University of South Carolina Libraries
4* mm U fri?t!?, ^tomtom* ^plmliun u? %mm\ $t?t\\\%mt. HOYT &* CO., Proprietors. ANDERSON O. H., S. C, THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 25, 1875. VOLUME X.?NO. 36. The Veto of the Heating Debt B?1. Bon. R. B. Elliott, Speaker of the Bouse of Representatives : Sir?I return herewith, without approval, to the House of Representatives, in which it orig? inated, an act entitled "An act to provide for the settlement and redemption of certain claims against the State." In refusing to approve this act it is proper cad necessary that I should state certain facts connected with.the history of the act. When I entered upon my present office it was my pur , pose to oppose any and all plans for the pres? ent settlement of any of the various classes of claims which constitute the so-called floating Indebtedness of the State, except the bills of the Bank of the State. This latter class of claims having been judicially declared by the supreme court of the United States to consti? tute a valid contract with the State, capable of enforcement by the courts, and actually en? forced in the cases before that court, I regarded it as dishonest and scandalous to delay longer to provide for meeting those obligations. This class of claims was likewise pressing by legal means upon the State, and seemed certain in ! the near future to produce disaster unless time-1 ly provision was made for their gradual pay? ment. With reference to all other classes of daisas, I was persuaded that the State had the right, and that her condition justly warranted her in postponing settlement until she could recover in some degree from the effects of a long course of extravagance and profligacy in the expenditure of public funds and the con? tracting of public obligations?at least until we should be able again to pay our current ex? penses during the year in which they arose. I was convinced that the people should not be taxed for the present year to an amount beyond the actual requirements of the public service, conducted on an honest and economical scale. My efforts were, therefore, mainly directed to the work and duty of stopping all unnecessary expenses, and restoring our government to a cash basis in its transactions, leaving the past unsettled claims against the State to await the better times which the course indicated would surely hasten.1 Especially did I regard this act aj the only admissible policy to be pursued towards those classes of indebtedness which are covered by the present act, because they were believed to ' be largely tainted with illegality and frauds. I was, however, strongly pressed to consent to some measure looking to the adjustment of the last named classes of claims. Finally, be? ing convinced by my own observation that some plan would be adopted, I turned my at? tention and efforts towards securing the adop? tion of a plan which would afford the best pro? tection to the State and be least burdensome to the people. In modifying my policy in this respect I had the counsel and advice of the best men of both political parties, who agreed with me that, under all the circumstances, it was wise to endeavor to secure the best possiblo measure. Acting with these aims and views, I gave my Consent to a pian which embraced, first, the ap? pointment by the Governor of a commission of three, with power to audit all claims of the classes referred to, rejecting in whole or in part any claim presented upon any grounds satisfac? tory to them; second, the reduction of all claims thus approved by the commission to one-half of their nominal value; and, third, the payment of the claims when thus reduced in four equal annual instalments. Persuaded, as I was, that these claims were largely fraudulent, I regarded that feature of ' the measure which provided for the appoint? ment of the commission as by far the most vital one. Without a commission whose char? acter and ability would make the examination of the claims a work of searching vigilance and unquestionable honesty, the measure would be an atrocious and patent fraud. With a proper commission the other features of the tieasdrefseemed to me to be rensonnhlo. ? . Such a measure was introduced in the House of Representatives, and was passed by that House. In the Senate, for reasons which have not been explicitly stated, the measure was changed by naming the three members of the commission. The names inserted by the Senate were changed by the House of Repre? sentatives, the changes were concurred in by the Senate, and the act as thus modified is sub? stantially the act which is now before me. Recurring now to the circumstances and mo? tives which led. me to consent to the measure in its original form, I am compelled to say that changes of circumstances have taken place since I was consulted concerning this measure, sufficient of themselves to warrant an entire change of attitude on my part, apart from the complete change made by the most essential feature of the measure. The response given by the General Assembly to my efforts to enforce ?a policy of rigid retrenchment and the reform in onr public expenditures hps not met my ex? pectations. The passage of the Legislative ap? propriation act, the failure to cut down appro? priations to their lowest reasonable limit in the general appropriation act, the defeat of the bill reducing the