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\ . ESTABLISHED 1844. " The Press and Banner ABBEVILLE, S. C. The Press and Banner Company I PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY I Monday, Wednesday and Friday. j Telephone No. 10. w . ? ! Entered as second-class mail matter at post office j *' in Abbeville, S. C. ! ? 1 k. - I Terms of Subscription: One year $2.00 I |p x Six months 1.00 { , i Three months -50 j FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 1920. A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. j 6. The House of Representatives made short work j of^the proposed Constitutional Convention. With r.- the war ended and the people trying to settle down to the ordinary pursuits of life, with a tendency to ^ "X unrest in some quarters, we think the people generally will commend the stand of the members who voted against the proposal. The people can profit V more by raising forty cents cotton than by adding, K to their cares for the country. Besides we hear of no particular complaints , against the present constitution. It has kept us safely anchored for twenty-five years. Its provisions have been elucidated by the Supreme Court, and we have not heard that there is any general dissatisfaction with its application in accordance gviv with these decisions. It may be out of date with * some modern reformers who would remove all restrictions on taking the property of an individual without even asking his consent, but'for ordinary people we belevcthe constitution good enough for another twenty-five years. LOW MIDDLING 41; ORDINARY 35. Uncle Jim and Wannamaker are in action again. |F We told you some weeks ago about how they reRv duced one-third and held. They are still reducing. Notwithstanding all the farmers told us last sumfmer that the crops were short, the "wet spell" hav||v ing "about ruined" the crop, we notice, according j? to the last report, the ginnings for this county are some six thousand bales ahead of last year; while Ek,. the ginnings for the state are about "one hundred ? ' and fifty thousand' ahead of the same date last ip-- year. Old "Reduce" and tht Boll Weevil, the latter having eaten up all the cotton crop in the lower part of the state, we were-told, have been unable to stop the ginning figures. But we say they are in action again. i?ab ?nesday they will meet in the Court House, shake hands, clear up their throats, and then proceed to "hist" low middling to 41; ordinary to 35; at least, that is what Uncle Jim told us yesterday, and he P&. knows. He got the word from Wannamaker. S&'g' Bob Hill tells us that the modus operandi of doir.g the "histing" is to skip the cotton at the prices BJf^ stated, make a draft for eighty per cent, of the gib' price as stated, and then get "histed." About this we do not know, but if you will see Uncle Jim and It Wannamaker on next Wednesday at the Court House they will explain the whole matter to their ;< entire satisfaction. : y\nd this reipinds us that about last March %or "" * l I April we met Uncle Jipi at about tne ciose U1 Uic | "Reduce one-third and Hold" campaign, and told W- him that \^e would bet that we would give the pas?L tor of the Baptist Church "ten dollars if the amount II?- of cotton raised in South Carolina last year was ten s per c?nt less than the yield the year before, wherein upon Uncle Jim duly bet us that if it wa3 not ten Bgfc per cent, less he would give the pastor of the Sece?J^*ders t^n dollare. Coal is high now, but ten dollars will buy a ton. |p * - A VOICE FROM THE ARK. Landing from the Soviet Ark at the Finnish port a few days ago, the two most notorious or illustrious passengers on the list, shook their fists at the country which they were at last compelled 10 leave for its good. These passengers were Alexander # Berkman and Miss Emma Goldman. The former Bfc- declared that his deportation was unfair and stupid. ,? "You can't kill an idea like that. The Czar tried una failed. He is dead and forgotten." These were some of the last remarks of Berkman. i We are afraid that there are too many Bolsheviki just like these still with us. However, we must confess that we are nflt pessimistic about the outcome. It does sometimes appear that the strong arm of ||v the law is mighty slow in wreaking vengeance, but like the mills of the gods it "grinds slow but sure". Then what have the un-American types like Berk* man and his fellow passengers done as yet, which will do much more than sow seeds of dissatisfaction among certain classes of people? It will take * 1 ** n wM-istVi rlnuiL g a good wnne ior mem uu accumpxioii muvit uv *??- i ment in this country. Most of the dissatisfaction ||r;.l or pendency to disturbance has been among some aliens or among some natives mentally unstable. ||&' " The vast mass of Americans of foreign birth or parentage are quite beyond the reach of the appeals and coercion of these Bolsheviki. The majority of Americans have an idea of gov|v ernment also?one that is not easily dislodged. It has been expressed more than once by nearly every | great man since Abraham Lincoln's day, and often before. The majority of Americans believe in and practice a government by the majority, representative self-government, justice, equality, protection for the rights of' others and the rights of property. They also believe in the freedom under the Constitution and the laws of the country. The long and bitter experience as colonists under the Georges, although there was an element of self-government permitted, taught the people that they should of an inherent right be free, and be allowed to enjoy the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Bill of Rights^ as found in both the \ State and Federal Constitutions had its inception in the Magna Charta, wrested from the hands of King John. All the great statutes and documents of advancing freedom in English history are their tradition and inheritance. The people of everyState in the Union can through the acts of their legislatures adapt their fundamental law to their own particular needs and desires, subject, of course, to the Constitution of the United States. And the Federal Constitution can also be altered?maybe a bit too easily. So forty-eight individual nations and one great nation enjoy the same advantages of liberty, life, and the pursuit of happiness in complete ^harmony, so long as the rights of others are as much respected as the rights of one's self. To all in this j tvw nrp fmaranteed the same rights, deemed | 0 essential, that in the climes of Bolshevia are refused all save the fanatical autocrats of the minority. The mechanism of our government is elastic.