The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-07-19

Washington, d. c.. July 16.-I
A general warning against illegality
representatives from South Carolina,
and a personal pledge to fight the
seating of any man sent to Washing
ton with tainted title" were con-
tanned in a statement given
Washington newspaper COZ : 4
dents today by b. r. Tillmar e =
United States senator froI IN
Carolina. The senator take, - Sn
to call on all supervisors o ; Ea-
ton to be very careful in = sin-
istration of their offices to, 20 sthe
letter of the election law q there
come time when the tit - sena
tor or representative, IN an
election tainted with re-
fused admttance to the halIs-5f con-
gress. I'VE cannot afford to take any
chances" is the way the senator puts
it.
Il notice." said Senator Tillman,
that Governor Blease has broken
out again" He makes q misstate-
ment, to speak mildly. and 1 feel
compelled to correct him. He went
to Hendersonville the other day and
in telegram to the Columbia Record
! he is made to say:
Senator Tillman ruined himself
with the people of South Carolina in
just the same manner when he went
about lecturing instead of remaining
i'm Washington and attending to the
business in the Senate
Il have lecturod very extensively
throughout the country. but ] never
neglected any Senatorial work to do
it, as the record will show. l do not
recall ever having left Washington
ceednG half a dozen times to deliver
! lectures. Then 1 went to nearby
points which L could reach after the
Senate adjourned for the day, deliv-
er the lecture that night and return
to Washington the next morning.
have received offers time and again
to lecture while Congress was in ses-
sion. But L always declined. l
could have made tens of thousands
of dollars had l believed it right to
do so.
Governor Blease has recently done
two things about which 1 want TO
say something. l have been amused
at the subtleness and cunning he has
shown in getting out of the militia
muddle. He double -somersaulted
instantly, and was SO anxious to COM
ply with the requirements of the war
department that he telegraphed his
acquiescence to the Secretary's de-
mands. The mail was too slow for
| him.
Another thing the Governor has
done recently is the letter he wrote to
the supervisors of registration order
ing them peremptorily to register all
white men. His exact words are:
Let no white man be refused
The portion of the senator's state
ment dealing with the election laws
and the registration of voters fol-
lows:
II have examined the law careful
| ly to see just how far the supervisors
ought to go and l take the liberty OF
Tn nj In hn
J strict letter of the law. and register
only men qualified under the law who
will take the oath required That
| oath is as follows: L do solemnly
swear Cor affrm) that | am a male
citizen of this state and of the United
States, that | am II years of age or
more. that | have resided in this State
for two years and in this county for
one year and in the polling precinct
in which | apply to he registered and
in which | will offer to vote if regis
tered for four months, and that | have
not been convicted of burglary, arson.
obtaining goods or money under false
plctcllScS, perjury, forgery, TODbcTN,
bribery, adultery, bigamy, wife beat
ing, hOusebreaking, receiving stolen
goods, breach of trust with fraudu-
lent intent, forniCation, sodomy, in
Ccst, assault with intent to ravish.
miSceEcnation, larceny or crimes
against the election laws | am very
anxious to have all white men who
can take the above oath register and
thus be able To fulhll their duties as
citizens. But it will be a fearful
bundCr and crime for anybody in
South Carolina to lay the foundation
or give excuse for the house Of rep
rcscntativcS or the senate of
the United states to throw
out senator or congressman elected
from South Carolina because of lille
gal registration. The Republicans