Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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of your apace; in fact. I thought just aa food idea aa any waa not to pay any attention to this man'a ravings and hallucinations, but for fear my alienee might be misunderstood, I would be glad if he would give this article the sine prominence that > on gave the article thu morning, in which, aa you put it. 1 'McLaurin Fla \ s Rlease and Attacke R. A. Cooper.'' Colo L I "lease. Columbia, June 30. The statement given out by Mr. Aull follows; To the Editor of The Star. The addreaa to the people of South Carolina by Fern n Senator John I.. McLaurin. which you published in your issue this morning, seems to be inspired hv i letf.-i written by me last January, which evidently Mr MeUiur in has. not yet even seen, and I ask that you permit me to make reply to the portions of his effusion which make charges against me, und that you do me the fairness to give it as prominent place in your paper as you have given Mr. McLaurin's address. In the tlrst place. I desire to say that Mr. McLaurin gives some facts Which ire absolutely new to me. and which I h er even dreamed of. He says that he frequently called John Aull to take dictation for let? ters on this subject addressed to Capera" referring to securing money for a bolt from the Democratic party, in order to lead Blease into a trap. Mr. McLaurin states that I wrote the l*ttem und retained carbon copies, but that as soon as I was out of sight he dogtroyed Um origtneJa\ This Is the tlrst time I have eve* even heard of his writing any such letters to Mr. Capers. He seems to think that 1 have a copy of some such letter that he wrote to John Q. tpere in Washington. I knew abso? lutely nothing of any such letter or letters, and have never said or writ? ten that I did. and 1 have no letter purporting to be a copy of any such letter. What made Mr. McLaurin thlrk I was charging him with this is moie than I can understand. He may hava given me dictation for letters to Capera. but I have no recollection of any letter to Capers of any special significance, uul during my course with the State warehouse system, aa secretary to Senator McLaurin. I never tried to secure copies of any of hi* letters and never mentioned to a living soul any letter that he had ever rwrttten to anybody. 1 ?m sorry that Mr. McEnurln felt thst he was using me while I was his secretary aa a tool to lead Rlease into a trip. If that waa hla game he fail? ed, because none of Mr. Mcl<aurin's letters were ever mentiOSStd hy me to Mr. Hlease or anybody else; and the Capers correspondence need glve\im no further concern, so far as I am af? fected, because I can assure him that I have no copy of any of It. nor any ollertlon of ggej "t it His letter In the fVdumbia State this morning is the first I ever heard of It. I was present In the Evans build? ing in Washington, at a conference he had with John <; ?apers. In which I took absolutely no part; and how llt SJo that conference met with my ap? proval ia shown by the fact that 1m medlhtely upon mv return from Wash? ington I severed my connection with the State warehouse system on the veiv tin y that I was given a balance sheet upon my books by State Auditor Wldeman W. Rrudley and Mr Walton special noOOOml nt, who were checking up the system, by appointment of f5ov Manning upon rennest Of Sen? ator McLaurin, who had asked the governor to have tha entire records checked up by official account.! nts,? following some statement which the! governor had made In the public prints In regard to the management of the system. Mr. i'apers nun' save himself the trouble of searching any liles In an effort to llnd any letter a copy oi' which I may have. Mr. M< I'turin says that In ordei to Win the support of the Rlease faction to his warehouse measure during the extra session of I 1 I he agreed to make me hin secretary. His letter In this morning's State is the tirst I ha 1 ever he*ird of that. ?luv. Rlease jail? ed the extra session mainly for the our pom- of getting a warehouse meas? ure through. When It SOU to him he promptly signed It. loiter Senator Mc? Laurin came to me and offered me the position of hi* secretary. I told him I was Inclined to nccepl it but would first have to consult <lov. Hl"us?>. un? der whom I then held the position of secretary to the governor. 