salaries of public officers, and the Eassage of a multitude of miscellaneous claims, ave rendered it impossible for me to consent to add another dollar to the weight of taxation which will now oppress the people of the State. ' In- addition to what has been specified, the pas? sage already of acts for the levy of special taxes in no less than fourteen of the counties of the State?these special taxes ranging from one ?and one-half mills to three mills on the dollar ^-and the prospect of the passage of many more similar acts, is sufficient of itself to make my approval of the present measure an act, in my jjudgment, of unpardonable injustice to all those whose interests I am sworn to protect. The supply bill for the present fiscal year has not yet reached me, but as it passed the House cf Representatives it provided for taxes amount? ing to eleven and seven-tenths mills en the dol? lar for general State purposes. Adding to this ;in most of the counties six mills for regular and special county taxes, and from one to three mills for local school taxes, we have an aggre ' ?ate of taxation wholly without precedent, as it is without justification. To all this are yet to be added the taxes for town, villsgeand mu? nicipal purposes?in some instances amount? ing to more than all the taxes for all other pur? poses. Nothing will induce me to contribute to swell ibis already intolerable burden of taxation. Sat if you look at the character of the claims covered by this act, there is nothing in general to commend to favor and scarcely to toleration. Included in the vast mass, there are, doubtless, honest and just claims. There is no donbt, moreover, that many of the present holders of , these claims are suffering by the delay in their payment. For all such I have profound sym? pathy, and would gladly do anything reasona? ble to relieve them. But speaking generally of the vast majority of these claims, what are they, and what do they represent ? They are, for the most part, the unpaid balance of the certificates issued during the last four years, under the fuise of legislative expenses of various kinds, hat certificates for legislative expenses have heen made the cover for vast frauds no man will dispute. They are universally regarded as the last culminating evidences of a prevailing system of corruption which has disgraced our State and offended the nation. The State has already paid on account of such claims an ag? gregate amount which, if we were not familiar with the facts, would pass the bounds of be? lief. Since the regular session of the General As? sembly for 1870-71, the State had paid prior to the presents session, on account of legislative expenses, the vast sum of $1,661,000. Accord? ing to the registry already made by the clerks of the two houses, under a recent resolution of the General Assembly, there are still outstand? ing claims of the classes embraced by the pres? ent act to the amount of $883,000, of which amount $500,000 consists of claims for legisla? tive expenses. Is there never to be an end to the payment of such expenses ? Is the fact that such claims are outstanding to be success? fully pleaded in justification for their payment without regard to present ability of our peo? ple? j I speak, therefore, with accuracy as well as with justice when I say that these claims, as a whole, do not constitute an obligation which the State is bound to recognize or liquidate until her honest and valid indebtedness and the annual expenses of her government have been fully met. Certainly they cannot, with my consent, be made the occasion of a levy of taxes in addition to the unprecedented amount already levied for the present year. But, if I could overlook all other objections to the act, there remains one objection which would, under any circumstances, forbid my approval of the act. I mean the character, as a whole, of the commission named in the act. Upon this point I speak with a reluctance which all just men will appreciate, but I am a public officer, bound to discharge an impera? tive public duty, and while I spoak with re? luctance, I must speak with perfect plainness. The commission named does not, as a whole, command my confidence for the work assigned to it. I am equally confident it does not, as a whole, command the confidence of the public for that work. The duties required of the commission demand the highest character for intelligence, honor and incorruptibility which the State can furnish. By no fault or agency of mine I am forced to declare that, in my judgment, the commission named in the act does not meet that demand. The amounts in? volved are too great, the frauds believed to be involved in the claims to be examined are too widespread and pervading, the temptations to collusion and bribery are too powerful, to al? low me to consent to placing these duties in the hands of any man whose circumstances and associations excite the faintest doubt of his inflexible determination to stand as and insur? mountable barrier to the further advances of corruption and fraud. The views now expressed compel me to with? hold my approval of the present act. I should be blind if I had not become fully aware that my action will give deep offense to many mem? bers of the General Assembly. I regret this, but I trust the lesson is nearly learned by all that public duty is my only master. It is not my nature to seek or