Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-09-07


fulfilled. True, General Wade Hamp-
ton--whom they called az "aristocrat'
had been turned out of the senate
and one Of the leaders of the move
ment" put in his place. The legisla-
ture had cut down the salaries of the
South Carolina college professors from
$4,000 to $1,000. and stopped the ap-
propriatlons for completing the state
capitol. The reformers did not pro-
pose to be beautifying the city of CO.
lumbia, whose population were "antis,
at the expense Of the "peopul." And q
few other measures similar In nature
and importance were passed. But fol
ali these things taxes did not seem to
be materially reduced, the price Of cot
ton did not rapidly rise, and the corn
crop was not noticeably increased, In
accordance with some Of the prevalent
Ideas of "Tillman and Reform" Gen
orally speaking, reform did not seem
to be making much headway. At least
the newspapers said so, and while Till
man had taught the people not to be-
lieve anything they saw in the lying
newspapers" there seemed to be some
disaffection on the part of "vox populi''
itself.
Tillman "cussed."
In the next campaign he went before
the people and told them that this
movement, like all other floods, had
hoated in lot of driftwood. Turn out
this cattle, these driftwood legislators" /"
he said. land send me legislature
that will do what I say, and I'll give
you reform" The people obeyed.
Then Tillman was In complete control
If the state. His word was law; no
man dared oppose 1t in things either
great or small; or IL he did, his politi-
cal decapitation took place at once.
Tillman ruled like despot. BY this
It is not meant that he was unjust or
oppressive. but he intended to rule. and
he ruled. Had he not held the reins
tight, there is no telling what would
have happened. Enough happened as
II was, but his attitude toward the in
stitutions which he had so ruthlessly
denounced was more conservative than
either his friends or his enemies had
expected. He did not tear up the
South Carolina college root and
branch" nor remove the dude facto-
ry" in Charleston from the face Of the
earth, as he had threatened to do, but
recommended liberal appropriations
for both. He assisted materially in the
establishment of normal and indus
trial college flor girls and in the organ
ization of Clemson Agricultural and
Mechanical college for boys, for which
he had fought before he became gov
ernor and which the legislature had es-
tablished. These last two institutions
were distinctly reform" measures, and
good ones, in which he had the Coop
Grafton Of Tillmanites and anti-Till-
NANTES alike. as far as the two fac
tions could cooperate. But Tillman
never did anything nor said anything
for the purpose of conciliating his enc
miles. On the contrary, he constantly
said and did things which kept the two
factions apart. At first few .newspa-
pers in the state were with him. These
were small country weeklies. And
those which were not for him were
against him; there was no middle
ground in South Carolina on which any
one could stand. The State in Colum-
bia was started with the declared OBJ
tect of opposing Tillman and Tillman-
ism. It's editor, N. G.. Gonzales, had
resigned from the Charleston News and
Courier because 1t was not strong
enough in its denunciation Of Tillman.
and the county weeklies throughout
the state, almost with one accord, fol-
lowed the State.
I'VE cannot stand this thing" said
Tillman. I'VE must have a newspaper,
too" Then appeared upon the scene
new figure, a personality as pictur-
esque almost as Tillman himself,
brought over from Georgia for the
purpose, as he himself expressed it, Of
running a rough-and-tumble cam
paign." They secured the Columbia
Daily Register and imported for its ed
itor Colonel T. Larry CAN'T, the man
who had conducted the famous cam
paign against Judge Emory Speer for
congress. He wore coarse woolen
shirt and soft collar with the remnant
of a tie, never properly adjusted. On
his head was a faded woolen hat OF
many summers, brown with the dust
of all of them. His baggy trousers
stopped where the tops of his unpol-
ished brogan shoes began, and his
black coat, worn only in winter was
brown with age. He put goodly wad
of tobacco into the hollow Of one cheek,
while deep down into the caverns Of the
other, at an angle of forty-five degrees,
he plunged a long cane pipe-stem
pointing upward. Then with his sal
low face cooked to one side and his
bright eyes clustering with delight, Col.
T. Larry CAN'T snatched up the first and
scrappiest piece of paper he could find,
took a blunted stump of pencil into
his lean and nervous hand Cor went to
the tyre case himself) and was ready
for business. There's no use for you
fellows to begin telling lies in this
thing, now" he announced to the en-
emy, for I give you fair warning that
I kin beat any man in South Carolina
in the lying business"
It would make too long a story to
describe even the hundredth part OF
the striking incidents Of the Tillman
administration, and no attempt will be
made here to give even the important
ones. The whole state was In one con-
tinuous hubbub from the time Tillman
entered the governors mansion to the
day he left it.; and the administration
of his immediate successor. John Gary
Evans, during which Tillman continued
to keep his hand upon the throttle, was
scarcely less stormy. Every thing ne
did or proposed met with the most vio-
lent observation-disclosures with the most
violent support. His entire admins
tration was one long process of re
form" in South Carolina. The volcano
had indeed come, and with 1t great