The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1916-09-13
THE SPIRIT OF 1890.

dethroned advlsedly because he
belongs to that race of Bour,
bons that firmly believe they are
born to rule or ruin. That the
newspaper trust stands by the
"better thou" ruling element is
easily understood. They have
been accustomed to do so, and
whenever they have "kicked ov
er the traces" they have been
punished accordingly, in with
drawal of official paid advertise.
ments, and in other indirect
ways that were felt.
But when a figure like Sena-
tor Tillman looms up to throw
his influence on the side he has
fought so bitterly in the past,
the spectacle becomes pathetic.
When in 1890 Tillman started
his reform campaign, he had a
lot of smaller papers behind HIM
as we'll as the powerful Farmers
Alliance. It was then when the
News and Courier said nothing
but unkind things of him, 1t was
then that the Columbia State
was called into existence for the
purpose of destroying Tillman-
ism. The records of these two
tdailies will reveal some awful
Fcharges, allegations, and insinu.
ations made to hurt Tillman.
There was no human being so
low, If one believed these pa
pers. Things of horrid signifc.
ance were alleged and published
His tax returns, it was stated oy
the State, were made fraudu-
|lently. The value of his COWS,
to which it stated he had sworn
was not over $1,000 a head,
when they were sold to State
institution, had suddenly multi
piled tenfola. The State Dis.
pensary, for whice he, as ex-
|ohcio chairman, had bought
whiskey far in excess of the ap-
preparation made by the Legis-
lature, came in for much censure
and the stiffest fight by these
newspapers in the history Of the
State. They spoke of graft and
swindles, and large profits aGed
of unpopular laws that were not
to be enforced under any clrcum
stance. There was then no cry
of 'slaw and order" They guild
ed the juries into believing that
lit was a righteous and holy thing
ito throw out cases against any
one who had violated the dispen
sary law.
TilIman was then pitchfork
Tillman. who demanded that his
"one-gallus boys" should be per
mitted to vote in the primary
without writing out their names,
ages, heighth and weightin full.
There was nothing too bad to
say against him.
The very Democratic party in
the State was burst wide open.
No Tillman could be tolerated.
We had the same reports of his
contempt Of the Constitution, the
same attacks on his doctrine that
the white womanhood of the
State should be kept safe under
a policy of frightfulaess".
Why? Because a common
man had had the audacity to run |
for an Office to which, according
to the ethics of the newspapers
and the political ring, only the
chosen few we're eligible.
This Tillman is dead. He
died after the Oregon land deals
and the Hubbell revelations had
had their tanning influence on
him. A new Tillman arose, a
Tillman who bends his back to
the rulers, the aristocrats. the
Bourbons. The man who told
Charlestonians from the steps
of the City Hall that the city
never could progress, that al
ready grass was growing in its
ilI-kept streets on account of the
Cort House ring and the :scuc
koo there across the street" Nhe
News and Courier,) the man
who appealed to progressive cit
liens to get rid of the unholy al.
lance and to take a new lease on
life, died at the time he became
the talk of the nation in connec.
ton with these scandals.
And a new Tillman has been