Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-02-26


tune that had been shattered while
he was attending to the peoples busi-
ness But his enemies took up the
insinuation. tried to make II appear
that he was dickering with Standard
Oil while still a member Of the senate
: and endeavored to paint him so black
that no honest man would think Of his
name except in loathing.
Yet all this time Mr.. McLaurin vas
working for the financial emancipa.
ton Of the farmers OF South Caro-.
lima. and he pushed the fight TO n sue
, cess in spite Of the opposition Of men
who would "impeach him for moth.
ing" and Of men who cannot under.
stand how ii is possible for a man to
give his time. money and brains for
the benefit Of unappreciative fellow.
men except in the hope of political
preferment in the shape Of high Of
flee.
One time in the darkest days of the
fight for the warehouse, Mr.. McLaurin
stated to the writer what he had In
mind, including that which has since
been accomplished and other things
that have not yet been realized. in
cluding insurance at cost, official
grading and direct sales. and said: Il
would rather have the assurance that
would have the achievement OF
these things written on my tombstone
than to he president of the United
States"
We remember Il time when no
newspaper had anything kind to say
of Hon. John l.. McLaurin. This
writer has had prominent men, to
tell him N Columbia: 1t will not do
YOU any good to be seen in association
with that man." meaning McLaurin.
one thing we have never been able
TO undcrs tand has been the bitterness
and smallness Of so many so-called
public men to Hon. John L. McLaurin.
Nowadays the attitude Of the poll
ticianS and the newspapers are diff
ferent. In the light Of what Mr. Nc
Iaurin has done and is doing, they
say: "McLaurin is able, brilliant, full
Of imagination and he wants to he
helpful: but he is erratic. you cannot
rut your finger on him. You cannot
tell today what he is going to do to-
morrow" But that does not fool any
body. Who is il that amounts to any
thing that can be held in leading
strings? You cannot understand any
man unless you are wiser and ADLER
than he is. can you" And II you are
wiser and abler than he is. instead of
backing him you want him to be
backing you, don't you?
John l.. McLaurin Is not perfect,
not by long shot. Anybody can as
certain that point by asking him. He
will admit II. Yes, he has his faults.
We do not know exactly what they
are. We have never tried to learn.
We have always been so well satis-
fled with the correctness of his princi-
pies and the sincerity of his purposes
that it has not occurred to us to i'll
uuirc into his faults. We will state,
however, that we have known him to
be charged with many fault OF which
he was not guilty and we have never
known him to be charged with fault
of which he is guilty.
McLaurin was once denounced as a
Republican because he voted for
peace with Spain after the Filipinos
had fired on the American flag. There
are still those who say he was Re-
publican, but there are none now who
having regard for sane opinion as
their judgment VIII say tfe't he NY
wrong. There were those who called
him Republican because he wanted
to build up Il merchant marine by
means Of government subsidy. There
are still those who call him a Repub-
lici,n on that account notwithstanding
the fact that the government is now
SPENDING hundreds of millions for
that purpose where he only wanted to
spend millions, and the veriest tyro in
commercial economy can see that II
the government had spent the millions
he wanted to spend then it would not
have to be spending the billions it is
spending now.
Some day there will be written on
John l.. McLaurin's tombstone what
he did in bringing about the financial
emancipation Of the farmer. and in
connection with that inscription,
men of real discernment will also
read, And because she was not suf-
Gcicntly advanced to appreciate him,
South Carolina lost the benefit of his
greater talents"