The Anderson intelligencer. (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, June 10, 1875, Image 1
HOYT & 00., Proprietors.
ANDEBSON 0. H., EL 0., THURSDAY MORNING, JUNE 10, 1875.
VOLUME X.--NO. 47.
Special Dispatch to the JS'e-xs and Courier.
President Grant Don't Want a Third Term.
Washington, May 30.
President Grant yesterday addressed the fol?
lowing letter to the President of the Pennsyl
_ vania Republican Convention:
Executive.Mansion, )
Washington, D. CL, May 29, 1875. J
ikarSir: A short time subsequent to the
presidential election of 1B72, the press, a por?
tion, of it hostile to the Republican party, and
particularly so to the administration, started
the cry of Csesarisra and the third term, calling
lustily for me to define my position on the lat?
ter subject. I believed it to be beneath the
dignity of the office, which I have been twice
'called upon to fill, to answer such a question
before the subject should be presented by com?
petent authority to inake^a nomination, or by
? body of such dignity and authority as not to
make a reply a fair subject of ridicule. In
fact, I have been surprised that so many sensi?
ble persons in the .Republican party should
permit their enemy to force upon them and
-their party an issue which cannot add strength
to the party, no matter how met. But a body
of the dignity and party authority of a Con*
vention to make nominations for the State
-officers of the second State in the Union having
considered this question, I deem it not improp?
er that I should now speak.
?"?In the first place, I never sought the office
for a second nor even for a first nomination.
-To the first I was called from a life position,
one created by Congress expressly for me, for
supposed services rendered to the Republic j
The position vacated I liked. It would have
been most agreeable to me to have retained it
until such time as Congress might have con?
sented to my retirement, with thu rank and a
portion of the emoluments which I so mnch
-needed, to a home where che balance of my
,days might be spent in p*ace and the enjoy?
ment of domestic quiet, relieved from the cares
which have oppressed me so constantly now
lot fourteen years. But I was made to believe
that the public good called roe to make the
sacrifice. Without seeking the office for the
second term, the nomination was tendered to
?me by a unanimous vote ?f the delegates of all
the States and Territories selected by the Re?
publicans of each to represent their whole
number for the purpose of making their nomi?
nation. I cannot say that I was not pleased at
this, and at the overwhelming endorsement
which their action received at the election
following; but it must be remembered that all
the sacrifices, except that of comfort, had been
made in accepting the first term. Then, too,
such a fire of personal abuse and slander had
been kept up for four years, notwithstanding
the conscientious performance of my duties to
the best of my understanding, though I admit
In the light of subsequent events many times
subject to fair criticism, that an endorsement
from the people, who alone govern republics,
was a gratification that it is only human to
have appreciated and enjoyed.
Now for the Third Term. I do not want it
any more than I did the first. I would not
write Or utter a word to change the will of the
people in expressing and having their choice.
The question of the number of terms allowed
to any one Executive can only come up fairly
in the shape of a proposition to amend the
constitution?a shape in which all political
parties can participate, fixing the length of
time or the number of terms for which any one
person shall be eligible for the office of Presi?
dent. Until such an amendment is adopted,
the people cannot be restricted in their choice
by resolutions, further than they are now re?
stricted as to age, nativity, uc. It may hap?
pen, in the future history of the country, that
to change an Executive because he has been
eight years in office, will prove unfortunate, if
not disastrous. The idea that any man could
elect himself President, or even nominate him?
self, is preposterous. It is a reflection upon
the intelligence and patriotism of the people
to suppose such a thing possible. Any man
can destroy his chances for the office,* but no
one can force an election, or even nomination.
To recapitulate. I am not, nor have I ever
been, a candidate for a renomination. I would
not accept a nomination, if it were tendered,
unless it should come under such circumstan?
ces as to make it an imperative duty?circum?
stances not likely to arise. I congratulate the
convention over which you preside for the
harmony with which its ticket has been put in
the field, and which I hope may be triumph?
antly elected.
With great respect, yonr obedient servant,
U. S. GRANT.
To Gen. Harry White, President Pennsylva?
nia Republican State Convention. .
Specis! Ditpaich to the New York Sun.
Haw Gen. Grant went for a thing he Didn't
Want.
Washington, May SI.
President Grant in his third-term letter de?
clares that he did not seek the nomination for
the Presidency in the first instance. This is
perhaps true to this extent: he never openly
went about, as some politicians are doing, elec?
tioneering for the place, and fixing the pins
ahead by making promises to certain politi?
cians ; but he cannot successfully deny tnat be
encouraged the advocacy of his claims for the
position by leading men in the Democratic as
well as the Republican party. The Hon.
