The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1897-06-03
N. C. BUTLER REPLIES 10 TILLMAN.
A WARM REJOINDER TO THE
"REVISED LETTER"
The Ex-senator Asks His Successor
to Answer q Plain Question-The
Issue Cannot Be Eyaded.
TO the Editor of The State.

10 tne hultOr Oh Ine state:
Esobserve in tho modified state
men" of B. r. Tillman, published II
The State OF the 23d instant, he lugs
my name Into his labored effort at win
dication. The statement from begin
ming to end Is moro In the nature of q
"confession and avoidance" than a vim.
dicatlon. Explosives and slanders, his
favorite weapons OF controversy, will
Is getting down to moro serious form
OF enquiry.
He says "when these stale slanders
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 q com
mlttee to look into the dispensary's
management and set the charges OF
corruption at rest forever"
This is very general, evasive and er.
roneOus. In the first place the "stale
ISLANDERS" were not "taken up by Cen
eral Butler" by anything derived from
"the newspapers" Hsre is what oc-
Cured at Union. | had received a
communication from a gentleman in
Charleston, not newspaper man, in
forming me that by the terms of the
whlskey trust agreement, every mem
per OF the trust was bound to pay re-
bate OF seven cents a gallon to all 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 Mill Creek distillery of OHIO
was a member of the trust, and there
fore bound to return this rebate; that
as Governor Tillman, as chairman of
the board OF control, and understood to
chased large quantities Of liquor from
the Mill Creek distillery, he ought to
have received large sums from the Mill
Greek distillery, running up into the
thousands Of dollars. This is substan-
TALLY the Information l received
from an entirely reliable, experienced
source.
This communication got into The
News Ind Courier and can bo found In
the files OF that paper Of that date, be-
fore l had an opportunity to use it on
the stump, in this way:
At meeting preceding the one at
Union. do not now remember whore,
Mr.. Kohn, the correspondent of The
News and Courier, asked me If | had
any manuscript l expected to use, |
would let him have it in advance, 80
that he could make Il copy at his leis.
ure, and thereby save him the labor
when sending Off his dispatches.
lgave him the memorandum furnish
ed me as above stated, eujoining him
not to publish 1t until I had embraced
1t In some subsequent speech. Mr..
KOhn, through inadvertence, / suppose,
forwarded 1T to his paper, and it was
published before [ had an opportunity
to refer to it..
Str. Kohn afterwards told n1e ne had
informed Governor Tillman it ad teen
published without my 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
audience, and then when l got up tu
reply, the rutfians attempted to brow
beat and howl mo down. When the
excitement was at it's height and trou
bic seemed imminent, Governor Til.
man, as usual, left the stand and sought
q place of safety. In the course of his
ribaidry 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 | replied, | said,
but two alternatives, either Gov. Tili-
man had collected the thousands oi
dollars of rebates from the Mill Creek
distillery and not accounted for them,
or had been guilty OF q grave and con-
surable dereliction 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 O simple
enquiry which any taxpayer had q
right to make, and any honest man
would have invited and answered dis
passionately and frankly. There WAS
no occasion for such an Outburst Of
coarse ribaIdry and unseemly passion.
The controversy stands to-day wher.
it was left off at Uuion nearly three
years ago, except that the suspicion Of
crOokedness In regard to the rebates
has been intensified by o remark which
Governor Evans, his friend and cola
borer in the dispensary business, ID
charged with having made to Mr.. Mix.
son, late chief Dispenser, to tho effect
that "Ben Tillman had lined his pock-
cts with rebates." And further, by re-
cent lntlmatlOns and suggestions or
the same line from some Of Governor
Tillman's closest, and, as Is generally
supposed, most confidential personal
and political friends. Now, tho simple
and only question as 70 thls branch OF
the aiGpensary management involving
hundreds of thousands of dollars to the
taxpayers, Ia, were the rebates OF sew
on cents per gallon collected from the
Mill Cree6 disti!lery and other whis-
key dealers, and II not, why not.
Governor Tillman cannot sidetrack
this mOmentous issue by TRADES of
abuse against newspapers and any
and every body who choses to exercise
their rights as free and unterrfieu Cit
liens.
1t is the duty and business of nows-
papers TO inform the public OF current
avents, and it is the business and duty
OF liberty loving citlzens to hold every
public official to the strictest account
ability for his official acts. The news.
1. H..