The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1897-06-01
N. C. BUTLER REPLIES TO T|LLMAN.
A WARM REJOINDER TO THE
"REVISED LETTER"

"REVISED LETTER"
Tho Ex-senator Asks His Successor
to Answer a Plain Question-The
Issue Cannot Be Evaded.
To the Editor of The State;
l observe in the modified state.
ment" of b. r. Tillman, published in
Inc State OF the 23d instant, he lugs
my name into his labored effort at vim
dlcation. The statement from begin.
ming to end Is more in the nature of q
confession and avoidance" than q vim
d1cation. Expletlves and SANDERS, his
favorite weapons Of controversy, will
not satisfy an inquisitive public, which
Is getting down to more serious form
Of enquiry.
He says when these stale ISLANDERS
about rebates under my administration
were put into circulation by the news:
papers and taken up by General Butler
| In the canvass three years ago, met
them promptly and vigorously at Union
and elsewhere, and last winter Joined
with Governor Evans in asking that
the Legislature should appoint u COM
mlttee to look into the dispensary's
| management and set the charges of
corruption at rest forever"
This is very general, evasive and err
roneous. In the first place the stale
slanders" were not "taken up by Gem
erai Butler" by anything derived from
The newspapers" Here Is what oc-
Cured at Union. l had received a
communication from gentleman in
Charleston, not o newspaper man, in
forming me that by the terms Of the
whiskey trust agreement, every mem.
Der of the trust WAS bound 10 pay d re-
pate oi seven cents gallon 10 al who
purchased thousand gallons or up
ward, that Is to say, was bound un-
der the trust agreement to pay back
seven cents on every gallon thus bought;
that the Nj LII Creek distillery of Ollo
was u mem ber Of tie trust, and there
fore bound to retIrn this rebate; that
as Governor Ti'iman, as chairman of
the board OF control, and understood to
be the sole responsible head, had pur-
chased larY5 quantities of liquor from
the Mill Creek distillery, he ought to
have received large sums from the Mill
Creek distillery, running up into tho
thousands of dollars. This is substan-
TALLY the Information | received
from an entirely reliable, experienced
source.
This communication got into The
News and Courier and can be found in
the files Of that paper of that date, be-
fore had an opportunity to use it on
the stump, in this way:
AT meeting preceding the one at
UnlOn. do not now remember where,
NJ. KOhn, the correspondent of The
NeWs and Courier, asked me IL | had
any manuscript l expected to use,
would let him have 1t in advance, 80
that he could make a copy at his leis-
ure, and thereby save him the labor
when sending of his dispatches.
lgave him the memorandum furnish
ed me as above stated, eDjoining him
not to publish it until / had embraced
IL In some subsequent speech. Mr..
Kohn, through inadvertence, suppose,
| forwarded 1T to his paper, and 1T was
published before | had an opportunity
to refer to it.
Mr.. Kohn afterwards told me he had
informed Governor Tillman it had teen
| published without nay authority.
Notwithstanding this information,
Governor Tillman having the opening
speech at Union, made this publication
| the text for violent, coarse, vulgar
| attack on me, stirring up the passions
| OF few rutfians and blackguards in the
audience, and then when l got up to
| reply, the ruffians attempted to brow
beat and howl me down. When the
excitement was at its height and trou.
BILE seemed imminent, Governor Till
man, as usual, left the stand and sought
q place Of safety. In the course OF his
rioaldry and vituperation he denied
having collected the rebates and en-
| deavOred to take refuge from the awk-
ward dilemma in which he found him
self by raising other and false issues,
having no relevance to the rebate
question. When l replied, said,
among other things. that there were
but two alternatives, either Gov. Till
man had collected the thousands Of
dollars OF rebates from the Mill Creek
distillery and not accounted for them,
or had been guilty of grave and CEN
surable derelicti0n OF official duty in
not collecting the rebates and turning
them into the State treasury for the
benefit of the taxpayers.
No charges were made, but simple
enquiry which any taxpayer had a
right to make, q d any honest man
VOL i have invited and answered dis
passionately and frankly. There was
no occasion for such an outburst OF
coarse ribaldry and unseemly passion.
The controversy stands to-day where
1t was left of at Union nearly three
years ago, except that the suspicion ol
crOokedness in regard to the rebates
tNo 'Sch tuuShoihch ny % hlCI
Governor Evans, his friend and cola
borer in the dispensary business, Ii
charged with having made to Mr.. Mix
} son, late chief dispenser, to the effec
that "Ben Tillman had lined his pock
cts with rebates" Aud further, by re
, cent intimations and suggestions or
: the same line from some OF Governor
! Tillmsn's closest, and, as Is generally
supposed, most confidential persona
, and political friends. Now, the simpl,
7 aud only question as to this branch o
: the dispeIsary management involving
l hundreds Of thousands OF dollars to tn,
, taxps srs, 10, were the rebates OF sew
en- cs "per gallon collected from tn
: Mill =. e6 disti!lery and other whis
: key dealers, and II not, why not.
Governor Tillman carnotj sidetracl
: this m0mentous issue by Itirades O
. abuse against newspapersl and an
i and every body who chosee tvexercis
: sheir rights 40 free and unt4rrltietyc tycIl
. izeus.