Montgomery Blair has asserted more than
once, on his honor as a gentleman, that Gen.
Grant was fully aware of the movement begun
by him in 1867-66 to bring out Grant as a
Democratic candidate. Grant visited his house
almost daily, and gave him to understand that
he was entirely in accord with the Democracy,
that he had always been a Democrat, and that
the only vote he had ever given was for the
DeiEQcratic ticket in 1860. He was aware that
Mr. Blair was inspiring certain articles that
were being printed in the National Intelligencer
and New York World, and which advocated
Grant's nomination by the Democratic party.
&o iar from these articles giving ofience to
Grant, Mr. Blair declares that Grant expressed
himself well pleased with them, and in many
ways manifested his appreciation of the inter?
est he (Blair) was taking in his behalf.
"It V* true," Bays Mr. Blair, "that Grant
never in so many words avowed himself a can?
didate or expressed a desire in plain English,
to have the Democratic nomination, but he
certainly did by his manner and by his general
conversation encourage me to go on with the
work I had begun, and just as certaiuly did he
give me good and sufficient cause in the first
instance to begin the agitation."
While this coquetting was going on with the
Democrats through Montgomery Blair, the Re
Sublican leaders here began to get very uneasy,
ohn W. Forney, who then run two papers,
both daily, and was the recognized mouthpiece
of the Republican managers in this city, had
gone to Europe, leaving one of his dailies (the
Chronicle) in the charge of j. j. Stewart, of
Baltimore. It was understood at the time of
Forney's departure that Ben. Wade was the
favorite of the party managers, and Forney
left directions that while the Clironicle was not
to be committed to any candidate, it was nev?
ertheless to keep Wade's strong qualities as a
possible candidate well before the public. But
when it was ascertained that somebody was
setting up Grant as a Democratic candidate,
and it was evideqt that this advocacy was by
no means distasteful to him, then the party
leaders on the other side determined to court
him also. Mr. Stewart was instructed to culti?
vate the General of the Army assiduously, and
he did so.
Stewart had almost daily conferences with
him, and a number of leading editorial articles
written by him were printed in the Chronicle
with such captions and using the name of
? Grant in such a manner as to convey the assur?
ance to the public that they expressed the
views of Grant on the various questions dis?
cussed therein. It is a curious fact that one.of
these articles was devoted to the discussion of
the limitation of the Presidency to one term of
six years, and the incumbent to be ineligible
thereafter. In this article many of the argu?
ments which have lately been used to prove
the danger of a third term were advanced, as
the writer declares, upon the authority of Gen.
Grant, to demonstrate that a second term was
often fraught with dangers. Another of these
articles was under the caption of "Gen. Grant's
Financial Policy," and took for its text the
declaration of Grant to the writer that the only
financial policy he had was to pay the interest
on the national debt, and leave to future gen?
erations the duty of providing for the payment
of the principal. Still another was headed,
"Gen. Grant's Position on the Fourteenth
Amendment and Universal Suffrage," and it
was claimed that Grant was in full accord with
the most advanced leaders of the Republican
party on theseJssues.
Mr. Stewart asserts that not one of these ar?
ticles, and there were perhaps a score of them,
was written without a previous interview with
Gen. Grant, and a discussion of the questions
of which they treated. Mr. Stewart adds that
in almost every instance the articles after they
had been printed in the Chronicle were talked
over by Grant and himself, and received
Grant's approval.
"It is true," says Mr. Stewart, "that all the
while there was not a word said by either of us
about the nomination of Gen. Grant, but it
was so plain from his conduct that 'Barkis was
willing, nay, anxious, that it was not necessary
to formally interrogate him on this point. My
object was to find out whether he was sound on
the vital issues, and his aim appeared to be to
satisfy me, aud through me the party."
The Republican party was satisfied, and the.
Democratic politicians were disgusted by these
semi-official utterances of Gen. Grant, and
Montgomery Blair gave up his self-imposed
task of President making. In the light of
these undeniable facts the public can properly
interpret Grant's declaration on the third term:
"I do not want it any more than I did the
first."
The Greenville and Columbia Railroad?Its
Condition and Prospects!
The report of the President and Directors
of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad,
presented to the Stockholders at the annual
meeting, held in Columbia on April 26, will
doubtless be as satisfactory to the public as it
proved to be to the owners of the Road.
