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DEVOTED TO POLITICS, MORALITY, EDUCATION AND rO THE GENERAL INTEREST OF THE COUNTRY. volL. V. PICKENS, S. C., THURSDAY, JULY 26 1877. Wafting and Watching. nADMOAL ATTAOK ON PRESIDENT HAYES WAnmoToY, July 9.-A full re port of the remarkable speech made by Gen. Sherwood, ox Congressman $ from Michigan, at Blissfield, in that Stt, on the 4th of July, has been resolved here. The meeting was understood to be one for Republicans adyt. and it was known that the Pre% SId"t' policy was to be discussed. Gin. Sherwood was not less violent In:his denunciation of the President than was Governor Chamberlain at Woodstock on the same day. He comRared Grant with Hayes in a mbair exceedingly uncomplimen tary to the latter. Grant, he said, wbuld be called to the Presidency in 1880. All of his remarks, but par ticularly the allusions to Grant,.were received with great applause, and it was said by many of the prominent Be "blicans present that Mr. Sher w views were the views of nine tenths of the party in Michigan. These simultaneous attacks on the President in different sections of thc count;y Indicate a concert of action. Now that the war on him has been started among the Radical Republi e4tolIt i believed bere that it will inerease in volume from now until the meeting of Congress. WORKING UP A CAmrAIGN. One of the most active and influ ential of the Pennsylvania Radical Republicans who was in Washing ton yesterday said that things would soon be made very lively for tho President. Ie said that his side in tended to furnish a good deal of fine campaign material to the Democrats in the States where elections are to come ofd this fall. He said that li thographia copies by the ton would be made of the letters written by Gov. Hayee during the last campaign, Including the letters in which ho asked for money to carry on the campaign expenses, and also letters written by him enclosing copies of his photograph to people in different parts of the country. This gentle, man also said that the Radical Re publicans were determined to probe Sthe Lonisiana matter to the bottom, that they intended to secure a cop)y of the agreement made between the Louisiana Conservatives on one Bide and Stanley Matthews and others acting for President Hayes on the other aid fri agreement was and is.'still en be in the posses slon of Major 'Burke, who was here as the accredited agent of the 1N ich.. oils' government. It is different from, and In addition to the memorauda of the conference at Wormley's Ho tot, between Stanley Matthews, Sen-. ator Sherman and other personal friends of Mr. Hayes, and Represen, taivesEllis and Levey, of Louisiana, and others. Major Burke, while he was here and again In New Orleans, was fre quently applied to for a copy of this agreement, but he always p)ositively refused to say anything on the sub jedt. The Pennsylvania Radicals say that they will now make him disclose what he knows through the medi umn of a Congressional committee of Investigation. A resolution, either intrusting this investigation to the committee on privileges and elections or raising a special Committee for that purpose, will be one of the first things offered in the Senate. TUE IMMUNJITY FOR WELLS AND ANDER soN. Itis. tjought by some, that in this agreement, of which Major Burke is 4 the custodian, there is some stipula tion as to Immunity for Wells and . Anderson. The President so late as yege~rdag again expressed his opin,. Ion that the .proceedings against Wells and Anderson were an inde feasible violation of faith. Hie there fore must be of the belief that there was somo formal s'renmon on tL subjeot. "It this should prove to be the fact, which it is most probable is doubtful, no such agreement could be binding, as no one had the power or the right to contract it. It Major Burko, acting for Governor Nicholls, undertook to make such a contract no one in Louisiana knew of it but he and Gov. Nicholls, and neither had any power in the premises. It had been fondly supposed that we had heard the last of the Louisiana business in Congress. We have been congratulating ourselves too soon. It is all to be raked up again from the beginning. The wrongs of Louisiana will again be the fruitful text for the contending parties in Congress to descant upon, and in the discussion over the settlement of the Louisiana question will the opposers and the upholders of the Prewident's policy make their big fight. THE EXTRA EssIOU. Friends of the President now ad mit freely that it was a mistake for him noL to have called the extra ses% sion of Congress last month, and they think that ho realizes this hiueilf, IAd ho called the session for the first week of June Congress would havo como together at a time when the disaffected in the President's own party bad formed no plans, and were, in fact, halting between two opinions, and when most all, if not every one of them, could have been propitia% ted by the wise distribution of exe eutivO favors. In October the case will be vastly different. Abundant opporiunity will have been affoi ded tok the interchange of opinions and formation of plans. The tfices will by that time have been mostly dis posed of, all the disappointed office seekers will be ready to take up the hue and cry of the leaders in the re volt. Fimally, if the fall election3 6hall have resulted disastrously to the Republican party, the