The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1904-07-20
Gulped The Dose and Ram 10 Cover.

Gulped The Dose and Ran to Cover.
The ADVERTISER would not detraot
from the good work done by "Brsve
Ben Tsllman' when in the ST. Louis
Convention he turned his back O Bryan
and all his works, swallowed the gold
standard, gulped down the SANDERS
that he uttered a few years ago against
gold Democrats and freely, loudly and
effectively gave his fine speaking pow
ers to acquiescence In the Parker tele-
gram. In that Convention, Ben Till
man, stultifying himself, making the
tens of thousands who trusted him in
South Carolins eight years ago know
that they had been misled and be-
fooled by him, was a useful figure.
There Is no denying that Tillman was
most influential In driving the Conven-
ton to swallow the gold standard and
there was no denying that he WAS right.
Moreover, he was probably honest in
his view. Whether or not he was hon
est in 1896 when he swore by all the
gods known to his elastic vocabulary
that all political Righteousness was in
volved in "16 to l or bust" and that all
others were hirelings of a Wall street
robber band Is another aud Il hope
lessly different question. 1t is the re-
ligion OF some men to b l'eve in his
honesty through all the tangled twist
ings of the most devious p' tn that any
South Carolina politician ever trod.
With these we have no content on. In
national affairs the crowd today is for
the gold standard. Benz ,min f lows
the crowd. In South Carolina the
crowd, or a large part of it, !ol'ows
Benjamin.
But while this glib-topgued palterer
with ell principles was ably defending
the gold standard and leading the Con-
vention to ssnity-let us suppose for an
instant that he hadn't-that he had
persisted in the vulgar aud disorderly
"damns" which he bestowed on Parker
when the news Of the telegram was
first received. 1t will be remembered
that he "cussed" soaorously and grand
ly at first and of course in the hearing
OF the newspaper reporters. Had he
persisted, what would have happened?
Why he would have presented the bed.
raSgled spectacle Of q so-called leader
discredited and repudiated by his own
delegation. Under the unit rule, even
his vote would have counted against
his u%tterances. Much and nightly
could he have "cussed" but the men
whose voices would have made South
Carolina felt in the Convention we're
Duncan Clinoh Hayward, Goodwin
Rhett, Coker, Aiken, Springs, Sawyer,
MCGEE, Smith, Tiudal, Moses, McColl
and Mcleod and perhaps others.
The simple truth is that without In
Guiding any Of the delegates at large q
majority of the delegation were gold
bugs and in no sense under Tillman's
influence. They we're not and have
never been his political friends. Num-
bers Of them were at heart Grover
Cleveland men. South Carolina would
have stood by the Parker telegram
though Benjamin had 'cussed" the
roof Of the coliseum to the Congo Free
State.
So Benjamln's "cussing' ceased. John
Sharp Williams pointed the way and
apt Benjamin., with one glance at the
lash of the South Carolina delegation,
quivering above sneaked to cover in a
quick trot and got busy being good.
A lovely spectacle he would have
made in chorus or "c~ussing" with
Weaver, the populist, and the balance of
the Convention with the South Carolina
delegation laughing at him!
Who in such circumstances would
hesitate to swallow all his years OF bad
language and s~tultify himself to boot?
The sincere free silver people who had
trusted him down in South Carolina
might go to the deminitions. "Brave
Ben" was in a corner. He had to get
out with as much dignity as possible.
And he did very d%ecently.