enjoy conflicts, especially with those with whom I have had pleasant f>ersonal or political relations, but there is no oss or failure which I seriously dread, except the failure to see my duty and the loss of cour? age to do it. Very respectfully, D. H. Chamberlain, Governor South Carolina. Commercial Fertilizers. Correspondents in various parts of the State write to know if commercial fertilizers pay. The question is much easier asked than an? swered. We should want to know first who is to use the fertilizer, and secondly what fertili? zer is to be used. In regard to the first point, we remark that any good standard fertilizer in the hand of a good farmer will pay a reasonable profit, and no fertilizer in the hands of a poor farmer J-Melds much profit. We had rather risk the and without any' fertilizer under the manage? ment of a poor tenant than to furnish him the very best fertilizer. We should expect iu auy event to lose money, and the less the expendi? ture the smaller the loss. To fertilize heavily with anything necessarily implies a diminution of the acreage in order that the cultivation may be thorough, and the farmer who risks his money upon broad fields half cultivated may expect to lose, whether cot? ton is high or low or his fertilizer good or bad. It is a question of first importance to decide as to how the farm is to be cultivated, and upon the decision of this question depends the an? swer to the other. Let every farmer before he decides to buy a fertilizer, decide how many acres his stock and hands can manage properly, and in no event would we advise more than twenty-five acres to the mule in corn and cotton where money in the purchase of fertilizers is at stake. Mr. Dixon may manage fifty with his broad sweeps, but in our experience we would expect more bales from twenty-five well cultivated, than fifty cultivated as one mule could do it. As cotton is cultivated by the majority of negro tenants, we are inclined to the opinion that to purchase fertilizers involves a loss. On the oti?er hand, to cultivate cotton as it should be cultivated, there is no expenditure that yields as great a percentage as the money invested in good fer? tilizers. In reference to the second point. We have not so many complaints to make about fertili? zers as some others. It is true that we have found some better tnan others, and in our com? parative experiments we could mention at least two fertilizers whose standard in our judgment has not been rigidly maintained. We have no doubt that heavy losses have oc? curred by the use of bogus articles under high sounding names, and farmers should be careful what fertilizers they buy. The say-so of an agent is not a sufficient guarantee for the character of a fertilizer, and every farmer should test yearly at least several standard fertilizers by absolute experiment, and buy only those which prove to be good, and discard at once any fertilizer which does not maintain year by year its character.?Oor. Bib? lical Recorder. ? Rev. Mr. Frothingham has decided that there is no such country as hell, and much satisfaction is expressed in certain circles that the vexed problem has been so settled. We are B?rry for Frothingham and all others who have taken to this sweet morsel, for they will discover their error when it is too late. If there be no such place, where will the ungodly and the delinquent subscribers go ? ^ ? When a girl crops her front hair and pulls it down over her forehead like a Mexican mus? tang, and then ties a piece of red velvet around her neck, who can wonder at the number of pale-faced young men that throw away their ambition and pass sleepless nights trying to raise down on their upper lips ? ? A dry goods clerk in an Iowa city, lately dropped senseless behind the counter while waiting on customers. The female customer, for whom he had pulled down every bolt of calico on the shelves, quietly requested the proprietor to remove the incumbrauce and send on a fresh clerk. Mortality of the Races. Some time ago mention was made of the re? markable mortality among the colored people of Charleston, South Carolina, as compared with the mortality among the whites, the basis used for the comparison being weekly returns covering less than a month. Still more strik? ing results are presented by the health officer of Charleston in the returns for the year. The death of whites during the year numbered 718; colored 1,230. The estimated white pop? ulation is 24,0u0. That of the colored is 26, 000. Thus the ratio of deaths is one for every 23 whites, and one for every 21 colored. The health officer says in his report that, "Previous to the war consumption among the blacks was of rare occurrence, and then only among the well marked scrofulous diathesis of the African descendant." The increase of the disease is ascribed to exposure, dissipation, want of proper nutrition, clothing and beddijig, and the health officer says that the only hope of saving the race from the fate of the American Indians is in securing to them moral, religious and industrial education. That this fear of their dying out in that locality is not an idle one is shown not only by the general death rate of the race, but particularly by the death ' rate among children under five years of age. The proportion of colored still born to whites was last year as 6 to 1; the proportion of deaths under five years was as 2 to 