blaipe will fall entirely upon the Precident, and this will strongteio very much the Republican opposition to him. Conflict. of Jurisdiction. Judge Schonok, one of tho Stat,e Judges of North Carolina, has recont ly decided that tho act of Congress authorizing the removal of criminal proscoutions of United States onm ploycos. from the State to the Fodo ral Court, ipi unconstitutional. Judge Cooke, of this Circuit takes the same view of this act, and makes a squaro issue, as will be eeon by the following charge to the Grand Jury at the ro cent term of Court for Greenville County: "Thcse officers of the government, believing that when proceeded against for violations of the State laws they can move their cases into the United States Court, and go unwhippcd of justice, have no doubt grown reckless as to how they discharge their duties, as well as emboldened to oppress and outrago tho citizen. If, upon invosti gation, you should find this charge sustained, you will present all persons who may have engaged in oppressing your people, and I undertake to say two very important things will be accomplished. First, this class of United Statos officers will soon loar they cannot longer violate the State law wvith impunity. Secondly, that they will be tried ini the Stato Courts, regardless of the act of Congress, which authoritizes them to transfer their caso to the United States Courts. "In saying this, 1 amu not unmind fa! of my oath of offico, to wit: That I recognizo the supremacy of.the Con, stitution anct laws of the United States over the constitution and laws of any Stato. The practical offect of tho act of Congress referred to is to provent the trial of: these Qfloors, let the grado of their'ot'ime be never so infa mous, and to encourgo the omimis~ sion of crime. In the case of the State vs. Mattison, indicted for the murder of Davis, in the County of Anderson, Judge .Bond held that Mattison was his duty, and that the killing of Davis was a necessity, incident to the dis. charge of his duties, and turned him loose without a trial by jury, in vio lation of paragraph 3, Section 2, Ar ticle 8 of the Constitution of the United States, which reads as fol lows: 'The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impoachment, shall be by fury,' &c. The act of Congress con fers no jurisdiction upon the United States Court to try and determine a prosecution bogun in the State Courts for misdemeanor or crime, by virtue of statute or indictable at common law. "Thejurisdiction of the State Courts in all matterS of crime at common law and statuto law, not in violation of - the Constitution of the United States, has been conceded by the General Government fbr nearly one hundred yens, I may say without question or dbate, and, in fact, from the laying of the foundation stone of the Republic, until evon long after the Republican party gained tho as cendency in the Urion; and I am utterly at a loss to know how, when or wlirc the Stato lost her jurisdic, tion in such cases. I shall, thereforo, disregard the said act of Congress, and direct Mr. Solicitor to proceed with all prosecutions against revenuc officors charged with violating the laws of this State." Acte Passed and Approved at the Spo cial Sea-ion of 1877. An act to utilize the convict labor ol this Stato. Section 1. Be it enacted. by thE Sonate and House of RepresentativeE of the Stato of South Carolina, noM mot and sitting in General Assembly and by the authority of the same That his oxcellency the Governor be and he ir, by and with the advice o the Scnate, authorized to appoin three suitablo citizens of this State who shall constituto a Doard of Di rectors of the State Penitentiary with a term of oflice of two years, o: which board the Governor of th( State shall be ex officio a member The said board shall have the genera supervision of the penitentiary, iti inmates, property, &c., and shall meet at least ome in every month and oftener if necessary, upon th< call of the Governor, and shall re ceive as comipensation $3 per diem, not to exceed the sum of $100 foi each and every year, to be paid by the contractor or contractors. Sec. 2. That in case of the death or resignation of any member of said board, the Governor is authorized tc fill said vacancy during the recess of the General Asembly. Sec. 3. That the said Board of Di. rectors shall, as sooni as practicable after the passage of this act, adver tise for proposals for completing the penitentiary according to plans and specifications to be agreed on and published by the said board, includ iig the labor of such a number ol convicts as may be designated by said Board of Directors, together with the property, fixtures, water privileges and everything apportain ing to the said penitentiary; such con tract or contracts if' entered into by the said board, to be reported for ratification and approval by the Gen. oral Assernbly at the next regular session. Sec. 4. That the said Board of Di rectors aro hereby authorized and omp)owercd to easo) or' biro out upOr such torms and conditions as they mlf.y thiiuk mlost advan~tageoush to thc( State, and that will secure tho bocaltli and couliucoment of tho prisoners, any or all other convicts in the peni' tantiary, excep)t the convicts undoi the sentence of muarder, rape, areori and manslaughter, under the follow ing rules, regulations and restrictions with all others imposed by the sail Board; that