The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1906-04-11
]. FRASER LYON
WRITES A LETTER
Resents Tillman's Refer
ence to Committee.

AeN SSNtc AAAAhkeh y AeOAOA
ence to Committee.
xFORCIBLE STATEMENT.
Intlmation that the Senator's Acts While
Governor will be Investigated-..Sev.
eral Suspicious Matters.
Senator Tillman in manifesto which,
he gave to the public recently attacked
great many people and officials, not
even sparing the members of the COM
mittee appointed to investigate the af-
fairs OF the State dispensary. That re-
\ ference has been taken by Mr.. j. Fra
ser Lyon as an effort to discredit the
investigating committee and in letter
to the attorney for liquor house Mr..
Lyon has expressed himself rather for
chilly in regard to Senator Tillman' s
statement.
Abbeville, S. c., April 8, 1906
My Dear Sir: Your two letters of re-
cent date were received by me upon
my return home yesterday, after an
absence of about two weeks. You will,
Stherefore, understand why you have
not had an earlier reply. While it is
true that do not think there is any
good reason for withholding payment
of the claim of the Cook & Bernheimer
company of New York, still as l have
said heretofore, will not give my con-
sent to the payment of this or any
other dispensary claim now held up un-
til the matter of such payment is dis
cussed at public session of our COM
mittee.
feel sure that you will appreciate
my position in this matter, especially
since the publication of Senator Till
mans address to the People of South
Carolina" in which he says: "Is there
not plenty of opportunity for more
graft and secret transactions in regard
to the settlements of these accounts?
Will not the legislative committee be
suspected of corruption, if it does not
get in the middle of the road and stay
there-that is, stand by the law, obey
it itself and require others to do so?
Why so much delay?"
You see this additional reason for my
position. 1t is unfortunate for your
clients to have had dealings with an in
.stitution which no one can even inves-
tigate without having it suggested or
insinuated that he may be CRATER, or
at least has good opportunity to steal
While regard this reference to our
c1, fnf ant To
shake public confidence in us and in
terfere with our work, which is evil
IDENTIFY becoming distasteful to many of
those who are irrevocably welded to
the dispensary, still when see this
proneness to criticise us wish to be es-
pecially careful not to put myself in
position that could, with even n color of
justice, be criticised.
In your letter of March 26 you prac-
tically asked the question, and sin
cerely, "Why so much delay?" / know
no fact that have learned in the dis
pensary investigation that / shall in
tentionally withhold from the public.
We are trying to get the facts in re-
gard to several suspicious matters,
which we think should be investigated.
Among them is the statement, as | re-
call it, of Senator Tlllman that he re-
turned certain rebates to distillery.
We wish to find the credits on the
books of the distillery showing the
amount of rebates which Senator Till
man said he returned as gift for the
gratitude he felt to the liquor concern
crediting the State of South Carolina.
Besides this there has come to my ears
a rumor-the source of which l do not
now recall, but rumor which l think
should be looked into-that Tillman
when governor was presented with
piano by liquor concern. 1t may be
that receipts may le shown for the re-
bates which may have been returned
and also for the payment of this piano
which may have been received as was
rumored to be the satisfactory explana-
tion in the case of the Towill horse
matter.
The opinion is so prevalent that the
dispensary has been a breeder of so
much corruption that no one can touch
it without the suspicion of some one be-
ing aroused. Unfortunately, in the
case of our committee, the insinuation
of this suspicion is cast upon US in the
public prints by one who, above all 9TH
ers, may know of the innermost affairs
of the dispensary as transacted by it's
officers since it's inception.
trust, however, that we will finally
emerge from our distasteful task mer-
iting the confidence and approval of all
honest rcitizens. Believing that this
will satisfactorily explain our delay,
am Yours very truly,
j. FRASER LYON.
SENATOR TILLMAN REPLIES.