j. o.
OKlCEMVIT^IvTO, W. C.
Attornoy and Counsellor at Law.
Practices In ail the Courts.
Collections a Specialty.
To Reach Consumers
in this Section Adver
tise in The Ledger.
A Newspaper in ail that the Word Implies and Devoted to the Best Interests of the People of Cherokee County.
VOL. HI. NO. r>l.
GAFFNEY CITY, S. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 1897.
$1.00 A YEAR.
GOV. ELLERBEE’S ADDRESS.
IT IS FULL OF PATRIOTIC SEN
TIMENTS.
His Treatment of the Various Subjects
Evinces a Master Mind—It is
Plain that He Intends to be
Truly Non-Partisan.
Tlio following is the full text of
Governor Kllerbe’s inaugural address.
It speaks for itself, but we cannot
refrain from saying that it is the fin
est public document issued in this
State for some time, and it is alto
gether worthy of the man, the State,
and the occasion:
Fellow Citizens:
You have called me to the highest
office within your gift. In assuming
the duties of of this most important
trust, I cannot express in fitting
words nn high appreciation of the
confidence p!ae d in me. This great
honor, 1 already ivalize, carries with
It great responsibilities. W ithout
your warm support, upon which I
confidently rely, ! . hall bo unable to
meet and overcome tho many diffi
culties already apparent.
It has long boon the custom of the
incoming governor to outline, in his
inaugural addres , the policy of his
administration. In obedience to tins
time-honored custom, ! shall attempt
briefly to bef >re you the course
which I shall endeavor to pursue dur
ing my term of office.
Untrammeled by obligations or
pledges incons'.-tent with the welfare
of the people, il ^hiill he my highest
ambition to di.--Merge my duties faith
fully and impartially. The solemn
oatli of office which i have just taken
binds me to no political party or
faction, but it does bind me to pre
serve, to protect and to defend both
the Constitution of this .State and of
the United States.
Under our form of government,
faithfulness to our fundamental laws
and zeal for t he public welfare are
all that is demanded of citizens as
suming public trusts. To support
the Constitution, the foundation of
cur free governm nt. is the duty of
every citizen. Upon this considera
tion, I have a right to expect the
support of all good citizens and you
have a right to (!• maud that 1, in the
administration of the laws, give
“equal rights to all and special
privileges to none."
To administer faithfully the laws;
to lighten, by all worthy means, the
the burden of taxation; to develop
the resources of the State; to pre
fect the industries of her citizens; to
encourage- immigration of tho right
sort; to foster our institutions of
learning, both church and State; to
enhance tho efficiency of our public
schools; to sustain our penal and
charitable and other institutions
—shall he my earnest desire and
unalterable pupose.
In matters of detail, however, I
deem it best to make to tho general
assembly by special message such
recommendations as imty from time
to time occur to me, and the exigen
cies of the case may demand. To
the intelligence * and patriotism of
this body we must look for the enact
ment of laws which may best protect
the people’s interests. I have neither
tho power nor inclination to force
your representatives to accept my
views. At all times I stand ready to
cooperate with them, to council and
£o advise.
TAXATION.
Without taxation, direct or indi
rect, no government can bo main
tained.
All patriotic citizens cheerfully
bear their part of tho burden of tax
ation when the affairs of state are
wisely and economically managed.
It is only when the revenues of
the State are squandered or unwisely
and extravagantly expended, or when
some classes of property escape tax
ation and the burden of supporting
the government is, therefore, un
equally distributed, that the people
complain. It is clear then that all
taxable property should be assessed
and that great care should be taken
in the equalization of assessments.
Tho legislators are the servants of
the people, entrusted with the deli
cate responsibility of appropriating
public funds; and, like good busi
ness men, they should endeavor to
expend every lollar wisely and econ
omically. To secure the best gov
ernment, at the least expense to the
people, should be the constant aim
of every legislator. It is the part of
a statesman to seek to lighten the
burden of taxation when this can be
done without detriment to tho public
interest; but to cripple or destroy
institutions, established for the bene
fit of the people, merely to reduce
the tax rate, is neither wise nor
statesmanlike. To pursue the one
course is to advance; to pursue the
other is to retrograde. 11 shall be
my policy then, to endeavor to in
crease. in every legitimate way, out
taxable property.
