The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1914-02-20

Wade y 4mptOn, to redeem South Gar
o.i1a from republicanism, and ever
will consent to any restrictions be-
ing placed around primary election
to prevent one of these old soldiers,
or the son Of one of these old soldiers,
from saying who they think should
hold the Offices in South Carolina.
Negro Interference and negro domina-
ton is all rot. Conditions are diff
ferent now to what they were just
after the war, when our fathers were
forced to accept certain things 1t
could no mere happen in South Caro-
lima today than keg Of powder could
stay in hades 4S hours without eX-
ploding. Therefore, any man who
talks to you about appealing to the
negro, or a split in the party at the
general election, with the negro hav-.
ing the balance of power, must be
either mixedbreed, negro lover,
or himself a disappointed ofticerseek-
er. Let the white people all vote in
the primary as you have been doing
and when either side appeals to the
negro, you will see all decent white
men with the pure caucasian; the
negro and mis- mixed allies will be
beaten, as has been tbe result every
time it has been tried since 1874.
Now. listen! Here is What my let
ter said:
THAT a certified copy of the names
of the qualified voters Of each pre-
cinct shall be sent to the managers
of such precinct, and in case any per-
son shal lose his certificate, and his
name is on the books in proper form,
he should be allowed to vote, provided
the managers know him, or he can be
identified"
T1is suggestion was offered only in
case a bill was forced through by a
majority, who had made up their
minds regardless of consequences to
pass it; and of course, this would
have had to be passed over my veto,
as any bill passing this session, touch
ing the primary, in any shape or form,
will have to be. l have said this,
gentlemen, in my message, and l
meant it, and l mean it here, and ap-
peal to every friend l nave in your
house to vote against any a2d all bills,
however innocent they may look, or
j however innocent, they may appear in
any manner, in any shape or form,
any any friend Of mine, or the peo-
pie, who does not do it is putting
himself in his enemies hands and fix
! ing for himself as certain defeat as the
people are permitted to vote this year.
am surprised at all of you. You
came here over the primary bridge,
and if you never expect to run for
another office, burn the bridge; but,
if you ever expect to come back again
over that stream, you would be fools
to burn the primary bridge that you
came across on this time. Futher-
more, suggested that an act be passed
| by you in 1913 requiring the books Of
registration to be opened during the
entire month of July and August, in
order that everybody might have the
opportunity to register, and then if a
man did not, it would be his own
fault. You passed no such law. The
majority of your house are opposed
to me, and they refused to give the
people of this opportunity to register,
when I asked you to give it to them,
and when they did so, they released
every friend of the people in this State
from any word, act or deed, that they
| had said or done that could le inter
| preted into meaning that they favored
any change in the primary. l in
structed all the boards of supervisors
OF registration to open their books last
year; to go to all the cotton mills;
to go to the various townships, and
try to get everybody registered, but
that failed.
Now, gentlemen, in the words of
another: 81 am not opposed to any
reasonable regulation designed to pre-
vent unfairness, fraud repeating or
substitution in primary elections.
The primary system was instituted in
this State for the purpose Of ascer-
tanning the will of the white voter in