The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1901-05-30

|
J. my enemies, those who would condcm
L me unhcard, the GROWERS and whil
: ers, l care not Il red cent what the
t think, SO long that l know that al
3 honest.
, AM l MISTAKEN? ?
9 | desire now to take up some of IN
I votes and speeches, and address in,
y self to the question, Am l mistaken
f When l was placed on the Ways an
Means Committee Of the House, be
, gan a systematic course of reading 0
, the tariff question with reference to il
effect upon the people of the South
In March, 1897, made q speech i
which | embodied my views. ha
offered an amendment for a duty O
two and one-half cents per pound OF
:, cotton imports, and had made Ggh
III the Committee fora proper schedule
ON rice, pine lumber, turpentinc, cot
ton seed oil, oil cake, jute-bagging
cotton tics and the coarse grade o.
goods made in our Southern mills
This Is neither the time nor the place
TO go into discussion Of the tariff. !
can sum it up in the statement that |
did not discuss the question from q
thcorctic or philanthropic standpoint,
but merely claimed full share for the
South OF all tho benefits to accrue from
| legislation. | recognized the fact that
our revenues were to come from the
imposition of import duties, and as
serted that this beng true, it was but
fair to give each section and industry
a share OF the benefits, as the burden
| hnrnn hN oil ,lf
doctrine of free raw mat tcral as q CLAN
dcstlnc and un just form Of protection.
| | traced its history and showed that it
was devised and offered to the manu-
facturers Of the East by Mr.. Cleveland
III his first race, as form of protcc-
tlon. In other words, Roger &. Mills,
the chairman Of the Ways and Means
Committee of the House, was sent up
into the New England States to offer
them this " lcft-handcd prOtcction,n
while free trade was talked in the
South and West. 1t was mere party
cXpcdient to catch votes. ! think that
no political party will ever attempt
again such m0nstrous injustice. 1t
means that the farmers in this country
shall be forced to buy III Il restricted
ducts IN competition with the paupcr
labor of the world. | made this fight
FOR Southern industries while a mem
Der OF the House, when | had no idea
IN the world of going into the Senate.
1ou all remember what universal
chorus OF approval there was. Sena-
tons Tillman, Bacon, Clay and others
took up the same line in the Senate.
The News and Courier, the Columbia
State and ninety per cent. of the pa
pers Of the South commended my
course. | hazard little in saying had |
never been Il candidate for the Senate,
the wisdom of my course would never
have been questioned. | was strongly
urged to run for the Senate in 1896,
but l did not wish to leave the Ways
and Mcans Committee, and besides |
was thoroughly dsgustcd with the con-
aition OF affairs in South Carolina. |
could hear of nothing but charges of
corruption,' " bond deals" " whskcy
rcbatcs," etc. | did not wish to be
mixed up in such an affair however
it might cVentuatc, a man could not
but feel lowered and degraded by COM
ing in contact with such filth. felt
reasonably sure at that time that |
could have been elected to the Senate,
L was assured, by one authorized to
speak, that Judge Earle would not be
ii candidate If | ran but concluded
to go on III Il modest, quiet way and
work out my destiny in the House
This was not to be, however. 1t was
not intended that my lines should fall
III easy places. That pure man, chiy-
alrous gentleman and upright Judge
your townsman and my predecessor
lived but few short weeks. Governor
Ellcrbe rendered me the nomination
/ realized the radical nature OF some OF
my uttcranccs and votes, and while ]
could not forcsce what has happened
l knew my nature well enough TO feel
certain that having once enlisted in
the fight | would never turn back
while life lasted. !, Therefore, refused
to accept the appointment at the hands
Of Governor lGllcrbc unless he would
guarantee that the Executive Commit
tee would order primary and permit
the people to pass upon the issues
which l had raised.
CAMPAIGN OF 1897.
1t is unncccS~ ary for me to refer to
that bitter fight. You all remember
the meeting in Greenvillc, where | was
insulted, bullicd and baitcd like some
wild beast it was a sample of some of
the rest For myself am willing to
"Let the Gcad past bury its dead" |
have no ill-fccling towards any one on
account Of it. spoke, believe, IN
in every county in the State outside of
my Congressional District except three
| advocated my views not onl y on the
tariff but on what considered the real
line of policy to be pursued by South
crn Representatives. | carried about
eighty per cent. Of the vote cast and
every county except three, which were
lost from local considerations by small
margins. | wish | had time to recount
to the people what the rice schedule
which | got into that hill, has done for
the rice planters on ,hc coasts Of South
Carolina, the waste places it has re-
deemed, the thousands Of dollars IT. h ~
brought into this State. What the ,luly
on pine has done for the lumber inter
csts, which were being sacrificed to the