University of South Carolina Libraries
' 111 ggg?^^^j^^ /^^^ '''' ; ^^^^^^^ y^y^^ HOW & 00. Proprietors. ANDERSON 0. H., S. 0., THURSDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 12, 1874. VOLUME IX.?NO. 31. *' ? .?-?-1-j-llj- Li I i ? i J 'ii <'??'?? > ! > \ .ljjjj-,??-???i i ' 'i , , I jjegegBBBBBBSl^^^^^^^^^^^^^B From the Sotiihern Cultivator for February.. \ Thoughts for the Month. pitching chops. The tune has arjiyed.wnen the year's crops should be definitely "pitched"?as beddicg-and manuring the land for these must-be soon start-. I ed, to prevent getting behind-hand. It is hard-, ;.y necessary to call.attention to the uncertain character, .of the ; weather, in February and March, and how large a part of the time the . laud may. be unfit for the plough. To insure being ready at planting time, therefore, it is .best to begin bedding and manuring early pressing these forward whenever the weather permits and the ground is dry enough. When ever in doubt on this latter point, the ploughs should invariably stop. The pitching of a crop is always an impor? tant matter; at the present time it is doubly so. .Itis very difficult under.^rweni drcumstances to . decide what is best to be done. All are .agreed, we believe, that less cotton must be planted. The.Georgia Grangerspropose: one third of the crop in cotton, one-third in corn, and one-third in small , grain. As a-general proposition their Suggestion is a good one. But all general propositions are difficult of 'applica? tion in particular cases. Old, poor upland in corn will not pay for its .cultivation, and bot? tom lands or uplands susceptible of irrigation, may not be present on every farm; in such cases other crops must be substituted in place of corn. In another case, the amount of labor available may be too, small to warrant planting 1 two-thirds of the good land on the farm in crops which will require hoeing and ploughing. Or the quantity of manure within reach may be insufficient for two-thirds of the cultivable land, and no prudent man is willing to expend the large amount of costly labor which hoed crops require, upon poor unmanured land.? Many have been running a large part of their farms in cotton for years, and their lands now require rest or seeding down in small grain. Each farmer has, therefore, co "pitch" his crop with reference to the peculiarities of his own particular case. . We have always urged the cultivation on a large scale of crops which require little labor. Among these are small grain, peas, clover and grass, and. under existing circumstances we would press them upon the attention of our readers with increased intensity. In connection with such, a course, let each one put corn on land that will not suffer from drought, and make up for the small number of acres of such land he may have, by manuring them like a garden. And, finally, for cotton, select a few acres of land in good heart, and treat them as Mr. Warthen did his prize acre, and make as many bales, as you have been in the habit of making from six to ten times the same number of acres. We are fully persuaded that under such.a plan, the. same amounts of farm sup? plies and market produce could be raised with one-third, or even less, of the labor which has been usually employed. putting rlN manure. If one can spare the time, the best plan is to lay off rows, bed up, open the water furrow deep and wide, distribute the manure in it, and then reverse the beds, either in whole er in part. Throwing a list of one furrow - on each side of manure, and leaving the bed to be com? pleted just before planting time, is an excellent plan with all but sandy lands. On the latter it is desirable that the beds be completed in advance of planting, that they may have time W'setthr'down and become compact.' Stable manure, composts,, and; the .cotton and phos? phate compost, ought to be put in during this month.. Soluble and more quickly acting fer? tilizers, as- guano and the chemicals, may be put in later. Searing in mind the connection between the depth at which fertilizers should be placed and the depth to which the land has been broken, avoid putting fertilizers (especially the active ones) near the surface. Located there, they may in time of drought cease to benefit the plant; even become injurious to it; for where plants,find most food, they develop most roots, and if the larger part, of these are near the surface, the plant "suffers hadly in dry weather. But in addition to this, when near the surfaee, fertilisers stimulate to a'terrible degree the grotctk of grass, and if there was no other consideration, this fact alone should decide in favor of placing fertilizers pretty deep in the soil. , . . cotton seed and superphosphate. ' During this month the above substances may be put in the ground without previous compost? ing, When thus applied the two are not likely to be as thoroughly mixed as they .would he in &? properly prepared compost, and the vitality of* the cotton seed not so certainly, destroyed by the superphosphate and'the heating of the com? post heap. If put in the ground late in the season, the cotton-seed might sprout and come up, or at least undermine the young cottcn.? We should therefore always compost the two, if to. be put in the drill, later than' the first of March. If applied without composting, the seed should-be-spread in the drill first, and the superphosphate sprinkled on them?a more perfect contact between the two is thus brought about, as the powdery superphosphate can sink down betweCd the seeds*.' If the' cotton seed axe distributed in the drill by a machine, the seed and phosphate may be mixed before heing gut in the machine, and this would be a still etter arrangement. Cotton;'seed and super? phosphate may be regarded' as equivalent to -ammoniated dissolved bones," and: any addi? tions, as salt, plaster, &c, which one deems de? sirable for tho latter, may-with equal propriety be added to the former, say 50 lbs. each of plaster and salt to every 100 lbs. of superphos? phate in the mixture. 