Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-03-05
GOV. BLEAsE At BlAcKseURG.
Shows Himself to People to Lot Them
Sac He In Human.

SpdT ldHDuTB, ludl tie SdIOiiiid OpSSioi
on which the governor left Columbia,
governor desired to know whether the
people would wait. He was advised to
come on, that they would be there.
The governor came shortly after 3
o'clock, accompanied by dozen
friends from Spartanburg, and about
seventy five people came over from
Gaffney. A large crowd Of men and
boys welcomed the governor with
cheers as the train rolled into the sta
tion, and the school children greeted
him with song as he came into the
town hall. The following Is from the
Spartanburg Herald Of Saturday,.
In opening his address Governor
Blease said he had done something
which he doubted II any governor had
ever done before. He had left Colum-
make q speech, when the legislature
was in session and while the senate
was listening to a "tirade" of a man
who demanded the impeachment Of the
governor. Il want to show you, said
Governor Blease, that I do not have
cloven hoofs and forked horns, but
am human being as you are, made
in the image Of God like all white
men,"
Approaching the subject of his par
dons, as had been suggested by Mr..
Hardin, Governor Blease spoke Of his
faith in Christianity and Of being
taught by his mother a prayer which
he said he still repeated every night
before he retired:
Now lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
II I should die before I wake,
7 ora,y nrd NV on,t1 IN faka -
Governor Blease said he hoped to
reach heaven through Jesus Christ,
and did not propose to have the Lord
say to him, Depart from me, We
cursed" because he had not shown
mercy Governor Blease said he pro-
posed to say, when asked by the Lord
to give an account Of himself, That
mercy I have to others shown, that
mercy show to me-"
The governor said he had no apollo
gies to make for any Of his pardons,
and proceeded to relate several pathet-
/ ic instances of wives and children Of
convicts visiting him to beseech Glenn
ency.
He mentioned one woman with two
children, who, he said, came to his Of
fee to ask him to pardon her husband.
The governor said he noticed that the
children were wan from hunger, and
he gave the woman some money and
told her to get food for her children
land then return to him.
The following Sunday, the governor
said, he attended services in the rich
est church in Columbia. The pastor
announced that half Of the collection
would be given for negro schools and
half for foreign missions. The collec-
tion amounted to $500.
A day or so afterwards, the gover-
nor said, the pastor Of that church
sought through habeas corpus pro-
|ceedings to take from the woman who
was trying to have her husband par
doned, her two children. The govern
who Is now supporting his wife and
children in Chesterfield county.
Governor Blease then said that while
he did not intend to reflect on any
Judge, that justice was not meted out
to all alike but that some persons suf-
fered more than others for the same
offense.
"Two men, we will say, are convict
ed Of the same crime" said the gov
ernor 1.-The Judge goes to his room.
Some man of influence and power goes
to the judge and says, Tom has been
convicted of such and such a crime.
He Is a good fellow and meant no
harm Perhaps the man Is a member
of the legislature or senator and the
judge knows he will have to come be-
fore him for election. So he gives
Tom six months imprisonment or SIS
fine.
"Jim is in Jail, convicted Of the
same crime. He has as good wife
and Just as sweet children as Tom, but
he has nobody to go for him before the
mercy seat. So Jim gets five years at
hard labor without even a chance of
paying a fine"
This was one Of the things, the gov
ernor said, which actuated him In his
pardons. Petitions were another thing
which moved him, he said.
rs the governor the servant of the
people or the boss?" ne asked, and an
swered 1t by saying, I'm the servant,
not the boss. I've got no right to turn
q deaf ear to your petitions
"The trouble has been in South Car
olina with some people that they have
had to go and ask somebody else II
they could do a thing. I have worn
no mans collar. :
Submit it to the board Of pardons?
For what? So that some politician
can slip around and get them to do
what he wants done?
II am criticized for some Of my par
dons and told they will cause me to
lose votes. Do you think am down
here keeping people In the penitenti-
ary in order to make votes. II you
do you are very much mistaken"
Governor Blease touched on the par
don Of George Hasty, but said he did
not care to discuss 1t in detail because
there were children present.
In ThnrnHaa 6naQ
not like this pardon" said governor
Blease, "let him vote for somebody
else for governor"
The governor said that he intended
to grant additional pardons before he
left office.
Governor Blease, in concluding his
address, related some Of his personal
history and some Of the great obsta-
cles which he had had to overcome in
rising to his present position.
He said that he was a stable boy,
the son Of a poor man who had to
hard to make living for his
family. Cole had to work in a livery
stable until he was 81 years old and
when he sometimes looked out on the
streets and saw men passing who wore
ried gold-headed canes, and the idea
OCCuIlCu " hlll lIldl hc oOhiC
day be in a position to do the same
thing, he dismissed the thought as an
idle and ridiculous fancy.
Coles father became sick with an
illness which eventually caused his
death, and as he lay in bed he sent for
Cole and said, II have never held an
office myself and never sought one, but
my boy, want you to become the
governor Of South Carolina" The
governor said he had to turn his face |
aside to conceal his smile from his |
father.
His father then advised Cole to run |
for the legislature, and Cole thought |
the suggestion was absurd.
The governor said that he started to |
carry out his fathers wishes, however,
and by sheer determination succeeded. |
He said he was fought financially By |
the moneyed men and ostracized So
cially, and when he studied law and |
entered the bar was never given any
assistance by the other lawyers.