Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1917-02-21
"TlIE COLUMBIA INCIDENT"

hg, Scnllclllcll, Only laSI week !
rot quart OF fivc-star Scotch whis-
ley through Il Columbia policeman"
declared Representative Harry
:iughS, Of Oc0ncc, on the floor Of the
si0use yesterday. lie added cmphat-
ically, And you can do the same
thing"
This remark was made in speech
on the DuRant bill. in which Mr..
':nghs had said that whiskcy was
howing rampant In South Carolina.
Mayor Griffith said yesterday that he
would investigate the matter aud
would probably order complete
probe
Mr.. lluShS rose at the afternoon
>"sSion to point OF personal privi-
I"%c. saying that certain members
t"d criticized him and seemed to
iblnk that he WAS going to "SQucal'
:" SAID he had seen In the afternoon
u"pcr that city council would proba-
hiI ask him to appear before it.
have no objection to going be-
tore council" said Mr.. lIughs. but
= they think. or anybody else thinks,
lat am going to 'squcal' and help
them enforce the laws when they can
n", do it themselves. they are very
mhrh mistaken"
Mr. l!uEhS said yesterday after
icon that the statement made by him
;h'ont the Columbia policeman and
the quart Of whiSkcy was absolutely
correct. but he said he was no sneak
ana would not disclose the officers
namr. Mr.. llnghS did not 20 into de-
tails Of the incident in his talk on
the Iloor OF the House. but after the
morning session he explained to re-
r0rlcrs the circumstances. refraining,
however. from mentioning at any
'rmc tn" policcman'S name Mr..
'tHEhS said that he sounded a negro
"No was standing near i policeman
enc night last week about gcttiu.
some whlSkcy. II don't know, boss"
vas the negro's reply. When the ne
@!o moved OFF, Mr.. lIughs said. the
'"llcrman, who had overheard the
conversation. asked what Mr. llughs
wanted, and Mr.. lIughs told him that
he wanted to buy some whiskcv.
what kind and how much do Won
want? asked the policeman, accord
'nS to the Representative. Mr.. Ilughs
Sald he told OF his desires and that
me policeman called negro, and af-
Ter conversation. informed Mr..
iinGhs that the whiskcy would be
mere IN about 30 minutes. Mr..
'iu%hS Sald the negro came back with
me whlSkcy and he gave the negro
$3.50
Air. Eiughs in the speech on the
I.aKaht bill advocated tightening OF
'hc laws because Of violations of the
iniloh-a-month law, but opposed a
none dry measure. lie said the
! columbia instance was one that had
ihadc him change his mind as to en-
iorcement Of the gallon-a- month law
). w. Richardson, chief Of police
said last night, in regard to Repre-
sentative Hughs's statement:
Will investigate this matter and
tfy to get to the bottom of it. If Mr..
r:n&hs Is the good, honest. law-abid-
.bg gentleman he should be, he will
give me the name Of the policeman
ne has reference to. II he doesn't
hnow the officers name, am going
to ask the mayor to let me have the
tAtlrc force appear at the city hall
md then let Mr.. llughs point out the
po!iceman he refers to. Should Mr..
singhs refuse to do this. we will let
the public form its own opinion as
to his statement"
Thc above statement is Sclipred
ifom the Columbia State Of Saturday
last. Much has been sent out in dis
catches to the daily press OF South
carolina and adjoining States with
reference to this "incidcnt" at the
state capital.
II Mr.. Ilughs's statement is cor
Icct-and we certainly have no rca-
son to Judge it to be othcrwisc--thc
i"ct is brought to light that the en-
l"rcemcnt OF the liquor laws Of our
state are in poor hands in the city in
8hich is located the seat OF our State
government. Mr.. Elughs is reported
as stating that he would not give the
name OF the corrupt policeman with
"hom he had the liquor transaction,
ana thcrrin. according to our view Of
'he matter Mr.. Ilughs falls into
LFa'" error. II he, a member Of the
Neheral Assembly. sought to correct
an cNil by playing slcuth and eight
ing the devil with his own fire" he
owes 1t to the public of the State and
10 his ultra prohibition constituency
m Oconec to carry out his efforts to
the very cnd-~an end by which the
enforcement OF law in our raDital
city could he materially helped. TO
iarn back in his work. whatever its
original object. subjects the whole
transaction to Just CriticiSm
Another error into which Mr..
flughs has fallen--in our opinion, of
course--is In carrying to the floor OF
the House his private opinions in the
matter Of prohibition. lie does not
favor bone dry prohibition. and,
that being the case. We are forced to
admire his open disavowal OF any
sympathy with a bone dry" meas
ure. But therein enters the question
Of personal opinion and public duty.
according to our view. Mr.. Hughs
represents a constituency that, by a
vnfn nf 1 no ~ 100 yrf,n., -, .o,,k;