The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1893-08-29
Editor Advertiser.

In South Carolina the average
man is insulted and wants to IL
lustrate his manhood and fight
somebody who challenges his title
to be called a democrat. "They
manage things better In France,D
and SO they do In Georgia. This
pugilistic tendency certainly i'm
plies a compliment to the old party,
organized by the grandfathcrs Of
some of us. Now and then you
meet with 81 paper or a gentleman,
who was a furious whig or had had
kin close to the republicans who
wants to commit murder or suicide
il his title to be called q democrat
Is called in question. Ask him to.
define a democrat, or give the
creed of the party past or present
and he is as apt upon 1t as he would
be upon the philosophy of Plato or
the tenets of Zeno. But he wants
to fight; in South Carolina, his
leaders have gobbled up the name
and title; as it were, have "sorter"
squatted upon democratic territory,
seized upon the offices and the Or
%ganization and find it convenient
and profitable to swing to the name
because Cleveland is President and
has patronage by that name. Thus
in March last we beheld the hui
initiating spectacle of a South Car
DINA Senator going before a cabi-
net officer and debating for hours
that he was a South Carolina dem
ocrat; he was the organized DEM
ocracy; he and his friends were
the owners of that we'll because
they had possession. At the same
time he and his party had gone
into office upon the plea that South
Carolina had never been demo.
cratic. The men in Congress from
this State hold no views in COM
mon with the Democratic party in
the United States. There are ex-
captions but they prove the rule.
1t is so with many out of Congress,
notably in the legislature of South
Carolina. Probably there arc not
fifty men in the legislature of South
Carolina who would not join q
Iynching party to hang Secretary
Carlisle or President Cleveland in
efigy as wearing the apparel of
ohSoIo w ootNo mo 'hoJcoly tHe
Devil in. 1t is a curious spectacle
and one we'll calculated to make
the angels weep OF laugh? Whew!
| South Carolina and Kansas mon
opolizing the habiliments of Jeff.
erson and Madison! In every
other State in the nation sthose
who stood on the Ocala platform
and held to Populists' views had
the manliness to declare with
Weaver and to run with Weaver
and to fall with Weaver. Thus
Tom Watson. The Methodists,
Baptists, Presbyterians and every
other sect have a ."~confession of
faith" or book of the law and when
they challenge the orthodox doc
trines have the manliness to
withdraw or accept the decree
of accommodation.
The democratic party stands by
honest money; SO do democrats;
the democratic party does not hold
| Uith P~aternaLiSm and making the
State q tradeSnaan; so don't demo.
Gratis; the democratic party does
| not believe in secret dark lantern
political organizations; so don't
democrats; the democratic party
is honest enough to stand with, by
and for the platform enacted by
the party at Chicago in 1892; so do
democrats. There is q large ma.
jority of democrats in South Caro-
lima; the trouble is that they have
been beguiled by false leaders,
humbugs, and demagogues, calling
themselves democrats, who are
anything else and who are ALL
things for the spoils of office.
1t needs that the chaff should be
separated from the wheat; 1t needs
that the genuine should be sepa-
rated from the counterfeit.
The democrats of this State
should hold q convention early in
the next year, formulate a plat
form embodying the principles of
democracy upon the live questions
of to-day; separate themselves
others Of that ilk and fight for
representation in the national Or
ganization. The democratic league
is the idea. There be timid and
cowardly souls with pale faces, and
blOOdleSs cheeks who are apt to
cry out about the danger from the
negro and appealing to the negro.
There need be no alarm on this
score, The appeal to the negro
will come from the Tom Watson
gang and that ilk. AT any rate it
is not decent, reputable or honest
to be counted in the "organized
democracy of South Carolina,
when represented by men who de-
nounce nine-tenths of the princi-
pies of the party and who refuse to
carry out its behests. Formulate
the creed as handed down by the
fathers, get upon it and defend it,
set up q banner and call upon real
democrats to rally around its folds.
The league is tho thing. Keep the
faith.
OLD TIME DEMOCRAT.
Marine.