This cun be done by inducing
worthy immigrants to our midst,
and by teaching our own people to
diversify and improve in every possi
ble way. It is thus that wo shall be
able to b ing under cultivation vast
stretches of rich, unfilled lands and
at the same time, to improve soil
already made poor by improper till
age. Uur climate is perliaps, on the
whole, as delightful as any on this
continent. Our winters are short
and our summers long, but not
warmer than at the north. Stock
require less food, and man less cloth
ing than in colder sections.
Our truck farmers have an im
mense advantage over their northern
competitors.
We are no longer dependent upon
the western farmer for corn and oats
and hay and pork • and beef. In
some sections tobacco culture has al
ready become a profitable industry.
We have, perhaps, the advantage of
of northern and western farmers in
many respects and with cotton as a
sure money crop, we can oiler to
immigrants advantages not possessed
by any other section. There is now
reason to believe that the manufact
urers of New Kngland are already
looking towards the south. They
are beginning to realize that it is
cheaper to bring their mills to tho
cotton than to take the cotton to the
mills. With our splendid water pow
ers, many of which are undeveloped
for lack of capital, but which, if
harnessed for the use of man, would
materially increase our wealth, we
ought, it seems to me, to call the at
tention of the outside world not only
to these unparalleled advantages,
but also to our genial climate, the
richness and variety of our soil, our
mineral wealth, our splendid forests
of pine and oak and hickory and wal
nut and gum and other varieties of
trees. South Carolina ought to be
come a great manufacturing State.
Wo need a variety of industries.
There should bo no antagonism be
tween the farmer and the manufac
turer, between the citizen of the
town and the citizens of the country.
Their interests are mutual. Every
exclusively agricultural country is
not only dependent, but poor, and
the property of the south is due not
alone io desolation of war, but to the
lack of tho arts and industries which
have made the north rich.
At the same time, we should not
in our zeal to foster manufacturercs,
commit the fatal blunder of neglect
ing or failing to protect our agrienl-
ural interests, which lie at the banis
of all our prosperity. Capital, it is
said, is cowardly. At any rate it
seeks a solid basis for investment.
We ought, on this account, to in
spire in the outside world the confi
dence that legitimate investments
made in South Corolina shall not be
•disturbed by unjust legislation, and
at the same time, we should protect
and [encourage industries already es
tablished. If we rididly pursue this
policy during l\ie next decade, we
shall bo able to double the material
wealth of the State, and thereby to
reduce the rate of taxation by in
creasing our taxable property.
DISCKNSAKV.
The most difficult and perplexing
problem with which the people in all
civilized countries should contend,
is tiiat of the liquor traffic. All the
etlorts of the legislature to cope with
the hydra-headed monster of alcohol
ism have been unsatisfactory and
ineffectual. Prohibition has been
tried repeatedly in different States,
and, while it has failed to check
drunkenness, it lias encouraged hypo
crisy. evasion or open-violation of the
law.
Its advocates are unquestionably
inspired by the loftiest of motives,
but human nature remains forever
the same; and, while legislators may
enact laws for the punishment of
crime, they can never force men to
become virtuous or sober.
So vast a problem us that of the
liquor traffic demands for its solu
tion tho cooperation and combined
wisdom of all the people. Local
option cannot, therefore, settle it,
except temporarily and to a very
limited extent. The saloon is a con
stant menace and a disgrace to
civilization.
As is well known, I was at first not
an advocate of the dispensary law
and I was skeptical of its over being
a success in any form, I cannot,
therefore be considered as unduly
biased in its favor and 1 have arrived
at my present conclusion in regard
to it somewhat against my will.
The opinion reached by me, after a
thorough investigation of its work
ing throughout tho State, and after
having tho views of a good many in
telligent and good men, is that the
law is a great improvement over the
old license system and that it de
serves to be fully tried in its present
form before there is any radical
change made. The proof is over-
whelming that there is less drunken
ness now than formerly and tiiat the
consumption of liquor has been
largely decreased. This is acknowl
edged by every fair minded man,
and tiiat the masses of the people
are averse to returning to the license
system in any form is very evident
to any man who has mingled with
them. Having stated my opinion as
to tho policy tlio St ate should pursue,
I feel it my duty to enter at some
length on thy workings and merits
of the law, and point out the severe
tests to which il has been subjected.