The earnings of the year 1874 were$591,934,
and the expenses $321,489, leaving a balance
of earnings of $270,445. As compared with
1873 there was a decrease of $39,508, or sis
per cent., in the gross earnings, and of $6,097
in the expends. This was a very suiall de?
crease in comparison with that shown in the
accounts of other Southern Railroads, some of
which have lost one-fifth of their former earn?
ings. The Down freight business of the road
shows an increase of about $41,000, and the
Up freight business a loss of $66,000. The
number of bales of cotton carried in 1874 was
131,319, and the largest number in any prece?
ding year was 107,174 in 1873. During 1874
the sum of $151,678 was spent for 1,212 tons of
new rails, 3 new locomotives and 60 new freight
ears. The equipment of the Road is still in?
complete, and the Board have already pur?
chased 500 tons of new raih, and are in treaty
for 500 tons more. The Road is threatened
with a business competition that will tax its
energies to the utmost, and it is the part of
wisdom to put it in complete order as rapidly as
its means will allow. The President well says
that business contests, in these times, are too
often to be waged with companies whose finan?
cial position, affording no nope for the Stock?
holders, consigns the direction of affairs Co
persons whose sole end seems to be to obtain
quantities of tons, not profitable returns from
investments.
The financial condition of the Company
steadily improves. Three years ago the Com?
pany was utterly bankrupt. Since then, the
past due interest has been arranged to such an
extent that no trouble is anticipated from that
source; large sums of money have been spent
in improving the property; the interest on the
acknowledged debt has been regularly and
promptly paid, aud the greater portion of the
immense mass of disputed debt, so long the
cause of intense anxiety, has been drawn back
to the control of the Company. To complete
the arrangement of the debt, the President and
Directors, in their report, asked for authority
to create a first mortgage for an amount not
exceeding $3,000,000, the bonds to bear not
more than 7 per cent, interest, and to run not
less than twenty years. The stockholders
unanimously authorized the making of the
mortgage, of which not more than $2,500,000
shall be used fW the settlement of the debt,
and $500,000 be held in trust, applicable only
to such acquisitions and additions to the prop?
erty as have been authorized and approved by
the stockholders. The Directors do not doubt
that this will be acceptable to the holders of
all classes of bonds, who will be relieved from
carrying securities whose status is questioned,
and whose value is, therefore, impaired, and.
will receive iu return bonds whose character
will be unquestioned, and whose class will
commend them to favorable consideration in
financial circles. With the means furnished
them by the First Mortgage, the Board have
great confidence in their ability to place the
entire indebtedness of the Company in a con?
dition of such strength aud soundness as to
entitle the credit of the Greenville and Co?
lumbia Railroad to rank far beyoud what it
has ever known.
Facts and results show that the affairs of the
Greenville and Columbia Railroad have been
managed with sagacity and consummate abili?
ty. It was a mere wreck, the shuttlecock of
Rings and Cliques, the victim of political ad?
venturers. No concern in the South had a fu?
ture more dark. In three years its worst diffi?
culties have been overcome, its condition is
comparatively sound, and it has a prospect of
becoming steadily and richly profitable. The
holders of the First Mortgage bonds will have
a first-class security, and stockholders will soon
begin to dream of dividends on stock which,
not long since, was little better than waste pa?
per.?News and Courier.
? - ? > m -
? A correspondent sadly exclaims, "How
can a coquette die happy?" She can't if
there's a man around, and her back hair isn't
fixed to suit her.
From the Rural Carolinian for June.
Rural Adornment as Conducive to Agricnltu
* ral Prosperity.
One of the chief obstacles in the way of per
manent and progressive agricultural improve
ment in the South, is to be found in the gene?
ral lack of all those comforts and utilities
which go to make a home more attractive; not
the useful only, but also the adornings and
surroundings, which give pleasure ana satis?
faction, and tend to attach us to the place and
five an air of permanence to the homestead,
n the intense pursuit of profit and gain, this
may seem an unimportant matter, but there is
no doubt of it. As long as there is an unset?
tled feeling?an indifference to the place we
call our home, there will be a tendency to get
the most out of the land by annual crops,
without any fixed plan of permanent improve?
ment. Rotation or crops, high manuring, set?
ting in grass or clover, raising of stock, all
these things which require time to accomplish,
will, more or less, be overlooked. It is the old
fable over again. The goose is forced to lay
the golden egg, and die. The land is scourged
to its utmost limits, with annual decreasing
profits, until perhaps both land and owner are
bankrupt together. Fortunate is such a farm?
er if he can get rid of his property at any sac?
rifice, and move away to fresher lands. *
I It has been said that the prosperity of any
rural population may be estimai'id by the com?
forts and embellishments around the home?
stead?the useful and the ornamental?the two
principal wants of our complex nature. This
of course must be taken with some qualifica?
tion in regard to a country where land is as
cheap as it is here?where there is such a con?
stant temptation to force the most profit from
it in the shortest time, aud move away to
fresher lands to repeat the process. But under
such a state of things, it is almost impossible
to have the best results of good farming.
