Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-10-28
The Question Of Honesty.

The Question Of Honesty.
In defending the dispensary man
agement, and incidentally himself,
against intimations Of dishonesty, Sem
ator Tillman in his Gaffney speech
last Saturday, gave utterance to the
following:
Mind you, claiming for myself that
| I was honest in every particular, that
bought whisky as best I could and
never touched any Of the states mon
ey, I give these men who are In
charge the credit Of being just as
honest as I was, and those men who
charged me with being dishonest are
charging the men now in with being
dishonest, and that because these men
can get rebates that they have gotten
them. If the question is as to wheth-
er 1t is now possible, say of course
It Is. They charged me with
having stolen because I could have
stolen. The reason they charged me
is because they would have stolen If
they had had the chance.
Whatever we may have thought on
the subject, or whatever we may think
now, we do not remember to have
ever charged Senator Tillman with
dishonesty. We consider it a good
idea not to make charges of any ma
ture unless it is practicable to sustain
such charges with absolute proof. We
have more than once printed facts
that seem to accuse; but that Is an
other matter.
Senator Tillman's argument as to
irresponsible accusations Is good. 1t
applies very nicely in this case and
it applies in all similar cases. 1t is
not new with him. 1t is as old as the
hills, and has been recognized as a
we'll established principle Of ethics
since the commencement Of civiliza-
ton. More than all this it is capable
Of broad application.
There is hardly a voter In South
Carolina who has not heard Senator
Tillman accuse former state officials
and members of the general assembly
with being bamboozled and debauch-
ed by the acceptance Of free railroad
passes. The impression made upon
such of those voters as believed In
Senator Tillman was that II he should
ever have the opportunity to secure
free passes, he would not accept
them. From Senator Tillman's argu-
ment as quoted above, there Is no es-
cape from the conclusion that If he
did accept free railroad passes he
would be bamboozled and debauched
by them. The fact that Senator Till
man did accept pass No. 1 almost the
first day after his induction into the
office Of governor is matter Of rec
ord.
During his campaign for governor
Mr.. Tillman made all manner of
charges against the members OF the
administration then in power. When
called upon for proof, he replied that
it was his place to make the charges
and the place Of the other fellow to
disprove them. He attained power
and access to all the books and rec
ords of the government; but to this
|
est proof in support Of single charge
he made. According to his argument
above, when he got the chance he did
just what he charged the other fell
lows with doing.
The most direct charge that we have
ever heard against Tillman's hon
esty was that alleged by John I.
Duncan to the effect that he heard
John Gary Evans say that "Old Ben
had lined his pockets with dispensary
rebates" or words to that effect. Ac-
cording to Senator Tillman's argu-
ment, If John Gary Evans said this,
then John Gary Evans must have lined
his own pockets. He had the chance.
Senator M. c. Butler proved that
the whisky trust gave rebates on all
the whisky it sold. He was able to
show that Senator Tillman had bought
whisky from the whisky trust. He
was unable to find where the state
had gotten any rebates: but as to
what became of these rebates he was
never able to get the slightest clue,
until years after Senator Tillman
claimed that the rebates had been
waived in consideration of the credit
extended. II this is true there ought
to be some record somewhere to es-
tablish the fact; but no such record
has ever been produced.
Maybe Senator Tillman is honest.
We do not remember to have ever
charged that he is not. We are not
prepared to testify that he is. 1t
seems to us, however, that If he Is
content to rest his case on his Gaff-
ney proposition as quoted above. he
at least runs the risk of getting mis-