Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-06-12
NO. A..

the newspapers make of him. OF
course, those familiar with his meth
DDS know that he is furnishing a
great deal of the copy and some Of
his friends are paying for this free
advertising.
when David B. Hill, the great and
distinguished predecessor Of the sena-
tor from New York, Mr.. O'Gorman,
in opening the Democratic campaign
at the Academy of Music in Brook
lyn in 1885, said, L am a Democrat
it was startling because Of its sim
| plicity and triteness and evoked
loud outburst Of laughter and ap-
plause. The cartoonists of the Re-
publican press took ii up and had
much fun at his expense.
| Should Senator O'Gorman, in the
coming campaign, address an audi
ence on the same spot, he too, could
say, L am a Democrat and could
point to his long and distinguished
services as a leader of the party in his
| city and state. But he would have
difficulty in explaining just what a
Democrat Is and would be twitted
with n number Of questions that can
| be asked about this canal matter.
Some will ask why two planks so
Iantagonistic were put in the platform
and how they got there? Whose fault
| was it that Democracy Is thus made a
| spectacle in the eyes of the people of
the country? The senator from Mon
| tana who acted as secretary to the
subcommittee which finally drafted
the platform into words, has told us
all about the discussions in that COM
mittee and how this plank came to
be there. The president himself told
me frankly that when he made his
speech in New Jersey explaining and
praising this plank, he did not know
its real meaning and that he had
never studied its full effect And I
am bound to believe Mr.. Bryan was
also mapping, though he was the
most alert man in the Baltimore con-
vention that 1 saw there; and was so
agile, virile and vigorous as to as
tonish his old friends as we'll as his
enemies. We have IL from high au-
| thority that,
Even the worthy Homer sometimes
| mods
and we must charitably suppose that
both the president and his secretary
Of state were caught napping-the
one when the plank slipped into the
Baltimore platform, the other when
he made speech praising it.
Intended to Oppose Repeal.
Il had made up my mind, however,
| to vote against the repeal Of this
law, preferring that we should arbi-
trate the matter with Great Britain,
If necessary, rather than be charged
justly with bad faith in keeping a
treaty. l still believe this would have
been the best way out of the dilemma.
The testimony Is so conflicting on
what the treaty really means and
what are our obligations under 1t.
and so many good men and able law
yerS differ honestly in regard to il
| that l thought it better to submit II
| to the judgment of an unbiased jury
and abide the result. To me ii seems
that it would be better to submit to
arbitration even though we knew we
should lose the case, than be made
a laughing stock as we now are. If
we, as nation, have lost caste with
| other nations, as Is limited, rather as
serted, because Of our action on this
canal matter, it would certainly be
less mortifying to have the other ma
| tions join with Great Britain in tell
ing us so than voluntarily to declare
that we wanted to take advantage of
England contrary with our treaty obli-
cations, and were shamed into decency
by the public opinion of the world.
| Then. too, there was a peculiar con-
| dition personal or local in its nature,
The Fight With Mclaurin.
Senators will remember that in
| 1902, while Hon. John L. McLaurin
was a senator from South Carolina,
he and l came to blows on the floor
of this chamber because had charg-
| ed him with selling out to the Repub-
licans on the Spanish treaty, which
| charge he denied with bitterness and
| called me a liar. This I Immediately
resented with blow. Some of the
older senators who witnessed the
scene are yet with me; but / do not
| propose to go into any further de-
| tails. 1 merely mention it in order
to explain why it is embarrassing for
me to vote for this repeal. At the
| next state Democratic convention,
after the encounter between McLaurin
and myself, I urged and succeeded in
| having passed by the convention a
provision changing the constitution
| and rules Of the party in South Caro-
lima so as to require each candidate
for the senate and house to subscribe
to the following pledge:
Il will support the political prin-
ciples of the Democratic party during
the term of office for which 1 am
elected, and work in accord with my
Democratic associates in congress on
all party questions
Made For McLaurin.
This was made for McLaurin and
everybody understood why. While his
betrayal Of his trust was very fragrant
and fully warranted my characterize
ton of 1t, 1t was no more clear and
explicit than this question Of tolls;
for where will we look for Demo-
cratic policies and principles If not in
the party platform? Where will we
get palmer language than the pledge
at Baltimore on this subject? There
has been no caucus of senators or
Democrats to determine what Is the
| thing and the president has endorsed
and praised the platform and ex-
| planned that very thing in a speech.
No authoritative repeal or disavowal
| of the platform at Baltimore has been
| uttered by any one; and Democrats
everywhere are very much muddled.
The president alone urges the repeal
because in his Judgment ii is neces-
| sary to maintain our honor as q ma
| ton.
II would be very unhappy IL Nc
| Laurin could justly charge me with
prescribing physic for him which |
myself am unwilling to take. Should
l fail to stand by the party platform
and vote for the repeal, he could
justly say tnat L am inconsistent. |
have always prided myself on my
| frankness and bluntness in speaking
just what l believe to be true The
predicament we are now in has caused
me more worry than anything that
has happened in a long while. We
| have just had another state conven-
| ton Of the Democratic party of South
Carolina, and that convention endors-
| ed President Wilson's administration
in no uncertain terms. Indeed, it
went further than good taste, or truth,
seemed to demand or allow It said
Recognizing in the president the
greatest moral force that has been in
| the White House during the past CEN
| tury. we heartily commend his efforts
| to secure a repeal of the Panama free
tolls act, law enacted by Republi-
can congress and signed by a Republi-
can president, regardless of national
honor. We condemn this law as un-
Democratic and against the economic
policy of our party and country. We
believe that this law would create a
shipping trust and would repeat the
outrageous scandals OF the building of
our transcontinental railways We de-
mand that our senator's vote for the