There is the want of fixedness of purpose and
definiteness of aim which are essential to suc?
cess. The judicious farmer must lay his plans
for the future. Like a wise general, he must
inspect the forces at his command, and judge
what they are capable of accomplishing. He
must understand the obstacles in his way, and
how they may best be overcome. He must
study the quality and composition of his
soils?their adaptability to his purpose?the
prospect of prices and profits in the future.
He must submit to, and even expect some loss
at first whilst his operations are iu course of
preparation. But this is Just the case with
every other department of enterprise which
has any prospect of success. The professional
man must go through his course of study and
training for many years before Jie can look for
profits. The merchant begins as a clerk, or at
least with a heavy outlay of capital, w?tb ex?
pectations of a fortune only after many years
of labor. A system of high manuring, look?
ing towards the permanent and constantly im?
proving condition of his land?the sowing of
grasses and the raising of stock, all require
time before they can yield the best results.
The plan must be laid out, and kept in view,
and everything must be made to work towards
the desired end.
Now, uuless there is a prospect of perma?
nent ownership, a feeling that it is to be our
home and that of our children, there will be
but little inducement to devote the full meas?
ure of our energies to its improvement. But
let us once realize that tbe place we occupy is
so much capital to be increased, and a home
where we are to spend the remainder of our
lives, a new motive power is at once added to
our exertions. We naturally 6et a greater
value on those improvements we have made
ourselves than those which are made for us,
just as the maker of a fortune is more careful
of it than he who inherits it.
If by a slow and toilsome process?toilsome,
and yet continually carrying with it its own
reward and gratification, we surround ourselves
with all the comforts and luxuries which
should attend a rural life?the orchard and
vineyard for our supply of wholesome and
luscious fruit?the garden furnishing its varied
stock of vegetables through the year?the
dairy, with its daily supply of milk and but?
ter?the stock of cattle, hogs, sheep and poul?
try for our table, we have secured a rich source
of contentment and satisfaction, whilst at tbe
same time these very enjoyments will stimu?
late us the more to give permanent and in?
creasing value to the surrounding fields from
which we are to derive our maiu subsistence.
It is to this view of tbe question that I would
earnestly call the attention of our Southern
farmers. Under the old system of large plan?
tations and a single staple crop, there was but
little inducement, and less time to think of
these things. Cotton was the one absorbing
thought; and the planting, cultivation, and
preparation of che crop for market occupied
most of the year. Now this is all changed.
Smaller farms and a more concentrated system
are actual necessities. If we are ever to be?
come a thriving agricultural community, we
must adopt this "intensive system" more or
less. With it should go hand in hand the im?
proving of the homestead. Tbe two motives
act and react upon each other. If the ties
that bind us to the home are stronger, they
urge us the more to improve the arable lands.
If these are increasing in value, they encour?
age us to add the comforts and conveniences
which should belong to a permanent home.
When there is a feeling of settlement for life,
there will come a fixedness of purpose and a
constancy of effort to make permanent im?
provements not only for ourselves, but for those
who are to come after us.
But whilst we provide for the rueful, we need
not neglect the ornamental. Whilst we must
give to the necessities of life the first conside?
ration, we know that there are other wants
which have their origin in the higher sphere
of our being. We have a composite nature;
and the spiritual needs no less than the animal,
its own means of gratification. There are oth?
er and higher wants than those of mere "crea?
ture comforts." As soon as man emerges from
a savage state, he begins to feel the cravings
after something beyond his mere animal de?
sires. His sense of the beautiful in nature
begins to develop itself, and finds gratification
in the wonderful works around him. As he
rises in the scale of civilized life, these cra?
vings increase, and their development becomes
a necessity. They find vent in the fine arts?
in music, painting, statuary; or in the study
and admiration of the marvellous works of na?
ture?in gardening and rural adornment. In
the rudest hut on the way-side, the single,
flower pot at the -window tells the story. To
those who live in the country, the invitation
is constantly before them, aud the opportuni?
ties are always at hand. If we neglect them,
we throw aside a means of gratification, which,
beyond all others, is pure and elevating to our
moral nature. In beautifying and adorning
our homes, we minister to those higher feelings
of our naturo, wihich bring peace, contentment
and satisfaction, and furnish a fit and proper
repose and relaxation from tbe more arduous
labors of the field.
H. W. Ravenel.
? Begin nothing until you have considered
how it is to be finished.
