Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1913-01-28
.laWhila this school If oola:.fashioned

politics. has its representative In eV:
cry stately common consent, the Hon
Cole u, BIease,; Governor of the proue
old C Commonwealth of South Caro-:
lima, lis conceded to be the king of
them: all. @
r A special dispatch from Columbia
S. c.. to The Baltimore Sun this morn
ing gives some interesting facts
about the character of the South Car
.olina Governor. The correspondent OF
the Sun says:
CASA species Cooley, as his friends
and adherents call him, is by no means
irare,although as a specimen he might
be said to be unique. Probably nc
man in this country called to high
Office has ever done the things he has
done and "gotten by" with them. He
has kept his state continually in the
limelight ever since he was first elect
ed. It is there now as the result of
the controversy that has broken out
between him and the senior senator
of the State, BEN Tillman.
"The last time he put his State be-
fore the eyes of the nation in such
manner was when he made his out
break before the conference of Gov
errors in Richmond early last month,
and as the South Carolina legislature
is now in session it is expected that
there will be something doing all the
time until it adjourns.
"And as he is determined to be
United States Senator to succeed Sen
alter Smith there will be something
more doing until after close of sena-
torial campaign. Everybody will
know South Carolina is on the map as
long as he has any official connection
with it or desires any office within the
gift of its people.
1t is only fair to say, however, that
the advertising he has been giving his
state is not of the character appre-
ciated by the thinking people of it.
1t makes them vince, and they do not
like to talk about it. But, as for Gov
ernor Blease, he does not care what
they like or what they do not like. The
men who think are for the most part
his political enemies, and for their
opinion he processes most complete
indifference. He has the votes Of those
who do not think, and that is the main
thin gaccording to his plan Of opera
lions.
"But his frequent outbreaks, his
constant and persistent attacks on
newspapers not only of his own state,
but of the country at large, made upon
every possible occasion, irrespective
of place or surroundings; his utter
disregard for the proprieties, even the
decencies. or for the dignity Of his
Office; his unrelenting pursuit OF those
whom he calls his enemies;his reck-
less use of the pardoning power, said
by many to be breeding disregard of
the criminal laws Of the state--thcse
things~have set the people-outside the
state to wondering just what manner
of man he is.
as he really man of the people,
striving for the uplift Of these who
are down, the champion of the COM
mon people against the pretensions Of
the aristocrats, as he claims to be, and
his followers say he is, or is he just
demagogue- most blatant Of them
all--seeking to array class against
class for his own purposes, regardless
of the welfare of the state so long as
his own ends are served and his own
ambitions gratified. These are the
questions the people outside Of the
state are asking.
Blease is strange character. Men
with similar attribute have arisen all
over the country from time, but there
has probably never been one just like
him, probably will not be again. The
of education will make it
Senator Tillman says he
is crazy, and in this opinion many
agree with him. But they and the
Senator are wrong.
Instead of being crazy he is re-
shrewd man. Probably no
man in the country knows better the
temper of the mob, how to play on its
sympathies and it's prejudices and
how to mold it to his will. He knows
that the people instinctly love a man
who will strike out right and left, who
carries chip on his shoulder always.
The American people love fighter,
but those who think want one will be
sure he is right before he begins to
fight; those who do not think do not
care so long as she fight is on.
And Blease plays on this trait OF