Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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I I l ,IlK'~~ VO I.MANN( LAIE~O CLNY S ..WDNS)A.NO E ERI~MEN.N. 9 AT THE' H E 'T T 1T A. A Pe:i-tnent Orgniz..Tijo--' - L s-d of the Generna l e:a' in Detail. The State Yauner& Conv in met in Agricultural Hall, Colum'bia. onTu day, the 9th inst., and was ealied to order by Capt. 1. R1. Tilbnan, of EIgc field. Capt. Tillman 'cn p'roceeedi to rd an address of w.hich the (oum'a i ter mates the following y Capt. Tillman stated fhiat ehig to having been cdied upon froviny to speak throughout the state tile pst tuu mer, he had acquired somewmti a faei ty for extemporancous spe a ing, but that as he could not follow his suOject with that force of statement and logical sequence that he observed in his writ ings, he would not attempt io, addrces the Convention extemporancon y. .de therefore, had written an addrss, ani would read it before the Convention lie then read the address, which, to begin with, alluded to the suc wi which the effort to organize fari ' move mert ',.: met, uotwithstanding the op position the undertaking had received from the beginning. That oxpoition came usually from those who had fast to the public teat, and it was U' tuml for! them to squeal when they felt it shppizg from their teeth. [Applause He sad, however, that desnite the c.6d water thrown on the movement it l e a success and world result in nbounded benefit to the agricultural interests of the State, which, he was sorry to confess,, had gone down year by year until the situation was appalling. The orgauiza-| tion of the farmers would unite them, and by their meetings and the decious I plans'they would certainly dWvise the gloom would be dispelled and the agru culture of the State be put on a hea1thy footing. If nothing else the n:.thods of our agriculture would be chainged anu; something done to avert absolite un. The farmers, he stated, were ground to powder between the millstones of West ern competition on the one hau' ana borrowing money at a high o interest with which to make their cr;s on the other. The organization of thi farmers would go far towards remedying that, mighty evil which threateni'. to over whelm the agriculture of this mtate. It had been charged, he said, that the farmers' movement was a plcal oue. but it had no more polities in it than tne farmers of the State had a rigut to ab similate with it. He himself was opp to mixing politics with the me emen..t if 'he farmers could get their rights, out it, but the farmers now L' tenued to right their wrongs, and that w:s all they asked. [Applause.: The polical fe. tures of the movement were to all atten tion to the needs of the far-uers aud place the situation as it is before those in authority. He felt pretty sure that their demands would be heeded, and in case they got what they watted they would be satisfied, but should they not receive the relief they ask at the proper hands they would rise in their might and take what they wanted. , Applause. 1 He thought, however, that they would get all they asked, and stated tlat as one res alt of the movement numbers of members had been elected to the L-gislature, pledged to their ideas of reforu. The principal thing the far''ter asked was the reduction of the taxes whic burden him, and the adoption of a less expensive system in condiucting the gov ernment of the State rIney wanted abolished all onicees whiceh had been established for old fossils and broken down gentry, and he oredicted that something' in this line~ would be done when the Legislature meets. [Applause.j He protested that his remaarks east no reflection on present incuabents, but were intended to call attention to useless ofices now existing under our govern ment. Hie advocated the total divorce of the Agricultural Department from politics, and wants it placed in the hands to which it properly belongs, namely, practical, experienced farmers. The demands of the farmers were that the Agricultural Department, belonging by rights to them, should be turned over to them. [Applause.] He maintained that farmers were intelligent enough to manage their affirs, and that if the leauing men im the ranks would come to the iront and consult they would not have to go to lawyers to know how to get their politics and be told how to vote. The establishment of an Agricultural College, said he, would go far towards giving educated farmers to the State, and would disseminate thet scientifi and practical knowledge wl .i the State so much needed. He remarked that he had a letter from General Stephen ID. Lee, in which the Gerneral informed him that a college similar to the Agricultural Col lege of Mississippi would cost, exclusive of the grounds and experimental farm, $100,000. Captain Tifllman believed that the $30,000 raised from the privilege tax on fertilizers and the fund arising from the land scrip~t, in addition to a small appropriation from the State, would be ample to support the college and h ave all the work 'done that is now done by the Agric1' Department. In conclu.' a lie urged conservatum upon the farmers in their demands, and expressed his confidence in legislation to remedy the evils they complain ot. It these wrongs were not righted they would be on hand two years hence. and] see that they would not be bamboozled in the next choice of oilicials. [Al plause.]i Mr. J. B. WVatson ot AndCers~on noun nated Senator W. J. Talben, of l'dge ield, for temporary presidenit ihe bein the cauicus nommnee: and that gentlemuan was unanim'ously elected by acclamation. Mr. Talbert took his positon at ta Reporters' table and brielly returned hi thanks to the Convention. Messrs. J. T. Duncan. of Newberry and W. P~. Addison, of Abbeville, we unanimously elected secretaries. Capt. Tillman now moved that uw r of counties be called anid th::t the eUa r man of each delegation -announce tio names of those sent to the Conventii from his county, and that such nia::. be enrolled as delegates. Adopted. The enrolmlent toapiued some ti No credentiaus were submitted. Ti i contie of Aiken . Barnwell, Becaufort est*7er'ii Georgetown, liorry, Haipf iin and Yoirk were untere exnted, and 1Uin was oIly represented b0v one alter n:i-. 