% It can be made, and has been m&de, to suit the needs of each generation. This, briefly stated, is the real American idea. Not until th#majority of the people demand it, will ! it be overthrown. Never will the fanatical and i fiery emissaries of any Bolshevistic element sucseed in bringing about its destruction. * WASTING THE PEOPLES MONEY. | J. R. Orr, farmer and real estate dealer of Westminster, is a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Oconee county. In the - .1 latest issue of the Tugaloo Tribune he says in a , letter to his constituents: ! "We held three daily sessions, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and without any reasonable excuse that I know of- a majority of members of both the House and the Senate voted to adjourn until 8 o'clock p. m., on next Tuesday. That kind of procedure is, no doubt, all right.for the members living near Columbia, bu^ it makes it rather expensive for those living as far from the capital city as I do. However, I am democratic, and Providence permitting, I will be with them until the final adjournment, which from present indications, j will be after the buds begin to put out in - } Spring." "That kind of procedure," Mr. Orr, is not >11 | * right, but all wrong. The taxpayers of South Caro- j line send their legislators to Columbia to attend to the public business promptly, get done with it, and adjourn. If the legislature were paid Dy#ne pietc, instead of by the day, it>could get its work done in about half the time it now takes. The legislature ought to be compelled to observe a minimum eighthcur day. It is often unbusinesslike in its consump- j tion of time. ' 1 The practice of adjourning for a week or so at , ~ each week end is waste of the people's time and money. If the legislators want to go home on Sunday, all right, but they ought to work on Satur- J day just as on any other da^. If the legislators want to consult their constituents as to legislation, why not require all bills to be introduced within ten days after the session is begun and then take j a recess of a week to go home, but not at the ex- j pense of the people??The Greenville Piedmont. - ? " i THE PRICE OF FLOUR. > * ' / The price pf flour has risen prodigiously. In South Carolina is land enough to produce two or three vtimes the breadstuffs required by all the people? without interfering with the cotton lands. The climbing of the price of foods of man and beast will cause no increase of unrest in the breasts of farmers who have acquired the art of producing j on their farms nearly everything that they need. Increase of the price of flour may have the effect of hurting the boll weevil. Our lands will produce many crops that can not be sold at a handsome profit but which can be eaten with profit at home. Some of us who groan most agonizingly about | the high cost of living are those who most hate to swing a hoe-handle and jerk a plow line.?Colum- j bia State. i CONGRATULATIONS. I The Presbyterian congratulates the Press and I Pomo*. nn onWi'no- the tri-weekly field. That pa per now comes out three times a week. We trust it may continue to meet with deserved success. We see that some of the papers are wondering if this means a daily for Abbeville. We judge that the success of the tri-weekly will decide as to the daily. ?The A. R. Presbyterian. If they don't play set back in Heaven can't imagine how some of our deacons and elders will manage to exist.?The Medium. They might secure an option on the old Garden o? Eden place and let Col. Horton gjell off city lots. He might miss the selling power of the brass band and "the old Southeastern barbecue" but certainly ' there would be plenty of stringed instruments and an abundance of milk and honey. | Clothes of C IzWk-% ^BmS^^^^BBSL h i, H?khmL (tJ v , e Slyleplu* [3 Clothtt I , Parker i I ^ A R A 1 & IS 11 1 YE li \ if ( ? 1919 was the banner yc ness, for whi9h we are d customers and friends, forward t;o as being stil confidence which we ha beville County causes u ovpr the future. We are pleased to re tions that real estate v they have, and that thos fit by their investment, down. We have seven business houses, homes we will be pleased to tal if T = ft i II Dixie Lane I i| L. M. ii Abbevi || ? i II 11 11 i = ? 11 I II if " M'tni'mi" I ? iood Quality J and | Big Value If Clothes of this kind appeal I to you?this is the store you're ? looking for. < N|'/ SUITS AT $25.00, $30.00 and I $35.00. that are better in eyery way | than the prices indicate. . A good assortment of pat- I terns in your size, to choose |. from. Single and flouhle-hrp.astprl 1 models in browns, grays, and 1 fancy mixtures. | Come in and look them over. | today. *, I B: Re6se | t ' > i \ j _ I! AR jar in our real estate busieeply appreciative to our The year 1920 we look 1 better than 1919. The ve in Abbeville and Abs to feel very optimistic Per to. our former predicates would increase as ?e who buy now will proReal Estate ^never goe& il good propositions in and farm property that Ik with you about. I! \ Company )i ALBERT, lie, S. C. / ? ? A