New-York tribune., 1894-04-06
SOUTH CAROLINA POLITICS
THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION THAT BROUGHT
TILLMAN TO POWER.
STATE TORN BY POLITICAL AND PERSONAL
ANTAGONISTS OF DEPTH AND INTENSITY
UNKNOWN IN ANY OTHER COMMON
WEALTH =, DANGER IN
THE FUTURE.
tav TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBrYE.l

THE FUTURE
rav TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBrxE1
| Columbia, S. c.. April Sin many OF its az
spects South Cardinals "insurrection" Of March
31-April 8 lends itself to treatment Of
the foolish seasons appropriate jokes. But the
opera-bouffe quality of Governor Tflman's mil
itary operations" and the extravagances Of his
administration of martial law should not blind
the judicous observer to the general irritation
and infammability Of public feeling in this
State which threaten at any moment to find
vent in outbreaks Of a far more serious char.
acter than the trfng street brawl which proved
to be the ending as we'll as the beginning Of the
recent war"
Whether It be through the continued enforce
ment of the Dispensary law, or through some
other equally radical measure Of administration
on Governor Tillman's part. the intense politicA
and personal antagonism existing between tho
two factions which divide the South Car
Olina Democracy seems certain sooner or later.
to find relief in some violent encounter in which
the lessons learned in this weeks mimic and ex-
perimental "insurrection" may be turned by
both sides to advantageous use. From this point
of view the recent occurrences here and at Oar.
lington must be admitted to have genuine Inn
portance and significance; for they have dem-
onstrated at once the depth and bitterness OF the
administrative programme, and the total WORTH
lessness of the State militia as an agency to en-.
force that programme against serious popular
resistance.
The detection Of fully half the militia on the
first call to arms shows only too plainly the ex-
tent Of the revolt within the State against the
methods and purposes OF the present Executive,
and there is nothing in the character of the
Governor and of his supporters to warrant the
belief that the policy of the State government
for the next six months will tend in any degree
to allay public irritation or induce a more gen.
eral and cheerful submission to the unpopular
Dispensary law.
FOUNDED IN A POLITICAL REVOLUTION.
The conditions which impel this increasingly
hostile friction between the two political factions
here go much deeper than the Governors pres
ent Popustic experiment with the liquor lawa
They legacy from another generation. and
can be understood only by study of the remark
able changes which have in recent years COM
pletey revoutionized the political life OF the
State. Briefly summarized, the history of this
revolution is one Of the absolute transfer Of
political power from rich and cultivated
though narrow oligarchy. faithful to the tradi-
sons and manners of antebellum times, to as
rude and unlettered a democracy as ever
achieved control Of any American State. It
seems long journey from the hghbred and
polished Carolinians, under the spell Of whose
sanguine and feryid oratory the State passed its
secession ordinance in 1861, and who reappeared
still vigorous and dominant in 1877, with the ex-
pulslon OF the carpet bag administration. to
the souched-hat and homespun leaders who now
direct the fortunes Of the commonwealth. But
the transition which began with Governor Till
mans first election in 1890 has been as rapid as
II has been complete; and there are as rev
traces to-day OF the rule of a traditional political
aristocracy in South Carolina as might be ex-
pected to be found of similar rule In Colorado
Kansas.
Governor Tlman's rise to power has. in fact
upset every political tradition of the older South
Carolina Before the and in the early years
of the Hampton restoration the seaDoard ana
central sections Of the State dominated its poll.
tics. The cities Of Charleston and Columbia and
the rich planting interests which lay In the great
section lying between them naturally assumed
and maintained a supremacy in state aHairS
which remained unquestioned. The upland coun-
ties OF the northwest inferior in population cult-
vated by poor white farmers we'll as by
black labor and sluggish in political ambition
were looked down upon as the section OF inc
least important and intelligent. and were accord
ingly neglected In all matters OF political prefer
ment Calhoun. indeed. whose extraordinary
talents and political usefulness raised him easily
above all prejudces Of locality. came from the
uplands OF the State: but by tradition, custom
and acceptance power in the Commonwealth fell
chiefly into the hands of the more aristocratio
leaders of the central and seaboard regions
FOLLOWED THE SUPPRESSION OF THE NEGRO.
From the end Of the war until the seating Of
Hampton as Governor In 1877, all normal political
conditions in the State were overthrown. put
with the return Of the white minority to power.
the old order naturally sought TO be restored
Under the stress of continual effort to suppress
the vote Of the negro majority. only partlal re.
adjustment could be made: and II was not until
some time in the eighties that the state DeHoc-
racy achieved tranquility enough to allow di-
ivta u
With the gradual suppression OF the negro vote
as factor in State elections and the estaolsn-
ment not only Of an electorate based on tne WITS
vote alone but of a State Democratic organlza-
ton based on the actual strength OF the white
voters in each county, the hitherto neglected up
land counties found their political power unex-
pectedly and enormously increased. Having
much sparser negro population than the lower
sections the northwest gained propordonately IN
representation In political conventions and there
seemed to be lacking only determined and ag.
gressive leadership to wrest the control or the
state organization from the long-favored central
and southern sections and estapnsn the DeHioc'
racy of the up-countes
AS the permanent dominant faction In state
politics. this leadership soon disclosed itselt'
Sometime about 1886 or 1887 the present Gov
er,lor of South Carolina, then an obscure dele
gate from one of the northwestern counties, ap-
peared in a State Democratic convention In tnis
CITY TO demand a certain nomination In the IN
terests of the white farmers Of his section. The
convention, controlled by the old-time State
managers, would not listen to his pleadings ana
refused his request. "I shall come back and
the next time you will listen to me-, he Is re-
ported to have replied, all great men. rebuf1ed
at first and subsequently successful, have an
ex-post facto habit of doing. The future Gov
ernor did back repeatedly, and when ne
came in 1890 he was accompanied by enough
regularly elected Democratic delegates to give
him the nomination for the Governorship. to
which he had long aspred. His success had
been won on peculiarly original lines. Taking
advantage Of the rapid spread In 1888 and 1883
of the ideas associated with the Farmers ALI
ance and Populist movements he became one OF
the most active organizers or the Alliance IN MS
State devoting himself at the same time to mold
ing this supposedly educational and beneficiary
association into a compact political machine FOR
the advancement Of his own personal fortunes.