Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Niiws & rriivo^s. issuui) kvkky saturday MOUNlNCi uy the ?itANurimno x i:\vs com can y; 15K0; ImldVKK, business Manager, tenns of Subscript ion. One Copy one Year.$2 00 " u ?SVj.- J.'oii'A?. 1 00 Hales of Adverlising. One. Square 1st Insertion.$1 HO J?tch Subsequent " . 1 00 Notices inserted in Local Column at 20c per Line. All Subscriptions and Transient Advertise ments to be paid for in Advance. b'?V>"' No ileeipt* Jor Snbs'erijjilini >r Adver tiscHtenis <tre Valid unless Signed by Unsincss J^fduagcr. r;.v AVf are io on way responsible l?>r (he views or opinions of our Correspond eiits. "SAtURD?^ MARCH 2't, 1377. No news of any importance from "Washington opto going to press. Judge A. 3. Knowllon for U S. Dis'rict Attorney. Congress will meet again tlu 1st of June when President Hayes will he called upon to nominate a suitable and proper person for the United Slates District Attbrneyship for South Carolina, Mr! Stone's nbiuiiia li; n having been twice rejected by the Sehnte. As Ihcofiicc should be filled by a man thoroughly identified with the interests of this Slate and at the Mime time holding- views in harmon ious sympathy with lite lleforin policy of the President, wc place be fore ihe public for the position the name of Judge Augustus B. Knbwl ton, foincrly a prominent member of the. New Y'ir.? bar, but who, since 1808, has been practising law in South Carolina' and is now one of the leading members of bur legal fraternity. .lodge Knowlton was the oidghatbr of the Hayes and Hampton move ment in the last campaign in this State, having, sometime previous to the election, published a strong letter supporting the idea, and is a gentle man of'undisputed cid (lire and refine ment; Jlis knowledge of the'law is extensive while he speaks fluently Bcyoral languages. Judge Know I ton, although a Republican, has, by his gentlemanly bearing and scholarly al lainmc als, eiijoy? d ihe confidence anil esteem of our entire people through every campaign he engaged in in this Stale; and while s'.urnping for Hayes and Hampton in the last contest, made many lasting friends and admir ers. Iiis appointment to ihe position of United Slate Di.-trict Attorney would bring honor to the office and do credit to l\u\ com!. If President JI ayes ready means to give us accep table Bcpublicans where they can be found to Ii 1 F( dcral oflicos in the Stale, bore is a chance for him to make gootl that promise. Judge Know!ton will be agreeable to both parlies and we trust that his friends will succeed in convincing ?4ho President of the wisdbiu off-ending his name into tin Schale when it meets in June. Notwithstanding the laetthal Win. Stone's name was placed be "ore the Senate twice for confirmalibn as United States J>istret Attorney for S ..ih Carolina, lie failed of success, and his name goes over to the next met tin;: of Congress. This announce ment will make our citizens breath easier. Stone is hot only objection able as i\ man but is also incompe tent for the posit ion; His suborna tion <d'\\ illnesses to make out a case against the whiles in the Hamburg idas.-'acre, damned him for ever in the i-ycs of all fair-minded men of both parties. He not only aided in carry ing tut the dauuiablc conspiracies of tic wiley usurper, I hantberlnin, but was actually more active, if possible, against the good name of Sou ill Oaro Iina', than that mas.er soundrcl was. Stone is thotighly obnoxious to our citizen-; and is not lit to ho township constable. -?.Jk V 'I hose who come to you to talk about others are the ones who go to others (o talk about you. Solicitor Jl.tlz returned from Wa hint-ton on Monday last. He is ?aul to be in J' amplon, itV0i" of Clovctnbr THE LAST PROP GOES DOWN I Judge ItvccI Itociues That Chamberlain is not ijJovcriior. Wade Hamilton Klcetcd anil Duly Inau gurated Governor According to tlio Constitution?Tlia Jury-hist Selected Uli tibi' the .Sham Authority oi" Cliuiii kcrJain Declared Irregulur and Void? The Prisoner fly tin, held Under a Wnrrunl from oiia of tha Sliiim Trial Justice ?, Released hy Order ol the Court?ICnd of the Chamberlain Usur pation in Chnilesloii and Qrriii?j hurg Counties. ?Judge Heed file' on Tuesday last his dceis inn in the Fiyiill habeas cor pus case, which we print below. This decision establishes Hampton's Gov ernment in Orangeburg and Charles ton Counties. Any process hereafter issued by a Trial Justice appointed by ( hambcrlain will be ?illegal and should bo resisted : ICx I'arlc ,/amcs I'V//hri-llabcas Corpus. Tbc rclator slates that "be is ille gally detained in the custody of one Win. F. Dover, of the City of Char leston, and prays that a writ of ha beas corpus be granted to bring him heforo the Court, that the cause of bis detention being son an 1 known, such proceedings may be bad therein as are agreeable to law and justice." The writ was accordingly granted, but before it was delivered, W. F. Dover appeared and slated that the rclator was not in bis custody, bill bail been committed by him to the Jail of Charlesloh County. Where upon it was ordered that the writhe directed to J; IT. Symmcs, a deputy of the sheriff, the sheriff himself be ing absent from the Slate, and keep er of t he Jail, who made the follow ing return: ' I hold the prisoner by commitment of AY. F. Dover, trial justice, charging him with assault with a deadly weapon, which com mitment is herewith submitted. Sign ed C. (.'