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nrI VOL. XXXVIII MANNING, S. C., WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 1918 BLEASE OP CAMP (Continued from Page One) sented, I ask your indulgence to quote from the original speeches which I made upon this subject, about which so much has been said and written in the press of the state, and from which extracts here and there have been misquoted, in order that I may show to you from the record, and not from hearsay, how brutally, coldly and utterly false are the accusations which have been made against me for po litical purposes, in order that the will of the people might again be defeated in South Carolina this summer, and the state r-tained under the ring rule of a miserable autocracy or a band of ruthless aristocrats. I was invited to deliver an address in Danville, Va., which I did on the 16th of May, 1917. In that speech, in referring to the war, I said, as re ported in the Bee and in the Register, the leading afternoon and morning newspapers of the city of Danville, which certainly could not he charged with being for or against me, as they are far~ removed from political condi tions in South Carolina: The Bee, in using an interview with me the afternoon before the speech, said: "Mr. Blease makes no denial that he is a pacifist, but he is equally firm in saying that, how that this nation is at war, every man and woman should do all that is possible to preserve the unity of the nation in its great set purpose. He is also ready to serve at his station in the firing line should it ever become necessary to call out men of his class into the war, ant intimated that nothing could stop hin: from fighting with the men of his state if a German invasion of thih country or Mexico were attempted. He also stated that he had offered to raise a brigade, and was ready to raise one of as fine fighting men as evel shouldered a gun." The Register, in reporting my speech next morning said: "H< (Blease) stated frankly that had h( been a member of congress or a senat or he would have voted against wai with Germany, but we are in the wai now," he continued. "Now it is to d< "A urni Upon America de volves the sacredduty of keeping alight the torch of Liberty and upholding justice and democracy through out the world. Let us not falter or count, the cost, for in the freedorn of the world lies our only safety, and the preservation of our American lib erties and institutions.. Let Us Invest To the Limit in Liberty Bonds This Space Paid For and * Contributed By Overland MANNII ENED' AIGN HERE and (lie, and we propose to stand as one man and fight to th 1 finish. Ger many is reported to have made the assertion that to burn the National Capitol at Washington would be to strike the greatest blow at Democ racy, but 1 am here to tell you, fel low-citizens, that when this happens there will no longer be living any American citizens." At Pomaria, on July 28, 1917, in a speech about which so much has been said, and which I wish every man in the state of South Carolina could read, I again stated my position as to the declaration of war, but said "Do not misunderstand me. We are now in this war and must push it to a suc cessful conclusion. The might of the nation must be thrown towards bring ing it to an end at the earliest possi ble moment. And let us all pray God that it may be brought to a success ful end before a great number of our young men are killed upon the battle fields of Europe. We are in the fight and we must fight it to the finish with all the power of our great nation. -* "So far as the war is concerned, I offered my services, once we were in it, and offered to raise a regiment or brigade and would have (lone so had I been permitted. But that kind of regi ment or brigade, with officers elected by thpse whom they were to command, was not desired by the powers that be in South Carolina. The reception with which my offer met bears out my statement that today in South Caro ina we live under a limited monarchy, selfish and self-seeking, in which the rnople have no voice. They tell us that we are fighting a war for world de mocracy. It behooves of South Caro lina men now to begin a fight for state democracy in South Carolina-for the taking back from the hands of the people their own government." That entire speech was published in those papers favorable to me, but the newspapers which are and have been bitterly fighting and misrepresenting me distorted extracts from it for the purpose of putting me in a false light. If those papers want to be fair and honest, nothing would give me more pleasure than to furnish them the complete speech, and let them publish Motr o. /G .C it, because, as I hi ve said, I wish it could be read by every man in South Carolina. But these newspapers are not for the fair thing. They would not publish it in full then and they will not do it now. Their object !s not to give the truth with reference to me or my party, but to hide th- truth, as it has always been. At Filbert, I male another speech which these s.ne newspal crs took great pains to misrepreoer.t. There I reiterated my Pomaria speech, an l de nounced Governor Manning, George W. Cromer and David R. Coker, who had, without justification or