The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, October 05, 1912, Image 7
f
HEISE DECLARED NOMINEE.
STATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
EX US PIUMAKV I'KOHE.
Result lNx>lare<l on Fscv of Itcturn?
-luls tmtmlttee Reports on In
\esttgatlon of Fraud and Kcconi
nu o u that It* -.nil be Dee.nrvd?
H?>M\1t'ni Requested to IYonivuu*
Tlio-o Oollty of Fraud. ri.i>n- HHiir
M >nF Offender*? Proof Secured
That Irregularities iuid Fmud
? nun,mi Primary.
lumbla, Oct. 2.?The State cxe
eatlve committee of the Democratic
t party, meeting yesterday at the State
** Houae. canvaeaed the returns of the
primary election held on August 27
I ad declared the nominees of the
?emccratic party In South Carolina.
Following the report of the sub?
committee, named to Investigate the
f charges of Illegal voting, that there
was no proof which would reverse
the face of the returns as published,
attorneys representing Ira B. Jones
withdrew the contest and Cole L.
1< ? e was declared to be the nomi
a*. ?f the party for governor.
? e committee ordered a second
arg to be held on October IS for
aU*1 ney general. The committee will
meet here on October 18 to canvass
the returns of that primary and de
Clare the result. The candidates dc
clared In the second race are J.
? Eraser Lyon and Thos H. Peeples.
s? A resolution by K. hi. Jeffries pro?
viding for a State convent! SJ of the
party to be held next August to
charge the constitution and safe?
guard tl.e primary i.ystem met with
general discussion but vas finally
^_**ithdrawn. J. B. Park of Orwnwood
^introduced a resolution to memorial?
ise the general assembly to place the
name restrictions around the primary
as govern the State elections. At a
meeting of the State committee sev?
eral months ago it wia decided to ap
J^polnt a select committee of six with
the State chairman as ex officio mem?
ber to prepare a report on proposed
changes in the constitution of the
party. The Park resolution will be
considered by this comra ttec and the
question of safeguarding the primary
?stem will be l?ft with the State
?moerat??- convention to be b?ld In
ltls.
The contemants fallng to appear
the committee d lam lined the contest
brought by N. B. Dial and W. J. Tal
bert against Senator Tillman on the
grounds that he did not properly file
wm\m expense account. The conteat
brought against Wyatt Alken by F
8. sTvans wit also dismissed by the
committee.
RM^mmend Primary Law.
The following resolution by T. B.
Butler was adopted by the commit
\f Resolved. That the committee
to be appointed by the chairman to
revise the rules and constitution be
authorised to draft such a law that
will embody th<*lr recommendations
as will throw the necessary restric?
tions sround the primary that will
ojprevent fraud and provld? for pun?
ishment of all violators and the same
to be submitted as part of this report.
Pros** ute Illegal Voter*.
W. K. Stevenson Introduced a reso?
lution which was adopted, requesting
the solicitors of the State to pmescute
^Sll ehsrged wltb Illegal voting in the
recent primary. The testimony gath?
ered by ths subcommittee will be fur
filth'd tn? officials.
Elex-W-d Preaidential Elector.
At the sessl >n of the committee
jrea*erda\ sfternoon John J. Mc
tt'than of Columbia, wh > was acting
?els representative of Itcaufort county,
was elected as a presidential elector
at large to take the place of J. H
14-Donald of Wlnnsboro, who was
disqualified because he Is h member
of the board of public works of the
town of WinnxlM.ro.
& ltex?nunendatl"rts.
The Subcommittee yesterday m ob
the following recommendations td the
Mate Democrat!' o*. utl\e commit?
tee: "We recommend that the State
executive committee call a conven?
tion of the State Demoer o v !.<tm>xt
gust when no politic || t impalgi in
on to construct a new < nstltutloo
and rules which sr all requite such
method of Identification of the Voter
as shall render repeating or other
fr.nidul**nt method* of \..tlng hstpoe
ilble. or et laaet dilti? u!f ..ml dmger
\n?l we. ahm. r.mm end th it the
lerisiature take ,i# tb n alon. u , igji
l'.ne and provide h -.r. |.uni hment
fot any one violating the statutes reg?
ututlng primaries und | . ? I lo SXSCU?
