The Anderson intelligencer. (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, May 14, 1874, Image 1
Internal Resources of South Carolina.
An English corporation is endeavoring to
purchase and control the swamps of the Wa
teree River for the purpose of cutting timber,
which they will raft down to the ocean and
Bhip to foreign ports. The plan is to straight?
en the river, and thus avoid the freshets which
render the low lands almost worthless, they
being liable at any time to be flooded by the
water, which, when it comes down in large
quantities, cannot run off, owing to the crook?
edness of the channel, and is thrown back on
the adjacent rands. This can be accomplished
by cutting through a few comparatively small
"necks" and allowing a free passage for the
water. The river being thus curtailed of its
present liberty, large bodies of land, as produc?
tive as any in the world, would be redeemed
from water.
The Camden Journal looks with favor upon
the project, and thinks the work can be doue
without any very great expense. Dr. E. M.
Boykin is the authorized agent of the English
capitalists, and has advertised to purchase all
the lands lying" on the river throughout the
whole territory over which their operations
will extend.
The magnitude and importance of this con?
templated work by men prossessing the neces?
sary capital and energy cannot be over-estima?
ted, since the good effects will be felt throughout
the State, in adding to the material resources
and developing a mine of wealth to the owners.
The scheme is not altogether new, however.
An esteemed friend has kindly furnished us a
copy of BeBow's Review for October, 1852,
wherein the draining of the Wateree swamps
was proposed as an internal improvement
worthy of the attention of the State. As the
article contains valuable information and prac?
tical suggestions, we copy it in full:
The area of South Carolina in round num?
bers is nineteen millions of acres, and the
population under six hundred thousand, giving
over thirty acres of land to every individual,
old and young, black and white, aud I thiuk
we may safely say there is one hundred acres
of laud for every person engaged in its tillage.
If then, we estimate that by auy means oue j
half of the land, or nine and a half millions
of acres, are capable of culture, there is room
enough in our borders yet to plant ten times as
much more as we now plant.
Admitting, then, that we have niue and a
half millious of acres of tillable land, of
which allow one half for grain and pasturage,
and plant ouly the balance, four and three
quarter millious of acres, or one-fourth of all
our surface, and were to make no more than
half a bale of cottou to the acre, it would give
us a crop of nearly twenty-four hundred thou?
sand bales, equal to the present whole crop of
the United States. This is startling, and some
of ray readers may throw back their heads and
raise up their hands in amazement. At first,
it does look incredible, that so small a terri?
tory and but one-fourth of it employed, mak?
ing only half a crop, should turn out so much;
but here are the figures, and competent calcu?
lators say we have the laud. I feel that this is
a sort of new idea, and some one may say if
South Carolina can do so much, the other
cotton states can do it too, or that South Car?
olina is lookiug ahead to make all the cotton
wanted. But observe, I am not telling what
we are trying to do, or what we are going to
do, but what we could do if we would, and
what duty to ourselves requires that we should
boldly attempt for our sake and the sake of
those who are to come after us, if we wish to
improve our condition by using our resources,
or even maintain our present standing before
the world.
Let our rivers be straightened?throw all
the water into one straight channel, that it
may run off quick and wash out deep?thus
securing their deltas free from freshets, and i
yon open up an immense mine of agricultural [
wealth, which must add to your capital, in- i
erease your productions and comforts, employ
your labor and skill to greater advantage, in?
vite an increase and retain your present num?
bers?which, if something is not done, must
look out for other fields to operate in. To
To effect this purpose is worth an effort?for if
we lose them, we lose the essentials of strength,
capital, and population?when the opposite
course will encourage them to remain with
their energies, means, and productions.
Small streams are ditched, drained and re
drained, as we will see on almost every planta?
tion?then why not the rivers that are worth
so much more?
From Camden falls to Santee is about 40
miles?the swamp will average at least two
miles?many places it is four miles across?but
eay two miles all the way, and you have eighty
square miles or upwards, fifty-one thousand
acres of land, of which there is not now under
culture above 15,000 acres, thus adding 36,000
acres of new land ; or say an increase of value
on the whole of $20 per acre, gives us $1,000,
000. And this in a short distance of Wateree
alone, in the centre of the State, while there is
Santee, Wateree, the Pee Dees, Lynche's Creek,
and several other streams, adding in all ten or
twenty times more.