excuse, cce')te(d lies that. were published with refer-m:('e to my Pomaria speech, and salt to the Council of )efense in Co lumb'a, that I had made tr.itorous ut tarances. I may spoken harshly of these men. I have no doubt that I did. Hut you must remember what t they had falsely said about me. I did not mince words in denouncing them in the most vigorous terms I could command, and if 1 eve'r have an op.. portunity to meet any of them face to face on the rostrum, wiat I said then will be repeated a little stronger, if possible. But I have no idea that thev vill ever give tie the privilege of fac ing them before the people. In fact, since my Filbert speech I have not heard of their mentioning my name ei ther in public or private. They seem to have been silenced in that regard. I also have this Filbert speech and it vill give me great pleasure to furnish it to the anti-Reform press, which his had so much to say about it, if they will publish'it. At Pickens, on August 25, 1917, in another speech, which has been mali ciously and falsely misquoted by the the anti-Reform press, I said: "I have stated, and do not hesitate no~w to state, that I was opposed to this war, because I saw no compelling reason for us to go into it. I am still opposed to it, for I have as yet neither read nor heard of any such reason for our going into it. It is true that it is said and properly said, 'My country, may she ever be right, but right or wrong, my Country.' I say that, and emphasize it. But it is the duty of our leaders-those who are in the front and whom we send to represent us in the highest councils of our nation, al ways to inform themselves thoroughly and see that our country is right, and when they fail to (10 this, the constitu tion of this great republic of ours gives us the privilege to criticise them for their actions in a proper manner, and to petition them for a redress of our grievances, and we have that right and none can take it from us. And if they will not listen to us we have a right to sweep them from office at the next election, and to send to Wash ington as our representatives men who do listen to the voice of those they are supposed to serve, and not to boss. * * * No man wants the United States to back down, or curl its tail and run, but if we can have an honorable peace without slaughtering our young manhood, who can object? Let each man ,instead of bombast and billings gate, answer this question: Are you in favor of an honorable peace-peace without sacrifice of principle? Let him answer that plainly and dsitinctly, and then next year we will know how each man stands. *r * I believe in every man doing his duty in this war emergency, and have made myself as clear as ' could along that line. I be lheve in every man doing his duty wherever he is placed and in whatever situation he may find himself. I have I had men to come to me with the offer of fees to test the constitutionality of the draft law. I have refused to dis cuss the matter with them, except. to state that it is every man's duty to obey the law of the land. That has been the doctrine which I have tried to preach throughout and it is in thor ough accord with my desire for peace. I was consulted in Columbia, a com mittee came to me in Anderson, and today others have seen me in regard to employimg me to contest the lawv as to conscription. I said to all that I wams anid am opp)osed to conscription, but I adivisedl them amid advise them now not to contest that lawv, b~ut to 'obey it even if it be to the death, for 1 (10 not believe that it would doi any goodl to contest it in the courts, be cause 1 am of the opiinion that no court, not even the supreme court, would have the nerve to dleclare it un constitutional in the face of' Congr'ess You would, therefore, be w:mating your: money andl creating agitation for nothing. Let us ali obe~y the laws of our state ando our nation. * * *I ami not a .p(Ssimliat. I always look on the bright side of life, and I console my self nowv with the thought that i' has beemn the history of the worid, in ae cordhance with the slow, but steady progress of the human race, that the dlairkest night is ever followed by the brightest dawn, and my pirayer is that from the gloom that enshrouds the land and sea wil Ispeedily emerge a more splendid (lay than any of the (lays which have gone beforc, and that human nature will be softened by the blood that has been spilledl and by the tears that have been shed and by the pr ayers of wvidov~s and orphans that have ascended to the th!ronie of a pity- I ing God. But we have a part for humanity, a stern (duty which looks towardls the speediest honorable peace,. and in order that we may perform that duty well, let us ever keel) in mimd that noble sentiment of the poet: i "This, above all, to thine own self be true and it must follow as the night ' the day, thou can'st not then be false to any man." That speech, my fellow-citizens, I l delivered just seven months ago. P~les Cured In 6 to 14 Days Your drugglet will refund nmoney If PAZO1 OINTMENT fails to cure any case of Itchnug, Dilnd,3Dieeding or Protruiding Pileu inM6to4 dayg The irat application gives Essae and 'lest. Suin' At Chapin, in Lexington county, on August 30, 1917, I said, as reported by the