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L McUulrui Hectares OppOsl m to Bath Weaee ?*nd Til In win. Bennettsville, SC., Jftfl. 27, 191S. Mr. Editor: I take this method of eeachtng the various people who by petition And letters, hove requested me *> become a candidate for govern? or. I promised tnem an answer dur? ing the present month. At this time 1 feel that I oan perform a better ser? vice by announcing clearly my polltl nal views than by becoming a candi? date for governor. It is probable afro 1 do that many who would have sop ported me will n)t do so and that conditions will make It best that 1 should not run for office It Is evi? dent that factional lines are to be drawn in the senatorial race and, lie I believe th at I could be elects I avoiding this Issue. 1 do not want office on those terms. I have given the rt atter careful thought and I want everybody to krow beforehand Jus? hew I stand. In or<ier to set the ware? house hill made a law 1 had to reckon with the veto povrer of the governor, and without the assistance of the fac tlon then in power I conld not have moved a step. I hnvo always recognis? ed this obligation slid do not Intend to forget it I would like to be in a portion while I jet have the mental ad physical strength to further de < lop the State earehouae system bj establishing direct sale*. I would also to organise the machinery for ate insursnce. tot only for cotton, other property. I would like to a budget system for appropriations SO as to tlx Indb Idual responsibility for the waste of tax money such as is now going on .n South Carolina. T have made up my mind, however, that 1 am not going to keep tr.y mouth din? ner compromise my convictions for tin i.aks of any office on earth. Should I go on the stump this summer I shall Unhesitatingly say that I regard the election of either Ei-dovernor Mlease or Senator Tlllman as a stupendous blunder. So far as the State is con? cerned it will establish more firmly than aver the present factional lines snd whoever is elected governor will netossmrUy have to line up on one side or the other. This I absolutely refuse to do. Outside ol the locab issue the consequences are more far reaching. The attitude of Governor H lease he fore the war has been bitterly hostile to the present federal administration. Everybody who knowv him under? stands hia attitude toward the ques? tions relating to the war and that he will go any length once he has the power to obstruct the policies of Woodrow Wilson. He Is bold and has gre*t ability In certain lines. His ad? vent Into the senate would greatly strengthen LaKollctte and a little group of willful senators;" who are doing all In their power to hamper the conduct of a wsr, upon whose result depends the future not only for America, but mankind everywhere. 1 could not make campaign speeches spd dodge this Issue. I cannot by Si? emes make myself i party to a nat? ional calamly of this character. Sen? ator Ttllmun is incapacitated by phy? sical weakm-ss for the strenuous work now required. 1 am glad to be able to say that I am sincerely sorry for this* and in spite of the unjust treat? ment that I have received at his fiends, wei?- h?? physical l> lit to per? form the duties. I would rise above personal resentment and say that in Should be left where he la This talk about "dying in harness" Is all rot. A broken down horse "dying In hnr nesa" te cruelt> to animals; it is mot, saorolful to loosv the truces, knock off the shoes snd turn him out In the pasture to rum inate on thlr ks that have h*en i i i are to be. It takes n strong horse to tote his side of tin ? ingletrcc in the?.e psrllo is days 1 is 'Unfair to the balance of the team When the load lA heavy ami the pace so fast to !??? h indicapis'd l?v be spavin and heaves in an old horse which won't work at all unless he H In the lead. Tho work is too hoaV) now lor a ?pike I SOWS, although thin I* better than ? horse that won't even try to pull, bites h.s mats and gjek at everything in sight. I am not goln to help horaeSO either team. What |fl the use. one borne Is not able and th other will not poll Im...I w.th tVoOd row Wilson as a driver, ami srs ? moot set a nee/ driver (even if we wanted to) for the next tw.> years it is u bad plan anyway, when rou ha * to ? ing< drirerw to suit a loos.. \i> < ,..?? i ence is 'that a home more inte is kicking the drlvet off the sesi than is pulling the load won't worn s/Hli any driver and will i.i h ..'