. Bowon, S. C. C' The rcla tor by his counsel, insists that he is illegally detained because W. F. Dover, upon whose warrant he. was arrested and by whom he was com mitted, is not and was not, at the j date of the arrest, a trial justice, and had no lawful authority to order his capture or detent i in. The object ol ibis proceeding is to induce a recogni tion of one of titc two persons' claim iii?i to be flovcrhbr of the State, and is the first case involving directly the qiit stioh as lo who is Governor that has arisen or b e:i argued on this circuit. Hitherto the opinion has been hold by tho C itirt, acqtiies j i'cd id by the Bar, an 1 the practice as far as practicable conformed there to, that the public weal would be best conserved in this jurisdiction by preserving the status ana until a de cision should he made by some au thority that would bo generally re cognized throughout th 3 country as settling the question. Bui, pending such anticipated settlement, there have been so many adjudications di rectly ami indirect y by Judges on other circuits, and by the Justices of the Supremo Court, that a recogni tion by this Court of the influence they arc entitled to as contributing lo a final determination of the con troversy is imperatively demanded ami, on account oi' the conflict of as sinned official authority, cannot be safely delaycd longer. To this end the case before the court has been brought, and although a circuit de cree can have bat li'tlo influence in determining who is Governor, it must for the I.me being settle local con llieiing claims to official rccognit on, mid lend to the harmonious working of the judicial system ordained for the prescrvnlion of the public peace and the protection of persons and property. Having heard argument lor the first time, and on but one side of the question, I have deemed it proper, so far es a very limr ed op portunity permitted, to give it such consideration as its importance de iiiiiuCcd, und I now proceed to state, bricll.y-the conclusions I have arrived at, from a review of the facts before me. and the law applicable thereto. By tin- net of February, 1873, 15th Mtttule, o5*>, it is provided ttiat"the Governor do npppoint, by und with the advice and consent of the Senate, live tiiril justices for tho City of Char leston," which number was reduced lo four by the act of March, 1870 I till: Statute, 153. Upon inspection of the commission of W. F. Dover, ' which was produced in court, it ap pears that bo was appointed to the office he claims on tho 3d of January, 1877, by D. II. Chamberlain, styling himself Governor of South Carolina, it is denied by the rotator that Mr Chamberlain was then Governor of ho State, and insisted that, by virtue of the election held o;i the 7th of November, 1870. and 61 proceedings had in the General Assembly and the courts, Circuit and Supicmo, subse quent to that date, Wade Hampton is, and was, the lawful Governor, and alone authorized by law to appoint trial justices. 'flic Constitution in Section '2, Ar ticle 4, provides that "the Governor shall be elected by the electors duly qualified to vole for members of the House of Representatives, and shall hohl Iiis office for two years, and un til his successor shall be chosen and qualified," and in Section 4 ol the same Article it is declared that " he person lott ing ///<; highest n-tmbcr of coles shall be- Governor,'' and that * * * "Contested elections for Governor shall be determined by the General Assembly." There arc other provisions, iti the same section directing how the result of the election shall be ascertained and declared, but I regard them of form merely, not of substance, cxc'ud iug other modes under all circum stances; and it lias not been pretend ed, so far as I am informed, that a neglect of du:y, or tin improper or fraudulent discharge of the duty im posed on them, by any of the officers through whose hands the ballots or returns have to pass, can vitiate the election and defeat, cither the express cd wi'd of ..he electors o>* the right of the person having the highest number of votes. .An election for G.overnor of this Stave was held, according to law, on the 7th November last, tit which Wade Hampton and Daniel II. Chamberlain (the incumbent) were the candidates, and on opining tho returns of the cojinty eonvass.