1 sowing oats. We hear of an'unusual breadth of land hav? ing been seeded down to wheat. l?et the good work be continued by large sowings of oats this mouth. The rusUproof may be sown up to the first'of March, otlate^fft?lr-if^pufc o*v bottom lands. These lands are. often .ran for a long time in corn, and an occasional seeding down to oats: would help tnem greatly. How much better it would be; the first of June next, for1 farmers'to' feed their mules from their own oat fields, than with Western corn, at one to one and a half dollars a bushel. ? : ' grabs' and clover. Sowings of these may be made after the mid? dle of thi*- month, and to the middle of next. Their seeisinay be scattered tipon the! growing wheat or oats?or a light harrow, with teeth sloping a little backward, may be run over the wheat, (without any injury to it) so as to loosen the surface/ and the grass and clover seed then BOWffupc-u it. In-either case, the rains will cover the sced'sufficieiltly. It is useless to sow clover on poor land, unless Borne assistance is given it at the start! One or two hundred pounds of superphosphate per acre, or a dress? ing of cotton seed meal or of stable'manure, will enable it to establish itself and send its roots into the sub-soil, whence it derives most. of its substance, so far as the land is concerned. We plead earnestly for this crop?another year's experience and observation having strength? ened still more our conviction, that it can be both successfully and most profitably raised on all the-stiff''lands at the South. Be sure to seed heavily. -TOP-DKESSING FAliL-80WK GRAIN. A moderate application of some soluble and quick-acting manure, just as rapid growth in the spring begins, will largely increase the yield; Peruvian guano (100 lbs. per acre) is most excellent for this purpose, if its applica-, tion can be made on a moist, calm day^ prece-. ding a moderate rain, to wash it down.into the soil. Nitrate Soda and Sulphatei Ammonia (two of the chemicals now extensively Used in J making fertilizers, by being mixed with stable I manure, &c.,) make excellent top-dressings; and-not being volatile, incur no loss from being on the surface exposed to the air for any length j ?f time. In this re?pect they have decided advantage over Peruvian guano. For ciover, j the best top-dressing is plaster?80 to 100 lbs. | iper acre?applied wheu young clover has three J to five leaves, or! oki is putting up its spring! growth. Scatter on a misty day, or whilst the leaves are wet with dev,\ Machines can n w be had which scatter piaster with great evenness and rapidity. Obs?rvations in the South. . In a late article We treated of the condition and prospects of the [colored people of the South,.giving with some emphasis facts in their favor, but reminding the reader that these facts needed qualification, and that we should speak with equal frankness of the counter-facts. . One of these is their indisposition to work with anything like Northern diligence and per ? sistehce. This is i an undeniable evil among the freedmen. If it Is not universal, yet it is general; of course you will find examples of thorough industry arid frugality, especially where prudent and liberal employers direct their work, but such cases are not the rule, they are the exceptions, and so exceptional as really to be anomalous. The further you go* South? ward the more does this sans souei way of life prevail. The contingencies of sickness or old age are piously left to the care of Providence; to 'live from hand to mouth" is the general economical philosophy of the freedman, and this is unfortunately too practicable a philoso? phy in the more Southern latitudes. An occa? sional "job" of work will yield him enough to live, with , his simple wants, through days of idleness. Nothing demands more urgently the attention of the friends of the freedmen than this prevalent and .growing evil. . There can be no real advancement of the colored race with? out ita correction. Work, regular and thor? ough, like that of Northern artizans and far? mers, is indispensable, not only for the recov? ery of the South, but especially for the future security of the whole black population. Al? ready plans are discussed, in many Southern States, for the importation of foreign white laborers. If the colored laborers should finally be thus superseded, it will be chiefly their own fault. They, will then sink into a pariah class, or be self-compelled to retreat, gradually, far? ther Southward and Westward, till they are cast among the New Mexicans, Mexicans and Central Americans. Some of their best friends begin to fear such a fate for them. Some think they see already an unconscious tendency to such a migration. . Auother great evil, growing, perhaps, out of the. above fact, is the disposition of the freed? men to desert their old country homes for the great cities. This is obvious in all the cities of