Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1918-08-07
BYRNES SOUGHT A LETTER
R o PRESIDENT, But
DIDN'T GET 1T.
Sent Congressman From Virginia
to the White House, but Failed
to Get What He Went After
Produced a Letter From Vir-
GINA Congressman, Which
Failed to Convince.

Ill q NtS pCl dSS Sl4oIS w oStSlsh LIZ
position-attacked as he is by his
opponents on the question ofloyalty,
because Of his vicious and venomous
attack upon the Selective Draft
as a means of raising All army to
fight & erm a II y-Congressmau
Byrnes produced a letter at the
campaign IN e ct Thurs
day, and read it for the edifcation
of the crowd.
1t had been rumored about that
Byrnes had a letter from President
Wilson, in which the President
said that Byrnes was to be con-
.sidered a loyal man, and that his
services in Congress were accepta-
bic to the administration.
Of course nobody believed that;
but there was atmosphere of expcc-
fancy when B.yrnes unfolded his
letter and read it. 8
1t was not from the President at
all. The letter, was from Carter
Glass, a Virginia Congressman.
1t seems that Byrnes. very much
perturbed, sought a letter fromithe
President, which, however, the
President declined to give.
After nearly eight years in Con-
gress, Byrnes did not go in person
to the White House in search of
the letter he wanted for reasons of
his own; but he called upon a Vir-
ginia Congressman, whose loyalty
to the administration was never IN
doubt, and who p%erforce, would be
welcomed at the White House.
Congressman Glass went to the
White House and, as the story
goes, asked for a letter endorsing
Jim Byrnes.
The Virginia Congressman wrote
Byrnes that he did not secure such
a letter-that the President did not
feel himself called upon to give
such a letter, or words to that
effect but that the President said
this, that and the other thing.
The idea Byrnes sought to con-
vey by the letter was that, while
the President declined to give a let
ter endorsing him, he, Byrnes was
considered a lOyal man.
As Byrnes spoke last none of his
opponents had opportunity to ask
him why, if he was considered loyal
and true, if he was considered a
valuable man by the administration,
the President should decline to give
him the letter he SO eagerly sought
through a Congressman from an
other State.
When, several months ago, Con-
gresham Lever had entered the
race for the United States Senate,
the President wrote lot one, but
two letters, endorsing him, and
urging him not to leave the House
of Representatives.
Byrnes' record-particularly his
detection on the S~elective Draft,
and his denunciation of the Presl-
dents plan for raising an effective
army 70 fight Germany-was laid
bare by Mr.. Toole, who spoke
first, MI. Evans of Edgefeld, and
MIR. Croft.
AT Barnwell a day or two ago,
Byrnes charged T. e.. Croft with
having endorsed G. E. Carman for
postmaster, and because Mr.. Car
man had been a Republican, since
he came here from a Republican
State, and who served very accepta-
bly, for many years as postmaster,
with having thus gone on record as
endorsing negro politics."
At the Aiken meeting, Mr.. Croft,
in a very effective manner, showed
how Byrnes had sought to gain an
advantage in another county by un-
derhand methods. He produced
papers to show that many of the
most substantial citizens of Aiken
signed a petition, asking that Mr..
Carman be retained as postmaster
at Aiken. Some of these gentlemen
were in the audience, and Mr.. Croft
asked them before the crowd if by
signing that petition they meant to
endorse negro politics." Of course
they answered that they did not,
and the beautiful charge of Byrnes
crumbled into nothingness but a
boomerang.
MIR. Toole played Byrnes on his
record, and made a strong speech.
Mr.. Evans delivered a stirring, pa
triotic address and urged his hear
ers not to vote for him unless they
wanted to elect a a who was 100
NOR cent. American and 100 per