The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1912-12-10

the law for the protection Of life ard
property be duly enforced and respect
ed by the people. -
I hold in my hand" SAID Governor
Blsase, when he rose to defend him
self, 'the fourth letter threatening my
life I have received this morning. 1t
was handed me just now by some one
/ don't know and it was addressed to
me in the care of the Governor OF Viz
ginia"
Il know nothing of the lettec, sir, y
retorted Governor Mann, of Virginia.
81 never heard of it before; l did not
receive it; l know nothing Of its COZ
tents"
1T doesn't matter" continued Gov
ernor Blease. 81 speak nobody's opln-
ion but my own. The newspaper head
lines have misrepresented me. WAen l.
spoke yesterday about the marriage Of
Jack Johnson in Chicago, | did not say
he would be lynched in South Carolina.
I did say that the laws Of my State
forbade the marriage and l did say
that | didn't know if the marriage had
been performed in South Carolina
whether the law protecting him would
have been possible of enforcement or
not
Now, what 1 want to say to you is
this; / don't care one whit whether
you adopt this resolution or not. You
may expel me for all l care. On the
2lst day of next January l will begin
my second term as governor. On the
4th OF March, 1915, if @od.spares me,
T will be sworn in as. member of the
United States Senate. l snap my i'm
gers at your resolutions, for all the
resolutions and all the motions YOU
may act upon will not avail to keep
me out
Long after many of you gentle
men here today are resting in the
shades of private life 1 will be reap
ing the awards of public sentiment.
Long after you Governors are no
longer Governors, the white women
: of South Carolina will pray for me
with their arms around their girls,
and will arise from their knees to>k kiss
their husbands and beg them to go to
the ballot box and vote for Blease to,
protect them from their daily ter
ror."
A faint round of applause rippled
over the hall, succeeded by storm
of Kisses. = 4
4 dozen governors, thinking the
South Carolina Governor had conclud-
ed, clamored for recognition, but he
held the floor and smiled at the tur-
moil.
What care I for your hisses?" he
shouted, shaking his clenched fist at
the chairman and turning to face his
colleagues.
Hiss if you must. Only snakes and
geese hiss
Again his voice was drowned in the
storm. When the vigorous rapping of
the chairman had brought order, he
continued: You're making yourselves
ridiculous in the eyes of the nation.
Why do you have to declare against
mob law? They ought to know you
back in your homes. They ought to
meet you each one at the railroad sta
ton with a brass band and say, Gov
ernor, we are glad you did not endorse
the utterances Of that South Carroll
man.
when I said l never would order
out the militia to protect the black
brute who laid his desecrating hand
upon white woman, spoke the truth.
l say it now again. That is my posi-
tion, gentlemen, and if you don't agree
with ne, in the words Of the great
Virginian, Go to it.
The four governors who voted
against the resolution declared en-
phatically that they opposed mob vio-
lence. They voted in the negative, they
said, because they thought they would
exceed the rights of the conference
On the final ballot Governor Blease did
not vote. After the result had been
announced he arose and said:
Il did not vote, gentlemen, because
it makes no difference to me, one way
Or the other, what this conference