The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1893-09-19
THE LAURENs DIspENsARY.


How Freehold Voters Were Manu-.
factured-An Efectual Protest from
u Reform Senator-Governor Till.
man Refuses to Sanction the Fraud
The following correspondence bear.
ing upon the establishment of dis.
pensary at Laurens has been given to
the public, and as the matter has
created considerable comment in the
State, the letters will be read with in
terest. 1t will be seen that Governor
Tillman, in his letter to Senator Fuller,
gives some interesting views upon the
future Of the dispensary law.
Here Is the letter from Senator Full
Ter to the Governor, which Is self-ex-
planatory.
LAURENs, S. c., Sept. 5th, 1893.
Governor b. r. Tillman, Chairman
Board of Control OF State Dispensary :
DEAR SIR | write to inform you,
from the standpoint of those who, in
exercising their right of local option
under the dispensary act, prefer prohi-
bition to the dispensary, of certain
events transpiring mere which should
sincerely concern yourself and other
members OF your board, as beipg chiefly
responsible under the1aw fof' the fair
and faithful administration of the dis
pensary act. myself am afraid of the
dispensary act as whole, but more Of
its local option feature; and only ask
that our right of local option under the
law shall be respected, and a fair, un-
partial and non partisan Enforcement
of the act be had Nobody here has
asked or expressed anything else than
that tho question shall be decided by
ascertaining on which side stood the
majority of bona fide freehold voters.
The county board met on the 21st of
August last, and the petition of Langs-
ton for office of county dispenser was
presented and contained fifty-five
names, twenty-one white and thirty
four colored; the list Of ncn-signers
contained sevcnty-four whites and two
cOlored The board refused ID appoint
Langston on account Of not having
majority of freehold voters, as signers,
and it was SO recorded by their secre-
tary in their minutes.
Last Friday, Sept. 1st inst, the en-
closed printed call written by tle coun-
ty chairman, FL. e.. Gray, appeared in
the Laurens Herald for the bard to
meet on 4th inst. which for rank par
tisanship and wanton filings at Irohibi-
tionists and church members, IS hard
to surpass. Well, the board net and
the fact was ascertained that the old
petition was viewed and was circulated
after the case was adjudicated On the
2lSt, when it was known that sOne of
the parties, who signed, wanted their
names off, and thirty-four negroes and
nineteen whites were added, fiftyThree
in all. One OF these, Il. l.. IrbS de-
clared in my presence and that Of sew
eral others, that his name had been
used without his authority and that he
didn't want to be mixed up with it,"
Well, here were tifty-three names
added to petitions which were nev9 on
file in the clerks office a single deg as
the law required. Where did all tlese
new freehold voters come from? H.
f.. Gray, chairman, sounded the ley
note when he said in his call: Every
citizen of this Incorporation shoul6 be
enfranchised on question wherehe
is SO much Interested" And the b,si-
ness of enfranchising landless citizens
began, in order to evade and defeat the
law and the will of the people.
Since the board had met on tie
2lst ultimo, SO new names had been en-
franchised and added to the petition,
besides six other names which had
previously signed but had no land,
making tifty-nine new freehold voters
in all. A. r. Sullivan, candidate foc
dispensary book-keeper, and brother,
w IL I@' Nj Ciioii ibdhS oSCuSS
to these tfty-nine citizens one-eighth
acre, more or less, of worthless land,
each share l-472 part of one acre, and
the job was done; the necessary ma
jority of freehold voters was secured
and the board of control without re-
quiring the names of these new free
hold voters to be fled at all, as the law
directs. granted the petition of Lang
ston and established the dispensary.
(Thc deeds Of cOnp peyahce of this one
eighth acre of land to these fifty-nine
citizens are on record in the clerks
ofiice.) But it is proper to add, that
you may understand the whole truth,
that A. r. Sullivan executed two deeds
One-eighth acre of land; first to nine
teen whites on the 3lst of August,
1893, and the second on September End
to forty negroes, every boundary pre-
cisely the same. Thus these nine
teen whites were only franchised four
days before the final meeting of the
board on September 18th and the forty
negroes but two days before, and all
were counted by the hoard as bona-fide
freehold voters. If any of these al
legged facts are denied they will be sub
stantiated if allowed an opportunity.
Having thus submitted so much of our
case as we deem of special Importance,
we respectfully ask the ruling of the
State board on these questions
1st. Will the State board recognize
the legality of the action of the county
board in establishing a dispensary at
Laurens on u petition acted on and re-
fused, to which petition considerable
number of new signers were added and
not put on file the ten days required by
law?
2nd. Does the State board of control
recognize those iifty-nine newly enfran-
chised citizen, who own l-472 part Of
an acre of land each, as bona fido free
hold voters of Laurens, according to
the intent and spirit of the dispensary
act?
3rd. II so, will any fractional part OF
an acre of land, legally conveyed to a
person, constitute him freeholder for
the purposes Of this act or wherever
rights and privileges by law insure to
freehOlders
In conclusion, respectfully ask in
behalf of the prohibitionists of the city
and County of Laurens, the white
voters OF which cast heavy majority
in the general primary of 1892 for pro
hibition, full and careful consideration
.of the facts and questions presented
and our rights lndcr the dispensarS
act.
Very respectfully,
"A. G.. FULLER.
Governor Tillman made the following
reply: