The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1918-04-03

August 30, 1917, l said, as reportcd bv
the Lexington Dispatch, the leading
paper of that county:
AT the outset Mr.. Blease paid 81
magnificent tribute to the men who
wore the grey as we'll as to the cause
| Tor which they fought. Later he urged
the people to stand by the government
now, right or wrong; and called upon
the young men to now don the prov
erbial khaki instead of the honorcd
grey. Mr.. Bleasc closed with an
lmpassioned and earnest plea to his
friends Cor if there be any place on
earth where the former governor can
claim the privilege of having friends it
is IN the Dutch Fork section of Lex
; lngton), to stand by the flag, and to
90 their parts in the present crisis
with the same courage and fervor of
spirit which characterized their acts of
, the sixties"
IN response to one OF the invitations
which l had to make an address to a
mass meeting. at which it had been
nlnted TO me that there might be a
test of the draft law proposed, I wrote
the committee: 81 was and I'm opposed
TO .conscrlption, but since our nation
Is IN the war we must not discourage
Dut on the contrary we must cncour-
age every man to do his full duty and
to obey to the letter the law of his
state and his nation, and only along
this line have ! spoken or can / speak.
All men have the right to petition con-
gress upon any line that they please.
as is oeing done, but no one should
encourage any man not to obey the
laws of his country and his God"
That was on August Is, 1917.
mat is the record, my fellow-c citi-
ZenS, and l leave it to any fair-minded
man as to whether or not the speeches
have made breathe aught but loyal-
ty to principle, to country and to God.
Loud sounding phrases, however,
nave never yet won war. Men may
parade up and down the state and the
nation telling in eloquent words of the
traditions and glory and prowess of
the American people, but victory is TO
be won by the men who fight and the
man who work, and who show their
faith by their deeds.
TO the fullest extent of nv ability.
mentally, physically and financially, |
have done all that | could to aid nv
country in this her time Of need, and
When IN my Judgment men should not
pc unJustly accusing other men of dis
loyalty and attempting TO nag at and
drive others from doing their duty,
put should be cndeavoring to preserve
a solid unity among ourselves, to keep
down chickering's, in order that we may
present solid phalanx to fight the
common enemy. If you will again ex-
cuse. me for being personal, in order
10 snow you how maliciously | have
been misrepresented to the people of
my state, | desire to make known to
you my attitude in regard to the war
emergency, not only by what have
sad, as l have already tried to show
you, but by a few of the things that
l have done also.
If you will go back as far as last
April you will find in the proceedings
OF one of the fraternities to which
1 belong, resolution unanimously
adopted, offering our services individ-
ually ana as a body in any capacity
In winch we might serve our nation.
You will find that at convention
OF Reformers held in Columbia in May,
resolutions were adopted, unanimously
rcaffirmlng our allegiance, and pro
testing against determinations prac.
tlced IN war matters South Carolina
against us by petty politicians here
holding high office. That protest was
carried to Washington and when I
went to the national capital as one of
the committee from this convention, I
told Provost Marshal General Crowd
- 'iiS PiSSSHSc VI OlIprS, lnIt |
stood ready and willing, as did all of
my friends in South Carolina, to serve
the United States government in anv
capacity, individually or otherwise. |
further offered him then to raise a
regiment or brigade of volunteers
and put them in the service of the
United States, and that | would 90
with them either as a private or as an
officer. A | asked was that the men
be allowed to name their own officers.
l have repeated that offer to the gov
eminent as late as last Saturday
night. When everything was looking
dark and gloomy on the western front
sent the following telegram: "Co-
lumbia, S. c., March 23, 1918. Hon.
Fred II. Dominick, Member of Con-
gress, Washington, d. G.. Tell General
Crowder my offer stands, and that |
am willing and ready to raise rcgi-
mcnt OF volunteers now if men are AL
lowed to elect their officers. Our bows
are loyal and ready for work. Cole l..
Blcase"
| When the call for the Liberty Loan
was made in our State, went to one
OF the banks in Columbia and hor
roWed the money and paid interest on
the note and purchased two $500 Lib
erty Bonds, and | have them now |
was not financially able at that time
TO make the purchase, but | knew that
the honor OF our state was at stake,
and L wanted to do my part. I also
issued an address, urging my friends
n hn L.