The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1901-04-24
DEFENDS HIS VOTES
Senator J I'm =. ..McLaurin Fires
His First Gun.
A REAL CAMPAIGN OPENER.
The Work fer Southern States
man as He Secs y. Insists
on Being independent
on Great Issues

on Great Issues
Senator John L. McLaurin spoke a!
follows at the banquet Of the Southern
Manufacturers Club at Charlotte OF
Thursday. He said:
Idesire to make statement Of some
what personal nature before proceed
ing with this speech, which intend tc
deliver tonight. A certain newspaper
correspondent in the city Of Washing
ton has persistently spread the report
that I was coming to Charlotte to make
3 speech which would launch new
party in the south. The report is ab.
solutely false. If I had any such in
sention good taste would prevent me
from taking advantage Of an oppor,
sunity Of this kind. I sm content to
advocate within Denocratlc lines the
polices which believe to be best for
the south, apd when I can no longer do
this am ready TO retire TO private life.
In the south We are today realizing
some Of the dreams Of It's far.reaching
statesmen and business men Of fifty
years sso. With prophetic eye, they
saw the industrial and commercial pos
sibilities Of our highly favored south
land. With an advance Of thought that
is really surprising, they suggested en-
terprises Of wonderful magnitude for
its upbuilding and commercial domi
nance. From 1898 to 1860, canven
tons were held to voice the demands Of
deepseatei public sentiment tor in
dustr,al progress. The story Of these
movements is chronicled in South
S9srclina publication, which, under the
name Of Debow's Review, did for the
old south what the Manufacturers Re
cord is doing for the south todsy.
The same spirit which enabled our
fathers to leave the field Of defeat with
nothing but their courage and their
characters left, still live in the south,
and inspires you today in your great
undertaking. The plans Of the great
southern business men and statesmen
Of fifty years ago are no longer idle
6resms. Postponed By & cruel war
which destroyed our social and indus
rrlaI system, and which for years reach
ed cooperation in national undertak.
ings almost impossible, such men as l
meet hers tonight are making these
dreams sctual living realities.
Talk about the New South" the
name is q misnomer. It is the same
old spirit revived which sixty years ago
made the south the dominant power in
this nations position OF which moth
ing but var could have robbed her.
What We need now to again attain that
proud eminence is the same broad con
eeption and the same comprehensive
grasp Of the true situation. The las.
swenty years have wrought 81 industrial
revolution in the south, which must
find expression in our social and pOlltl
cal life.
The time is past for the discussion as
to whether this government is to be one
consolidated in It's structure Or loose
segregation Of $50 calleo) sovereign
States. The civil war settled thai.
It is useless to discuss the question Of
whether this is to be . purely theo
retical Democratic government or an
expanding and giant Republic. The
Spanish war settled that. Why not
then sccept conditions as they are and
make the most Of them?
The agitation Of such Issues oaly
serves to sidetrack broad American doc
trines and should not be made party
questions because they grow out OF
actual political and economic con.
ditions, which it is beyond the power
of either party to change. care not
of what political faith the occupant Of
the white house might have been; for,
il q true American, mindful Of the
honor and dignity Of the nation, the
result of the Spanish war could not be
widely different from whss they are to-
day. Why should our people be the
only onss TO close their eyes to what is
going Oh? Why should We move along
IN the same old ruts and insist that
political Policies and old traditions,
long since dead are vital living issues,
and depend upon them for the SAWS
ton Of the south?
The triumphant reelection Of Mr..
Mckinley in the last campaign is full
of significance. It is 8 stubborn fact
confronting the Democratic party to-
dsy; suggestive Of reproachful remen-
brances and fearful menscer. What .
reflection that this new Democracy did
not carry a State where the ISSUES
were discussed and judgment passed By
the people upon them on their merits.
OF course with Us it has been impos-
sible to decide elections upon issues.
Il has been simply question Of white
supremacy. In the north and the west,
dissolved into factions, tainted By the
errors Of republicanism and the follies
of populism, the party could not with,
stand the tide of popular opposition
excited By unreasonable criticism Of
the conduct Of foreign war, and BY
the.vicicus and inceRdiary appeals made
during the last month cf the campaign
to class hatred and prejudice.
Fundamental principles wera LOST
sight Of, and in an insane effort to Sc
cure party success st any cost, the AZ
tempt vas made to combine socialism
oopulism and secsionalisn, with moth
ing but the sentiment and traditions o.
Democracy. The real Democratic lead
ers Of the senate for the past three
7ears have been Allen, Teller, anc
Pettigrew, all Of them sole men, Du'
ons = populist, one a high-tsrlf Re
nnblicsn. and the other, l do not know
vhar All Of them opposed to State
hanks Of issue with proper safeguards
and most other things We need IN th'
south. This was called the New
Democracy" in contradistiDction from
the old, and some Of its leaders statet
sb.s ;ts o-oe5, ve-e revolutionary apt