-r 1 - rs the team balky before he is ihn 'Phen. t"u. we now gSSSl Qattltnfl guns Instesd of old, rusty, won oul |S)tchforks I know this letter wi I or lend many of my friends ami I re gget It fror.i the button of my >SM If thev llv* long enoou'i th ?0e that I am right as Ihej havs found odt before when tie--, dlffen t Ith Ufa I am saving What I 1 ? mv dtrtr. simI if sVery political ' r have turns against me if will I |j #s first time that a sense of <lu'\ hwa left me slone without | pgff political faction. I feel that i am gg Pnbki ^Qf, rendering jeal service t - South Carolina, but I am not going to dodge aa important an issue in order to obtain political support. I am in the middle of the road unfettered by factional alignments of any kind. Those who desire to be of real ser? vice to South Carolina must be coura? geous and unselfish or our petty fac? tional squabbles will continue to make um the laughing stock of the nation. Respectfully, John Im McLaurln. GROW FOOD OR GO HUNGRY. State Council of Defense Sounds Notr of Wurntng. ( - The State Council of Defense, in conjunction with the :.'6od administra tlon find home demonstration depart? ments, will shortly begin the spring campaign for food production ami observation. Notwithstanding the splendid results from the last spring's campaign wared all over the United States, the food situation of the coun? try Ii now more acute than ever be? fore). This Is due to tho largely In sreesod diamonds from the govern* rn'Mit, to the damaging of a large por? tion of the corn crop Of the northwest by early frost, to the injury of th " winter wheat and oats crop by the un precedentedly severe winter and to the tremendous losses from freezing in transit and In homes of canned good* fruits, potatoes and other perishable food products. The congested conditions of th< railroads In this section are grcatl> delaying the movement of freight, ami it seems likely that acute shortages o: certain food products may becom prevalent before long in our town and cities. Should such a conditio, arise th* non-agrietiltural population of the State will have to depend largely on the reserve food supplies or the farms, and the farmers shouhi realise that it may l>e up to them a: an early date to release part of thcii surplus supplies of corn, potatoes, pork, etc., for the relief of the town* We know of instances where hier chants have been forced to Import meal and corn from outside of th*1 State after offering the farmers ?J per bushel for corn and being Unabl to induce them to bring it in. Th? corn production of South Carolina fo 1917 was approximately forty-three million bushels, and this figure Is an adequate supply for the entire human and animal population of the Stare. The corn coming: In from outside will leave a surplus In our barns for rats and weevils to consume, and betides the unnecessary imports are putting an extra burden upon transportation facllties which we have no right to .demand. It seems to us that pa? triotism demands that the farmers all over the State supply the towns with corn, and it also seems to us that present circumstances lo not warrant a higher prise than $2.00 per bushel to the farmer. When we remember that price to the westerner for his wheat has been fixed at only slightly higher than this tlgure. It would seem ? vident that we have no right to de? mand more, even If circumstances made it possible to do so. Those who have recently familiar i :ed themselves with the general fool Jsituation"In the United States are con? vinced that the only safe policy for I our farmers to pursue In 19IR Is to I bend every effort to the production of ample food supplies for the feeding of the entire population of the State Our people must be fed. no matter Whether cotton Is ten cents or fifty cen-s per pound. We all want to raise all tho cotton we can under the proa* ent circumstances-, and we should 1 i so; but, first, let us all plan for nit adequate food ncrea go. There is no other safe or reasonable course un? der present conditions. D. It. Coker, Chairman State Council of Defense? .Meningitis Sil nation. Columbia, Jan. It,?The ? have been up to neon toda \ I total of 184 eases Of cerobio-spinal meningitis ft! Camp Jsjckoofi and1 ? total of ulxty deaths, According to the report re eelved at the State Hoard of Health This makes four now reset and four idditional deaths since Saturday There were no new cases during the poo! twenty fo ii hours, but two addi? tional deaths There have boon report? ed, up to today a total of fort;, nine BsjgOi of the disease in the State ot South Carolina, There have develop? ed three n, w oases in fjfeonvllle ooun ?v. one ;,t Newberry and one at Choi lOr since Satuidav. _ " Uitiuht ? Nop With Senate. Columbia. Jan. It.?