Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1890-10-09
- wAnHAilA sou1YE oARoMNA ooroBER o. 1mo. - K

fully and Wointonly violated the
written constitution and the spirit Of
the party. That the majority 81
that body BY bold and open violation
Of the constitution expelled the; duly
elected delegates from Fairfield
county, and finally forced the dele
gates from rom GSihls.lsiieston, BeauforJ,
Georgetown, Sumter and Richland
to retire to avoid participation il
further illegal proceedings, whereby
this Convention was, dissolved and
had no further power to represent
the Democracy, certainly not the
Democracy Of the six counties that
retired, for the Democratic Conyen-
tions of the counties represented
ratified their action, thereby &repuai-
ating the subsequent proceedings Of
tho body. By tho unlawful body re-
manning, and in direct violation of
the written law a new constitution
was adopted and q hew Executive
Committee elected. yB.} The Con
Yention for the 1Otlgof September
had been called by tho lawful Execu-
tive Committee and cbuld not, under
the constitution, be organized for
business, except by the Chairman of
that Executive Committee. Tho
now Executive Committee asserted
their power, ratifiedthc call for the inc,
September Convention, and claimed
the right to organize the body, Tho
legal Executive Committee, instead
Of asserting and maintaining its
rights, made terms with the usurping
committee, and twas agreed that
the lawful Chairman should first call
the body to order, but that il should
not be in order until the usurping
Chairman should also call it to order
The Convention was thus surrendered
to the Illegal Chairman. who %practi-
cally did convene the body and con-
troll it's organization. Protest was
made, but without avail, but that
protest spoke for q free people, who
should not submit to partisan tyranny
and gag law, whatever the struggle
may cost. This body, thus called
the Democratic Convention, pro-
ceedcd to business by thus expelling
the duly elected Democratic dele
gates from Fairfield and seating the
Tillman faction, and then expelled
the county of Sumter because the
duly elected delegates were from the
legal Democratic Convention, and
the Tillman delegates claiming tho
seats had not q shadow Of a title.
The Convention took up the question
of no.. nations, and at that stage,
already having appealed for our legal
rights, having presented a protest,
but finding it void to call for truth
and justice, myself, with some others,
retired from the body and washed
our hands Of it's proceedings.
Technically, therefore, as a true
Democrat, Il cannot vote for Mr..
Tillman. Legally I should not vote
for MI. Tillman. From %self-respeot
l will not vote for him. Morally I
cannot vote for him. Not only not
vote for him, but /: ticket should bn
run against him. Minds that are
entanglcd by political office are
warped by the Importance of sue
cess.
It is to the. people who disregard
office and to the people who arc
broad enough and high enough in
patriotism to work for the whole
people and not for a class and section
that we should appeal in an issue
like this that involves all that is dear
and sacred to those who love truth
and virtue and piety, without which
no people can be noble and happy.
A bold stand would at any time
have checked this down grade party.
The fight is harder than in 1875,
because we have waited too long.
But it is never too late to do what is
right. There r many good men
who have been for "the CHANGE
as it is called, who would have
affiliated under very different lead
ers and on sound principles If the
mon whom we have honored and Mr..
Tillman has maligned-the men who
have represented us and conducted
the government since 1876, and the
men who redeemed the State in
1876, could have thrown off the
trace" terror and disregarded the
same and vindicated tho principles
of our true Democracy.
But the same timidity, honest, but
mistaken, which so nearly suppressed
us in 1875, had too much power in
the recent canvass, and though heroic
l II ~ - = rL.H,-#. -.-.. H.