The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1914-06-11

HIS LETTER AN AMUSING CON-
TRIBUTION TO CURRENT CAM
PAIGN LITERATURE.

l
material race; this is not true. 1t
probably arose from the fact that
the public sees that lin part have
accomplished what | set out to do
restore harmony among our people.
With peace and unity between Gov
ernor Blease and Senator Tillman
feel that | deserve the We'll done
thou good and faithful servant"
Last fall Senator Tllman called
upon me to do penance." | was
to sacrifice myself by entering the
Senatorial race to compass the de-
feat of Blease. For this atone
melt" my sins were to be forgiven
and the enter thou into the joys of
thy Lord" spoken later.
The role of dog in the manger'
has never appealed to me as either
dignifed or sensible. The idea of
sacrifice, however, commends itself
spiritually, and it is grand thing
to be in the company of the most
illustrious of all the ages.
1t has been apparent since 1912
that a determined attempt would be
made to abridge suffrage in the
primary. l looked upon this as
peculiarly dangerous at this time,
besides being opposed to the spirit
of the age, which favors extension,
not restriction of suffrage.
believed the only way to pre-
vent it was to openly and boldly sup
port Governor Blease, to magnify
his power and add to his strength
so that with all the election machine
ry in his hands, no convention would
dare place the poor and ignorant
white man in primaries on the same
basis as the negro in the general
election.
The late convention went as far
as it could without disrupting the
party. / have no apologies to make.
| did what thought was right.
In 1912 and since there has been
systematic effort to defeat Gov
ernor Blease by destroying him as a
man, not a politician. Every man
supporting him was written down
either as knave or an ignoramus.
There was a cry about money be-
ing paid for pardons. Burns raked
the State with his detectives armed
with a devilish dictagraph. They
dangled a SIS, 200 fee in front of a
drunken lawyers eyes, and, God
knows, they are greedy enough sober.
What did they get? Not word
of proof to confirm false and SLAM
derous charges.
Such a sentiment was worked up
through the press and stories circu-
lated by word of mouth that thous-
ands of Epeople, today, really look
upon Governor Blease as the lowest,
meanest man who ever trod South
Carolina soil.
What is the result? A versatile
and shrewd politician has taken ad-
vantage of these conditions, to trans
form himself into a peoples idol
and workingman's champion. To
the toilers in the workshop and the
factory, it is because he is their
friend that he is prosecuted. You
hit him, you hit them. To thousands
he is their only stake in Government.
know this all rot, but they be-
lieve it, and thatimakes it true. The
masses never see the man at all;
they only see the ideal reflected
from the longings of their own souls.
The imaginations of men in all
ages have manufactured from COM
mon clay halos of glory with which
to crown their saints and heroes.
In this world it is not what a man
is, but what people think he is. 1t
is only God who sits the wheat
from the chaff.
The other side has the Legislature,
the courts, bar, press and pulpit.
They have education, wealth and
,,o,,er They scan afford to be