-rs, which cannot be gone behind, (see the Report of the Presidential Electoral Coin mission in the case of Florida,) except by a contest as prescribed by the Constitution. It was ascertained as is in proof before (he Court, and has never, to its knowledge, been de nied, that there, were in tbp ballot boxes a majority of 1,134 votes for Wade I la nip Inn. This would seem to have set*led the question, unless a contest, had been made before the General Assembly, as provide 1 for by the Constitution, and there was no contest, lint, ncvertlielesi; the qu-.ili (ictttibn of (he person elected was necessary before he could enter up in the duties of tho office, and in the meantime the incumbent would have; held over under tho Constitution, if he had elected to do so. Did he do so ? When the General Assembly met in Coulumbia in November lu<t the members of the lower House divide.! into two sections. One of these, con sisting of a less number than a lawful quorum of. the House of Representa tives, as had been previously adjudg cd by the Supreme Court in the case of Morion, Bliss it Co. vs. the Comp troller general?-1th S. (J. Reports, 480?proceeded to organize by elect ing E. W. M, Mac-key Speaker; whilst the other, containing a lawful quorum, including certain persons who, it was charged, secured their election by fraud tin I violence, but who having been returned by the county canvass ers as receiving the highest 'number of votes, were primtt facie entitled to their seals, was organized by (he elec tion of W. II. Wallace as speaker. On the 5th of December, 18715, E. W. M. Mac-key, in the presence of the Senate, whose Organization was regu lar, and of the body over whom he I had been chosen to preside, sty'in g: themselves the House of Representa tives, proceeded to open the election returns winch had been delivered to huh by the secretary of State, and j after throwing out, upon motion, the entire vote of two counties, without protest or investigation, upb n ascer taining the result in the other ooun- j tics, made formal declaration that "D. 11. Chamberlain had received a majorly if the whole number of votes cast, nnd was duly elected Governor of Smith Carolina for the ensuing two years." Previous to these proceedings a resolution which was still pending had been introduced in the Senate, as appears by its journal, calling in question tho legality of the organiza tion of the House, with w hieb they were then acting; and on the same day the question as to which of the two bodies that had been organ zed as stated was the constitutional Hotueof Representatives, was submitted to the Supreme Court in the case of ex rcl. W. II. \y all ace against U.E. Hay tie, secretary of Slate, and E. W. AI. Mackey. On the next day, Gth De cember, a decree was rendered arid published by that tribunal, deciding that the body over which W. II. Wal lace had been elected lo preside as Sieakcr was the legal House of Representatives of the State ot South Carolina, and lliutE. W. M. Mackey, claiming to bo Speaker, was a private individual, hot amenable tin the man datory process of tho Court. Here again; without reference lo what had gone before, it would seem the contro versy should have been regarded as ended. That d cisioc, from the mom cut it was made public, was the su preme law, which all pcrsous were bound to respect and yield obedience lo. And yet on the following day, 7th December, 1876, with a full know ledge, as must be presumed, of all these facts, Mr; Chamberlain, in pur suance of the declaration of.his dec lion by 1C.W. M, Mackey, who had been adjiiCgcd to be a mere private citizen, appeared before the body of citizens over whom ho was presiding, the Senate being present, took the oath of ofiice ns-Govcrnor, was in tail ed in the tistml form, and entered up on the duties of a new term, as was 'manifested by his acts, and in sub stance announced, in the opening sent cnec of his inaugural address. By suffering himself to be thus in stalled for a new term, not withstand iug it was as hi3 own successor and without regard lo the illegality of the body he appeared belbre, I am of opinion, from the analogies of the law, that be abandoned tho constitu tional right lo hold over until his successorhad qualified; and, in the language of Lord Souicrs, iu King James's case, "disowned and abdica ted" his foimcr ofKcc, to all intents and purposes, and was thereby estop ped forever after from questioning bis own deliberate act. Bigelow on Estoppel; 502; Bank U. S, vs. Leo, 13 Peters, 118; 5th Crunch, Cir. Ct., p. 3*20; Vermont vs. Society for Pro pagation of Gospel. 