The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1895-06-12

fore proceeding farther that l appre-
ciate these evidences of the conf.
dence still reposed in me by some Of
my fellow citizens, and I hope they
will never have cause to change their
opinions. I need hardly say that
there is no personal sacrifice I would
not willingly make to preserve the
honor or to promote, the welfare Of
South Carolina. All my efforts in
the past for these ends give the best
guarantee of my sincerity now, but
with every desire to work for our
State, I see no way in which I could
give substantial aid. When I last
attempted to plead for peace, and
restoration of the fraternal relations
which since '76 had governed all of
our citizens, a South Carolina audi
ence refused to hear me and drove
me from the stand. I have taken no
part in public affairs in the State
since then not because my interest in
them was abated, but because I had
been rudely notified that my voice
had no longer any weight in the
counsels of the State. have there
fore kept silent, offering no advice,
uttering no complaint Or reproach. l
have tried to serve the State when
called on to do so, but when my fel-
low citizens declared that l could do
so no longer, I accepted this verdict
iEEi;i;shaut anc word as protest But I
am still citizen of South Carolina,
proud of honorable record in the past
jealous of her honor, and deeply
mortified at the condition she now
occupies, and the estimation in which
she is held throughout the Union.
It is not my purpose to discuss
how this deplorable condition has
been brought about, for I do not in
tend to indulge in recrimination nor
in reproach, my only desire being to
see our people reunited and the State
placed where she stood proudly of
yore. I am in full sympathy with
all you say as to our present condi-
tion, but it seems to me that I can
only aid by my vote to bring about a
better state of affairs, and I have
even been refused the privilege of
voting because I happened not to
have complied with all the require
ments of the dominant party" to
show that was Democrat! If my
voice can Lave any weight in the
State, it would be for all Conserva-
tives, the only true National Demo
cratic representatives in the State, to
refuse to 60 into any primary, or any
so-called compromise, to nominate in
every county the ablest and best men,
Conservatives and Reformers, who
will strive to make a good constitu-
tion, referring it to the people for
ratification of rejection, and in all
to set their faces resolutely against
all fraud in our elections. I have no
fear of negro domination-a cry
used only to arouse race prejudices,
and to to put the incoming conven-
tion under control of the Ring which
now dominates our State.
The negroes have acted Of late
with rare moderation and liberality,
and if we meet them in the same
spirit they have shown, they will aid
in selecting good representatives for
the convention.
I for one am willing to trust them,
and they ask only the right guaranteed
to them by the Constitution of the
United States and that of our own
State. corruption wins not more
than honesty and advocate per-
feet honesty, for defeat on that line
is better than victory by fraud. I
have never refused when called on
by the people of my State to serve
them; my ability to serve them now
may be past, but the wish to do so
will expire only with my life.
The effort made by the Forty is in
the right line and is creditable to its
originators, but it seems to me to be
impracticable, for none of them have
authority any one save themselves.
We can work in conjunction with
them, and I hope that the work may
be successful, but if any Conserva-
tives go into the convention by pri-
mary, they will walk into the trap
cunningly prepared for them, and