The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1912-07-13
bicasc and Charleston.
News and Courier, July 10.

"ihl III It's report OF thr c.lmpaign
meeting in Charleston. ana The Hews
az" 'ourte' having shown that the
language t. which the Governor rails.
ed objection had leen revised and
written y h.m with his own hand
Coy ern"r Bieus~ yesterday telegraph-
ed US as follows:
To the Editor of The News and
Courier: | stand by what I wrote
ana bF what l laid Neither is "a
threat as reported and as charged by
your paper and was not so intended
Simply promise to give Charleston
wiat she wants. which l will do.
Please publish this Cole l.. BIcase.
Columbia. S. c.. July 9. 1912
! Publish it OF course we are nuh-
i!ShihS 1t. Let Us republish also the
statement which Governor Blease
wrote, which he subsequently, dis
claimed, and which he now says that
he will stand by" Here it is:
II will be Governor the last part OF
August. all of Sept. Oct. Nov.. Dec
and 81 days i'm January ami if YOU
want Government by Injunction 4
metro police vote for Jones & for the
rest of this year Il the next will
dO my best to give il you"
Governor Blease denies that this is
Il threat. He denies that it was So in
tended. He claims that it was "simp-
~ promise To give Charleston what
she wants"
For our own part We are perfectly
content to leave it t. the individual
judgment of the individual citizen as
60 what Governor BleaSe'S words
mean and what they We're intended to
mean.
1t is perfectly evident that he j.
trying to back cut of the position
which he took last Friday. He may
have said more than he purposed
saying. He may have said more than
ne recollected saying. Nevertheless.
MS own words - spoken at the Il.
perian Hall and n own words a.
written by himself and published by
is are conclusive that his ''promise to
give Charleston what she wants" was
not Charleston votes for Jones at the
primary election to he held on the
31th Of next August.
Call the Governors statement a
threat or call it a "promise" as you
like. The fact that stands out clearly
Is his disposition to reward his
friends in the only way he knows
how to reward them. that is by con-
niVing at their defiance of the law:
ana t. punish his enemies by invok-
ing against them such powers as are
vested in the Office which he chances
to occupy
We repeat that neither in Charles
ton nor anywhere else in South Caro-
lima in the progress of the present
campaign has Governor Blease made
VIII" love decency and the desire of
whose hearts it is that the majesty
and dignity and righteousness of the
law shall he vindicated.
Certainly his appeal for votes in
Charleston has been addressed on the
one hand to those who are So lacking
in virtue or in patriotism that for
the SAX" of thcir own private gain
IN on" way "r another they are viii
lin" t" sacrifice their city and their
| tat"; ana ON the other hand to those
Wh" can hc spurrcd on lay craven
hearted -ear to do that which should
make them deSpisc themselves and
should cost them dearly in the re-
Sp'ct "f their fellows
w" Venture the opinion that there
l. not man in Charleston County. he
he who or what he may. who know
ihg cole l.. I;lease honestly regards
hlm as fit man for the Governor
snip; but the OK knoWcth his owne!.
and the ass his masters crib"
Governor Bleasc does not labor un-
der the n"ccSsitY of utterng in words
either "thrcats'' or "uromiScs" i'm or
der I" get votes. Unless the cause of
d"concy shall he shamclcssly BETRAYED
th"S" VIII" cast their ballots for him in
this county upon the 27th of next Au-
gust Will do So III at least nincty-ninc
cases out of every hundred for the
same reason that water runs down
| hill.