
ining said officer, the fines im
sed for the violations of the
w shall go to the road fund in
10 township fronm whence they
re collected. This is a crude
ea I have in mind at this time
out a rural police system
ould the people disagree with
e as to the necessity for such
system. At the present time
ere is a popular spasm all
e-r the State for this rural
>lice systemi, and in some of
e counties the police have
ore Dower thaui the sheriff.
ese laws are unconstitutional,
d the officers operating them
e likely to soon run up against
e courts because, they are
mamissioned by the) sheriff who
s no constitutional authority.
d cannot be given such author
y by legislative Act. Article
section 7 of the constitution
ainly says the governor "shall
immission all officers of the
tate," and unless the governor
es commssion, the officer is
ithout authority, and is likely
) bring on complications, there
re I say if we are to have a
:>uce system in the county we
oudhave one that is author
ed by the law and the consti
tion. Recurring to the Sum
erton petition, I do not wish
lose people to think I am ig
1e Mor
;h Main Stree
Trou
iey on.
ST IGAT E
IIM I
and his grouch is received and
placed in the Journal, where thisi
precedent will end I know not, I
am looking for the Journal of the
general assembly to become the
sewer of all of the political filth
and acrimony than can be gath
ered, or that the Journal be made
to take the place of the columns
of some of the daily newspapers
and th Mr yelping lhttle followers.
some' * county press. I know
of n. .,r:-a.dent for such, and I
how 0-3 posuts of the gover
no8 xx- d -.,i, if they have not
g~ t so fa already. I am sure
if ~,it.ininued, their very acts
;~: i .> to damn them in the
futue .e people are not fools.
they are able to discriminate, and
when they learn as they surely
will how their representative
are in a conspiracy to dam up
tne political waters for the de
struction of the present execo
tire, the dam will break abou.
them. and the schemers will be
engulphed in a whirlpool of con
demnnation. The mnasses believ'
in a fir deal, they demand it
ThereeI say, the filling up ot
teJunal with the grievances
of miinor otficials, or private citi
zens should this be done, will not
be sanctioned by those who have
the balloting power. I really be
lieve there arc men in the gen
eral assembl~y who would be de
lghted to have The State's noto
rious buzzard cartoon placed in
the Journal for future genera
tions to look upon, I believe thesei
men would lhke to have placed~
in the Journal the scandalous
editorial of a Dorchester news
paper, in which it was charged
that when Governor Blease went
to Columbia to take the oath of
office, accompanied by a number
of friends he stopped at several.
blind ti'gers and by the time hel
go to the capitol be was so~
drunk~ he had to be held up to
matke his address, 1 have heard
that this~ same infamouse faise
hood has~ been repeated in pul
pi ts as hear say. I was in Colum
bia, saw Governor Blease take
the oath of office and saw him at'
his hotel after the oath was ad
ministered, lHe reached Colum
bia desperately ill, was carried
to the Staite House, accompanied
by Doctor House:il his family
physician. lie took the oath of
office ma wais too feeble to de
lie thc address, at his own re
quest the reading clerk of the
House~ Hon. McGowan Simpkins:
didl the reading, all the while1
Doctor Houseal sat by the Go v
er nor holding his pulse. as soon
as the ceremony was over, the
governor was removed to his ho
tel. and during that day his famn
ily and friends were greatly con
cerned over his condition, late
that night a rumor got out and
went flying over the city that tihe
governor was dead. but in ashiort!
while this rumor was stilled by
a bulletin announcing thme Gover
NI'
t. We have
~ers
esting easy, on account of the
oise in the hotel he was remov
d to the mansion. Govern or
1ease's condition was very se
ious for several days thereafter,
and yet the newspaper editor,
ven after he learned the truth,
unity to know that his editorial
as a cruel slander, he did not
ae the manliness so far asI
ave been able to ascertain, to
pologize. I mention this as one
f the incidents of the mean, con
eptible prejudice that has been
resorted to, and as heretofore
said, I believe there are men so
blinded with their gangrene hat
red, they would like to place
tbese slanders in the records.
'elI me such tactics are fair?
Tell me it is sensible politics?
tell me the people are going to
tccept and endorse such conduct?
Lfor one do not believe it.
The people I represent know
e so well that when they read
Yom my pen they have contidence
i what I tell them, and 1 sayj
that I have obser-'.ed Governor
ease since he has attained that
igil oflice, I[frankly tell you h e
has, according to my way of look-.
ng at things made mistakes, he
has said things I would not have
said. but after all he is human, his
hide is no thicker than the most1
of us. If a coal of fire is placed
on the back of the average man
e will squirm and kick, when
te enemies of Blease put coals
of fire on his back he kicks hard
and strong. but when they con
tinue to stick him with fire he
roke loose and went at them
without policy or mercy, and
without thought of his political
future. In this, he should have
ontrolled his temper, but he did
not, and it was one of his great
est mistakes.
I have voted to pass several
measures over the governor's
veto, and sustained him in a num
ber, I am not altogether satistied
that I did right in voting over his
veto any of the measures, but
from my view I believed I was
right, but I know I was right in
those I sustained him in. And
whenever there comes for my
onsideration anything I shall
endeavor to judge it on its merits,
and not from the standpoint of a
partizan, this h-as been my atti
tude all along and I propose to so
ontinue.