Lexington Dispatch, the leading caper of that county: "At the outset Mr. Blease paid a nagnificent tribute to the 'men who wore the grey,' as well as to the cause For which they fought. Later he urged .he people to stand by the government ow, right or wrong; and called upon .he youn'i men to now don the prov 2rbial khaki instead of the honored grey. * * * Mr. Please closed with an impassioned and earnes:, plea to his friends (for if there be any place on arth where the former governor can laim the jrivilege of having frien:Is it s in the Dutch Fork section of Lex ngton ), to stand by the flag, and to !o their parts in the present crisis vith the same courage and fervor of pirt which characterized their acts of he sixties." In response to one of the invitations which I had to make an address to a !ass meetinr, at which it hadi been intedl to me that there might be a est of the draft law proposed, I wrote he committee: "I was and t.m opposed o conscription, but since our nation a in the war we must not discourage >ut on the contrary we must encour ige every man to do his full duty and 1 o obey to the letter the law of his tate and his nation, and only along his line have I spoken or can I speak. ll men have the right to petition con ress upon any line that they please is is oemg done, but no one should me1ou1'rge an1y man11 not to obey the aws of his country and his God." That was on August 15, 1917. That is the record, my fellow-citi ens, and I leave it to any fair-minded I nan as to whether or not the speeches have made breathe aught but loyal ,y to principle, to country and to God. I Loud sounding phrases, however, I lave never yet won a wiar. Men may )arade up and down the state and the lation telling in eloquent words of the ;raditions and glory and prowess of he American people, but victory is to )e won by the men who fight and the nan who work, and who show their faith by their deeds. To the fullest extent of my ability, mentally, physically and financially, I lave (lone all that I could to aid myi ountry in this her time of need, and when i my judgment men should not )e unjustly accusing other men of dis loyalty and attempting to nag at and Irive others from doing their duty, but should be endeavoring to preserve Et solid unity among ourselves, to keep lown bickerings, in order that we may present a solid phalanx to fight the common enemy. If you will again ex cuse me for being personal, in order to show you how maliciously I have been misrepresented to the people of my state, I desire to make known to you my attitude in regard to the war emergency, not only by what I have said, as I have already tried to show you, but by a few of the things that I have done also. If you will go back as far as last April you will find in the proceedings of one of the fraternities to which I belong, a resolution unanimously adopted, offering our services individ ually and as a body in any capacity in which we might serve our nation. You will find that at a convention :f Reformers held in Columbia in May, resolutions were adopted, unanimously reaffirming our allegiance, and pro testing against discriminations prac.. ticed im war matters South Carolina against us by petty politicians here holding high office. That protest was carried to Washington and when I went to the national capital as one of the committee from this convention, I told Provost Marshal General Crowd 'r in the presence of others, that I 4tood ready and willing, as did all of my friends in South Carolina, to serve the United States government in any rapacity, individually or otherwise. I further offered him then to raise a regiment or a brigade of volunteers and put them in the service of the Unitedl States, and that I wouldl go with them either as a private or as an >fficer. All I asked was that the men e allowed to name their owvn officers. I have repleatedl that offer to the gov arnment as late as inst Saturday iight. When everything was looking lark and gloomy On the wvestern front sent the following telegram: "o umbia, S. C., March 23, 1918. Ion. "red II. Dominick, Member of (oin ress, Washington, D. C. 'Tell General rowd~er liy offer stands, and that I tin willing and~ readly to iraise regi nient of volunteers now~ if men are aml owedl to elect their officers. Our boys mre loyal and ready for work. C'ole 'I iilease(." When the call for the Liberty ILoan V1as made ini our State, I went to one >f the bainks in Columbia and hnor 'owedl the money and pa0id initerer~t on he note and purchased twvo $500 Lib rty Bonds, and( 1 have theml now. I vas inot financially able at that time o0 mlake the purchase, but I knew that he honor of our state wvas at stake, md I wvanted to (do miy part. I also ssuedl ani add~ress, urgIng miy friends o come to the rescuIe that South -arolina might not fail to raise her luota, and right nobly did they re 1)pond. "Let us, the Reformlers of south Carolina," I said in thlat pub ished adldress, "again come to the res; ue in ordler that the Palmetto flag nay not trail in the dust, and ill order hat the Palmetto state cannlot be 'harged wvith being short in her sup mort to the American army." Continu ng, I said: "H~owever we maly have ecen treatedl in this statb by the civil Luthorities-ignoredl, snubbed