Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-02-19

| his SurcrSS for their own Shk"S, inn
m",iatrly began Ia SolIdify and weld
themselves into 1t iulitlcal ring.
both for present benefits AMI What
could be obtained in the future
| When they thought they had won
sufficient strength with the public.
they named themselves the "l;ei"rm
party and braZenly claimed dlrrc, de-
scent from that Reform PARTY which
swept over South carolina. from
mountains To scab"arl. IN the early
| Inlncties.
The Reform party Of twenty-five
Years ago Was Il direct product If the
| Farmers Alliance and was based on
| cIplcS uf democratic government.
| which are now nearly all incorporat
cd in Federal ur state laws. II is true
that Tillnan has 80 persiStrntly.
cd that ii WAS his ability. manage
mcnt and strength that achieved the
results Of those days, until II iS al
Imost universally spoken and thought
of as the "Tillmam" movement. but
the truth is. Tillman was only ON"
among many able ami earnest men
4 who WEI working tor u better ana
more efficient democratic govern
ment.
| The Blease Reform party Of to-
l day, has no valid claim Of descent
| from the former. either in personnel
kor principles. Ii is centcrcd in AMI
| solely dependent on Blrasc and
Blcasc's personality. There is nothing
\ else 10 il. It's only strength Is the
| desire Of its leaders for the power
and rmoluments Of public service and
Of Willingness 10 sacrifice their time.
money and work for educating In"
public on correct principles in civil
| government.
To analyZe some recent events VIII
give clear view OF the depth Of fulfill
{,y into which partisan politics in
Iuth Carolina has sunk. For several
BNkrs>ynv-i1ies.s.-, -,,srty- ifrs dorc -vv-
ettthing possible to rope John l.. Nc
Laurin and bind him I" their PARTY.
So that they could have the benefit
| of his acknowledged ability as pr"-
ducer of political ideas and his bold
Last fall there WAS Il persistent ani
concerted effort by lilcase leaders Ia
bring McLIurin out as the acknOwl-
| edged candidate Of their party for
governor. despite the long standing
claims for that honor made by Rich
ards. Stucky. Peoples and perhaps
others The Daily Mail warned them
ut the time that they were monkey
| ing with Il dangerous proposition.
that McIaurin during his whole pn-
litical life, had never been known 10
stand hitched and submit tamrly 10
being harnessed and driven 10y po-
| lilical ring no matter how powerful
they were.
| During December of last year some
letters, signed by Il number of men
TO give them Il ScmhlIncr Of being
representative. were sent TO Mr. Nc
Iliurin asking him TO he Il candidate
for governor Of South Carolina on the
Rlease party ticket and he promised
to give an answer in January. which
he did
That answer utterly and emphati-
cally rcpudiatcd Blrase aS candi-
made McI.aurin's position ON both
national and state politics very clear
and his statement created great con-
sternation i'm the Bleasc camp. The
party having no principles or policy
except BleaSc, eliminating him as II
candidate would leave il high and
dry. orphaned and homeless and
without a prop to lean on.
The Blease party has tried many
different times TO hold state and
county conventions. hut these meet
ings never amounted to more than
caucuses of political friends. such a
meeting was held in Columbia in
January, which, from reports. was
almost solely attended by 0iticchold-
ers from the legislature and else
where This caucus. while held oS-
tensibly to select Il candidate for
governor, finally agreed on nothing.
neither platform nor candidates. cX-
cept to support please for the United
States senate.
1t must have been that this meet
| ing felt some uneasineSS as To the
answer McLaurin would give I" the
request made of him Ia run for gov
ernor. Believing in political pre-
paredness'' the meeting evidently
sought a goat with which To come
back at McIaurin and r"pudiatc him.
il his answer proved unfavorable or
offe nsive. And it was both.
| This goat turned out Ia he four
members OF the Anderson county
delegation in the legislature. We
don't know who wrote the letter OF
reputation to McLaurin which was
|
whether il was written by one Of the
signers. or whether IT emanated from
the literary bureau Of the Bleasc
party. which is more likely. But IT
1 showed such an. utter lack Of politi-
cal wisdom or knowledge of the
characteristics Of the man they were
dealing with. that 1t becomes worthy
OF note in passing for it's silly fu-
Utility in accomplishing the purposes
tsought. The letter itself and Nc
FLaurin.s reply 10 il gives ample eX-
position Of the party ideals and holds
ithat party up to the disguised ridi-
tule of the average citizen.
| So the matter stands at present.
We haven't the slightest idea OF what
the developments Of the next few
months may be. But one thing Is
| lartain md that il the seriousness of