'Next da) Mr Mel jiin In came into flocemor R|#?ae* x pri\ ite office and mentioned the gsggtOl to him. in my preOOWCS. ll know from the gOgtOOVOatlon that en? sued that that was the llrst time Ml Rlciiae eves knew of it I accepted the pomtb.n. and for two m-.is. until I resigned following the Washington trip. I give Mr, Mr L'tUrin as loyal and conscientious service* as I was OapObM of. ff I was Iwlng used as a tool to lead Rlease Into a trap I I .new nolle >ng of It; and If I bad had any stub . . that Senator Mel. Mil ill would ii e the State warehouse system for any nut h purpose I novor would have ?0 copied a position under him, in thi hint instance. I The- letter which Mr .McLaurin say; somebody has told him has been He ? in the possession of Mr. Cooper, am which he charges that I gave Mr Cooper at the request of Former Gov ernor Hleaso, is a letter I wrote th< editor of the Anderson Tribune last .1 inuary, and which, had Mr. McLuur in seen, he would probably have kf pi silent as to letters he wrote Mr. Ca? pers, of which I knew absolutel> nothing until the Columbia State i cached my home this morning. ] ?ever even knew before that Senatoi M< l*iurin had ever suggested to any? body here that money might be he cured from Capers In Washington to finance a bolt from the Democratic party. I never knew before that Ben utor MoLeUlin had taken me to Wash? ington to get me into another trap there. I do know if that was his pur? pose that he failed, because after I heard that conference my resignation as seoretary went to Senator McLaur? in the very day the' official auditors finished their check, and however mm h Mr. Capers may address Senator MeLiurin as "My Dear Mac," there is absolutely no truth in any assertion by anybody that I took any part in that conference except as an inno? cent onlooker, who did not even know there was going to he a conference, and the records down here in the state house will show that it was a very few days afterwards that I ceas ? d to draw a salary from the State warehouse system. And my disap? proval of that conference was the MM of my resignation. I have never given Mr. Cooper anv political letter at the request of Mr. Dienet, or any one else; nor have 1 ever furnished him with any letter at all in any of his campaigns for governor. From the inception of this campaign I have seen him only onee or twice, when we have spoken in passing. He lias not mentioned his HUM to me. nor have [ mentioned the campaign to Diin. either directly or in? directly. It seems to be necessary that 1 give a brief recital of the reasons which actiated me in writing a letter to the editor of the Anderson Tribune in January of this year, which seems to have aroused the Ire of Mr. Mc Lnnrin, and brought about the oonfee ?Ion as to how he was trying to use everybody eonnected with him, for his own personal political ambition. During the session of the general Homhly Just passed there was a llst Icuff between a State official and a military officer, which was really more amusing than serious. At the r?>'im st of Governor Manning, who urged H as u war measure of con oern to the State at the particular time, the newspapers did not publish 1% ami I agreed not to mention it because I was appealed to upon the proposition that it might interfere with the Securing of funds necessary to equip the home militia, which was an organization for the protection of the homes of the State during the ab? sence of the National Guard at the front, nightly or wrongly I yielded to the appeal and said nothing about it. Nobody had been seriously hurt, any? way. A bloody nose comprised about the entire casualty list. The Anderson Tribune heard of tin affair ami undertook to take the news? paper correspondents of Columbia to task for suppressing the news. 1 WOttld bovt paid no attention to this, except lor the fact that 1 had been noticing that The Tribune was pub? lishing a good deal ??f inspired stuff urhlon i was convinced was based up? on Anhnctal considerations, 1 had learned the inside of how its editor ha 1 seemed the socalh'd "endorsement" of Senator MeLnUrln for governor l>> certain members of the Anderson del? egation. BVOn that did not affect inc. because I dldn'l care. Hut along with ail these other things I was constant? ly receiving lnform.it ion of Senator IfeLaurln'i eeeertlons that while l e is his secretary he had used me as i tool to got other people into traps, and that he was going to - show up" certain things, ami tell how a certain politician had need me In an attempt to get money to bolt the Demoerair party, and hOW he was going to raise merry political Coin generally, in all oi which I was to l?4> the goat. Then 1 In ml that be was down in Ben? nettsvllle laboriously preparing what he considered was the greatest polit? ical annunciation hi the htston ol south Carolina, which was forever i" retire Bleass ami TMmnn into obllv? Ion, and Ihn vln n ho finished it In s/ns going le Charlotte ami give ii to the press. That also did not af:'? < i me. but in ill these statements that I were < onimc me ,,,, authority which I did not question my name was con? stants being rung m. and I linen