The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1912-09-03
GOVERNOR BLEASE
REPLIES TO TILLMAN
OPEN LETTER FROM BLEASE TO
TILLMAN.
People Do Not Love Tillman Less,
But They Trust Blease More
Reply in Full.

Dear Sir: Your letter, in this morn
ing's News and Courier and the Co.
lumbia State, has been carefully read,
and it but adds to the efforts which
have already been made by the news
papers and others to discredit the peo-
pie of South Carolina by charging
them with dishonesty and injuring
them by holding them up to the world
that her government is selfish and
, corrupt. However, l shall say moth
i ing harsh in reply thereto.
The newspapers have abused me
most wilfully and snaliciously, and af-
ter my Inauguration, they had bill
introduced which gave to them unlim-
ited<power in their abuse of candi-
dates for public Offices. l vetoed that
bill and succeeded in having it re-
iected. Since then, no act of mine
has met with the approval of the edi-
tors, but, on the contrary, every sug-
gestion of mine-whether it be for the
hest interest of the State Or not-has
been fought and sneered at. The re-
suit has been that great injury has
been done to the State by the news
papers, the people inside Of the State,
| ~ ha ON
publishing what was untrue and that
they were unfair, have been made
stronger for me.
| During this campaign l have been
most maliciously lied >on. Ny speeches
I've .ee.i Il. construed, distorted and
parts of sentences which l used have
been published which have made it
appear that L said things which l did
not say-for instance: "To hell with
the constitution" was used by me in
this way-Jones said that the separate
coach bill was unconstitutional. r
said that if there was anything in the
constitution which forced the white
ladies of South Carolina to associate
| with negro men, then to hell with the
constitution, and every honest white
man in South Carolina, whose mind is
not diseased, will thoroughly agree
/ with me in this statement.
l said, at another time, that If
was defeated for reelection by the old
Haskellite crowd that l would make
them sweat political blood. | meant
that when l said it and mean it now
NOT by pardoning criminals, which
you seem to have dreamed with your
eyes open or by any other maladmin-
istration of the Office of governor, but
strictly in a political way.
Now, you see, sir, if these two sen
tences had been published in full none
would have had right to have COM
planned.
flSMl Ol LeSlSlGlulCs
The last session of the legislature
fought me bitterly and unjustly-
Jo..es, having been brought out for
governor, remained in Columbia prac-
tically during the entire session and
directed it's affairs for selfish interest,
and not for the best interest of the
people.
When the campaign first opened,
he and his friends pitched it not on
measures or principles, but on me and
my personal character. Jones charged
me and my friends with being anar-
chists and charged me with being
crook by protecting criminals and
otherwise l, too, made many speeches
before the opening of the campaign,
but never referred to Mr.. Jones at all.
At Sumter, in my opening speech,
did not He followed, and his har-
angue was bitter against me, and from
that day until the close of the cam
paign he never presented a single rea-
son why he should be governor of
South Carolina but took up his time
abusing me and my friends and try
ing to explain the miserable record
he made as legislator and judge.
At Bishopville exposed his record,
and, after that speech was read by
the people of South Carolina, Jones
might as we'll have retired from the
race, for he never had look-in from
that time on.
1 conducted my campaign on high
plane, but having been most severely !
f.ht--J >-T-.s7 rs Ehf1s /