Ce committee of paltUoal parties
wer u examine end tweay srlts^sess
and punNh f ?r ontempt md thus
gt\ * th? p irr ? pou t [<r <\* < t Itaelf
"And w*?. also, recommend that
where^vsr the sots *hov*n violation of
the statutt ? now In gtfSOt the HI OSS
t?rs al the saecutlvs committee sad
0M%i)fk respective county 'hilrrto-n do
reo, ?i eat the solicitor le proaseute the
same In their respective i oimtles
At the last meeting of th.u
mitt?e cbristit* fteaet the secretary,
agsjsjssjigd Usai ? i sem raft tee be an
pointed lnventlg.de th? charges o
neglect of duty brought by the gov?
ernor against Mr Henet with refer?
ence t?? the distribution of tickets In
Lsg snd Pickens counties. Tho report
of the committee which was adopted J
yesterday showed that Secret.iry Bi net I
had discharged his duties faithfully I
and that the governor had been mis
Informed *hen he made the charges, j
The special committee was divided, J
the majority report being submitted I
by H. 1. Manning and J. A. Willis.
The report l?> W. T. Crews contained
substantially the same facts and came J
to the conclusion that the con- j
troversy came about as the result of
a misunderstanding, j
The question of a second primary
for attorney general caused consid?
erable discussion as to the dato. It was
dually agreed that .he primary should j
be held on October 15. The countyl
executive committee In counties. I
where additional primaries are to bo
held, wi?l be requested by the com- I
mlttee to hold them on the same date.
The primary to select a member of I
the house in Newberry county waa
postponed pending the final action of
the State .^ecutlve committee.
The report on the canvass of the
returns waa aubmltted by 8. Q. May
Moid, the chairman, and was adopted I
by the committee. I
Statement ay Jones.
? udge Ira W Jones yesterday lasued I
? following statement: 1
. o the people of South Carolina:
The State executive committee of j
the Democratic party has declared I
Oovernor Rlease to be the nominee of I
the party for the office of governor. ]
and I do not question the correctness J
of their conclusion from the evidence 1
that they had before them. I am
also persuaded that the subcommit
tee charged with the duty of invostl- j
gating the eo nduct of the election did I
all that was possible for them to do I
in the time that could be given to I
their task.
"I think it proper now to return J
my thanks to all those who supported
me by votes, voice or influence, and
who Joined me in a contest which we
believed was for the bes.' interests of
South Carolina. To all such I wish to J
say that in the light of the suspicion I
of fraud and Illegality which were so J
freely expressed, 1 felt it to be my
duty to them as well as to myself to
contest the election and to this end
I employed counsel. To conduct such
Inquiries and procure such testimony
as would prove these suspicions well
founded would have required a large j
sum of money for the necessary ex?
pense* of such an investigation in
many counties?a sum much beyond
my ability tc> furnish. I made no re- I
quest for money from those who were
Interested in the success of the cause
which I represented, as a call for
funds had be*?n made by the State ex?
ecutive committee for an impartial
investigation by the subcommittee of
their own body. Upon the result of
this committee's action. 1 was forced
to rely.
"Their report, based upon a full in?
vestigation in a few counties, a partial
report from several, and no report at
all from several others, with no fur?
ther testimony furninhed to me did
not Justify me in law or in morals
In urging action by the full commit?
tee different from the recommenda?
tions of the subcommittee and so It
wns that I Submitted the matter of
my contest to their decision upon the '
testimony reported to them.
"The confidence and support of my
friends in this content fill my heart
with deepest gratitude.
"Ira R Jones." 1
Position of Manning.
Kichard 1. Mannlnc, the author of
the resolution providing fOF the sub?
committee to investigate the charts
of fraud in connection with the recent 1
primary election, yesterday made the
following statement at the meeting of
the Staate Democratic executive com?
mittee
"As I wa* the mover of the reso?
lution providing for the appointment
of the tnbCOSnmlttOS Ur Investigate
? ohargea of fraud in the primary
election of August 27th, i desire now
to nay to this committee and through
them |0 the people of th?? state that
Ihe subcommittee appointed to prose
cute the inquiry has been at work. '
thai it had ihe Sjsohitanci of attorneys
? nd cittsena interested In exposing
fraudulent voting in that election
That tho gUbeommlttOS has made Its
report; th.it report shows that Illegal
ami Irregular voting was practiced;
that great ?oseneos prevailed In th??