that the ehnrge to be made, ami which had been made, that I had play od any double part, or bad anything to do with any Washington confer* etiee. Of any bolt from Ihe part) was absolutely ami unequivocull) false, ami I was getting 11 red of helm drawn into tin- pol It leal mess whloli gtnntOI M' Lain in was nUi uny n lh< . j pot which he always has handy, it. ? seems, down in Marlboro, In order to put both Senator McLaurin and The ? Tribune on notice, I wrote the editor i' of The Tribune, about the time 1 eal I culated Senator McLaurin was to . start for Charlotte to five out his - great political annunciation, and told j Cheshire that I thought it would be I better for him to come to Columbia . and make certain statements face to I face rather than to be publishing . them from long range, and also ? warned him that "none of the news ) paper men involved is subsidized by [ a candidate for governor, as you are, i and none of them is supporting a man who. in the face of his previous rec? ord, went tO Washington, after the i campaign of 1916 and offered to car-] ry the State 'Republican* if $1,000 for each county was put up by the Re? publican committee." That's all I said, and it was in a letter to Cheshire, in which I did not mention the name of McLaurin nor of Capers, nor did I say anything about any correspondence between McLaur? in and Capers, of which 1 learned only this morning. As the matter in con? troversy was the incident here in Co j lumbia, with regard to which the newspaper conference had taken place . in the office of Governor Manning's ! secretary, participated in by the News and Courier and State representatives and myself, and at which Governor Manning stated what he felt would j be the injury resulting to South Caro? lina if the fisticuff should be publish? ed at that time?in which I agreed? I furnished a copy of the letter to the city editor of The State, the Columbia representative of the News and Cour? ier, and to Governor Manning. It was from one of these so?rces that Mr. Cooper must have secured the copy of the letter and not from me. Had Mr. McLnUlin requested a copy of the letter, I would have gladly furnished it to him, and he would have saved Mr. Capers a search of his j tiles and saved himself all that far? fetched rigamarole about letters to Mr. Capers, dictated to me, and the originals of which he says he destroy? ed, in order that Rlease might be led into a trap through me. That is about all there is to the whole matter. Mr. Capers* statement to "my dear Mac." as to any over? tures made by me is absolutely false. Mr. MoLaUlin'S statement that I was "keeping Rlease informed" as to any? thing going on In Mr. McLaurln's of 11 OS Is also absolutely untrue. 'As I say, in view of later developments, 1 have no doubt that Senator McLaurin was endeavoring to use me as a tool; but he succeeded only in so far as se? curing from me the best work of which I was capable for him and the State warehouse system. As to any change in my attitude on account of McUiurin's frequent changes of position in the guberna? torial race of 1916, that is simply an evidence of the senator's imagination which too often leads him to believe that those who are trying to serve him have some double purpose. M\ recollection of the senator's position in the race is that he wrote Mr. Blease urging that the Rlease eandi<lac> would cha t Cooper, and that Blease should get OUl Of the race in favor of Manning; that he then played to the Manning regime until Manning threw him down In the State convention, and Cred Domini? k and I, in that con? vention, came to the rescue of the State warehouse system. Then he came out actively and openly lor Rlease. and made speeches in his behalf. When 1 Mease was defeated, he then drops Bleaae. He then has petitions circulated asking himself to run foi gOVernor( and In reply to one of these, signed by certain members of the An? derson delegation, he takes occasion to excoriate these gentlemen who had paid him the highest compliment they could; CUSSCS out Tillman and Blease and sets out to create a Mc? Laurin faction in South Carolin;?. He then has the idea of running for gov? ernor. Later he eoncludei he can beat both Tillman and Blease, and sets about feeling his way towards an en? trance into the senatorial campaign. Las fore the lists close, however, he drops back Into the gubernatorial ht, and now in his latest political address, if anybody can figure out w hat he is driving at. they can do I more than I cap. I happen to recall that In the campaign of 191 I he sent Beard around the State, In the Inter . a of Manning, telling the people thai Cooper had promised If elected to muke me his secretary, and thai would mply moan a continuation of the ' Rleuse regime, when