the said Board of Direc' tora shall miake an annual report ti the General Atembly, at the regula1 tmain. of all their acts and doings showing the number and names of convicts hired out, to whom hired, for what purpose and as often as any sums of money are received for the labor or hire of said convicts, or any of them, the same shall be paid to the Treas urer of the State, of which a full ac count shall be given ia said annual report. First, all convicts shall be safely kept within the State and hn.. manely treated; the food, clothing, lodging and modes of punishment to be carefully provided for in any and all contracts. Second, convicts shall not be required to labor more than ten hours a day, or on Sundays or holidays: Provided: that convicts shall not be hired out for agricultural purposes: Provided, further, That noth ing herein contained shall be so construed as to affect any contracts heretfore made. Soc. 5. Tuat the contractor or con tractors shall be required to enter into bond in the sum of $50,000 with good and sufficient sureties, to be aps prove by the board for the fai,hful performance of said contract; and any contractor or contractors, who shall be guilty of maltroatment, neglect or cruelty towards said convicts, shall be liable to indictment, and on cons viction, shall b punished by impris onment for a term not more than twelve months nor less than one month, and by fine not more than $1,000, and not less than $50, at the discretion of the court. Sec. 6. That in the interval between the passage of this act and ie approval of any contract which may be made under the provisions ot this act, the Board of directors be, and are hereby, authorized to make f such temporary contracts in refer t once to the said cvnvict labor as may s be deemed proper and expedient, not rejgnant to this act, limited to the 20th day of December next. Sec. 7. That upon the approval and ratification of the General Assembly of any contract or contracts provided for by this act, the contractor or con tractors shall relieve the State from all charges and expenses incident to the maintenanco and management of the penitentiary, except such as may be stip)ulated to be borne by the State under said contract or con tracts. Sec. 8. That all acts or p)arts of acts in conflict with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. A pproved June 8, 1877. Joint R,esolution to raise a commis sion to investigate the indebtedness of the State. In view of the great uncertainty that exists in the minds of the pro,. perty owners and tax paying portion of our people as to the real and de finite amount of the true and valid indebtedness of the State, and the character of the obligations out of which the indebtedness has grown, and of the equally unsatisfactory con dition of the credit of the State as long as any doubt or suspicion at taches to claims held against.her; and in order to give reasonable assurance to the honest creditor, on the one hand, that the State intends to faith fully meet her obligations at as early a date as practicable, and, on the other hand, to satisfy the tax payers that the General Assembly will have proceeded intelligently in whatever steps may be taken to adjust and provide for the oublic debt; there fore, Section 1. Ue it resolved by the Seonate and Hlouse of itepresentatives of the State of South Carolina, now met and sitting in General Assembly and by the authority of the same,' That, in accordance with that portion of his Excellency's message touching this subject, a comnmission, to consist of three members of the Senate and four members of the llouse of Rep% resentatives, shall be elected by each Ihouae r espectivel y. Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of said commission to make a complete-and thorough investigation of the follow.. ing and kindred matters, and to re port the results to the next session of the General Assembly, to wit: First; the entire amount of consoli dated bonds and certificates of stock that have boon issued under the act to reduce the volume of the public debt, and provide for the payment of the same, approved December 22, 1873, so as to show, under proper heads and classifications, the number in the series, the letter, date of issue, date of redemption, denomination, rate of interest, by whom signed and countersigned, and to whom issued. Second, whether there is in the State Treasurer's office on file, as vouchers, cancelled bonds, coupons and certifi cates of stocks of the issue described, issued in accordance with law, and authorized to be consolidated by the act above recited, to the amount re quired by said act. Sec. 3. Should it appear to the commission, in the course of the in vestigation, that any of the said bonds, certificates of stock or coupons have been illegally or otherwise im properly issued, it shall report the same, together with the evidence up.