-After refusing! to recommit it. the house tonight, peesed on thud reading th" NeuTer Anderson bill for airtight prOhlbt< lion and srderod it sent is the senate There was practically n<? Opposition to the measure and no record \ot? Was tal<en. lee (JOTOJM Hronk. I incinnatl. Jan 10, - The |< . hoi i broke this morning, the i,. , ,, I rhUi out the large pro ket < V ,c Louisville, which was soon sunk. AiiHilcaii Military Man Who Han Hc tumeti Prom France speuks to Sev? enteen Hundred Persons ?t Wal? dorf-Astoria Hotel. -f New York, Jan. 28.^-One thousand seven hundred men and women in the giand ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria saw the German as he really it through the eye? of Maj. Grayson M. P. Murphy, Red Cross diretcor in Europe. They saw him in France, Belgium, Italy, Serbia and other countries, real? ised dellnitely what "horrible, brutal, beastly; consistently official things" the nation has done to the women and children of those countries, and then as they sat stiffened with horror at the revelations, they were asked it they had quite realized just what tide war does mean to America and all civilization. Major Murphy arrived here only three days ago, after being in France for nearly 10 months, and he is go ln| back again. He came to make a I report to Henry V. Davispn, chairmar Of the Ked Cross war board. Maj??r Murphy said, in part: "l want to ask you to eOhSldOf foi i a. moment the fact that up to thli lay Germany i? entirely victorious it i this war; that any peace that is mad( today on the basis of today's condi? tions or on the basis of the statin > quo ante WOUld be practically Q com plots \ ctory for Germany and for tin ? German idea. Gogfcnany has lost noth I ing in this war except blood. She hai I fought her way on the territory o others She has drawn from the terri ' lory of others vast supplies of ma i t? rials and wast sums of money. Sh< i has had between 4<? and 50 inillioi i eople e/orlilng fdr her for practicaii: 1 no wage- really as slaves. She ha i established her cursed hold on Aus I tria. on Turkey and on Bulgaria, am ?fie has lit her feet murdered Serb;; ihd unfortunate Rumania, "You don't know what these Gei? lnau people are, 1 believe. He alway thought of Germans in the old day as i kind of kindly people?professor ' smoking pipes and drinking beer, an? : absent-minded fellows that left thei1 umbrellas a round in places. The: were good citizens; they were fun : eople. I want tO tell you what ai ICnglleh woman who is connected wit] the government of Great Britain am is representing Great Britain official ly. told me. that when there was i threat of a German invasion in Fng land that the women in that part o England carried about with then poison and had selected places when they could drown themselves to sav? themselves from what they would faci if German troops landed on lhitisl soil. I "I cannot begin to describe to yot 'the horrible, brutal. beustly, consist I ent official things that Germany ha; done, not in isolated eases but gen j erally, to the women and children ant 1 the poor old suffering people in tin countries where she has set hei dreadful foot. She has stopped ai nothing. Hritish officers told me o! seeing their wounded piled in heap? and hand grenades thrown in the midst and exploded to kill them while they lay there. I "Prltlsh officers have told me of the men being taken as prisoners through Germany and German women coming and offering them a glass of water and spitting In It as they handed it tc them. I came back across the water ! with a prominent Hritish officer and i statesman. He told me of a friend of : his who lay wounded and suffering; I horribly In front of the German irenehee, ffs laid there for a day and 11 half or two days and the Germans cams out at night, stood around him and mads fun Of him, and then went away and left him, and when some of his own people went out at the risk of their lives and brought him in before he died he'told them of these things "Did you think that the men in that British regiment would be Willing to make a half peace with Germany? Do you think that he Canadians who vent In the trenches and found their fficers crucified whether those met . will make a ha'.' peace with ?Jclln; n\. 