he has admit? ted to me iii it he had no Idea thai Cooper had ever made any stu b prom Iae, but that he was doing it for po ' lltleal effect to seemIhe election of Manning. As to Mi McLaurln's reference to my condition, there is also no truth i" . ,i,;it i NV;1S tagen bv him into the ,,11,,,, ,,, , ?,,,?., i ,n Washington; and ! hey took me up on the mountuln, and j showed me nil Ihe valleys and fertile i lands bciow. and told me they could , i, ? .,? imi the old or.lei of thij-tks [ilowii here in South Carolins e/asjaatl r.o time obscured in my vision; and I came on back home, severed my con? nection wiiii the state warehouse system and with Senator McLaurin, and have had no connection with cither since. 1 have nothing to do with Sena tin McLaurin's campaign for governor, and have no desire to meddle with it; 1 have nothing to do with his po? litical record, and no desire to refer to it; but while ho is making this un? called for and untrue attack on me, he might tell the people of the state If ho did not withdraw his cotton from the State warehouse system as yoon as his connection with it was severed, and if he has had any cotton in it since. 1 note the upbuilding of the sys? tem is one of the three reasons which he says induced him to make the race for governor. I regret that the matter has come up in this shape, but 1 feel that 1 owe it to myself,, to make clear ex? actly any connection I may have had with the things to which he refers. COOPER ANSWER'S M'LAUKIX Charge. Tells of Bonnie o* Letter in Question ?Cormack Also Makes Statement. Laurens, June 30.?R. A. Cooper issued this evening the following state? ment: To the Democratic Voters of South Carolina: I have just read the statement Ah ich John L. McLaurin has ad? dressed "To the People of South Caro? lina" published ir 'nday's papers in which he makes certain accusations which are intended by him to rellect on me personally and politically. My llrst impulse was to have made an? swer other than through the public prints, but upon reflection I think I am hardly justified in giving him this notice. His past political history, as well as the confession which he makes in his long article and his effort to show that he was only trying to entrap Hlcase, are sufficient to con? demn him in the eyes of all good and true men. His statement that John K Aull had furnished me the proof of nis (McLaurin's) efforts to betray the Democracy of the State causes him to explain a letter which I had never seen or heard of. Conscious of his own guilt, ho attempts to turn State's evidence before the evidence which he knew existed had been produced against him. He now asks the public to believe that all concerned in the plot as exposed by him were guilty except himself. It happens, however, that 1 did not have any copy of his alleged ^'duniiny" letters to John G. Capers, the Republican boss of South Carolina. The only copy of .a letter which I had was one written by John ?v. Aull to V. B. Cheshire, editor of the Anderson Tribune, which letter Wt J. Cormack, in charge of the Co? lumbia, bureau of The Xews and Cour? ier, has set out in full In B statement which he has furnished to me. A copy of this letter was furnished me by Mr, t'ormack, who stated al that time :hat Signed copies Of this had been furnished to the Columbia State. Gov. Richard [. Manning and himself on the night of January 2", of this year and was released by Mr. Aull for im? mediate publication; that therefore he i.Mr. Cormack) considered anything contained in that letter to be the prop? erty of the public. J. W. Cr urn of Denmark informs ne this afternoon over long distance telephone that he did not make; the statement attributed to him by Mr. McLaurin. to wit: that I had told him I did not propose to use the Aull let-: ter against McLaurin until after the campaign when McLaurin could not inswer it, and further Mr. Crum stat? ed that 1 made no such statement to him und Mr. Crum informed me that Kennedy May hold says that he (May Held) made no such statement to Mc? Laurin. I did show Mr. Crum the copy of the letter written by .John K. Aull to V. B. Cheshire which had been given me by Mr. Cormack, as Mr. Cormack has explained, and which i knew had been read by a number of other persons before it came into my possession, l urns debating in my own mind whether I would use it at ail. I knew that the people of South Carolin? had conclusive evidence of Mr. McLaurin's political perlidy 111 the ' i?eai- Archbold" letter of May J!?. 1902, in which Mr. McLaurin says, "1 can beat Tilbuan if properly ami generously supported." With tin: knowledge ami other matters con? nected with Mr. MoLaurin'a political in?