Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-07-24
atliseellansuus 8eaains.
CLOSE RANKS!
Daily Newspapers Arguing for Elimi
nation of Surplus Candidates.


papers are devoting themselves TO
pointing out the danger Of going into
the gubernatorial election with toe
many candidates. The administration
forces have four candidates, and the
anti-administration forces six. Most
of the daily papers assume that the
Ianti-administration forces have a ma
jority in a straight fight; but point
out that if they divide between six
men with the administration forces
divided between only four, the sec
ond race will be between two admins
tration candidates. The purpose of
such argument is to make sentiment
in fa.or of concentration and as soon
as one side begins to show evidence
of a disposition to follow this policy,
the other side will do likewise. One
of the most comprehensive surmises
Of the situation we have seen up to
this time appears in the Greenville
| Piedmont, of Tuesday. 1t is as fol-
lows:
| There are thousands Of people in
South Carolina who regard Bleasism
as the predominant issue in this
state this summer Not a few of
these would regard it less Of mis-
tor, provided no Bleasite became gov
ernor, than for Blease to be defeated
| for senator, If his successor as gov
ernor should be a man who would, in
that Office. use his power along the
same lines that Blease followed as
governor.
ITO those who think this way the
seriousness of the situation is be-
ginning to be apparent. They are
| firmly convinced that at the present
| time a majority of the voters Of the
state are against Blease for senator
and a Bleasite for governor. But,
the opposition is embarrassed with
such a superfluity Of good and popu-
lar gubernatoral candidates that 1t is
very possible-one might almost as
sert probable-that the second race.
ditions is certainty, may come
between two candidates who are sup
porters of Please. Such an outcome
would not only make it absolutely
certain that Rlease's successor will
be a Rleasite but would have no
small effect in helping him in the sec
ond senatorial primary it now being
generally regarded as certain that
there will be a second senatorial pri-
mary, and that Rlease will be one OF
the two candidates who will have to
run over. ~6 =
"The situation in the gubernatorial
campaign this year is very much like
that which existed in the senatorial
campaign in 1892. That being the
case, it will be profitable to review
the>f facts as to that campaign. In
T1S99 six men aspired to succeed Nc
TEaurin in the senate. They were
Hemphill of Chester; Elliott, OF
Beaufort; Johnstone, of Newberry;
Henderson, Of Aiken; Latimer, OF
| Anderson, and Evans, of Spartan
burg. 1t is generally regarded as GER
tain that practically none of those
who voted for Hemphill, Elliott, Hen
dersOn or Johnstone in the first race,
would have voted for either Latimer
or Evans in the first primary had any
one, two or three of those four
withdrawn his candidacy before the
balloting began. But each of those
four was more anxious to be senator
than to prevent the election OF Lati-
mer or Evans, so none withdrew. The
result was that while Johnstone,
Hemphill. Elliott and Henderson, rep
resenting one faction; collectively
polled ten or fifteen thousand more
votes than Latmer and Evans, repre-
senting the other faction, polled to-
gether the majority vote, split into
four nearly even parts. gave each OF
| he majority candidates a smaller vote
than the minority vote, split into two
uneven parts gave each of the two
minority car, idates, and the conse-
uuence was that the second race was
between the two minority candidates,
neither of whom was the second
choice of any considerable number of
those who voted for one of the other
four candidates in the first race.
Conditions are ripe for practically
the same thing to happen in the gu
bernatorial campaign this year. There
are eleven candidates: Clinkscales.
Mutually, Cooper, Irby, Browning.
Duncan. Manning, NJ. l.. Smith, Rich-
ards. c. \. Smith and Simms Dun
can and Mutually are generally re-
garded as negligible factors. few be-
lieving either will poll a thousand
votes There is IA general idea that
the same is practically true Of Simms,
whose vote will be little larger but
local in it's character lrby and
| Richards are regarded as out and out
Rleasites, while Clinkscales, Cooper,
| browning. Manning and G. a. Smith
are regarded as Objectionable to the
| Eleasites. While NJ. l.. Smith has
stated on the stump that he will not
vote for Blease for the senate. ru-
mOrs persist that there is possibility
of support of him by the Eleasites, If
| conditions warrant it.
THE Rleasites are better organized
than their opponents and it seems to
be a fact that they have much better
political generalship. They know ii
is an impossibility for them by con-
centrating their strength upon one
candidate to elect him in the first
primary Two reasons guarantee
this:
81 Their full strength, even If
concentrated. would be insufficient.
- 1t cannot be concentrated. be-
cause all votes connot be taken from
| the other EleaSite candidates, and
because not a few Rleasites. through
local conditions or friendships, will
vote in the first race for some of the
opposition candidates.
| haipu pnSn the wise thing