Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

(Politica ____________________ BBgp^yr W^L?' ^m : ^1 L. G. Southard, candid County, says: "If I am el the office and attend to yoi "In going over the Stat particularly impressed Wi tombstones erected in eve crossroads?monuments ei to battle, to do their duty, monuments erected to me public responsibility restir met their responsibility no seen anywhere a monumer some other man to do his c "Mr. Peake says: 'I h minute it was necessary fo "DO YOU THINK S< LONG ENOUGH?" GOVERNOR BLEASE AND THE GENERA ERAL ASSEMBLE Columbia, August 18.?One of tl many elements entering into tl present fight'on Bleaseism is the fa that probably 90 per cent of the mer bers of the last General Assemb who are standing for re-election a fighting the Governor on the stump their own counties and pointing: 01 to the people their reasons for doir so. Governor Blease says that the men are liars and has been very bitt againt them, charging them wii having opposed measures simply b cause he advocated them. In vie of this situation the following r view of the causes of the conflict b tween the Governor and the Gener Assembly is illuminating and presen the facts as borne out by the record The review was prepared by "one < the leaders in the last General A sembly, one of the most promine men in South Carolina. The revie follows: The Conflict Between the Goverrn and the Legislature. "On February 7, 1911, after beir in ,office twenty-one days, Goverm Blease having become embroiled wi the Supreme Court, because it desi; nated Duncan C. Ray to hold Ric land Court) when the Governor wan ed his "friend," J. F- J- Caldwell, Newberry, appointed ,sent a messa) to the Legislature (page 508 of tl Journal,) asking the Legislature pass on the question (page 508 Hou Journal.) He uses this languaj (page 510): "I hope that you will r fer this matter to the judiciary cor mlttee of your respective bodies ai that they will take the matter und consideration and decide it, not up< what their political views are towai the Chief Executive of the State, i what their personal feelings are t ward the Supreme Court of the Stat but upon the law, and give such a d cision as the Court will sustain." I to that time there had been no brej between the Legislature dnd the Go emor. "The House immediately follow* his suggestion and referred it to tl judiciary committee. It decided a versely to the Governor's contentio and its report is found on page 41 of the Journal, and is a, most cou teous and respectful statement of tl law and was received by the Hou and printed in the Journal. It wi concurred in by every member of tl -committee, many of whom had be* supporters of the Governor durii his campaign. It was also sustain* fer I Advertisement) ^.'*r>: "i H u ALv V-* ate-for Clerk of Court, Union ected your Clerk I will sta^ in lr business for you. e of South Carolina I have been th the costly monuments and ry town, village and country ected to men who went forth and who did it and who died;) n who had a great trust and ig on their shoulders and who bly and well, but I have never it erected to the man who sent luty for him." ave stayed in the office every >r me/ }? HASN'T HE HELD IT by the Court, State vs. Davis, 88 S. C., 204. So it conformed to the requirements of the Governor. It was not f political or personal, but legal, and was such that the Courts would sustain. The report was prepared by a sub-committee consisting of H. K. ct Osborne, F. B. Gary and W. F. Sten_ venson. Its conclusion also was adoptly ed by the Senate committee (page re 599.) J. R. Earle alone dissenting. Ip . "On the 12th day of February an u interview was given out by the Governor a3 follows: "The judiciary se committee of the "House violated the er very section of the Constitution and statute by having on the sub-corne_ mittee a brother of a Justice of the ;W Supreme Court. The other two members are known of all men to be e_ two of my bitterest enemies, and, of al course, from them I could expect ts nothing.' |s> Report was Adopted. of "The entire committee adopted the s- report, and its members were: T. B. nt Fraser, A. Vander Horst, A. G. Brice, iw L. M. Gasque, A. C. Tobias, Jr., B. H. Brown, W. L. Daniel, J. S. Bownmn, or L. G Fultz, W F. Stevenson, F. K Gary, George S. Mower, L. B. Singlelg ton, J. F. Williams, T. F. McDow, J. or B. Wingard, H. K. O: borne, P. T. th Youmans, J. E. Davis, W. H. Earle, g- J. M. Daniel and J. J. Evans, many h- of whom had voted for him, but voted t- to adopt the right. This was a^reflecof tion on the integrity of the men on ?e the committee, and on the whole comoe mittee, to whom he had asked that to the question be submitted. It was a se charge that they had allowed personal ?e feeling to decide a legal question, and e- was an insult to the sub-committee; n- and the interview was signed by him. id "Not satisfied with insulting the er committee that had done as he re>n quested, decided it according to law, rd he sent a message to the House (page or 593) in which the following occurs: o- 'Gentlemen, the report of your House ;e, judiciary committee on my message, e- No. 11, is not at all surprising, as ' /uu win nuvtr iir bmiu uica??)