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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13*1907. The Sumter Watchman was founded in 1850 and the True Southron in 1866. The Watchman and SoutJiron now bas the com? bined circulation and influence of both of 4be old papers, and is manifestly the best Advertising medium in Sumter. ?--BBSB-?? IMPORTANT NOTICE. Subscribers are requested to ex? amine the label on their papers, which show the date to which the subscription has been paid. Those who find that they are in arrears are requested to crJl and settle or remit ?at the .earliest convenient date. The ?unount that each subscriber owes is email, but in the aggregate the amount due us for subscription is ?r?te laree-and we need the money. The communication of "Taxpayer" criticising the News and Courier's po? sition on the dispensary-blind-tiger issue as it relates to Charleston, goes to the marrow of things and is well worth reading. It makes the point clearly and tellingly that if Charleston were not so peculiarly and utterly un? like other places it would be better lor Charleston and the State in many respects. . * * The Carey-Cothran bill is a lengthy, complicated and verbose measure and * is difficult to be understood by one . not learned in the law. ' There is room in it for a half dozen "jokers" and a full score of niggers in the wood pile, and before long some of them will come into view. One sec? tion forbids the keeping or selling of liquor by clubs and provides a pen? alty for so doing "without a license." Nowhere else in the law is provision made for licensing clubs or individ? uals to sell liquor, but the wording of the section referred ti is peculiar, to say the least. . * . The State dispensary has been dead . ever since the primary of last sum? mer, according to the newspaper op? ponents of the system, but neverthe? less announcements continue to ap? pear daily that i? has been killed again. When it has been killed a few more times we hope the wake, funeral and interment will follow quickly, j We fear the conditions that will even? tually follow the abolition of the dispensary much more than we dis? like the worst that has been charged .-against the management of the State .dispensary, but we are tired of the .daily killing which has been served ?ip to the public for many months for ?the purpose of creating public senti? ment, it is to be presumed. e . . The refusal of the house to appro? priate $10,000 for the department of commerce and immigration is no more than was expected of a body that has shown a disposition to be extravagant in several instances, where big appropriations will help io make votes. In this instance where a large appropriation is really need? ed and where very dollar will be of direct benefit to the State a niggard? ly spirit is displayed. It would be fax better to cut out the appropriations for the Calnoun statue and for the fence around the State House and give the money to Commissioner Wat? son, i . . * The directors cf the State dispen? sary have been removed, as there was no way to doage the issue raised, but who believes the talk of prosecution amounts to anything more than talk? Who believes Rawlinson, Wylie or Black win ver be punished for buying whiskey illegally? Who believes that Hub Evans and his crowd will ever be called to account for their alleged illegal acts? The thing desired is the abolition of the State dispensary, not the punishment of the grafters. In fact, the opponents of the State dis? pensary owe a deep debt of gratitude to the grfters, for without the invalu? able aid of the grafters the State dis? pensary could not ah ve been brought into disrepute and without being brought in o disrepute it could not be abolished . . . Gov. Am -V: promptness in remov? ing tho directors of the State dis? pensary i? to be commended. If he deals in the same positive manner with all issues that come before him in his official capacity his administra? tion car.' at fail to be a success. . . * It is true that the removal of the dispensary directors by Gov. Ansel was, in effect, demanded by the legis? lature and that there was scarcely any room for escape from that course of action, but he could have dilly-dal? lied and quibbled and postponed ac-j tion until the abolition of the dispen? sary would have made action unnec? essary. The legislature put the mat? ter squarely up to Gov. Ansel, and it Is to his credit that he met the issue squarely and disposed of it promptly. We cid not expect it of Gov. Ansel, but we are none tho less pleased by "his course in this matter. * * * The business men of Charleston. ! Under the leadership of Mayor Rhett. ! 1 have started a light to force the railroads to give that city justice in the matter of freight rates. It is a just cause and with right on their side the business men of Charleston should never give up the fight until they bring the unfriendly railroads to terms. . . . The county dispensary plan has got to make good as a greater money maker than the State dispensary sys? tem to retain the friendship and sup? port of its most strenuous advocates. If it fails in this most important par? ticular what plan will fall'heir to Charleston's favor? High license, un? der dispensary regulations, perhaps, which is just one more step in the movement back toward the old bar? room system. . . . John D. Rockefeller's gift of $32, 000,000 in securities to the general :ational boars if probably noting more than a shrewd move to pro