The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1921-06-15
INTOLERANCE Run AMUCK.


Jennings made Of himself in the
course Of a speech. in advocacy Of
county court for Sumter, delivered
at the court house Saturday, is an
unwelconSe and unpleasant duty But.
in che circumstances, it cannot be
shirked.
Mr.. Jennings, apparently complete
ly carried away by the violence of his
partisan and frenzied advocacy of the
blishment Of another court for
Sumter county, lost his sense Of the
fitness of things and made unwar-
ranted reflections upon the integrity
Of purpose and the fairness Of the
policy the newspapers of Sumter have
followed throughout the discussion
of the county court proposition. 1t is
not necessary to explain or defend
the course this Newspaper has
pursed. That isa matter of record
and the people Of Sumter know that
there never has Been the slightest
foundation Tor .rae. assertions made by
Mr. jennings
This newspaper has been open to
Mr. Jennings and to all other citizens
of Sumter county to freely and full
ly present their views on this county
court proposition, or on any other
matter of public. interest. This he
knew when he let his tongue betray
him into making insinuations not
borne ants by the record. and while
he owes the newspapers and the cit
izens OF the community, who are ac-
quainted with the facts Of the matter.
an apology for his aspersions on the
integrity Of the newspapers and the
reflection on the intelligence of the
people, we do not expect that he will
have the,grac to make the amende
honorable.
His charge that the newspapers
have been afraid to come out in the
open is so .pnerile as TO be nonsensi-
cal, and no one knows it better than
he does:@ Because the editor Of a
newspaper, or any other citizen does
not choose to enter into wind-jam-
ming contest, but prefers TO express
his views and record his arguments
in the columns of the press, where all
may read and calmly criticise the er-
ror Of the views or the unsoundness
of the argument, be does not lay
himself liable to the charge of hiding
behind desk or of being afraid to
come out in the open. What could
be more open than an editorial in a
responsible newspaper or a signed
communication of citizen? If some
of our forensic gladiators would ex-
ereise the care and circumspection TO
reduce their utterances to writing
their assertions would be more CO.
herent and less full Of buncombe and
rank error.
The heinous offense that this news
paper has been guilty Of, and which
so outraged Mr.. Jennings ingrained
conception Of his prerogative to do
the thinking and debating for the
community, is that we have not ac-
cepted the dictum Of himself and his
conferers that county court must be
forthwith established, regardless Of
whether or not the rank and file Of
the citizens and taxpayers of the
county believe it to be necessary and
expedient to do so at this time.
Lacking the argument to substan-
tiate and make good the claim that
the county court is :; prime necessity
and cannot be postponed without Sc
rious and irreparable loss TO the
people as a whole-not merely the
interested litigants and the legal fra
ternity-Mr. Jennings resorted 20
bull-dozing tactics. vituperation and
unfounded insinuations that he per
haps, expected to discredit in the
eyes of the public those who enter
tained opposing views and had the
temerity to give voice to them.
IN Mr.. Jennings attitude toward
common herd Of voters and taxpayers
there has been observable for some
time a growing arrogance and intol-
erance of any opposition. a nantes
tation that has been q source Of sin
cere Iegret to his best and most
steadfast friends no one OF whom
has been more grieved than the writ
er, for he is frittering away an in
f1uence and a force for useful public
service such as few men have had in