"Dine Earlier and Eat Less.9'
This was Abernethy's advice to a woman who
consulted him about her stomach. She was a
heavy eater, and was especially fond of night
suppers, comprising many dishes, all so highly
seasoned as to secure a new sensation to the
palate even after the appetite for food had been
satisfied. Then, to increase the desire and the
ability to swallow food, she drank wine and
other stimulating beverages, and was thus able
to cr.owd down a tremendous mass of miscella?
neous material. Of course, the stomach tried
to take care of the load, in the ordinary way.
It strove to digest it. It put forth all its pow?
ers and drew upon its best gastric resources. It
demanded from the blood more gastric juice
with which to dissolve the inordinate mass. It
labored long and earnestly, but without avail.
Its plea for help adequate to the great burden
imposed, could not be met. Natural digestion
was impossible, because the mass was not only
too. great, but because it is not chiefly composed
of digestible material.
How were the contents of that misused stom?
ach disposed of? They were parcelled out and
got rid of, after a fashion. The alcohol in the
wine was absorbed at once into the circulation
and was presently evolved from the lungs.
Of course it was a great comfort to get rid of
this irritant, and if no other irritant- had been
present, and the stomachfrbad been less com?
pletely gorged, digestion 'could speedily have
been accomplished. But under the circum?
stances, about the only thing to be done, was
to allow the mixture to ferment, and, after oc?
casioning from twelve to forty hours of misery,
to be evacuated in an undigested form, leaving
the stomach and alimentary canal all the worse
for the transit.
Abernethy's injunction to dine earlier and
eat less, was a sound one; but, as it will be
seen, it did not touch the whole evil. Aber
nethy was a wise man in many respects; but
he is said to have got drunk now and then, in
spite of the severity of his strictures upon those
of his patients who indulged in excessive eating
and drinking. He was an advanced thinker,
and had he lived to-day, he would probably
have added to his "Dine earlier and eat less"
direction, these words: "And see to it that
you avoid wines and spices and all stimu?
lants."
It is very difficult for the average human be?
ing to eat moderately, if many kinds of food
are eaten. Each has its own peculiar flavor,
and the palate is tickled an .i gratified by being
invited to partake of one after another, even
! though the stomach ha:, been meantime suffi?
ciently burdened. If some biting, heating sub?
stance is swallowed, such as wine or brandy or
spice or pepper, a sensation is imparted, which
is mistaken for appetite, or craving for food,
and the person appears to feel hungry. But
this sensation is wholly artificial, and cannot
be safely acted upon. This heatand false hun?
ger can be kept up by stimulants until the
stomach is distended to its utmost limit. It is,
in fact, often kept up until vomiting super?
venes, and in such cases relief comes with little
delay. If vomiting does not follow over-eating
?as it does not once in a huudred times?the
slow and tormenting fermentive process is
about the only recourse left, and every dyspep?
tic knows how wretched this process can render
a human being.
Perhaps the silliest thing in life is to expect
to give the overworked stomach strength
through medicine. It would be altogether iun *
ny, if it were not so serious an affair, to hear
medical men gravely suggest iron and bitter
tonics and ales, for the relief of persons who
complain that their food distresses them. The
truth is, that all the iron of all the mines in all
the world, all the bitters that were ever brewed
from alcohol herbs and roots, all the tonics that
were ever fabricated; all the ales which were
ever made from hops and malt and muddy wa?
ter?never could and never will cure a single
case of dyspepsia. All these things irritate the
stomach, just as they would irritate the eye if
great care were not taken to keep them out of
the eye. They do harm always, because they
lessen the power of the stomach for healthy
work.
The true way to be happy in the possession
of a stomach is to forget that there is such an
institution. Here lies the trouble. The stom?
ach will not let you forget its existence, unless
you deal reasonably with it. If you sit down
to a dinner of several courses, the chances are
that you will eat too much. If you barely taste of
a dozen different articles of food at a meal, you
probably give the stomach more to do than it
is capable of doing; The temptations to eat
largely are immense when the articles are nu?
merous ; and a small amount of each single ar?
ticle makes up a formidable aggregate.
We have heard of an old gentleman who ear?
ly became a dyspeptic by the use'of stimulants
and over-feeding. He ran the guantlet of
"remedies," but got no relief. Finally, he re?
sorted to one meal of good, wholesome food
each day, and was cured. Not a twinge of dys?
pepsia for nearly twenty years I
We do not advocate one meal a day for dys?
peptics. But we do say that we ordinarily ex?
pect our stomach to do more than one day's
work in a day. We give it more food to digest
than it can take care of. If we could let it rest
at night, while we are resting, it would be a
grand thing; but late dinner and suppers in?
terfere with this. The result is that we wake
up with a general feeling of lassitude and nau?
sea, or headache and want of appetite for the
early meal. It would be otherwise if we took
our heartiest meal not later than two o'clock
in the afternoon and afterward fasted till morn?
ing. We should find ourselves great gainers
in comfort, in sweet sleep, in bodily vigor, if
wo would eat not more than two kinds of food
at each meal, not oftener than twice in twenty
four hours, and let the last meal of the day oc?
cur so long before retiring, that digestive labor
need not be demanded in the hours set apart
for repose.?Hall's Journal of Health.