2 Paino, 310. If this bo true, Wado Hampton, who had been elected by a majority of the votes cast, * would from that moment, upon taking the oath of office, have been Governor <h: /'acta if not tie jure without regard to any formal declaration or installation. But has Hampton at any time, been lawfully inducted into office and is he now Governor tie jure of tho State of South Carolina ? On the 13th Deceit) her' 1070, the body which had ad judged by the Supremo Court to be tlio Constitutional House of Keprc sen Iii lives as is in proof, beforo me. | senl a formal notice t<> the Senate, w hich was placed in the hands ol* the presiding olHccr, who for aoihc unex plained reason failed to publish it. that they would nu the next day, 14th December, at 2 P. M., proceed to open and publish the returns of the election fur Governor. Tho Senate did not attend as a body on that occasion, but a number of the members were present, and a-* the notice was pub lished in the journal of the House for that day.it is fair to presume they j all had actual notice, as they certain ly had of the illegality of iho House they had beforo been acting with. At the hour appointed the returns, which were sworn transcripts from duplicates of the originals which were withheld from them, obtained from the offices of clerks of tho court where th y arc filed by constitutional direction, and also a certificate and statement ol the votes enst from the ofliee of the secretary of State, ns taken from the originals, were ope nod and ex a mi lied, when it was ascer tained that Wade Hampton had received a majority of 1,134 votes, as before stated, whereupon he was formally declared Governor of the State of South Carolina. On the same day bo was duly qualified and entered upon tho duties of the office, which he has contincil to discharge so far as permitted by surrc undiug ad verse circumstances, up to tho pre sent time. It has been stated that the returns used by tho lawful House of Representatives in ascertaining and declaring the result of the elec tion for Governor, were transcripts from duplicates filed in the offices of of clerk of court, and it docs not ap pear whether any effort was made, by process of attachment or otherwise to compel tho persons claiming to bo officers of what is popularly known as tho Mackey house to deliver tho orig inals. It is possible that by such a proceeding, which was legitimate and proper, after the decision of the Su promoCourt had determined tho law ful House, the primary evidence of the election might have been obtain ed, which would have avoided ono of the objections "raised to tho de claration of Hampton's election. If suppose, however, that tho state of J affairs existing in Columbia at thi time was a sufficient excuse for re sorling to secondary evidence, aud therefore justifies th i action taken. However that may be,' I do not rje. gard it as affecting the result. The transcript of duplicate returns, with the official certificate of the secretary of State, although secondary evi dence, was, it may bo presumed, the best that coul I be had, aud I am of opinion was sufficient under the terms of tho Constitution. And so, too, with regard to the presence of the Senate at the openiong.of the returns. If not actually, it must beheld to have been construe ivoly ? projrtt. Otherwise, after the recognition of the lawful House by the Supreme Court, it would have willfully ignor ed a plain constitutional duty, there by giving sanction to a great wrong, and tending to defeat the will of the electors as expressed through the ballot-box, which would have been repugnant altke to good law and good morals. To enforce n right or prevent a wrong the law will, as to details and mere matters of form, presume that, to have been done done which ought to have been done. I am of opinion, therefore, that Wade Hampton was made Governor in and over the State of South Caro lina, through the ballot-box, in ac cordance with the Constitution, at the election held on the 7ih November last. That he qualified, if not follow ing the letter, in the spirit and intent of the Constituti >n on the 14th De cember last.. That he has been since that time, and is now, the lawful Governor of South Carolina, and should be obeyed and respected ac cordingly. It follows from these views that D. H. Chamberlain was not Governor on the 3d January, 1877, the dale of the commission of W. F. Dover as trial justice for the City of' ( harleston, and that his appointment and commission were without lawful authority and void. It is, therefore, ordered that the relator, James Flynn, be .