The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-09-04
News Snapshots
OF the Week

md on company, declared that the mo
papers would KEEP the people informed
and they would have intelligence en-
ough to give themselves good gov
ernment in some way. Our newspa-
pers in South Carolina have lost sight
of the necessity for fair and square
dealing with their readers, so much
80 that they have not the influence
with the people that they ought to
have. There Is room for great many
reforms in this particular and / sin
cerely hope that the editors OF the
South Carolina papers will seriously
consider how they can regain the con-
fidence Of the people again. So great
has been the distrust caused by the
dishonesty and partisanship that hum
dreds, nay thousands of my friends
could not be made to believe that |
had written the letter to Ferguson or
given out the statement accompanying
1t. 1 received many, many kilograms
and letters asking whether 1T was au-
thentic. This condition of the public
mind has been brought about by see
ing that the newspapers in their head
lines and in the body OF the articles
themselves distort and color unright-
eously the facts. When the people
are taught they can always be trusted
but when the people distrust the
newspapers and believe them corrupt
and dishonest and given to all man
ner of lying they lose that respect for
them that Is necessary to preserve
free government.
Would Talk to Friends. \
If I ever get able to speak again /
want to so 10 three counties in South
Carolina and talk to my old friends
face to face, Anderson, Laurens and
York. You have stolen the love and
confidence Of those people, did not
lose It; you stole it. Who would ever
have believed it possible that the men
who % years ago were so frenzied in
their Tillmanism and worship Of Till
man as to unhitch the horses from
his carriage and hitch themselves in
to drag him in triumph through the
stree would come to distrust and
abuse him without cause. H.
Madame Roland before she was
guilloined exclaimed: 20 liberty what
crimes are committed In thy name!"
Noting the progress which has been
made toward the decentralization
among the Democrats in South Caro-
lima /one can shout, ooh, Democracy,
will the people never learn to know
their true friends from their false
leaders, never to distinguish between
statesman and a demagogue, always
listening to fiattery and sweet words
without looking below the surface and
the true inwardness of things and
men,. To think that the very men
for whom / have done most, the poor
farmers and factory people, should
turn and rend me this way! I gave
them Clemson college and Winthrop.
At least I had more to do with it than
any other one man. gave them the
primary, for I wrote the Democratic
State constitution with my own hand
in conjunction with my brother, G. W..
Tillman, and made the rules govern
ing the primary and safeguarded in
every possible way their rights, so
that now every citizen has voice in
the government and can protect him
self if he has sense enough.
All pleasure and satisfaction m my
reelection to the senate Is gone be-
cause OF the desertion OF these old
friends and followers OF mine. 1t
makes me doubt seriously whether l
lave not erred previously in giving
the power Of self-government to these
people and teaching them their rights.
They show such woeful lack of graf
itude. l feel that when l am dead
and in <he grave that they will realize
md understand the criminal folly ol
their action and the enormity OF the
betrayal of heir best friend. l know
il | could have spoken to them this
summer this tragedy could not have
occurred. When these old friends
have had time to cool off and think
it all over they will curse themselves
for such base ingratitude, and for
their idiocy in being misled by DEM
agogue. To think that they had Deeh
such fools as not to understand ana
grant the old mans last pea to "die
J., b,rnass" serving them ana seIF-