The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1914-03-11
Boards Reply to Press s. Banner

son ,Intelleg9ncer and therein ask several
pertinent questions which have no
objection whatever to answering.
AS to the charge you lay against me Of
partizaiship I respectfully plead guilty.
am a. partizam partizam of Cole L.
Blease and Jon l.. McLaurin. For that I
have no apology to offer or explanation to
make. 1t is my right, am So, purely
from individual choice. No one with COM
mon fairness can object to that. The
right to do likewise I cheerfully concede
to all.
Now as to hearing both sides and ere
membering to make it public" am
frank to say that while naturally do hear
"both Sides" still the things that in my
judgment would be injurious to- either
Blease or. McLaurin from political stand
point naturally leave to the other fellow
to make public" You will agree that the
above statement has the merit Of perfect
candor if no thing more. That Is no
reason why the rumors publish are not
founded on fact, on the contrary, a study
of my various "predictions" and a, COM
parison with recent happenings ought to
convince any one that:I am right in my
conditions and deal only in facts. :,
Let me refresh your memory little.
Four days before. Sims and Weston were
appointed, friends of Senate Weston asked
me to back up my letter to Intellegencer,
with another, giving future facts in my
possession in order to "force Smith to
come across" as they expressedit. Iwrote
the letter to the Honea Path Chronicle, and
it was enthusiastically pronounced
"daisy" by these friends. :.
In thatl I made it so plain to these
people that all was not gold that glitter
ed" that they Immediately went up in the
so to speak, and as Senator Tillman was
in town in day SO, these Weston men
lost time in usining my statements as
fulcrum with which to pry loose those
coveted appointments.
This letter was handed to Geo E. Moore.
editor Of the Honea Path Cronicle on Sat-
urday, and on Monday morning follower
ing, the appointments we're made to the
Marshallship and District Attorneyship
respectively. I afterwords heard about
the "wires being kept hot between Colum-
bia and Washington" Saturday and Sun
day but with that I care not to deal. Any
way I have contended from the first, that
Weston and Sims would get the. plums.
They died. Ihave not proclaimed 'spossi-
bic frame-up "betwee candidates for
Marshal, in the event Of disappointment.
based on "vague rumor." It is what L
all owe the state from the friends OF these
candidates. further state that 1t Is my
firm belief, based on statements frequent
ly made to me by the friends Of these
various candidates that unless Smith gets
busy and carries this second district
through, and appoints. his friends very
soon that they will put out either Allen
Johnstone Of Newbeery or John Gary
Evans of Spartanburg to oppose him. I
further say that even then in view of the
statements as to promises made, and In
view Of the fact that he can only appoint
two out of many so promised, that the
other disappointed ones will fight him for
his supposed perfdy, and G. J. Lyon In
my opinion will be one of them, your state
ment to the contrary Notwithstanding. -
AS Charley Lyon is personal, II not
political friend Of mine as said before, no.
thing would give me more pleasure tan to
see him get the appointment as o. S.
Marshal for the second district when
created. But do not believe that he will
get it, and here are my reasons for say
ing it.
Senator Smith was himself Haskell
ite" of the most pronounced kind. He is
accepted by Woodrow Wilson as the repre-
sentative of the "better element" Of this
state, and while they have to "pull it over"
old Ben little, which is easy, now, still
Smith and his faction are the ''whole
cheese" in Washington. Why, they even
bamboozled the erstwhile intellectual and
political giant into thinking he was direct
ly recognized in the matter Of Sims'i ap-
to Tillmanism, and once printed radical
paper TINT fought Wade Hampton for
Chamberlain.
The other two appointees viz: Weston
and Hayward, were Haskellites. None but
anti -Tillmanites and anti-Bleaseites have
received recognition so far or will receive
it in the future. Then how can G. j. Lyon
having been a Tillmanits and Bleaseite,
both, expect to receive recognition at the
hands of one who is, and has, all along
been opposed to both?
1 hope that am wrong, but at present
writing don't believe Charlie Lyon stands
as much chance as a SNOWFALL in hades.
When a man promises one position to q
number of men, then delays appointment,
to get their help in election, his only chance
of success is to keep each ignorant of the
promise made to the other. 1t has been
my business to see that each aspirant was
fully informed, and that is why this plan
failed to work, otherwise it would no doubt
have been successful.
OF all the letters have written no one
has ever proven me wrong in either state
ment or analysis, while up to the present,
events have corroborated my every state
ment and surmise
I challenge the Press and Banner to dis
prove by facts anything herein stated, and
to state also if their own fears as regards
these plums are not in accord with the
predictions" now made and formerly ex-