Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-05-30
EDITORS AS GOVERNORS
Many Newspaper Men Have Held
Chief Maoistry of South Carolina.

Chief Maaistry of South Carolina.
George r. Koestcr publisher of the
Grecnville Piedmont says In ms
readable column, Chewing Lifc's
Cud." that as far as he knows "Wil-
son G. Harvey is the second newspa-
per man to become Governor OF South
Carolina" referring to Governor Har-
vey's early connection with the bus-
iress office of The News and Courier
and his later experience as business
manager of the Charleston Daily
World and Sunday Budget. Mr.. Kocs-
ter has Governor Miles b. McSweeney
in mind as the other South Carolina
newspaper man who became governor.
We hope that even before this ap-
pears Prof. Cook of .''urman univer-
sity will have communicated with Mr..
Koester and reminded the Piedmont
publisher of the fact that Governor
David Rogerson Williams, who was
called to the governorship from his
wagon on the high road near Society
Hill in 1914, owned and published the
Charleston Gazette and Advertiser
before he removed from Charleston
to what is now Darlington county.
Prof. Cook wrote q valuable biography
of Governor Williams several years
ago. 1t reveals him as the sort of
man South Carolina needs to elect to
the Governorship this summer, n con-
struotive, practical, public-spiritcd
statesman. AS a newspaper man he
was primarily interested in the de-
velopment of the resources Of the
state and the files of the paper show
him to have been indefatigablc in the
gathering Of material which could be
used for this purpose, and skillful in
the use of this material.
Still another South Carolina news
paper man who occupied the govern
orship was John Lydc Wilson, who
was one of the owners and editors OF
"The Investigator" n morning paper
established lin Charleston by John
Mackey and Mr.. Wilson in 1872. Gov
ernor Wilson who was governor from
lS22-1S24, is best remembered rs au-
thor of 1.-THE Code of Honor" pam
phlet printed from the press of Thorn
as J. Eccles, in Charleston, in which
Governor Wilson undertooE to lay
down the rules which should govern
in dueling. This is Il rare and inter-
csting publication and on account OF
it its author has been often held up
to obloQuy. but it is claimed that
these who have been led because of
his authorship of the code" to look
uUon him as the special champion OF
dueling have done him an injustice,
the real purpose of the Code being
to reduce the number of ducls by
making it impossible for challenges to
he issued and pressed for trivial
causes. King in "Thc Newspaper
Press says of Governor Wilson, who
was born in Marlboro county, May 2i,
1884, that he was regarded rs an eX-
traordnary man."
Another newspaper mar who should
not have been omitted by Mr. kocster,
especially as he was writing in Green
Vile is Benjamin Franklin Perry, who
was Provisional governor of the
state under appointment of President
Johnson, from June until November
Cf 1865. Governor Perry made two
Greenville newspapers famous in their
day, not only in South Carolina, but
throughout the nation; first, the
Greenville Mountaineer, of which he
had charge at the time of the nulli-
fication movement, which he vigor-
ously assailcd, and later THE South
ern Patriot which was the Outstand
ing Union newspaper of tht up
country in the fiftieS Governor Perry
WIS one of tie most interesting men
the state has produced and one of
the most capable Journalists. There
is not much better reading for South
CarOlinians than is TO be found i'll his
sketches and ominscenccs published
in Look form: and to the very last his
pen retained al it's power
Mr. KOester refers TO the candidacy
of Col. James \. HOyt, of the Green
Vile Mountaineer for governor in
1900; and we believe thatCol. Hoyt is
the only newspaper man in South
Carolina who has run for governor in
recent times except when Governor