-. on which the illegality or nonconfor mity to law rests. See. 4. The commission is hereby anthorized to require the holders of said bonds, coupons and stocks to produce the same for inspection be fore the commission in Columbia. Such as shall be tound to have been issued according to law, and that they are valid, bonh fide bonds, cou pons and stocks, shall be registered by their number, letter, denomina tion, and such other distinctive titles as may be best suited to the object in view, and hall be certified as cor rect in such form as the commission may deem proper. Sec. 5. The cowinission shall have full power and authority to send for persons and apera, and to adminis ter oaths; and falso swearing by or before said commission shall be in dictable and punishable as perjury. Sec. 6. The Comptroller General and Treasurer are hereby authorized and required to co-,operate with said commnission when cal lcd un0). Sec. '7. The commission shall be authorized to sit during the recess of the General Assembly. Sec. 8. The comp)ensation of the conmmision shall be a per diem of $5 each. Sec. 9. It shall also be the duty of said commission to investigato the amount and character of the floating indebtedness of the State, and to make a report thereon in detail. Sec. 10. That said commission shall ha ve power to repor t any speccial matter. Sec.11t. Tfhat before said commlis sion shall enter upon its duties, each of the commluissioners shall first take and subscribe the following oath), to wit: "I solemnly swear that I amn not now, nor was I at the date of my appointment as commlissioner , direct ly or indirectly interested in any bonds or other evidence of State in.. debted ne to come beforte me as commissioner, nor at I, or will I be come the attorney or logal represeni.. tative of any party intereted in any such bond or evidence of indubted-, ness; and, further that I will honestly, fairly and to the best of my ability per-for-m the duties of commiissioner as required by the joint resolution, under which I was appointed: So help me God." S&eu. 12. That said commission shall make a report to the General Assembly at the next regular session, during the first week of said session. An Act to provide for the filling of vatcancies in county officers, and t< regulate the holding of electioni therefor. Section 1. Be it enacted by tba - Senate and House.of Aepresentatives of the State of Soutb Carolina, now met and sitting in General Assembly and by the authority of the same, That all vaeancies, whether fronl death, resignation, disqualifloation, or any other cause, which now eist or shall hereafter occur ii any of the ei. ectivo offices in any county in the State, shall be filled in the manner prescribed in this act. Sec. 2. If the unexpired term of the last incumbent of the office for which the vacancy exists does nof exceed one year, the Governor shall appoint sone suitable'person to the oflice, who, upon duly qualifying ac cording to law, shall be entitled to enter upon and bold the office to' which he has been appointed for such unexpired term, and sball be subject to the duties and liabilities incident to the said office during his term of. service therein. Sec. 3. It the unexpired term of the last ienmbent of the office for which the vacancy exists exceeds one year, the Governor shall by procla mation order an election in- the coin ty to fill the vacancy; such election tr be conducted in the same manner a& general elections in this State aRe now conducted, except as hereinafter provided. Sec. 4. The commissioners of ele&a tions appointed for the purposes of the previous general election, shall act at the electionb, provided for in this act, unless previously removed by the Governor, and in case of the removal of any such commissionere the Governor shall appoint a com missioner to act in his place. Sec. 5. When, upon an election held under the provisions of this act, the Board of County Canvassers shall have made a statement of the result of the election, in manner as provid% od in the case of general eluotions, the said board shall, within three days thereafter publish the result of said election, and shall, within the sama time, file in the office of the Clerk of' the Court of Common Pleas of the County where the elelection is held th>.ir said statement of the result of the election, and deposit with thQ said clerk the bi41l0t box 9S SoDatilD ing the ballots, the returns, poll lists and all papers pertaining to the elsr ection. Sec. 6. The said Board of County Canvassers shall also, within the time proscribed in the preceding section, for ward a duplicate statement of the results of said election, by messenger, to the Secretary of State, whose duty it shall be, upon the receipt of said statement, to record the same in his office, and to issue to the peOn ~ who, according to said statement, shall have received the highest number of votes, a certificate declaring him to have been elected to the office for' which the election was held: Pro. vided, That if with in seven days after the time fixed by law for the trans mission of said statement to the Seo retary of State, the uame shall noS have been received, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to ob"b' tain forthwith from the Clerk of the Uourt in the county where the elec Lion was held a certified copy of the statement in his office, and upon the receipt of su1ch) copy, to proceed int like mainner as if the original states~ ment had been received by him. Sec. 7. That all acts and parts of acts incousistent with this act be, and the same are hereby, repealed. Approved May 81, 1877. Torpedo balloons are proposed 1y a correspondent of the Scientific A merican. The Idea is to float -the balloons over the enemy, aaddro the torpedo by means of electricity sent over aj,wire. It is calculateud tbat a city could be totally destroyed in this way by dropping a sufficient .qnuantit y of nitro..glycearino.