The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1901-03-20
HAS BEEN TRUE.

before it, endorse all the positions
he has taken as Uoited States Sen
ator, and in the second place, this
paper stands pledged to the support
Of the candidacy Of Colonel Willie
Jones, should he decide to enter the
race, as against the claims ofthose who
have or will come before The people
for elevation to this Office. Yet there
is a great deal in the political record OF
this much abused man that appeals
for endorsement to the common sense
of the people and the business inter-
eat Of the country. A spirit offairness,
ss we'll as the admiration for the man
as progressive Democrat and an
eminent and able statesman, impels
this newspaper to accord to him that
need of praise which he sorich!y de-
serves from the heart of a grateful
and appreciative constituency.
For exercising his own judgment
and in the performance of his duty as
he saw it for the best interest Of his
constituency, Senator McLaurin has
certainly created big sensation and
has brought down upon his devoted
head the unfa7orable comments OF
the moss back and hide bound jour
mails of this an adjoining States.
The refreshing and manly indepen-
dence of Senator McLsurin on many
crucial occasions, however, in refus-
ing to surrender his convictions on
national issues and blindly follow the
lead of party whips regardless of
what influence such action might exert
upon the business interests OF the
country, will IN the end WIN Tor him
the high regard and esteem OF the
more advanced thinkers of the age,
and history will yet write his name
high upon the scroll of fame as one
of the profoundest and most liberal
minded statesmen and The most
progressive Democrat the South has
ever sent to Congress.
Those who have risen up against
him and are crying SO Justify Cruelty
him! Cruelty him. are, as arule, first,
the most narrow minded, illiberal
spirited and uninformed element of
the party. They can be appropriately
classed as the old time and sworn
enemies of that faction of the State
Democratic party which has elevated
him to hia honorable position. They
are of that household of faith whose
essential tenet is their divine right
tointerpret the standards of the party
and refusal to accept their interpre-
tation as infallible is, in their opinion
at least, traitofous to the party and
hence, worthy of the severess con-
demnatioD; and second, are politicians
whose dearest hope is to be benefited
BY the downfall of Mr.. McLaurin
whose term in the Senate has been
marked with brilliancy that even
the misrepresentation of his detrac
tors cannot dim.
His severest critics are those who
are raking over the ashes of the dead
past and are endeavoring to revive
the days when the slave holding De-
mocracy was enthroned and dictated
the political policy of the Southern
States, making the blind allegiance
and implicit obedience to their man
dates, whether right or wrong, the
unvarying test OF ones loyalty to the
psity's principles. They have seem
ingly forgotten that the days OF star
chambers have passed and for one to
do his own thinking and to give ex-
preston to his own opinions is no
longer crime against high heaven.
Times have changed since those
good old days of the long ago and
with that change men and measures
have undergone complete transfor-
nation. The institution of slavery
has been abolished after destructive
war which left the South depleted,
impovished and Frustrated, with no
one to help her in her desperate ex-
tremity except the pitying arm OF the
omnipotent God. Men and boys
returned to their beloved Southland
to find their slaves wearing the livery
of free mer; their homes in ashes,
their stock stolen and their property
despoiled by the hand of the vandal.
New conditions confronted the South
and needs and necessities other than
those which obtained prior to the
war were to be provided for. The
political revolution of 1900 which
swept this State like cyclone, paved
the way for the adoption OF new ideas
and new policies and new measures
more in accord with the spirit Of the