The Savannah morning news., 1902-04-26
TILLMAN AT HISBEST
SENIOR SENATOR BEGINS HIS
FIGHT ON MLAURIN.
HIGH PRAISE FOR HAMPTON.
CHARGES MET WITH wITHERING
SARCASM.

lima Following the Civil War and
the Manner ina which the Demo-
Gratis Overthrow the Carpetbag
Government and Regained Control.
Hampton Taught That am Inde-
pendent Was Worse Than a Radi-
cal-Pnrty Amity an Absolute Ne
cessity Now.
Manning, S. c., April Ex-senator B.
r. Tillman to-day addressed crowd
of 1,500 people here. The editor of the
Clarendon county newspaper Louis A.
Applet, formerly an enthusiastic fol-
lower of Senator Tillman, but more re-
Gently an ardent advocate of CONNER
cial Democracy" and supporter of SEN
ator McLaurin, had for several months
made numerous charges against Sena-
tor Tillman, claiming that he had re-
ceived rebates from great whiskey
firms dealing with the South Carolina
dispensary. The charges fell fiat before
Senator Tillman's statements, and the
accuser was met with a torrent of
whitening sarcasm, which reminded
some present of Tillman's fierce cam
paign of 1890.
Senator Tiflman took the opportun-
ity to announce his views Of the status
of the South Carolina Democracy and
of his relations thereto. He paid a
warm tribute to the late Gen. Hamp-
ton, declared the absolute necessity for
party solidity in this state; denounced
Senator McLaurin's alleged detection
from the Democracy, and suggested
that the party exact such pledges of
party fealty from candidates as would
rule out from nomination any so-called
Democrats of the McLaurin type. He
acknowledged having accepted frank
from the Western Union Telegraph
Company, which was the only one of
Editor Appelt's charges which was sub,
Stimulated.
AS to his speculations, he said that
he held 81 200 in a Texas oil well, in
corporated under the laws of Texas,
that it became a New Jersey company
after he went into it, and that he ex-
pected to lose all the money he had
put into it. 1t was a pure specula-
ton. While he like to speculate he
never played cards or bet on horse
races. He admitted that he had lost
considerable money in cotton futures,
and that to-day he owed more money
than when he went to the United States
Senate, and that if he were a dishon-
est man he need never owe a cent, but
could make plenty Of money.
The Party's Peculiar Position.
Senator Tillman said in part:
The Democratic party in South
Carolina has occupied a peculiar po-
sition for twenty-five years. The
whites are in the minority in this state,
and under the reconstruction dispen-
sation there were some $4,000 more ne
r@AD
quence was that after the overthrow
of the carpetbag government in 1876
we adopted system of party govern
ment and the white people of the state
were educated in the employment Of
political methods that obtained hardly
anywhere else. We have had an inn
perium in imperio. or a government
within government. Democracy has
meant white supremacy, and Repub-
licanism meant negro equality. The
necessity of white unity overshadowed
the other considerations.
His Tribute 80 Hampton.
1.-THE lamented Hampton taught us
that an independent was worse than
radical
Like all of his actions and utter
ance in those trying days that advice
was the very essence of wisdom and
patriotism. His clear judgment, his
most distinguishing characteristic,
saw the danger of the state of a De-
mocracy split into factions and appeal
ing to the colored vote. And / take
this occasion to say that no other liv-
ing South Carolinian more willingly
or gladly pays tribute to his leadership.
or has better realization of the in
valuable services to his people and
the state rendered by this great man
in '76.
at was only after the revolution of
1890 that there was anything like free
dom of political utterance and action.
The convulsion which brought this
about also brought with it an attempt
on the part of those who were in the
minority to withstand the popular will:
the Haskell movement was based large
ly on personal opposition to me, and
there was never any question in regard
to the loyalty of those who supported
Judge Haskell to the general principles
of Democracy in the nation The
new constitution adopted in 1895 has
eliminated for the present the negro
majority. The number of negroes ELI
gible to vote does not exceed 10000
but it is constantly increasing, and
there may be a good many thousand
who are not registered who would be
eligible to registration.
Senator McLaurin's Course.
There have been in the recent past
evidences of Republicanism cropping
out in South Carolina in various di-
rections, and there is no doubt that we
shall soon have a white Republican
party appealing to the negro voters.
The action of one of your United States
senators in advocating Republican doc
trines and voting with that party on all
essential measures, contending all the
while that he is a Democrat and that
he has the right to determine what
Democracy means, has brought things
to a focus. The Democratic party in
South Carolina, and it is well under
stood that the state Is overwhelmingly
Democratic, has a right to be honestly
represented in the Senate and in the
House, and, in fact, / do not believe
the Democrats of the state would in
tentionally and willingly elect any man
to any office whose Democracy was
unsound if they knew It. Our present
danger is Republicanism In the dis
guise of Democracy. Therefore, The
question has been raised. and it is now
an issue, and it must be settled as TO
what constitutes Democracy and who
shall define 1t.
Must Revise the Pledge.
I'VE must have a revision Of the
pledge given by candidates. which will
make II impossible for any honorable
man not q Democrat 20 secure the
nomination. If we are 10 keep the
party from being stabbed IN the back,
and not have a repetition Of the pres
ent disgraceful state Of affairs.
Al this time South Carolina has no