As we know more about Wateree River and
we believe that no other would yield so much
at so little expense, we can say more about it,
and would respectfully ask particular attention
to it, from Camden to Santee. In a straight
line, it is about forty miles?as it runs, 125
miles or more. The fall is 18 inches or more
to the mile, as it could not run with less. Re?
duce the length to forty miles, and concentrate
the fall, gives us five feet, and if the flow in?
creases in proportion, it would run off in one
day as much as it runs now in one week, and
the single channel give sufficient vent for all
the water.
The old river beds could soon be planted?
the creeks, lakes and ponds could be drained
by ditches into the deepened channel, and all,
or nearly all, rendered secure from overflow of
water, which has been so frequent the last few
years as to discourage the few that plant them.
The crops and stock lost in the last ten years
would be a sufficient sum to pay for the work I
propose.
These lands are greatly needed, for what was I
naturally fertile of the high lands, has become 1
much worn, while these lands once made free J
from freshets, are almost invaluable, the Quali?
ty of the soil being the very richest, and lying
so as never to wear out, producing cotton, corn,
or small grain equal to any lands on earth.
These great advantages would not be for a few
yeara only, or require a periodical expense to
keep them up as most improvements do, but
they will tell, aud tell well for all time to
come.
An expenditure of ?100,000 by the State,
will add one million to its wealth. Lands now
valued at five dollars will be worth fifty dollars,
per acre; it is too large an undertaking for
individuals, ihou^h they have done much in
banking out, which does not answer the pur?
pose. To embank all the way would cost three
times the money that straightening it would,
and then the embankments are always liable
to break or be undermined, while the water
outside of them must lie on the ground, which
is often an injury to crops, to the ground, and
a hindrance from work. The enterprise is so
inviting to the State, so much can be done
with so little money, let it be surveyed by a
competent man?count the cost, make all the
calculations and go to work as soon as possible.
Here we have rich mines which are certain
never to fail. They cannot be worked too soon ;
objection might be made to this magnificent
knprovement as redounding too much to the
benefit of a few, which I answer by asking
what work of its kind has not the same ten?
dency? Where a railroad passes, land rises in
price. Town property and rent increases in
value, where the facilities of trade and travel
are enlarged ; and what is good for a part of
the people is good for the whole. The State
belongs to the people, and without the people
it could not go on. We insist with great con?
fidence, that this enterprise is practicable, and
that it could not fail to result in eminent good
to all.
It looks like this acquisition had been re?
served for a later day?a day when necessity
would compel a movement towards it. To the
writer, who must confess himself sanguine on
the subject, it presents itself as a cheap means
of nearly doubling the wealth of the State.
Bichland.
The Industrial Congress.
The gathering of the representatives of the
industrial classes at Rochester, New York, last
weuk, in mass convention, to discuss the many
pertinent issues of the labor question, and to
adopt a platform of principles as expressive of
the views of the laboring classes of the United
States, has not received that attention from
the general press which its importance de?
serves. The neglect to appropriately chronicle
the doings of this body and to give the pro?
ceedings widespread publicity was studied. It
could not have been otherwise. The call for
the convention was published in all the papers,
and the workingmen of the several States were
represented by the ablest men in the ranks of
labor reform. We hazard nothing in saying
that the gathering was in importance only
second to that of the meeting of the National
Grange, at St. Louis, Mo., some time since.
The delegates, if we may believe our Roches?
ter exchanges, were all able men aud a credit
to any reform movement.
The work of such a convention, composed of
delegates representing in the aggregate half a
million of voters, cannot fail in having a pow?
erful influence on the future legislation of the
country. There is not a reform demanded by
the farmers of the West to-day, but was advo
j cated by a similar convention to this one, of
workingmen in 1SG7, and reiterated by succcs
! sive annual conventions. The financial policy
now demanded so strenuously by the people of
the whole country, (not such half-way measures
as that passed by Congress and since vetoed by
the President,) was first adopted as the policy
of the workingmen, and it has grown in popu?
lar favor as its beneficial features have become
known. This convention has again demanded
the carrying out of this policy by Congress,
and a resolution to this effect has been laid on
the Speakers' tables in both the Senate and
House. Whether Congress, manipulated as it
is by the bank monopolists, will heed the de?
mand, remains to be -seen; we consider it
doubtful.
Oue great object of the Rochester Conven?
tion was to consolidate under one head the
various industrial organizations of the country,
outside of the Patrons of Husbandry. This
being such a gigantic task, its accomplishment
was not the matter of a moment, but an able
and influential committee were appointed to
prepare a plan, which will be presented to the
next session of the Congress at Indianapolis,
Ind., in April, next year, for adoption.
