The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1909-09-02
.ENATOR PEABODY was the

state that no one was to enrich him.
self out of the government naval base
| project
He hcaped mental anathema on
! the head of Stevens for saddlinS such
| a man on the senate 'machinc. for
| I.angdon would of course never had
| been nut On naval affairs Gu$t row
very important to the machine) with
| out the go. X" uf Stevens. who had
won a heretofore thoroughly reliable
reputation rs Il judge Of men, or OF
what pUrrOrtcd 10 he men. The
thought that ut this time. of all times.
| there should be ! man on the commit
| tee on naval affairs that could not be-
| .handlcd' WAS sufficient To make him
who rcvcled in the title Of boss of the
senate" determine that he must get
another chief lieutenant To replace Ste
ycns. who had proved so trustworthy
in the past. stevens had lost his c"A-
Ming,
AS the vote of Langdon could not be
secured by humbug or in exchange for
favorS and as 1t could not be "dellv-
cred" Peabody. Of course, was willing
to pay in actua! cash for the vote
This was the final step. but one in po-
litical conSpiracicS Of this nature-cash.
But LangdOn would not take cash. 80
Peabody had IL resort to the last
agency Of the trained and corrupt ma
nipulator Of legislation.
He would threaten.
Moreover. he knew that to make
threats effective. If it IS possible to
do 50, they must be led up to systemat-
ically-that is, they should be made at
the right time The scene must be set,
as In play.
Senator Peabody glared at Langdon
as though to convince the latter that
; to stand in his way would mean polit-
ical destruction.
so nobody is going to make q cent,
eh? Well, I suppose you want all the
profits for yourself" Turning to Ste
vens. who had just entere the Penn
sylvanian cried:
do YOU but listen TO our suddenly
good friend Langdon. BE wants to be
the only man to make money out OF
the naval base. He won't listen to any
other member Of the naval committee
making q cent out Of It. Why, he
Great God, sirw exclaimed Langdon.
You are going too far. Peabody. You
state what is false, and you know 1t.
you-you'-
Then you are willing that others
should have their rightful share" put
in Stevens. "Oh, I understand now,
senator"
NO. no, no." cried Langdon. You
( do not understand. Senator Stevens,
! and must say I am ashamed to speak
Of you by the honorable title OF sena-
tor. sir. will not listen to any person
enriching himself at the government
expense. and I am your enemy. you,
! Peabody, and you, Stevens, beyond re-
call. You both know you misrepresent
me-"
Langdon walked over to Stevens and
faced him directly.
do you remember, Stevens, Lor1mer
! Hawkslee, back in wartime"
Yes" said Stevens. puzzled, Il re-
member him-a very fine gentleman
The old planter sneered.
"Yes, a very fine gentleman. You
remember he got rich out Of contracts
for supplies furnished to the Confed-
crate government when 1t wasn't any
too easy for the Confederate govern
ment to pay and when he was in that
government himself. l never quite
| thought that the act Of gentleman,
Stevens. 1t seemed to ME to be very
like dishonesty. refused to speak
to Lorimer Hawkslee in the Carroll
hotel at Vicksburg. and when the peo-
ple there asked me why / told them.
want to warn you, Stevens, that I'm
likely to meet you some time in the
| Carroll hotel at Vicksburg.
Stevens backed away angrily. Il
catch YOUR insinuation, but"-he re-
ceived a warning glance from Pea,
body and broke into 4 pleasant smile
calculated to deceive the old planter
this once will overlook 1t because OF
our old friendship and the old days IN
Mississippi
You are fine talker, Langdon,
said Peabody, coming to Stevens res
cue, "but 1 can readily see what you
| are driving at. You want IN investi-
CATION. You think you will catch some
Of US with what you reformers call
the goods but forget evidently the
entirely simple facts that your family
has invested in Altacoola lands more
heavily probably than any one else
among us. You want to raise scan
dal. do you? Well. go on and raise 1t,
but remember that you will have to
explain how 1t happened that there Is
$4,000 invested in the name OF your
son and $4,000 in the name Of your
daughter, Miss Carolina, not to men
ton few thousands put in by the
gentleman who. I am given to under
stand, is to be your son-,n-law, Con-
pressman Norton