The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1895-09-25

acknowledge his inferiority to General
Butler he can do so. Perhaps there
are others here who will agree with
him.
wish now to pass to another phase
of the subject-to do justice to the
dead. The assertion was made that
Mart Gary died under a cloud Of pref:
udice. say it is not true. He died
under a cloud of SANDER and lies
heaped on him by the man who de.
feated him by unfair methods in 1880,
who broke his heart, took snap judg-
ment on him and the people and nom,
mated Hagood. happen to be wit
ness who can disprove this assertion
from personal knowledge. About two
weeks before the Edgefeld convention
I happened in Augusta and there met
man who was friend of Gen. But
Ter and he let it out to me that there
was scheme on foot to beat Gary in
! his own county and that he was beng
charged with independentism I wrote
to Gen. Gary and informed him of this
scheme and asked MIN by the mem.
ories of '76 to put the lie on the insin,
uatiou that he would run as an Inde.
pendent by declaring that he would
abide by the result of the State con
vention. On the morning Of the
meeting of the Edgefield convention
I went TO Gary and he showed me his
speech in manuscript, saying that IS
what l shall print. l don't know
what I shall say. There was phrase
in it which might have given his enc,
mics chance to make unjust charges
against him and at my request he al
lowed me to change it to decided ex-
preston of his determination to stand
by the result Of the State convention,
He thereby pledged himself and went
to the convention the true choice Of
the people of the State. As soon as
his enemies had gotten hold of the
rope which I had placed around his
neck, although the convention had
been called to nominate delegates to
to the national convention, they
tricked him and nominated Hagood
and we all had to submit. Nobody
can say truuthfully that he was ac-
cused of Independentism except his
enemies.
G'HE CASH LETTER.
Mr.. G.. D. Tillman: Did you ever
hear of the letter he wrote to Gen.
Cash?
Senator Tillman: Yes, I have heard
of the Cash letter, and it had reference
to Gen. Buffers cowardly and un-
grateful attack on Col. Cash about the
duel with Shannon. 1t had no refer
ence whatever to independentism-
and was not published until after
Gary's death. When the mass meet
ing was called at Edgefeld at which
my distinguished colleague paid his
tribute to his dead friend, the mass
meeting to consider the question of
raising monument to the bald eagle
of Edgefeld, it was Senator Buffers
influence and that ofhis friends which
prevented action being taken. They
pursued the dead hero even into his
grave and paralyzed the efforts to hon
or his memory. This it was and not
independentism, which his enemies
had whispered and circulated.
If Mart Gary had run as an Inde-
pendent it would have been nothing
more than he ought to have done after
being swindled and cheated by Hamp-
ton, Butler, Hagood and that crowd.
lam not pursuing Gen. Butler: At
ter he was defeated last summer did he
submit? No. There are men on this
floor who, if they would speak, could
tell you, because they have told me,
that he organized the movement, of
which Pope was the leader, and travel
ed from county to county to put inde-
pendent tickets in the field that he
abused all Reformers; the newspapers
charged that there was ring and did
everything that was disgraceful and
tried to use the negro. He is pursu-
ing me in the Senate to keep me from
being seated as your representative in
that body. Does this convention want
to aid him to strangle me too by civ
ing his name to this new county? No
Butler but he is known outside of the
State except to those who have studied
its history. You cannot divorce him
from his ancestry.
We are asked to name a county af-
ter this traitor. Will you disgrace
yourselves by giving his name to this
country To name this county Butler
will be regarded by the outside world
as a vindication of his recent action.
Allusions have been made to Butler
and Gary linking their names together
as the heroes of rs. I acknowledge
that Butler did mis- duty, but he was
not the peerless leader that the other
man was and I assert here from per
sonal knowledge that it was Garys S
bravery and audacity which won the
fight for Anglo-SaNon civilization in
that trying period and redeemed the
State from the thraldom and degrade
ton into which it had sunk. Memory
brings to mind two incidents of that
memorable campaign and cannot re.
frain from relating them as they will
feelingly illustrate the temper and
character and service of the two men.
AN INCIDENT OF 76.
Those of you who are old enough
will remember that after the famous
Joint debate with Chamberlain at Edge,
field Court House on the 18th of Au-
gust, in which that dirty carpetbagger
had been so badly worsted, the troops
were sent to Edgefeld and pretext
was sought to declare martial law.
The Radical managers felt that the
wave Of liberty was sweeping them out
to the sea and that something must be
done to stem the tide.
Notice was sent out to the negroes
in EdgeieId of mass meeting to be
held, at which Chamberlain would
again attempt to speak under the pro
lection of the troops, and naturally a
large number of colored people were
on hand on the day appointed. Gen.
Gary, who was county chairman, had
organized Edgefeld more thorougly
than has ever been known in the his
tory of any people. Every man in il