The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-01-26
GONZALES DEATH
 CLIMAX 0F FEUD A Bitter Political Struggle Ends
 in a Tragedy. THE CAREER OF PULLMAN .~a .. The lieutenant Governor of South 2 Carolina the Principal In
 Street Duel In His Home
 Town, Edgefleld.
THE CAREER OF PULLMAN
BY M. j. WALSH.

BY N. j. WALSH.
 The shooting of Editor N. G. Gonzales of Columbia, S. C., by Lieutenant Gov ernor TiiIman. Is the eliminating tragedy of the pent-up passions of the years of po- litIcaI strife in South Carolina.
 To realize the full meaning of the des- perate deed one must review the career of Senator B. R. Tlllman, the lieutenant governors uncle, from the obscurity of his little farm to the halls of the United States capitol. This career revolutionizes the politics of the state, involved the de- feat of the senator's brother, Congress- man George D. Tnlman, for many years one of the states ablest representatives, and made possible the election of the congressman's son to the position of lieutenant governor.
 When South Carolina fired upon Fort Sumter 1t was the men of landed estates, the rich planters. who organized and ht- ted out companies of soldiers and led the Confederate troops throughout that long struggle. When the bitter end came these men were the heroes of the Lost Cause who stood out prominently In the public eye and to whom the people turned In the days of reconstruction, when re- gently freed slaves sat In legislative halls and capitol offices, to lead them through political contests. often stormy and bioodstained. until white supremacy was restored in the conduct of the af- fairs of state.
 So 1t was that when the people of the south took advantage of the opportunity extended them by congress to again par ticipate in the legislative proceedings of the nation General Wade Hampton and General NJ. C.. Butler, men of the old regime, who had come out of the long struggle with distinction and enjoying the love and honor of their troops rep resented the state in the United states senate The powers that ruled. In the princely days of slavery still held sway
 Revolt Against Veteran Leaders.
 But out of the embers and ashes of war was gradually rising new south, and where the smoke of battle once hoVereu low over fields In which In days forever gone the cotton stalk flung its fieecy nper to the breeze and the ripening corn caught the warm colors Of the setting sun, there began, faint at first, but in ever increasing ratio, the steady mum or industrial growth that soon awakened New England to the fact that her su- premacy in the manufacture of textiles was boldly challenged by states still bearing the scars and burdens of war With this new life came new thoughts and aspirations.
 Out of the ranks of the people there sprung younger leaders who lived in the present and whose ambitions were not re- strained by memories burned Into the brain by the firebrand of war and made indellible by the roar of battle and the slaughter of men.
 Campaign Threatened 6Ioodshed,
 It was in the early eighties that this spirit of industrial conquest began to make itself felt in public affairs. The farmer hauling his cotton to the market had other visions opened up to him in the sight of the mills that spun his prod uct into cloth. And in those Industrial hives he saw thousands of workers who created markets for other products of his farm that turned his thoughts from the one-crop Idea to diversified farming. Then the people were ready to follow new leaders
 It was in 1886 that Benjamin Ryan Till
 man shouldered his pitchfork and leav- ing the confines of his little farm, sought the wider fields of political debate. His first appearance in public life was in ad- vocacy of industrial and technical educa- ton, which eliminated in the establish
 
 Mechanical college at Calhoun's old home, Fort Hill.
 His success on the stump inspired his candidacy for governor and in strug-
 gle in which mems passions were stirred to depth that threatened to involve the state s in frequent bloody conflicts and that was not without memorable trage- dies the old south and the new in that historic state combatted for supremacy.
 Ben Tiilman n rough-shod over tra- ditions long held sacred. With the ruth lessness of the iconoclast he continued his onslaught on the men who were enshrined in the peoples hearts. The Gonzales brothers were then trusted cor respondents of "the Charleston News and Courier They were In charge of that papers bureau at Columbia. the capital. One of them reported the campaigns throughout the state, making the circuit
 with the candidates in their canvass.
 Men Went Armed to Debates. Joint debates were held in every county | and men went armed, prepared for any | emergency. The gun behind the man 1 was almost universal. By birth and by training the Gonzales brothers were al- | lied to the powers that long had ruled. | Without fear and with trenchant pens | they told the story of the bitter contest. | Mems minds were biased by tEe inten l sity of partsanship. The correspondent | who tried to keep the middle of the road | was often the subject of severe crit | icism by the followers of one side or l the other as the partisan writers. When Tillman was elected governor, N. G. Ganzales resigned from the Charles ton Views and Courier" because his position as correspondent at the capital would make necessary relations with the
 governor which would be objectionable to him. He and his brothers then or ganized the Columbia state which has
 been the organ of the uncompromising op- position to the Tillman regime, Jim Tillman, the governors nephew did not appear upon the scene until some years later. He first came into promi- hence in the Spanish-American war, when he was made lieutenant colonel of one of the South Carolina regiments. Alleged cruelties, such as gagging men and stringing them up by the thumbs, were charged against him. But he was popu- lar among his men and his service in the army was valuable in promoting his can didacy when he made the race for lieu tenant governor.
 Tillman In Street Duel. | Conventionalities are easily brushed aside when it suits his purpose. He has even less restraint than his uncle, the senator, and there were incidents in his
 private life when before the public which
 made him vulnerable to attack from a | fearless opponent like Gonzales. Neither man would finch from danger. and those who knew the parties were. not surprised that the enmity should termf- l ate in a tragedy.
 The laws of South Carolina make the