Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1892-04-21
p lat the Thirteen had omitted the

6 lat the Thirteen had omitted the
demands for railroad control and
constitutional convention; He
then denied the charges ofextrava-
gance, alluding to the building Of
the Inauguration platform, which
he said was suggested by the COM
mittees of the House and Senate.
He then acknowledged that he had
alluded to some of the Legislators
as driftwood, and showed that the
failure to carry out economies was
not due to his want of suggestion,
butthe blocking of legislation in
the Legislature.
He quoted from his inaugural
and from his speeches to show that
he had been consistently in favor
of reform. He denied that he had
acted as dictator. He quoted q
letter of Haskell, to The State,
which he said explained how the
members of the Legislature had
been bamboozled and also how
that newspaper had twitted the
Legislators with being under bis
control and causing them to vote
otherwise than had been expected.
He admitted that good deal of
time had been spent in the cleo
ton of a United States Senator
that nothing was being done, and
that he therefore called upon two
Solicitors to assist in what admin
istration measures embodied the
views of the farmers platform.
He then went on to show how
these measures were defeated, but
contended that he had carried out
his pledges and that Legislature
had failed to carry out theirs.
AS part of the argument here
he quoted extensively from the
party platform, stating in what
respect he had endeavored to carry
out his declarations. He also en-
tered into an elaborate discussion
of the causes which led to the de-
feat of several of his measures,
and especially the railroad bill /,
the sheriff bill, and others. He
then replied to some of the state
ments that he lost ground in the
State and continued thus: Shep-
pard has claimed that he will
carry my township as sure as fate.
Well, Gen. M. G. Butler, who has
had a finger in. this pie, has had a
heap to do with stirring up this
township, and SO has A. P. Butler,
who was sent home by the Legislac
ture, and who lives on the edge OF
the township. They have been
distributing The State free gratis.
I have been at home but seldom,
because I have stayed in Columbia
attending to your business; but I
will say that I will 60 home, make
three speeches, and if I can't beat
him in the primaries / will with
draw from the race. Governor
Sheppard, will you say as much?
I have gone, my friends, through
hi to get this Office, and / have
been told that no other man could
have led the movement to success.
Since my election I have dis
charged my duty as faithfully as L
knew, and I am now asking this
people whether they think I have
done it or not. I made living
before Igot into the Governors
Office, and whenever the majority
of the people say @We don't want
you any longer ] will retire with
out a murmur.
The Governor recurred to bis
position as defined in his inau-
gural on the So poll tax, giving his
reasons for the recommendation.
Speaking of the Judge Wallace
incident he said: One of the unpar-
donable sins, the unwashable sin,
which it is charged I have COM
mitted, is that in my message [
took issue with Judge Wallace
because he had decided that the
Governor had no right to remove
Cantwen, the Supervisor of Regis
tration, while the Senate was not
in session. I have shown the law
under which I acted, and no law
yer has yet answered it. They
don't dare to take issue with that
law, although I am no lawyer.
Now, what were my motives2 The
people of Charleston were under
ring rule. They had the most
outrageous tyranny practiced upon
them, and Cantwell was one of
the instruments which the ring
used to keep itself in power by
issuing bogus tickets and allowing
them to be voted. The reform
movement there begged that this
man he removed. I looked at the
law and I had the right to suspend
him until the Senate met. I SIM
ply desired to remove the shackles
from the hands of your friends in
The City by the Sea, and Judge
Wallace by his decision had them
locked again. Now, what is this
scheme Of our government? 1t has
three departments-the legislative,
The executive and the judicial
and they are considered co-equal.
Now, it looks to me that if it is
proper to criticise the Governor,
especially as I Ihave been criticised
o,r or;+;o,oro of yor