Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-09-03
Ferguson letter you were unscrupu-

lous enough to say:
| Il fear no evil from Senator Till
mans letter, except that possibly hi
mind has become more diseased o.
late than 1t was when l had my las
talk with his confidential physician.
| Everyone knows that you alluded t
DIR. Babcock. And a more knight.
gentleman or a more loyal friend t
me never breathed, and l know yol
had no authority for 1t. He Is no
the type Of doctor who discusses hi
patients and their ailments with Tom
Dick and Harry.
| I want to say to you that I know
since my last stroke of paralysis IL
February, 1910, my memory has beer
much impaired, but the other part
] OF my brain have gradually and yer,
preceptibility increased in efficienc,
and yigor and l am now fully ca
pable Of doing as good work as
ever did. The only reason why
have felt unwilling 10 make speeche!
In the state and on the hustings thi.
summer is because l know I cannot
speak with any force or vigor without
turning on the full voltage of the
dynamo. Under excitement the blood
rushes to the brain for that Is the way
the mind works. DR.. Babcock had
| speech would mean grave danger
and the probable bursting of a blood
vessel followed by paralysis or death
Therefore l have refrained and re-
| strained myself, though at times the
temptation has been very, very great
But, governor, while my memory Is
poor the moral fiber in me Is as sound
as 1t ever was, and my patriotism
burns with an even brighter tiame
than when my health was vigorous.
And my conscience Is in fine working
| order too, l can assure you.
When told my wife that intend
ed to write an open letter 10 you and
outlined some # the things l intend
ed to say, she p,> aded with me thus:
"Blease Is not WHOM a bad man.
He Is passionate and has been tanta-
ltzed, abused and misrepresented un-
til he has lost all sense OF RESPONSE
bility and self control" Recollect,
governor, this same noble woman has
been your advocate with me until
your recent statement came out about
what occurred last spring In Wash
ington. She knows you told an un-
truth and has never forgiven you.
1t Is In this spirit I now speak. You
have been lied on, slandered and
abused almost beyond endurance, but
50 was /. 1 had courage and self
control enough to rise above 1t. You
have been weak enough to surrender
to the impulse to strike back and to
strike below the belt.
/ want those who consider Blease-
ism as Tillmanism to take this con-
trast In consideration when they
make up their final judgment. Till
manism as Tillman breaches 1t and
haa oluaua nraonhaA Ia nnhla
high and elevating. Bleaseism is self
ish, low, dirty and revengeful.
I have been very greatly blessed In
my life and every day I return thanks
to the Creator for His many blessings.
The greatest among these has been
good woman whom God gave me In
her youth and purity 45 years ago.
have had one grief and that was the
knowledge that so many good men
in South Carolina seemed implaca-
BILE and irreconcilable in their hatred
Of me. These men truly and honest
ly hated me as badly as many South
Carolinians hate you now, but there
are more Of them In Your case than
there ever was in mine, thank God.
Honesty compels me to say that you
deserve the hate and distrust in which
they hold you. I never did. You had
an opportunity when you went into
the governors Office such as come to
few men In this life. Your inaugural
was a great disappointment to your
friends and provoked your enemies to
renewed and relentless activity. You
had shown yourself too little and too
narrow to be governor Of any state
for, my dear sir, the gCvernorship Is a
very high honor indeed, but it also
carries the very heaviest responsible
ties. You will recall when you were
elected two years ago wired you con-
gratulations and added: Let the
heather rage" The heather have
moaned and their cries are now rising
to heaven in accusation Of you.
Returning to the blessings which
have been showered upon me, have
before l die the satisfaction Of know
ing as do now, that have won the
admiration, love and confidence Of the
-Tillmanites Of old, and Of the
Haskellites even. l owe my reelection
to the senate to these men that came
to me when some of my old friends the
'wool-hat, one gallus boys" and my
fellow citizens who work in the cotton
mills, were shouting cruelty him, "
retire him to private life," 1--WE can
no longer trust him." etc. My re-elec-
tion to the senate Is assured and l
shall die in harness." when the
Lords time comes for me to go.
/ am conscious that all Of the good
people of the state now appreciate me
and realize at last what manner OF
man 1 am.
1t Is a sweet thought to feel that
many Of the Haskellites voted for me,
and right here want to say that Has
kellite" ought not to be an epithet or
opprobrium in South Carolina any
longer. Judge Haskell and I made
friends before he died and I always
felt that he was blind fanatic who
had been led off into the frenzy Of In
dependentism by the same emotions
which your election has produced. He
was a knightly gentleman and brave
soldier. Peace to his ashes. Haskell
ism and Bleaseism ought to be buried
in the same grave and the world near
no more Of either.
1t is time for South Carolinians to
quit wounding each others feelings
and fighting like cats and dogs. No
good can come of 1t and much harm
has already come Of it, and more will
follow II we do not realize that a
"house divided against itself can not
stand" AS good men voted for Blease
as voted for Jones. They felt 1t to be
their right as citizens, and many OF
them rel,giously believed that their
liberties were in danger, for you, gov
ernor, are reported as saying that II
Jones was elected they would never
vote again.
jefferson said once that as between
government without newspapers and
newspapers without government he
would take the latter for the news
papers would keep the people inform
ed and they would have intelligence
enough to give themselves good gov
ernment in some way. The newspa-
pers in South Carolina have lost sight
Of the necessity for fair and square
dealing with their readers, so much
so that they have not the influence
with the people that they ought to
have. There is room for a great many
reforms in this particular and l sim
cerely hope that the editors OF the
South Carolina papers Will seriously
consider how they can regain the con-
fidence of the people again. So great
has been the distrust caused by the
dishonesty and partisaDship that hun
dreds. nay thousands Of my friends
could not be made to believe that L
had written the letter to Ferguson or
given out the statement accompany
ing It. l received many, many tele-
grams and letters asking whether 1t
was authentic. This condition of the
public mind has been brought about
l.. ha poWonan In their