Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-08-07


that there are some politicians that are
like unto them, as illustrated in ar
anecdote told by Governor Bob Taylor
Of Tennessee. He had 1t that on one
occasion all the animals met in q con.
vention to consider the right of suf.
| frage, and among the questions thai
came up was how the voting shoulc
be done. The raccoon suggested thai
each animal vote by raising his tail
This idea seemed to meet with pretty
general favor; but the fox, more
! shrewd and observant than the Other
animals, said it would never do. There
Is Brother Rabbit, for instance, who
will be able to vote only with great
difficulty, and as for Brother Billy
Goat, he will be voting on both sides
of every question all the time Laugh.
teri. Now, these gentlemen who will
address you today are not like the bill.
ly goat. They are on only one side Of
any question, and they will tell you
exactly where they stand" With these
preliminary remarks, Mr.. Brice intro
duced as the first speaker,
Hon. John j.. Hemphill.
Mr.. Hemphill began shis remarks by
expressing the pleasure 1t gave him tC
again address York county audience
He referred to his previous career In
politics and his long service in con.
gress, and said that many of his clos
est personal and political friends were
citizens Of York county. He saw be.
fore him many young people who had
grown up since his retirement from
congress, and whom he did not know
and he. declared that whether they
should come to know him in the fu-
ture, he would make 1t his business to
find them out and know them.
Continuing on this line, Mr.. Hemphill
went on to make few pleasant obser-
vations about the Woodmen organiza.
ton. He suggested that the name
Woodmen, seemed to reach back faI
enough, and that the place "of the
World" was broad enough to include
everything. Whether 1t did or not. he
did not know, 1t should certainly include
the women. If women were not ad-
mitted 1t was. perhaps, because Of the
secretness Of the organization. Wo-
men, as rule, take practical view OF
a secret, to the effect that It Is of nc
value unless they can get to tell It. and
this may be the reason they are ex-
cluded. 1t Is certainly not because the
women are not good enough to be
members: but 1t could easily be be-
cause they are too good for 1t. He was
sure that there was nothing too good
for the women,' and having given his
views on that subject, he got down to
the main object Of his presence-poli-
tics.
In old times, said Mr.. Hemphill
there used to be only one Democratic
party to which our grandfathers and
our fathers belonged, and it was good
enough for them. In these late years
we hear Of different new kinds Of Dem
ocrats. For instance there are the
Regular Democrats" the Progress
i've Democrats" and the Commercial
Democrats" So far as I am concern
ed. am plain, everyday Democrat
I have always believed in equal rights
to all. special privileges to none, and
that II the people are not able to gov
ern themselves, there Is nobody who Is
able to govern them.
Now, If there is anything new in De-
mocracy, and I think 1t good, am
willing to embrace It: but right here
am reminded of the old man who had
lived pretty much as he pleased all his
life and who, when he came to die, was
attended by a minister who was un-
dertaking to tell him Of the joys OF the
life to come. The minister asked him
II he was not willing to exchange for
the hardships Of this life an existence
in which he would have a harp IN his
hand and q crown upon his head.
Speaking Of the harp, he said he had
always used a fiddle and he would
not know what to do with the harp.
and as to the crown, he repudiated
1t emphatically, saying that, by jings.
he had always been a Democrat and
proDOsed to remain one.
Now I can understand the Democra-
cy of this old fellow all right; but this
new Commercial Democracy, cannot
understand. AS to whether 1t Is the
kind that is bought and sold like COM
mercial fertilizers do not know. Then
again, there are Expansion Demo-
Gratis" Now, expansion in a legiti-
mate and proper way Is all right; but
as we approach this question, 1t is
The Scriptures tell US that when a
man goes to build a house, the first
thing he should do Is to count the cost
Of 1t, and 1t seems to me that before
we enter upon a policy that contem-
plates the seizure and government OF
all the isles Of the sea, we should ask
ourselves the question as to what the
cost is going to be.
If we have to expand, there Is Cana
da to the north Of us, Mexico to the
south Of us, and the tropical islands to
the southeast Of us, all closer to our
boundaries and all peopled by races In
closer harmony with our civilization
and engaged in industries more closely
identified with our own. We can get
along very we'll with these; but when
1t comes to gathering In the Philippine
islands, 5000 miles away, and no man
L., n
their savage peoples, say we had bet
ter 60 slow and count the cost before
we proceed too far.
Those people who would commit US
to a policy of expansion that would
include these Philippine islands. have
a way Of pointing out the beauties OF
the scheme in glittering generalities.
They tell us Of the great ocean ships
that will be carrying commerce be-
tween the ports Of the United States
and Of the Philippines, and Of the ben
efits this will be in increasing the
price of our cotton and bringing US
wealth and prosperity; but they have
not been honest enough to Investigate
the matter for themselves and to give
us the actual facts. They remind me
of the old preacher who gave the
younger preacher advice about preach
ing a sermon. You make a mistake,
he said, ''in writing out your sermon.
AS you write, the devil looks over your
shoulder, gets all your points and then
goes to the members of the congrega-
ton and controverts them. AS for me
I never pretend to write a sermon. I
just go into the pulpit and take my
text. 1 don't know what I am going to
say; the people don't know what I am
going to say, and the devil himself
don't know what I am going to say"
And so it is with these expansion peo-
pie. They talk at random without
knowinp what thew are talking about