The accomplishment of this consolidation is
all that is required to make the anti-monopoly
movement of LS70 successful. We believe the
laboring classes are just as willing to throw up
all party affiliations as the farmers, and when
the time comes for united political action of
the two, the mutual sympathy and thorough
organization of all engaged in productive in?
dustry will be so perfect that no power caD
withstand them, and they will sweep the coun?
try from Maine to California. Everything is
tending to weaken the confidence of the labor?
ing classes of the East in the professions of
the politicians. Nothing is being done for
their benefit, but instead of the old practice of
one-sided and unjust laws, detrimental to labor
is still in vogue. He who expects the Demo?
cratic party of this State to use their great
victory for the benefit of the producers will be
wofully mistaken.
We rejoice that the producers and anti-mo?
nopolists are coming to a thorough under?
standing. All are agreed that a new party is
a necessity, and it is a matter of congratula?
tion that the work of organization is proceed?
ing so rapidly. Before another year there will
be not less than two million voters banded
together, seeking one common purpose, under
organizations in perfect running order. The
year 187G will decide whether this Government
is to be ruled by Hamiltonian monopolists, or
whether we are to commence anew under Jcffer
sonian principles of Democracy.?New Haven
[Conn.) Union.
Memorial Day.?Last year, when the mis?
taken zeal of some officers shut out from the
cemeteries where Confederate dead lay buried,
the friends who sought to decorate their graves,
we deplored the existence of a spirit capable
of inspiring such an act, and urged that in tke
future Federal and Confederate should go forth
together and join in expressions of sorrow over
the remains cf those who fell in our sad strife.
We rejoice to learn that our suggestions have
been acted on this year. When "Memorial
Day" was observed this week at Confederate
burying grouuds, the mourners found the
guards offering no opposition to their entrance.
In many places men of all parties suspended
business by common consent, and united in
prooessions and other demonstrations of sym?
pathy for the friends and relatives of the dead.
At Mobile the ceremonies were rendered
especially touching by the presentation of
floral tributes from the Federal soldiers re
Biding in that city, and from the officers of j
the regular army at Mount Vernon barracks.
It is to be hoped that on the return of Decora- j
tion Day during the present month there will
be a mutual expression of sympathy among
the bereaved of all views and both sections. |
The bitterness of strife has been assuaged by j
time, and in the graves that hide the corpses j
of the loved and lost, the hard feelings that
Bttll linger should be forever buried. It would 1
be a fitting sequel to a victory that was not
followed by a single execution, if, ten years
after the close of a civil war, not only the in
stitution that bred the contest, but the enmi?
ties that grew from the struggle, should have i
disappeared. So may it be.? Ar. Y. Mercantile \
Journal. '
The Shadow of a Great Sin.
The trial of Miss Eliza Godwin, who was
recently brought before the courts in Louis?
ville upon a writ de lunatico inquirendo, and
discharged, developed a train of circumstances
which not only outdo the creations of the nov?
elist and romancer, but can only find their
parallel iu the gloomy and grim Nemesis of
Grecian mythology. Miss Eliza Godwin is^a
member of a respectable family, a well-educa?
ted and cultivated lady, who, when a mere
school girl, twenty-four years ago, made the
acquaintance of Major John Throckmorton,
an accomplished and fascinating man of the
world, then twenty years her senior. His in?
fluence upon her amounted to an infatuation
which she could not control. She was confid?
ing and inexperienced, like most school-girls
of idealistic tendencies, and she very soon en?
gaged herself in marriage to him. When he
had secured this advantage, he ruined and
then abandoned her, but the shadow of the
darkness into which she fell enveloped him also,
and it has never left him or her, and never
will, although he is growing gray with years
and passing the years of passion, and she is a
faded, weary woman, out of whose life hope
j has disappeared, and for whom remains only
the passive obedience to fate. When she found
herself abandoned she did not throw herself
into the slums. She did not break under the
calamity which wrecks so many lives. She
did not hurry herself out of the world. The dis?
aster revealed her to herself, and all the aim?
less and restless elements of her life crystalized
into one settled purpose, which, for over twen?
ty years, has absorbed every other purpose,
hope, thought, aud energy of her being. She
calmly and firmly came to her resolve after
long meditation. She could not marry any
other man, for that would be an irreparable
injury. She had no desire to injure her be?
trayer, as she stated during the trial. "She
left his health and his life in the hands of
God." She did not stop to weigh any effect
her purpose might have upon her relatives or
society at large. In the scope of her purpose
there were but two beings in the world?her
betrayer and herself. For two long years she
sought by every means in her power to win
him back to her; but when she found this was
fruitless, when she found that he had forever
abandoned her, and that no influence of hers
could ever reach him, then she determined
that, as he had wrecked her life, she would
wreck Iiis; that as he, under promise of mar?
riage, had clouded her whole life with unhap?
piness, he should help her bear it, by suffering
in kind, and that the memory of the ruin he
had made should ever be fresh and constant.
