Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-07-31

are ever permitted 10 get at tne dcludl
facts.
The Right of Free Speech.
Taking into consideration all the cir
cumstances, the action Of the state ex-
ecutive committee last Thursday night,
in attempting to slur the Democracy Of
Senator McLaurin by the adoption Of
a resolution calling upon him to resign
his seat in the senate, Is about the
most ,dastardly political development
that has been made public in this state
since Reconstruction days.
Everybody knows that notwithstand-
ing the repeated assertions of his enc
mics, the Democracy of Senator Nc
Laurin Is no more open to criticism
than Is the Democracy Of any other
public man in the state, and at the
bottom of all this trouble Is nothing
more than the unreasonable jealousy
of Senator Tillman at the increasing
power and influence of his more able
and accomplished colleague. And al
though ostensibly the resolutions
adopted were the work Of the entire
committee, or at least q Of the 26 men,
bers present, there are few people who
are willing to concede that any part Of
the responsibility rests other than upon
the well-known bossism Of Senator
Tillman, and that the committeeman
voted as they did simply because they
dared not antagonize the wishes Of the
man upon whom they very properly
look as the supreme dictator Of the
party organization, and as the only
source of all favors that are to be OBJ
tanned except through merit.
1t is a well-known fact tnat however
wen yersed Senator McLaurin may be
in politics, it has never been his Gus
tom to try and 'tamper with represen-
tatives of the people. 1t has been his
policy to deal directly with the people
themselves and to look to the people
only as the proper and final judges
Of all his actions. For instance, at
Gaffney, he took occasion to say that
he was not personally acquainted with
even a half dozen clerks of the court In
South Carolina, meaning by this that
he was not trying to keep himself in
power by standing in with local poll
ticians, supposed to have more. or less
influence with voters. Those who
know Senator McLaurin best, under
stand the truth and significance Of
what he said, and how, instead Of try
ing to strengthen himself by pandering
to the ambition, cupidity and vanity Of
a few local leaders, he seeks support
and endorsement only as the result Of
his efforts in behalf Of the best welfare
Of the whole people. The opposite pol
icy of Senator Tillman in this respect
is not we'll understood by the masses;
but it Is by all the political leaders of
great or small influence, throughout
the state. The contrast between the
two men is best illustrated in the de-
velopments of the past few months.
The. action Of Senator Tillman,
the executive committee, at
Columbia, last Thursday, can be. more
comprehended when con-
sidered in connection with some Of the
at Gaffney last May. 1t
will be remembered that Senator Nc
Laurin went to Gaffney upon invita-
tion to discuss various national ques-
tions, and that as the result Of Sena-
tor Tillman's forcing himself upon the
occasion, there followed bitter per-
sonal dispute. Senator McLaurin
that he stood for free
thought and free speech in South Caro-
lima, while Senator Tillman' stood for
their suppression, and he thus forced
Senator Tillman to declare: II want
him to go into the primary and will
oppose any effort that might be made
to keep him out Of It," Not content
with this, the senior senator gave ex-
preston in affected glee to the pleasure
he would feel at the spectacle the
junior senator would present when the
people were done with him after the
election.
Notwithstanding what Tillman said,
there were among those present who
did not believe a word Of it. This de-
veloped an hour later, during the cor
between the two senators
over the proposed wording of their let
ter Of resignation. It had come to the
point where there was about to be an
agreement that the resignation should
take effect Internationally on Septem-
ber Is, leaving to the executive COM
mittee full discretion in the arrange
ment of details. Senator McLaurin
had already tried, without success, to
get Senator Tillman to agree to fall
campaign between Tillman and Nc
Laurin only, and when it came to sign
ing the unconditional resignation, one
of Senator McLaurin's friends advised:
Senator, don't commit yourself to
like that without stipulating
the conditions; most of the executive
committeeman are subservient tools of
Tillman, and he will do you dirt
through them as sure as he gets the
opportunity" BY way of reply. Sena-
tor McLaurin signed the paper, and
then said: When it gets to the point
that I cannot trust the people Of South
Carolina to do what Is right. I do not
want this or any other public office"
The developments in Columbia last
Thursday night have proved that Sem
ator McLaurin's friend had q pretty
good idea of the situation; but they do
not affect in the least the position that
Senator McLaurin occupied when he