Toward the end of the 19th century and well on into the 20th, picnics became a popular form of entertainment and relaxation that were enjoyed across the nation by every class and race. Early on, candidates for public office found them to be a perfect setting for some serious political stumping.
Here in the piedmont of South Carolina, the logical time was near the end of July and August, since that time of year brought a lull in the agricultural work widely known as “laying-by time.” Crops were nearing maturity and had been plowed for the last time — they were laid-by. The period from laying-by to harvest afforded farmers and their families a few weeks of relaxation in which to visit, attend church meetings, and (of course) picnics.
Picnics were a way of life for Victorians and the following generation. Regardless of how small a community might be, it would, in all probability, have a public picnic. This is where area people came together to visit with family and friends, enjoy games, hear political candidates tout their promises, listen to local brass bands, and eat a grand picnic dinner.
Interested in hearing politicians speak on the issues of the day, the men gathered near the speaker’s platform while the women, children, and young people — who all saw the picnic purely as a social event — occupied themselves in visiting and playing games. It was also a good time for young men and women to “court,” knowing “no greater delight than sitting in the buggies on the outskirts of the crowd, or taking drives through quiet country roads that wind through the pines.”
As was with most events in that era, the Filbert picnic was well submerged in corn whiskey. Typically, there were those who imbibed too long from the jug, and a number of small scraps resulted.
What would become one of the more popular picnics in Western York County began in 1901 in the agricultural village of Filbert, five miles north of York. As many as 400 to 500 attended the outing, gathering in a grove of pines about 200 yards from the train station. One man thought it was the perfect place since it “abounded with seed ticks and chiggers and enough blacksnakes to fence ’em in.” As folksy as these picnics may seem to us today, the political rhetoric heard at the 1901 Filbert picnic is nearly identical to what we hear over 100 years later.
Various politicians who were on the 1901 campaign trail attended the Filbert picnic, with Democratic Congressmen Finley and Hemphill as the main speakers. Around 11:00 picnic chairman Brice called the meeting to order and introduced Congressman Hemphill, who began by saying he could remember the time when there was only one kind of Democrat. But, according to him, the party was now divided into “Regular Democrats,” “Progressive Democrats,” “Expansion Democrats,” and “Commercial Democrats.” Hemphill proudly declared, “I am a plain, everyday Democrat. I have always believed in equal rights to all, special privileges to none, and if the people are not able to govern themselves, there is nobody who is able to govern them.”
“Expansion Democrats” were so called because they, along with some Republicans, wanted to gather the Philippine Islands under the cloak of the United States. But Hemphill thought it was too costly. “Let us count it up. In the first place we paid Spain $20 million, for what? Next we sent 75,000 men there and already we have spent $250 million in trying to conquer these islands. Just think of it,” the Congressman said, “The assessed valuation of the taxable property of South Carolina is about $175 million. That represents all the wealth that has been accumulated by your fathers in 200 years. Yet, we have spent in the last two years $250 million, or $75 million more than the entire taxable values of South Carolina and the war is not over yet.”
Hemphill complained of the cost of war saying, “Every United States soldier costs the government $1,000 a year and an army of 40,000 men will cost $40 million a year. But this is not all. It is not until we get through with the fighting that the heaviest bills commence to come in. I refer to the payment of pensions. How many pension applications are now pending on account of the war with Cuba? Altogether we sent only about 10,000 men to Cuba and at this time the pension applications growing out of this war number more than 40,000. And again, it is more than 120 years since the Revolutionary War closed, after the battles of King’s Mountain and Yorktown; but there are still a few names on the pension list on account of that war. I am not complaining about this, because this was the war in which we won our freedom; but I cite the fact to show you how, when a man casts his vote for a war, he should weigh well the consequences, for on his ballot there is implied this agreement: ‘I hereby mortgage the labor of my son, my grandson and great grandson to conquer these people.’ Those who favored the war held out the hope that when the United States was in control of the Philippines trade would improve our commerce.”
Hemphill, however, likened the situation to a frog jumping out of a well, “He jumped up three feet every day, and every night fell back five, and at the end of the year it was calculated that he was just about a half mile this side of hell.”
Congressman Finley stepped to the podium to explain a few planks of the Democrat platform. He denounced the Puerto Rican tariff that the Republicans had imposed on that territory, saying it was contrary to the US Constitution. He alleged the need for Congress to carry out the pledge to Cuban independence but said he doubted Republicans would ever allow it to happen.
Finley explained that the Democratic Party believed in expansion but that it had to be contiguous to the United States. And the Republican plan to govern the Philippines as a colony through military satraps flew in the face of the Constitution. Not only that, he contended, but by putting America’s finger into Asia, in principle it violated the Monroe Doctrine, which forbid Europe from acquiring land in the western hemisphere.
Democrats, he said, opposed the creation of a large-standing army but supported having a small nucleus around which an army might be organized when the need arose. However, Republicans had increased the army from 25,000 to 75,000, with the option of making it 100,000.
Next, perhaps playing on the sentiments of the farmer, Finley confirmed that Democrats despised trusts and large corporations that sold their products abroad for five or 10 percent cheaper than Americans would pay. Agreeable to his party’s platform, Finley denounced Republicans for their extravagance and for not repealing the war tax. The main issue before the 57th Congress, he said, would be taxation and that the Democratic Party would strive to limit taxes to the “necessities of the government,” and those who were “economically expended.”
Following the political speeches, the crowd was dismissed to attend dinner, when picnic baskets were opened and their contents spread for everyone to enjoy. Throughout the day people were entertained by string music provided by the Filbert String Band.
Shortly after the July Picnic, Senator Ben Tillman charged The Yorkville Enquirer with printing “a dirty little lie.” He accused, “The whole thing was a lie; but then that paper couldn’t publish anything about me that wasn’t malicious or false.” The newspaper had reported that Tillman had declined an invitation to speak at a Liberty Hill picnic without a guarantee of having his expenses paid.
Included in the article was a Tillman quote that seemed to insult the intelligence of those at Liberty Hill who lived in rural areas away from a railroad. The senator offered the same explanation that John Kerry made in the fall of 2006 when he remarked about the intelligence of those serving in the military — that it was a joke badly worded and misunderstood.
The Enquirer would have nothing to do with his explanation but instead printed an interview with a man who verified the story. He claimed the picnic committee had failed to collect the money needed to reimburse Tillman before his arrival, and to avoid embarrassment, the Liberty Hill Rifles, under the command of Major John G. Richards (he would run for governor in 1910) made a collection while the senator waited in his buggy.
Another eyewitness said, “Tillman sat there in his buggy fully 15 minutes waiting for this collection to be taken up. Why everybody on the grounds saw it and the idea of a denial is preposterous.” Such a meager total was collected that Tillman told them to use it to buy more seating. Hard feelings between The Yorkville Enquirer and Tillman would continue over the years.
Next month — the Filbert Picnic continues and draws a crowd of 1,000. And among them is Senator Ben Tillman, a political controversy.
Editorial Note: Thanks to Merwyn Smith of Filbert for the idea and initial burst of information for this series of columns on the Filbert Picnics. Much of what is known about the picnic from the newspapers of that era is due to her research.
J.L. West – Author
This article and many others found on the pages of Roots and Recall, were written by author J.L. West, for the YC Magazine and have been reprinted on R&R, with full permission – not for distribution or reprint!
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