tec I the bulk of his ill-gotten wealth by erecting a bulwark between him? self and an aroused and outraged public sentiment. By putting these securities in the hands of the general educational board, a quasi public and philanthropic- institution, he doubtless hopes to deter the public from taking steps to wring out the water and fraud and knavery that constitute 90 per cent, or more of the stocks and securities that represent his unholy billion dollar fortune. We take no stock in Rockefeller's philanthropy, we have no faith in his professed public spirit. Every dollar that he gives up is a surrender for the pur? pose of postponing tht day of reck? oning that he sees is coming. If he can load up a number of colleges, ed? ucational boards and other widely connected institutions with a large numebr of influential officials, em? ployes and pensioners he will have a mighty force of defenders when the time of trouble comes. He can well afford to give away ten times thirty two million in securities, for it may mean to him the saving of the bal? ance of his billion. Chariest^- md Sumter. "Taxpayer," in the Sumter Item, sharply criticises the News and Cou i rier's suggestion that county dispen? saries would be more acceptable to Charleston than the State disuensary because the former system would yield larger revenues to the county. The public sentiment of this coun? ty may be enlisted to enforce honest management of local dispensaries, whereas it cannot be enlisted in be? half of an honest enforcement here which would inure to the advantage of a dishonest and corrupt ' manage? ment in Columbia controlling the Charleston system. In years past Sumter county was opposed to the State dispensary. When the original law was enacted in 1892 Sumter county was, we be? lieve, one of the few delegations op? posing it. Sumter sentiment has changed and no one complains on that account; but before a Sumter "Taxpayer" is justified in upbraiding Charleston because Charleston would have profits from the dispensary, he should be able to say that Sumter county would favor the State, dispen? sary if it earned no profits for Sum? ter. We assert that if the State dis? pensary system yielded no revenue to Sumter city and county, Sumter county would be overwhelmingly op? posed to the system, and we chal? lenge "Taxpayer" or any other in? telligent person to deny it. If the Sumter dispensaries now paid the city and county nothing Sumter county would vote to try another sys? tem. Charleston county has voted to try a system which, it is believed, will pay three times as much as the present system pays and under which the restrictive features will be not less rigidly enforced. The attitudes of Sumter and Charleston, so far as desire for revenues is concerned, are practically identical.-Xews and Courier. Supervisor McFaddin publishes a statement this week, which shows the county to be in debt about $10,500, with a useless road engine and some no account mules on its hands. The present tax collection may cover all but about $3,400 of the debts against the county. We had hoped that Su? pervisor Owens could have managed to turn the office over to his success? or without debt and the roads in good condition, but such is not the case. The roads are in bad fix and the county is in debt. This debt will have to be paid, but as the levy has been fixed for this year without the actual condition of the county being known to the delegation, no increase in the levy will be made. There is a clamor ali over the county for the supervisor, but he tells us he is with? out th? necessary mules to move, and that as so<>n as he can be provided with the stock he will take the gang and repair the places most needed. The mulos turne.] over to him are old and practically worthless, the good mules formerly owned by the j county were sold by Supervisor Owens when he bought the road encine - THE UNWRITTEN LAW. What Juders Roger A. Pryor Says About it in New York. From the New York World. Judge Roger A. Pryor, who in 1833 reached the age limit of 70 years and retired from the bench of the su? preme court of New York, is a Vir? ginian who had characteristic and well-known ideas about chivalry and honor as factors in right conduct. He has always refused to prosecute or sit in judgment upon criminal cases, though he has occasion illy de? fended them. Asked by the Sunday World for a definition of -'unwritten law," Judge Pryor said : "To get at what we hear called 'the unwritten law' in cases of homicide it is necessary, first of all, to find out what the law is that is written. "The Penal Code of the State of New York, in Section 183 and follow? ing, dennes homicide as the killing of o**e human being by the act, procure? ment or omission of another," and then proceeds to specify when it is excusable or justifiable. Accident or misfortune may excuse killing, and it becomes justifiable in various degrees under circumstainces of self-defense, in the discharge of legal duty, etc.; also in the defence of others 'when there is reasonable ground to appre? hend a design on the part of the per? son slain to commit a felony or to do some great personal injury.' "Here we have in codified form what is, or has been, 'unwritten law* in some new or out-of-the way com? munities, or in primitive times sim? ply because the elaborate Penal Code, which we know is not, or was not, there in existence. Such conditions do not prevail here. In New York there is no recognizable unwritten law, nor any tacit