She has thus far lulfillcd her purpose. For
twenty years she has been his waking and
sleeping thought, and no eifort of his has been
powerful enough, no strategy cunning enough,
to shake off the silent, relentless spectre which
has followed him with reproachful eye and
iron purpose, as calm, and rigid,' and silent as
though she were the very embodiment of Fate.
Wherever he went in the city of Louisville she
was a few paces behind him. Did he go to
call upon a fricud, he knew she would be upon
the opposite side of the street when he came
out. He went to New Orleans, and when he
arrived in that city she was there also. lie
went to New York, but in the thousands of
strange faces which passed him in the busy
streets, there was one familiar face always near
him. His own shadow did not follow him
more surely and persistently than she followed
him. It wxs all the same in Summer or Win?
ter, in Spring or Fall, in storm or shine, by
day or by night. Thus the years went on.
She never molested him. She never personally
interfered with his business or his enjoyments.
She never spoke to him unless he spoke to her,
and then the burden of her communication
was only that it was her fate to follow him
through life, aud his fate to be followed. In
all these years Maj. Throckmorton has grown
gray in the shadow, and Thockniorton's ghost
has grown faded and pale, and weary with her
restless wandering. At last he could endure
her calmness, her silence and her constant
presence no longer, and he brought her before
the courts upon the writ to which wc have al?
luded, and sought to establish the fact that she
was insane, her insanity taking the form of a
monomania. But this was her opportunity as
well as his. It was the opportunity she had
long wished, and for the first time she had the
chance to tell her story before a public tribu?
nal.
There were doctors and experts in attend?
ance, who narrowly watched her as she narra?
ted this twenty years' story, but they found no
traces of insanity in it. There was but one
expert who deemed her a monomaniac, and he
has been counectcd with an insane asylum for
thirty years, and acknowledged that he expect?
ed a liberal fee for his opinion. He had con?
cluded, on general principles, that Miss God?
win was insane because she was different from
other women, and other women similarly situ?
ated would have grieved until they died, or
recklessly gone to the bad?a ruling which
would consign a great many very sane people,
who happen to be inflexible in purpose, to the
insane asylum. The jury did not accept the
opinion of the expert, but acquitted her and
left her free to do as she pleased. During the
trial she did not follow Throckmorton, and
there will be some curiosity as to her future
course.
This episode may divest her from her pur
Eose, since she has had the opportunity to tell
cr story in the most public manner and to
vindicate her course. Whether she abandons
or continues to follow him, matters little now.
In all these twenty years her victim has had
opportunity to make amends for the great
wrong which he inflicted upon his victim, and
there are very few people who will not look
upon it as an instance of poetical retribution
in a case in which the law affords no adequate
remedy and social forms are more liable to
favor the stronger than the weaker party. The
Nemesian idea is completely exemplified. He
ruined her life. She ruined his. He de?
stroyed her happiness. She destroyed his.
The two arc even.? Chicago Tribune.
A NEWSPAPER.?The newspaper is the chron?
icle of civilization?the common reservoir into
which every stream pours its living waters, and
at which every man may come and drink. It is
the newspaper that gives to liberty its practical
life, its constant observation, its perpetual
vigilance, its utirclaxing activity. The news?
paper informs legislation of public opinion,
and it informs the people of the acts of legis?
lation. And this is not all. The newspaper
teems with the most practical morality ; in its
reports of crimes and punishments you find a
daily warning against temptation; not a case
in a police court, not a single trial of a wretch?
ed outcast or a trembling felon, that does not
preach to us the awful lesson how imprudence
leads to error, how error conducts to guilt, howj
guilt reaps its bitter fruit of anguish and degra^
elation. The newspaper is the familar bondj
that binds together man? o "latter what mayi
be the distance of climate or the difference oil
race. The newspaper is a* law book for the'
thoughtless, a library for the poor. It may
stimulate the most indifferent, it may instruct
the most profound.?E. L. Bvlwer. '
Minority Report of the Judiciary Committee
on South Carolina Affairs.
