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I?11( 1131 1 ESTAB3LISHED 1865 N~EWBERRY. S. C.. TUESDAY, FEBRUA)RY 16. 1904. TWICE A"'YEEK. S1.50 A YEAR THE WORK OE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY LIVELY SCENES IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Discussion Incident To Report of State House Investigating Com mittee-Other Matters. Columbia, February 15.-The chief interest of the people of the State in the legislative session for the past several days has centred in the dis cussion incident to the report of the joint committee to inspect the work of the completion of the State House and the actiorlpto be taken by the gen eral assembly with reference to that report. There were lively scenes in the lower house following the pre sentation of a memorial from the old <01LAnission for the compietion ol the State House, asking for a hearing, aad during a heated discussion the lie was passed by two members. To Enter Suit. The two houses have agreed on a concurrent resolution ordering that appropriate legal steps be taken to re cover from Frank P. Milburn, the architect, and McIlwain, Uukefer & Co., the contractors, "as much as pos sible of the damages the State has suffered through their misconduct and breach of contract, and such other legal redress as may seem to them to be advisable:" The res,olution pro vides for the appointment of one sen ator and one representative to direct said litigation, with power to employ counsel, provided that the compensa tion of such counsel shall not exceed 25 per cent of the amount received in said suits. Why Special Counsel. It was urged in the senate, where the resolution originated,- that the at torney general was the proper officer to take charge of the suit, but Sena tor Manning, while expressing the greatest confidence in the present at torney general, mentioned the fact that he was the assistant attorney general to Mr. Bellinger, who was a member of the State House commis sion, and that it would be best for all concerned should other counsel be employed. Tfie two houses have not yet agreed on the manner of giving the commis sion for the completion of the State House the hearing which they de manded immediately after the report of the legislative committee was made. The house has agreed to have any statement which the commissiorf de sires to.make printed and placed on -the desks -of the members, while the senate has adopted a resolution pro VA'ng that a committee of five, twc senators and three represenEatives, be appointed to hear the commissior .and to take testimony. The twc bouses may get together on the mat ter today. The members of the old commissior held a meeting in Columbia on Thurs -day morning and adopted a memorial -to the general assembly stating thai they had been done a manifest injus tice by the legislative committee, "as it willingly or unwittingly or unfairly condemns our acts and the work ap -proved by us without giving us ari -opportunity to be heard and even re* fusing to allow us a hearing. Many of the allegatives of error and in -competency are easily explained. Cer' tain conclusions couM~ not and would not have been drawn had available evidence been hearo. Above all, we feel that an impressio. that musi necessarily,.result from the tenor and terms of the report, would not exist if we were allowed the opportunity tc be heard." WVherefore, the commis sion prayed that they be given a hear ing and that their evidence and reply to the report of the committee become a permanent record of the genera assembly. The memorial was presented in the houLse by Mr. Aull and in the senate by Senator Talbird, who also present ed resolutions providing for a join -cmmittee to hear the commissior and to take their evidence. These resolutions. as already stated. have been adopted by the senate. while the house has adopted a substitute pro viding for the printing of such state ment as the commission may desire to make. The Lie Passed. The presentation of the memorial in the house led to a lively sensation. The lie was passed by members and for a while there were lively scenes. When the memorial had been read Mr. J. 0. Patterson. member of the investigating committee, declared it to be a duty to himself and to South Carolina fo'r him to make a statement. The General Assembly is conversant with the matters which led up to the appointment of the investigating con mission, the members of which real ize the gravity of the trust placed upon them. They had done their duty honestly, fearlessly and conscientious ly. The commission had all been friends of his and it had been an un pleasant duty. The investigating com mission had not been charged with the duty of extolling or blaming the members of the building commission. He referred to the cards in the State of Wednesday. in which Mr. Bellin ger and Mr. Gantt complained that they had not been treated with proper consideration. The complaint is that Ithe State House commission had not been invited before the building com mission. Why should the members of the latter commission be summon ed when they themselves could - not agree? In reference to the statement of Mr. Bellinger that he had been denied the privilege of coming before the commission, Mr. Patterson de clared it was a case of misunderstand ing. which he regretted as he and Mr. Bellinger had been personal friends for a score of years. On the night of January 7 Mr. Bellinger had threaten ed that, in case the joint commission should attack the building commis sion. he would take the matter to the Legislature. Mr. Patterson declared that he regretted very much that a casual conversation should hayve been misunderstood, as he had told Mr. Bellinger that should the report be in the .nature of an attack he would in sist upon the members of the building commission being given a hearing. There was no formal demand, and the statement he made to Mr. Bellinger was conditional. The joint committee had thought it a waste of time and money to bring here the members of the building commission. The inves tigating commission had employed a Government architect and had in spected the building carefully. He regretted that the building commis sion had felt aggrieved. The-. arc honorable men, and if their confi dence in those whom they employed was misplaced, it is a misfortune to the State of South Carolina. Mr. 