Tomato Culture.?As the majority of per?
sons esteem tomatoes, aud no garden is com?
plete without them, the following hint as to
their culture is in^ place, and first, strong and
healthy plants can only be had by good, strong
land. The plants should not be allowed to
waste their strength by running to vines, and
by pinching the tips good fruit will be the re?
sult. Trellises should be given the plants, for
if allowed to lay on the ground the fruit will
be inferior in size and not so abundant. Trel?
lises can be made in a variety of ways and
with but little trouble.
? "The best rule," says a wise writer, "is to
say all the good we can of every one, and to
refrain from saying evil, unless it becomes a
clear mattter of duty to warn. Slander is a
sin much worse than theft. We should no
more bite one with our words than v/ith our
teeth. An angry word is worse than a blow
often, and a satirical word is like a sting."
? Many definitions there have been of a
gentleman, but the prettiest and most pathetic
is that given by a young lady. "A gentleman,"
says she, "Is a human beiag combining a wo?
man's tenderness with a man's courage."
? A veteran shopkeeper says that although
his clerks are very talkative during the day,
they arc always ready to shut up at night.
The Duty of the Grand Jury.
The duties and responsibilities of grand ju?
ries are much more important than commonly
supposed. In these present times, it seems to
be the general impression that all the grand
jury has to do is to pass upon the bills handed
to them by the Solicitor or Attorney General,
visit the jail, and, with lightning speed, look
through the various public offices, and conclude
their labors by making to the Court what is
called a presentment, in which general and
vague terms only are used, pocket the money
for their jury tickets, and go home. This is a
great mistake, as will be readily seen by ana?
lyzing the terms of the oath which they are
required to take:
"You shall diligently enquire and true pre?
sentment make of all such matters and things
as shall be given you in charge: the State's
counsel, your fellows, and your own, you shall
well and truly keep secret. You shall present
no one for envy, hatred or malice; nor shall
you leave any one unpresented for fear, favor,
affection, reward or hope of reward; but you
shall present all things truly as they come to
your knowledge according to the best of your
understanding. So help you God."
Passing upon the bills handed out by the
State's attorney is the simplest part of the du?
ty of the grand iury. The witnesses are all
furnished to hand in these cases, and all they
have to do is to call them in their regular or?
der, until all have testified, or until they are
satisfied the charge has been made out. But is
this all ? By no means. Only such cases are
made out and handed to the grand jury as are
instituted by some prosecutor, who has com?
menced proceeding either because he regards
himself wronged personally, or because of ill
will towards the accused; but what is to be
done about that large class of offences, gene?
rally of the gravest sort, in which no particular
individual is directly or personally interested,
and which because it is everybody's business
is nobody's business? It is clear that unless
somebody or some officer brings such cases to
the attention of the Court, offenders of this
class will go unwhipped of justice, and this
class of crime will rapidly increase. In our
opinion, it is the duty of the grand jury "to
diligently enquire and true presentment make"
of all such cases. Then upon their present?
ment it will be the duty of the State's attor?
ney to frame and give out a bill, either at that
or some other Court. All their enquiries and
investigations are secret; every ?member hau
sworn not to divulge what is going on in the
grand jury room or elsewhere; they shall pre?
sent no one for envy or other dishonest motive,
nor leave any unpresented through fear, favor,
affection, or reward or hope of reward, but
shall present all things truly, according to their
best judgment. The grand jury now serve for
a whole year, so that their labors and investi
gations are not confined to the sitting of the
Court; but they may make their investigations
between Courts, that is "diligently enquire,"
whenever it suits their convenience, ana "true
presentment make" at the next Court. They
hold their office for one year, while some other
officers hold for two and three year%. What
they caunot do at the sitting of tbe Court,
they may do during vacation, as a body, or
they may refer the investigation to a commit?
tee of their number.