and harged falsely with various things ve are true to our state andl to our na ion. We must overlook the lies that mave been printed and spoken about as by the anti-press and the prejudiced peakers who hAvye paraoedl the state. t is hard to take, but we must take L: we must overlook it, nnd we must rise above letting it influence us and save the (lay for our grand old state as we have saved it berore. Personally I am a 0 poor man. ly expenses are naturally heavy in comi:parison with my income. There are many calls up on me to which I respoij with pleas ure to the extent of my ability. But with it all I shall endeavor to make a purchase along the line. I suggest, and I ask my friends to join me hnd let us show to the othir crowl that. while you have failed, we as always 111 Wim, and while you have robbed us of victories, still We are victorious." I have day in and day out servad the soldier boys at Camp .1ackson. '.!any of them have come to my office an. I have helped them in vatrius ways. atni enleavored to encourage all of, them to do their duty. It happened to oe my fortune to awn 41 acres of land near Camp Jacl( son, with a house and stable on it, which, f course, was or no great, value, it having been purchased by me for $900 at public sale. The gov ernment has been needing some land around there for various purposes. They have been securing it ,of course, but those of you who inve kept up .vith affairs in and around Columbia (now that some people around there lave been playing hold-up games in -God save the mark!-the name of )atriotisn and loyalty. Options on ands around there secured in time by one of the very loyal and patriotic iave added to their riches and some )f these same people, who have in :reased their fortunes, have been pre tented loving cups for their great gen rosity and public spirit. There was me man there who owns the street ar system, and he soiemnly promised n writing, as one of the inducements to bring the camp there, that he would auld a line to the camp and charge :)lly a five-cent fare each way. The :'amp was located, the line was built, but if anybody has ever vet ridden to the camp for five cents I haven't beard of it. The legislature at its last session, by a practically unanimous vote in both houses, passed an act to make him stand by his agreement and his pledge. That act has been held up for nearly seven weeks by your so ealled governor in Columbia, and he is today holding a hearing in his office as to whether or not he shall sign it and make Robertson stand by his agreement. In the meantime the extra nickles have been pouring into the cof fers of the Robertson interests in creasing a fortune which was made by one Senator Robertson, at the ex pense of South Carolina, in the ter rible and horrible (lays of radical and 1'-1 Do Yoi "This Never C That is what the farme] France. If we do noi happen here. Invest in Lil and help end the war < ocean,~and thus protect and your country from il THIS SPACE PAID FOR A. AB: Mann ir AWeIt THE GREAT WAR HAS MADE CIGARETTES A NECESSITY. "Our boys must have their smokes. Send them cigarettes!" This is a familiar appeal now to all of us. Among those most in demand is the now famous "toasted" cigarette LUCKY STRIKE. Thousands of this favorite brand have been shipped to France. There is something home like and friendly to the boys in the right of the familiar green packages with the red circle. This homelike, appetizing quality l of the LUCKY STRIKE cigarette is largely due to the fact that the Burley tobacco used in making it has been toasted. "It's toasted" was the "slo. gan" that made a great success of LUCKY STRIKE in less than a year. Now the American Tobacco Co. is making 15 million LUCKY STRIKE Cigarettes a day. ' A good part of this immense pro duction is making its way across the water to cheer our boys "a . negro rule resulting from another war in which your people and my people gave and offered their lives for the south, when Senator Robertson was building up this same fortune with the aid of a scalawag legislature. That is the kind of patriotism we have dis played by some of the 'holier than thou" crowd in South Carolina who would set the standard of loyalty in this state, which, if followed, would forever dami South Carolina as a dis grace to democracy, to humanity and to civilization. You will pardon this digression, I am sure. And now to get back to the little property I owned out there. The government found it needed it, and sent a lieutenant to my office to make terms with me. His name was Lieutenant Fuller, of the United States army, and he came in to see me on the 27th of last month. lie said: "I am getting up boundaries and looking into lands owned by Neely, Patterson and others, and find that you have a piece of land adjoining it. I came to see you about it on the part of the government." I told him I had never smeen the place. le said, "Well, the government needy it , or part of it any, for this rifle range." I said: "That is all right, sir; go right (Continued on Page Thirteen) I-c IUELLED y6i i Think mild lBappen?.' s thought in Northern win the war it may >ertyBonds >n the other side of the your home, your town wvasion and destruction. AND CONTRIBUTED BY RAMS, ig. S. C.