(e l stuu. ik 'I hope that the committee would act v- upon the matter, not according to their political views towards the ed Chief Executive, or their personal tie feelings toward the Supreme Court.' d- * * * 'Now, gentlemen, I am serious n, about this matter; I have asked you 90 to avoid a conflict; it is up to you. I r- know my duty and 'when thq time tie comes I am going to do it, as I was se elected to do. I have no relatives as in your body, but I hope I have some tie political friends.' This was an admissn si on that when he asked that the matlg ter go before the judiciary commited tee he was not seeking law, but poli? ** tical buncombe, and a charge that the House and cimmittee had acted wrong from personal and political motives. Up to that time the majority of the House were his political friends. Probably more than half of them had voted for him and all were trying to treat him right, but because he didn't get the decision he wanted he insulted, first, the committee to whom it was referred &t his request, and then the whole House who stood by the report of the committee. "Again, on February '15 (page 797 of the Journal) he sent a message to the House which covers twelve closely printed pages, and took half an hour to read, in which he endeavored to drive the Legislature to his view. During the reading one of his strong political friends in the election moved to print without reading, which motion was ODnosed bv Mr. Stpv??nsnn ns discourteous to the Governor, and withdrawn on that ground, and it was ordered printed in the Journal after being read, on motion of Mr. Osborne, and thus the two members of the sub-committee who had been insulted by the interview intvflrvosed and prevented discourtesy to hia Excellency. (See-Journal.) "Then came his veto of many items in the appropriation bill, including the salary of the stenographer in the State Treasurer's office, an absolutely necessary expense, and the pay for factory inspection, which he called a "useless expense." Then he appointed his press agent, L. M. Green, to make the factory inspection at $200 a month, though the regular inspectors got only $100 and expenses. Green made his report up from statistics gotten from the department of agriculture, and made no effective inspection, but collected his pay from the Governor's fund for the enforcement of. law. All these matters galled the Legislature, as the fund set aside by it was not for such purpose. As a I result he did not have as manv noliti-1 cal friends in the house as formerly, at the beginning of the session of 1912. Conduct Toward the Senate. "In the Senate he had been even more offensive. The Constitution requires magistrates to be appointed by and with the consent and advice of the Senate. In certain counties where the magistrates and certain other officers recommended as usual were men who had not voted for him, he refused to appoint them or any one else until the Senate adjourned and then appointed his friends instead of the men regularly recommended. This was, of course, resented by the Senate and has caused great confusion and much litigation. "Consequently his .message of 1912 was expected to be of a dictatorial tone, was found so to be, and -was received with disfavor, apd his cliaSfS^ terization of a report made about the State loan by R. H. Jennings, State Treasurer, and a gallant soldier, whose empty sleeve and spotless character give him the respect and esteem of all who knew him, as a "malicious falsehood." caused a further feeling between him and the Legislature and all other State* officers. Then came on January 10 a message on the 'Libel Bill,' so-called, which starts out as follows: 'I return this Act to you without my signature, because in my opinion it is the most iniquitious measure that has ever passed a Democratc legislative body.' The message then for seven pages dealt in language and illustrations that the House deemed unfit to print in the permanent Journal, and it was expunged. The House in self-respect could do nothing else. "Then came many other vetoes among them a bill to give the dispensary funds to the common schools, and a bill to investigate the State dispensary comniission. He had explicititly asked the Legislature to pass this -last bill and then vetoed it and did his -best to kill it. His postion was arbitrary and his course offensive to both houses, unless they would accede to his demands in every respect. For instance, he sends message No. 20 (page 274, House Journal) to correct the spelling of 'explanitory.' He says, 'I presume there will be some objection to correcting your journal,' etc. * * * 'I understand who prints your House Journals, and I am not at all surprised that errors continue to occur, while I understand the Senate Journal is printed by another party and such errors do not appear therein.' The reference was due to the fact that the State Company was priting the House Journal, but the incorrect spelling had been done by a typewriter in the House. "These are only fair samples. He started out with a majority favorable to him in the House, but by hectoring and scolding them and finally by sending a message which was not only unfit to print, but which was an insult to the House, he alienated the members until twenty members was the full measure of his following in the House and about five in the Senate. Refused to Make Appointments. "He again refused to make the appointments recommended by the Senate, and in defiance of