The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-03-06

that division of delegates accordinga
to the numerical strength Of each>fac.a
tion would possibly be fair, but knows
ing that we controlled three-ffths atS
least, I would not have imposed the
idea of an equal division upon anys
sane man. When I was contending2
for Cleveland, after having sustained
him with majority Of 5000, Hemp
hill and Barnwell refused any propo.sll
sition looking to an equitable distribus
tion of the patronage, and [ got mo-
support from the newspapers opposed
to our faction, but on the contrary
they said that Reformers were not
Democrats, and were not entitled to-
any showing. Yet these men, Barn.
we'll and Hemphill, prominents
cuckoo for Cleveland, invite Tillman, IS
the leader of the opposition to Cleve.ss.
land, and who has his pitchforks ready
to stab into the bowels Of the Presi-
dent, into a conference to settle the
question as to what the different;
Counties should do. And Tillman
walks into the parlor Of the spider.
My election to the Senate has not,in
any way changed my feelings to the
people Of the State. If we, the Re-
formers, stand firm we can win, but ne :
had better be defeated by allowing
Cal. Hemphill and Gonzales to gosj
with the negro than to humbly surren-s
der in a way like this. I hum mblysE
suggest that Tillman, the agitator,
now the paci6cator, has been com.
pletely dethroned, and Evans, if he iss
sincere, has been bamboozled. AS fors'
myself I think any sane man will see
that I have been betrayed but hon.
orable defeat is much better and pre- 3
ferable to me in the selection Of dele
gates to this Convention than !.
dishonorable compromise. It is well
enough for ''the forty" the leaders &
of the Conservatives and the pacifca-
tors to bring up and get ready for the,
fight, for I am satisfied that the trues
men who were in this movement from
its incipiency from principle, will not
submit to any such agreement. The &
combination will not do. A combina.
tion between possum and coon can
not win, as every Reformer knows they:
cannot sleep in the same log long,
an very busy here, but after the-4th
Of March I will return home and take
a hand in this fight, sink or swim, live
or die politically. I am ready to stand
by the principles Of the first March
Convention as against all rcomers and I
all Of its enemies. The main princi-
pie of that Convention was Consti- s
tutional Convention, to be controlled
by men who were it's friends and not y
it's enemies. The poor white men. off; (
the State are not safe with any such
possum and coon combination. Their.
rights under the homestead exemption
and qualification clause are impeyiAed.
They cannot afford to trust menilikd
Cal. Hemphill, Joe Barnwell, Con
zales and A. B. Williams. It would
have been far better had this Conven-E
tion failed in November last than that
the Reform Movement should be -
feated and the rights and liberties OF !,
the poor white men of the State Inn
perilled by men like these. I believe
that Tillman and Evans were sincere,
but they were simply gulled-into q
compromise that means the destruc tion
Of the Reform movement and protec-
tion Of the poor white men Of the I
State, but for whom Tillman in the
Senate and Evans as Governor would
have been impossibilities. I do not !
mean to denounce Tillman or Evans. (
I weep for them in being monkeyed
with by any such crew. Cal. Hemp
hill and Barnwell were original mem
bers Of the forty. When the primary
scheme was promulgated by the Demo-
cratic committee they were whipped
and could not destroy the Reform
Movement. Then they proposed to
muzzle me as chairman Of the party
and the whole Democratic organization
by going into an agreement with Till
man and Evans, which I respectfully
submit will not only ruin the Demo-
cratic party, but the Reform Move
ment of this State.
J. L. NJ. IRBY. s