Washington, May 9.
To-day, Mr. Eldridgc, from the judiciary
j committee of the House, submitted a minority
; report on the condition of affairs in South Car
; olina. The report dissents entirely from the
I conclusions of the majority, and is generally
concurred in by the entire minority of the ju
dicary committee.
The minority says it is impossible to turn a
deaf ear to the supplicating wail of 300,000
oppressed and despoiled citizens, of that once
prosperous and happy State, praying only that
inquiry be made into their alleged wrougs.
They cannot find in the reproaches of the con?
duct of the memorialists in the past any reason
or justification for refusing the hearing they
now request. Their fidelity to the Constitution
and laws now is unquestioned, and their plea
is made in respectful terms. The report then
recites, briefly and pointedly, the list of griev
ances complained of, and predicates from them
that the charges of the memorialists are true.
The minority say :
"We are aware of the doubts and difficulty in
pointing out a precise clause of the Constitution
authorizing intervention, but that protection
in all things is essential to good government,
no one denies. It should never be lo3t sight of
that for the constitution of things now existing
in South Carolina, the Federal Government is
primarily responsible. Blink it, look upon it
as we may, horrible as the work of its hands
may now appear, Congress set up and establish?
ed the state of things That makes the common?
wealth of South Carolina the foul stigma it
now is in our system. We do not argue the
right to interfere on thai ground at this time,
but we submit that wc subject our governmental
theorem to the contempt of the world and all
intelligent men, in that we were all-powerful
to inaugurate and establish the pandemonium
now existing there; and the very moment it is
done, are utterly powerless to interfere with it
at all, or to save the property of the people
from the spoilsman. Nor can we forego the
suggestion, that if this appeal were on behalf of
300,000 negroes, instead of* 300,000 white
Southerners, of our own race and blood, such
are the sympathies of the majority, as hereto?
fore exhibited, that they would find, by right or
wrong, some means of relief. The petitioners
would not have been so coldly and flippantly
turned away.
'"It is a matter of the greatest delicacy for
the Federal Government to interfere to protect
a part of the people of a State from the op?
pressions and misrule of the other. It is con?
ceded that it ought not to be done for trivial
causes, but it is not a light or trivial cause that
300,000 people, all the property holders of a
great State, are being stripped and despoiled
by usurpation and fraud. That there ought to
be power and authority adequate in such emer?
gency to save, all lovers of honesty and good
government will admit; and it is a fundamen?
tal defect in our system, if there be not. In
view of the thoughtful wisdom of the authors
of our Constitution, are we prepared to admit
that our constitution of government is so fi'.tal
ly and irreparably defective? The complaint
of the memorialists is that the rulers of the
people have usurped the power to tax property
owners, not for legislative purposes; not to
support the Government of the State; but for
the purpose of impoverishing the tax-payers
and enriching themselves; for the purpose of*
taxing white people down to the level of the
negro. Under the pretence of the taxing pow?
ers, they are endeavoring to distribute the
property of the owners amongst those who
have none. Is not this an usurpation by the
rulers of the State against which the constitu?
tional guarantee was intended topretect? It
is not the mere abuse of taxing power, but the
utter perversion of that power from all the le?
gitimate objects of taxation. Can there be a
republican form of government where this is
done, the main object of the Government be?
ing the protection of the property of the citi?
zen and the citizen in the enjoyment of his
property ?"
The report quotes from Hamilton, Calhoun
and other authorities, as to the constitutional
guarantee, and concludes as follows: "In view
of the whole case, wc cannot hesitate to recom?
mend the appointment of a committee of both
houses of Congress, with power and authority
to go into the State of South Carolina, and
fully inquire and investigate into the condition
of the State and the charges and complaint of
the memorialists. To do less, we feel we should
violate or neglect a most solemn and impera?
tive duty. The cry of that outraged, helpless
and suffering people has reached our hearts, as
well as our understanding. That once pros?
perous and beautiful State is on the verge of
ruin. She is, indeed, already prostrate. A
horde of thieves and robbers, worse than any
that ever infested any civilized community on
earth, have her by the throat, and are fast
sucking her life blood. 300,000 of her citizens,
descendants of those who fought and won,
with our fathers, the battles of American hide- j
pendence and liberty, arc crying to Congress j
for redress?for help. They have suffered all
that humanity can endure. They have ex?
hausted every resource, and are utterly help?
less of themselves. To refuse their request is
to drive them to despair and min."