the Supreme Court and all law and precedent, overrode .the recommendations of the Senate and appointed those called his 1 friends. Now, can a man be right when he starts out with the power of the Governor' office and the dignity going with it ,and with the majority o fthe legislature favorable to him, and winds up after a year of domineering, scolding and hectoring with 80 per cent of both houses against him, and every member of the State Administration opposed to him? Is he right and everybody else wrong? Does perfection abide in him and foolishness and knavery with the balance of the Government? "Again, he lost the confidence of the House when he talked so loudly of economy, actually telling them in advance that they would need twothirds vote for large appropriations and afterwards tried to-help through the State House job of a million dollars, giving his friend Todd, of Charleston, $60,000 architect fees. He said in his sworn statement before the committee (page 1,047, House Journal, 1^12): 'I said that if the Legislature of South Carolina adopted Todd's plans and passed a bill to complete their State House according to those plans we would have the finest State Capitol in any State in the Union, and it would give me pleasure to sign the bill. I say that today, sir; and if the Legislature will go up-stairs and pass it I will take off my hat to them as having done, in my opinion, the best thing that they have done for South Carolina since they have been members of the Legislature.' And this was the bill to spend $1,000,002 on the State House, $60,000 to go to his friend, Todd, of Charleston, as architect's fees. This shook the confidence of the Legislature in his sincerity in his professions of economy. "Again, when the Legislature was ready to adjourn he sent word by his friend Appelt that he had sent all bills to the Secretary of State's office to become law except one or two, which he would dispose of in a certain manner. The Legislature was about to adjourn when a member called attention to the fact that if it did so not one of the bills would be a law until the second day of the term next January. That the county supply bills would be no good, and many other important measures would be hung up until next year. Did he know this and set a trap for the General Assembly? They thought so and were forced to stay in session three more days to insure all bills becoming law. It developed that the Kill ohnli cllin cr /licnrlnooMr oAm mission and separating it from $28,000 which it was spending, doing nothing, was not even sent to the Secretary of State's office, and as it was known that he had tried every means to kill this bill, search was instituted for it. He couldn't Droduce the receipt from the Secretary of State for it, and the clerk of the Senate produced his receipt for it, showing that Blease had it. Search or it in his office resulted in finding it in the desk of his clerk under other papers. How did it get there? The Assembly generally concluded that it was designed to be lost and thereby killed. Maybe this was not correct. It was lost, and if it had not been found it would have been dead. Is it surprising that the Legislature lost confidence, and therefore respect for him. W. F. Caldwel.l Robert W. Herter, Lawrenceville, Mo., who had been bothered with kidney, trouble for two years, says: "I tried three different kinds of kidney pilb but with no relief. My neigh 1 *?!.] ?? ? rr: j WUI tuiu I lie: LU UftC X" Uicy XVIUI ley Pills. I took three bottles of them, and (jot a permanent cure. I recommend them to everybody." The Rice Drup Company. Mother may I po out to vote? "Yes, my darlinp dauphter, Don't you vote for a dollar note? Charpe 'em two and a quarter." Milwaukee Sentinel. ** - ' j^bP^ * J. HAY FANT FOR Sheriff Union County Aged *33 years. Reared on Farm Until 21 Years of Age. Since Then Has Worked in Monarch Cotton Mills. Your Vote Will Be Appreciated ^ ? IFIHADONCV ~ ^-s" ji W Hi mmr ft I nftr", IT IS NEVER 1 T? LEARN; S BANK ACT 01 HAVING MONEY OF Y01 you to borrow more m want it to start a busines Make OUR Bank V We pay liberal interest con Citizens Natic UNION, SOUTH C Capital and Surplus _ _ 4* 4r* Hh 4* ?4? 4> 4U X 4* ?4? 4* 4* 4* *4* *4 ?n "x* "f*" !? "x* J* 1; Columbus an + I WAGI * + Do vnn nAArl if ~ 1- * -- ? t See the Colui ?jt f Webber Waao T ^ you buy. 4* + ' " " | Peoples Su 4* NEW DIS< I TAKE THIS RELIABLI COUGHS Al\ WHOOPING AND AL BRONCHIAL A PROMPT USE WILL C PNEUMONIA AND I PRICE SOo and Sl.OO THE RICE DRUG Farm Lands at 488 acres of land only tw S. U., (Union county). 250 100 acres under fence, three Healthy locality? Known a For a quick cash deal, $7.50 Titles Guaranteed. E. F. KE JONESVILL] r PUT I )NEY IN the SANK VA)ULD WE, 5T <s ^ ?I" ' V w rOO L, ATE TARTA [JNT MOW UR OWN enables loney when you ss of your own. OUR Bank. isistent with safety inal Bank AROLINA. _ _ _ $60,000.00. d Webber + 0 N S | ?i mbus and * + ins before J * * * pply Co. % X i wj* v^w ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ OFTEN I MAKES A I liCK NEED I F?R I e medicine! THAT'S I lRANTEEDI ng's? dovery E REMEDY FOR ID COLDS COUGH FFECTIONS >FTEN PREVENT LUNG TROUBLE SOLD AND GUARANTEED BY COMPANY =n SS7.50 Acre o miles from Carlisle, acres in pine timber, frame tenant houses, s "The Rice Place." ) per acre will buy it. I.I. E, S. C.