conduct of thai election and that the
rules of the party, lax as they are,
were ri"t adle r.-d to, that abuses and
violations of ins ruh ? and failure to
observe them wore numerous, yel thai
report does not prove enough to up
M ihe elections thai the returns on
their face show that one of Ihe oandl
dates f"r . overnor received a majority
of the votes; in order to upsei that
showing, it would ie necessary to
prove beyond any reasonable doubt
'hit fraud wan practiced In such an
eitent a?4 to vitiate Ihe election and to
change tho resejtt,
"In my opinion that has not
been proved, and it is therefore
proper for ih to proceed to tabulate
the returns and to declare Ihe result
If wo do this und declare the result
as to the nominees of the Democratic
Party we Will then ho ready to go In?
to the gener.il election with tho unit?
ed support of tho Democrats of the
State undo? their party obligation to
support tin* nominees of the party and
Democrat! who took the oath and
voted in the primary election can
fultlll that party obligation and the
party remains united.
"I ask that this action bo taken by
this committee. This result I am
fraok In saying. Is not In accord with
my personal wishes, for I supported
Judge Jones for governor and desired
his election, but I am and have been
ready at all times to do my full duty,
as a member of the committee,"
representing all the Democrats of
this State and I now .purpose to dis?
charge my duty by moving that we
proceed to tabulate the returns and
declare the results."
Official Tabulation.
The following is the official vote as
canvassed by the committee:
Governor.
Rleaae. 72,043
Duncan. 2,166
Jones.66,548
Total.140,757
Lieutenant Governor.
Chas A. Smi:h.139,940
Secretary of State.
R. M. McCown.140,686
Comptroller General.
A. W. Jonen.159,47?
State Treasurer.
P, T. Cartel.89.702
D. W. McLaurin.49,805
Total. 1 39.507
Adjutant General.
W. W. Moore. 140,4 21
Superintendent of Education.
J. E. Swearngen. 139,828
Attorney General.
J. It. Earle.16,464
13. B. Evanf.12,193 j
J. F. Lyon.64,511
T. H. Peoples.46.545
Total.139,613
Railroad Commifedoncr.
James Cansler.42,859
John G. Richards, Jr.70,896 I
J. H. Wharton. 26.241
ToUl. 139,99b 1
Commissioner of Agriculture.
E. J. Watson. 138,604 j
i
Following Is the vote for solicitors: |
First Circuit.
P. T. Dildebrand.6.8S6
Second Circuit. |
It. L. Gunter.9,391 .
Third Circuit.
P. H. ItOU.4,146
T. H. Tatum.3,873
Total.8,019
Fourth Circuit.
J. M. Spears.6,412
T. I. Rogers. 1,598 j
<;. K. Laney.2,812
Total.10.822
Fifth (Mrcuit. j
W. II. C0bb.8.541
Sixth District j
J. K. Henry.6.240 I
J. H. Foster.4,7 56
Total.10,99?)
Seventh Circuit?Second Primary.
J. C. Otts.6,847
A. 12. Hill.7.566
Total.14,413
Eighth Circuit.
It. A. Cooper.9,64 2
Ninth Circuit.
J. It Peurlfoy.9,388
Tenth Circuit. !
P. A. Honham.17,440
J. M. Daniela.6,528
Total.23.96S
Llcvonth (Mrcuit.
K. Timmerman.8,104
Twelfth Circuit.
W. H. Wills.7,547
l. m. Gasque.3,95'*
Total.11,506
United State? Senate
N. B. Dial.2S.889
W. J. Talbert.37.^Sp
M. It Tlllman.73,630
Total.140,2fS
Following is Vote for congress:
First District,
ti s Lagare.9,111
H, L. Isirlney.4.045
Second District.
?I. !?' Byrnes.10,547
H, d Calhoun.4.320
Third district.
Wyatt Alken.. .1 ?,?;&??
r S. Evans.6.305
m C, Long.1.402
Fourth District.
.1 T, Johnson. 25.512
Fifth District.
D ? I'inley.12,:iM
i}. w Ragsdale.:i,m:is
W. P, Pollork.4,315
Httth District.