the South, especially those of the seaboard. They are becoming crowdedwith suburban and poverty-stricken blacks, far beyond their de? mands for labor. The adjacent country thus suffers by desertion, while the cities suffer by pauperism, and all the attendant evils of a su? perfluous, unemployed, or but partially em? ployed, population. The white friends of the freedmen everywhere earnestly but in? effectually remonstrate against the impolitic course. A lamentable evil among the colored people is the facility with which they allow themselves to be led by political demagogues, especially by the so-called "carpet-baggers." The. fact that these men represent, in a certain way, North- j ern political sentiment, should not blind us tc the egregious vices'of their character and poli? cy. The fact that th"ey stand out, among* the colored masses, in: contrast with the old "mas? ters," whose excessive "conservatism" might endanger the rights and improvement of the freedmen, should not disguise to us the appall? ing corruptions and financial ruin with which they are; devastating whole States, and thereby forestalling, annihilating, the best prospects of their colored population. South Carolina is absolutely ruined ? no statesman on earth, no angel in heaven,- dan suggest a solution of her financial1 problem; none seems possible but the great'cririie of "repudiation." And this meaus simply moral ruin added to financial ruin. It is paltry, logic to say that South Carolina, as the old leader of disloyalty, deserves this ruin. What of the hosts of her black population in that case? She is, substantially, a Cotomon-' wealth of freedmen; they are her dominant majority. Her ruin is their ruin. By their heedless concession to the "carpet-baggers" they and their children, for indefinite timfe, are submerged; with their far less numerous white neighbors- inka public wreck which is hardly paralleled in the history'of civilized govern? ments. We would'riot here touch upon politi? cal ground fbreign to our sphere; our readers kndw weH that out political sympathies are on the side of the colored race and all'men who legitimately labor for their welfare in the South. But we know what wb affirm when we say that the "carpet-bag" politicians are unscrupulously; ruining the cause which they pretend to up? hold: Not a few of them are men who were furious secessionists-till their cunning detected the criming fate of the Confederacy, when they changed their politics in time to secure the patronage of the Government and the favor of the freedmen. The latter now have the con? trol of several States at the ballot-box, and in every one of such States their leaders have been driving them to destruction. Official and political corruption are rampant. The freed? men are cajoled; the leaders are enriched; and the States wrecked. Northern politicians should, understand these facts; the Government at Washington should ponder them gravely. The dominant party of the North can never wield a permanent influence in the South till it gets ria of: the shameful prestige of the men who have for some years pretended to represent it among the freedmen, while ruining whole States and enriching themselves by the spoils. Meanwhile, there are scattered over these abused States true and incorruptible men men who went thither with our armies, or soon after, led by Christian or philanthropic mo? tives, to labor for the freedmen ; but they are helnless against the political leaders and their cliques. Their moral integrity is their proscrip? tion. But let us hope that their day may yet come. It seems to be coming in Florida, at least. Could the corrupt cliques be extermina? ted, root and branch, the freedmeq would have a new emancipation, only second in importance to the first.?N. Y. Methodist. ? A good-natured spinster used to boast that she always had two good btaux. They were elbows. Co-Operation may become Monopoly. The principle of co-operation is, to a certain extent, a sound one, ana as old as the creation. It has founded empires, established govern? ments, advanced civilization, elevated the masses, and christianized the world. It has populated, the wilderness, built, cities, con? structed.railroads, and erected telegraphs. In its proper sense, it is the grand lever with which all the magnificent enterprises of mod? ern times have been set in motion, by which this century is marked above all that have preceeded it; and it is to be the moat potent of all the invisible moral forces for the regenera? tion of the world. But like the imponderable physical agencies around us, which, while to a certain extent the most useful and obedient of our servants, do sometimes become our very: masters in their mighty omnipotence, so, this same subtle principle of co-operation is capable of the most fatal perversion, and from the gen? tle handmaiden of science and art and com? merce may become the mad monster of mo? nopoly and the red devil of communism. Already we see the beginning of the end of this sad misapplication of. a true principle amongst us. On one hand, the giant of capi? talized corporations, whose bloated body stands with uplifted club at the very door of the halls of our national legislature to strike down any opposing victim; on the other, the red flag of republicanism flaunted in our very faces with the hoarse cry of ''bread or blood." This is co-operation run mad, the burning sun full glare upon the uplifted eye, thejurid lightning rifting