The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, May 17, 1877, Image 2
THE SENTINEL(
D. P. BRADLEY. Editor.
PJOXENS 0. 11., 8. C:
-- - -c
Thursday, May 17, 1877.
Editorial Correspondence.
0
)VOL10411rA, S. C., May 9, 1877. 1
Dear &ntinel: The work of the t
General Assembly is progressing roa. ,
snably fast and satlisfactorially. Thero
has boon a great deal more business
presented for the action of the Gonoral
Assembly than cati possibly be dis
posed of at this session, unless it
should be an unreasonably long one.
But most of the members are now
ones, and each has his pot scheme,
which ho thinks is more important to
the State than anything else, and he
is exceedingly anxious to get it be
foro the country-especially before his
constituency. My idea was that only f
such legislation as was recommended
by the Governor should be passed
upon at this called session, and we
should have made it a short ono. To
go into and perfect such legislation as
the best interest of the State demands, C
will require months of hard and pa
tient labor. It is not the doing, but the
undoing of much of the bad Radical c
legislation of the last eight years that 8
demands the earnest and patient con
sideration of the Logislaturo. This J'
can not be gone into until our next 8
regular soession, then the work should, a
and will be, thorough and satisfactory.
This ha been quite a lively day for t
Columbia. The Schoutzonfest was
opened in full blast to day, and is to v
continue for three days. The
Germans are in full gloo, and many
glasses of lager will disappear during 8
its continuance. The white military 0
companies of the city, consisting of 1
two rifle and one artillery company, h
headed by the United States post I
band at this place, formed the head of "
the procession on Main-street, and ~
after marching through the Slate c
House grounds, and before the front b
I
steps of the State House, where they -
were reviewed by the Governor, lead "!
the way to the Scheutzen PJatz,
where the festivities abnd Sports are to
be conducted. hi
To. morrow being memorial day in
. the South, and in honor of the dead E
who fell in the late war, the House 9
adjourned to day until Friday next at
11 o'clock, a. m. As legislation of 0
interest progresses, I will keep you '
posted. The question of Chief Justice
remains in statu quo. BR ADL EY.
CoLunIBA, May 11, 1877. (
DEAR SENTINEL : In my last, I for. ~
got to mention the fact, that And rows, -
of Sumter, who refused to make the'
necessary apology to the House, had t
reconsidered his action and had been I
sworn in. The Charleston delegation
are still kept on the anxious stool.
The "rurial" members promise to be
Democrat8 if we will only admit them.
This is "too thin," and they will only
be admitted (if admitted at all) after
due and deliberate consideration of
their case. That the grossest frauds
ever known on the ballot box were
committed in Charlost,on county in the1
last election, there is, I am informed,
the most comp!oto evidence. Thore is
not the least doubt but what there
were three or four thousand illegal
votes polled, but the law is, I think,
that the illegal votes shall be exclud
ed, and if such exclusion should ro,
duce the vote below that of the 01).
posite party, then the opp)osito party
shall be elected. In this case the
Radical majority was six thousand,
and the Democrats could not come in
after the illegal votes were deducted
from the Ra'Jlical side. But the .De. I
mocratic candidates do not claim the
eats, they desire that the election
shall be declared vitiated in conse. I
quence of fraud. I do not know what
conclusion the committees investigats i
ing their ease will come to, but it is
certain that if they got in-at all, it is'
going to be a "tight squeeze."
Yesterday, the graves of the mar..
tyred dead, who gave up their lives in
a cause once dear to the heart of all
3outherniers, were beautifully deco
rated by the hands of the fair ladies of
Columbia. 'I be ceremonies in Elm
wood Cemetery took place at 6.3o
o'cloclep. in., and there was a large
and bighly respectable audience pres...