.1 K Klh t Im .10,059
J, w. liagsdale .... 11.^21
Seventh District.
A. f\ Lever.1 S.SX
Report of Dmunlttee,
The following 1I the report of th
committee thai eras submitted t<- th
State Democratic executive commit?
tee yesterday:
The committee appointed by you to
investigate the primary election held
for the nomination of state offlcere
on August 27, and especially In rela?
tion to the office of governor, respect?
fully reports that upon entering upon
the work assigned this committee
realized that there were only three
sources of probable information, to
wit:
1. The evidence furnished by '.he
contestants.
2. The information coming from
the public generally.
3. The evidence to be gotten from
the records of the Democratic party.
From the first source we have re?
ceived nothing.
The reasons for this are stated In
tho letter which Is filed herewith, and
were also stated orally by cousel for
the contestant, Judge Jones. No evi?
dence wan offered by him.
From the public we realized that
we could expect general charge* and
specific Instances if the public should
be asked to co-operate and to send
in affidavits, provided there should be
anything to roport. To give the public
thorough opportunity to do so the
chairman called on the public gener?
ally to furnish Information and gave
two weeks for this to be done, and
a good many responses were made,
all of which are hereby transmitted
to this committee.
From the public records the most
reliable evidence must come. In or?
der to get this the county chairmen
and members of the executive com?
mittees were called upon to furnish
copies of club rolls and poll lists, and
the newspapers were asked to pub?
lish the poll lists that the public
might have an opportunity to see
who had voted and report to this
committee. To collect these and check
und arrange them so as to show
whether they were regular or irregu?
lar was a big undertaking, but
through two sul>commltte?s it was
undertaken, and the result will be
dated below. See exhibit "A."
Some Refused to \V'>rk.
Some of the county chairmen re?
fused to do anything, some did not
even answer the inquiries and re?
quests, some represented that there
was no fraud in their counties, and
others sent in copies of the poll lists
and club rolls. The newspapers
when tendered the poll lists general?
ly published them, and In some in?
stances had the copies made up and
published them, for which this com?
mittee especially tenders them its
thanks.
After devoting two weeks to get?
ting the club rolls and poll lists and
endeavoring to check up and arrange
them and In waiting for the public to
report all cases of wrongdoing the
committee met at Spartanburg on the
24th of September to take evidence
as to conditions revealed by the thor?
ough work done there by a subcom?
mittee of tho county executive com?
mittee appointed in pursuance of the
request of this State committee and
resolution then passed and continued
up to the meeting held.
Some 'That Worked.
We wish to commend the subcom?
mittees of Spartanburg, Greenville,
Greenwood and Anderson counties
for the thorough and painstaking
work which they did In this cause and
to say that they showed a determina?
tion to get at the facts whether they
sustained or refuted the political
views of the members. Their reports j
and transcripts >f the records are '
herewith submitted.
The committee went from Spartan?
burg to Greenville and from Green?
ville to Anderson and took such evi- i
dence as was available, but it desires
to call attent! >n to the dltficulties of
its work. It has no power to swear
witnesses or to require them to at?
tend or testify; it had no power to '
require county committees to send up
copies of record/, and county and club j
officers refused in many instances to
dti so; it could detect wrong doing
only from the records, as It was not
possible to Investigate forty-four (44)
counties and interview the voters or
any number of them to ascertain if
l
there were rumors, nor could it req
qulre tho rumors to be verified by the
oath of parties supposed to know the .
facta it could only diligently ton
suit the records, which would t."t
be iik* ty to bo In condition to reveal 1
the S/rong, and call on the public to
furnish the evidence, the contestant
having announced that he nail none
to furnish.
Increase In Vote.
The first circumstance t<> arouse
suspicion was the enormous Increase
in the vets over vote of former
years, applying th< rule that there is
ono voter to the Inhabitants to the
census of 1910 it appeared tlrnn in
1910 there were only about one nun
dred and forty thousand I l 10,000 ?
whitt voters in the Stute. and .is a
little in ? \< ess of th.it number Voted
und it was well known that man)
voters failed to vote the public nat?
ur illy cont luded thai thet s had I.n
a system of fraudulent voting gen
eralls adopted which would vitiate
tin whole election, and this suspicion j
peemct well founded.
