The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1912-07-26

paign for Reelection.
spoken was not Blease's grafton at
all, but had been almost bodily culled
from the earlier speeches of one of
the most gifted statesmen in America.
Blease was expelled soon after and
he went from Newberry to the little
town of Helena, near by, and began
to practice law. He had married a
Miss Lillian Summers of Helena, and
he made his home in her fathers
house and entered into politics. AL
ways, from that early day to this,
Blease mixed politics with his prac-
tice of law. That is why Judge Jones
is charging on the South Carolina
stump that Blease, elected govrneor
of South Carolina, pardoned his old
client, Wash Hunter, whom, as a
lawyer, he could not acquit of a man
slaughter charge. That is why he is
now being charged in South Carolina
with representing as state senator the
liquor interests in the dispensary
graft, while his law partner, Domi-
nick, openly represented them as
their lawyer.
AS a South Carolina legislator,
Blease had stormy career. He told
the people frankly that he was not a
prohibitionist, but hes introduced a
prohibition bill and saw IL passed af-
ter the prohibition element had elect
ed him. Then he went over, body
and soul, to the dispensary system.
Judge Jones charges that as a men,
ber of that dispensary purchasing
with distillery graft and that graft
is still going on.
A fluke elected Blease governor
through second primary, after the
first had failed of party nomination.
Since he has been state executive he
has been continually warning. with
his department heads. All of them
he has told in effect that he was 60
ing to run South Carolina and that
he must be consulted in every act by
every state head, from the commits
sioner of agriculture to the attorney
general.
In the year and eight months
that Blease has occupied the executive
chair of South Carolina he has given
that commonwealth the most remark
able social and political administra-
tion it has ever had. At the outset
of his administration he began issu-
ing pardons on scale never before
known in the South.
More than 400 pardons stand above
his signature up to date and he has
warned the state constituency that
he will not stop issuing pardons up
on the same scale as long as he still
is governor.
Socially he has been virtually os-
tracized and since he has been gov
ernor the ancient functions which
have graced the capital city of that
state for years have been invariably
without the presence of either the
governor or his wife.
AS to the character of campaigning
Blease is doing, his speech here last
night is a typical example. He ad-
dressed a conglomerate audience
from the state house steps. The
crowd was drawn very largely by the
expectation that he would denounce
T. B. Fielder, William J. Burns and
others behind the charges of corrup-
tion recently made against him. But
he deliberately avoided them, except
to dclare that "the subject of Tom
FEEDER is too indecent to discuss be-
fore ladies'"
Attacking the cotton mill interests
in the State, Blease declared that he
would pay the fine or pardon any cot
ton mill worker who whips any man
threatening him about his vote.
Here is how Blease attacks his pol
itical enemies:
eff John Graham, who operates
that mill( referring to the hosiery
mill in the state penitentiary), were
to die tonight, there is not enough
coal in all the Clinchfield mine for the
devil to put on his dead BODY.