The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1912-09-04
CONTESTS ELECTION
OF SEN. T|LLMAN
TaIbert and Dial File Two
Contests.
DID NOT FILE
EXPENSE ACCOUNT
Mr.. Dial Claims That Sen. Tillman
Tried to Eliminate Him on a Tech
nicsBty, so He Has Taken Advan.
tage of Technically Himself.
Comes up Today.

Laurens, Sept. 2.-(Special.) A ru
NOR having been spread around the
city today to the effect that the cleo
tion of Sen. Tillman would be con-
tested, Mr.. n. B. Dial, one of the can
dldates who opposed Sen. Tillman in
the recent primary, was approached
upon the question and asked as to
It's reliability. Mr.. N. B. Dial con-
ffrmed the rumor and stated that Mr.
w. Jasper Talbert had served notice
or the contest upon him and suppos-
edly upon Sen. Tillman and that
thereupon he. himself had served a
like notice. The cotest is based upon
the failure of Sen. Tillman to file his
expense account with the secretary
or state as provided for on page 949,
Vol. XIV, Acts, of 1905, wherein it
it made obligatory upon the candi-
dates to file their expense accounts
between the close of of the campaign
ana the first primary. 1t will be re-
membered that Senator Tillman filed
an account on the 18th of August
some weeks before the campaign
closed
Mr.. Dial went at length into the
situation. He declared that he was
not one to take advantage of techni-
| calities in politics because he had
never done so in the practice of law.
However, he thought himself perfect
ly justified in taking advantage of the
present situation as Sen. Tillman had
attempted to make use of like stu
alton few weeks ago when. as n
result of Sen. Tillman's activity Mr.
Dial was for at one time thought to
| nave been eliminated from the race
Mr. Dial thinks that the Temporary
loSsenlng OF the political strings at
that time resulted in the loss of a
considerable number of votes by him
what Mr. Dial referred to was the
interview of Sen. Tillman given out
several days after it had been or-
rouneously circulated that he, Mr..
DIAL, had failed to comply with the
national election laws in not making
proper returns of his campaign ex
penses. The interview as it appeared
in the Columbia State, was in part as
follows:
When asked as to the status of
the candidates for the house of rem
resentatives in South Carolina who
nave failed to comply with the feder-
al statues by not sending in their
sworn expense accounts prior to the
primary election, and about N. b.
Dlal, candidate for the senate. whose
account was was received here but
not sworn to, Senator Tillman said
tonight: 81 would say that those mon
simply nave no status now Should
any or them be elected it would be
| Tor the house of representatives to de-
eide whether the law had been evil
iully" violated. This word "wilful"
appears in the statues and its CON
truction might be a inter for the
house to decide just as it decides all
contested elections.
Mr.. Dial noted the difference he
tween the federal law and the state
law. In the former some latitude
is allowed as to the "wilful" viola
tion of the law, but in the state law
there is no such provision. If the
candidate fails to file his account "at
the conclusion of the campaign and
before the primary election" such
failure will"render such election null
and yiod, in so far as the candidate
VINO falls to file the statement herein
provided, but shall not effect the
validity of the election of any other
candidate complying with this Sec
ton"
1t was upon the section above that
Mr.. Talbert took action and upon his
own account filed a contest claiming
the election upon the ground that ne
had amajority of the votes cast. The
protest was served upon Mr.. Dial
Saturday. Looking into the consti-
tuition and rules of the state demo-
cratic party, Mr.. Dial saw that Mr..
Talbert had overstepped his mark, In
that according to Rule 9. "a majority
OF the votes cast shall be necessary
for Mr.. Talbert, so he has filed a