The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1890-07-10
STATE EXPENDITURES.
STATEMENTS CONCERNING THE COST
OF THE GOVERNMENT.

| John {. IIaskclTS Speech IN CoIumbin-Thr,
Farmers Actual Proportit II of the O niccs
| ANA Legislative Power, Population and
| Taxable Values.
| Ladies and my fellow citizens: |
come bc!orc you to day asking no
oiiico at your hands. I am here in
answer to u call made against our
mother State, to tell YOU the upon
the matters under discussion in this
mCmcntOuS canvass.
L came here O-lay though my bust
ness called me away, to meet face to
face this man who claims to be the
Moses of the farmers; to question
him us to the truth o. the charges he
has made against this State and hcl
people: to prove to him to his face
that his charges are false, and now |
find that he has gone. Laughter
and applauscD l gave him notice,
for L called on him to stay here to
answer and to make good his charges
against the people Of this State, OF
here, III the face of South Carolinas,
to acknowledge that he had spoken
falsely. But he answered that he
would not stay. and in fact he has
gone. (DcriSive chccrs)
There can be no denial about the
TACT tnat he has arruycd class against
clasS,and men who have stood side by
side III the war, and who lived under
and redeemed themselves from the
worst government the world ever
saw, up to the redemption of 1876.
| His claim to the gOvcrnOrShiD is
based solely upon the grave char,
gcs agalIst men who have strivcn to
support us and our State since that
| redemption. He has arralgncd the
| Legislature and indicted it for OK
travaGancc and corruption M,I for
the suppression of the rights of the
| people.
| l propose to give him and You
some figures to sustain my position
and as Il complete answer to his
charges against our people and gov
crnmrnt. They may be tedious but
they arc necessary. From 1876 until
the present day there has been nc
Legislative Assembly which had less
than II majority Of farmers over all
other classes of representatives from
the State. The largest majority OF
farmers was % III 1878 and the small
est Was II in 1884. Now. | challenge
any man in his senses TO answer INC
how could the farmers have been
wrongcd or ruled hy rings when they
had clear majority in every Assem-
bly, since 1876!
Now, rs to the oppression by law
ycrS. or the Governors elected sine,
76 but single ono was Il lawyer
There were Hampton, Hagood. Jctcr
Richardson and Thompson, and not
one of them IL lawyer. OF the State
Offices Il majority of them were filled
outside Of the profession of the law
| there being no lawyers except in the
Attorney Generals office. Now then.
what does the charge amount to if it
| docs not amount to this-that the
Legislature being in the hands of the
| farmers since 1876, that they have
been false to their trust, and that the
white people, the white farmers, have
| proven themselves unfit for self
government! .(Grcat applause and
| chrcIing) That is the charge, my
friends, that he has made against the
good name and fair fame of this State.
and that is the charge that YOU
must rcbukc by your verdict ut the
polls. (Trcmcndous applause and
| chccring.)
There has been II very common
| clamOr that the farmers have ncvcl.
had a fair share Of hcrcprcScntution
| and although he is not here it has
been repeated by men upon his ticket,
but, by the way, let MS first look al
the ticket and sec how it represents
the farmers. Who arc they! There
is the candidate for Attorney Gen
cral, Y. }. Pope. lie is II lawyer
There is the candidate for Licutcn
ant Governor, Mr.. Gary, and he is 4
lawyer, and there is the candidate {
for Superintendent ofEducation. Mr.
Maylicld, and he is Il lawyer, and
believe the rest of the ticket has not
yet been filled out, and there is Mr.
}. r.. Tinuall. who is Il farmer nnC
whom l believe to be Il good soldier
for we stood together forthrcc years
and know him to be brave nnt
| true man.
Let me call your attention HOW tc
the other claims made by this rcfOr
mcr. If we look at the tenth census
we will find, on page 7S5, that there
arc in this State farmers and planters
$1,000; members Cf other professions
10000, or in other words fOlu-scv.
cnths of the white voting population
arc farmers and the three scvcnths
belong to other professions. The
farmers, however. pay S3l9,OOO of
the taxes. The figures cannot be
doubted, they are from the records
Of the tax books OF the State. Now,
gentlemen, if you have only four
scvcnths of the white voting popula
ton and pay only three -srvcnths of
the taxes, how can the farmers com
plain when they have livc-stvcnthS Of
| the representation! If Il ring has
done this, then they are the ring, for
they have done it to themselves. But
[ say there is no ring and the charge
! that there is, is false. But some pcO-
| ~, l,, IL