It is not saying too much to assert
that it has never hud a fair chance.
Enacted during a period of intense
political activity, when prejudice and
party spirit were running high, it
was opposed by many on politcal
grounds purely, without considera
tion of its purpose or merit, and
every possible obstruction thrown in
its way. The federal courts by
injuctions have crippled its enforce
ment seriously. After the Darling
ton trouble hail been quieted the de
cision of the supreme court declar
ing the law unconstitutional came
to undo all the work that had been
done. While it demonstrated the
utter futility of prohibition it at the
same time initiated the sale of liquor
without license in every neighbor-
hood and many who then began the
i elarious traffic never cease i to fo-
Icv it, and are still selling liquor as
tlie^ dare.
Di what use is to argue that the
State should not sell liquor to its
citizyns or reap a profit from the
“blood money,” as some term it,
when they advocate licensing its sale
and thus sharing in the prolits made
by the private dealer? One system
is just as immoral as the other, if
there immorality in either. Hut the
monopoly of the sale by the State en
ables it to control in a measure and
minimize the evil; and tlie profits
whioh arc but of secondary consid
eration to the State are shared by all
the people. On the other hand the
licensing of its sale to private parties
would create a monopoly just us cer
tainly as the existing one—a private
mouoply which lias never been and will
never be controlled bylaw; and the
profits which then become the para
mount object are shared by the State
and the barkeeper. There is a monoply
in either case and the State in one
instance reaps all the profits and
seeks only to promote the cause of
temperance and reduce the evil to a
minimum. In the other the profit
goes largely to private individuals
and there is no thought of reducing
the consumption of liquor and pro
moting sobriety; while experience
has shown beyond dispute that pri
vate gain stimulates tho sale in every
way possible and encourage the evil.
There are no “back stairs” or “side
doors” to tho dispensaries, but Lhero
never was a barrom which did not
sell liquor on the sly on public oc
casions when the law required it to
be closed. The dispensary is open
only in the daytime and when or
dered to be closed, as on circus days
and during the fair in Columbia,
they were closed, and but few
drunken men could bo found in the
city, though the crowd was immense.
The State can afford to lose the pro
fit on such occasions, but under no
system of license has it ever been
possible to shut the bars. Private
greed is not to be thus controlled
and herein lies the great merit of the
system. Then the closing of the
dispensaries at n’ght and the des
truction of treating by forbidding
the sealed packages begin opened
on the premises. These three feat-
urers are the ones which make the
the dispensary law popular inspite of
“shortages” in dispensers’ accounts
and “rebates,” whether real or
inimaginary. Let us try, then, to
perfect the system and punish
dishonest dispensers rather than try
tho old plan which we know is less
conducive to sobriety and good mor
als.
Now, in regard to the administra
tion of the law and tho prevention
of fraud and stealage, I feel sure
that an investigation will show that
a great deal has been said about
“rebates” received by the officers
charged with the execution of the
dispensary law tiiat lias little foun
dation ; but should the contrary be
shown I feel tiiat a system can be
devised or is already in force which
will free the law from criticism on
that score.
My experience in the comptroller
general’s office satisfies mt that the
business can be conducted in such
a way as to prevent stealing, or de
tect and punish it if the dispensers
or other officers connected with the
dispensary attempt it. There is no
reason why such chocks and safe
guards cannot bo devised us will pro
tect tho State’s interest as thor
oughly as in the collection and dis
bursement of taxes and other public
money. The dispensary has become
a part of tho fixed policy of tho
State and as long us our present Con
stitution remains intact it is the duty
of the governor to see tiiat tho laws
governing it are enforced, and it is
the duty of all law-abiding citizens
to labor for the same end, or at least
to submit to tiie provisions of tho
law. I believe tlio dispensary comes
nearer to the solution of the liquor
problem than any other scheme yet
proposed by man. It may bo neces
sary to modify the law, but con
stant changed are to bo deplored.
The dispensers should be honest
men, selected without regard to
party affiliations, and when con
victed of crime should be handled
like other criminals. The chief dis
penser, the board of control and all
the higher officials should be men
whose honesty cannot bo reasonably
questioned, and who should hold
their places on account of fitness
and not for political reasons. An
institution is known by its fruits
and it is simply a question whether
prohibition or the dispensary system
will do most to diminish drunken
ness and its accompanying ills.
