Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-01-13

pay HlS CduupdiBu eApCHSSo diouiNi
over South Carolina? Was it to pay his
sons expenses in travelling with him
and carrying his books? Was it to pay
the legitimate expenses Of his cam
paign manager? What was it for? Who
was to use it, and for what purpose
Why did the railroads make large con-
tributions to Blease's opponents cam
paign fund? Why did certain cotton
mill presidents make such large con-
tributions to Blease's opponents cam
paign fund? Had any candidate In
South Carolina ever before needed
campaign fund such as was raised
against Blease? Did Tillman use 1t, OF
Evans, Ellerbe, McSweeny, Hayward
Ansel or Blease? Did General Earle use
it? Then why this powerful campaign
contribution for the primary OF 1912:
II the primary was corrupt, who cor
rupted it? If men voted in 1t who Were
not entitled to vote, who hauled them
from North Carolina and from Georgia
and paid their expenses?
1t is plain to any thinking man, and
il will be admitted by any honest man,
that these large sums Of money raised
by contribution and handled at CEN
trail bureau in Columbia and by parties
in other parts of the state, are what
corrupted it, II it was corrupt, and
only by the true manhood OF the nom
est citizenship of South Carolina ris-
ing in its might and refusing to De
bought and debauched by this crowd
was South Carolina saved from a cor
rupt government bought at the ballot
box.
Now, who Is responsible for this
great cry of fraud in the primaries
The governor publicly stated on the
State House steps, the night after the
election, that the other side had stolen
more votes and put them In the ballot
box than they knew what to do with
If his statement was slander. wh!
wasn't he prosecuted? If his state
ment was a SANDER, why was II tnat
the committee Of the state executive
committee, large majority OF whom
were composed Of his bitterest oppo-
nents, after they had gone to Spartan =
burg and to Greenville and to Ander-
son and to Orangeburg, disbanded,
gave up their investigation, and sneak
ed off quietly and went into their little
holes?
These charges Of fraud and corrup-
ton are absolutely unworthy but IN
line with the source from which they
come. The man who introduced the
resolution in the state executive com
mittee charging the white people OF
his state with fraud and corruption In
that election, pulled then the rope
which rang the bell sounding MS deatn
knell throughout the Democratic par
ty of this state. The partisan major
fy of the committee which took 1t up
will find that 1t will take them years
of hard, honest struggle to redeem.
themselves in the eyes Of the people OF
this state. Today the people are alive
to the fact that these charges or frau
and perjury and corruption have been
made against them, the white people
of South Carolina, and when the time
comes, IL men with the moral courage
and the political backbone get upon
the rostrum in this state and expose
the righteousness Of those who made
and who took up these charges, every
one of them will be wiped from the
face of the political arena, and those
who stood with the majority In that
election will again stand with the ma
lority, for fair dealing and for hon
esty.
No, it is not the system that needs
improving; 1t Is not the law that needs
amending-we have law enough-Dut
it is the enforcement Of that law thai
we need. Prosecute the men. who
in the future hand out money and
whisky. Prosecute the men who try
to buy votes. Prosecute the people
who hire men to travel throughout the
state under the guise Of book agents,
newspaper reporters and SUBSCRIPTION
list hunters, and under other guises'
and instead Of following the vocations
which they claim to follow, go around
trying to buy voters. trying to deDaucn
the citizenship of the state, and telling
the most wilful and malicious lies up
on the then governor OF their COM
monwealth. Such men and their ac,
cessories are the men who attempted
to corrupt the primary, and 1t was on
ly by Blease exposing their scnemes
from the public stump that they were
whipped-by his showing up that they
had caused a shortage in the ballots
that they had spent money and done
everything that could possibly be done
to defeat a man-and then, when
they were whipped, all they could hol-
ler was fraud, and when every man In
South Carolina who Is honest ana de-
cent knows there was more fraud ano
corruption used by them against the
man who whipped them than could
possibly have been used for him.
Prosecute the men who violate the
election laws, prosecute the men VINO
try to bribe voters, prosecute the men
who commit perjury at the ballot pox
and you have got law enough, you
have got all the law you need; ano
this howl. gentlemen, Is hypocrisy o.
,he meanest, lowest type; 1t Is the mol
lering of "stop thief" when the thlei
is doing the hollering-and you know
it. and they know it. This clamor that
the newspapers are making is a Sian
der upon the white people Of this state
and is bringing unjust and unwarrant-
ed criticism upon the people or South
Carolina by the people OF other states
OF course we want to prosecute the
bribe- -giver and the bribe-taker. And
why such large contributions for
Rleases opponents campaign, once
again, I ask. If people think these
contributions were not asked for OF
not given, names can be given.
Now, who had the control Of the
state Democratic convention? The
men opposed to Governor Blease'
Who had control Of every county ex-
ecutiye committee in the state? VINO
had the absolute control, by large
majority, of the state executive COM
mittee? Who appointed the managers
of election throughout the state
When Governor BleaSe wrote to the
chairman of the state Democratic ex-
ecutiye committee and asked to have
one manager at each precinct, his re-
quest was declined. When similar re-
quests were made Of the chalrmen
of the county executive committees, II
was declined his friends. The county
executive committees, nearly all OF
which were anti-Blease. appointed
anti-Rlease managers all over the
counties, and these anti-Blease man.
ayers were in the large majority all
over the state-a majority OF two
thirds or more were anti-adminlstra-
ton men. The ballots were put IN the
boxes which the Observation-Disclosures
men had control of, the anti-adminls-
tration men took them off to one SIDE
and counted them and announced SO
many for Jones and so many Tor
Blease. The returns were sent TO the
county executive committees, and the
county executive committees, com :
posed almost overwhelmingly OF anti
Blease men, tabulated them and sent
them to the state committee, and the
state committee met and tabulated
them and announced the result. Now
how in the name of common sense
with all the election machinery anti
Rlease-how in the name of common
sense. I repeat. could the Blease men
have committed fraud? Therefore, II
there was fraud, as these editors and
others are now loudly proclaimlng