ent. The procession was headed by
Lieut.Gov. Simpson and Speaker Wal
laos, followed by members of the
Legislature. Then came our noble
Governorand the Rev. Dr. Girera,
dean, followed by little girls,
something near onie hundred, Jaden
E -
lowi with flowers and wreaths, with
vhich the graies of the "deathless
lead" were decorated. Pollowing the
Ittle girls wero the grown ladies and
itizens generally& After the proces
on had entered the enclosure in which
be soldiers lay buried, and had come
o a h1ault, Governor Hampton said:
The audience will please come to
rder and observe silence, while the
tov. Dr. Gireradeau offers a prayer
o God." The Dr. then stopped for
rard and delivered one of the most
3rvent, eloquent and impressive pray-a
rs we have over listened to. At the
onclusion of the devotional exercises,
he procession broke, and commenced
iying their floral tributos on tho
;ravos of our immortal dead. The
cene waq, indeed, a solemn and im
>ressivo one. The Sonato did not ads
ourn in honor of the day, but pio
,eoded with their legislative duties
rhe day was a very important one'
nd resulted in a complete triumph
or tho Democrats.
The House, a few d-ys ago, passed
concurrent resolution, invoking the
'resident to exercise Executive clem
1ncy and order the prosecutions now
omnionced in the United States
ourt at Charleston, against the El
3nton and ot her prisoners, to be dis
ontinued. This resolution did not
uit the Radical majority in that
louse, as they hoped, through packed
irios and su borned witneses,to convict
DmO of the best citizons in the State,
nd furnish a little material for the
bloody shirtors" in the North. Yes
)rday, Johnson, colored, Sonator
om Sumter, moved to reconsider the
ote, whoroby the resolution was do
-ated, and, by his and Cochran's aid,
io vote was reconsidered and a sub
,it uto, offorel by Cochran, was adopt
1. The substitute provides that the
rosecutions against the Republicans
>r similar offoncos, about to be com
konced by Attorney General Conner,
the State courts, shall be discon-.
inLued. Cochran said that if this
urso '.vas not p)ursued, thore would
o more Republicans convicted than
homocrats, and for the peace and
'elfaro of the State it was essential
rat it should pass and the prosecu
ons cease on both Bides. The reso,
ition to go into an election for Chief
ust,ice, on Tuesday next at 1 o'clock
M.. was then taken up and passed.
'he vote on this resolution stood 14
i 14; Cochzian voting with the Do~m,
crats; when Simpson, having the dez
ig voto in case of a tio, voted i.: the af.
rmat.ive and carried the resolution.
'he resolutions were concurred in by
he llouse to-day, and the canvass for
'hief Just.ice has now commienced in
ood earnest, with Willard in the lead.
as to the Associato Justice to fill his
lace, in the event of his election,
here are, as your readers have before
>eenl informed, quito a number of dis,
,inguished aspirant,s, w hose chanoes
eem to ,vary every day, and it is ail
most impossible now to form an idea
is to wvho will be the successful man. I
wvill niot guess at it any more, T111e
Senato bill to re-establish the old
usury law was cort.inued in the Houuse
Lo-day until our next session. T his,
[ consider, a v'irtual defeat of tbo bill
though many who had informed me
that they favored it, voted for the
p)ostp)oncmont. WVhy they did so I
Jo not kcnow; but they claim that they
lid it in deference to the wishes ol
the Governor, though it is said he
would have signed the bill had it pass
~d. On this question, I must con fess
lhe vote to-day was quite a surprise
~o me, for it stood 66 to 26. As soon
as the bill came from the Senate to
he IIouse, the Charleston capitalists
locked hore like buzzards to a carcass,
Lnd lobbied unceasingly with the mem.
iers of the Hlouse to defeat it. The
:olored members, nearly all of whom
iad ex pressed themselves in favor of the
i1l, voted for the postponement. I do
zot accuse the Charleston lobbyist oi
>ribing any of the members, but their
irgumentative and pursuasive powere
must be wonderful. The want of a
restriction on a usury and the lien law
I consider the greatest curses ever
imposed on the State. Under them
tihe State has been bankrupted and
tihe laboring Classes vir tually made
slaves to the capitalist. The merchant
the banker and the money lender haZ
held high carnival Over the misfor.
tunes and necessities of the farminf
class of the country. Tfheso measuroe
have done as mutch towards preistrat
ing the State as the eight years o
Radical plundering. I voted to,da'
in (,h0 minority, against the postponc
ment, as I desired the bill to pass an
becomo a law at once. I believe tha
four,fifths of the people of thi. Sta.
desire the ro-establisAmont of the ol
usury law, and trust they will instruoi
their Representatives as to their de
sires before the next session of the
General Assembly.