- familiar to the people of the state. I did not regard him as a factor in the race and did not cite to Stultify my manhood i>v striking a cripple, l did feel, however, that the people ought to Know of \|i Laurin's efforts to lend the state into the Republican part) in 1918 as alleged in the Anil letter and conferred wlh Mr. Crum ami othei friends as to the course 1 should pur? sue. I have never supported nieasi noi have entered into or considered an) combination with Blease, Dien so, Mc, John lv. Aull. Uiurin and all the Please loaders ! know this. 1 supported (iov. Man? ning in the second primary in 1914 land in HUG and so announced myself in the press of the State immediately I after the result of the IIrat primary was known. The effort, therefore, to align me with Mr. Hlease is too ridi ' culous to merit serious thought. The statement furnished me by W. J. Cormack to show how I came into possession of the Aull letter is as fol? lows: Although vocationally and person j ally I am disinclined to be involved j in a political controversy of any I kind yet, in the interest of truth andl to keep the record straight. I feel constrained to make the following statement: In his address to the "People of South Carolina" published this morn? ing, former Senator John Lowndes I McLaurin unintentionally wronged both Robert A. Cooper of Laurens and Col. John K. Aull of Columbia, when he assumed that the Aull letter, on which he based his statement, was handed Mr. Cooper by its author. It was not. Mr. Cooper received the let? ter from me. When I read Senator Mcl^aurin's published article this morning, 1 immediately rang him up from Columbia on long distance tele? phone and informed him of the cir? cumstances under which Mr. Cooper got the letter. They were: Shortly before the opening of the itinerary for estate offices, Mr. Cooper was in my office at Columbia discuss? ing the coming campaign. I inci? dentally told him of the Aull letter, a copy of which 1 let him read. When received lit was "released" for publi lation by the author and was then public property and is now. For that reason I gave Mr. Cooper a copy. The circumstances leading up to my possession of a signed copy of the I Aull letter, which I still hold, were: During the session of the last gen Jeral assembly the Anderson Tribune contained the following: "Asleep at the Switch?" "Who? All of the newspaper re? porters of The State, The News and Courier and the Charleston American when the Hon. W. W. Moore and the would-be Hon. Henry T. Thompson had a light in the adjutant general's otlice. or if not asleep they were too cowardly to publish the fight. If it had been a light between some good men it would have boon 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 alleged listicuff wore: First, it was of doubtful news value, the publication of which would have necessitated a statement from the participants; sec? ond, heralding it to the world would have, menaced a policy of State which was find is of paramount benefit and safety to the people of South Caro? lina, and perhaps^would have opened an interminable controversy of little news value, of doubtful interest to the people and of probable embarrass? ment to the principals; and, third, the matter was thoroughly consider? ed 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 deemed wise to let the matter re? main quiescent. Mr. Aull, being cog? nizant of these facts and knowing the underlying causes of suppression was very indignant at the "story" which appeared in The Tribune. He Wrote! a refutation of it. sending the letter I to the editor and publisher of The Tribune, furnishing signed copies of it to F. H. MeMaster of the Columbia State, Governor Richard I. Manning and me. It was released for immedi? ate publication, but the newspapers for various reasons, decided not to use it. The letter signed by Mr. Aull fol I lows: ?Columbia. S. C, Jan. 2 '>, HHS. "Col. V. 13. Cheshire, "Editor Tribune, ' Anderson, S. C. ?Dear Vie: This letter is for pub? lication only upon the day the legis islature adjourns, if you will regard anything in confidence, if you do not. I personally do not care. ? In J our last issue you criticise the Columbia newspaper men for not printing a story fit the fisticuff be? tween Adutant General, .Moore and Colonel Thompson. There was a light. Where you RQl the informa? tion I do not Know ami 1 do not care. You have been in the habit of pirating news. That is neither here nor there The story of tin- tik'ht. which was not j reaHly mucfa of <*' news story, anyway. w..s not carried by The American from my bureau because, after due consideration, i concluded it would not be to the best interests of the Slate of South Carolina along the line you have been preaching, in vlen oi tin- negro question. "Second. So far as cowardice is concerned, l think it would be