The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-02-26
TlLLMAN AND HIS CRITICS.
Demands that His Speech be Published by
the Papers that Abuse Him.

TlLLMAN AND HIS CRITICS.
Demands that His Speech be Published by
the Papers that Abuse Him.
The following letter from Senate,
Tiliman was published a few days age
in the New York World:
WASHINGTON, Feb. a My uniform
rule has been to treat criticisms with
silence. 1 break that rule now for g
purpose, and that is to challenge those
who have found so much to condemn
in my recent speech in the Senate to 9
trial before the jury of their readers,
in which l can have at least a show OF
justice. The New Y ork Times edito
rially ) terms me "a filthy baboon, the
New York Evening Post "a political
Anarchist" f" the World itself has used
the word "blatherskite," the Philadel
phia Record calls me ''the chieftain OF
Anarchists and the Globe Of St. Paul
says: This fellow brings to the Sen
ate the unsavory record he made IN
his State, character tattooed with
dishonesty"
These are few of the parliamenta
ry and elegant phrases employed By
the polite and refined editors OF some
of the leading newspapers as applied
to myself. They have not read my
speech, they dare not publish it in full
and, basing their criticisms upon few
garbled extracts in which I usec
strong language to express lndlgna
ton and contempt, they ask the peo
pie Of the country to render verdict
against me as coarse, brutal, lgno
rant, biackguard.
All the words and phrases which
occur in the speech to which they take
exception do lot exceed a dozen. They
neither add to nor take from the argu
ments and facts as presented. Not g
single one Of them is supplementary
and frequently, in the same Senate,
language as violent, as coarse and as
brutal has been uttered in the past by
q dozen men whose names are written
high in our countrys history.
If my language was uaparliamenta
| W and indecent, why did no Senate,
call me to orderl II the charges were
untrue, why has no Senator answered
them, and why do my newspaper crit
les not even attempt to answer them
Is it upparliamentary and indecent &C
tell the truth; Are we sunk to tha
low estate that falsehood and treach
cry and official dishonesty cannot be
mentioned without calling down an
avalanche OF abuse and SANDER
| What other Senators have whispered
among themselves l have spoken
aloud and in plain words. What
majority of the people Of the coun
try have thought and felt have ut
tered.
This is the sum of my offending,
and the hireling editors and reporters
who now degrade the so-called free
dom Of the press to so despicaole a
level may hatter themselves that they
create and control pnblic opinion, but
the thousands of letters that have
poured in on me from every quarter
of the Union, mostly from the North,
and from men engaged in every pur'
suit in life, have given me assurance
that the scales are falling from the
eyes OF the people and that the truth,
| bravely told, has sweet and whole
some sound. The American people as
whole, "the great common people,
love the truth, and they love THEN
country. They despise traitors and
thieves and towards. It is large
mass to move, but the leaven is al
work, and the issue is joined, and :he
result will be known on the day OF
election.
So far as I am individually con.
cerned, and so far as my speech is con,
cerned, care nothing for the abuse
heaped on me, and thank my critics
for directing attention to my utteran-
ces. When my facts and arguments
have been disproyed I will apologize
Until then decency demands that men
who abuse me for speaking the truth
should let their readers see it and
Judge for themselves, or reserve their
epithets for men of their own kind
who dread the truth end love coward
ice.
If there is no need of reform, reform
will not come. If I represent nothing
but ignorance and anarchy, why was
elected Governor of South Carolina
twice by such overwhelming majori
ties2 For four years as Executive,
! fought and abused by corporations
and banks and their hireling uewspa
: pers, why did my State send me tc
the Senate by vote of Isl out OF .
/ total of 100 in the Genera Assembly
During these four years the State ad-
vanced in material growth and IN
crease of taxable values more rapidly
than in any previous period OF its his
tory. 1t spent half million dollars
in the erection and equipment OF two
OF the largest colleges for 1ndustrla |,
technical and normal training IN the
South-one for each sex. And the
Constitutional Convention, with
which 1 had a great deal to do, fixed
constitutional taxes so Is to double the
free sc hool fund; the saloons have
been banished from the State, while
three,fou urths of the people, if nol
more, are firm supporters Of the ne"
method of handling the liquor traffic.
These facts, which are history, cauno!
be sneezed at nor obiii-raied.- Aaar
chists don't write such history.
; | have never shrunk from TIE lash
ings of newspaper scribbiers IN the
arena of State politics, and WI! nol
begin to do 50 in the broader deld tc
which my commission from the peo,
pie has transferred me Ii it b. the
fate O. this great Republic to sinh tc
! the level Of Rome when the Praeiorl'
an guards We're wo:.s 10 ppt the Enl
pe:orshjp up to ;h~ highest bidder; II
Congress is to become or remain the
coaardIy tool and purch ,sa5ie agent
of the wealthy if the Federal jHaici
ary are to undermine and destroy tie
Constitution, as foretold By Jefferson
if oar liberties are to be los. through