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

thought there were, and imaginary bar
riers are sometimes as strong as real
ones.
Gradually more intelligent and bet
ter equipped meE we're put into office,
and gradually the green" ones ma
tured. The primary system was adopt
ed in all the counties, and after four
years a state primary was ordered for
the election of Governor and state off,
GERS. Finally United States senators
came to be elected by direct primary.
The days Of government by conventions
has passed away in South Carolina.
and II rings and aristocracies ever ex-
listed they can exist no more. Neither
Is 1t likely that Tillman nor any 9TH
er type Of man can again completely
dominate the state.
Gradually. too, factional strife died
away. and at last factional division.
Gradually, 'as Tillncn has become abb
sorbed In larger affairs, far removed
from the sphere of local politics, and
has grown in strength and influence.
personal bitterness towards him has
declined; likewise, his own enmity to-
ward those who fought him has wan
ed. He is fifty-nine years old now, and
the upward years have mellowed him,
smoothed away many of the hard
places, and, softened his naturally big
heart.
One incident, the murder Of N. g.
Gonzales, has generally been misun-
derstood. An explanation has no place
here, but in justice to Ben Tillman 1t
ought to be known that he was In no.
way, either directly or indirectly, con-
nected with that affair. James II. TILL
man was the son of his devoted broth
er. and NJ G. Gonzales, the man he
killed, was his own bitterest enemy
political, not personal. Many people
have supposed from these two facts
that Ben Tillman sanctioned the deed
Of his nephew, but IL he did there is
no word Of his, no act known, to prove
It.; and those who know him best be-
lieve that he regrets the deed as much
as any one. Neither had that act
aught to do with what is known as
"Tillmanism."
Tillman Is becoming universally rec
ognized as one Of the growing men
of the senate. At first, and for long
time, interesting only as other oddities,
he has Of late come to develop a line
of usefulness all this own. Somebody
Is needed in the senate to put direct
questions, to shake up the dry bones,
and to crack the hard nuts with a
sledge hammer: someone is needed in
that body every now and then to make
a few remarks on the general cussed-
ness of the situation" So long as TILL
man remains, that need Is abundantly
tive men in the senate, one Of the
hardest students. He is visited by
more different kinds of people with
more varieties of grievances than any
other senator When crank comes
to Washington, the first man he goes
to see. after being shut out Of the
White House, Is Senator Tillman. Ask
one of them why, and the answer in
variably will be something like this:
well, he Is honest, and he is for the
under dog" Senator Tillman receives
all these cranks and laughs at many Of
them; but IL there be any merit in the
case he will readily take 1t up, no mat
ter where the man, or the woman, may
erywhere. fewest Of all from his own
state. Every senator constantly re-
ceives letters from his constituents,
asking all sorts of favors; Senator Till
man gets them from everywhere, from
the north, the east, the south, and the
west. Since he makes II rule to an
swer every letter. his is busy life.
He lives very simply. both at home
and in Washington. He cannot afford
to live any other way; but apparently
he has no taste for luxurious living.
After working hard all day he spends
the evening with his family, every one
# whom is interested in all the details
IF the days activities. just as he is
k66Hly l1leItSlcu III oil tHc CNChto VI
their lives. He has two grown sons,
one grown daughter another daughter
at college, and a little girl Of twelve.
He Is fond of music, fond Of flowers,
fond of children, and of all the simple
Joys of the domestic fireside. He Is a
man Of the sobefest habits, eating two
simrle meals a day. abstaining totally
from all intoxicating liquors, all forms
Of tobacco, and all other kinds of dis
sipation. In all respects Ben Tillman
Is a good citizen, a good husband, and
a good father.
AS public man, It is difficult to es-
innate Tillman. There are those who
think him a demagogue Of the worst
type; there are others who think him
great statesman; still others who
think him a little of both. His life has
been lived in the open, so the public
may pass Judgment upon the facts
that is. up to the present. What he
will do tomorrow no man knows. He
Is rude man and don't care!"