Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-10-29
Out With the Truth.

1t Is highly sensational and reproach-
full news that has been coming from
Greenville during the past few days;
but there is no need to be shocked at
it. There is rather more occasion for
rejoicing that the whole truth seems to
be coming out.
The opening Of a boil involves pain
and suffering and the flow Of fostering
corruption Is more or less repulsive to
the senses; but the operation usually
affords relief that admits the restora-
ton Of diseased tissue to health.
We would like to believe that the
revolving disclosures at Greenville dur
ing the past few days involved devel-
ppments never before known in South
Carolina and which could not occur
anywhere else in the state, but we do
not believe anything of the kind and
we do not care to make a pretense of
so believing.
About the best that can be said Of
that fellow Vaughan is that he was a
whited sepulcher full of dead mems
bones, and that while happily he be-
longs to an exceptional class, he Is by
no means the only one of his kind. OF
course he pretended to Christianity and
virtue of the highest order so long as
such pretensions served his purpose,
and he made no confession until after
he had been completely exposed. and
only then in the hope of saving his
miserable and worthless life.
The arrest Of ex-Sheriff Gilreath,
Phillips and Gosnell on the charge Of
having liberated Vaughan from prison
last June seems to have made almost
as big sensation as the trial and con-
viction Of Vaughan. This is especially
true Of the case of Mr.. Gilreath. The
others are less prominent, and it is
probable that If they alone had been
arrested the shock produced would
have been generally less severe
We do not know Mr.. Gilreath or
either of the others. We know only
that Mr.. Gilreath is very prominent So
cially and politically. We have no in
timation of his possible guilt beyond
the published statement that he is ac-
cused by Vaughan, and If that is the
only testimony that can be brought
against him, we hardly see how he
could be convicted. But nevertheless,
the arrest under the circumstances ap-
pears to us to have been quite proper
and we hope that the case will be
pushed to the limit regardless Of the
result, provided only that result sub
serves the ends of justice.
That Vaughan got out of jail last
June is certain and that somebody
helped him is quite probable. What
the motive was we have no definite
idea, unless it was that the community
or individual members of the commu-
nifty, might escape the nauseating pub
licity that would inevitably be con-
nected with such a trial. If this was
the purpose, something might be said
in extenuation of it; but nothing can
justify 1t. The best that can be said
is that in such an appalling situation
men might be excused for doing the
wrong thing, even in violation of the
law, with right motives.
We notice also that politics has been
lugged into the matter. The intima-
tion is something like this. Gilreath,
strong anti-Blease man, having been
defeated for sheriff and become a rep
resentative of the law and order" ele-
ment against the governors friends,
the governor is pushing this case for
the purpose Of Furnishing his bitter po-
litical enemy. We do not like the
sound of that, and we do not believe it
is true statement of the case.
In the first place, whether Mr.. Gill
reath is guilty as charged or not, we
do not believe he stands any more for
law and order than does Governor
Blease's Greenville friends, and we do
not believe that Governor Blease would
institute a prosecution of this kind for
either personal or political reasons, and
If any such charges were made by or
for Mr.. Gilreath we do not consider
them creditable to him or his friends
The only issue as we see it is wheth-
er or not the accused men had any
thing to do with the liberation of T. U.
Vaughan from prison. If they did and
the fact can be proved to the satisfac-
tion of jury they should be punished,
and If the charge cannot be establish
ed to the satisfaction of a jury, then
they will be liberated.
The fact that Mr.. Gilreath is a
prominent and influential citizen does
not affect the case, in our view, in the
least. We certainly would not have him
punished because he is prominent
and influential citizen. nor would we
have him punished unless it can be
shown beyond a reasonable doubt that
he is guilty. But If it can be shown
that he committed the act, neither his
prominence, influence or motive should
save him from the consequences there
of. On the contrary. from our view, If
the charge is proved, then prominence
is only an additional reason why the
punishment should be that much great
er.
That fellow Vaughan himself was
not long ago prominent and influen-
tial citizen, high above suspicion of the
possibility of STOPPING to such a low,
contemplate crime as that of which he
was convicted. This of course does not
argue that Mr.. Gilreath is the same
kind of man, nor does it argue that Mr..
Gilreath should be convicted on the
testimony Of a creature like Vaughan;