official acknowl? edgment of it as a legal factor. "The promptings of personal honor and of chivalry toward women, which most persons have in mind wlien us? ing the phrase under discussion, be? long to ethics rather than to 1 law. They are taken for granted, like truth telling and business integrity, and are not to be urged or argued. Their ex? pression is in acts and the interpreta? tion of acts, not in words. The spirit inspires the deed, but the letter does not forbid or demand it. "Men in some sections may be by nature or tradition more impulsive than in others and impatient for quick action, and yet actuated by the same motives of justice arrive at the same verdicts by different lines. There are various ways, all being legitimate, of securing an acquittal for persons charged with homicide under emo? tional circumstances. "If we take the celebrated cases of the last half century, from the Sick? les-Key to those figuring in the rews of today, it will be found that inva? riably the persons supposed to be un? der the protecting aegis of . unwrit? ten law have been defended and ac? quitted on sound technical pleas quite the opposite of anything vague and sentimental. ^ "The extreme delicacy of cases af? fecting women's reputation is popu? larly regarded in some quarters as a raison d'etre for that finer sense of duty toward the sex which in the Mid? dle Ages was chivalry and today is called 'the unwritten law.' "In reply to the question, How can it be codified? I should say: By in? serting in the existing penal code's category of conditions exempting from punishment for homicide a clause to the effect that debauchment or assault upon the honor of a wife, mother, daughter or sister might un? der certain circumstances justify the woman's legitimate or natural de? fender in taking the law into his own hands. "But that in New York or in any other State of the union today would be a paradox. By opening the way for individual license of judgment and execution the law would stultify itself. Unwritten law thus codified would be very much like written law? lessness." The World follows the above opin? ion of Judge Pryor with an account of a number of cases where the so called unwritten law has been ap? plied in Europe, from which the fol? lowing is taken: Notable Example of Unwritten Law. Among the several tories current concerning the mysterious tragedy of Meyerling, which robbed the ven? erable Emperor of Austria of his only son, the most generally accepted ver? sion is that he was slain by the uncles of Baroness Marie Vetsera, or else that he was subjected by them to such bodily injuries that he blew his brains out, the men having learned of the prince's intention to cut adrift from the girl, in compliance with his pledge to his parents, instead of mar? rying her after securing a divorce from the Crown Princess Stephanie. One of the uncles perished at Mey? erling at the time of the death of the Crown Prince and of the Baroness. I I^ut nb attempt was ever in:.do }>y the authorities to follow up those who ! participated in this ?liocking drama. . and the surviving relatives of the girl. ev? n with th?' imputation resting ;?t t.'n ir doors of bring responsible for ' the death of the heir to the throne- ' thai is to say. of a crime construed by the code us high treason-suffer no ' social let or hindrance, it being as ? sumed that if they arc guilty of what ! is ascribed to them by popular ru I mor they merely acted in accordance ! with thc dictates of unwritten law, j failure to comply with the provisions i of which would have branded them with disgrace. She Stamped on Traducers Face. Nor is this by any means the only instance where a royal death has gone unpunished because of its having been inflicted in obedience to the dictates of unwritten law. Duke Eugene of Wurtemberg, whose widow is a sister of Queen Olga of Greece, is generally understood to have been killed in 1877 by the hus? band of a lady of rank, who, after being betrayed, had been so shameful? ly abused by the Duke that she ap? pealed to the man whose name she bore for protection. It is added that the lady in question, when sjie saw the duke prostrate on the ground in death throes, followed the example 'Of that Countess Vun Platen, who one j hundred and ' fifty years earlier, had stamped on the face of Count Philip Koenigsmarck when he was expiring from the wounds inflicted by assas? sins in the royal palace of Hanover on emerging from the apartments of Queen Sophia Dorothea of England. The name of the slayer of Duke Eu? gene of Wurtemberg was a matter of common gossip, not only at Stuttgart, but likewise throughout Europe, - at the time. But he was never called to i account for any share that he might have had in the matter, it being as? sumed that be had acted in accord? ance with the dictates of unwritten law, which require<$&the defence of his honor. Moreover, the fact that he lived happily with his wife after- ! ward and that neither suffered any ! loss of social prestige goes far to confirm the report, according to which the lady was an unwilling vic? tim to the royal Don Juan. Country House Drama in England. These ethics hold good to a certain extent even in Great Britain. Some years ago a married man who was given to the unpardonable practice of boasting of his "bonnes fortunes," and was accustomed to talk lightly of women in general, was discovered by a couple of his fellow guests at the country house where he was staying to have betrayed the daughter