Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-01-24
|TILLMAN replies TO BLEASE
Senator AVallS Himself Of Permission
To Put Message In the Records.
SENATOR DENIES GOVERNORS CHARGES

SENATOR DENIES GOVERNORS CHARGE!
Charges that BIease Stole Teiesrams
Through His Friends, and Claimed
That He stood Honestly Neutral uE
Until the Last Week Of the Late
Campaign.
The following reply of Senator Till
man to Governor Blease's Tillman.
Gonzales message, was given out to
the papers from Washington on Mon
day:
To the General Assembly Of South
Carolina:
Gentlemen:
have Just read Governor Blease's
message sent to your honorable body
that both houses did me the justice
to order publication in its Journal
to be suspended until my reply could
go along with 1t. For this consider
alton, please accept my thanks.
What Governor Bleases motives
were, are very evident in the mes
sage. He desires to continue the bit
terness engendered last summer; and
wishes to be revenged on me; but
the primary object he has In view
is to keep the minds of the people
stirred up and not allow the waters
to clear sufficiently to let them see
what sort of man he really Is. Cat
iline among the Romans, and Aaron
Burr among the Americans, are the
only other men have ever read Of
who were equal to Blease In bam-
boozling the people. He has per-
suaded thousands of good South Car
olinians, honorable, clean, patriotic
citizens, into believing that he Is their
best friend and that Tillman's mantle
past master In the arts of dema-
gogue. He knows full well that when
the angry passions of the masses are
aroused, they lose their reason. He
desires to come to the senate, as he
boasted he would do at Richmond In
December last, and feels 1t obligatory
on him to aggravate conditions In
South Carolina as much as possible.
Whether this Is the right way to cleo
tioneer or not, will be shown by the
result of the next senatorial pri-
mary. If the South Carolina news
papers do not help him by abuse and
Misrepresentation, he will never get
here.
His charges against me boiled down
are:
1st. With writing secret letters
stabbing him in the back"
End. Hypocrisy. .
3rd. With conspiring with w. e.
Gonzales.
4th. Jealousy.
9Th. Feebleness of mind.
9Th. Having lent myself, which could
only be expected of an imbecile, to
sign my name to an article dictated by
someone else whom he designates as
"A statesman without job" and This
astute Big Ex."
will take these charges up seria-
tim: u.
If ever q man wanted to be hands
off In a political contest, was that
man last summer. Time and again
was importuned to. take q hand and
to come out for law and order and
decency. But I steadfastly refused.
received hundreds Of letters first
and last urging me with intense earn
estness to come out and announce
my preference as between the candi-
dates who were running for govern
or. But was unwilling to do so.
After Mr.. Sims wrote me and made
the appeal that should answer GER
tain inquiries which he propounded
In defense of Tillmanism I wrote him
the letter I did. Immediately phrase
in 1t was seized on by the newspapers
to proclaim that I had come out for
Judge Jones. The headlines mainly
were used to deceive the people and
misrepresent me. felt called on to
take notice of this and wrote the article
of August 18th. which Governor Blease
quotes.
Right here / desire to call attention
to the evidence going to show that
Governor Blease and certain Of his
friends were in q conspiracy; the
friends to write me pretending to
be my friends, draw me out as to
my attitude towards him, and then
show him the letters. Otherwise
how did he come into possession OF
so many of my letters marked per
sonal and confidential?"
I have the original letters at Tren-
ton to show that perhaps one hundred
men wrote me along the same lines,
These letters came thick and fast and
my answers were always marked per
sonal" 1t Is very evident that Blease
has seen many Of my letters which
were marked personal and the recipi-
ent asked not to show them to anyone
Thus it can be seen whether they were
secret or not Some Of those corre-
spondents who were Bleases friends
hastened to show them or to send him
copies. They were in no way the Sc
cret letters" he would have the people
believe, but letters which ought to hav
been secret as far as the public was
concerned and as far as Blease him.
self was concerned.
But l am not concerned about the
Blease conspiracy with his friends as
much as I am about clearing myself
Of the charge of hypocrisy, and OF
writing secret letters for the purpose OF
stabbing him in the back.
The charges of hypocrisy can bes,
be answered by pointing to my public
and private life. If there Is any
vice in human beings that I despise, II
is hypocrisy and double dealing. 1t Is
next to cowardice, the most despicable
Of human traits.
Governor Blease stresses the point
of secret letters, and. with great cum
| ming, picks out sentences from pri-
vate letters which I had written tc
themselves as my friends, to prove
| that was not frank. He stresses the
fact that Mr.. Sims was not his friend
and is delighted to find I had writ
ten one letter to a man not Blease-
lite. 1 do not believe many people ir
South Carolina will accept his theory
that l am a hypocrite and double.
dealer because, in writing personal
letters and marking them "confiden-
tial," 1 explained to these men who
were Blease's friends and who claim.
ed to be my friends what my rea
opinions were. Because / said woulo
| be hands off, did not mean, nor Is II
reasonable to claim that 1t meant,
would be dumb.
3rd. The conspiracy with w. E
Gonzales is not conceivable or believ'
able by anyone except a man who II
his desperation, made that charge ir
order to fire the hearts of his fol.
lowers. The people Of South Caroline
we'll understand the relations between
the Gonzales brothers and the Till
mans. The feud Is Of long standing
and all we'll informed people know
what provocation the Tillmans have
had and with what relentless energy
and with what ability the Gonzales