Upon moral grounds and only upon
moral grounds, the dispensary must
stand or fall. The profit feature is
of secondary considereration.
EDUCATION—THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
That it is the duty of the State to
provide for the education of her
children is now almost universally
conceded. Ho belongs to the past
and not to the present who hopes to
check the growing demand for popu
lar education. The enemies of the
public school will find the entire
drift of modern civilization against
them. All the leading nations of
the earth have founded, and are still
endeavoring to perfect, systems of
popular education. Witness Ger
many with 19 per cent and France
and England each with 1(5 1-2 per
cent, of their population in the
schools.
To bo relegated to the rear is the
fate of every State that fails to pro
vide for the training of her children.
Witness Spain, once the leading
power of Europe, with only 10 per
cent ; Italy, once the home of art
and science and culture, with 9 per
cent; Turkey, at once the shame and
disgrace of Europe, with 2 1-2 per
cent.; Mexico, with -1 1-2, and Brazil
with only 8 per cent, of her popula
tion at school.
The whole history of modern civili
zation teaches that, in the struggle
for supremacy, the sceptre of domin
ion passes not to the State most
richly blessed by nature, but to tiie
State that best succeeds in training
its citizens for all the duties of life,
both public and private, in peace
and in war. In comparison with
cold and bleak New England the
south is a paradise. And yet it
must be confessed by all fair minded
men that long before the desolating
cyclone of war had swept over oui
fair fields, power and dominion were
already passing rapidly to the north.
We were already approaching a con
dition of intellectual bondage in the
south. It has been estimated by
eminent authority that this section
paid annually to the north, for many
years before the war, not less than
$.">,000,000 for books and education.
When New England established her
free public schools and strengthened
her system of popular instruction,
she armed herself with tho power to
wrest supremacy from tho south,
which was content with private and
parochial schools, and to make good
her claim to leadership far more ef
fectually than she subsequently se
cured in the surrender of Lee at
Appomattox.
This is said in no harsh criticism
of the generation of men now rapidly
passing from the stage, whose cour
age and fortitude were tested in a
hundred hard fought fields, whose
“energy made bricks without straw
and spread splender amid tiie ruins
of their war-wasted homes;” but for
the purpose of emphasizing a truth
which cannot be too deeply impressed
upon the minds of the men into
whose hands is committed the sol
emn responsibility of moulding the
destiny of tho State and of making
her future not unworthy of her proud,
inspiring past. To see our own short
comings and to rise with firm will to
correct past mistakes is the part of
wisdom. Vain conceit in a State is
no more to be admired than in an in
dividual.
Our schools are not what they
ought to be. In tho opportunities
they offer their youth for education,
the north and western States have
left us far behind and this for reasons
beyond our control. The war left us
confronted by the most serious edu
cational problem ever thrust upon a
free people—the problem, it lias been
well said, of educating three times
tiie number of children with one
third the money. Tho war not only
robbed us of more than 50 per cent, of
our taxable property, but it added at
a single stroke to our school popula
tion, hundreds of thousands of illit
erate exslaves. In spite of desperate
odds, wo have been moving forward,
but the battle is not yet won. South
Carolina has not yet regained her
once proud position in this great re
public. She can never regain it until
her people, rising above all partisan
hatred, unite in one heroic effort to
make our system of public instruc
tion inferior tq none.
It is thus and thus only that wo
shall triumph in the end. We should
develop our mines, build factories
and improve the fertility of our soil;
but our hightest, our most sacred
duty now and evermore must be to
improve tho quality of our citizen
ship, to develop tiie mind and hearts
of the rising generation, for upon
their intelligence, virtue and patriot
ism tho destiny of our State de
pends.
In a monarchy, in an aristocracy a
few great and good men may govern
tlio state wisely and well, hut in a
government of the people, for the
people and by the people, illiteracy
is a shame and a disgrace and a con
stant menace to the safety of the
State. All good citizens should
unite In the effort to improve our
public schools; to lengthen tlio
the school term, especially in the
country; to encourage the founda
tion of public libraries; to inaugu
rate a system of university extension
tiiat shall carry science and culture
to eager minds grasping after better
things; to increase the number and
efficiency of the farmers’ institutes,
now conducted by the authorities of
Clemson college.