'Williams made a straightfor ward statement that the terms of the memorial do not contain a true state ment 6f facts. The joint commission had never refused to give audience to any member of the building com mission. The architect brought here to inspect the work had been given no suggestions. The investigating commission had not reflected upon the building commission. It had sim ply stated the facts as they had been found. Mr. Rawlinson declared that it had not been the purpose of the commis sion to reflect upon the building com mission. The latter had not asked to come before the joint committee. The architect and contractor had been asked to appear and had not done so. Mr. Aull declared that the building committee had been very severely criticised, and, as an act of justice, they should be heard. Mr. D. D. McColl, Jr., of Marlboro. declared that never in his life had he been given more pleasure in enidors ing a public action than he has in endorsing the action of ths. '-vesti gatng commission. He thought its work should stand. Its members arc honorable men. -Mr. WV. J. Johnson, a member of the Stat House buildin:: committee, de clared t:1. it had not been his inten tion to speak upon this question. for the latiguage which he would like to apply to the report would not be par liamentary. Mr. Williams and Mr. Rawlinson plied Mr. Johnson with questions to find out if the latter had been denied the privilege of coming before the commission. The moment was ex citing. when Mr. Rawlinson began to approach Mr. Johnson. but the Speak er rapped the members to order. Mr. Johnson declared this report of a committee, which sat behind closed doors. to have been a damnable insult to the State of SouCh Carolina. In reply to Mr. Patterson, he said that there had been no division in the building committee,. except for one dissenting member, who had been permitted to be with the investigating commision. "Why not the other eight? They are honorable gentle men, all of them. and any statement to the contrary is an infamous lie." Mr. Williams: "Do you mean to apply that to the members of the joint committee?" Mr. Johnson: "What I have said I have said." Mr. 'Villiams: "Do you mean to apply that to me? It is very easy for you to say." Mr. Johnson: "If the cap fits, wear it. Just wear it." Mr. Gaston made the point of order that the discussion was all oit oi or der. Mr. Mauldin. in the chair. ru-ej that the memorial is a mattecr for Chs (-ssion. Mr. Johnson, continuing, said that the joint committee was no more fit to pass upon the Government architect's work than the bitilding commission vas to pass upon the work on the State House.- Mr. Johnson continued by saying that the damnable -ugges tions in the report were~ absciute falseho.ds. Mr. Williams. rising very calmly from his seat as Mr. Johnson con cluded. and pointing his finger at Mr. .Johnson, said, with deliberation: There was nothing in that report to charge members of the commission with collusion to rob and steal, and whoever says so is a liar." Mr. Johnson sprang up and made some inaudible remark, which caused the sergeant-at-arms to come between himself and Mr. Williams. Mr. Aull at this' point introduced a concurrent resolution to have a committee appdinted to take thi tes timony of the members of the build ing commission. Mr. Williams introduced a resolu tion to hav, testimony taken by the same committee. Mr. Gaston thought it unwise to act upon these resolutions when the House was in excitement. He want ed the memorial and resolutions re ferred to one of the standing commit tees of the House. This motion was adopted by the House, and the mattei' was disposed of. After the debate was over Mr. Wil liams stated: "I desire, Mr. Speaker, to apologize to this House, not to any individual, for the language which I have used." Mr. Johnson subsequently apolo gized to the House for the use of un parliamentary language. The Immigration Bill. The house on Thursday after spend ing nearly the whole day discussing it, redommitted the bill to establish a department of ingnigration. The bill had already passed the Mird reading in the house. Mr. Lide moved to re commit, because he did not see the justification of establishing a new State office. The bill provided for the spending of more money. Mr. Bomar favored the bill. There was no expenditure of a little money that promised better results. Mr. Banks opposed the bill. After a great deal more discussion the bill was recoin nitted by a vote of 55 to 49. On Sat urday the committee to whom the bill w's recommitted submitted an tin favorable ieport. which points to the failre of the measure at this ses sion. Newberry's Levy. The various county levies have been fixed, the state levy being five mills, as usual, and the constitutional three mill levy for schools was imposed, Newberry's levy for ordinary county tax was fixed at three mills. making the total eleven mills. but on a show ing from Supervisor Schumpert and Clerk Hinter and others it will be reduced to two and one-half mills, naking the total ten and one-half. The house has sent the general ap propriation bill to the senate and has passed .he two supply bitis. The gen cral appropriation bill was passed by the house practically as recommended by the ways and means committee, the disposition seeming to be to let the appropriations remain at what they have been. There were various unsuccessftl aztcnipi to cut down the appropriations