The appropriation bill has boon
printed and laid on the table of the
members. For the salaries of the
Executive and Judicial officert of the
State, it appropriates the sum of
$143 100. For the support and inain
tenance of the penal, charitable, and
educational institutions of the State,
exclusivo of the common schools,
8101,300. For public printing, *10,
000, if so much be necessary. For
public schools, $200,000, including the
poll tax. For interest on the public
debt, $300,000. No interest is to be
paid until the consolidated bonds are
scrutinized by a commission raised for
that purpose. This amounts to $754,.
400, about one half of the appropaia
tions heretofore made since reconstruo
tion, and will require a tax of about
7 mills. In my last week's communi
cation I stated that the tax would be
only 5 1-10 mills, since then it has
bcen concluded to make provisions for
tho interest on the public debt, as the
consolidation act providos that the
State shall levy 2 mills annually to
pay the intorost on all the consolidated
bonds is it falls due, and makes the
coupons receivable for taxos. If no
provisions were mato to meet the in
terest on the bonds, the treatury
would be flooded with the coupons,
and there would be a large deficiency
next year, a thing we do desire to oc.
cur under Democratic administration;
hence the change in the programme.
The Legislature thought it had just
as well take the bull by the horns and
met the responsibility at once.
Tho time for the collection of the
taxes will he extended probably till
October, and the people will not be
oppressed. 0
The tax bill was submitted by thc
Committee on WVys and Means tc
day, but as it has unot been pr'inted
yet, I ;do not knowv what its fea
tures are.
Thle Sonnto resolution to adjourn
sine die 'on the 17th instant, has beet
lying on the table in the IIouso sinct
receive'd, and when taken up will be
amended so as to fix the adjourn,
mont at a further day, about the 25th,
I think, as it will not be possible tc
get through with the legislation aib
solutely to the interest of the State
before that time. I forgot to mnention
in its proper place, that no provision
has boon made for the pay of the
members of the General Assembly ini
the appropriation bill. The Radicals
contend for six hundred dollars and
mileage for each session, (last winter
and the present session) which wvould
make each members pay over $1,200,
which undler the law they are entitled
to, the Democrats do not agree tc
this, and contend that six hundred
dollars and mileage for both B')ssionu
is enough. IHero is a serious difficulty
and how we are to get out of it ii
now the question. rhe Radical Sen
ate has it in its power to defeat th<
whole appropriation bill unless w<
concede something to them on th<
salary question. This I am not ir
favor of, for I do think six hundrc
dollars and mileage for both session
is sufileient. Please excuse iniy sli
opiabtle. BRADLEY.
The Greenville News.
We unintentionally omitted to no
tico in our last issuo that the Green
villo Daily and Weekly news ham
changed hands. Col. A. M. Speights
the founder of this paper, a Democra
"without fear and without reproach,
a ready and spicy writer, who hai
boldly and nobly fought to reeon
South Carolina from the hands o
thieves and robbers, has "stepp<
down anid out," We are sorry t<
part with Col. Spoights. The New,
has certainly boon a great accessiol
to Greenville, and hats contributed ii
no small dlegree to her material pros
pority. We hope the SNews may be
better sustained in the future and no
allowed to die. We welcome his sue
cessors, Messrs. IIowell, Cooper an<
Reynolds:, cordially and hope tha
sucess may crown their efforts in th<
ditlicult department of journalism.
There has never perhaps been
time in all her history when Englan<
was so completely "m'stress of thL
seas" as at the present. IIcr fleet i
now represented by 68 iron clad 301
f steamers and 170 ailing ships, al
r available for actual service. Some c
- the iron clads are of immense size, an<
I they earry gun; of very heavy calibr
t, and of' the most improved construe
tinn
sewing xaine Patents.