In this great work of educating
the masses I pledge my unwavering
support and sympathy. To our
higher institutions of learning, the
public schools must look for efficient,
well trained teachers.
Destroy or cripple our colleges and
you destroy and cripple all hope of
better public schools. As a stream
cannot rise higher than the fountain
head, so will leaching in tho public
schoo's remain low and unsatisfac
tory until those who are to engage in
this work seek the better to equip
themselves in the higher seminaries
of learning. Nor is this all. The
primary school, it is said, has a right
to live because it fits people for the
duties of citizenship. But for what
duties? To read, to write, to cipher?
Does this fit them for the duties of
citizenship? For the lowest perhaps,
but what of the highest? Do not
the highest duties require the am
plest scholarship, the highest and
noblest training that can be given?
Can the free school fit for the high
est duties of statesmanship? As
suredly not.
For tho solution of great and oft
times perplexing problems involving
the peace anti prosperity of all the
people the Stale stands in constant
need of men of the highest scholar
ship of the prefoundest knowledge of
law; men whose mental grasp is
largo enough to sweep the whole
horizon : men able to rise above lo
cal or even State interests and to
act for the common good of the peo
ple of all the States.
It is the chief pride and glory of
our State to claim for her sons men
whose names are forever inscribed in
tho history of this nation. Such
were Legare and Simms and Hayno
and Treston and McDuffie and the
great Calhoun. From her hills and
valleys may still go forth men who
shall not only bless their State and
nation, but humanity itself. Again,
does the common school train men
for the professions of law, of medi
cine? Does it equip them for scien
tific pursuits? Does it send out ex
pert chemists and geologists and
engineers and scientific agricultural
ists? It can never train men for
the manifold pursuits and profes
sions open to the ambitious youth of
the State.
For these we must furnish needed
training in seminaries of learning or
look to other States to do for us what
we should do for ourselves, and
spend money abroad for what the
State could supply. Against such
a fate State pride and patriotism
alike rebel. Such a disaster would
fall with crushing weight upon the
sons and daughters of the poor, who
would be unable to meet the ex
penses of an education at the north.
But we are told that higher educa
tion in South Carolina costs too
much. Does it not cost less than
anywhere else in tho world? Har
vard, with her 3,000 students, has
an annual income of more than
$1,000,000—cost of $400 per student,
and this, too, with no account taken
of the millions already invested in
buildings and books and scientifiic
equipment. And yet who will say
that tho vast sums invested in this
great university fail to bring in
adequate returns? Does Virginia
complain of tiie $100,000 annually
spent for the 500 young men at her
university? Have not Michigan and
Wisconsin and Minnesota and Ne
braska and California been amply
repaid for the millions in rocent
years devoted to higher education?
A tax of $100,000 for higher educa
tion in schools in .South Carolina
means but little more than 50 cents
for every thousands dollars of taxable
property Such a tax, even were
there no adequate returns, is no bur
den to any one. But it does bring
adequate returns in manhood and
womanhood. It does, 1 believe, in
the long run, pay for the investment
in dollars and cents.
There can be, there must be no
contiict between church and State
colleges. There should be generous
rivalry, but open or covert antago
nism is disastrous to the interests
of both. Colleges founded by the
churches and by private beneficence
have performed, and are still per
forming, a great and patriotic ser
vice, but no State should surrender
to private philanthropy or denom
inational zeal its sacred inalienable
right and solemn duty of placing
within reach of all her children the
bread of knowledge. Zeal in educa
tional work is contagious. Tho
churcii school nourishes best in those
States where public spirit rallies to
the support of tho State colleges, or
to speak more philosophically, wher
ever the church is healthest there all
public institutions for the good of
men find their warmest support.
Genuine Christianity enkindles
intellectual life, arouses man from
lethargy and creates within him pub
lic spirit and patriotism and an un
failing interest in tho welfare of
others. In Mexico, in Brazil, in
Spain, wherover in short, Christian
ity has become stagnant, there all
public enterprises languish. Des
troy or cripple our denominational
colleges and you take from our civili
zation its strong, uplifting force;
but destroy or cripple our State
institutions, and you take the road
which has carried Spain, once tho
leading power and naturally the
the richest country of Europe, to
the rear in tiie triumphal march of
civilization. There should of course
be no waste in our educational re
sources.
