The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1901-09-04

entertaining the views he ex-
pressed to me, he voted for the
resolutions denouncing Senator
McLaurin, and l said to him:
"Colonel, you endorse McLaurin
on three of the four questions
which the committee take issue
with, and the fourth question
the ship subsidy bills not a
party principle, nor did Senator
McLaurin vote for a ship subsidy
bill" explained that Senator
McLaurin in speaking to the
resolutions he introduced at the
instance of the Southern Cotton
Spinners' Association, incident
ally expressed his approval of
the business policy of giving aid
to the American merchant ma
rine, that our people might get
the benefit of competitive ship
ping to foreign ports, but that
| there had never been a vote on
the bill, and what is known as
the Frye-Hanna bill did not meet
with McLaurin's approval, but a
modified bill would get his sup
port; anyway it never reached
a vote and now lies among the
carried over or continued bills in
Congress. Colonel Lee seemed
to be under the impression that
the vote had been taken and
that Senator McLaurin voted for
lit. I presume my friend was too
busy in his law Office to watch
closely the proceedings Of Con-
gress, but if he will examine the
Congressional Record, with one
half the care he devotes TO the
Supreme court reports when he
has a doubtful case, he willkno
more of what has been done e.
Congress.
Having had an interview with
Colonel Lee, and finding that
where he differed from Senator
McLaurin was only on a point
upon which he was laboring un-
der a misapprehension, I was
amazed at the language he used
in his reply to the Magill circu-
lar, I rather expected that he
would have acknowledged his
mistake and expressed regrets for
being a party to an injustice,
but when he said: "Senator
McLaurin by his course in Con-
gress has not been faithful to
the trust reposed in him by the
Democratic party of South Car
olina," I feel in duty bound to
nv friend to PROFOUND questions
to him which indicated his views
expressed to me.
Colonel Lee says his ssviews
on public questions are, l be-
Ilieve, we'll known. No, they
are not, for they do not seem to
be well known to himself, then
how can they possibly 2e we'll
known to others.
What does a close reading of
his letter show? It shows an
attempt to confuse the issue by
answering questions I did not
ask. I never asked one thing
about tariff, yet he makes a
punching bag of the tariff ques-
ton, and proceeds to exercise
himself with it until he reaches
the conclusion that a man who
favors a protective tariff is not a
Democrat; but to crafty my
friend in his side-stepping tactics
with the hope that he will come
to the scratch later, I will take
a peep at the soundness of that
position. Colonel Lee claims to
| be a sound Jefersonian Demo
crat, because he favors a tariff
for revenue only. Does he not
know that many distinguished
Democrats in the past have fav-
ored a protective tariff? Samuel
J. Randall, the distinguished
Democrat who for years was the
Derqocraoy's floor leader in Con,
gress, and often spoken Of as a
nominee for President of the
Democratic ticket, was the
strongest kind of a Protectionist.
John G. Calhoun had the reputa'
ton of being &. Democrat and he
favored a protective tariff:
The first protective tariff bill
enacted by Congress had for its
author a South Carolina Demo
crat; other Southern Represen'
tatives have since favored a pro
tective tariff, Senator Tillman
among the number. There is a
diversity of opinion on this ques,
ton. Therefore it is no test OF
true Democracy. However the
tariff question is irrelevant and
has nothing to do with the ques'
tions propounded.
J, I asked Colonel Lee, "ls the
, question of ship or railroad sub
sides party principles?" This
question he proposes to answer
by stating his opposition to ship
subsidy legislation. He does
not answer my question at all,
but he goes off on an old thread
bare argument, or rather asser'
ton of politicians that all such
}; measures are 'steals," and in
tended for the enrichment OF
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