Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-09-14
THE GAME OF POLITICS.

While nominally three members OF
the York county legislative delegation
stands for the continuance of the state
dispensary and one against 1t, 1t Is
hardly fair to say that York county
has endorsed the state machine.
The fact Of the matter Is that the
dispensary party put in the most ener-
getic work and played the most sue
cessful politics and that is about all
there is about 1t.
At the outset the dispensary party
took strong grounds as against the
Brice law and in favor Of the state
dispensary; but later on finding that
this policy was not popular, shifted Its
position to such an extent that It was
not positive on anything connected
with the dispensary issue, even to in
sisting on the continuance Of dispen-
saries In counties that were opposed
to them.
The anti -dispensary candidates stood
by their platform from the beginning
and made no suggestion Of a compro-
mise. Because, however. of the man
ner in which the dispensary people
chung to them, they found 1t difficult
to make the issue clear to voters who
have not yet been taught to distin-
guish as between issues.
AS to just how the candidacy Of Mr..
Mccain came about has never been
made exactly clear. 1t is a fact that
and afterward, Mr.. Mccain conferred
with leaders Of the dispensary side
with a view to securing their endorse
ment. They gave him to understand
that they did not want him-not on
their side. His subsequent announce
ment on the ti-dispensary side, es-
pecially In view Of the fact that he had
always been known as a dispensaryite,
was quite embarrassing to that side.
Those who understood little about
politics saw at once that under cir
cumstances where the voters were
anything like equally divided, with
four men to be voted for on one side
and five on the other, the side that had
five was at a disadvantage. The ex-
tent Of this disadvantage was fully de-
veloped as the result Of the first pri-
may Mr.. Mccain took enough votes
off of the anti -dispensary people to let
Mr.. Epps in and to defeat the other
three anti-dispensary candidates.
There was an effort to make 1t ap-
pear that Mr.. Brice was responsible for
the candidacy Of Mr.. Mccain and Mr..
Mccain himself gave some substantial
ton to that effect in a published card
Mr.. Brice failed to make any public
denial; but privately told different
people that at one time last spring.
when DR.. Saye had given 1t out that
he would not be a candidate, and Mr.
Mccain came to him with a view to
being an -dispensary candidate, he
said, IF the present representatives do
not run, and you oppose the dispen-
sary, 1 will vote for you"
A communication in another column
sets forth very clearly that the dispen-
sary candidates were elected not on
the dispensary issue but on the 10
hour issue, and the story Of this sup
plies another interesting chapter on
the get there" characteristics Of prac-
tical politics.
Il will be remembered that in the
dispensary convention held in the
court house some time back, the COM
mittee on platform reported a plank
declaring for a 10-hour law This
plank was adopted but was afterward
re-considered. The matter was not
emphasized in the campaign that fol-
lowed, until after the close Of the can
vass, and then the dispensary people
made the 10-hour issue with the mill
people for everything they were worth,
capturing a large part Of the mill vote.
The first primary having shown that
the country people went against the
state dispensary machine, during the
interval between the two elections, the
dispensary people devoted their atten-
ton almost entirely to the mill vote,
using principally the 10-hour PROPOSE