When the primary comes on I
sall in the selection of my choice
for governor consider the claim
of the present incumbent for re
election, and if his record as gov
ernor justifies my support he
shall have it, if he does not I
shall support some one else for
the place. I shall not be driven
from my ideas of justice by the
howling of certain newspapers
nor by what Governor Blease has
said, but I shall judge him solely
by what he has done.
I was pained to learn of the
a large
~R, S.C.
who is now at the hospital here,
I did not learn of his being here.
antil late Friday afternoon while
on my way to a meeting of the
finance committee, at this time
this committee is very busy, I
met Sheriff Gamble on the street,
and he informed me, I intended
to visit him Saturday but we
were in session until late in the
afternoon, giving me only time
to get my dinner and take the
train for home, ho Never I called
up the hospital, talked to Mrs.
Plowden and she told me that
Mr. Plowden stood the trip well,
but at that time, he was suffering
some, and the doctors would op
erate Monday morning. I shall
go to see him as soon as I will be
permitted. It is my earnest hope
this good citizen will be spared. I
feel especially close to him be
ause he was my best man at my
marriage over thirty years ago,
and we have been warm friends.
ever since.
It is generally known that Co-..
John P. Grace, the present May
or of Charleston .and one of the
coming men of the State, was a
great friend to Blease, recently
there has been a coolness be
tween them through some misun
:erstanding about some matter in
onnection with the-constabulary
in the city. The Columbia State
heard of this misunderstanding
and on last Friday came out good
and strong with a sic-em--tige
editorial to widen the breach be
tween Grace and Blease. Of
course John Grace remembers
the very laudatory editorials The
State printed during his cam
paign for mayor, he is going
around looking for sweet meats.
from his enemies, and when they -
and him adoughnut he of course:
will take it on faith. Nit. The
State makes a strong plea to,
rouse Grace's Irish to break:
from Blease, but if I mistake not;
the man he will take anything:
cming at him with a yellow flag
flying, as an object of suspicion~
proper to be quaranteened. while
e may dislike or feel offended at
something the governor did, or
was to do which was done, I think
am justified in saying he does
not appreciate any counsel volun
tarily offered him from The State
f Columbia. A rereading of The
State's editorials by the editor
imself, should convince him that
his butting in Charleston cam
paign where he bad no business,
to denounce Grace and his follow
ing, is not at all calculated to now
find favor with the Mayor of the.
city of Charleston, and his edi
oal of last Saturday I have not
the least doubt fell flat, and far
short of accomplishing its object.
ohn Grace is too smart and too
white a man to be buffaloed by a
yellow plague, nor will lhe allow
himself played for a "simp." If
the enemies of Grace and Blease
are out fishing to catch, they
must bait their books with some-.
thing more than Spanish mack-.
: al. A .
ith I
,o No. 14 Nori
S and
alize the moi
TO iNVE
-U-__
ig of a new mansion, but the
legislature has not felt justitiec
il carrying out their recommen
dation s, and the St'ate has gotter
along too. But things are differ
et now, if Blease makes a reco.
mrmendation it is a cue for his
opponents to raise a suspicion
and have this suspicion exploited
as much as possible, in order tc
discredit him with th~e masses: if
they do not have a care they will
bring on a condition like they did
in 1890, and have the people tc
be determined to vote for Blease,
een if they were to catch him
stealing sheep. From what I can
gather in this matter there is nc
ground to suspect the commnittee
of any criminal intent, but there
is good reason to believe they
overshot the mark in giving out
a contract for doing more than
was contemplated by the resolu
tion adopted by the general as
sembly, this being the case. the
general assembly is not bound tc
payj for any more than what it
did authorize the commnittee to
do. All of this hurrah that is be
ing kicked up is entirely unnec
essary, and in my opinion, it i
for political buncomb. The ware
house bill mentioned in my last
letter has passed both Houses,
and is now in free conference,
the purpose being to perfect the
measure, by incorporating a pro
vision to have the attorney gen
era! bring a suit in the supreme
court to ascertain whether or not
the Act is constitutional.
What is known as the "Medi
cal Inspection Act" is now before
the governor for his signature,
what he will do with it I do not
know, but 1 regard it a good
measure since it has been amend
ed so as to make it permnissory
nstead of mandatory, as it was
when it came to the senate, the
striking out of the word "shall'
and substitution the word "may'
was done at my suggestion, but
had not this amendment carried,
the bill would have been killed,
and properly so, because it woul d
have forced the school trustees
to have employed a physician tc
inspect the schools and examine
the children, as it is, the trustees
can exercise a discretion as to
the necessity for such an irnspee*
tioni and examination, and wvhere
they do find a necessity to have
a school inspected the p~ay or ex
pense must come out of the funds
for that particular school and not
out of the entire fund of the
county.
There seems to be in this time
of political play for position, a
breaking of past records: under
the constitution the governor is
required to send messages to the
general assembly, and these are
to be written into the Journal but
no other officer is so required,
however, at this session when
ever a State officer has a differ
ence with the governor he is
treated with the same considera