The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-08-10
POLITICS WARMING UP
EXCITING CAMPAIGN FOR SEN
 AToR IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
Evans, Latimer and Hemphill Lead ing Candidates-A Pr-mium on oratory-State's Past Giories
 in Statesmanship.

Politics are now at white heat in the State of South Carolina; the farmers are
 riding in some cases twenty-five TSes
 from home to attend the harangues of
 hours duration in the groves or court
 houses. preparatory to the coming or
 the first primaries The system in
 South Carolina is remarkably simple. The
 direct-nomination idea is carried out there In its entirety. and as a half-logical re-
 suit in one-party State. the election
 In November has become the merest for
 mality. holding about the same relation
 to these first and second primaries that
 the counting of the electoral vote here
 In February hold to the real Presidential battle in the doubtful States of the
 North. In the same way. the election of Senators by the Legislature is a mere formality: the nominee of the second Democratic primary is as sure to take the oath of office as Senator from South Carolina when the Fifty-eighth Congress assemblies as his life is to be spared until
 that time
 The primaries are conducted under the
 auspices of the Democratic Executive
 Committee of the State. with the party
 chairman of each county in charge of
 local details. All the candidates for the
 United States Senate tour the State in a
 body, appearing before the voters of each
 county. usually at the county-seat, at
 the same place and on the same day.
 Each man has a half-hour's' time in
 which to present his claims, and. with
 the six candidates now in the field, this means three hours of solid oratory on
 each occasion: but the farmers. 1t is said, in spite of the hot weather sigh for more. and express only regrets when so won derful a flow of what Speaker Reed used to call ''langwidge" comes to stand still. But they have the consolation that another oratorical tournament will fol- low. since the candidates for State off, cers, Governor. Superintendent of Edu- cation, etc, hold a tournament of the
 same kind. The people of the State reas- I t1ls 4I Itnxaa and retain all the arguments in behalf of all the candidates for all the offices if presented at a single sitting, and so they give themselves up on one day to listen ing to the senatorial question, and on | another day to such State questions as are involved in the choice of State off, cers.
 A Premium on Oratory. This system. it should be observed, puts a premium upon oratory: the man who proves the best talker presumptively wins | the most favor. and so South Carolina's s | of1ce-holders are not likely to be men l skilled in deep diplomacy or far-reaching strategy, unless they happen to be good | takers as we'll or men who can manip- I ulate check book. since, IS there are no | caucuses or conventions there is no one | to buy up, unless the voters masse
 are to be treated with donations. This
 may. then. be called the oratorical sys- | tenn.
 
 all over. the first primaries are held. In l them every candidate is voted for. while | at the second primaries, which come | later, the choice lies between the two | who received the highest number of
 votes at the earliest contest. The voting
 at these primaries is for all the officers | in sight, there being no division of State | and national issues as at the elocutionary l feasts.
 The country has an interest in the | pending contest in South Carolina for | the choice of United States Senator to | succeed John l.. Nc Laurin. who will soon | retire from the Senate, doubtless to enter | into some reward for rather faithful | adherence, as a representative of the new | South, to new Republican policies. The | candidates who are running for this high
 office and the character of the arguments | which they present. the personalities in | which they indulge, and the prejudices which they seek to invoke indicate in | some measure the decline which has
 come over the ancient commonwealth | In the vernacular of the region. John | Gary Evans. though an eX-Governor, is dismissed as a mighty cheap" article. | Evans came into power in the wake or | Tillman, but lacks his ability and vigor. | He caters to the prejudces of the back | country farmers. One Of the chief argu- ments which he advances in his own be- | half is that he warned the people six years ago that McLaurin was Republi- | can in disguise and since his prophecy has proved true he now asks that the voters believe what he has to say against the other candidates. His addresses are | largely occupied with personal abuse of | his rivals.
 The next candidate is Asbury Latimer, who has been in Congress about ten years. He is described as "a light weight" He was a farmer and became secretary of the Farmers Alliance. when | it got under headway dozen years ago and through the acquaintance thus form ed got into politics, and was finally elect | ed to Congress. At a recent meeting the | lie was passed between him and Evans | although both belong to the same faction
 of the party. and trouble was regarded | as so imminent mat the sheriff rushed | between the two men.
 A third candidate is Representative
 John J. Hempmn. He was driven out Of | public life with the rise of the Tillman
 movement. and for while was engaged | in Washington in the practice of law | That he remained so long out of the | State is said to be the greatest argu-
 ment now raised against him, It is be- | lieved that the mel successful Tn the | first primary will be two of these three. | although there are other candidates run
 ming who may develop conslderaoie
 strength. In the latter group are Will | liam Elliott of Beaufort-the only one 1 representing the old-line South Carolina
 oligarchy Hemphill being rated as a | self made man-and Jasper Ialpert' Wno | has made himself conspicuous in Con | NCiicS'A~ | to private pension legislation at the spe- l cial sessions unless the Republicans could | bring out a quorum and hold It. Ills | dehate with Barrett of Massachusetts. on | the subject of secession in which 'l n- | cle'' Jasper threatened to seCede again in
 case he was not treated well may be re | membered as one f the most interesting
 modern legislative incidents. The sixth ] C: ndidate is Representative JohnStone- | about whom little is known in this city. | It is believed here that if the conserVa-
 tive people in the State would throw | their strength pretty soidly for Hemp hill. he would get through the first pri- 1 mary at least. and even this would be a | substantial step in the direction of the | redemption of t.e State from that at
 mosphere of Cheapness and petty prelu-
 dice which has SO long enveloped its
 public affairs
 The States Past Glories. It is pathetic to contrast the intelec- | tual calibre of men like Evans and As | bury Iatimer with those who have rep | resented this great State in the Senate in
 the past The first Senators from South
 Carolina. under the constitution, were | Pierce Butler and Ralph 1zard. The lat l CT list includes Charles Pinckney, Thom- | as Sumter. Robert Y. Hayne. John Ew- | Ing Calhoun, John c. Calhoun. John Gail | lard, William C. rreston. George Nc | Duffie Wade Hampton and Gen. Mat | thew C. Butler. It Is doubtful if any l State in the South or, indeed. many in i the Union, have'been represented by men l who have made a more distinct mark on | the history of the country than those or ] south Carolina Webster was speaking | within bounds of exactness when he said
 of her statesmen: T partake in the pride 1 of her great names l claim them Tor | countrvmen. one and all-the Laurenses, l the Rutledges. the Pinckneys, the Sum | ters, the Marions-Americans all.