Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1904-03-02

- ~ = ttfo d fSaiefS
have Shem by the throat, aud, unless
forced by pablic opinion to assume 9
defiant attitude, viii continue pay.
ing tribute to the vultures. II il
about Nix months before the primary
yet go are told that the system Of
"bleeding" has already begun and /
man who has determined 70 offel
for office is divided between tn,
dread of exposing himself to tn,
heelers, if he announces himself, anG
the fear that an opponent will Sc.
cure the promise of vote If he re,
mains under cover. On Saturdays
salesdays and other days Columbians
may expect to see the railing around
the Court House park lined with the
heelers; they will also be standing
in bunches along Law Range--re-
sembling nothing 80 much as buz,
yards roosting in the vicinity of a
carcass. Candidates actually fear to
show themselves; some desert their
places of business, dodge through
alleys and skulk around corners,
unfortunately this is not a fancifnl
picture any man who Las run for
Office in Richland county in rec,nl
years will confirm its accuracy.
We will discuss this question from
a practical standpoint, eliminating
the moral side for the present. We
can demonstrate that the candidates
have it in their power to shake off
these leeches, to save illegitimate
campaign expenses and to lose no
votes. In each ward in this CITY
and in every voting precinct in the
county there are from three to a
dozen professional workers" In
the CITY and perhaps in the lower
part of the county there are few
honest workers--men who feeling o
personal interest in candidate will
devote their time to electioneering
for him if their time is paid for, but
the vast majority are flagrant frauds.
If an average of three men offer for
each county Office the heelers calcu-
late on bleeding those candidates to
the tune of from $500 to $500 each.
Often, as has been demonstrated in
this county, each of three candidates
for the same office has hired the
same man to work for him. Per-
haps Peter Smith, of Killians, a
"worker," is too "high-toned" to
"deal unfairly by gentleman"
Having been employed to work at
that precinct for GA" who, let US
say, is a candidate for sheriff, Peter
goes to "B," also a candidate for the
same office, and tells him that he
himself cannot work for him, but he
knows of first class man who con-
trolls powerful lot of voters at Kill
lians. "B" accepts Peters kind
offices and Peters son is therefore
enlisted in the service of "B;" if
Peter has an uncle or brother and
&C." another candidate for sheriff, is
desirous of securing the hearty co
operation of one of the biggest vote
getters in the county, why Peter
sees that the Doodle is kept in the
family. Then a dozen or so of his
neighbors, having been given a
friendly tip by Peter, will proceed
by turns to a, b and G and display
hurt feelings. Each of them will
maintain that he has more influence
in that community than either Peter
or his kinsmen and should have been
given the job of spending the candi-
dates money. If the candidate fol-
lows precedent, he will regret that
his information was delayed in trans
mission, and he will submit to s'lend-
ing" each in turn from ten cents to
one dollar.
Grown men, with their eyes open,
submit to that kind Of robbery
every campaign year. They have
not the moral courage to break away
from the dirty, lying grafters. The
result is that at several precincts in
the county the vote is absolutely
corrupt. There are men who will
spend several days looking for a
candidate in oder to notify him that
his time is worth 81 a day, and he
cannot afford to go to the polls on
election day unless he is paid for his
"time."
If this sort of thing were profita-
BILE to the men elected, it is certainly
ruinous to those who are defeated !;
and as two are defeated where one
is elected, it is manifestly to the adj
vantage of the majority of candi-
dates to resist the robbery. They
should pledge themselves to hire no
workers, to lend no money and to
buy nc whiskey for campaign pur-
poses. The punishment of any who
violate such an agreement would be
publicity and defeat.
Now is the time for candidates to
organize; away with the buzzards =
The State, February 25.
Danger In Cold Weather.