The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1902-04-02
COL. JIM AND THE SENATE.
Hitherto Unpublished Story of his Con.
duct and Rulings.
Columbia Record, March .,

Columbia Record, March 21.
The State this morning makes pub.
lie some correspondence between its
edisor and Speaker Henderson and
Senator Frye in reference to their
opinion as to certain parliamentary
ruling and what they said about il
waen requested to give an opinion by
Lieutenant Governor Tillman.
That tho lieutenant governor had
made false statement as to the pur-
port of the two gentlemen's opinions
was known of oil Senators just before
t@e adjournment. The question was |
as TO whether motion to indefinitely
postpone was debatable. Col. Tillman |
decided that it was not. The practice
of the Senate had always been to de- |
bate this motion, and the ruling of the
chair was evidently SO arbitrary and
of 60 far reaching an effect that the
Senators felt that they could no longer
stand the constant interference with
the proper conduct of business of the
Senate by these almost hourly i'm
proper rulings on the part of the chair.
The conduct Of the lieutenant COVER
nor was often most disrespectful to
Senators, and he treated them moro
like set of school boys rather than
mon, and men some of whom were
adopts In parliamentary usages before
the lieutenant governor was out of
/ knee breeches. The Senators, with
unexampled moderation, silently bore
all this. until one of his rulings made
( almost any motion that could be made
non-debatable, and business of the
Senate might have been brought to n
standstill.
A question coming up, Senator Gray
don moved TO indefinitely postpone il,
and proceeded to debate tho motion.
He was called to order. This brought
things to crisis, and, with his feel
ings lily concealed, Senator Graydon
appealed from the decision of the chair.
After some little delay, the motion was
put, and the ayes voted, not loudly but
Enthusiastically, against sustaining the
chair. Before the nays were called for
the chair went into long explanation,
after which Senator Graydon withdrew
Ills motion. This action was explained
afterwards privately on the ground
that there was already q deep feeling
on tho part of Senators, but that they
!, didn't want an open rupture with the
lieutenant governor; that they would
rather bear in silence the wrongs and
insults constantly heaped upon them
than create n scene or bring about O
! condition which would reflect no credit
| upon the State in calling to general
! public attention the conditions which
led to such conduct on the part of the
chair. 1t was considered, too, that this
was the last time that Col. Tillman
! would preside over the Senate, and
Senators felt that they, for the sake Of
the State. would bear the conditions
! under which they were laboring for a
! short while longer.
For some reason the lieutenant gov
ernor believed, or pretended to believe,
that the Senate would have sustained
him 1t Senator Graydon had not with
drawn the appeal, when to everybody
else 1t was quite evident that the viva
vOce vote was nearly unanimous
| against him. But Col. Tillman an
nounced that he would get the opinions
OF Speaker Henderson, President Of
the Senate Frye and ex-Speaker Thom-
as B. Reed. He reported later that
the two first named had sustained him.
But he never showed their replies.
Reed decided against him. and this he
did show, at least to a Record repre-
sentative.' However, he did have
spread on the journal of the Senate O
statement to the effect that Speaker
Henderson and Senator Frye had sus-
tanned him.
Some of the Senators thought their
decision as reported very strange, and
one member of the committee asked
the lieutenant governor to be allowed
to see their replies. Colonel Tillman
showed him the Reed reply, which was
against him, but stated that he had left
the other replies in his room. That
was the end of that incident and this
Senator never saw the replies.
Senator Blakeney, chairman Of the
committee on rules, wrote letter to
Messrs. Henderson and Frye, stating
the question at issue. and alec sending
them copy of rule ia, which covered
the point. He also told them what the
lieutenant governor : ri reported as
their op.aion. He gol reply in writ
ing, in which they said their opinion
had been stated directly opposite to
what 1t really was by the lieutenant
governor. Officially Senator Blakeney
made no use Of the correspondence,
bnt all the Senators were made aware
OF it, as we'll as newspaper men. AS it
was the close Of the session, and as it
was considered that no immediate
good could be accomplished by giving
publicity to the facts. nothing was