1 tell you it is only a short time be? fore our boy:; who : ve over there cow are going to be suffering those saint things, and you have got to under? stand it here, and you have got to l ulld and build and ?acrlflce. no mat? ter what it costs, to beat that boast. 'This war is not a war of arm es, f; is n \\;m of nation.-. There lan'1 a man, a woman or a child in Grell Initain, in Belgium, In Prance or in Italy that is not a factor in this war. ! tell you that if yon should go, :> I 1 have pone, about these ruined <'ls tricts m Francs and see the little chil? dren, little bits of tots, four ami live years old. driving In the heds it Mi. seeing the little boys eo n n" down the toad- little Idts of tot With their arms full of fagots tl'.it ihej were accumulating against the w inter, old men and old women wok Ing in the Melds until it was so lark 'hat. an on looked, you could just matte out those vague ghostly forms Rntnerlhi In the crop* for Prance, ' I have passed through those to wife ami looked in the windows at night, where you would nee a Uttle here and there, and they wore always working, working, working, to carry on this war. It is not the armies of Prance that are the essential thing to Fratfce in this war, nor the armies of Eng? land, nor the other countries. Those armies will do their part, and do it to a finish, if they are supported by the people behind, and the great < I\\ ign need in Europe today is to build Up the spirit and keep up the spirit ot the people behind the lines, and it is that great work in which the Red ('rosa?thanks not to us- on the other side, but to you on this side?have performed and become the largest know single factor since eur entry Into the war." COLD IN FRANCE, Hunk of France Hns Greatly Increas? ed Reserve Stock During WAT, Paris, Jan. 26.?The flow of geld into the Hank of France was given a fresh impetus by the third war loan. After reaching more than 100,000,000 francs a week during the early stage Ol the Campaign and gradually de? clining to a little over a million, the K{ receipts went tip again to more than two millions. The total gain to the bank's gold reserve since the begin? ning of the war now totals 2,250,000,^ 000 francs, bringing the reserve ur to 5,851,000,000 million francs with? out recourse to any Other than persua? sive measures. IL of P Notes. There was no convention of Game? cock Lodge No. 17, Knights of Pythlai i I on the third Monday night, owing U the OSdor of UlO fuel administrator s The drand Chancellor will bo ask - ed to grant us a dispensation to' meiV i on some other night in the near fu ture. Watch these columns for no tice. There will ho one candidate fot the rani; of Page at the next convei tion and the following officers wil s he installed: J. O. Harwick, Pas s Chancellor; J. a. liiddleton, Chancel? lor Commander; Paul D. Womack Vice Chancellor; S. L. Krasnoff, Pre y late; P>. Walsh, Master of Finance an p Keeper of R. and S. J. G.. II. Wilder i Master of Exchequer, Jas C. Bryan i Master of Work, C. C. Heck; Mastci I :rt. Anns; Knights Winn. Inner Guard A vet-buck, Outer Guard. Owing to other duties- the presen Keeper of Records and Seals, are Master of Finance found that it wouh fie impractical to continue to serv< you. May he take this meaus o thanking the loyal Knights of th< CJamecOck No. 17 for their very kirn iI support and ready response to hii many calls and for their words o i I encouragement and sympathy. You will lind an old friend, ev*u faithful and earnest, in the newl> elected Master of Finance and Keep 11 er of Records and Seals. Your nat? ural Knightly courtesy will make It f imperative that you extend to him t that same courtesy I have so abund !' aptly received from you. My last act in serving you has in? deed been a. pleasant one. 1 have to Agy forwarded to the supreme Keep? er of Records and Seals my check fo: $100.00, which is the amount that 11 you have so generously given to the : I Pythian War Relief fund. Your spontaneous response to the 11 call has indeed been gratifying. To those of you who have not yet re? sponded, who may be waiting until you can give more, may I say that "he gives twice who gives quickly." This is not the time to think about the abundant past and rest on our : I laurels, the time is at hand when men must net, if you think you have al? ready done "your bit" then get busy, you have but made a. beginning; do your "super bit." You have truly had many call:-', many opportunities, yet you have but given a small part of