GaEAT ZEDUC'MIONG TO BX MAD AT
o"vE.
At the office of Wheeler and Wilson
1 learned that no final dtormination
is reached in respect of further reduc
tions in prices. One of the princi
pals sid:
"There is a great deal of buncombe
about reductions. The Singer people
do announce a reduction from $60 to
$80, but they do not specify the par..
cular machine. If people bought for
cash we could afford to sell a machine
that costs $15 for $25; and would be
glad to do it. .Bat they don't buy for
cash. They pay an installment, $5 a
month or so, tako two years to pay
up in-even if they pay at all. Then,
we soll but little at the factories. We
spend the extra cash in putting our
machines before the people. There
are agents and bills of all kinds to
pay. Advertisements, pamphlets, and
all that sort of thing take an immense
amount of money. We really get only
about $25 ourselves. The rost goes to
others. No one would be more glad
to make reductions than we, if we
could have the world come to us and
buy for cash; but the world won't do
it."
Corrospondent-What royalty did
you pay?
Official-Oh, the royalty is noth
ing. Three dollars on a machine was
the whole of it. The money didn't
go in royalties, but in commissions.
C.-And the public hnve to pay it.
How many men do you employ in this
tactory?
Official-In busy times about a
thousaud. They make good wages
and live well. We keep them busy
most of the time. One of our ma
chines has sold over nine hundred
thousand, nearly a million in fact;
others run up to 40,000 and so on. Wo
sold over 150,000 last year, and you
observe one of the other companies
advertises a sale of 276,000. There
are millions of sewing machines in
this country,and a groat donii of money
has been made in the business. We
have had our ehare, and ii purchasers
bought for cashi we would mako mnore
profit, and they would get machines
cheapor. We can sell our $55 machine
for $25, and will do it. We have not
concluded what to do in general, but
shall probably not make any vcry ex
Iten sive changes. I found in Now York
that the Singer people purpose taking
advantage of the public excitement to
secure, if possible, the lion's share of
future patronage. They say they will
from day to day sell machines which
have heretoforo brought them $60, for
$30; but they wvant the $30. They
tell the same story of costly agencies.
C.-IIas competition increased the
demand?~
Official-Yes, in an unhealthy way.
IIt has been the ruin of some compa
nies and the bane of all. Competition
led to extravagances of every kind.
The great idea was to sell the most,
and sometimes those who sold the
most were the greatest losers-losers
3 because everybody was trusted. "No
pay, no machine," is the motto from
this time on.
0.-But isn't "cheap for cash" a
a better motto?
Official--Well, yes; and its our mot
to, too. There is no reason why a
really excellent machine should not be
had for $30. You may say that we
will sell our regular *50 machines, as
good as the best, for $30 cash.
C .--And of course you make a good
thing of it then?
Official-We shan't complain. Nor
will any other company complain.
* The fact is, when the public and the
Scompanies come together and under,
stand that the money of the one does
not go in to the selfish p)ockets of the
other, but is spent for expenses necces
sary to the aystem now to be aban
'doned, matters will have a very dif,.
forent look, and both parties care drive
a better bargain.
0.-You don't intend to Bay that
you wont' reduce at all?
Official-Oh, no, but business must
be done on sixty per cent, of our $60
to agents and collectors, you can
readily see we have small margin for
profit; and if', on the other hand, pur
chasers come direct and pay cash
1. when they buy, we can well aff'ord to
I treat them as well as we treated the
Sagents.
As near aslI can makceout ibcost about
s *15 to put up a machine-the rest is
unnecessary expense. From the 8th
I of May the people will have the mat
fj ter largely in their own hands. If
they buy where they are bost treated,
common sense and d eeire for existence
e will bring the others to terms. and
a good machines at low rater, will be
within the rach of every one.
