The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-08-29
CLAW and Order.'

claw and Order.''
Our metropolitan brother, the able News
and Courier, of last Saturday has this 70 say
OF a recent editorial in the Press and banner
"LAw AND ORDER"
Last winter or spring. when the State con.
stables were having some trouble Wltn tne
blind tigers In Charleston, the esteemed Ao-
beyille Press and Banner had great aeai 10
II was far nom choice In the language It used
and without any special provocation that we
could discover was particularly savage IN lts
That the people of Charleston must be taught
to respect the laws or that they would be
crushed utterly. We did not protest against
and we do not protest now; we simply wish
to show what respect 1t is entitled TO as the
selfconstituted exponent Of law and order:
Last week Judge Aldrich decided In the
Aiken eay he was re-
spectful in his statement Of the law ana the
facts in the case, he did not say anything OF,
fensive about the Governor or tne 1oaro OF
ed his duty, as he saw 1t, and under the sane,
tity Of his oath Of Office. But his decision olu
not please the Press and Banner. the a!ole,
time exponent Of law and order, Wnlcn goes
at him In this fashion:
aThe patriotic little town Of Aiken sought out sn
Injunction to close the dispensary In that place and
Judge Aldrich granted the prayer OF the complain
ant.
prefer blind tigers the dspenssry they ought To be
sccummodated-temporarily, at least.
aBut under the circumstances 1t might be well "
establish dispensary In some other town IN to sne
county II Montmorenci wants It, why not establish
IL there!
s'The days of the bar rooms are numbered In South
Carolina 1t is evident that great majority OF tne
people favor the dspensary plan Of dealing with the
LIQUOR question, and 1t isn't for Judges and Anarchists
to say that the people shall not rule"
There is more Of the same sort In what orr
contemporary says, but we have given qulte
enough TO show how little It amounts to as an
Judges and Anarchists to say that the people
shall not rulew That 10 fine sentiment,
truly, to come from any conservative ana re-
sponsible newspaper.
As presented above the Press and Banner is
placed in very ugly light before "the people
of Charleston" But as 1t is better to suffer
bad presentation than to 60 on the defensive,
we will attempt to justify the position into
which the extracts and the remarks upon the
same have put MS.
If our esteemed brother will examine the
files Of his own paper, we think he Will De
convinced that the tenor OF his editorials has
been to champion the cause Of "the people Of
Charleston" who openly violated the liquor
law OF the State, and that the aforesaid edito-
r1als would lead the public to believe that the
keepers OF the Illicit rum holes we're "the peo-
pie OF Charleston" and that they, rather
than the regularly constituted officers OF the
State, had the sympathies OF "the people OF
Charleston,"-thep people to whom the quoted
paragraph is made to appear to have refer
ence.
At this distance II Is hard to tell exactly the
condition OF affairs In Charleston. II Is I'M
possible for us to see his heart and account
definitely for his motives, but we can say, and
have right to say, what impression the gen.
eral editorial conduct Of the News and
Courier has made upon the mind OF the Press
and Banner.
justify the belief that that paper has not for,
say two years. represented the sentiment OF
the sober law-abiding people OF either the
State or Of the city Of Charleston.
We believe In that time that that paper has
not properly represented the commercial or
financial interests Of the city OF Charleston.
We believe that 1t has allied itself with an
element that has but little part or sympathy
In the former fame and glory of city, whose
leading people are Of the best and OF the
wealthiest people Of the State.
We believe that the files OF the News and
Courier will show that more space and great
or energy has been given TO the encourage
ment Of the Illicit traffic In liquor In the city
OF Charleston than has been given to the up
holding of law and order.
We believe that the files OF the News and
Courier will show that more editorial space
has been given to the attempted rldicue ol
the honest and unoftending country people
by maligning their choice of ofacers-than
has been given to the reproval Of "the people
Of Charleston" tor open and wilful violations
OF the liquor law. ..
We believe the files of the News and
Courier will show that ten times the editorial
space has been given to abuse, or ill-humored
accusations, or unnecessary and unfair ar
raignment OF the Government than has beer
given TO the best interests of Charleston-ir
building up Its waste places and In attracting
trade and commercial prosperity TO the city.
We believe in Its efforts to destroy the credit
OF the State and to prevent the refandinf
of the State debt that. in so far as 1t did thit
1t acted part not different from that which
apublic enemy might have acted.
We believe that It is unjust to the people
whom that paper is presumed 10 represent
when 1t attempts to hold up to contempt tht
great mass Of the people Of this State.
We believe that the News and Couriers ed
itorisls would justify the belief that 1t Is firm
ly and unalterably of the opinion that 9Th,
people OF Charleston,"-we mean the lawles
element-are better than the country people
Of the State.
We believe that the News and Courier, anc
"the people Of Charleston'-the anarchists
are indirectly responsible for the killing tina
occurred at Darlington.
We believe that the News and Courier tool
advantage of the incident-or fact of the out
rage against law and order-to encourage th'
mob to make effort TO overthrow the legally
constituted lawful authority Of the State.
We believe that nearly all the extractl
which the News and Courier has copied init
that paper about the government, or th'
State, has had for It's purpose or intent the
lowering of public respect for the people o
South Carolina.
We believe that the News and Courier hal
manifested 80 much bitterness and malignlty
that It has alienated from its support thou
sands Of people who now look to that alien
the Atlanta Constitution-as their city news
paper and political adviser.
We believe that the News and Courier hon
estly believes that the old set will sooner
or later be restored to their old places In the
offices of the State. In connection with thii
we would repeat what learned gentleman