CONCLUSION.
Fellow citizens, the political cam
paign of 189(5 is over. You have
honored mo as few men in South
Carolina have ever b^en honored and
far more richly than 1 deserve. You
gave me, I say it in no spirit of vain
glory or of boasting, but in profound
appreciation of the honor bestowed,
you gave me in the Democratic pri
mary the largest majority ever given
a candidate for governor. Both fac
tions of the Democratic parly, as
the vote cast indicates, gave me
warm and enthusiastic support, such
as necessarily could not have been
given to any factional candidate.
My constant anxiety shall be not to
prove unworthy of your confidence.
I am your governor—the governor
of the whole people. Our interests
are mutual. It will be base and
treacherous and ungrateful on my
part and unwise aud unpatriotic on
your part, longer to fan the fires of
partisan hatred. On questions of
public policy wo cannot all agree
but when issues are settled at the
ballot box we can and ought to submit
to thejwill of the majority honestly
expressed.
I beseech you to resolve on this
occasion to bury all factional feel
ings and to join hands and hearts in
your efforts to develop the resources
of our beloved State, to build up her
institutions, to promote her ever in
terests. In assuming may official
duties, I pledge you my best services.
With all my strength of head and
heart I shall labor for the common
weal, and in my official capacity I
shall treat both friend and foe with
equal consideration. I rid myself of
all sectional and partisan feelings
and hail you all as Carolinians. I
lovo my native State. I love her
people. I am proud of her grand
and inspiring history; of the names
of her illustrious sons; of the thous
ands of her honored dead who sleep
upon every great battlefield of their
country. I rejoice in the hope our
future inspires, in tho patriotism of
our young manhood and in the
self-sacrificing devotion of our young
womanhood.
There was no demonstration while
Mr. Ellerbe was speaking, everyone
seeming to listen intently to what
he was saying.
As he concluded, however, there
was an outburst of applause which
seemed to come from every part of
the house.
MR. M’SWEENEY TAKES THE OATH.
The lieutenant governor-elect, Mr.
McSwceney, then took the position
vacated by tho new governor, and
tho chief justice administered the
oath to him. Mr. McSwceney,
immediately after taking tiie oath,
turned to the audience and said:
Fellow Citizens: It is not my
intention to detai n you on this oc
casion by an address, but I take this
opportunity to sincerely thank the
good people of Hie State for their
confidence expressed in me.
What brief remarks I will have to
make will be delivered in the senate.
I only want to say tiiat it will be my
pleasure and duty to work with the
governor in tho promises he has
made you, which I know ho will
carry out, so that when his adminis
tration is closed ho will receive tho
deserved plaudit: “Well done,
good and faithful servant.”
As he concluded he was greeted
with great applause.
Spartanburg Knitting Mill.
Upon invitation of President J. J.
Gentry, of the Spartanburg (S. C.)
Knitting Mill, a reporter visited the
plant. This mill occupies the second
Hoor of the Southern Loom Harness
Co.’s building, near tiie Morgan Iron
Works. The Loom Harness Co. fur
nish the power to run tho knitting
machinery, tiie elevator, the electric
light, steam to heat the building and
to press the product. Tiie room is
.40x80 feet, is lighted by 27 large win
dows and is an ideal place for a knit
ting mill.
The plant is uow equipped with 10
knitters made by Mayo Co., 2 ribbers
made by Britton Co., and 3 loopors
made by Hepworth Co. At present
the product will consist of 108 needle
half-hose and hose of different weight
in mixed goods and also knit in white
and dyed in fast blacks and tuns, all
seamless hosiery. About fifteen
hands will be employed under the su
perintendency o' C. E. Doughtio, of
Columbus, Ua., who understands his
business thoroughly and for a num-
bea of years has superintended the
Chattahoochee Mills. 'Hie capacity
of the plant is 75 dozens per day.
— • -
Ayer’s Hair Vigor is certainly a re
markable preparation and nothing
like it has ever been produced. No
matter how wiry and unmanageable
tho hair may be, under the influence
of this incomparable dressing, it be
comes soft, silky and pliable to the
comb and brush.