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FACE 1-UUK. The Press and Banner. 1 __. ? 1 ABBEVILLE, S. C. , ?? ( Published Every Wednesday by j The Press and Banner Co. J WM. P. GREENE, Editor. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 1916. j r i THE ANTI-COMPACT ACT. . - . ( Unless the members of the legis- , lature who supported the recently j passed act known as the anti-compact act, and the officers who approv- , ed it, are ready to disprove the ] figures of the insurance companies ^ as to the profits made on business in } South Carolina during recent years, then it would appear to us that the i insurance business in this state has 1 not been the source of much reve- j nue to the companies. It would appear that the insurance companies have not made money on business done in South Carolina, even in normal times, and that they have not been able to lay aside any sur- ' plus with which to meet extraordinary demands, incident to the haz- ' ardous risks incurred by them, such as that caused by the Augusta con- 1 flagration. The trouble seems to us to have * been that the rates were not pro- ' perly proportioned between the risks assumed. Not pretending to be an expert, but looking at the matter * from a common sense standpoint, it ' appears to us that there is no sense 1 in insuring a negro house, frequently on AA/tlinnnf Wlfhnnf JIC1U TV1U1VUV Mil vvvu^uitvy >*???.? the limits of fire protection, on a ( basis of one dollar per hundred, and * charging two dollars and twenty-five cents per hundred for insurance on the City Hall, not only located with- | in the limits of fire protection, but constantly under the eye of officers 1 of the city, nor in charging one to f one and a half dollars per hundred J on brick buildings on the public square. We do not believe in truckling to 1 any unjust demands on the part of 1 the insurance companies, and we still believe that the insurance prob- ' lem' will solve itself, and that people will be able to procure insurance * in one way or another. At the same time, if the figures of the fire t insurance companies are correct they r have some cause for grievance. It * .L..? r seems to us tnat tnere is no oDjection to all insurance companies writ- ^ ing the same kind of a policy, at the " same rate. The state is only interested in knowing that the rate v charged is a reasonable one. In this r view the law should be amended by giving the insurance commissioner authority to forbid certain rates deemed confiscatory, or unreasonable, unless approved by some body s having authority to review rates, s and which body should be competent ^ to so review rates. A commission r appointed by the Governor for life, r by and with the advice and consent * of the Senate, composed of men with * a peculiar knowledge of these mat- ^ ters, who should be paid decent salaries, should be able to fix rates sat- 0 isfactory alike to the insurance com- * panies and to the people. Any arbi- ^ trary method of fixing rates and n putting them into effect would be as riTi-faii. tn tlio incnranPA cnmnanips ! S as they are accused of being to the e interests of the people of this com- v ihonwealth. Such a commission * might be charged with fixing the r rates, not only of fire insurance, but & with approving the forms and pro- c visions of policies and contracts of- a fered in all lines of insurance. The s insurance business of the State runs P to enormous sums in many different n lines. The State should be inter- s ested in seeing that legitimate con- a tracts may be had by the people as ^ well as in driving out companies ^ which do not offer contracts on rea- n v sonable terms and companies which n fail to perform their contracts. 9 s T ^ THE AUtJt V ILLJt 3tHUUl-3. fc In the contests held irt Abbeville last week by the County Teachers' Association, more than their share of t honors were carried off by the pupils ? of the schools of this city. In a t majority of the contests our boys ? and girls were the winners. Being 3 the largest school in the county we < should have expected to win in a i good proportion of the contests, but ? our schools have at times not taken 1 the position which they should always i take in such matters. The credit for the showing is due ' to the Superintendent of the schools 1 and the able corps of teachers who are employed. The trustees of the < schools may neglect their duties, and 1 the general public may not interest itselt' as it should; in fact some of the people who should most industriously support the schools, may always be found in the ranks of the kickers. But in an atmosphere of *"? +VlO fpflpljprs EUCI1 UUV,VUiagvmvuv, and the superintendent have gone forward and placed our schools where they belong?in the fror anks of the schools of the county. It is proper to state in this cor lection that during the incumbenc )f the present Superintendent, th standard of the High School has bee jreatly raised, so much so, that on school is now on the accredited lii with the schools and colleges of th state, which means that a studer joing from our school to any c Jiese colleges is not required t jforwl nnv ovaminntion. hilt pnes il ;o his classes on a certificate froi >ur school, all of which goes 1 :how that we are making progre; n these matters. This does not mean that tt schools are perfect, nor that nothin slse is to be done. But we belie\ ;he Superintendent and the teache] at least, are alive to the situatioi ind that with proper encouragemer ind co-operation on the part of pi trons, our schools will rank with tl aest in the State. REFORM NEEDED. Some years ago, when he was member of the State Senate, we b< lievo. Hon. Wm. N. Graydon advi ;ated the enactment of a law whic svould require every litigant con mencing an action in the courts < the state to make a deposit to cov< :osts. or give security therefo Some of the cases tried at the recer term of the court have demonstrate the need of such a law. If the sui >f twenty-five dollars was require is a deposit in every case, or a bon -equired, to secure the payment c :osts, a great many cases would nt ind their places on the dockets c >ur courts, and the crowded cond ;ion of the dockets would be relieve* It costs money to run the court it costs the county of Abbeville ? east one hundred dollars per da "or every day the court is in sessioi goodly sum of money would b laved the taxpayers of the count f cases of no merit did not have t >e tried. Litigants would be save i lot of