Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-07-21
SENATOR cHRIsTENsEN's WORK.
"An Observer" Praises His Achieve
r1ents and Urges His Re- election.
SO.

quirer has touched upon a subject Of
vital Importance to South Carolina
and every citizen therein. 1t Is a
warning to the people Of the state and
especially Of Beaufort county of the
possibility Of the defeat Of Senator
Neils Christensen, Jr., who stands for
reelection. Doubtless The Enquirer is
a little over apprehensive OF such an
outcome; nevertheless, the people
should realize the Importance Of re-
tanning Christensen in the important
seat which he has so manfully and
capably filled for the past four years.
Few people Of the state are really
familiar with the work of the young
representative from Beaufort while
occupying the seat in the senate and
the important place on the dispense.
ry investigating committee. Every
thing that he has touched has reveal
ed to the public desire in him to be
Of service to his fellows and to his
state. Without fear or malice the in
trepid young politician plunged be-
meath all existing coverings Of the ne
farious, graft-breeding institution in
which the commonwealth had been
writhing for ten years and unearthed
those crimes and defalcations which
startled every honest Carolinian and
caused those malicious, daredevil
malefactors to squirm and wriggle
under the disgrace Of criminal expos
ure and groan in the hands Of law
and justice. With the one purpose Of
investigating first and uppermost in
his mind Christensen proceeded with
out regard for the rank or position of
his adversaries; he was no respecter
Of persons. During the entire inves-
tigation he quailed under no difficult
ties that confronted him and there
were many seemingly impossible bar
riers which a man of less courage and
affability could never have surmount-
ed
mined, the fearless senator would face
the most derisive. profane reprobate
with a plea for testimony, when in
more than one instance he was met
with angry outbursts of insulting epi-
thets from his would-be witness. Did
Christensen lose his temper and resort
to violence where he received such re-
bluffs? Never: on every such occasion
he met the distorted, angry face Of
his assailant with a frank. mocking
smile that conquered more effectively
than would have the prison cell or the
club. The cowardice of the angry ag-
gressor revealed to him was the most
powerful weapon that the senator ever
resorted to.
Christensen's high sense of honor
and irreproachable character make
the boldness and intrepidity Of his ac-
tions unusually intense. Mr.. T. w.
Klingenberg, one Of the foremost de-
tectives Of the country and a man Of
wide reputation and experience, said
that Neils Christensen, Jr., Is the most
remarkable man with whom he has
ever come in contact that his ability
to approach men and carry his point
is phenomenal. Klingenberg was per-
haps more intimately associated with
Mr.. Christensen than was any other
man during these moments that de-
manded the utmost courage and calm
ness, and he Is doubtless more capa-
BILE of judging the sterling qualities Of
When Senator Blease's bill was
passed Mr.. Christensen was one Of the
first men to be appointed on the In
vestigating committee. After the full
committee was selected the body was
at a loss as to how to proceed. Mr..
Christensen came to the rescue with
the suggestion that the members be
divided into several subcommittee to
investigate the different branches Of
the dispensary. Christensen chose Mr..
Lyon as his coworker. Lyon has made
a most unusual record in forcing the
grafters out of power. Still, he, bet
ter than any one else, knows that the
courageous energy Of Neils Christen-
sen, Jr., was the rock that supported
the committee and made possible the
ultimate success achieved.
In procuring testimony Mr.. Chris
tensen availed himself OF every ad-
vantage in sight, making exhaustive
researches for all data that had accu-
mulated during the rotten administra-
ton of the dispensary. With this
jealous and aggressive comrade, Mr..
Lyon, the most persistent efforts were
made to give this band of thieves their
Just deserts. In order that the pro-
ceedings Of the committee should be
expedited, Mr.. Christensen had so ar
ranged all the affidavits, records and
data that they could be Immediately
referred to, and he occupied through
out the sessions of the committee a
seat beside Mr.. Lyon, where he laid
before him these records and many
were the times that he came to the
rescue of Mr.. Lyon with some valua-
Die suggestion or advice.
One need only read the testimony
brought out by these two men to as
certain the value Of their services. No
greater crime was ever unearthed, as
the testimony will show; truly they
have been too numerous for the peo-
pie of the state to consider other than
as one great crime, yet few officials
that have been in any way connected
with the vast organization have es-
capped without the word corruption"
imprinted upon a once clean record.
No one need fear that Christensen
is not making every effort to retain
his seat in the senate; he will get al
most unanimous support from the
town Of Beaufort. One has only. to
spend a few hours in his office to learn
of the confidence that the people Of
Beaufort have in his sound judgment
and conservative ideas. His friends
are too numerous and his clean record
too well established in his own county
for one to regard his defeat as by any
means evident. Yet the friends Of the
heroic senator should guard against
the silent tread of political yegg-