The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-01-29
IILLAAN READY TO ADVISE.
SAYS HE DOESN'T MIND TI;LLING
LLGlSLITURE WHAT TO DO.
senator Says Action on This Question
VIII BE Test Of General Asscmbly's
MCttle.

Washington, Jan. 25.-Declaring
that lit is the hit dog that howls,"
and that some OF the rocks he threw
had hit certain railroad lawyers in
the general assembly Of South Caro-
lima and started them to yelping,
Senator Tillman today issued another
interesting statement regarding mat
ters in the legislature in which he
says:
Il have read with much interest in
Yesterdays South Carolina papers
the Rembert resolution offered in the
house and passed by it, calling on me
to produce the evidence in support
of the charges of corruption in this
legislative body.
Il have also seen statements in the
papers Of what this and that senator
and member had to say about the
matter. Some claim l have ins,'lted'
the legislature and objected to tho
publication Of my reply to Bleast in
the
"All Of these things have amused
me very much, because I remember
having used an expression long ago
which Is ar plicable in this case. 1T
Is the hit dog that howls.
II threw the rock in the discharge
of my duty as I though, and, behold,
the railroad attorneys in the general
assembly began bowling at once.
Why. They must be hit; that is,
they must feel under suspicion and
are bowling to attract attention to
their patriotism and superior virtue.
Their indignation is pathetic.
Now, let us see what have done.
In the letter to Mr.. Bailey, written
last August, just before the primary
and in the answer to Blease, spoke
in general terms about the general
assembly and the way it has been in
fiuenced by the railroad attorneys in
side of 1t and out Of it. My warming
to this general assembly is certainly
permissible, because l wanted to put
II on notice that the people are look
Ing and watching and expect them to
do better than their predecessors. No
member Of the house, as I can see,
has any right to complain at all, ex-
cept a few old ones, and there are
not many of those
The hold-over senators in the leg
islature are the only men who can
by legtimately aggrieved, and they
ought to beware of trying to defend
their predecessors unless they are
able to prove that those predecessors,
in their votes, have not been influence
ed by Ben Abney and other railroad
lawyers.
This Is not the first time l have
criticised the legislature about rail-
ROAD matters, nor is it the first time
that State senators have criticised me
for my utterances. 1t is not the first
time that Senator Tillman has in
suited the legislature, nor will it be
the last, If he lives long enough and
1t keeps on doing as it has done. The
people of South Carolina will retire
any man they have selected for Of
fee when they come to believe that
he is corrupt or corruptible. At least
that is my belief.
IL have boasted in my lectures in
the North that there is not enough
money in Wall Street to buy South
Carolina, and | believed it to be true.
/ still believe it to be true, but public
morals in the State have rapidly
grown bad in the last ten years and
am coming to doubt whether my
boast could now be made and sus-
tained.
I'VE will see the temper Of the
general assembly by it's action in
purifying and protecting the primary.
1T has the opportunity to lift
the state out of the slough of de-
spond and disgrace in which it now
wallows. What will it do?
Until the senate passes the rcsolu-
ton, | will not answer it officially,
and will not have more to say until
hear further from Columbia"