Southern Credit.?The Mobile Register
puts the case very clearly when, in speaking of
the failure of Lousiana and other Southern
States to maintain their credit abroad, it de?
clares that "the money market everywhere has
become chary of dealing with the adventurers
and Micawbcrs of the South." It believes that
Alabama's repudiation is, so far, only involunta?
ry. "Sho has not deliberately embraced dis?
honesty by statute, but failed to pay her interest
because her scalawag Governor proclaimed that
hecouldnotpayit. This might or inightuothave
been true. But had not radical influence from
Washington enabled aliens and negroes to take
the State out of the hands of her people her
credit would not have been dishonored by inter?
est defalcations. The same is true of the city of
Mobile. Her debts can be made alive and
handled whenever the administration returns
to the hands of her true and substantial citi?
zenship." This is very true, and it is gratify?
ing to sec that such an able educator of the
masses as the Register recognizes the evil and
sees the remedy. Until the honest representa?
tive men of the South secure control in their
respective States, foreign as well as Northern
capital will be driven away, and emigration, !
which has done so much for Texas and Virgiil?
ia, will continue to seek other States, where the
burdens of taxation fall more lightly, and there
is no danger of their lands being confiscated
owing to their inability to pay the enormous
"The ?est in the World."
The crisp one dollar bill is as a work of art
simply beautiful. Fresh from the press, with
the promise to pay unbroken by a crease, its
picture unsoiled aud unwrinkled, and its
crinky sound as significant of wealth as was
j the jingle of coin in the barbarous times when
j promise had contingent relations with per
ormance, the dollar bill is an object of admi?
ration and delight. Few things are superior
to it in nature or in art. On the upper left
hand corner Christopher Columbus is discov?
ering the land of promise ; in the centre is the
promise to pay of the land he discovered, and
on the lower right hand corner the signature
of Treasurer Spinner, a gentlemen whose in?
tegrity is as Roman as the nose of the Father
of His Country, whose portrait adorns the
middle of the bill, because he never told a lie.
There may be citizens who have never seen
this work of art and symbol of wealth in its
crisp condition. Possibly to those to whom
the dollar bill has come limp, creased, and
measly, the statement that the portrait which
adorns it is of the Father of His Country, and
that he wore a Roman nose when in life and is
so represented in the engraving, and that he
never told a lie, may seem incredible. It is
not impossible that it may be doubted, and
that men?mere men?of whom the poet beau?
tifully says, "Men may come and men may go,
but the one dollar bill flows on forever"?may
assert that this is not the portrait of any man
who never told a lie, and that he does not
wear a Roman nose either. It is the misfor?
tune of such persons not to have seen the dol?
lar bill when it was fresh and crisp, when the
promise and the Roman nose were both un?
broken by repeated foldings and wrinklings,
and the face of the Father of His Country had
not been pinched and punched and "wuzzled
up" into a counterfeit presentment of Judas
Iscariot.
Rut the one dollar bill is not only beautiful
as a work of art; it is an emblem of democracy,
a medium of exchange, a vehicle of contagion,
and it "moves the crops." It passes from high
to low, from rich to poor, from the Pharisee to
the publican, from the weak to the wicked. It
traverses all the strata of society, levels all
distinctions and diffuses all manner of conta?
gious diseases. Consider for a moment what a
great work the one dollar bill?and, for that
matter, any other dollar bill, or the half dollar
stamp, or the new and beautiful ten cent piece
?does in diffusing those blessed diseases, the
small pox, the mumps and the measles. Every
other species of portable property that goes
into the pest-house is destroyed ; the currency
of the realm comes out and passes from hand
to hand, bearing contagion in its folds and the
aroma of the hospital in its creases. What a '
boon in such a currency. Witness the flight
of the fluttering ten cent piece, gathering up
the moa<les on its wings aud carrying them to
the fireside that might otherwise have never
rejoiced in them ; or behold the swift course of
that joy of the counterfeiter and terror of the
apple woman, the fifty cent piece as it carries
the small pox from city to city, and keeps up
the demand in all well regulated municipali?
ties for pure vaccine matter; or reflects upon
the wide diffusion through the medium of the
one dollar bill ofthat exhilarating epidemic of
which the Duke of Argyle is the patron saint
and the Scotch fiddle the accompaniment.
There was never a medium of exchange that
went abroad on so many errands, and per?
formed them all so well. It is well named
"the best currency in the world." Mr. Morton
sings its praises, Mr. Logan chants its wonder?
ful works, a thousand lyres reverbrate in the
chorus, and Mr. Carpenter sheds it on the just
and the unjust. Whoever undertakes to handle
it without gloves gets the worst of it.