the proud monarch of the forest, the treacherous nitro-glycerine rending the moun? tain side. So powerful for evil may become the most useful of principles. Society is constructed and maintained upon this same principle of co-operation. Rightly constructed, it means that harmonious diversity of interests which permits the growth and culture of the people in all that is good and beautiful and true. It recognizes the plain fact that nature everywhere teaches of the in? numerable multiplicity of different processes, all orderly working together for the accom? plishment of the same graud end. And so long as this fact is put into practical operation in the conduct of all our temporal affairs, so long is society harmoniously and properly co-opera- j ting to its own upbuilding and advancement, j These views we believe to be incontrovertible, and may be taken as a proper basis upon which to settle all the difficulties which, from time to time, have arisen in the different classes of so? ciety. We wish to apply them to a practical question which has come before us for consider? ation. The experience of centuries has taught us that no civilized man, or set of men, can undertake successfully to monopolize the cul? tivation of the soil, the movement of its pro? ducts, the manufacture of raw materials, or the trade and traffic of the country. The most noted attempts at such monopolies the world has ever seen, those of the British and Dutch Governments in the East Indies, sustained by the power and prestige of their respective nationalities, are fast failing before the accu? mulating enlightenment and knowledge of the age, and never could have had any success except amongst civilized communities. But this is exactly,, on a small scale, what is being attempted in this country, with greater or less success. Railroads have combined to main? tain high freight rates, and with the power of vested rights and unlimited monetary resources, are making a desperate effort to sustain their monopoly. It must Ultimately fail, because it is not in harmony with the greatest good, and the railroads be again brought down to their legitimate and proper position in the grand scheme of the world's progress, Farmers, feeling the effects of inharmonious action of the railroads, and perhaps of other disjointed machinery,'organize to bring back a healthy and normal condition of things, and in doing that, they will be successful, and we wish them God speed. They shall have our earnest co? operation. But when they go beyond this, and attempt to do towards another class of men that of which they complain against the rail? roads they too become a monopoly, and we condemn them as earnestly and frankly as we do the railroads. The grangers have made a mistake in .this matter. They forget that a true co-epcration is that which recognizes the proper 'jorrelatiou'of the four great fundament? al classes that compose the whole body of pro? ducers, namely, the agricultural, manufacturing, mining and commercial, and that whatever effort they make beyond the preservation of this proper relationship itself becomes oppres? sion. When, therefore, they leave their own chosen sphere and organize forces to monopo? lize the proper functions of either of the other classes they become monopolists themselves to all intents and purposes: Whenever they encourage the formation of a ring or syndicate of merchants hi Chicago or elsewhere to supply the grangers with goods ?f all kinds, they place themselves in direct opposition to the best interests of the commercial community at large, and it will most certainly react to their own injury. To bring the matter more directly to an example, whenever a community organ? izes itself into a corporation for the establish? ment of one single mammoth joint stock con? cern, call it a Civil Service store, as in London, or a so-called Co-operative store, as in Kent, Ohio, it as much as says, we intend to monopo? lize the entire business of this town and to drive every other business house out of it. It is utterly wrong in principle and must ulti? mately fail in practice. The inevitable result of such a policy is to destroy all proper har? monious co-operation and to establish the most odious monopoly, for, like most such joint stock concerns founded upon a socialistic idea of a common pecuniary advantage, a few lead? ing spirits reap all the cash and leave to their miserable dupes a lot of worthless stock certifi? cates ; thev take the wheat and leave the straw and stubble to their unwitting victims. Such has been the result of effort after effort of this kind in England and in this country, and will continue to be as long as poor human.nature is as it is. "We are all poor critters at best." And after, all, the advantages thought to be gained by such enterprises are more imaginary than real, and are more than counterbalanced by the evil produced:' That healthy competi? tion which is the very antidote to monopoly, that local pride and love of town which is the strongest incentive to growth and improve? ment, are all crushed out by the terrible car of this terrible Juggernaut. The retail merchants of the country at large are contributing as much, if not more, to the building up of towns and cities, the establish? ment of schools and churches, the improve? ment of transportation facilities, the creation of social advantages, and the general progress of society, as any other class in the community, and should be everywhere