Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1878-02-21

Il ever aInuIIlOH u S5AbsndfS As AsIs1 si, Pie,
Vious to that time, Ihave none aow
I am, therefore, unwilling that BY the
suse Of my name the harmony Of thu
Convention should she disturbed.
do think, alta time ike the present
s#hen We are oppressed We should
1 present united front we should
haven 8 dHiffere i eneess between 5us. Art. g e
nated by these feelings I must de
cline the nomination.
| An examination Of the published
proceedings Of the Convention vii
show.that j introduced but three res
Eointions, two extending the privileges
Iof the floor to friends, and one upon
the subjeet;ef cumulative voting In
my speech in. ,apport OF that meas.
.ure i took occasion TO use the follow
ing language; would ask Why
have we gathered together from all a1lll
parts of TIA States Why hagest the
wise men Of the S to naatin copucll2
From the bsca
LEVIED by the. present Legislature,
which in. our imp poYerished condition,
We a1e unable to pay. To say that
these abuses of the Government have
hoen effected by the Republican or
Radical party. would be unjust, for
it would be gross misnomer:to Dig
mfg those aaoa0 IN poaver 6.yany party
name. They are known by all honest
men. North, South, East and West,
irrespective of party alliances, as
thieves and robbers.
Now, who were the men then in
power? r. K. Scout was Governor,
Daniel H. Chamberlain, Attorney
General NilesG. Parker, Treasurer
and j. L. Neagle, Comptroller. Gener-
al. In parliamentary body | could
not have used language more severe.
Subsequently at Edgefeld Court
House, on the 18th day Of August,
A. D., 1876, Ifelt atiIiberty to de-
nounce D. +, Chamberlain again face
to face in language more bitter and
scathing. Neither in this Gonyen-
;tion nor out of it, before nor since,
did I, directly. or indirectly, do OF,
say anything derogatory to the honor
of South Carolina or :niricat to her
welfare or the interest Of her honest
tax. paying citizens. l was. not a.
member Of the I" committee of eleven,
nor did I endeavor in any manner to
intrude my couneels into their delib-
erations, or to control-their actions or
fle action Of. any member of the
Convention. This committee was COM
posed of Messrs. NJ Butler, Gas
briel Cannon, w FL. Wallace, A. N.
Lowery,. E. j. Scott, Cadwadleder
,Eones, B W. Ball, Richard Latherss
E e. HsssAss4 FsaaAalB W 2 s45tHal ND
honorable, as intelligent and as pa
triotic asthen could, or now can be
found in the State. With the;labors
Of this committee / had naught to
do, My.whole attention was gwen.
to the subject referred to the COM
mittee on election and suffrage laws
of which = was Chairman; ard l
challenge any member of the Con
yention, Dr. ANY other man, to say.
that either during the session of the
Convention or. before or after ITS
meeting, 1 held any conference with
him, or anT manner sought to exer-
else inAuerce, in reference to the &C
tion of the Convention on the matter
of the pubic debt OF the State. Out
Of The "pmmittee Of eleven was
selected b subcommittee of which
the Hon,G. a. Trenholm was Chair.
man, theablest fnancier of tbe State,
and thissub committee was specially
chargedto investigate the finances OF
the STAB. The ability, earnestness,
integrity and patriotism of the gen,
tlemencomposing this committee and
subcommittee cannot be questioned,
Theirhames sufficiently negative the
slightest suspicion that they could be
inauaced by corrupt men or by cor
rupt motives. From the labors OF
/ this committee of eleven came Two
repols u pom different branches of4the
subjat matter of investigation the
one admitted by General M. Q. But
ler MON general grievances of the
State and the >other by the Hon.
:. Geore A. Trenholm upon the bond
ed dbt, both Of which were approV-
] ed aa adopted by the Convention,
+ Gental Butler and Iwere but two Of
a degation of six. from Edgefeld,
anbat two.in Convention of dele
eatt from twenty six counties Of the
Std, composed Of her ablest and
, bel citizens. The action of that Con
vetion was entirely in accord with
oJyiiews and sentiments touching
) tEpublic debt and measures Of State
j ptcy in general, and in fact all its
!. pceedings were characterized by
:. dyersal gravity, earnestness and
Irmouy. To charge us with betray-
h the true interests Of our constitu'
hcv in that Convention, Or with con.
+ y 80 tbe