The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1912-03-13

house. He invited the GOV, nor 10
bring forward his evidence, stating
that the matte" wou:d be placed in
mediateIy IN the hands OF the grand
jury.
Sided With ErastcrS.
GIr. ]. 5. Br:ce, OF the Ansel wind
lp commission. did not miace his
words. He saja that prior to a
meeting OF the A2sel board, he had
stated: y consider Blease the worst
nan who has been in the governors
chair since Franklin J. Moses sa,
there. He was not in sympathy with
the worlz Of the commission. his SYM
na;h;es being altogether with the Il
quor houses and the men who had
gotten graft out OF the State dispen-
sary" Governor Blease in his mes
sage last year mad charged that the
.Ansel board feared him. When he
had told OF Mr.. Blease's alleged SYM
pathy with the grafters, Mr.. Brice
said: ''If you call that fearing him,
that's the truth as I said it at the
meetings Of the board"
NIr. Brice continued: "As to his
charge OF i2competency. did feel
that l was incompetent, bat ! d:d the
best could The winding-up was a
tedious Job. The commission tried 70
eud tie work and get through, but
il was impossible 20 close up the en-
tire affair unless it abandoned the
work OF he collecting disDensa-y in
debtedness. AS 20 the charge o.
dishonesty. continued Mr. Brice,
the man making the charges should
s,;5stantiate them. The governor has
asked an investigation and has turn
&c around ana tried TO prevent +. :.
Mr. E-ice added that, personally, he
was willing 10 be investigated by the
B?ease commission.
Mr. Er;ce was asked 10 give the
source Of his information that Gov
erno- Blease had been IN sympathy
with the liqaor houses and the graft
ers. He said that he had heard NJ.
Slease on the floor OF the senate
when they were both members O.:
,hat body. state that regardless o.
what evidence could be produced
zgsinss the members OF the board Of
control OF the dis2eAsary, he was
their friend and would defend them
even i they Were Sent 20 the peniteE-
tiarv. Hr. Brice said he had heard
| Senator Blease say the State dispen-
Sary Was not wrong and he wanted
il continued and did not want any
legislation that would alter its sta
tus.
Mr.. Brice said ne had read evi-
dence taken b. the Lyon-Christensen
invest iga.ion commission. Of which
| Governor Blease. as senator, was 2
member, and that his acts and con
duct on this commission, some o!
mich he had seen personally. his
spoken and written words, caused
! ne to believe that his sym2ath!es
were With the other SIDE entirely
After he was governor, and following
out his declarations on the floor O:
the senate. nan proven guilty be-
yond a shadow OF doubt had been
pardored' On questions by Senator
Sullivan, Mr. Brice explained that
this man was the one whom the gov
ernor had said he would so TO the
| peniten,iary with and wear stripes
with if he were convicted.
BIease Refused 30 Attend.
Adding as reasons for his belief
that the governor was on the side OF
the grafters, Mr.. Brice said: In
the senate when the proposition was
made to appropriate $4,000 for the
prosecution Of these men for steal
ing. he Senator Blease) opposed il
vigorously; he resisted it in every
possible way Asked about the
charges generally made by the gov
erno- against the Ansel board, Nh.
Brice said: so far IS an concern
ed, Governor B!ease's charges are
false and outrageous On question
by Senator Carlisle. Mr. Brice fur
rher stated that as far as he knew,
the charges against the other mem
be1s CT the AlseI board were also
false.
AS to the charges made by Govern
or Blease, Mr. Brice said: Since
the days OF the Roman Empire and
CT Saint Paul, a man has had the
right to face his accUsers, and the
nan who prefers charges should be
present AMI substantiate them. :
Senator Sullivan. OF the Investigating
committee. said that efforts had been
made 70 have Co.. Ble2se appea: be-
fore the Investigators but that he re-
fused 20 come. Mr.. B-ice denounced
as false and outrageous" all charges
made by the governor against the
members Of tae Anse! board. He
said he believed nc attorney in this
state wcUld have entered into such a
contract as that signed By Attorney
Fielder and he be!ierel 70 South Ca
oi!na attorney could have handled
he cases as cid Fielder, or that 10
South Carolina attorney co;:iG hE.e
obtained the results that Fielder did.
or he was he thought, closely IS
sociated with the LIQUOR houses.
Says BIease Threatened: Him.
11r. avery Patton OF GreeaEi!le,
member OF the Old dis2ensary COM
mission. known as the Ansel" con-
mission, said tba. Attorney Thomas
p. Fielder OF Atlanta had received 81
anonymous letter from New5erTy,
threatening 10 xii! Fielder and Patton
Il they persisted in their efforts %
yrosocu:e dispensa-v sraftecs. ".
patton sa;a tha, neither he nor Eel
aeH knew OF the origin OF the letter,