The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1912-09-20
A FULL BLEASE TICKET If
ELECTION is NOT DECLARED
Governor Does Not Propose
to Enter Second Primary
and If Matter Goes Over
to General Election All
Offices in State Will be
Contested by His Friends.

Columbia, Sept. 18.-"In case the
action of this executive committee
makes it necessary for Governor
Blease, as the nominee of the demo-
cratic primary, to contest in the gen
| eral election against Ira B. Jones or
some other independent candidate for
governor, we have from various men
of more or less prominence in poll
tics the following state ticket sug-
gested to us for the Bleaseites or
regular democrats to put out:
For governor, Cole l.. Blease, of
Newberry; for lieutenant governor,
Thos. F. Brantley, of Orangeburg;
secretary of state, J. V. Wallace of
Charleston; comptroller general, Jas.
H. Craig, of Anderson; state treas
urer, Newton l.. Bennett of Spartan
burg; adjutant general, Oscar W.
Babb of Laurens; commissioner of
agriculture, Jas. Norton, of Mullins;
attorney general, Thos. H. Peoples,
of Blackville; railroad commissioner,
John G. Richards, of Kershaw; su-
perintendent of education, ]. E.
Swearingen, of Edgefeld lis the bold
statement in letter dealing with the
general political situation in South
Carolina, written by one of the elmer
circle" of the Blease camp and be-
lieved to be agreeable to the COVER
nor himself, if appeal must be made
to the general election to decide
| the state officers for the next two
years.
The naming of ticket headed by
Cole L. Blease makes it certain that
no matter what the action of the
state committee, provided they find
Blease not the nominee or order a
second election, that the governor will
refuse to recognize the action of the
committee and will go into the gener-
al election claiming to be the regu-
lar nominee of the democr:snarty.
sess--4 it is. believes. .aass
that he would c1S q sh.. to
committee has usurped power in Snd
dering another primary. That they
have no legal right to do so.
Election officials.
Another significant part of this
letter which is recognized here as at
least "semi- Official" is this: can
other thing which will add strength to
the regular ticket is the matter of
election commissioners and managers.
The governor appoints the commits
sioners, both state and national, and
he being the regularly recognized
nominee of the democratic party, he
will, of course, see to it that none but
regular, straight out democrats are
appointed to fill those positions, and
they, in turn will select none but
true blue, and regular democrats for
eection managers. In that way the
white men of the state will retain
control of the election machinery, and
it MAJ be that in case there are indie
pendent candidates in the field the
regular democrats will still be able
to hold the black peril down to the
usual minimum, thus giving these
misguided people Tin case they go
to that length an opportunity to re-
turn to the fold, after inevitable de-
feat has shown them the folly of such
course, as did the old time Has
kellites.'"
The letter, which is taken as a
statement of the Blease side of the
present wrangle in South Carolina
and outlines the course which that
faction will follow, attacks the state
executive committee as a partisan
body, overriding the will of the peo-
pie, taking unto themselves powers
which they haven't, and procrasti-
mating as much as possible. Particu-
lar attention is paid to John Gary
Evans, state chairman, and w. F.
Stevenson, chairman of the sub
committee probing into the alleged
frauds. Reference is made to the
dilatory tactics of the committee and
bitterly attacks the action they have
taken. The semi-official statement
declares that the committee has no
power to order another primary now
and intimates that an ordering of an
other primary would be illegal and
that if the election for governor is
| thrown out on account of fraud it
will invalidate the nomination for
general assembly and all county Off
GERS and throw them into the general
| election.
The War Talk.