The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-06-02
TIE FARMERS CONVENTION.
MR. u. Il. TIILM,NS VERY MODEST
DISCLAIMER.

rue objections to the tctiOn of the Con, en-
hon Considcred---Thc Struggling Delegates
Farmers college and its Cost Cons titutionnl
ConN cntion.
10 Tie Editor IF The Noes ami C0ufer:
Pressure of farm work sircc the adjourn
ment of the "Farmers' Convention" has
left me no timo to reply to the fusilade
OF criticism called forth by it's action.
And, first, left me correct some mis-
takes and misaDprchcnsion Of your Re
porter. The effort to belittlo the Con
vention and elevate me on the pedestal
OF the demagoguo by saying, 'It was
Capt. Iillman's Convention all the way
through, etc, will not hurt our cause
Ill the least, because it is not true. 1t
was representative body of earnest, in
telhgent men taking counsel for the good
OF the State, and what little control [
exercised over it's actions arose from the
fearless manner in which / had attacked
existing abuses and the unanswcrable
arguments adduccd to sustain my posi-
tion The committee on resolutions.
Drought before the body, consisted of
one from each county, appointed by each
county delegation. had nothing to do
with their selection, and I don't even
kio" halt dozen of the thirty picked
men composing that committee What
moro need be ..,id to show that these
men went to Columbia with their minds
already
near lengthy discussion on the questions
have been agitating and others besides.
went into the Convention on Friday
anticipating long and hot debate. /
was prepared with facts and arguments
to sustain each and every one of my reso-
luhons The speech made at the opcn
ing of the Convention had required little
moof ana thought, while to show the
Justice, the wisdom, the necessity of the
reforms ! advocate has been my sole
study for months. The Convention
needed no arguments other than have
already used in the News and Courier TO
convince 1t, and | am glad that | was
spared the labor of making any. The
News and Courier will, if it continues ifs
! present bombardmcnt give me an op-
portunlty to use much of this ammuni
tion, so may say it is well to he pre-
pared even il it was not necessary TO
shoot But | desire to make II prcdic-
tlon right here, and that is thnt the
farmers # the State will ratify most if
not all of the acts of the Convention, and
time will show whether it was n Farmers
Convention OF Capt. Tillmans Con
vcntlon." ! can tell where the shoe
pInches. 1t was n Farmers Convcn-
ton, and was thoroughly representa-
tive body, and every one knows it, but
II nearly Kills some people because it
agreed with GARNER Tillman."
The insinuation that the Convention
was drunk on Friday evening, as shown
by the use of the words staggered in"
was unworthy the brilliant young gentle
man whose otherwise full and accurate
record OF its Proceedings is worthy Of all
admiration. | hope for his own sake
that 1t was II typographical error, and
that he wrote or meant 'stragglcd in,
for it cannot be shown that there was
any drunkenness. "N. G.. g." was very
mad about the Citadel being abolished,
on paper but this was an ungen, rous
way to get revenge, and the accusation
only recoils on the accuser, if he SO in
tended it,
One more mistake in the report of the
proceedings and / will pass on to the
editorials. | had nothing to do with the
appointment of the committee of seven
to memorialize Congress. did nssis.
Mr.. Tindal in mqking up the executive
committee at his request, as it was to be
supposed was better cognzant OF what
men were best suited to carry ont this
work than he was. | only mention this
because it is SO industriouay tried to be
shown that the Convention was m, ns-
scmbngc of puppets i'll my hands, which
is totally aatruc.
The first objection raised by tho News
and Courier against what it terms the
"Tillman platform" is the appointment
of committee to propose bills and wait
on the Legislature next November and
urge Il If passage SO rs to change these
resolutions into law. The modern
Moses" wrote his resolutions to cover all
the points he wished to make, and gave
no thought to the "stone tablets Of his
ancient prototype If | could have
done this with less than eleven resolu-
tions, would have done so do not
feel that am ordained to lead the farm
crs "out of the Wilderness" but / sin
cerely and honestly believed the reforms
embodied in these resolutions Would 90
far towards helping to advance our agri-
culturn interest; so believing, should
be less than man not to boldly urge
their adoption.
This committee representing the large
and respectable body of farmers who re-
Gently met and authorized it 10 present
these matters to the next Legislature,
will exercise great influence even il chat
body shall be composed of men other