Great Ropes Going up the Last Ladder-.
t is apompon thing for Ropubli
ca ournalists to say that they accept F
the reident's Southern policy as an
experiment; and they threaten all
Sorts of Vengeance upon the South
if the experiment proves a failure. To
save their consistency many of them
announce beforehand that it cannot be
a success. It thus becomes an inter
esting point to know precisely what
will constitute a failure, and also to
learn who shall decide whether a fail.
ure has occurred. The reconstruction
policy of the Republican party has
been in operation for more than ton
years, and has boon pronounced an
emphatic failure by the people of the
reconstructed States, by a majority of
all the citizens of the United States
and by the Republican President and
hir constitutional advisers. It was in
theory contrary to all sound princi
pies of government, and in practice
was found to be thoroughly worthless.
The country was in no hurry to cons
demn it and in no haste to set it asido;
and cortainly it should not be put in
operation again until the opposite plan
shall have had as long and as fair a
trial and shall have received as *em
phatic a condemnation. Even in that
event it is not probable that the
icheme fbr ruling through the Fedcr,
al intoiferance States supposed to be
self governing communities will be ro
vived; and it behooves those politicians
who are anticipating a change in the
Democratic policy now adopted by
Mr. Hayes to set about inventing
something to take its place as soon as
they have established the fact of its
failure In the meanwhile the public
will wait with patience and will hardly
accept the testimony of the advor,atos
of the old method in regard to the
progress of the new one. Authorities
like Mr. Phillips and Mr. Blaine will
be heard on tho subjecb with distrust,
and the Southern carpet baggor, after
being dismissed as an untrustworthy
witness, can scarcol3 be reenallcd again
while the President himself will not be
en titled to much confidence if lhe pro
claims that he has iniado one stupen%
dous mistake as a preliminary to ask
ing the p)eop)le to give him the chance
of making another. The Southern
communities will have to be accepted
as the pr'oper judges of the success of
the p)olicy of ilomo Rule and North
err. phlilainthrop,ist will have great
trouble in getting the social problems
of the reconstructed States into na
tional politics again. The Ropublican
editor who is maiking haste to pro,.
nounce the course ado'pted by Mr.
Hayes toward South Carolina and
Louisiana a mere experiment, and who
fancies that he can get the country to
restore the order of things by dissem
inating a few wild stories of outrages
commit,ted on the freedmon, is a man,
therefore, to be pitied. The attitude
of the President and of his party in re
gard to the policy of conciliatian
which lhe is trying to earry out, and
which his friends are secretly wishing
to see fail, even though its failure
must be disastrous t.o the best intor,
ests of the country, puts us in mind of
an old story which has been often
told, yet which may be worth repeat
ing. T wo Irish hod carriers made a
wager of a pint of' whiskey, the one
betting that lhe could carry his com
panion up the ladders to the top of a
five story building and the other bet
ting that he could not. Barney seat
ed himself in the hod and waited
calmly wit,h his pipe in his mouth
while Jimmy shouldered him and toil
ed slowly up the dangerous ascent.
With many a painful stu~mble he made
his way uip the ladders, and set his
burden down in triumph on the top
most scaffold. "There," said he, "P've
won." "Yes," answered his comrade
sadly, "but I had great hopes when
you thripped coQmin' up' the last lad
der." Thus the .Republican party
sits anxiously in tihe hod while Hayes
carries it painfully up the ladder of
conciliation which it has proclaimed
unsafe and impracticable. If he suc-,
ceedmi in winning his way to the top
the party will be virtually beaten, and
if he fails the party and the President
will go to destruction together. There
are thousands of politicians who have
"great hopes" to day as they feel him
staggering and breathing heavily un.,
der the load he carries.
LIVERPooL, May 8.-The Post says.
"Her Majesty's war ship Achilles,
lying in the. Mersey, received instruc
tions yesterday to proceed to Ply m
outh on Friday. We are informed
that the governmomiL has already 85,~
000 troops and 11,000 horses ready to
embark at any moment.