patronized and sus? tained. That they charge exorbitant profits and grow enormously rich is too palpable an absurdity to need contradiction. That they j have, to their own honor but great pecuniary j disadvantage be it said, extended such credits and afforded Buch facilities as have enabled thousands of men to become farmers and mechanics and to grow rich and prosperous on such credits, is a truth the whole country knows. And that these same men, after having fattened off the favors thus shown them, should now turn around, and like the ungrateful snake that was warmed to life, strike a death blow at their benefactor's bosom, is a height of ingrati? tude unworthy of a Christian community. We speak warmly, because we feel it. If farmers or citizens anywhere think that the retail mer? chants are charging them too much for their goods, let us ask them if they pay cash or buy on a credit. Do they expect a retail merchant to sell them a pound of sugar on six months' time for the same price they would buy ten barrels for cash? And yet that is all this nonesense about the high prices of retailers amounts to. If farmers willgo to their own local merchants and say?"Here, we have five thousand dollars cash with which to buy this bill of goods?give us an estimate," we veuture to say that they can get as close a one as they themselves could obtain in any of the leading markets, with expenses and charges of trans? portation and handling added. If the grangers pay cash at home for their supplies, as they will have to do in the larger markets, they will find they can get them cheap enough. The trouble is in the credit system which they have forced upon the country merchants and which fact they now wish to repudiate. We know thousands of men all over this country that never could have lived through from one year to another, had it not been for the merchants that sustained them. And now that they have a little cash to spend, to turn their backs upon these very men is an unworthy thing for them to do. We will help all classes to help each other, but we shall most certainly maintain the rights of our own friends against all others. ?American Grocer. The Mechanical Arts. In all ages of the world, the people excelling in the mechanical arts have been accounted the most civilized, refined and prosperous. There can be no better guage of a nation's civilization, than that indexed upon the scale of its mechanical progress and proficiency. If its inventive brain is active; if its cunning hand . is busy; if its work shops are ringing with the cheery sound of labor; if its factories are filled with the whirl of tireless machinery; if the echo of its hills are alive to the sound of the steam whistle and the thunder of the rat? tling train ; if the waters of its rivers, lakes and seas are upheaved and set to dancing by the ponderous wheels of the steamer; if its I Ealaces lift their proud heads to the smiling eavens; if its gardens and its lawus laugh under the guardian care of ingenious hands, and its mountain streams run busy with their native vigor, chained and utilized by the intel? ligence of man?that nation may be called prosperous, may be called great and grand. England has been tauntingly called a nation of work-shops and shop-keepers, and no better key could be given to the secret of England's greatness than this. Her power lies in the subtle brain of her artizans. It is her mills, her founderies, work-shops, that have built her prosperity, filling her land with intelligence and refinement, covering the ocean with her ships. AH the monuments of her pristine glory and grandeur, stand visible remembran? cers of the artist hands of her mechanics. St. Paul, the proud boast of the grandest city on the globe, pays its bumble tribute to the genius of Sir Chrsstopher Wren ; all its feudal halls, its towering palaces, its abbeys and its castles proclaim the handiwork of its artizans. So, too, with the nations of the past; all that is left of their material existence, the only evidence of their being, are the works of their mechanics. The mighty kings of Thebes are ; gon? their bones are crumbled, and are dry as I summer's dust, and their glory is forgotten, but ! the prond work of their people yet stands, and the genius of their artizans is enshrined in the temple of Luxor. All that wo know of their civilization is found in what remains of their handicraft. The excavations of Pompeii tell of the luxury and the refinement of that proud city. The evidences of mechanical skill, and presence of artistic ingenuity, tell us at once that the civilization of its people was perfect of its age. All that we know, except from tradition, and even that is handed down to us through the instrumentality of mechanical art, of ancient Greece and Borne, is what can be seen in the works of their artists, sculptors, and mechanics, and the evidences of their past glory is seen in the skill of their arti? zans. We of to-day will, in after centuries, be judged by the same standard. Then why should not the mechanic be held in a high es? timation by society ? If he is honest, "intelli? gent and worthy, why should the young lady so daintily draw her skirts closely around her as she passed him, as if there was contamina? tion in his touch ? Why should the thousands of young men who are begging for situations as clerks and under-strappers in stores, be ashamed to pull off their seedy coats, and go work as mechanics ? It is because of a false