1, and this in a community almost equally divided by two ra? ces. Carpetbagism and Congressional lcgisla tiou of the sort fashionable with the dominant party for the South will never better, but add to this deplorable condition of the colored peo? ple. The above we find in the Savannah Adver? tiser. It was predicted by all thinking, unpreju? diced men who were familiar with the negro race, that freedom to them sealed the fate of the negroes in this couutry. Under the most favorable circumstances the negro, as a freeman in this country, would have stood a poor chance of surviving?indeed, it would have been only a question of time at last, as to the existence of the race here. A race inferior in every respects cannot flourish and increase in the same country with one superior. This is pened and it never will, because it is contrary to nature. The strenger race must and will inevitably survine the weaker. It takes time to settle the problem as to which will survive and to shew that both cannot, but it is only a question of years. The statistics in Charleston aro probably far more favorable for the negro than they would be any where else on the contiuent. There is everything there in his favor. The climate suits him admirably, and there is no disease to which he is liable. On the contrary, there are many diseases there and in that locality very unfavorable to the exis? tence of the white man. Yellow fever, which is peculiarly fatal to the white race, prevails occasionally, and the negro is blessed with a peculiarity of constitution which gives him almost complete immunity from the disease. The country fever, which is fatal to the white man of the city who dares to spend a single night in the rural districts in the vicinity, rarely or never attacks the negro. So with all the levers and malarial diseases to which the white man is peculiarly liable. Then he has been not only free in Charleston, but has ruled the city since the war. All the legislation of the State has been favorable to the negro and against the white man. Yet, in despite of all these and many other favorable circumstances, the negro does not thrive even in Charleston. Then there is another point on which the above article does not touch?that is, the ratio of births in the two races. The statistics would prove much more startling if there could be obtained a proper record of the births which occur in the two races. In the rural districts we have no doubt that there is a heavier percentage of deaths amongst the blacks than in Charleston. Although there are no records kept of deaths or births in this State, we know positively, and every intelligent man in this section of the country knows, that the death rate amongst the negroes is simply fearful, while the births amongst them are very few as compared to the whites or as to the black race when in a state of slavery. It was a well established fact that the negro race, in a state of slavery in this country, was wonder? fully prolific, and increased in a much greater ratio than the whites. A visit to the cemeteries of the two races anywhere in this section will tell a fearful but true story at a glance. Make inquiry amongst the intelligent people through the rural dis? tricts all over this land, and they will all tell the same tale, and state the same facts as to the fearful mortality amongst the negroes; This is peculiarly the case amongst the child? ren. All who are conversant with the facts will say that few children are born, and a very large number of those born die in infancy. This fearful death rate amongst the children is due to several causes. There is a great want of proper care of the children, and a most shameful and revolting neglect of them on the part of the parents, while infanticide is well kuown to be of the most frequent occurrence. It would shock and appall a civilized being to know the actual number of children destroyed by mothers amongst the negroes of the South. ? Washington (Ga.) Gazette. An Echo from the Past.?The following remarks made by the girted Sargent S. Prentiss, when representing Mississippi in Congress, ap? ply with equal force and strength to the abused and prostrate States of the South to-day : "Upon alt the States I do most solemnly call for the justice to another which they would expect for themselves. Let this cup pass from Mississippi. Compel her not to drink its bit? ter ingredients, lest some day even handed jus? tice should command the poisoned chalice to your own lips. You sit here in judgment upon the most sacred right of a sister State; that which is to a State what chattily is to a woman or honor to a man. Should vou decide against her, you tear from her brow che richest jewel which sparkles there, and foi ever bow her head in shame and dishonor. But if your determi? nation is taken ; if the blow must fall ; if the violated Constitution must bleed, I have but one request to make. When you decide that she cannot choose her own representation, at the self-same moment blot from the star-span? gled banner of the Union the bright star that glitters to the name of Mississippi, but leave the stripe behind, a fit emblem of hor degra? dation." ? The Troy Times says : "A pretty good story is told of one Go v. Tilden \s staff. It is said that when the individual referred to first presented himself en militaire to his wife and little daughter, the latter, after