for the State col lcges. The Dispensary Again. The senate has discussed at length and has passed and sent to (he house the Brice hill allowing counties tc out dispensaries with an amen I ment that those counties which vot against the dispensary shall not re ceive any of the profits accuring tc .he schools from the dispensry innd that a tax of one-half a mill sha'l be levied in those counties which htvt 11o dispensary for the purpilse of ca: .Ing out the law. Ten Circuits Bill. The senate has been discussir.g thr bill for the creation of additional ju dicial circuits. Several such measures as is known. has already been killed I in the house. and it is now too late tc accomplish anything at this session but a resolution has been passed that it is the sense of the senate that.somc relief be had in this matter and thal additional circuits are necessary There are two bills in the senate pro. viding for new circuits, and as'was th( case in the house, it seems impossible for the senate to agree on any one measure. The senate has killed the bill re quiring the stopping of bicycles ol automobiles or the approach of ve hicles drawn by horses. CANNON FIRING. Ten Thousand Chinese Regulars Mas. On Manchurian Frontier For Service on Border. Chefoo, Feb. 14.-A steamer arriv ing here from Port Arthur report! that heavy firing was heard in the straits of Pechili at midnight. Chinese Regulars on Border. Tientsin, Saturday, Feb. 13.-Ter thousand Chinese regulars have beer ordered to leave Paotingfu- for ser vice on hte Chili-Manchurian border. Big Loss to Japanese. Nagasaki, Feb. 14.-Six Norwegiar steamers chartered by a Russian na val contractor have been captured The vessels are the Lena, Activ, Seir stad, Argo and Hermes. . They car red coal cargoes. The Hermes ar rived here today under convoy of cruiser. It is rumored 'that I,Soc Japanese soldiers have been killed presumably by the sinking of a trans port. Disturbances are reported pro' ceeding in Seoul. Askold Sank in Thirty Fathoms. Chefoo, Feb. 14.-Passengers whc have arrived at Port Arthur say the Russian cruiser Askold was damaged in Tuesday's battle in the roads out side of Port Arthur, but was kgpi afloat until Saturday, when it sank it thirty fathoms. Other Captures Made. Seoul, Tuesday, Feb. 9.-The Japan Iese fleet which entered Chemulphe last night escorting transports cap tored one Russian volunteer warshii and two steamers in the open sea. Japanese Have Closed Harbor of Por IArthur. London, Feb. t5.-The Tokio cor respondent of the Times, cabling un der date of February 14, says: "it i ssaid the Japanese squadror 'IN TERRIBLE EARESThESS. RUSHING UPON AND KILLING JAPS. Mikado Landed 6oo at Talienwan-400 of Them Sabered by Russian Troopers. London, Feb. 15.-The Daily Mail's Port Arthur correspondent under date of February 12, says: Official advices state that the Japan ese landed 6oo soldiers near Aalian wan with disastrous results, 41o be ing sabred by Cossacks. The re mainder escaped to their ships. It is further stated that the Japanese landed at Dove Bay, where thirty of them were killed and the remainder retreated. f From Chefoo it is reported that 12, ooo Japanese troops landed at Dove Bay last Wednesday morning and that they were met by Russians who en gaged them in a hand-to-hand fight. The reports say the Japanese were driven back. It is also reported that Japanese troops have been landed 40 Imiles further west. Mysterious Squadron. Tokio, Feb. I--The Vladivostok squadron has . c been reported to Iday. It is unknown whether the squadron returned to Vladivostok or effected a passage into the Pacific. An unverifled report says a foreign war ship was seen off Maizura naval sta ton. The Japanese are not specially concerned over the naval situation as they feel confident that they will soon dominate the sea. There is no fear of the Russian in tercepting the Kasaga and the Niasin or effecting a junction with the Port Arthur squadron. The Russians pos sess no naval bases except those at Port Arthur and.Vladivostok, and the latter may freeze up and bar the re treat of the squadron. Despite Russian assurances mini mizing the damage sustained by Ad miral Togo's attack last Tuesday at Port Arthur, the Japanese are certain that the Port Arthur fleet was severe ly crippled. Admiral Togo's fleet was not se verely damaged and was capable of fighting another battle immediately afterward. The battleship Fuji was the most serious damaged. Withdraw als for rcpairs from the Japanese fleet will not materially reduce its fighting strength. Lieutenant Commander Yamanaya, a gallant and promising officer, was the most prominent of those killed on the Japanese side at Port Arthur. has sealed Port Arthur." London. Feb. 15.-There were a number of belated telegrams reaching London from the Far East last night, but they added little or nothing to what is already known regarding the situation there. The mystery sur rounding the fate of the Vladivostok squadron is still unsolved. The Daily Mail, the- Daily Tele graph and other papers publish dis patches from Tokio, Nagasaki and Shanghai reporting the destruction of three Russian cruisers by mines or torpedoes in the Tsugaru strait off Aomori, Japan. The Daiy Mail, w ~hich at first described the news as official, in a later telegram, says the report still lacks absolute confirma tion. In the absence of confirmation, the reports are not generally credit It is reportcd from Tientsin that all foreigners and civilians have been ordered to leave Port Arthur. It is Ialso reported that the Siberian rail road has been wrecked in six places, covering a distance of 70 miles. The correspondent at Tientsin of the Standrad, cabling under date of Feb. i, says the British, American, French, German and Italian ministers have jointly notified the Russian and Japanese authorties that no hostilities will he allowed o Chinese soil other thn that of Manchuria.