prider?a mistaken delicacy. These, with a degree of responsibility at? tached to mechanics themselves; many of them do not appreciate the honest worth of their own .calling. They do not strive to culti? vate their self-respect, to educate themselves in the social and intellectual amenities of life. They do not strive for eminence and distinction in their departments; are not choice enough in their own associations; read too little, and, alas, shall we say it, drink too much. If they would reform and improve them? selves in these particulars, we are constrained to think that society would meet them on the half-way ground, and they would stand, as they deserve, honored among the conservators of all prosperity. .... What is the Matter Now??The New York Tribune, of Saturday, says : "There were laid before us, yesterday, certain startling doc? uments, gravely affecting high officials. The publication of tnem seems to us a clear duty; but we are unwilling to permit our columns to be used in promulgating papers that must bring such discredit upon the American name while there is the remotest possibility of our being able to establish their lack of authentici? ty. We have, therefore, set on foot a thorough investigation that will soon determine the mat? ter, while, meantime, and for this sole reason, we reserve the documents themselves, and all expression of opinion concerning the conduct of the officials involved." A Washington telegram, of Sunday, to the Baltimore Sun, says: "The greatest anxiety and interest is felt in all circles here over the disclosures threatened by a leading New York paper, said to implicate high ofhrials. It is asserted that the matter alluded to is in con? nection with the Government uibsidies to the Pacific Mail Steamship Line, and that one of the officials alluded to is a member of the Cab inet, and another a still higher personage, j The testimony taken in the Congressional in- | vestigation into this subject at the last session has never been disclosed, and is now in the Sossession of the Committee of Ways and i leans." ? A cynical lady rather inclined to flirt, says most men are. like a cold?very easily caught, but hard to get rid of. Tiie Proscriptive and the Confederate Ele? ments in the Composition of Congress. We make the following extract from the Washington correspondence of the New York Herald: Your correspondent's attention was invited during a late conversation with a prominent man in public life, and as a marked feature of Mr. bushing's unsuccessful race for the Chief Justiceship, to the manifest revival of a pre? scriptive spirit in Congress toward those who took the wrong side in the late war, as well as those who were tardy in cuttiug loose from the leaders of secession before the outbreak of hostilities. This gentleman takes the ground that, though the opposition to Mr. Cushing's nomination began and was protracted in base? ness and treachery, it was the letter to Jefferson Davis that secured his actual overthrow, by calling up a bitter feeling of partisanship, or affording a pretext for it, on the part of Sena? tors who otherwise would have voluntarily, or in fear of Presidential displeasure, voted for confirmation, and so have made Mr. Cushing the Chief Justice. In the course of the same interview reference was made to the ill-con? cealed disfavor with which the Confederate delegation in Congress are looked upon by their fellow-members of the more radical typo, and to the stage whisperings in Congressional cir? cles of calamity to the nation, the party, and the freedmen, if the rebel army element in Congress is to go on increasing in the way it threatens to do. Two remarks of Senator Cordon in his late speech on reduction of salaries were mention? ed as having been the theme of much private comment abont the Capitol: the first, his com? plaint that a late adherent of the Confederacy in Congress was in danger of having his re? bellion record thrown into his face as often as he took issue in matters of pubjic policy with any whose loyalty was of the iron-clad sort; and the other, that if the settlement of the war had been left to the men who confronted each other on the battle field for the four years of its continuance, the country would have been spared the misfortunes that have since overtaken the South. These two chance re? marks have been applied to the composition of the present Congress, wherein are thirty mem? bers, in both houses, with a rebellion record available for use against their present fealty whenever it shall so please the iron-clad mem? bers to stop their mouths or break the force of! their arguments against pending legislation, j while the thirty are confronted by sixty-nine I of the men whom Senator Gordon believes could have made an honorable and prosperous restoration of the Union at Appomattox Court House. It is to be noticed, however, that while the Confederate army element has grown stronger, the Union army element has been largely re? placed by men who took no direct part in the war, and this very fact is suggested as a partial explanation of the reappearance of the. old spirit of proscription that immediately follow? ed the war, and was first renewed when An? drew Johnson's rupture with his party set the 1 North and South at variance again. It is manifest, however, that the President has no share in the smouldering hostility in Congress to the present results of reconstruction, and is,! from all appearances, better pleased