FOR TWIN PWKENS SENTINEI '
EDITOR OF TUN3 SENTIN=L:-I'you
apor of the 10th inst. I se under the
ead of "Local Items" a piece assail
ng the Post Master of 1a41ey, for re%
nlsness of duty, and as I believe that
t was prompted by predjudioe, and as
have boon assailed in a publiejournal,
ask, through the medium of the
amo, the privilege of replying. In
he first place, I am accused of being
'not too well versed in the transpiqn
ion of the mail," which fact is ad& it
,ed, as no man is too well versed In
my legitimate business he may follow;
)ut I know my duty in that direction
md try to perform it. It is pasming
itrange that a letter should have been
nissent from this office three times, as
[ am not blind nor a natural born f-1,
or as yet an imbecile. It does not
ook reasonable (at least to me) that
mch a blunder could have occurred.
[t is stated that letters mailed to this
)tfiCe have been sent to other points
xlong the Railroad. It may have oc .
,.Mrred in some instancos. I recollect
f but-ono. By some mishap some
letters, mailed to this place, went up
to Pickone and were immediately rev
turned and nobody hurt. How it hap.
pened I do not know. Does the
writer want the "posish" himself, in ort
der that he might give the "proper
ittention and caro," and thereby rem.
dy "all such?" Or does he merely,
From some other motive, wish the pros.
Dnt incumbent removed? It seems
that my errors, however small, are all
noted. Why I am under such strict
urvoillance, 1 can't conceive. In no%
ticing your last admonition (which
Bounds a good deal like it might have
Dome from the Superintendent) as re
gards the regular and prompt trans,
mission of the mails-anybody with
itiLllect at all knows, or ought to
know, that the mails should be trans%
miitted promptly and with "proper
Dare and attention" %ill be. I hope
that the author of the snap at P. M.
a~t Easley has not been seriously in, -
jured by any remissness of mine; and
if ho will give me his name, his mails
shall receivo special attention; I will
soo that his hatters are transmitted in
haste, right side up with care.
P. M., EASL.EY.
Easley, S. C., May 11, 1877.
FOR TIlE PICKENs SENTINEL.
Pickens Nearly Ahead.
Anderson boasts of having within
her limits aI farmcr citizen, who, year
before last, produced a yield of 35
bushels wheat to the acre. This was
done on a piece of thin ridga land
lying near Sa ndy Springs Campground
under the skillful management of Mr.
Riichard Morris. This large yield
was caused mainly by a free applica
tion of some 60 or 70 bushels cotton
seed to the acr'e, with a sack of phoes
phlato. Pickens can boast of nearly
as great~ a yield of wvheat on about 1i
acro of ground -33 bushels. This was
grown by Mr. W. W. Knight, on a
picce of thin land lying along that
beautiful ridge leading from Pendleton
to Pickensville. And last year, after
the whea,t had been cut, Mr. K. plant,
ed the plat in corn, and gathered
about 40 bushels. This large yield,
like the other, was attained by a liber- -
al use of barn-yard inanuro with skil.
ful preparation. These results show
what may be done, even on thin land,
by libe -al ma nuring. Cultivate loss
land and manure well, should be the
mnosto. We would advise these gen
tlemon to extend their experiments to
tbe cultivation of clover and the
grasses, as upon the succes of experi
ments in this direction depends large,.
ly the future prosperity of our coun
try. More grass and more and better
stock. Mr. Knight is the agent for
the sale of one of the best patented
plowvs we have ever seen, to wit: The
Universal Cycloid. It was patented
by a Mr. Jordan, in Georgia, and, for
our con try, rough and uneven as it is,
we think combines as many advan,.
tages as any other patent. It is simple,
light, of easy draft and readily adjust%
ed to any depth. The subsoil of this
pattern more nearly fills the require
ments of our soil than any other. Ili
resembles very much, in its make, the
perfection of the old coulter plow for
subsoiling. We have serious doubts
whether there ha~ ever been invented
any better plow for subselling than
the old fashioned coulter plow. ~
Mrs. Sallie McCaw, widow of WV. II.
McCaw, and daughter cI the late C. P,
Pelham, has been appointed Poet,
mistress at Greenville, 8. 0..
* e.
The Darlington Southernpr is upon
'tipns nagin.n