Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-07-28
TILLMAN AND The PREACHERS.
The Senator Persists In CHASING Them as
Allies of the Tigers.

The Senator Persists In CHASING Them as
Allies Of the Tigers.
The Southern Christian Advocate, of
July 26, contains the following, ad-
dressed to Rev. J. o. Wilson, the edi-
itor, and which also appears in the dai-
ly papers of the same date:
DEAR SIR Il have your letter of
July %, asking if my speech at Ben
nettsville was correctly reported.
do not recollect the exact words ] used
at Bennettsville but they are in effect
true as quoted, and inasmuch as the
district conference of the Methodist
church, under the leadership of Bishop
Duncan, has taken the matter up, and
the bishop is reported to have "nailed"
my utterances "as lie," while the re-.
port of the committee on temperance
denounced any insinuation that the
efforts of Christian ministers and other
citizens to rid the state of this gigantic
evil is sought or voluntary combina.
tion with the saloon element as base
slander, that is itself an attempt to
strengthen this most damnable iniqui.
ty," will take the occasion offered by
your inquiry to make an announce
ment, over my own signature, of what
I said and meant at Bennettsyille. Of
course the reporter gave only the
barest outlines. ~
/ I have no quarrel with the ministers
of any church or denomination and
have no purpose to give offense to any
of them. have always borne testi-
mony to the high character and purity
of purpose characterizing the ministry,
but believe they are wrong in fight
ing the dispensary law as they do, and
claim the right to say 80, acknowl-
edging at the same time their right to
freedom of speech and freedom of
political action on this and every other
Isubject.
I mentioned the attitude of the min.
listers incidentally as an illustration of
the anomalous political situation. The
ministers attack the dispensary be-
cause it does not 60 far enough, and
the high-license people and the blind
tigers, whom I designated as the "old
barkeepers," attack the dispensary be-
cause it goes too far. They are thus
found fighting side by side in the cam
paign. There is only one candidate in
the field for governor opposed to the
dispensary, Colonel Hoyt, and all of
these elements are allied to his support,
and the proof is that Charleston, in
the last gubernatorial election, voted
for Featherstone and prohibition, when
it is notorious that the whisky element
in that city is predominant and that
the dispensary law is not enforced,
mainly by reason of the lax morals of
the grand jurors, who have failed to,
discharge their duty under oath.
Colonel Hoyt, last winter, in his pa
per, The Mountaineer, urged coalition
between the high license people and
the Prohibitionists in the general as.
sembly in order to repeal the dispensa-
Try law. Colonel Hoyt seeks the gov
ernor's Office, and, of course, wants
votes. am opposed to his election
solely On these grounds, and called at
tention to the elements supporting
him. There may be no open "alli-'
ance," and technically. L may have been
in error in asserting it; but think it
permissible to declare all the suppor-
ters of any one candidate "allies,"
and if the Methodist ministers who ac-
cused me of slander will show that
tbey do not intend to work to the
same end as the barkeepers, for the
overthrow of the dispensary, I will
then consider the propriety of an apol-
ogy. Until such proof is given, l shall
stand by my guns. If Methodist
bishop chooses to call me a liar, and
the church temperance committee feels
constrained to denounce my opionion
of existing conditions as ISLANDER"
the people of South Carolina will judge
between US. If they can stand it, I
can.
long ago learned,
EVIL is wrought from want of thought,
AS well as want Of heart"
When good men find themselves in bad
company they usually pause to consid-
er how they got there, and whether
they are not in fault to some extent.
There is no concealment about it,
and the editor of The State, who is the
spokesman of the license element, has
announced his position clearly and
openly. The denial by the preachers
that the combination is "sought" cuts
no figure. 1t exists, and that is all
asserted, and to my mind it is Gun
holy" and must make every good man
feel uncomfortable.
If the dispensary is overthrown
every practical man knows that sa-
looms will be re-established in less than
five years. I would deplore such
result as great loss to society, and
know many preachers are of the same
opinion. shall yet hope to see all
good men of all classes united to make
the dispensary the success it can be-
come. 1 believe prohibition is Tro-
jan horse by which the saloons want
to again enter our state. The whisky
men believe the same thing. I am
against the saloons and all of their
friends, whether they be good men