useless expense, and wil lesses annoyance, if cases with n nerit were kept out of the courts. Such a law would deprive no ma f his rights. Any man with a cas laving much merit in it could alway trocure the necessary bond; the lai vould only assure the public tha here was merit in the case, an nake litigants more careful to se hat such was the case before havin esort to the courts. It would like irise promote settlements in smal natters, and resort would not be ha o the courts so often in matter vhich are too trifling to be seriousl toticed. STATE INSURANCE. We do not think the people of th tate will take seriously the propo ition that the state engage in th ire insurance business. The expe ience of the state in the liquor busi less was quite sufficient, we think o convince the people of the stat hat fields of private endeavor shouli e left to individuals, singly or col ectively, and that when the stat versteps the constitutional limita ions as to its given rights in cer ain particulars, that the result i ot all that could be desired. It i ru<v that the legislautre does no eem to be entirely cured of the dis ase since it persists in operating i warehouse business, which it de ends on the grounds of expediency ather than on constitutions rounds. But if the warehous* ommissioner, seeking to usurp th< uthority of the insurance commis ioner, and fathering a scheme t< ut the state in the insurance bus] ess, undertakes to cause it to as ume all kinds of hazardous risks ssumed in the name of the stati y untrained men in the insurance usiness, perhaps by men who wil ot have the interest of the state a eart, then we shall have anothe; rguraent against the warehous' ystem. COM ifPRP OR4TOR. Some people claim to be surprise hat "Son" Kerr has developed int in orator; in fact, some peopl hink that an orator must be bor; md cannot be made, and they douh ret whether "Son" will be as grea in orator as Demosthenes. But a :or us, we have no doubts on th subject; neither were we surprise ;hat the committee awarded him th medal in last week's contest. Demosthenes made an orator c himself by speaking against th waves, with pebbles in his moutl But "Son's" father made him a grej orator. Any man who can tal iheap furniture and make a livir by selling it; any person who ca talk a man into buying certain oth< urV>i/>Vi wo micrht mentioi UJ ITU4VU ??^ any man who can sit down to a se back table in the presence of h wife, and lose every game, and th( convince her that he was the be player in the room after the crov was gone; in fact any fat man wl j "if T) IT' f . a - i . , . it . ?? 1 ? 1 C9i J. w it ' It Men no Ion ? caught the s] * and young I ances. : Styiej iilOti i- ' "The same pr le are not for young ion artist has gr sideration to mei b- The models ha\ 5j ness to take aw n l- ance that oftei fT severe. ,rt I Men in middle 1 i They will apprec of all wool fabri of tailoring, as' appearance re; signer's skill. Try a Styleplus, tifically to give dollar. Big asso in models. p. i ? )uld persuade a good-lookihg wolan like "Son's" mother to marry fli im, is compelled to have the gift I f persuasive eloquence. H And having learned the game I mself, and having only one son, it I as not much trouble for the "poor I an's friend" to train up this son I the ways of his father, and to ake a winner out of him. Then j ;ain "Son" lives in an atmosphere great orators. There is the Chief stice just opposite him; there are o such orators as W. W. Bradley d the editor of this paper, his xt door neighbors; and other iser lights are in the neighborhood. And then again "Son"- lives on eenville street. GREENVILLE STREET. 1 [t is stated by the city authorities ,t there are about six miles of sets in the city of Abbeville. ;enville street is about two hund-1 yards long. In the Field's Day i tests held here last week the boys - " ^ ! | 1 and giris OI tnai bureei, toincu via , s about one half the honors which fell I e to the Abbeville schools, all of1 - which shows what Greenville street i is to the city of Abbeville. That is the reason why the City - Council will not open a sidewalk on the Baptist side of our street, the e balance of the town is jealous on e account of our achievements. i t I i I er| LEWISW.PAKKEU - Columbia Record. The statement that the Parker j d mills, incluidng the Hampton mills 0 group in this city, are to be successe fully financed, will bring gratification to the general public as well as to the persons financially interested. At 't the same time it is peculiarly sad it that at the very moment when the lS successful fruition of plans is coming about, the man who for years was ? the strong personality at the head of d the organization, is in a hopeless ie physical condition. The information from Greenville ,f that Lewis W. Parker may last but a few hours will wring the hearts of ? 1 many who knew him in the height of B his career. Strong hearted, humane, I it of great vision and yet careful of the B Ik more intimate interests of those ffl around him, he was a man. Had he H g been spared the climax which came 3 in suddenly, largely on account of the 3 jr Eui-opean condition, he might nave i i e x. weathered the storm, and would have I 5l ' been proclaimed as the great mill . financier of the South. He sailed upon 1S seas most treacherous in a bark ;n which had many leaks before he st took the helm, and the great work , that he did may never be appreciated because of the accident upon the un10 charted shoals. ! Boys Have T; ger grow old?in apj pirit of their sons men acquaint- . i TP AO I MAAK Pf GISTfPO W/i * // / /J\w/ ice the nation oyer." N. H t, W*h r men alone. The fash- xsvi ven just as much con- s i of40,45, 50 and over. re just enough smartay the oldest appear.1 makes clothes too . ife like to be practical. iate the Styleplus kjnd > cs, the Styleplus kind well as the Styleplus suiting from the de, the suit made scienthe utmost for every 4- <n on/1 'ILLUCUi axjl iauxu/o cum ARKER & ? ? Preparedm t / Are you pr< Only two w us Special pri< and Silk Dr a: Don't put of 'till the last your order: ment i: Mrs. Jas. Abb( Keep your^ye < aught Father earance. Older mi A ' """ III/9 fsawii7 . J Illy / REESE ?I ess snared for Eai "A ? eeks to do so. help you. 3es on Coat I esses all this 1 ad next. 'f getting youi ; day, but gi\ now. A new u every week. . S. Co< iville, 5. (J. m our advertisin How en have dL i-'&W _ ja track ^ mur ster ? Let / i Suits week Hat I : ^e us I ship f chran ???'I g columns.