The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1903-04-08
He TOLD II TO THEM.
Senator TilIman at the Business
Mems Banquet in Charleston.

Senator Tillman tore the bark off in
a speech delivered last night at the
BANQUET rendered him by the business
men of the city at the Charleston Hotel.
He went back into recent political his
tory and told of the conditions, which
he considered so grave that it was
necessary to organize farmers move
ment so that men who paid the ex-
penses of the State should operate it,
and then he turned to his experiences,
political and otherwise, with the peo-
pie of Charleston. Expressing great
love and admiration for the town, he
said it was necessary for the younger
element tc pull together to regain the
commerce which is now going to other
ports. He took off the gloves in speak
ing of the selfworship of the city and
declared that if Charleston ever ad-
Yanced it would be through the effort
of the men with whom he was din
ing last night. Touching on the
Crum appointment he said that it had
been made, that the negro was put
into one of the most important Fed
eral Offices and that it was best to
keep harping on the matter and wait
until the next session of the Senate,
when every power would be used to
have him rejected.
Senator Tillman, says the News and
Courier, received a tremendous ovation.
He was entertained at one of the most
elaborate banquets ever given here
and throughout his speech there we're
frequent interruptions by applause.
The banquet was a splendid success,
due not only to the work of the COM
mittee, but to the painstaking care of
Manager Dav;ds, and not man in the
hall had reason to regret his presence.
The First Band, artillery corps, rem
dered delightful music during the
evening.
From the report of Senator Tillman's
speech, published in the News and
Courier we copy the following, and
regret that lack Of space prevents
giving the full report.
My position in the Senate is this: ::
I represent South Carolina. I don't
represent Edgefeld or Beaufort or
OrangebuEg or any other county, but
I represent a Commonwealth. Now
there isn't much opportunity, outside
of getting posto6ices and rural deliver
les, of doing much for the interior of
the State. If l had been mean or little
enough to recall the fact that you had
said I was not fit to represent you,
that I lacked the polish and the educa-
tion that the war cut me off from, I
would not do much. The war robbed
me of one honor, that of wearing the
Confederate uniform.
"The question of ancestors never
cut any figure with me. When [
looked up the pedigree of my family.
I found that the men were reasonably
brave and the women were virtuous,
and that was good enough for me. In
fact, got into my head that man
never amounted to much unless be had
merit. So when / saw the chance of
doing the City of Charleston some
5eneftI I went forward and tried to do
it.
ST adopted this policy; knew the
Southern people we're paying one-third
of the taxes for the support of the
Government and we got one dollar
for every eigth dollars paid in. | felt
that if other State were getting things
il was my duty to get our share for
South Carolina. I said on the floor
of the Senate that I tried to be open
and frank and bold, and that l would
fight the devil with his own fire and
if he made my FIRE hotter, then l was
happier.
"Much has been said in newspa-
per about my stump speech lsat night.
I would not refer to this except for
the fact that you do not look upon
things as you did formerly. You say
now that shat one-eyed farmer from
Edgeield isn't such a stick after all.
1 want as my first ambition the
chance of doing my duty, and next
to that the power to tell the truth. l
have tried, and angels can do no more.
eve may speak of unpleasant facts
of the past if / say that We can now
cut the hide of your self-appreciation,
your self-idolatry, your bigotry, your
provincialism, or whatevre term you
care to use. / can say that this COM
munity occupies strange and anom-
alous position. You have a glorious
history, but you have made SO much
history that you have gone crazy.
You have such ancestor worship that
your powers of intellect have been so
neglected that you cannot keep alive
with modern progress. want to give
an expression of opinion about
Charleston. You are cut off, in a
measure, from the rest of the State.
You have miles of swamp lands in
habited by negroes and alligators and
you have grown up to be segregated
community, and you have persuaded
yourselves that you know more than
anybody else. You needed no advice
from the rest Of the State. In the
first place, you disposed of your two
railroads, the old Greenville and Co.
lumbia and the South Carolina roads,
the feeders of your commerce. You
could not have done worse if you
had torn up the rails and resorted to
the old wagon travel. You gave these
roads to your enemies and they Or
ganized a syndicate of railroads to
take the commerce from your doors
to Norfolk and Baltimore and New
York. You have seen your wharves
rot and yaDr wholesale establish