gazing at him in wonder for a few minutes, tnrncd to her mother and exclaimed, 'Why, ma, that's not a real soldier; it's pa!'" ? Twelve persons stopped at a hotel over night. On asking their bill the next morning, they found it to be $12. The old men paid $4 each, the old women $2 each, the young men 50 ceuts each, and the young women 2-^ cents each. How maDy of each-was in this crowd? a fact Ion; settled. It never has hap Sefintor Norwood on the Louisiana Question. Senator Norwood's speech on the Louisiana question has been printed in pamphlet form, and merits a wide circulation. We quote the i concluding paragraphs, which indicate theabil ity and eloquence of the effort: The President tells the people of Louisiana, "You must obey the law." Kellogg, with "damnable iteration," like a prating narrot, re? peats, "obey the law," and Senators rise and say the people of Louisiana must "obey the law." What law, Mr. President, are the peo? ple of Louisiana to obey? In 1872 they held an election, and by the report of your commit? tee, the candidate of the Conservatives had the majority, and yet, through the order of a drunk? en judge, the government of that State was overthrown, and the President said, "You must obey the law." Kellogg usurped the governor? ship of that State, anoTthe President held him by force of arms, and said to the people of Louisiana, "You must obey the law." I have shown you to-night that they have never resis? ted a law of the United States; that they have raised no arm ; they have not even raised their voice except against the usurpation of Kellogg. Their submission has been more sublime than any heroism that was ever dis? played upon the field of battle. They have obeyed the law. They were encouraged and told last year that they should have a fair and honest election. They obeyed the law and held their election peaceably and without in? timidation, and it is conceded that the Con? servatives carried the State by an overwhelm? ing majority. Kellogg organized his returning board. A majority of twenty-nine was over? turned by that board; the Legislature was literally stolen from the Democrats, and Re? publicans defeated in the election were seated by Federal troops, and yet the President says, "You must obey the law." The Senator from New York advises them to go to work. They were at work; but, says Bishop Wilmer, without contradiction, "theft of the products of the soil became so general that production had to be abandoned." They worked and filled their coffers with money to educate whites and blacks, and the State offi? cials, guardians of these wards, stole the fund. The devotees of Bel, the heathen god, were re? quired by their king to make offerings by day to satisfy the appetite of his idol by night, and his high priests entered by night and stole their offerings from the temple. So the people of Louisiana have been plundered and robbed by the guardians of law and order for six years past, and they are now mocked in their calam? ity by the advice to make more money for the thieves to fatten on. Were I called on to counsel that stricken and deserted people, I would appeal to them in behalf of themselves and their children to bear for a brief time longer the ills they have; I would appeal to them in the name of liberty, and of forty million souls, to abide in patience the verdict of the people in the centennial year of our Republic. Their destiny is our own. If their thraldom shall not be broken, the prison wall must expand and embrace us all. We cannot live half free, half bondmen. The advice to them may seem cruel, it may be sel? fish, because they hold the d-.stiny of us all in their hands, for the flame of revolution kindled there will spread t.o the confines of the Repub? lic. I would beg them to believe that even their Existence may be home, and the deep root Of life and suffrnnce find ita firm abode In bare and desolated homes. Mute The camel bears its heaviest load, And the wolf dies in silence. Not bestowed In rain should such example be. If they, Things of savage and ignoble mood, Can suffer and endure, we of noble clay Can temper it to bear?it is but for a day. Yes, sir; I believe as strongly as I believe in the progressive destiny of mankind that the justice of the great American heart, like an angel of mercy, will go to the rescue of Loui? siana on the morning of our centennial day, and will roll away the stone which now en? tombs her. and that she will rise and come forth to walk the earth again in full commun? ion with her glorious sisterhood. Thurlow Weed on Civil Rights.?The New York Herald contains a letler i'rom Hon. Thurlow Weed, the sagacious politician ard veteran journalist, who predicts that the civil rights law will prove as egregious a failure as the civil service reform, which for the time being was a plausible and popular experiment. Mr. Weed says: I made an earnest but ineffectual effort to ar? rest the progress through Congress of a like plausible and popular, but most pernicious at? tempt to constrain "social equality" between two radically and unchangeably distinct and different races. Most of the Republican jour? nals admit that the civil rights bill, as intro? duced by the late Senator Sumner, contained this obnoxious feature, but that it had been stricken out, and the bill as it passed the House of Representatives was free from such objec? tions. This is