The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1921-08-24
GOVERNOR TAKES
NEWSPAPERS TO TASK
Outraged at Charges of
ldWIeSSneSS
PAPERS SHOULD
FURNISH CLUES
Thinks that Newspapers Should Give
Specific Instances OF Acts OF ViO-
lencc. Says He is Trying to Find
Out Truth About Matter.

ColumO1a, Aug. g.l9.-Smarting under
the charges made in different South
carolina newspapers the last week
that South Carolina had surrendered
to mob violence, Governor Cooper re-
turned to Columbia today from Paris
Mountain, where he is spending the
summer and issued statement TAX
ing the newspapers to task for their
utterances.
! These papers virtually charge that
a mob Of armed citizens has defied the
law and the officers" says the Gov
ernor, has been holding up citizens
on the public highways and search
ing trains, and no steps have been
taken to prevent it. am assured that
some one connected with these pa
pers is in position to give specific
instances Of such acts OF violence.
have cndeavored and am now endeay-
orlng through the only available chan
nels to find out the truth about these
matters.
did not deem it advisable to pub
lish in the daily papers that an inves-
tigation would be made and the per-
sons who violated the law brought to
trial; but since the newspapers are
determined to have a newspaper trial,
feel compelled to ask for my day in
court"
The editorials to which the COVER
nor took exception were published in
The State (Columbia), the News ana
Courier (Charleston), and the Record
(Columbia) These editorials dealt
with the so-called hide and seek"
policy OF officers who had charge Of
the prisoners who confessed to killing
William BraZell, in Lexington county,
South Carolina, on Sunday night, Au-
gust z, and the activities Of the mob
in Augusta and near Columbia. Two
or the prisoners were brought to
Charleston from Savannah last Sun
day morning and lodged in the
Charleston Jail. Sunday night the train
on which Sheriff Roof of Lexing-
ton was returning to Columbia was
invaded by members OF the mob three
miles below Columbia. Five armed
members OF the mob with masks over
| their faces passed through the coach
in which Sheriff Roof was riding. A
representative OF the Columbia State
and also representative Of the
Charleston News and Courier were on
this same train. Another train was
gone through by a mob this same
evening only a short distance away.
If the newspapers are unable to make
good their charges, the governor pre-
sumes they will apologize. He says:
Wants Information
AS governor of the state call up
on every citizen, and especially the
newspapers, to furnish me any in
formation which will enable the prop
| er officers to ascertain who composed
the personnel of any mob or assem-
blage of persons in connection with
| the BraZcll murder case. If the news
papers who have made the charge
that It state government has abdicatcd
and surrendered to the mob are un-
able to mako good the charges which
they make, | presume, of course, that
| they will make due apology to the
state which they have sandorcd. If
they can furnish the information de-
sired, they should have done SO and
given the legal authorities an oppor-
tunity to act before charging them
dith indifference and inactivity"
The statement further says:
1T is not out OF place in this con-
ncctiOn. to say that the chief Difficult
ty which the officers interested seem
to have had in dealing with the threat
Of mob violence was the fact that the
newspapers published to the world
every movement OF the officers. and
| thereby enabled those who would do
violence to the law to have the ad-
vantage Of advance information. When
| there seemed to be danger Of violence
to prisoners in legal custody my first
concern naturally, was to prevent any
act OF violence.
| The sheriff Of Lexington county,
where this horrible murder was COM