Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-08-21
BROWNING AND MANNING
Union Man Excoriates Sumter Candi'
date at Walhalla.


The feature of the state campaign
meeting at Walhalla last Tuesday was
the terrific lambasting that Hon.
Lowndes ]. Browning gave the Hon.
Richard l. Manning.
There is nothing enjoy more" said
Mr.. Browning, than to puncture a
gas bag or expose a hypocrite and l
am going to do one or the other today
Soon you will hear as at the other
meetings we have heard, lawlessness
denounced in the most vigorous terms.
The candidate rears up on the toes OF
his hind legs and declares that no
house burner, yeggman, safecracker or
rapist need apply to him for pardon
He does not say, however, that he Will
not, if governor, pardon common
thief. a.
Eight years ago when the state dis
pensary had become a stencil In the
nostrils Of the people, when only such
men as John G.. Richards and Mendel
L. Smith still stood for it's corrupt and
corrupting influences, Richard /. Man
ming came forward to save 1t. Many
Itslieyed then and some believe yet that
| he attempted to bolster it's waning FOR
tunes for the sake Of the governorship.
| did not then consider him so low as
to sell himself for office. l attributed
it to a never too strong mentality, but
of course / may have been mistaken.
At any rate, he was defeated that year
for governor
Now he is a candidate again for
the same high office and proclaimlng
most loudly for the enforcement OF
the law. Let us see, and to do so, we
must go back a little. On page Zlo'
senate journal Of 1912, you will find a
message from Gov. Blease, transmit
ting to the general assembly the report
of his special factory inspector, Col.
Leon M. Green, of the governors stan,
and this report covers to page 24O or
said journal. The governor congratu-
lated himself that the year before ne
had vetoed the item Of $3,400 for two
factory inspectors and had had this
work done by Col. Leon NJ. Green at
cost Of only $1,000.
Seeing striking similarity between
Col. Leon M. Green's report and the
report of the commissioner OF agricu!-
ture, commerce and industries, r. j..
Watson, l compared the two ana Iound
them identical. / then sent j. Rutledge
MCGEE to Mr. Watson's office, demand
i ing the correspondence between Mr.
Watson and Col. Leon M. Green on
factory inspection. l got the originals
of Col Leon NJ. Green's letters and
carbon copies of Mr.. Watson's replies,
and reading these letters to the house
I proved that all the work Col. Leon M.
Green had done was to copy about ~
pages Of Mr.. Watson's report for which
the state of South Carolina paid $1,000
Col. Leon NJ. Green was then, and
think is now, member or GOV.
Blease's staff. This exposure was in
the papers on the front page in large
headlines. Col. Leon NJ. Green was
then dubbed Scissors Whether that
non del plume still sticks, l do not
know.
Mr.. Manning must have known all
this. He knew the moral character OF
this Col. Leon M. Green and yet, Is he
not in Mr.. Manning's employ now?
Yesterday | asked the clerk at the no.
tel in Anderson if Mr.. Manning was
stopping there. He replied: Yes, he Is
in No. A. l then asked if Col. Leon M.
Green were there and he replied; Yes,
but not registered. He is with Mr..
Manning in No. 4. Do you wish to see
him. l did not. If Mr.. Manning is so
fearfully earnest in his desire to have
Col. Leon NJ. Green so constantly with
him? He must know his character.
Does Col. Leon Nj. Green write Mr..
Manning's speeches? He wlelds
rather facile pen; his mentality Is
above the average. Did Mr.. Manning
employ Col Leon NJ. Green Of his own
volition? Or was he thrust upon him
by Mr.. Manning's capitalistic hackers?
Is Mr.. Manning sincere in his denun-
citation Of lawlessness or Is ne only
bidding for votes? Does not Mr. Man
Green leave the impression that he Is
swinging to Blease's cOattail with one
hand and to the capitalists with the
other? These are pertinent questions
and the voters of South Carolina are
entitled to a frank and candid answer.
Il am offering this to the press. Did
it reflect on Lowndes j. Browning,
John G. Clinkscales, Charles A. Smith
or Mendel l.. Smith, feel sure it would
be published, but as 1t refers to one of
the press and capitalistic pets, we will
see"
In connection with the foregoing,
Mr.. l.. NJ. Green, who is the Columbia
correspondent of the Charlotte Observ-
er, gave out the following at Green
vile:
"Browning's statement today at Wal
halla is but a disgruntled attack upon
Mr. Manning, the leading gubernatori-
nj candidate. through a misstatement
of facts with regard to me. | emphat-
cally deny insinuations contained
therein.
With regard to the factory inspec-
ton referred to. the whole matter was
threshed out in the general assembly
at the time, my statement as to the
true situation was published generally
in the press Of the state and was ac-
cepted as an ending to the proposition.
The use of the alleged incident for po-
litical effect by Browning at the time
was halted.
LAS to the insinuation that ! am a
Blease man, that | specifically deny. j
am not a supporter Of Gov Blease for
the United States senate and this is
generally and publicly known.
This eleventh hour attack on Mr..
Manning will not hurt him with the
people OF South Carolina, l am sure"
J. f. p.