partly true and partly erroneous. The hotel, restaurant and theatre provisions in the bill, to which I objected before it passed either house, relate distinctly to the social as well as the civil rights of the parties interested. And this will everywhere be the judicial con? struction and the practical effect of the provis? ions referred to. Mr. Sumner was a monomaniac on the sub? jects to which his civil rights bill referred. If his extreme views and measures on all ques? tions connected with slavery before, during and after the rebellion had not been met and modi? fied by his calmer colleagues, the Union would have been imperrilled if not lost. So far did the ultra teachings of Senators Sumner, Wado, Chandler, &c., alarm the Northern people in LSG2 that the Union party lost the State of New York and was almost beaten in several other States. Nothing .then saved Maine but the good sense of her Republican State Com mitte in muzzling radical speakers. But while it is true that the worst features of Mr. Sumner's civil rights bill were stricken out, enough remains to occasion widespread popular annoyance and mischief. And in all the collisions, complications and litigations re? sulting from it, those whom the law was de? signed to benefit will be the sufferers. The civil rights law will bring nothing but disap? pointment and vexation to the colored men. After a few abortive attempts to enforce it things will settle down in the old way, leaving questions of social equality to rcgulatethem sclves. The best that can be hoped for is that the law will become a dead letter. Meantime, what is most to be regretted is that the Repub? lican party will be held responsible for what? ever of obloquy impractical legislation has or may provoke. ? Dr. Barnes, when ninety-five years of age, slept during a sermon, and on being joked about it by a friend, insisted that he had been awake all the time. "Well, then," said his friend, "can you tell me what the sermon was about?" "Yes, I can," he answered; "it was about half an hour long." ? The cocoanut tree has been successfully planted in Florida, atid, ns it begins to produce its fruit in seven years from its planting, its products may soon be sent from that State to the northern markets. A Philadelphia Mystery. Somebody or something has carried terror into the hearts of a number of Philadelphia housekeepers by means of mysterious marks put upon the houses by an unknown agency. The Bulletin of last Friday contains the follow? ing account of it: The marking still goes on, notwithstanding fhe police have been instructed to look out for the markers, and are supposed to have been doing so. The mystery is very deep. One policeman up town says that he examined the front of the houses on his beat about 11 o'clock p. m., and saw no marks. In half an hour af? terward nearly every house was marked, but by whom that policeman didn't know. The marks comprise crosses, lines, death heads, figures, strokes, numbers, etc. In some instances rows of houses have been marked without a single omission. In others single houses have been skipped as if by de? sign. The general place of marking is under the bell-pull, or the bricks under the window sill. The article used is principally chalk, but sometimes paint or tar has been rubbed in. Various theories are advanced in regard to the object of the marking. The first marks seem to have been discerned in Kensington, and they were attributed to men who were go? ing about selling shoe blacking. The idea was that one man marked the house he had visited, so that the others would not go there. Huck? sters next came in for the blame, but on some streets where they always went to back doors the fronts of the houses were marked, and, of course, somebody else had to do that. Then the beggars were thought of. It is known that these fellows are in league, and generally notify each other of the treatment they receive at different houses. What had heretofore been done by words was now put into more practical shape, and by means of the signs on the houses, a "tramp" could see at a glance what he might expect. The latest theory is that newspaper carriers have caused the mischief by placing the marks on the houses. The explanation is i that by the marks trouble will be avoided by assistants, and when change of carriers take place, the difference in the character of the? I marks representing different papers. An up? town lieutenant of police asserted positively, this morning, that the carrier for the Public Record has sold his route and then marked the houses along it so that his successor could see where to leave the paper. Mayor Stokely re? ceived some letters about the matter this morn? ing, but they do not throw any light upon the mysterious subject. He didn't seem to be much troubled about the mysterious "upris? ing," but he would like his policeman to get hold of some of the markers, and thus allay the excitement. A few days will probably bring out the full explanation of the whole affair. The same paper thus editorially comments upon the mystery: The fright existing in this city in conse? quence of the presence of mysterious marks upon many dwelling-houses is even more gen? eral and wide-spread than was indicated in our mention of the matter. The marking contin? ues, and in all parts of the city nervous old ladies, superstitious servant girls and children look at the