The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1905-07-12

Entered !; The roS,ohlce .t Manning as Sec
ouQ Class matter.
TILIMAN OPPOSES LOCAL SELF. GOVERN
MENT.
The letter OF Senator Tillman
on the dispensary which we
printed in last weeks issue was
evidently written with care.
There is no heat or passion in it,
and, take it all in all. it is not a
strong paper, but rather the
raking up Of dry leaves for a
soft bed to fail down upon. The
anti. .dispensary wave has start
ed and Senator Tillman knows
he cannot stop it. His letter
charges the legislature with the
blame for the unpopularity of
the dispensary, when everybody
else knows that the people are
not considering the legislature
in the matter. What is tanning
the flames to destroy the dis
pensary, is the corruption which
everybody believes and are NOR
ally sure exists, and which has
existed from the first bill of stuff
bought for the State up to the
present day.
One Of the fundamental prin-
ciples of the Farmers Move
ment" which Captain Tillman
led in 1890, and which swept the
State like cyclone, was the de-
mand for local self government
:'the rule of the people" and.
it was this demand that inaugu-
rated our primary system, but
that was in 1890 when Captain
Tillman was a candidate for
once, and it was opposed by an
element which controlled and
ruled by the convention and
clioue plan and, who were not
willing to entrust their political
interests and ambitions to the
masses. The people, through
the agitation led by Captain Till
man had become so restless un-
der what they regarded the ig-
noring Of their rights by those
in political control, followed Till
man with a faith that was blind,
because he held out to them the
hope of a political emancipation.
The primary system came,
Tillman was proclaimed the
Emancipator, but how long did
this boon Of freedom last? In a
short while the party machinery
got into the hands of the State
Executive Committee, and South
Carolina became a one-man pow
er. The people vote but the
executive committee dictates
who they shall vote for. Instead
of our primary system giving US
free thought, free speech and
independent action that an en-
lightened people are entitled to,
and should demand, we have a
system which makes aman tosuc-
ceed, bend the pregnant knee to
a leader, discard his honest man
hood, and become a little syco-
phant and a time serving politi
clan. He will not conceive a
thought for the public good, nor
will he expose wrong, or sound
a warning when there is danger.
His political soul and body is
sold to the politicians in control.
This is a condition brought on
by our present system, and it is
through such a system that men
are sent to the State Legislature
whose grip upon Office is a more
valuable asset than their grip
upon honest manhood. Hence,
the ''driftwood.'
The Senator is opposed to the
present plan of voting out the
dispensary by counties, as pro
vided by the 'sBrice" Act. but
he is willing for the question to
be submitted to the general pri
mary. The opponents of the
dispensary would be a set of silly
ninnies to be caught with such
chat. Why? Past experience
justl6es them in a lack Of con-
idence in the management of the
general primary. Is not the ex-
ecutive committee which has the
appointment of managers. who
have the count, composed of in
terested politicians and advo-
Gates of the dispensary? Then, if
the anti-dispensaryites are in
earnest to remove the dispensarv
they are right in not trusting a
dispensary machine to grind out
an honest verdict, but aside from
that, we cannot see how Senator
Tillman can, to be consistent.
oppose the present plan to vote
upon the liquor question It is in
accordance with his teachings Of
local self lf-government-the right
Of the people to rule, and the
grand Democratic doctrine which
the Senator, when seeking
Office. so loved to sing:
Equal rights to all, and special
privileges to none" According
to the Senator, he would do
away with this doctrine IN
order to save his dispen-
sary, ana to save it, he
would force, against their
Wi oo,,oo,,,,,i+iac +c l,o f,71.