Cheraw chronicle. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, 1914-08-20
SENATOR TILMAN
TO RUN NO MORE
SERVES NOTICE TO ALL WHO
WANT HIS PLACE
Makes Last Request Of People OF
South Carolina to Defeat BleaSe
For Senate

of which is as follows:
Fellow Citizens:
81 was 81 years old the 18th da!
of August and felt like sending al
of you a greeting. l served you as
governor four years and have been
your senator in Washington 20 years
When my term expires March 4, 1919
If l live so long shall have held the
highest offices in your gift for Is
years. An old man desires to thank
you for your generous support all this
long while. May he not without
boasting, but in sincerity and earnest
ness, say that he has done his very
best for both South Carolina and the
nation? Constituted as l am, l could
not have done otherwise. One of the
first lessons my good and noble
mother taught me was, IF thing
is worth doing at all, it's worth doing
we'll While | was governor, there
fore, was governor, as everyone in
South Carolina knows, not of the
Tillmanites alone, but of all the
people. And since l have been
senator l have tried to be as good a
senator as there was in Washington.
A Large Figure
."Since August 1885, when l made
my first speech at Bennettsville, ]
have been one of the most prominent
figures, and since 1890 the most pow
,erful political factor in South Caro-
lima. From the very start l won the
love and confidence of large major
ity of my fellow citizens and it was
because of the genuineness of my
Democracy that l was so hated and
bitterly opposed. Many good men
believed l was an office seeking
demagogue and could find no language
strong enough to express their hatred
and contempt.
1.-TWO years ago when a test q, my
patriotism came, demonstrated TO
those who had always opposed me
that I was not the selfish politician
they had judged me to be. No one
knows better than l the risk l ran i'll
making the Ferguson letter public.
knew it jeopardized my reelection but
would rather have been beaten than
to have remained silent. My frank
ness, straightforward openness OF
speech and honesty of purpose
despite hypocrisy above all other vices
have thrown me into many briar
patch when a more cautious man
would have avoided, but l never have
lost sight of the ideals which opened
before me at BennettSvllle ana t!.S
welfare and uplift of the masses have
always been the guiding star which
led me on. Your faith, fellow citi-
zens, sustained me and | greet you in
this farewell address with affection
and confidence.
This is my goodbye to public Of
fee. | shall not be a candidate again
Two years ago when l asked you to
reelectme that might die in harness
fully expected to die very soon; butt
good Loard has seen fit to prolong my
life and by teaching me TO live ration
ally hasenabled me to regain some
degree of health. Should live to the
end of the end of my term, shall be
72 years of age and now serve notice
Iupon all who are interested that Shall
mot try to succeed myself. If | lie
runil March 4, 1891 shall die oh: OF
land not in harness, as | have always
wanted to do. But | shall not worry.
death awaits us all and is the ineyi-
table. / go the way of all my fathers
and i try to say in all humility and
sincerity, Lord, They will be done.
The people two years ago elected
a man governor who has run amuck'
as 1t were, and displayed so little real
ization of his high opportunities that
it makes me sad and angry TO be told
:; as | have been more than once, that
,iTillmanism is the direct cause OF
u}leaseism. Aall thoughtful and in
'alIigent m4g know ',hat this is only
Lalf truth, and half truths are the
81 sort of lies. Tillmanism taught
"O' s4nle that they could whip and
,ne .snecial privileges with the
ro1a. ' hat was a good thing all
Oaiio'' Now is Tillmanism to
h,u'o ,naS' "S' pnao,, ,s fl . people have used
that same ball, 1t with -s. ~ noon,o
a demagogue Y, rs, | tau, un conIn
that they had light to &, ,noini.
Carolina and | pr oclaim the p''. !,
anew They do have, the right, ','"
they elect hundred Bleascs. e"D"
the people and trust the people. W.
will in the end. have better govern
ment at the hands OF all the people /,
ludu VIC NOulu udNC IL <tiis Oh' NiN0'' |
ruled The people will rcctify their
blunders as they have become convin-
ced of their error.
1T would be just as tr1le TO say
that Democracy causes Socialism and
anarchy as it would Ia to say that
Tillmanism caused iil"as"iSm. Hal
my health continued god ! would have
taught the people the folly OF BleaSc-
ism two years ago, pointed out the
difference and stemmed the tide whi.h
Jones found himself rai BILE to co2e
with. Doulu -~. -. ccd the
Tillmanites, while Blease only misled
them, and all for the grantification oil
1,r, en1Hcb ambition