with the advent of real representatives of the Southern j people, whatever their politics, than grieved at the thinning out of the carpet-baggers, for whom this present administration has no fur? ther use nor affection. The conservative ten? dencies lately attributed to the President are not regarded by the better informed class of politicians, who discern clearer evidences of a tendency among the radicals to get up another rallying cry o* danger to the constitutional amendments and the results of the war for ser? vice in the nfxt Presidential campaign. It is an opinion very freely expressed here, in quar? ters entitled to attentive hearing, that the re? publican party, as now constituted, will have nothing on which to go before the country in 1876, except a third term for Grant or a fresh crnsade against the "lost cause." The third term has an unlikely look since the events of the present session, and as the alternative sug? gested may be the only one two years hence, and has been lately strengthened by indiscreet utterances in some parts of the South, it looks as if it were to be kept before the country against the day of need. The Time Extended.?-The Senate bill pro? viding for the extension of the time for the payment and collection of taxes for the present fiscal year came up, yesterday, in the House of Representatives, and was agreed to by a strong vote. The extension was made imperative on the Comptroller-General, instead of being per? missive, as in the original bill. There is no doubt that, as thus amended, it will be concur? red in by the Senate at orlce. Should it by any accident be delayed beyond to-day, we under? stand that the Comptroller will not enforce the. penalty, conceiving himself to be instructed by the manifest purpose of the General Assembly. As it is a matter of absorbing interest to the people, we give the substance of the bill as it passed the House, yesterday. The ground of its action is stated to be the delay which has continued in the. levy of taxes beyond the time prescribed by law for the commencement of their collection, and the further fact that the time for the payment of the taxes, before pen? alties must attach, has already passed. The Comptroller-General, with the approva of the Governor, is required to extend the time to persons charged with the peformance of du? ties connected with the assessment and levy of the taxes, as long as may be necessary, if they cannot be performed in the time previously fixed upon. It is made lawful for him likewise to extend the time wherein the penalty or penal? ties shall attach to tax-payers, and also the time when the advertisement and sales of de? linquent lauds may be made, so as that it may. as near as may be, conform to the period fixed by law. This period is sixty days after the books have been opened for the collection of taxes. The limit will vary, therefore, accor? ding to the time when this was done in the sev? eral Counties. In Richland, the collection commenced on the 8th of January, and the people will have grace, accordingly, until the 8th of March. In some Counties, it will be snorter, in others longer, than this. We con? gratulate the people upon this extension. It is a small favor, but one very much needed. And we are. pleased to say, that the General Assembly has in this, at least, done well?- j Phoenix, 5th inst. ? A bill is beforo the California Legislature ! laying a tariff on special legislation. For in stance; if John Smith wants his name changed to Fits James Augustus Trevillian, he must pay i a certain sum to the State. The bill charges for an act incorporating, extending or renewing the charter of a bank with a capital not exceed? ing $400,000, four hundred dollars?and so oh by a regular scale up to $2,000,000, for which two thousand dollars are to be demanded. The j price of acts incorporating iron, coal, manufac? turing, warehousing or oil companies, or con? ferring rights and privileges on existing corpo? rations, is fixed at two hundred dollars. Renewal of thefiQnarrel between Henry S. Foote and Jefferson Davis. The political fend, which had its origin twen g-five years ago between Jefferson Davis and enry & Foote, both then of Mississippi, and warm political opponents, and which lived through successive party campaigns in the State and in the country, did not abate one jot, except for a brief and delusive truce, when Mr. Davis became President of the Confederate States, and Mr. Foote a member of the Con? federate House of Representatives, and sur? vived the wreck and ruin of the war and its defeats. It seems to-day to have increased in intensity and bitterness in spite of their gray heads and growing, wisdom and the thousands of examples of party and personal reconcilia? tion that have occurred while they perpetuated their quarrel. Recent publications of Mr. Foote in Washington papers affecting Mr. Davis have added fresh material to their mutu? al wrath, and now it is reported that a duel is actually being arranged by which to end the feud forever. The following letters form the present climax of the trouble, the first appear? ing in the Washington Capitol, and being a private letter written last fall: letter FROM mr. davis. Memphis, Tenn., November 25,1873. Mr.