The chairman to<?k up th< matter
with the national cwcjius department
and procured a Statement from the
director, which is submitted herewith,
being exhibit "I" of the testimony.
It .'h.'ws that there were in 1910 ono
hundred and sixty-four thousand two
hundred 064,200) white men of vot?
ing age in the Statu; that in 1900
there were one bundled and twenty
nine thousand two hundred and
seventy-Six (129,276). The white
voting population, therefore, increas?
ed in ten years thirty-four thousand
nine hundred and twenty-four, or at
the rate of three thousand four hun?
dred and ninety-two (3,492) per an?
num. Therefore, for the two years
from May, 1910, to May, 1912. add
six thousand nine hundred and eighty
four (6,984 ) to the one hundred and
sixty-four thousand two hundred
( 164.200) and you have white voters I
in the State, one hundred and seventy- J
one thousand one hundred and eighty- I
four (171,184.) This includes only
native born whites and those foreign I
born who are naturalized or in pro- 1
cess of naturalization, and, therefore, I
entitled to vote under our primary j
laws. The margin of thirty thousand J
votes, considering the great interest j
taken in the election and the fact |
that clerks and sheriffs were being J
elected in most counties, and that I
these elections bring out the vote j
most generally, is probably ample, J
and what appeared at llrst to be an I
unmistakable badge of widespread I
fraud is fully explained.
Fraudulent Votes.
The vote derived from the county J
records developed four classes of J
fraudulent or Irregular circum- j
stances:
1. Men voted who were not on the |
club roll or whose names were placed j
there on the day of election.
2. Men appeared to have voted J
twice or offener under the same J
name. j
3. Men not entitled to vote even if I
enrolled have voted. j
4. The managers failed to do their I
tuty either as to being sworn them- J
?elves or as to swearing the voters or I
In other respects, such as counting I
dtate tickets put in county boxes.
As to the iirst, there was little or I
no excuse for men voting whose I
names were not on the club roll; and I
quite a. number of such instances I
were proven by the records and afft-I
davits submitted. Some of those I
crises were, however, only apparent. I
For instance a man called "Charlie I
Smith" comes to vote and is enrolled 1
"W. C. Smith,' but in the hurry of I
keeping the poll list the clerk puts I
him on the club list "Charlie Smith," J
or he may be enrolled on the club |
roll In 1908 or 1910 and when the I
names are brought forward he is in- J
advertently or otherwise omitted. He J
comes to vote, and having done all he I
could, the officers let him vote rather I
than let their carelessness disfran- I
chise him. Rut these are only exeep- I
tional cases. In most Instances the I
voting, when not on the club roll, |
is ;i wilful disregard of the rules of J
the party by both the voter and the j
managers, and all such votes should 1
he disregarded. The number of these I
instances is not large. j
"The Vicious System." I
As to the second class, in every j
county almost there are two or more I
nu n of identical names, some times j
more. The fact that a man of the J
same name appears to have voted at J
two precincts or twice at one precinctl
raises a presumption rather that I
there were two men of the same name
than that one man voted twice in his 1
own name. Under the vicious system
of managing our club rolls, wherein j
anybody can have names enrolled, I
and the same man may have his
name on two or more club rolls at I
once, a rascal may go to a club and I
impersonate another man and vote in I
his name while that other man has
voted at another precinct and it^ un?
aware of the use made of his name;
and In this way repeaters may occa?
sionally operate in such a way as to
make one name appear twice; but or
dinarily they followed the course of
voting in a name fictitiously enrolled
or In the name of a person who had
moved away, so that the same name
doe*! not appear twice in connection
with any such transactions,
These remarks are illustrated bj
on experience In Greenville, Spar?
enburg and .\nderson. At Anderson
we had ;i Iftesg of names apparently re?
peaters, in which many names ap?
peared twice and one as high as
elghl times. In calling the 7^ in
dancea In which this occurred be?
fore a representative Anderson au?
dience of probably 200 people over
r>0 per c nt. were Instantly recognised
bj parties In the audience and affi?
davits voluntar!l> given of t^ie Iden?
tity and bona tides of the different
parties ol tho same name at the dlf
f, renl pre? Incts
i wi the other hand, al Central hos
it Greenville, where about t.'oi \<>tos
were ?.i^t. a painstaking and expen
Investigation w.i>? made to ascer?
tain the Idcntlt) of the voters, and
when every no .ms were exhausted
there were 128 votei who hav< not
been found, and at leas! two of them
uere dead men.