But our object in writing this article is to
impress upon the grand jury the duty*of not
waiting for the Solicitor to bring bills of in?
dictment before them, but to euquire into all
violations of the law themselves, and present
all the facts, with the names of offenders and
witnesses to the Court, so that bills of indict?
ment may be given out and the guilty parties
punished. If each member of the grand jury
in his neighborhood would make a minute of
all violations of the law coining within his
knowledge?such as selling liquor without a
license, and offences committed by trial justices
and constables, in failing to do their duty, or
making overcharges for fees, &c., and report
the same to the whole body at its next meet?
ing, the grand jury, scattered as it is all over
the County, would soon become a terror to
evil-doers, and crime would be greatly lessened
throughout the country. The class of crime
from which our State has been suffering, almost
unto death, ever since the new regime, and
from which it is still suffering yet, is that very
prevalent class of corruptions, defalcations,
and stealings in all sorts of ways, committed
by the public officers. As a general thing, no
particular individual is personally interested,
to such an extent as to induce him to make
the necessary investigation preparatory to the
institution of a prosecution, and hence steal?
ing goes on. Officers are getting rich upon
their ill-gotten gains, while the people are be?
ing taxed to death. We repeat that it is the
duty of the grand jury to investigate this class
of crime witlrout waiting for any indictment to
be given out; and, if necessary, it is their duty
to pursue their investigations throughout the
whole year, either as a body, or by a commit?
tee. This course is being pursued in Charles?
ton and almost all over the State.?Kingstree
Star.
A Case for Allowances.?I have been op?
posed to slavery ever since I sat on my father's
knee, and was taught by him that slavery was
the greatest possible wrong; but when, in New
Orleans, last Wednesday, I for the first time
saw negro legislators, I was unpleasantly star?
tled. What, then, must have been the feelings
of men who saw blacks but lately their own
slaves preferred before them for office, set over
them in authority, making laws for them?and
making them very badly at that?openly plun?
dering the State, bribed by rascally whites, and
not merely enjoying, but, under the lead of
white adventurers, snamefully abusing place
and power? Even in 1874, iu one of the
Northern Parishes, the republican candidates
for sheriff and parish judge could not write.?
The negroea on many parish juries (supervisors
of counties) are totally illiterate, yet they have
complete power over the parish taxes, roads,
bridges and all county matters. Negro juries
are called to sit upon intricate cases of com?
mercial law and other matters which even in?
telligent men find it difficult to understand;
and the black man himself has, it would seem,
an instinctive appreciation of the absurdity of
this, for it is notorious that a negro criminal
always asks his counsel to get a white jury, if
possible, to try him.?Charles Nordhoff.
Popular Fallacy.?Perhaps the worst
popular fallacy with regard to newspapers is
that generally entertained that newspapers
ought to be printed and published in the inter?
est of the community?particularly the indi?
gent portion of the community. Churches,
poor houses, asylums and all sorts of charitable
enterprises run to the newspaper for gratuities,
as a child runs to its mother for help. Politi?
cians, office-seekers and scallawags generally
count on the unpaid support of the newspapers.
Now a newspaper, to be worth anything as a
business enterprise, should be printed in the in?
terest of its proprietor?just as much as the
merchant should run his business in his own
interest alone. This popular fallacy has been
largely bred by the establishment of party and
personal organs, that live by begging support,
and other newspaper mendicancy.
A Leaf from the History of Reconstruction.
Mr. Robert Dale Owen contributes to the
June number of the Atlantic Monthly a scrap of
political history, which affords a singular flW
tration of how great event may hinge upon tri?
fling incidents. In his article, which he enti?
tles "Political Result from the Varioloid," he
explains how a slight attack of that disease,
from which the late William Pitt Fessenden,
of Maine, suffered in the Spring of 1866, chang?
ed the whole complexion of American politics
during the past nine years, and is apt to exer?
cise its influence for many years to come. The
story is very curious and interesting. At the
time indicated, says the Charleston News and
Courier, Mr. Fessenden was Chairman of the
Committee or Reconstruction in the Senate,
and Thaddens Stevens was Chairman of the
Committee in the House of Representatives.
The two committees were very frequently in
joint session, and, in addition to other matters
connected with the reconstruction of the late
Confederate States, had the question of negro
suffrage under consideration. Mr. Owen says
that he proposed to the Committee an amend?
ment to the Constitution, providing that no
class of persons should be denied the right of
suffrage "because of race, color, or previous
condition of servitude" after July 4,1876. The
idea of the proposition was that the negroes
would be given the ballot in about ten years
from the date of the ratification of the amend?
ment, and on the Centennial of American In?
dependence. Mr. Owens asserts that his sug?
gestion was favorably received by. very many of
the prominent and influential Republicans, in?