your surplus. We should give "until it hurts;" we should give until wo have given a part of that which we feel we need for daily living then we begin to ap? proach that pofit where our owm consciences may commend us for giv? ing like the * widow' 'id' old, who gave "more than they all." The individual members of Game? cock Lodge No. 17 an- expected to give 1200.00 to this cause; we have now given g>ne-half. Remember this fund is for the care and support ol the needy families of Knights of Pythias, who have given their ser? vices to their country and if need be are ready to make tho supreme sac? rifice in this great war on selfishness. Brother Bartow Walsh will hereaf? ter accept the contributions to this The commendation "well done thou good and faithful servant" comes to hi in who acts now. Jas. c. Bryan, Keeper of Records and Peals Certificates Oversubscribed. Washington. Jan. 10.- - The issue of fOUr hundred million dollars of cer? tificates of indebtedness, which clos? ed last nlRht, was heavily oversub? scribed, the treasury announced. . Hcd.CCOfftJ Note* and preeen .? to evsry man, amid cheers. Th ; men were delighted. One There is much more knitting 1o be, , . r T3 t soldier salt Til bet it was a bunch done. In a cablegram from Paris to ? ? D n . . - , of mothers who made up these bags. Henry P. Davidson, chairman of the 1 ? - ? ,,T ~ ., _There s everything a fellow needs but Red CroSS War Council .there came * * , * . , . does not know enough to buy." again a great cry trom abroad for: The cam us in this country were more knitted garments. . ... r/?l%, 'filled Christ inns day with men carry American aviators, training in Unly, . . . 4 , .ing lied Cross bags on their arms. In have applied to the American Red ~ ... - ,v_? .... hospitals, the hist present the sick Cros. at home, for newspapers and ! . . ^ , mv ? soldiers saw on Christmas morning periodicals from home. Ti ey are de? lighted with the comfortable condi I was Red Cross Christmas bags, which .the nurses 1 ad tied to the beds after tions of their camps and enthusias-! .. . . t?/.u>?0- the men w< re asleep. The contents tic over the cordia.ny of the Italians, .. 4 .u , - kept the bevs cheerful all day long. but thev are hungry for news iron, . f J ? ^ 'One said ' TI e Red Cross was the best home. Don't throw aWay \ our maga zincs. Arrangements have been made to forward to our aviators any news-' papers or magazines sent for them to the American Red Cross ir Rome. Santa Claus hat ever came to me." At a time like thi? the .following plea of Phillips Brook seems to call our Information has come tc us of the us a clearer consciousness of great joy that the Red Crass Christ-. responsibility : mas packets brought to ojr fighting) "O, do nor. pray for easy lives, men on land and sea. No soldier or i Pray to be stronger men. Do not I sailor spending the great holiday in. pray for tanks equal to your pow army of the big camps or canton- ers. Pray for powers equal to your inents in this country, or in service j tasks. Then che doing of your work 'abroad, was overlooked. In the shall bo no aiiracle. But, you shall [American camps in Prance each com- be a miracle; every day you shall pany assembled on the morning o. wonder at vourself, at the richness Christmas day in its own barracks\ of life widen has come to you by and Red Cross workers gave out baithe grace of God."?Phillips Brook. The Katlona! Bank nfSoi Carolina OF SUNTER Resources ove r $1,600,000 This Bank owes it* growth to the loyal support and heaty cooperation of its 2AO0 patrons. A bank is a COMMUNITY INTER? EST. Its mission is SERVICE. Its life is the Loyalty of its Patrons. We appreciate you: business and are better prepared tha t ever l>efore to serve yon. C. C. ROWLAND, President. F. E. NINNANT. Cashier. ! YOUR INVITATION If you have m had any dealings with u&, please o^nplder this an invitation to give us a trial. The First National Bank SUMTE R, S. C. r i Every loyal American will help his coun? try by adopting this creed: REDUCE WASTE ELIMINATE EXTRAVAGANCE PRACTICE THRIFT Waste is always inefficient;-^extrava? gance in war-times is unpatriotic ? both should be shunned. Thift leads to national progress and per? sonal independence. Get on tht; right road today by opening a savings account with this institution. \ IMS HI OF SUFI En. \m. J. P. Booth. W. J. Crowson. Jr.. President. Cashier. ? ? Everything in the Building Line AH Kinds of Feed BOOTH & McLEOD, inc. EVERYTHING AT ONE PLACE PHONES : 10 and 631