The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1895-06-13
A STRONG PLEA FOR PEACE.
OIL ON THU TROUBLED
WATERS
CLARK Howell Urges Both Factions
in South Carolina TO Quit Fighting
He Advises the Newspapers to
Lead the Way


Lead the Way
The following address of Mr.. Clar
Howell, editor of tho Atlanta Const
tuition, was delivered at the rccen
meeting Of the State Press Associa
tion in Sumter:
Il am not unmindful. Mr.. Chair
man, that | speak tonight to the re
presentatives of State which is Iii
vided against itself probably to
greater degree than any other Stat,
of the Union, and from the bitterness
of which division has developed con
tention which has permeated eyer,
condition of life, and created u false
god OF discomfort whose merciless de
crees have levied tribute and com
mand obeisance from every phase o.
human endeavor.
1.-THE public official who has not
become involved is an exception tho
merchant who has not been fired tt
say or do that which does not comport
with the placid and charitable rule OF
peace is lonesome in his solitude the
farmer who, In planting his cotton or
his corn, has sOwn at the same time
the seeds Of angery may congratulate
himself on the evenness Of his temper,
which makes him q rarity of mankind;
Georgia are correct, the demon OF
Hate has even laid his uhholy hands
on the pulpit, buried itself in the er-
mlne OF the bench, and, not contented
with its malevolent inrUads upon the
sanctified field of brotherly love, has
aimed it's blows at the ark Of The cove
nant which cnshrines the heart of
woman 1t would be most unnatural,
in this car0usal of ill-tcmper and bad
blood, growing out of political issues,
the press of tho State was not affected
by the ruling passion to blame somc-
body Tor ~ condition which nobody ap-
proves. The outs are condemning
the ms and the ms are retaliating
in kind households are divided, COM
munities are asundcr, and over and
above it all is the black cloud of strife
and disorder, which, catching the con-
dieting emotions OF factions and feuds,
echoes them back in Il din of turmoil
and Il peal Of lamentation.
= claim the right to speak plainly
tonight because | speak as u native.
Midway between Allendale and tho
Savannah river, in old Barnwell, did
my eyes first greet the light of lifcs
day, and though my lot has been cast
in the sister State, which stretches
hands across the Savannah, have ever
been proud Of the State of my birth
tho State which for generations, has
kept my maternal ancestors, under
whose sod their bones huven0leached,
IN whose name their blood WAS spilled,
and on whose sacred u,tars the life OF
more than one was laid ut a time when
the unity of her people bespoke their
loyalty to her flag. Not on the cars OF
stranger have the grating sounds OF
discord emanating from hero fallen.
but rather on those of one who, being
more than sympathizer, hears with
aching heart the breaking Of the cords
of peace and tho dissonant murmurs
Of personal contention.
"FcllOw South Cnroliniuns, look to
the glorious past of your grout State
and ask if iG justities the conditions ex-
listing today J.. l. shall be strictly i'm
personal and impartial in what say.
for IN representative gathering of
journals OF the several
sides--for [ believe there are about
six clements in the field now--I would
occasion by making offensive align
ment; but appealing to all, let mo
curry you back to Cowpcns, and TO
Camden, and to Hanging Rock,
where, under the Inspiration of the
boldness of South Carolina
chivalry, Andrew Jackson first began
his career as an American soldier and
patriot. Did PIckens and Sumter and
Marion all noble sons of your noble
Lee and Greene, whose
most brilliant service in the Revolu-
tionary army was done in the defense
of the homes of your ancestors,
against the combined forces of foreign
and native Tories-did
these heroes write their names in let
ters of etornal lifo on the pages OF the
history Of your State, that in the turn
Of century their deeds mig hit be for
gotten and their examples be lost to
posterity Just across the wny--over
IN Gcorgia--six counties bear the
names OF these six patriots and there
they will over stand as memorials to
men whose heroism is resplendent in
and whose virtues should be ideal
types Of tho chivalry, the bravery and
the patriotism of Carolina manhood.
Go back with me beyond tho period
which nodded these men Of iron and
see, II from it's earliest days tho his
tory Of South Carolina was written to
Countcnancc civil contention and
breed the uvi' results Of frntricidal
strife. 1T was Joseph Blake. tire
brother OF the great English admiral,
who brought the disscntcrs to live
among these people, that they might
worship as they plc;Iso it was Car
dros5 VINO brought the Scotch Prcsby
tcriun5 TO brcatnU the free air OF tn ls
cline and IL was to South Carolina
that the French tlugucnots turned,
when, wcHricd and dishearLcncd from
the religious intolerance Of d bigutcd
monarch, they answered tho revoca-
tion Of tho edict OF Mates by planting
Lhoir feet on this sOli to live IN an at
mosphere OF peace, and worship in the
anmoie oiestedlcOmfOrt OF .cuntDuLmcnt and
serenity. 1t was on this shore, at
Georgetown, that the immortal La
fayetto lirst put his feet on American
SOIL, when he came to draw his sword
ior American freedom, and, after the
lapse ol a century. as If 81 signify to
Inc world that South Carolina WIS
hrst In the new roll call rf patriots, it
was her sons who received the first
shot ut Sumter and hor sons who first
turned from thoir fields and their
homes to bare their bosoms to the con-
ilict or tho war OF tho Conferncy.
If the past has its lessons for the
future, let us profit by it! AS brave
as were our ancestors, let us be For
nu Oh | mi n, 80