better tor you to come to Columbia and make thai statement than to promulgate it Horn Anderson. It will be properlv taken care of hero. ?Third. None of tln< newspaper j men Involved is subsidised by a can ? I dirtate for governor, aa you at e, and none of them h> supported a man, who, in the face of his previous record, went to Washington, after the cam? paign in It If, and offered to carry the State Republican if $1,000 for each county was put up by the Re? publican committee. If you want tha i acts. I have the proof. "Fourth. What the newspaper men ?f Columbia want to know is why you don't have somebody here to handle the stuff if you want it printed, in? stead of pirating it next day. "Fifth. Another question: Who is writing your editorials, anyway, and why don't you write them yourself, if you have either the ability or the newspaper acumen? "Respectfully, (Signed) "John K. Aull." On the night of January 25, I think it was in conversation in Columbia with me and another man of Colum? bia, whose name I do not care to di? vulge without his consent, Mr. Aull, in discussing his letter, said that the man he charged with offering to "car? ry the State Republican" was Form? er Senator John I* McLaurin. The other circumstances underlying and ? bolstering his charge against Mr. McLaurin, if they are to be made public, as narrated to me by Mr. Aull, will have to be given out by him. During the course of our conversation ot January 25 Mr. Aull stated that if necessary, he would give out what? ever proof he had in substantiation of his charge. This he reiterated at Aiken last Wednesday when I told him that I had given Mr. Cooper a < copy of his letter, although he stated he hoped it would not be necessary as he did not care to become involved in a controversy with Senator McLaurin. When I gave Mr. Cooper a copy of the Aull letter I guve him he sub? stance of Mr. Anil's allegations against Senator McLaurin. I also told him that as neither the ktter nor the con? versation with Mr. Aull were confi? dential, I considered them public property, particularl;- the letter. W. J. Cormack. Columbia, June 30, 1918. BEARD'S LETTER TO M'LAECEV. Abbeville Man Says Rlcase Asked to Re Rut on Republican Ticket as Presidential Elector. To the Editor of The State: , The following is a copy of the letter I received from W. P. Beard, Abbe? ville. S. C.. to which reference has re cently been made in the public prints of the State: "Abbeville, S. C, March 5, 1918. ("Confidential.) ' Deai- Senator: "1 appreciate your effort in my be? half and also recognize the fact that the leaders of my own faction are sacrificing me to save themselves. The rank and file are true and do not doubt my loyalty, or that 1 am ca? pable of throwing what political in? fluence I may have >ehind President Wilson to help win this war for the Cnited States, notwithstanding our po? litical difference, but they can do nothing. Since I am caught between the Charybdls of cowardice and the Scylla of hate, the best I can hope for is the fair minded men who know that this is political persecution will in forming judgment take into con? sideration the fact that my whole ca? reer is proof of a loyal nature, shall not allow the injustice of this verdict to'shake my loyalty to my country, nor the fact that my political debtors deserted me in time of need to cause me to lose faith in humanity. "I have realized for some time that while Rlease was right in his propa? ganda and has the inclination to lead the workers to political power he hasn't the nerve to face the con? sequences of possible failure in a real attempt to accomplish it. That was plainly shown in many instances in 1912. He named my 'Bull Moose* ticket as it was called, then come out after he was declared the nominee and spoiled the situation by deserting to Mr. Wilson having the senatorial toga i nview. while the 'Rull Moose* teat was milked dry. In 1914 he gave p/ay to pressUre from certain favored leaders and after declaring himself neutral In the gubernatorial race al? lowed his name used under cover to help Richards against Irby and Rimma Itll lie. as you know and protested against it. at the time asked me to gel Duncan Adams to put him and yourself on the Republican aloe toial ticket with myself, then laid down on me when he found that you refueed it. You know that he en couraged me to put out that ticket for him at the following general election, which you again advised me against. Then he got cold feet and left me in the lurch'. Now that l am convicted he is afraid of his own previous lan? guage and has deserted me. "Sincerely yours, "W. P. Beard." .lno i.. IfcLautin. _a _ LORD RHONBRA READ. London. July 3.?Viscount Rhondda (David Allied Thomas) the Pritlsh food controller, died this morning.