The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1895-02-26
A BASIS OF RECONCILIATION
THE OBJECT OF THE REGENT
CONFERENCE IN COLUMBIA.

SOHStttutIOh ftt
surfing White Supremacy and Which
Will Not be referred Back to q
Popular Vote.
Columbia Register.
Senator Tillman gave an interesting
interview on Wednesday evening be-
fore leaving the city for Washington
on the political situation as it pertains
to the Constitutional Convention. Be.
ing the acknowledged leader of the
Reform party his views will be read
with the greatest interest by Reform
ers as well as Conservatives. Senator
Tillman was in the conference here
Monday night last with Editor Hemp
hill and his views, therefore, possess
additional interest from that fact.
The Senator talks plain and to tho
point.
When asked the direct question "a
to the truth OF the various reports
which were In circulation yesterday
Senator Tillman said 81 do mot
know why my presence here should
put so many tongues to wagging. Or
dinarily my rule has been to pay no
heed to such chatter, but to leave peo-
pie to find out for themselves about
such things"
with Conservative leaders he said: II
known why l agreed to meet these
gentlemen. did SO simply for the
purpose of showing that /, as an indi-
vidual citizen and a. a man occupying
responsible public position, am ready
and anxious to do anything within rea-
son that 1 can to bring about better
state OF feeling. There Is u hackneyed
phrase continually appearing in tho
bitter anti papers" The Tillman-
Irby-Evans ring" and the stock in
trade OF the recalcitrants who have
fought me personally and the Reform
party from the very beginning is to
charge all the animosity which exists
to the Vaccinations and influence of
<Jiring.' Some OF 1she loudest
MS fed and most blatant talk along
this line has como from men who
would certainly never have been heard
of in Tire bofittiieess 5e I'll the State but for
the Reform movement. Now, FORUM
ately, occupy q position which in the
minds OF all fair persons should lift
me- above any charge OF sinister or
selfish motives In what [ am trying to
do. l realize with painful certainty
the seriousness of the crisis which Is
upon us in State affairs. The Consti-
tutional Convention has been called in
spite Of tho intense opposition OF al
most the entire anti faction. There
have been charges of fraud in regard
to the vote on this question, but that
is neither here nor there. Fraud or
no fraud, and no one has produced any
proofs of fraud, the convention is to be
elected and will meet next September;
and the question now agitating the
mind OF every thinking man in the
State is as to how it will be constituted
and what will it do when it assemblies
The distrust and suspicion which has
been industriously fomented in the
minds of the factions towards each
other have brought us to this deplora-
bic condition. We must either shortly
enter upon struggle for the mastery
of the convention, which will leave
woLnds to ranl1le for a lifetime, or We
must come together. The present un.
natural and strained relations must
cease, or we will commence fight
which will leave one faction or the
other complete masters, with an in
tensitied desire for revenge burning in
the hearts Of tho victors. / wish to
avert such a struggle If possible, and
when | consented to meet those who
have prosecuted and opposed me with
all the vigor and malignity of which
they were capable, in an effort to de-
wise ways and means for restoring har-
mony, | gave an earnest OF my honesty
OF purpose that ought to save me
from the charge of selhshness or fear,
though / am satisfied it will not do SO.
Those breeders of strife who live by
tanning the flames and those aspiring
self-seekers, who under guise of patri-
otic motives would betray the Reform
movement, will try to make the con-
trary appear. 1t does not matter. [
can bear that with the same cquanimi-
ty and Indifference that | have borne
their attacks in the past"
"Scna n, will you tell us what you
did in til 1Dnfcrence 2"
II wa, list coming to that for to
my frieIf \ l need make no explana-
tion or &incealment and for my enc
mics ] d tiot care. In the first place,
it will bg we'll to say that Governor
Evans nor myself claim any right to
speak or to act other than as individ-
uals. The people are the masters in
wise or give our opinions. The people
who have honored us both so highly
arc naturally looking to us for guild
ance, but they will judge for them.
selves and attach only such import
ance and yield such adhesion to our
advice as they deem best. The Till
man-Irby- Evans ring is of the people
and very largo one, and while we
may tic the ends which bring the ring
together, we understand our position
too we'll to imagine for an instant that
we can do more than advise. We must
convince our friends that what we adj
wise is best before we can expect them
to follow. In a word, then, in that
meeting we tried to arrive at an un-
derstanding, which will unite the peo-
pie OF the State once more without any
surrender OF principle on the part Of
anybody, and prevent any struggle
over the convention, and we realize
very fully the delicacy and difficulty
of the task. The more radical and un-
reasonable elements OF both factions
will necessarily be disgruntled and
endeavor to antagonize the scheme.
But we cannot give any serious con-
sideration to the opposition of such
mon as these. We must appeal to the
patriotism and good sense OF the large
conservative mass OF both factions to
make the concessions which are re-
quisite to bring them together. As
the victors and the ruling majority,
/, the concessions must necessarily CONC
from the Reform side, the conditions
must be subscribe Y tho other
,ncessions & o