The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-02-05

County, defining his position upon the
prohibition question. It Itarrived too late
to appear this week, but will be given to
our readers next week.
A REPLY TO NOTHING.
It was very difficult to induce our Rep
! sresentative, Mr.. r. P. Clinkscales. to
communicate with his constituents, but
as he informs us this week he is thor
oughlys aroused; though we must confess
that the manifestation of his awakening
does far more credit to his zeal than
either to his judgment or his capacity.
OF all the twaddle, that we have ever
encountered, the eaasion which he pre-
Z sents this week exceeds in frothy moth.
ingness any production that has been
I sent to this Office. The article is an
I amnsipg ebullition of spleen and ire,
without, argument, and devoid even Of
point, It is the impotent rage of man,
maddaned BY his own folly, who seeks to
divert public attention from his OVID acts
! sby petty personal accusations. which are
entirely outside of the matter in hand.
Everything mean and dishonorable
imaginable might be true Of any indi.
yidual who favors prohibition, and yet
such g state of facts would not justify
1 The delegation in overriding the will of
the people, or induce his constituents to
admire Mr.. Clinkscales' course in not
frankly stating which side Of the ques-
ton he occupied. He lodged the ques.
tiona which were asked him last week,
and this week he tries to keep entirely
away from them. Dickens skesched the
+ career of an individual whose cleverness
in ayoiding unpleasant issues secured for
him the appellation Of the artful dodger.
Mr.. Clinkscales presents to US another
phase of the dodger, but tits thatof the
clunssy dodger, for he is attempting most
/ awkwardly to dodge any expression of
opinion upon the question under consider.
alton. Had Mr.. Clinkscales last week
made q statement Of his position, we
should not have felt called upon to do
! more than criticise the correctness OF his
ideas but as, he could not be properly
accused of having any ideas in the arti-
! Gle Of. last week, we felt it to be proper
to- criticise the absence of ideas which
his card presented. His article this
week eYinces the came lack of straight
forward, manly courage to speak plainly
what he wishes to say, and therefore his
article is full Of insinuation and circum.
locntion.
He begins by asserting that the people
interested in this matter consist of the
Editor, and two of his elbow friends. 1t
may surprise him to know that the Edi-
tor of the INTELLIGENCE never spoke
to Prep, !, directly nor indirectly, about
the matter, until after Mr.. Clinkscaless
article was published. Mr.. Clinkscales
misstates the fact, therefore, when he
says aPrep's" article was an inspiration
from this Office. 1t is matter of indif-
ference to us what Mr.. Clinkscales thinks
IS the object of "this fuss" as be terms
Z it. We assure him, however, that he
will, at the proper time, have no doubt
left as to what is the result of it.
It is true that the Editor of the INTEL
LIeENcER did draft the bill which was
introduced to permit the people of this
County to vote for or against prohibition.
It was done in conformity with tho
petition of more than one thousand
citizens of this County, and we are
neither afraid nor ashamed to admit its
authorship. We are not smarting under
stature. We are perfectly serene, for
ne know enough of the temper of our
people to feel satisfied that it is only q
question of time until this County will
I not only vote upon the question, but vote
in favor Of prohibition. Mr.. Clinkscales
) asserts that the Editor of the INTELLl-
eENcER in the past has squirmed upon
the whisky question. We call on him to
tell us where, when and how, or to stand
before the County guilty of recklessly
charging things that are untrue. The
Editor of the INTELLIGENCE is the
author of the present Local Option Law,
andso the law which prohibits the sale
of liquors outside of incorporated cities
and towns in the State. Let him
show where the squirming is. We have
already gotten rid Of whiskey.shops in
the country, and now we want to get rid
of them in the towns as fast as public
opinion is ready for it. We believe
Anderson County is ready now. Will
Mr.. Clinkscales speak equally as plainly
as to how he stands? So far he has been
8 clumsy dodger on this matter.
Mr.. Clinkscales is mistaken in charg-
ing us with malice towards him. If We
entertained it, we might write an inter-
esting article upon. suudry little matters
of taste and ethics in which we differ
from our Representatives. We are,
however, contending for the right of the
majority of the people to govern, as
against government by the Representa-
tiyes ID defiance of the people. What
Mr.. Clinkscales says about our Repre-
sentatives not being the State govern.
ment, is true. but he has been in the
Legislature to very little purpose if he
has not learned that the Representatives
N...k,, oo, ,annro1lu coNrnl tho