Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-09-17

ding clothes, as 1t were, and It's exist
ence like the life Of an infant hung IL
the balance, it was Tillman who join
ed its enemies to crush this grea
movement for the emancipation Of oul
southern farmers, and 1t was onl!
when convinced that his (Tillman's.
political elevation hinged upon the
success of the Alliance that he gave
1t his aid. There Is not an old Alliance
man in South Carolina but knows thi!
to be true.
"But in their forgiving kindness ant
gratitude, the one-gallus boys over
looked this and for years blindly FOL
lowed Tillman. Does not every ont
who has watched that Alliance move
ment know that 1t saved our farmer!
from serfdom, for their lands were fas
passing into the control Of the mer'
chants and others with whom the!
traded and had not the tillers OF th'
soil been aroused to the danger tina
menaced them, you would today SET
a few large landed proprietors In the
south and men. who now own tht
farms be but serfs renting fields tha
were once their own. But at a crftica
moment II was Tillman's voice tina,
was lifted against the grandest and
noblest movement ever organized FOL
the relief Of the man behind the plo"
A Reaper Always.
Ben Tillman has ever enjoyed the
happy faculty Of always reaping crops
planted and titled by others. He waits
until the grain Is ready to gather
when he will give a harvest home
among the laborers Of his state and
gather the entire crop into his own
garners.
'aTillman refers to the establishment
of Clemson and Winthrop colleges as
among the great works he has done
for the farmers, and for which they
are so ungrateful. It was upon Glenn
son that Tillman first rode into office
and power, so 1t really seems That ne
has been by far its greatest benenclary'
The Colleges.
I'VE admit that Clemson and Win
throp colleges are noble institutions;
but we have always contended that 1t
would have been much better were
the vast sums Of money expended In
those costly buildings, and the main
tenance of these institutions been d.
vided among the common schools OF
the state. The entire receipts from the
fertilizer tax goes to Clemson, ana yet
not one farmers boy in 500 ever sees
or will be seen inside its walls. A Chi
naman, when he starts to build
house, is said to first nail on the shin
giles and his last task Is to lay the
ground sills. That fertilizer tax Is
taken from the humblest and poorest
as we'll as the richest farmer, and we
do assert that 1t would have been the
right thing to divide 1t among the ru-
raj schools so that all could get back
their share. In the state establishing
these higher institutions of learning,
we think that South Carolina Is emu
lating the Chinaman. and from an ed
ucational standpoint, mailing on the
shingles, when 1t ought first to De
building a firm foundation In rural
schools There are plenty OF splendid
UNCONVENTIONAL colleges in South Car
olina for the education Of the sons Of
rich farmers, and the state had better
look after the little boy or girl now
living out in the country, on the farm
and thousands Of whom are growing
up in ignorance.
$50 we doubt If the genuine one
gallus wool-hat farmer In his state,
when he puts on his thinking cap, will
feel that he owes Ben Tillman such q
great debt Of gratitude for taking his
fertilizer tax money and using 1t to
pile up brick and mortar that he or
his children will never see, and en-
ploying high salaried educators that
the average farmers children will new
er hear. He will conclude that were
his and his neighboring farmers share
of that fertilizer tax money given TO
the little log school house that their
children attend. and thus lengthen the
term, 1t would have been ever so mucn
better.
1--WE have no desire to harshly criti-
else Senator Tillman. or indulge in
personalities. Otherwise we might re-
fer to the defeat Of his own brother
the Hon. George D. Tillman. for con-
gress by Colonel Talbert. and our last
talk with the late Senator John L. M.
Irby. who did more for Tillman's ad-
vancement than any hundred men In
his state. But we do not intend to re-
main silent and hear our old South
Carolina Reform friends, and with
whom we so long and harshly battled
for the success Of Tillmanism. unjust
ly accused of ingratitude,' They shall
not be misrepresented before the world
so long as T. Larry CAN'T can raise his
voice or handle pen.
The Fraud Charges.
1--WE endorse every word the senator
says about his noble wife. When
boy in Elbert county, Georgia, we
knew Mrs. Tillman as young lady,
and she Is one of the truest and finest
women our southland ever produced.
Tillman made the mistake OF his life
when he refused to heed her advice
and continue neutral in the Blease-
Jones race, instead Of writing that
eleventh-hour letter, waiting until Cole
Blease had left the rostrum and had
no chance to reply. He either should
have penned that missive earlier in the
campaign or kept silent. We see that
Tillman has written another letter
warning the Jones followers to go
slow in their threat to count Blease
out. Tillman knows that you cannot
throw out the ballots of more than
10000 white Democrats, and should
the attempt be made you would see
such an uprising Of public indignation
as would overturn the rulings of that
partisan Jones committee, sweep Cole
Blease into the executive chair by an
overwhelming majority and Tillman
and every other nominee who sympa-
thized with that outrage committed
in the name Of Democracy, crushingly
defeated. 1t would endanger the ma
tional Democratic ticket in South Car
olina and bring ten thousand times
more political wreck and ruin upon
South Carolina than Cole Blease could
possibly do even were he to carry out
those threats put in his mouth by OPP
posing papers. The Jones men con-
trolled all the primary election ma
chinery. and If any fraud was commit
ted it was with their knowledge and
through their cognizance. We have no
idea that any such foolish attempt as
counting out Blease will be made: but
the steps taken by that state Demo-
cratic executive committee are only to
give the Jones faction a breathing
spell after their humiliating and crush
ing defeat.
ben Tillman has committed polit-
ical suicide in South Carolina. Hence
forth the cry with the 'wool-hat. one
gallus boys as Tillman designates
them in his letter, will be. King Ben
is dead. Long live King Cole
Were 1t necessary, we could recount
much more ancient political history.
hut &c