And yet there are people who go about
making a fuss because this, the best currency
in the world, bears the promise of the United
States to pay a dollar, and the United States
never pay a dollar, and will not say when or if
ever they will pay the dollar. How unreason?
able to stop the diffusion of democratic dis?
eases in this way. It is a neat and pretty cur?
rency, and by the time it gets to the Mississippi
river is as sweet and pure as the politics of the
country of which it is an emblem. What a
pity it would be to substitute coin for it, or do
anything to interfere with its mission.?New
York IVibune.
Long Sermons.?The speaker's time should
be measured out by wisdom. If he is destitute
of discretion and forgets the circumstances of
his auditors he will annoy them more than a
little. In one house the pudding is burning,
in another the child is needing its mother, and
in the third a sc van t is due in the family ; the
extra quarter of an hour's prosiness puts all
out of order. A country hearer once said to
his pastor, "When you go on beyond half past
four in the afternoon service, do you know
what I always think about?" "No," said the
orator. "Well then I will tell you plainly, it
is not what you are preaching, but about my
cows. They want milking, and you ought to
have consideration for them, and not keep
them waiting. How would you like it if you
was a cow?" This last remarkable inquiry
suggested a good deal of reflection in the mind
of the divine to whom it was proposed, and
perhaps it may have a similar beneficial effect
upon others who ought to confess their long
preachings as among the chief of their short?
comings.
In general, a great sermon is a great evil.
Length is the enemy of strength. The delive?
ry of a discourse is like the boiling of an egg;
it is easy to overdo it and so to spoil it. You
may physic a man till you make him ill, and
preach to him till you make him wicked.
From satisfaction to satiety there is but a sin?
gle step; a wise preacher never wishes his
hearers to pass it. Enough is as good as a
feilst, and better than too much.?Spurgeon.
Sawdust Ruandy.?The Dunn County New?
gets off the following good thing, which is
worthy a place with some of Mark Twain's
best: "We sympathize heartily with one of
our exchanges, which is sorry to learn that a
German chemist has succeeded in making a
lirst-rale brandy out of sawdust. Wc are a
friend of the temperance movement, and we
want it to succeed, but what chance will it
have when a man can take a rip-saw and go
out and get drunk with a fence rail? Wind
is the use of a prohibitory liquor law if a man
is able to make brandy smashes out of the
shingles on his roof, or if he can get the de?
lirium tremens by drinking the legs of his
kitchen chairs? You may shut an inebriate
out of agin shop, and keep him away from
taverns, but if he can become uproarious on
boiled sawdust and dessicated window-sills, any
effort at reform must necessarily be a failure.
It will be wise, therefore, if temperance socie?
ties will butcher the German chemist before
\ he goes any further. His receipt ought not to
be made public. He should be stuffed with
distilled board-yards uutil he perishes with
i mania a potu."
? A rural statistician reports that more
people are talked to death by peddlers of light?
ning-rods than are killed bv lightning. Quite
likely.
The Recent Shocking Scandal in the State
Capital.
Columbia, S. C, April 30.
It is not orten that the surface of the quiet
life of our little town is as much ruffled as it
was a few days since, when it was first men?
tioned that a scandalous case of seduction had
occurred in our midst. As the news spread,
and the circumstances of the case were repeat?
ed, perhaps with some exaggeration?, the Rad?
ical section of society in which the parties
implicated move went" through the formula of
a highly incensed and virtuous indignation.
But the old remedy for such cases made and
provided, of pistols and coffee for two, of cow
bides and horsewhips, or of even the tip of a
boot lustily applied where it would work re?
paration for wounded honor, seems not to have
been in any one's thoughts. The outside
world acquiesced, as best it might, in the indif?
ference which appeared to be felt in the matter
by those most deeply concerned. It looked on
with a quiet smile, recognizing the new era of
profligacy of conduct as not more firmly estab?
lished than the imbecility and lack of manhood
which tamely submitted to dishonor. As no
avenger of insult appeared, those not embraced
in the charming Radical circle in which the
event occurred quietly made up their minds
that it was their duty to bear it too, and so
only shrugged their shoulders and lamented
that the Colleton Gazette had not lived to see
this day.
