The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1892-10-19
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SOUTH CAROLINA WHITE MEN.
A Glimpse at Their Politics from Governor
Tinman-Two White Democratic Par
ti.s-The Farmers Alliance has Got
no Grip.
New York Sun, 9th.l


no Grip.
New York Sun, 9Th.
Governor Benjamin Ryan Tillman,
of South Carolina, and w. 7. G. Bates,
State Treasurer, are in town to stay
until after the Columbian celebration,
and in the mean time to fund their
State debt. Governor Tillman is the
man who overthrew the aristocracy of
South Carolina and defeated the old
big slave-holding families. He was
supported by the Farmers alliance,
and with their help be captured the
regular Democratic organization and is
now the regular Democratic nominee
for reelection. Under his leadership
the farmers of South Carolina stayed
in the Democratic party, and there is
no Third party vote in bis State Of any
consequence.
He is not the kind of man the ordi-
nary opinion has conceived him to be.
Though he went from plantation to
the Executive mansion, with no pre-
vious Office other than captain of mill
tia company, he is a good classical
scholar, and his conversation abounds
in old-style illusions to Roman Sena-
tors and Emperors. He is tall, smooth
shayen, with jet-black hair worn long,
and frock coat, black trousers, shoe
string tie and black slouch bat of the
politician of the South. He was only
II years old when the civil war ended,
and he is one of the first prominent
politicians of the post-bellum days
from the South.
The South Carolina State debt
amounts to about S6,000,000, and the
State wants to fund most of it at per
cent.
q Governor Tillman was invited to at
tend the Columbian celebration in New
York, and at the same time he arranged
to meet some New York bankers in re-
gard to the debt.
He is an interesting talker, with
resonant voice, strong Southern ac-
cent, and the habit of prolonging and
softening the vowels. which adds so
much to the charm and ndistinctness
of Southern sppech. In the course offs
long conversation he said:
"Peopie outside of South Carolina
never seem to understand correctly our
political situation. All the daily papers
in the State and three-quarters of the
weekly papers have been opposed to
me, and the view Of our politics which
people outside the State may get from
them was not without bias.
sour struggle was to get rid of the
rule of an oligarchy which grew up
after the white people got possession of
the government in 1876. This oligar-
chy engineered and controlled affairs
by system Of ofsconventions for nomi-
mating candidates. By perpetuating
themselves in the conventions they
controlled the State, Government.
'tWe have an enormous negro major
ity in South Carolina. South Carolina
suffered more than aay other Southern
State from negroes and negro rule from
1859 down to 1875, and the struggle
which brought about relief from that
was so o-terrible and so costly that there
is now no State in the South and no
people in the South who will do more
and bear more to preserve the unity Of
the whites, and prevent the recurrence
of this danger. What has kept the peo-
pie of the State together is the knowl-
edge that when there is a division Of
the white vote, as in Georgia, Alabama
and other Southern States, both sides
appeal to the negro, and they try to
divide the negroes and to take part of
the negroes with them. You can't
touch pitch without being defled, and
you can't take up with the negro with
out encouraging negroes, and a return
to negro power and domination. In
South Carolina the white people settle
their differences among themselves.
They believe that an appeal to the ne
groes to settle white differences would
be demoralizing.
1.-TWO years ago this oligarchy I spoke
of was defeated, and the convention
system, which was then in vogue, was
discontinued. The present system is
to prevent division Of the whites and
scrub races and free-for-all nominations
which might encourage negro power.
The old political bosses have run them
selves out. They were fossilized. Their
struggle was to rehabitulate and re-
establish themselves on the old ante-bel-
lum basis. When I came on deck and
began to throw rocks I soon had four
ffths of the people behind me. When
I whipped them in 1890, and Judge
Haskell called on Republicans and ne
gros to help the best people, as they
called themselves, and save the State,
he got only 1900 votes, and of them
10000 were cast by negroes and only
4,o0G by white men.
"Under our system we have two elec-
tions, one for nominations and the other
the regular election in the fall to con-
firm the action. of the first election at
the Democratic primaries. Every
white man votes at the first election,
and their decision is ratified at the reg
Ular statutory election in November,
when the machinery of the Govern
ment ratifies and makes law out of what
the people have done in their prima-
ries.
SIN this years campaign the old oil
garchy tried to recapture the Govern