of his host, a very pretty girl, only a little over 17, who had not yet made her debut and who had no experience of society. The men, dreading the fate in store for her, made it their business to communicate the facts which had come to their knowledge to her two grown-up brothers. On the following day there was meet of the hounds, and at the close of the day the Don Juan was brought home stone dead, the victim, it was said, of a cropper, which had broken his neck. An in? quest was held, the jury comprising the girl's two brothers and their fel? low guests, to whom reference has been made above. The coroner was under deep obligations to the family, and a verdict of death by a fall while out hunting was returned. But the initiated knew that the fall in ques? tion had been brought about by a re? volver shot at the base of the brain, fired by one of the girl's brothers, and in killing h,er betrayer the young fellow was held by those who knew or suspected the true facts of the case to have done his strict duty and to have complied with the require? ments of unwritten law. This is by no means the only one of those hunting and shooting acci? dents resulting fatally and casting a gloom on the day's sport which has constituted an act of justice, inflicted by some father, brother or husband, determined to avenge the honor of his womankind and to silence forever a tongue that might otherwise have been disposed to boast of its owner's prowesses in connection with the fair sex. For men who are unscrupulous with women, especially those respon? sible for the ruin of young wives and inexperienced girls, are usually given to prate in public about their "affairs du ceour," and to merit that worst of all names that can be applied to a roue, that is to say, "William Tell." The Spartanburg County Cotton Growers' association is arranging to buy fertilizers in carload lots. Letter to M. M. Jenkins, Sumter, S. C. Dear Sir : The oheekist fraud in all paint is paste paint. Here's one. Lawyer Arley B Magee, Dover, Del, painted his house four years ago with paste paint at a cost of $44 for paint aud 861 for labor; total $105. The house got shabby iu two years ; then he painted Devoe at very different cost : S18 for paint and ?30Jfor labor ; total $4S. (Paste paint $105; Devoe $4S. ) It is like fatting hog" on milk 3-4 water. Paste paint is 3-4 whitewash. Yours truly 22 FW DEVOE & CO P. s.-Durant Hardware Co. Sell <>ur paint. Candidate for Judge of Probate. The undesigned respectfully an- j aounces himself as a candidato for j the Office or Judge of Probate for j Sumter county and would be proud of the support OL" his Fellow-Demo? crats for that position. . Thos. E. Richardson. Jan. 1!, 1907. I FOR SALE-Sunflower and Southern Hope Long Staple Cotton Seed. Ap? ply to D. C. Richardson, Oswego, S. C., R. F. D. No. 1. 1-23-lt* FOR SALE-At Hagood, S. C., 100 acres of land that brings ovev a bale of cotton to the acre. Address, Miss Emmie Saunders, Hagood, S. C. 10-17-tf In proportion to its size the horse has the smallest stomach of any quadruped. Estate of David E. Wells, Deceased. I WILL apply to the Judge of Probate of Sumter County on March 8fch, 1907, for Final Discharge as Administrator of afore? said estate. J* E. WELLS, Feb. 6-4t Aciminisirator. Skinner's Machine Shop For Everything in the MACHINERY LINE. PLUMBING, STEAM-FITTING AND :-: ALL KINDS OF MILL AND ENGINE REPAIRING AND MILL SUPPLIES. FOUNDRY WORK A SPECIALTY. -CASTINGS ALL SIZES AND PATERNS. Manufacturer of the Famous SKINNER Portable Steel Cages for Chain Gangs. Edgar Skinner. PHONE 14!. -.- SUMTER, S. C. We have so little to say about this branch of our business that some people might get the impression that we are neglecting it, but a glance through this department any day in the week will convince any person of its activity, in fact things are constantly On a Rush There. The secret of this is probably due to the char? acter of our goods and prices, both of which must be right or we could not do the business. We buy practically everything in this line from first hands and in car lots. niLLBOURNE FLOUR. We have never found or heard of a brand that gives more universal satisfaction than this. Of course we carry cheaper grades to meet a pop? ular demand, but if you want the best get MILLBOURNE. 100 Bags of Coffee. This is probably the largest shipment of cof? fee ever received by a retail house in this sec? tion of the State. In fact we doubt if our whole? sale friends would tackle a larger lot than this at a purchase. We thought it was cheap and that is why we bought so much, as it is our cus? tom to buy goods freely when we think the price is right, regardless of quantity. The Cost of flaking a Crop. We hear a great deal about the expense of farming in comparison with some years back. This certainly does not apply to general groce? ries, for with the exception of bacon and lard, which at present are pretty dear, other goods are as cheap today as they were when cotton sold at six to seven cents per pound. We have particular reference to coffee, sugar, flour, meal, grits, corn, molasses and many other items that we might mention. Labor and live stock are the most expensive items that farm? ers have to contend with. We have a few of the latter RELICS OF 1 906 that we are anxious to dispose of and at BARGAIN DAY PRICES. THE OPEN MOUTHS of hungry people relish and enjoy our MILK LUNCH' BISCUITS. USE THEM DAILY. ASK YODE DEE ALE OK WRITE. CHARLESTON BISCUIT WORKS, Charleston, S. C.