^ischargcl and go hence without day. J. P. ItKF.D. March 20, 1877. Judge R; kd's Intkiu'K etation of His Own Decision. In an informal conversation with the le^al reporter of the Xctcs ami (luuricr, last evening, Judge R cd very decidedly slated that if any of Chamberlain's trial jiislioe-s attemp ted in the faceot bis d-jcisibn.?.?? make any arrests, they should be dealt with as assailants who committed assaults on their own responsibility. The Judge further stated that he had no idea that the jailer would receive any of the bogus justices' prisoners, and that if he did, he did so at the risk of punishment for false imprisonment.? AVrtcs uii<l Courier. Governor Hampton and the Judges. One of the papers submitted to the President by the Hampton Committee sets forth the fact that the entire Judiciary of the State, with but two exceptions, have received and receipt ed for their salary from the Comptrol ler-General aud Treasurer, and in so doing recognized Ocncral Hampton as Governor. The cxceplions were Judges Wiggin and Carpenter, both of whom have recognized the Hamp ton Government in other forms. 'Ihe following are copies of the re ceipts, with a statement of Comptrol ler-General Hagood attached, ex plaining the circumstances, &c: Office Act'u Comp. Gek., axt) treasurer, January 20, 1877. Received of Jonson Ilagood, Act ing Comptroller General and Treasu rer, three hundred aud four 91 TOO dollars on account of my judicial salary. T. J. Mackey, $304.9i, Circuit Judge. Office Act'ci Comp. Gen. and Treasurer, January 20, 1877. Recivcd t f Johnson Hagood, Act ing Comptroller General aud Treasu rer, two hundred and ninety-one (h3-100 dollars on account of my judicial salary. $201 G6. T. H. Cooke. Office Act'a Comp. Gen. February 23, 1877. Received of Johnson Hagood, Act ing Comptroller General and Trcasu rcr, two hundred and ninety-one 6G-100 dollars on. account vf aij official salary as judge of Third <*3r cuit. 8291.66. A. J. Bhaw. Office Act'g Comp. Gek. and Treasurer, February 23,1877. , Received (of Johnsen Hagood, Act ing Comptroller General and Treasu rer, five hundred and eighty-throe C3-100 dollars on my judicial salary. $583.63. J. P. Reed. Office Act'g CoMr. Gen. . ^ and Treasures, January 30, 1877. Received of Johnson Hagood, Act ing Comptroller Geueral and Treasu rer, two hundred niuety one *66-100 dollars on account of my .judicial salary. C. P. Towns end, $291.66. Judge of Fourth Judicial Circuit. Office Act. Comp. Gen. and Treasurer, Jnuuary'20, 1877. Received of Johnson Hagood, Act? ing Comptroller General and Treasu rer, two hundred and ninety one 66-100 dollars, on accouut my salary as circuit judge. 8201 G6. L. C. Northrop. Columbia, February 13, 1877. I hereby assign to Carolina Nation? ul Bank my quarter's salary as associate justice, ending 1st February inst., being eight hundred and seventy-five dollars. 8875. A. J. Willahd. (Indorsed,) Carolina National Bank, by C. J. Iredell, Cashier. Columbia, February 11,1877. For value received, I assign and transfer lo C. J. Iredell my quarter's salary from November 1, 1876, to 31st January, 1877. as chief justice of the Supreme Court of South Carolina, the ntnot nt being one thousand dol lars. F. J. Moses. (Indorsed) C. J. Iredell, Cashier. Coli mbi.%, S. C, Junuary 20, 1877. Thii Canjd roller General and T.ea*nr*r of' iSV?/h (.jt/eolina : Please pay to Mr. E. J. Scott ?fr Son . two hun.bed and niuety-ona * 56* 10U dollars, on account my ju H.'itit sit'ery. J. J. Whiuht. Received, 20. h January, 1877, amount of above draft, of .Jnhiuoiit Hagood, Acting Comptroller Gen erat and Tien-iircr of Sooth Carolina. $291.56. Edwin J. Scott tV Sox. Office of Acrino ComrrttoLi.k? G en EU * i. an T?EAStth ku, South Caiu-lina, Columbia, .March 13, 1877. I hereby certify that the foregoing are copies of vouchers on file in my office *for pa.'men Is on account of salary to six of the e'ght circuit judges of the State and to the three members of the Supreme Bench. I also certify that the vouchers for the three supreme judges (differing in form from the others) were so drawn in the cases of Judged Moses und Wright, after a personal confer-jnea by each of them with me to know if I would pay them in that shape, and in the case of Judge Willard, that I put his voucher iu tho same shape without consulting him. The varia tion iu the form of receipt? given by the judges of the S ipreme Court was because Judges Moses and Wright s( ated to me that they did not desire to draw directly from the Hampton government while tho case involving i?s title was pending befor them. Johnson Hagood, Acting Comptroller Gcuernl and Treasu rcr of South Carolina. The avemues leading to an earlj gravo have often been opened by a cough or cold. Thousands have beets cured and saved by Dr. Bull's Cough Syrup.________ NEW GOODS AT Cornhill Crackers, Fruit Crackers. Lemon His2uit and Graham Wafer*. Orange Marmalade, Broma Chooolate. Cox's Gelatine Knelish Piccalilli. Choice Hyson and V Ilvson Te*. Roasted ColTee (try it,)" And a full supply of First Cipro FAMILY GOODS My fitock of DRY GOODS (belnjr re plenished) Lady's and Mcn'a StrawHate, Parasols, etc., etc., will be sold as Low M Cosh purchases will allow. As usual tho beat assortment of TOBACCO on hand. J. A. Hamilton Russell Street next to Comelson's. $5 TO $20 PER DAY AT Home. Samples worth $1 free SUmon ? Co.* Purlhjud, Mane,