If repeating was done to any great
extent it was done in that way, vot?
ing in tho nano- of people who were
dead or moved away or never ?xisted,
but the nameH were placed on the
club roll for the very purpose of
using them in that way.
Third, people not entitled to vote
voting. * good many instances of
this were show n by the affidavits sub?
mitted. Theae consisted of minors,
men not in the State long enough,
men who now live in Georgia, end
negroes.
We desire to call attention to the
two last classes. Non-residents seem?
ed to have voted freely at IJath in
Alken county, and, in some instances,
are found elsewhere.
Negroes were allowed to vote in
violation of the rules in a good many
counties; and if this is not stopped
we may as well abandon the primary
and allow everybody to run in the
general election, as the negro man
will have a voice anyhow.
Fourth. Managers at Hath in Aiken
county were not sworn, nor did they
swear the voters at Cold Spring or
Antreville In Abbeville county
on August 27. The votes cast in those
precincts are embraced in those
classed below as questioned.
There were a good many votes for
State officers put In county boxes and
counted by the managers. This may
have been honest, but It is easy for
one interested in a State officer to
vote for such officers in both boxes
and get counted twice. All instances
of this are classed below as questioned
votes. See exhibit "A."
The said list contains all the vot?s
questioned by any statement reach?
ing us. Many of them are explained
and many are mere duplications of
names by the fact that more than one
person of the same name voted in the
same county. There is no proof before
us to the candidate for whom the
irregular votes were cast.
As to fraud. Fraud may have ex?
isted. The opportunity to submit it
from the fact that no identification is
necessary, cither to be enrolled or to
vote, no proof except the assertion of
the alleged voter that he Is qualilled
to enroll, is required, and no state?
ment of his place of residence or
occupation is required to be stat?d
with his enrollment, and nothing but
the statement of the name that is on
the club roll Is required when he pre?
sents himself to the managers to vote,
all open the door to the grossest
fraud. The fact, also, that it is al?
most impossible to detect it when
once committed is an invitation to go
into it and win and then be secure
from detection.
Take the present case; a great hue
and cary of fraud was raised and a
committee appointed to investigate
the whele State and produce results.
They must do it at once, and ap?
parent delay was severely criticised,
while all the while In those counties
where most fraud was committed the
committee had good subcommittees
at work skillfully and diligently en?
deavoring to detect the fraud. What
was the result? in Greenville in one
hundred and twenty-eight (128) votes
were found cast by somebody under
names of people who have not been
found after diligent search. Probably
fraudulent; tut who did it? The poll
list shows the namee used; but who
are they? You are against a stone
wall; you can not lay your hands on
one of the men; and the fact that
your rules Invite such ar d that your
committee is without power and that
the cry can Skillfully t'e turned on
the committee, all make It easy for
the fraud to be committed and Im?
possible to be detected.
The Greenville Case.
The fact, also, that to bring the
work down to that point In Greenville
with the force there used in only one
box in two weeks shows that the cost
of investigating fully would be pro?
hibitive and the time required would
be such as to make it impossible. We,
therefore, as to that, report that In
the time we have had and the help
that the public ami such of the coun?
ty committees as responded at all
have rendered, we have no proof
which in our judgment would reverse
the face of the returns as published
and which are now in the hands of
the committee; and we understand
the law to be that they are presumed
to be correct until thai presumption
is overthrown by proof.
As to Orangeburg county reports
coming to this committee rendered
it necessary to si mi two of its mem?
bers there to investigate the disap?
pearance of the poll list o| said coun?
ty, and their report is embraced un?
der the head of "Orangeburg County"
inthe list hciet ? itt o to d and In the
repoii of this committee as to the
transaction there dim ussed.
We do not think it possible or profi?
table, in view of the results obtained,
to pursue the Investigation any fur?
ther, and ask that we be discharged
from further connection with the
same.
We recommend that the Suite .\
eeutivc committee ?all a convention
Of the State I >em<>? r O v Itte nc\t A u -
gust when n<> political campaign i* on
to construct a nea constitution end
rules which shall require such moth>