cabalistic signs and shudder to think that the day of doom is rapidly approach? ing. Meantime, with an apathetic disregard of the gravity of the impending crisis, the Governor has manifested no inten? tion to place the military under arms; the mayor has not distributed extra catridges among the policemen, and the ringleaders of this conspiracy have not been arrested. But we are not so much surprised at this as at the fact, disclosed by this panic, that there are a good many thousand grown people in this city who have not as much common sense as might be looked for in babies that have just learned to talk. The Perils of Elopement.?The folly of what may be called the Kentucky matrimonial system is just being exemplified in the Louis? ville Chancery Court. Mrs. Belle Oldham wants a divorce from her husband, to whom 3he was clandestinely married in February, 1874. She was then eighteen, old enough to have common sense, if she was ever to acquire that important endowment, and was living com? fortably, almost luxuriously, with her widowed mother. Yet she was persuaded to leave mo? ther and home, and go to Indiana, where, by his false representations, a license was pro? cured. His engagements were not kept, for he has provided her only with a mean abode, in a disreputable locality; has treated her brutally, and has not furnished her with the necessities of life. She has been compelled to apply to her mother for protection and support; hence, this petition. As the evidence is not before us in detail, we cannot say how deep are the grievances which the unhappy woman has been called upon to endure. Yet, she alleges no criminal acts on his part, except in getting a license fraudulently, and to this she must have been privy in some degree. No doubt she has found herself the loser by her rash step, yet marriage is too solemn a compact to be nullified except for the gravest causes, and such are not specified. Had they existed they probably would have been mentioned. As the case now appears, few tribunals would accord a release from the nuptial bond. One may sympathize deeply with woes, even if they are the result of folly, still, no woman of thought or judg? ment 'could anticipate any other result than has occurred, where disobedience and trickery were the means adopted to evade parental cau? tion and the wise mandates of the law. A Severe Winter.?The winter of 1874-5 will certainly long be remembered by "the oldest inhabitant" as one of the most severe in the century. One who has not noticed in the newspaper reports of the world how gener? al the cold has been diffused, is apt to think that our own experience has been an excep? tional one. But this is not true. Within a few days, says an exchange, we have published reports from nearly every part of the North American continent, showing a low thermome? ter and heavy storms. In New Mexico, the other day. a stage-driver, holding his reins, was stone dead with cold. In Arizona, semi-tropi? cal heats have given way to uncomfortable colds, and snow falls in unaccustomed places. California plains are flooded by freshets and the mountains are buried in snow. Although the overland trains have not been delayed, the cold on the Pacific railroad has been great. In Wyoming, spirits congealed in the open air, | and snow has caused much loss of life in Utah. [ The same is true of Canada. Sandwich Island J papers complain that the natives, accustomed to airy garb, are shivering in the breezes, and \ Australian newspapers make a similar com- \ plaint of their country. It has been a winter of cold in Europe, and of storms and disasters at sea. We should hope never to see its like again. ? The ghost of Noah Webster came to a i spiritual medium in Alabama, not long since, and wrote on a slip of paper. "Itistite times." j Noah was right, but we are sorry to see he has gone back ou his dictionary. About the Grangers. It has been asserted that the Grange move men is in its decadence, and that the interest which was formerly so generally felt in the Order is rapidly dying out. The facts scarcely justify the assertion. The monthly bulletin of the National Grange, dated the 1st instant, shows the total number of Subordinate Granges in operation as 22,547, the aggregate member? ship of which might be estimated all the way from 1,250,000 to 2,000,000. The number of Subordinate Granges organized in 1874 was 11,941, or about 2,000 more than were organ? ized during the six years' existence of the Order prior to the year named. The amount received during the year 1874, by the National Grange from Subordinate Granges, in theshape of charter fees, &c, was $179,005, against $161,615.43 received prior to that year. Du? ring the existence of the Order 93 Granges have consolidated, 31 have become defunct, and 111 have had their charters revoked. The cost of materials sent out to Subordinate Granges by the National Granges, in 1874, was- ?70,451.90. This data, which is obtained from a trustworthy source, is pretty conclusive evidence that the Grangers are neither dead nor sleeping, and that the accessions to this Order last year were larger than those of all previous years combined. The time must come, of course, when there will be a falling off in the number of new Granges organized, since in many of the States such organizations exist in every county, and there is no room for more. Iowa, which for years