The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-01-25

| ton obtainable by me is false, no man
in South Carolina need present an
application for pardon, unless one Of
his pardon managers has received a
fee for it.
| Blease is too good a lawyer to
think or believe that Fergusons af-
fidavit will fool anybody into believ-
| ing that he had never seen my letter
to Ferguson. While l know nothing
about Ferguson, and never saw him,
| l do not believe he swears to the eX-
act truth. y man can lie by sup
pressing the truth as we'll as by tell
| ing it directly, and a man with an
/ easy conscience can swear to almost
| anything.
! While l am discussing railroad
lawyers and their influence on the
| South Carolina general assembly, it
is just as we'll that l should make
public all that l said on the subject
| Governor Blease has quoted only a
part Of it. In a letter l wrote to
p. B. Bailey, at Blaney, South Caro-
lima, August 18th, replying to a reso-
luton adopted by the Blease Club at
that place relative to my letter to
Mr.. Sims, I said:
That the railroads are getting a
hold in our state again, / know. The
| 1ne yiSlnt
| roads to give us the right, on any
| system Of roads anywhere in the state
to carry as many people as we want
to on the same mileage as is done
| in the North. But Ben Abney and
| the railroad attorneys in the legisa-
| ture have been too venal and corrupt
| to protect the people against the rail-
| roads, and as 1 have already pointed
out, Blease is in closer touch with
| them than Jones; and Blease is on
| record as saying the Southern Rail-
| way will have a friend in me if
elected"
think it we'll that the people Of
the state and the general assembly
should know what 1 think about the
| influence the railroads have exerted
in the legislature.
The fifth charge, of having lent
myself TO signing my name to an arti-
Gle prepared by someone else, whom
he designates as a Statesman with
out job" and this "astute big Elk"
meaning thereby, presume, ex-Gov.
John Gary Evans, is shown to be
false by the following affidavit from
son of Hon. c. T. Wyche, Of Spar
tanburg:
washington City,
District of Columbia.
Personally appeared before me, c.
G. Wyche, who, on oath, makes the
following statement: l am a stenog-
rapher in Senator Tillman's office,
and he dictated the letter to Harri-
son Ferguson, of Spartanburg, S. c.,
to me. No one was in the office ex-
cept Senator Tillman and myself. as
! we'll as l remember, and l know that
no one else had anything to do with
its dictation TO me-
"(Signed) c. c.. WYCHE.
Sworn to and subscribed before
me this 18th, day of January, A. D.
1918.
"R. B. NIXON.
Notary Public"
Governor Blease's charges that
| allowed some one, this astute big
EX," to dictate to me makes me will
ing to ask him if Colonel Abney as
sisted him in writing this message.
His anxiety about honesty is path
etic and reminds me of 'Hudibras
couplet:
mo thief ever felt the halter draw
With good opinion Of the law"
Being a low type of man himself,
he does not realize and cannot con-
cieve how anyone else can be honora-
BILE, clean and above board.
/ will say in conclusion that / have
| read the bill introduced by Mr.. Rem
bert and heartily approve Of it. 1
hope it will become a law, for it is
nothing more than just that news
paper should give a citizen who is
attacked in it's columns the opportu-
nifty to reply through the same chan
mel. B. R. Tillman.