The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, July 26, 1877, Image 1
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.