Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1901-09-26
PITCHFORK TILLRAN.
Defense Of Leader in South Carolina Pol
itiCs.

N'S'SN " q @oau0I w OVuth tai VtiHo W
itiCs.
Editors News:
In recent issue of the Chattanooga
Daily Times we noticed the following
statement:
There now, we knew il was coming.
Those very stentorious gentlemen who
nave been asserting and sustaining the
dfVlne right of Pitchfork Tilman to read
senator McLaurin out OF the democratic
party will find something exceedingly
interesting in recent issue of tho
dfeenYille, South Carolina, News in
which well-known democrat declares
That Senator Tilman, no less than eight
times from 1894 to 1896 declared that
ne was ready to leave the democratic
party. That was during the days OF
the greatest influence of populism and
this political scavenger holding opin-
ions solely for the usufruct they might
bring, was ready to be anything, to
sacrifice anything to hold his Office
The fusOn of 1896 anchored him again
In democracy until such time as it
might be advantageous to his personal
fortune to be something else. And who
attempts to read democrats out of the
party"
In the first place we do not believe
that Senator Tillman ever threatened
to leave the democratic party. We be-
lieve that Senator Tillman is as true to
the democratic party as the democratic
party is to democratic principles, but
when the democratic party is convert
ed into piece of political machinery,
ruled and controlled by autocrats and
political schemers, then it is to leave
the democratic party and return to the
democratic principles.
The truth of the business is the Court
house rings in South Carolina have
sucked the old political COW until
she has about gone dry, or at least Till
man has got the teat, and instead OF di-
viding the milk with the Greenville
News and other papers which support
the court house Office seekers, he is di-
viding it with the farmers, mechanics,
ETC. II we had more Pitchfork Till
mans in the country to-day we would
have more milk to drink and butter to
eat, and there would be more little
court house papers raking the man who
milks the COW. What we want is more
men in Office who will skim the milk
and give the cream to the people, but
instead of that the politicians of to-day
skim the milk and give the people the
whey, or nothing.
The democratic party is the democrat
party as long as it is true to democratic
principles. When it becomes untrue to
democratic principles it is not demo-
cratic He only, who is true to demo-
cratic principles, is democrat
say that Senator Tillman held the
democratic party together. Georgia
drifted into populism. The strong mind
of Ben Tillman held the democratic
party together in South Carolina. Our
well-known democratic brother has
only found a source through which to
express his rage at the success of Sena-
tor Tillman in bringing prosperity to
the laboring people Of South Carolina.
We say what we have said upon good
authority and say further that we had
a Pitchfork Tilman or two in the state
of Tennessee the present existing state
of affairs would not be. Think of law
which puts a man in a stall to vote and
II he don't eat his hay in five minutes
kick him out of the ballot box. Think
of law which gives me authority to
kill dog and another man authority to
indict me for killing him. Think of
law which compels me to work ave or
more days on the public road, while
convict is laboring to produce the things
which bring me my means of livelihood.
Then tell me that we don't need some
body to burst up the court house rings.
Fellow citizens of Marion county and
of the State of Tennessee, we have been
down beneath the surface, the waves OF
political debauchery have beat upon
the shores of justice but we are getting
our heads above the mud, we have wash
ed the sand out of our eyes and are be-
ginning to demand just treatment at the
hands OF political organization.
J. NJ. CRENSHAW.
Whitwell, Tenn, Sept "a, 1901.