At first, as is usual, the matter was only
quietly whispered between the knowing few,
but news of this sort, no matter how strong the
effort to keep it within limits, will break over
all barriers and run its course. By the even?
ing of the first day the matter was known
enough to prevent it being forgotten, and the
somewhat enigmatical announcement in a Rad?
ical journal next morning served to fix atten?
tion upon a certain individual, and to arouse
curiosity to know more. There are some sins
of a man's life which are said to "find him
out." The language of the journal that a
wretch, a ''''chronic libertine," had wronged the
peace of a respectable family, was at once and
universally understood to refer to the famous
lecturer on religion and the ex-issuer of pay
certificates. All sorts of rumors were soon
afloat?rumors of marked and particular atten?
tions, of frequent and long-continued visits, of
attendance together at places of public amuse?
ment, of divers drives by moonlight, and of all
the thousand and one things which would
amount to nothing between a young man and
a young woman of average character, but
which amount to a great deal everywhere in
this wide world between a married mau and a
very young girl, where the married man so well
answers the description of a "libertine." But
the nine days' wonder ended in nine days.
Political cronies of the gay Lothario were
called in to consult with him, and religious
friends of the respectable family were called
in to consult with them ; the driver of the
carriage, who first divulged the ugly tale, was
promptly interviewed, and his demands satis?
fied ; and the result of all the consultations
and all the fixing up of things was that one
sunny afternoon the "libertine" appeared on
the parade ground in his phaeton, with the
young girl at his side. It is given out that the
incident will be elaborated with skill and gusto
by the Misses Rollins, and form a conspicuous
chapter in their forthcoming life ci the distin?
guished subject.? Correyondenee JXews and
Courier.
The Views of a Great Merchant,
The well-known firm of Gco. W. Williams
& Co., Charleston, celebrated its 32nd anniver?
sary on Saturday, 2nd of May, and inaugurated
the "Carolina Savings Bank" at the same time.
Mr. George W. Williams opened the ceremo?
nies by making an address full of practical
wisdom, in which he demonstrated that the
prime requisites for success in business were
health, industry, application, high character;
method and true religion. After rebuking the
wild spirit of extravagance and speculation,
which leads so many promising men to ruin
and disgrace, Mr. Williams uttered the follow?
ing sentiments in regard to the future of South
Carolina and her sister States of the South :
But a word about deserting one's country.
Immediately after the war there was such Vn
overturning of society, that I was not sure the
South would be a desirable place in which to
live. The welfare of my children was, of
course, paramount to every other consideration.
As you are aware, I travelled extensively in
the Old and New World, making the tour of
Europe twice since the war, and extended my
travels North, and in the West to the Rocky
Mountains. After a careful study of the dif?
ferent portions of the country that I have vis?
ited, my convictions are that the section era
braced in the "Confederate States" is the most
desirable portion of the inhabitable globe!
and that the best abused State in the Union, in
spite of bad legislation, and disorganized soci?
ety, is in many respects, the "Eden" of the
South, and were my lifetime earnings in gold
dollars, I would, unhesitatingly, convert them
into just such securities, real and personal, as
we now possess.
The Southern States have a future that is
beyond computation, embracing as they do an
area of nearly one million square miles, or
more than six hundred millions of acres of
land, with a population greater than the Uni?
ted States possessed when I was a boy. The
natural resources of the South are equal to
those of any portion of the globe, while the
climate is unsurpassed. Just one product of
the soil (cotton) the past year will yield nearly
three hundred millions of dollars, and the day
is not far distant when the production of cot?
ton in the Southern Slates will amount to ten
million bales, and our sons will live to see more
cotton manufactured into yarns and cloth in
the Southern Slates than is now consumed in
North America. The mineral resources of
the South, especially in coal and iron ore,
startle the imagination, while her forests will
equal those of all Europe.
For our cotton, rice and sugar estates, there
is no labor equal to that of the freedmen.
Why should they not co-operate with us at the
ballot box as well as in the cotton fields.
They arc as much interested in good govern?
ment and wholesome laws as you or I. We
owe them a debt of gratitude for their humano
consideration of the wives and childreu of our
soldiers during the late war. Their subsequent
conduct has been equally creditable, especially
when you consider their sudden elevation from
slaves to enfranchised citizens. In my opinion,
they are more to be relied on in the rice and
cotton fields of the Carolinas than some speci?
mens of immigrants we have seen fresh from
Castle Garden. Let me not be misunderstood
?my heart is in the cause of immigration ;
and no one will welcome more heartily than I
a steady influx of the right kind of immigrants
?either from our own or foreign lands.
? South walk, a small L.?wn in Connecticut,
boasts of eight sets of twins in one year.