Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-01-17

| spirit Of live and let live" prevail
ing, peace was restored, and all Is
well.
I do not wish to be egostitical, and
you will pardon me for saying that In
all three Of these instances I believe
that the confidence the laboring men
had in me as their friend, had very
much to do with averting trouble and
bringing about adjustment, fair and
reasonable to all parties. I am proud
that the laboring men feel that I am
their friend I am their friend, and
prize their friendship and their conf
dence.
Torrens Land System.
have not had the opportunity to
give tsih question that serious and
careful consideration which II deserves
and, therefore, am not in position to
give you any information In regard to
| 1t or to make a recommendation az to
1t. During the campaign the past
summer. when my opponent was loud
| ly proclaiming from stump to stump
| that he favored the Torrens land sys-
tenn, I kept quiet upon the subject.
was elected.
But there Is a matter which I desire
to call to your attention; and that
Is the ownership Of land. The fearful
| ly high price that Is now being paid
| for farming lands can not in my opin-
ion last but II 1t should, II is going
absolutely to deprive the poor man of
owning land, and In a few years will
create In this country a system of
landlordship akin to feudalism, and
which will be oppressive to the great
masses Of the people, putting the poor
man at great disadvantage.
Another matter which our white
people ought to give their serious con-
sideration to, Is that Of selling so much
Of our real estate to the negro race.
This is a menace which can now be
easily averted; but fear, II the prac-
tice Is kept up, that in a few years we
are going to find ourselves facing
very serious situation In dealing with
the negro landowner. What remedy
should be applied Is a matter which
cannot discuss too freely, for fear
the timid-hearted will say. HE Is
stirring up strife and race prejudice"
But call 1t to your attention, and ask
YOU to give 1t your very earnest con-
sideration.
Relief of Storm Sufferers.
respectfully recommend that you
exempt from taxation all the persona!
property and real estate Of the citi-
zens of that part Of York county who
suffered from a terrible storm which
visited that community during the
past summer. These people were left
almost destitute; their crops were
completely destroyed, and their con-
dition was very grave. think II
would be but fair to give them this
small relief, and most respectfully
and earnestly ask that you do so.
Enforcement Of Law.
/ have been very much hampered In
my efforts in enforcement Of law and
order by some of those who, instead
of being a hindrance, should have
Joined hands with me and been
strong legal and moral force in help
ing me. The county supervisors and
county commissioners Of the various
counties are directed, under Section
South Carolina to pay for the services
of constables when appointed to en-
force the whisky laws in their coun-
ties. But, by the obstinacy Of these
officials In some of the counties, and
their absolute refusal to obey the law,
[ have been unable to appoint men to
serve as constables in those counties
in order to assist the sheriffs In keep
ing down the Illicit sale Of liquor. AS
a consequence, / am free to say TO you
that I do not believe there Is county
in the state which has no blind tigers
in it-white men selling whisky, ne
groes selling whisky, and In many In
stances, white men backing the ne
groes and having the negroes acting as
retailers for them. / have been help
less because county officials would not
pay constables appointed by me TO DO
this work. My hands nave peen tieo
to a large extent.
But 1 have had, II possible, an, even
greater hindrance. Under the law ap-
proprIatng $1,000 for the enforce
ment Of law, 1 appointed as detectives
the Rev. c. w. Creighton and Col:
Leon M. Green, two men who would
never have been suspected doing
detective work. They were doing
great deal Of good, giving me quietiy
information which I conveyed to the
proper officials, and in this way do
ing much to stop the Illicit sale OF
whisky in many splaces. The comp
troller general, however, stepped De-
tween me and the enforcement OF law
and refused to pay the claims TOT
their services; 1t was made pupnc
throughout the state that they were
state detectives, and their usefulness
that both have rendered their resig-
nations and quit the service. VI
course, when 1t became generally
known that these two men were In
| this business, the vio!ators OF the law
| were then on the watch for them.
| thought then and think now that 1
was exceptionally fortunate in getting
two such men to do this work. But
the comptroller general set his )udg-
ment up against me, whose duty II
| was to exercise judgment In these
matters, and in open, bold denance
| of the law, refused to pay the claims
| of these men, and refused to pay otn-
er claims for similar service, whicn
claims should have been PAID In MS
office. Why the comptroller general
should have taken such course / am at
a loss to understand; for I certainly
| feel that II was his duty to help me
enforce the law, instead Of standing
between the violators Of the law and
| myself, when I was trying to do my
duty. I say that / am at a loss to
account for his course-I should
| have modified this by saying, except
upon the theory that he has allowed
the political differences between US TO
| influence the discharge Of his public
duties, knowing that he had at his
back a partisan attorney general, VINO
| was my pronounced and bitter per-
sonal and political enemy (and who,
by the way, the people OF South Car
oiina have repudiated and retired to
private life.) Sitting himself up as
constitutional lawyer, backed by the
states attorney general, whose assis-
tance also 1 should have had, the
comptroller general refused to pay
these Just claims incurred In the ef-
fort to enforce the law. or course, l
have been charged with and blamed
for reinforcement Of the law
But 1 want you to understand the SIT
uation, so that you may know II the
county supervisors and. commission
ers had paid my constables, and the
comptroller general had paid my de-
tectives, 1 would have had matters
in very much better shape.
These differences and clashes, gen.
tlemen, have been very unpleasant to
me, for 1 have tried to do my duty.
and l regret that so much illegal sale
of whisky Is being carried on through
out our state. 1 am glad to say,
however, that when I explained these
| matters to the people upon the ros-
trum they did not blame me, but en-
4 40 hx, alanffn0 mo QOVer-