-, Dear Sir: Yours of the 20th inst has been this day received. I have not seen any of the articles which you inform me H. S. Foote had written in abuse of me, nor have I had any desire to read whatever he might write. In the year 18311 published him as conttilu tionally a liar, and his subsequent career only served to confirm me in that judgment. Since that date, therefore, I have taken no heed of the utterances of said Foote. His flattery, when he was seeking political preferment in the Confederacy, and his abuse when, faithless to his trust as a representative in the Congress of the Confederate States, he was preparing for his subsequent desertion to their enemy, were alike disregarded by me. You are at liberty to use this as you think proper. I remain, respectfully and truly yours, Jefferson Davis. belligerent card from mr. foote. The following card is published in the Wash? ington Chronicle by Mr. Foote: As a portion of the community may possibly expect from me some notice of the insulting and grossly aspersive letter over the signature of Jefferson Davis, which yesterday morning made its appearance in the columns of the Capitol, though the glaring mendacity of all the allegations of fact contained therein might well justify me in treating the letter itself and its infamous author with cool and passionless contempt, yet, for certain reasons, not difficult, I imagiue, to be divined, I have thought proper to take a somewhat different course. I shall not now go into a detail of past oc? currences with a view of my own vindication. It is not possible for the ruined and disgraced champion of disunion to say aught of me, or of my public career, which could in the least degree disturb my equanimity. He has cher? ished an undying hatred for me ever since his owu presumptuous arrogance, on a very noted occasion, compelled me to slap his jaws in this city in the winter of 1847-48. The hostility thus engendered was afterward much hiahtened by my defeat of his treasonable aspirations to the office of Governor of Mississippi as a seces? sion candidate in 1851. My constant and un? yielding opposition to him and his nefarious schemes in Richmond during the war of the reheilion for three years was not at all calcula? ted to assuage his enmity. My free, but un? answered, and I venture to say unanswerable, expositions last summer of his indecent and seditious attempts to keep alive in the bosoms of his countrymen feelings of irritation and alienation which ought never to have been brought into existence, have doubtless much inflamed the malignity which was slumbering in thfe&ecesses of a heart capable of all mis? chief, . I-rejoice to know that the blighting curse^pf Mr. Davis' commendation it never can now 6e my ill fortune to incur. But I bid this mighty^ man of Gath, who writes so blustroiisly for publications in the newspapers, that I do not live in absolute concealment; my where? abouts may be easily found by him or his idolizing confederates. He knows, as thou? sands of others know, that for full twenty years I have stood ready to accord to him such satis? faction as he might deem necessary to his deep? ly-wounded honor; and that, whatever general views I may entertain touching the propriety of settling such issues as have arisen between him and myself in the mode referred to, yet that, from special deference to him, I shall be altogether induced to make hi an excep? tional case. The habitual calumniator of hon? est and patriotic men has no right to skulk behind the hypocritical pretences of extreme piety. H. S. Foote. Death of Gen. J. W. Miller.?Seldom has our community ever received a greater shock that when the sad news was received of General J. W. Miller being found dead, last Monday morning, at his residence, nine miles from Spartanbuig. The circumstances of his death, as related to us, were most mysterious and painful. He retired at an early hour the night before, and was found dead the next morning, lying out in his horse lot, near his corn crib, with his feet extended over a log, on which, it is supposed, he was sitting at the time the deed was committed. His head was ter? ribly torn to pieces by a large ball entering the upper lip just below the nose, and pass? ing through the upper part of the head. Be? tween his feet lay a pistol, with the barrel emp? ty, and an exploded cap on the tube. It is thought by some that he might have gone out to his crib, on hearing some one trying to break into it, and been killed by the rogue at close quarters, while others think the circumstances leads to the conclusion that he must have taken his own life. An inquest was held over his body, but we have not heard what verdict has been given. We can scarcely believe it possi? ble that he could have taken his own life, as he was uniformly cheerful in disposition and not given to melancholy moods. Gen. Miller was a man of more than ordinary talent and fine address, universally popular and highly esteem? ed by every one. He represented this County many years in the House of Representatives, and also several years in the Senate. His death will be a great loss to our County, and will long be regretted by a large circle of his friends and acquaintances? Carolina Spartan. ? The stringency in the egg market is painful. There has been a large falling on in deposits of late, many of the heus "having entirely suspended, while others are holding on to their reserves. It is thought, however, that nearly all will be able to resume in tbe spring, when the crops begin to move: _ An eminent physician has discovered that it is not healthy for men to rise before eight o'clock. Wives may safely rise at seven, and ?tart the fire as heretofore.