The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1905-08-16

Entered at the Postoflce at Manning as Sec
oa0 Class matter.
THE LID LIFTED AT SPARTANBURG.
When a politician has betrayed
the trust reposed in him, and
has been discovered unworthy
of the commission he holds,
prosecutions his cry, invariably,
and when he is run down to a
point where escape is almost i'm
possible, with the smell of corrup-
ton still clinging to his robes,
he Kisses through his teeth my
political enemies are seeking my
DOWNFALL
The dispensary Investigation at
Spartanbury last week, notwlth-
standing the obstacles thrown
ia the way by at least one known
member of the committee, has
unearthed a most disgusting
condition Of affairs. a condition
heretofore unheard of in South
Carolina, not since the govern
ment has been in the hands Of
the white man, and we doubt
if in the heighth of Radical days
was it worse-corruption, that
has been proven to have come
down from the highest, to the
most menial subordinate; in the
clutches of this monster, a news
paper. trusted officials, negro
porters, lewd women, and no
telling what else was found.
The disclosures are slckenlng,
and we cannot understand how
it is possible for any man, not
tainted with the rottenness to
have the temerity to attempt to
defend the institution which has
conceived and given birth to
such a demoralizing condition.
The methods employed by these
trusted servants Of the people.
in any other State, would land
them in the penitentiary, but IN
South Carolina it is tolerated on
the pretext that political enc
mics make the charges, or that
political enemies are seeking
the DOWNFALL of q popular poll
tical idol. The proof may be
ever so convicting, yes, there
may even be a confession, but
the evil-doer goes free. It is use
less to argue now that this con-
dition has existed from the very
beginning, the people have been
told Of it, and the strongest kind
of circumstantial evidence has
been presented to them, but
they permitted partisanshlp to
blind them, and they would not
see, they permitted the false
hoods Of the demagogue to
deafen them, and they would
not hear, and it is only when
there is trouble in the camp Of
the robbers do we get positive
evidence which the circumstances
pointed to all along.
When it was shown and not
denied, tnat the State was en-
titled to rebates, and the books
of the institution had no record
of receiving these many thous-
ands Of dollars, the people were
frightened out Of thinking by
an ingeniously manipulated
scare-crow, called fractional
ism,'' and were virtually told to
take their eyes away from the ac-
cused, and watch the accuser;
they did it, and the very many
thousands of dollars in rebates
has never reached the treasury
to tighten the peoples taxes to
this day. The people were told
long ago that men connected
with the dispensary had sudden
" become very rich-men who
before assuming management
had hand d-to-mouth existence,
later became magnates; but their
ill-gotten wealth may be hidden
in stocks, bonds and other in
vestments which can be safely
locked up in the vaults of trust
companies, where no eye but the
owner can see the record. These
men tell the people to search the
banks and the recording Offices
for their financial standing, and
they might as well refer thepeo-
pie to the man in the moon. They
know the tracks are covered;
but all the same, like a, murder,
it will out occasionally, and it is
only when there is an occasional
break in the gang that the re-
bate pocket-lined gentlemen are
made to side-step. The positive
proof is almost impossible to
secure, the nearest to it was OBJ
tanned when the Lyon OF the
Investigating committee flushed
that den Of hungry carrion at
Spartanburg. It was proven
there that dispensary positions
were sold for money, that d news
paper was bought outright, that
good quality labels were put on