Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1916-11-08
+ !. !. !. j. i. i. i. !. i. !. !. j. i.
y. BUYING VOTES" i.
+ !. i. j. !. !. !. !. j. i. !. !. !. !.
(Greenville Piedmont.)

say the meanest kind Of things about
himself; but don't be foolish enough
to take that as warrant for you to
say the same things about him, be-
cause, If you do, you are likely to
get into serious trouble. "A man may
call himself fool and mean it, but
he'll hop you If YOU call him one,
even though he knows you have cor
rectly sized him up.
What do the charges of corruption
as made by Bleaseite leaders as to
the second primary mean? Have
they stopped to really consider the
actual meaning Of their words? If
the Piedmont were to say any appre-
ciable number Of Bleaseites could be
bought in an election, nobody would
cuss out this paper more roundly
than the very Bleaseite leaders who
are now, in effect. saying that very
thing when they charge that Man
nig's nomination in the second pri-
mary was bought. That is to say,
they claim that majority of the
Democrats we're Bleaseites and
would have voted for Blease had not
several thousands of them voted for
Manning instead because Of being
paid money or some other consider
alton to do so. Can any other con-
struction be reasonably placed upon
their charges? Yet, if the Piedmont
were to make plainly the charge
they make inferentially, they would
want to lynch this papers editor.
If any voters were bought-and
the air is filled with charges and
counter-charges-t were not
Bleaseites; they were not Manning
ties; they were not Democrats; they
were just cattle. You cannot call a
thing who sells his vote a man just
because he wears pants.
The use Of money in South Caro-
lima politics is common. The prac-
tice is confined to neither faction
You can hear Of votes being bought;
but the man who uses money In poll
tics does not admit that votes are
bought with his money-he tells you
he "hired workers." AS we pointed
out before, there may be legitimate
expenditure Of funds for hiring
workers." but In many cases hiring
workers" is but euphemism for
buying votes.
This "hiring workers" is a grow
ing evil and should be fought. In
Greenville county this summer some
men made considerable sums as
'elNction work vs." A candidate for
sheriff would say 10 a fellow or some
influence at Il box: '1 want you to
look out FOR me at your box. or
course you will have TO take a day
off your work, but will pay you for
your day"-and he then hands the
man 50 or more. A candidate for
the Legislature will say the same
thing to the same man and hand him
some money. Frequently the candi-
date will give the worker as much as
$40 or $20-not to buy votes; oh,
no! That sum is given ror eek
be.
You can readily see what a fine
graft this working" can be made
In the first and second primaries
some workers" probably represent
ed as many as five or six candidates
and were paid by each for his day off
from his regular work. and was prob
ably handed "eXpense' money by
some Of them, in addition to the pay
for the day off. In some cases
workers" were hired by friends Of
candidates.
If this thing is kept up, it will get
so that no man can be elected to any
office for which there is a real con-
test unless he or his friends are will
ing to he financially bled by the
workers" This will cut off from
oflice-holding men who are poor, or
who have no friends willing to "put
up for their election, or who do not
want an Office if they have to engage
in that kind Of politics.
The evil is growing, and some way
of stamping it out ought to be found.
That way will not be easy to find,
for the evil Is most insidious.
The evil Is not necessary. 1t has
grown because otherwise good men
have been weak enough to submit to
being bled by grafters who call them
selves political workers." A strong