led all other States in the number of Granges, now stands No. 3 on the list, with 2,003; Missouri with 2,016, and Indiana with 2,017, preceding her. Illinois follows with 1,557, and next comes Kentucky with 1,517, and Ohio with 1,149. The Order still seems to flourish most in the Southern and Western Stales. The great State of New York has but 300 Granges, and Penn? sylvania only 482; ^ew Jersey, 86; Connecti? cut, 8, and Massachusetts but 86.? News and Courier. Good Commercial Paper.?A good story is told of a Chicago dry goods salesman, who has the reputation of being somewhat of a wag. lie recently sold a bill of goods to a country customer, who was believed to be a little shaky, and was expected to commit justifiable insol? vency as soon as he had disposed of his stock. As it was the customer's intention to pay a part of his acconnt with notes, which might prove worthless, the salesman?so the story goes? added here a little and there a little to the price of the goods, so that when the purchase of some two thousand dollars' worth had been made, of which all but two or three hundred dollars were paid in cash, there was no possibility of the firm losing sympathy, even should the notes go to protest. The tansaction concluded, the customer besought the salesman to give him a present of some sort, and the generous salesman accordingly presented him a valuable red silk pocket haudkerchif. "That won't do," said the customer; "give me a nice silk dress for my wife, or something of that sort." "Can't do it," responded the salesman; "but I'll tell you what I'll do?I'll give you back your notes." "No," replied the customer, "hold on, I'll take the handkerchief." Insurance Policies.?The New York Journal of Commerce urges upon parties who suppose themselves securely insured to exam? ine the "fine type" conditions of their fire policies. It add&: We were reminded of this necessity by a recent case in which property was destroyed and only part of the insurance could be collec? ted because, in the other policy it was stipulated that no other insurance should be made without written consent endorsed. Another case within, our acquaintance is that of an experienced and generally trust-worthy agent insuring a piece of property in two companies, and neglecting this condition, so that one of the policies was void from the beginning, and both would have been if both had contained the condition. A little extra vigilance on the part of the assured in this case enabled him to give a statisfactory auswer to the question, "are you insured?" but how many of our readers would have answered it, relying merely upon the payment of pre? mium and possession of the policy, and not have found out until burnt out that they were not insured. Or, if not a sufferer by fire, that they bad been paying a premium for the mere possession of the worthless?no matter how ornate?signatures of an insurance president and secretary? A Murderer Declines a Respite.?Maj. W. W. Thornton, of Brenntsville Va., received a letter from Gov. Kemper a few days ago stating that application had been made to him to respite Jessee Fouks, sentenced to be hung next Friday, the 19th instant, for the murder of the Herndon family, and requesting him to seethe condemned man and ascertain if he could, if such respite would be advisable. Maj. Thornton visited Fouks and held a con? versation with him, in which he reiterated his guilt, and said he thought he ought to be hung. On being informed that an effort was being made to put off his execution for a short time, Fouks said that he "did not desire it to be put off, but wished the time was nearer at hand." He prays almost continually in his waking hours, night and day, but still says that he has no evidence of his forgiveness from God for the crime he has committed. Fouks was visited on Tuesday last by a physician of Fauquier County, who requested the prisoner to give him his body after the execution, to which the condemned man readily consented, stating that it would be taken up by some doctor anyhow. He said lie cared nothing for the dody so he could save his soul. Scotch View of the Beecher Case.?The Fifeshire (Scotland) Journal, in noticing the Tilton-Bcccher trial, indulges in the following comments: "However it may end, it is almost certain that the famed minister of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, has finished his professional career. Casting aside all Moulton's and Til ton's evidence as worthless, there is documen? tary testimony enough to show that, if Mr. Beecher were in any village in Fife he would bo soused in a water-butt. We have not seen Tilton's evidence ; we have, though, read that of Moulton, who leaves the impression of being a singularly clever man. All things are possi? ble in America, and we should not wonder at the report of his bearing in the witness box? and it is lo be remarked that when he blows his nose iic is reported?will cause him to run for the J residencv. TO? are also bound to add that there is nothing like tortuousness in his very long statement and prodigious cross-ex? amination. His attitude is straightforward, and ne does not bend by a sentence." ? A man went into a drugstore and says he : "I wish you would give me some Nancy Soda." "Don't you mean Sal-soda?" said the clerk. "Wall now, I don't know but you are right; I knew 'twas a girl's name," said the searcher for Sal.