The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1916-09-20

Tasaks al IA Afterthought
To My Fsllov Citizens:

Now that The heat and excitement
of the canusign are over; since the
sssues have been settled for the time.
ne;ng and men are back at their reg
1,Iar pnrsaits, I wish to express my
profound gratitude to the good
neople of tais county who voted for
end suppoted me in the elections
inst nast5 To those who voted
AGAINST me IN obedience to their
honest convictions, desire to say
that / bearno i'll Wilt is your
birthright to vote for whomsoever
YOU alease. Those who voted against
me for aprice, and those who in
huenced others against me by the
fagrantuse of vile and malicious
reports, / leave to a Higher Judg-
ment. They are very sure to re-
ceive ajust reward.
While / lacked a few votes Of re-
ceiving the nomination, do not
feel, il the least degree, personal
defeat. Everyone who had a part
in those elections knows that my op-
position directed its fight against
another and not against me- My
reputation as man and as public
officer has not been hurt, and on the
other hand, it has been made better
and stronger, for it has held its own
in rough hands that would have
.smirched it if they could. People
are coming to me daily and others
are writing, offering congratula-
tions for the manly campaign which
/ made in trying to elevate our local
politics, and deploring the triumph
ofanfairness.
# entered the campaign clean,
honest man, and / come out OF it
now just as clean, and with no tint
of suspicion. / have no regrets to
asgister othsssathan the regret over
thekeen disappointment of my many
personal friends, who feel the loss of
a capable, serviceable man in a place
of high trust. Their sincere ex-
pressions of loss take away many of
the unpleasant things that happened
during the campaign. To these
men, generous and true, let me say:
Await time with patience, for time
isa great leveller. A cause founded
upon truth and Righteousness cannot
fail. neither can political machine
live which is founded upon grossly
exaggerated demerits Of outside par
ties and directed from under cover.
It is a well known fact that was
made the burden-bearer of what
was alleged to be so undesirable in
Others mot one, but many and for
which was in no way responsible.
Yet the guns were turned upon me
and the pitiable score is marked by
seventy-one votes! 1t reminds me
of the old, old story of the man
gaining the whole world only to lose
his own soul. l am frank to say
that no man with justice in his
heart can direct or be party to
such a game. No man who pos
sesses the proper sense of fairness
among men can vote for such prin-
ciples and retain a clear conscience.
I was in the race and made the
whole campaign on my own merit.
Why didn't the opposition fight me?
Why should the voters be prejudiced
against a man who had done no sin
against the public? If the answer
to these questions never comes to
YOU Won can sum it up like unto
this: When the first primary showed
me a leader by nearly six hundred
over my nearest opponent, they saw
that merit was going to win and
that they were short in the winning
yirtue Then it was that this re-
mark (the author of which l haven't
been able to learn came to be heard
from out conference of conspiracy:
(and there are always traitors in
your conspiracies, my neighbor9