cluding Henry Wilson, Conkling, Boutweli,
Washburne, Thaddeus Stevens, Mr. Bingham,,
of Ohio, and the then Senator Howard, of
Michigan. All the Republican members of the
committee agreed to it, and the amendment,
substantially as submitted by Mr. Owen, was
adopted in committee on Saturday, April jfy,
1866, and ordered to be reported to Congress on
the following Monday. Mr. Fessenden was
kept away from this meeting of the committee
by his illness from varioloid, and it was sug?
gested that, as he was Chairman of the Senate
Committee, it would only be courteous to defer
final action until he could be present. Nobody
but Mr. Stevens thought there would be any
harm in waiting a day or two, and the commit?
tee adjourned over. He was inclined to object
to the postponement of an important measure
on a mere formality, but he thought that objec?
tion would come with a bad grace from him as
Chairman of the House Committee, andjaccor
dingly he remained silent. That loss of a few
hours was fatal to the amendment. The senti?
ment of the committee and the nature of the
proposed legislation had leaked out, and the
timid Republicans at once brought to bear up?
on the committee, a pressure for the suppres?
sion of the report. Negro suffrage was in those
days too advanced a position for even good Re?
publicans to occupy, and the end was that the
committee report never saw light.
In this way, we are told, the hesitation of
the Republicans in Congress, who were afraid
of negro suffrage ten years hence, secured it
seven years sooner than was contemplated by
Mr. Owen's proposition. The effect of Mr.
Fessendcn's illness was to postpone the pro?
posal of the suffrage amendment till February
26,1869, and then it came in a form that gave
the negroes the ballot immediately upon the
ratification of the amendment.
Home Conversation.
Among home amusements the best is the
good old habit of conversation, the talking
over events of the day, the bright and quick
play of wit and fancy, the story which brings
the laugh, and the speaking the good and kind
and true things, which all have in their
hearts. It is not so much by dwelling upon
what members of the family have in common,
as by bringing each to the other something
interesting and amusing, that home life is to
be made cheerful and joyous. Each one must
do his part to make conversation genial and
happy, We are too ready to converse with
newspapers and books, to seek some compan?
ion at the store, hotel, and club room, and
forget that home is auything more than a place
to sleep and eat in. The revival of conversa?
tion, the entertainment of one another, as a
roomful of people will entertain themselves,
is one secret of a happy home. Wherever it
is wanting, disease has struck into the root;
there is a want which is felt with increasing
force as time goes on. Conversation in many
cases is just what prevents many people from
relapsing into utter selfishness at their firesides.
This conversation should not simply occupy
husband and wife, and other older memoes* of
the family, but extend itself to the children.
Parents should be careful to talk with them, to
enter into their life, to share their trifles, to
assist in their studies, to meet them in the
thoughts and feeling of their childoood. It is
a great step in education, wheu around the
evening lamp are gathered the different mem?
bers of a large family, sharing their occupa?
tions with one another, the older assisting the
younger, each one contributing to the enter?
tainment of the other, and all feeling that the
evening had passed only too rapidly away.
This is the truest and best amusement. It is
the healthy education of great and noble char?
acters. There is the freedom, the breadth, the
joyousness of natural life. The time spent
thus by parents, in the higher entertainment
of their children, bears a harvest of eternal
blessing.
The Largest Farm in the World.?This
is rather a large claim to make, even in this
country where real estate lies around in par?
cels of considerable size, but according to the
St. Louis Republican it may be fairly applied
to the estate of Geo. Grant, founder of the Vic?
toria Colony in Kansas. His farm embraces
the whole County of Ellis, is largerttban any
dukedom of Europe, and contains 576,000
acres. Mr. Grant devotes himself principally
to stock raising, and has accomplished a great
deal by the introduction of the best blooded
stock and exhibiting the best methods of rear?
ing, feeding and improving the foreign and do?
mestic breeds of horses, cattle and sheep. He
has just wintered 7,000 sheep, with a loss of
less than one per cent, the secret of his success
lying in providing good shelter. He is the
owner of the thoroughbred stallion, Flodden,
valued at $25,000, the father of which won the
Derby race in I860. He has just purchased
for his farm thirty odd brood mares in Ohio,
Virginia and Kentucky, and he has $250,000
invested in stock. Among the large number
of resident colonists and stockraisers who have
purchased land of him, and are now raising
stock in Victoria Colony, are many young men
of prominence, both in this country and Eng?
land. The Hon. Walter Maxwell, younger son
of Lord Herries, of Everingham Park. York?
shire. England, owns two sections, and is com?
fortably settled down to the healthful life of
the ranchero. Then there are three bachelor
sons of a Derbyshire clergyman, and the
nephew of the Earle of Winchelsea, who is
now on his way from England to take up his
home there.
? A flow of words is no proof of wisdom.