1~ehlndl had a larg c d g'ation, and Clarhston one above the average The enirohlunLt lau1ted until 1.15 P. M. When it hmd been comlaleted 3ir. Shlcil, of Laurens, said that a nonber of _qd.eit were absent at the Fair and he tihaecfore prioposed that after selecting a c.mmittee on credentials the Conven tion take a recess until 8 P. "I. MIr. ISels motion was carried, so amended that the Convention should reconvene at 7.:;0 P. 'I. \ir. Wari, of Laurens.moved that the Lhair apoint a icmb;Zer from each eountyt toserve on the credentials com 11ittee. Mr. Fishburne, of Colleton, *ecured the adoption of an amendment p*rviding that each delegation elect its own committeeman, and in this shape the resolution was carried. The following members coustituted the committee : Abbeville, A. W. Jones, Anderson, J.*A. Hall; Berkeley, J. W. L. Clement; Charleston. G. L. Homes; Chester, E. P. Moore; Colleton, L. E. Parker, Clarendon. j. E. Tindal: Dar iington, W. E. McKnight; Edgetield, B. 1. Tillman; Fairfield. Samuel IcCor miek; Greenville, H. G. Gilreath; Ker shaw, G. W. Mosely; Lexington, Isaiah Haltiwanger; Laurens, J. 31. Hudgens: M.arion, T. C. Crawford: 'Marlboro, J. B. Green; -Newberry, H. H. Folk; Oco nee, J. .1. Keith; Orangeburg, F. 1). Bates; Pickens, H. C. Shelly; Richland, J. H. Kinsler; Spartanburg, H. L. Far lev: Sumter, A. R. Sanders. Unon, Tohn P. Thomas: Williamsburg, H. A. Eaddy. At 1.310 the Convention took a recess, and the committee on credertials, with Dr. J. E. Tindal as chairman, began its session. Nigtht msin The Convention was called to order at 7.:0 o'clock. Dr. Tindal, of Clarendon, moved that he temporary organization 'oe made per nanent, and that afterwards the consti tution be a-.opted and permanent officers e elected under it. Capt. Tillman spoke for this substitute, and it was carried. The temporary officers having been made permanent. the constitution for the Farmers' Association of South Caro lina was then read by Col. E. T. Stack house, of Marion. A gentleman from Wiliamsburg moved to vote on it by ections. but by a vote of 34 to 31 the onvention refused to do so. Capt. Tillman statet that he and Col. stckhouse had prepared the constitu .ion, but he said he had no objection to maving its sections voted on separately. Lhe Convention adopted the constitution s a whole, as follows. r4-1u4': We, the farmers of South C- :olina, Cnvention assembled, recognizing the visdom of the saying that in unio there is strength, have determined to form an organization for our mutual >rotcction and benefit. Its objects shall be the promotion of dll branches of agriculture and the in-: guration of a more rational and remu nerative system of farming. . hese ends are to be secured by organizing agricul ural clubs throughout the State to meet and discuss the situation, and then bring the intluen.e of the organized farmers to i bear upon the State governmen t so as to obtain protection against fraud and im position, and to secure that fosterig. care so imperatively demanded by our languishing agricultural interest. While we shall as much as possible eschew politics, legislation which affects the farmers injuriously or overlooks them entirely will be our first care till a remedy be had. We claim the right to do this as citizens and taxpayers and invoke the.assistance of all classes and professions in securing reform in our government and in placing our agricul tural interests on a more secure and prosperousifoundation. To this end we have adopted the following : AnTLE I. This Association shall be known as the Farmers' Association of South Carolina. Anr. II. The officers of this Associa tion shall be a President, seven Vice Presidents-one from each Congression al District-a Secretary and Treasurer and an Executive Committre of nine one from each Congressional District and two at large-all to be chosen by the members of this Association at th'e annual meeting in November, and to hold their offices for one year, or until their successors are duly elected : provi ded, that the Executive Committee hold their oflice one, two and three years, three being elected annually. The first committee shalil determine by- lot the length of their respective terms. Aar. III. The President shall have a general supervision of the afl'airs of the1 Association ; shall preside at its meet ings, preserve order, and regulate its discussions according to ordinary p~arli amentary rules, and shall be ex officio a member~ of all committees. In his ab Thne one ot the Vice-Presidents shall TeSecretary shall attend all meet ings of the Association. keep a record of its proceedings. as also those of the Executive Committee, and attend to the correspondence. The Treasurer shall receive and keep an account of all funds, and pay out the same by order of the President, counter signed by the Secretary, making an an nual report of such receip~ts and expen - ditures to the Association. Ajir. IV. The Executive Committee shall have the general management and control of all business of the Association, shall prepare and issue a programme for its annual meetings, and make all needed arrangements therefor. They shall take whatever steps they may deem proper to secure the organization of farimers' clubs in evecry County of the State, every Tow1nship if possible, and until this is done they may appoint organizers to do tAn. V.i The regular annual meet igofthe Association shall be held iu thityo Columbia the second Tues day in' November. anid speciad mieetings m iiT be called by the Executive Commit tee whnen d-emed necessary. AnT. VI. Each Couinty Centra: Farmers' Association shall lbe entitled ti. ive rep~resentatives, who shall 1, elected by said Associations at their Oc. tobe-r ntietings in each year. W.here hi organizationi exists a mass meeting io farmers may elect delegates, but ti shall onlv be aVlowed once, .s the valiu of this asocidion will depend on its permlaneVnt character,. Eah Cow ty Association shall deter niue for Otle q I -lietions of it members, d sladl:neet at least four times a year, ind the% snal not charge more than ifty cents per :ihber for an nUal duc:. The Governor of the Siate sIall be ex oficio an honorary member of this Association . ART. VI1. There shall 1 a standing conunittee of one for each County, elec ted by its delogation imnediately after the orga-ization is completed, to whom all resohtjions or Lusincs propositions are to be reflrred without debate, and this comiluittee 5hdla2 preplare business and be e dr powcred to make such recoi miendatious as it shall see fit, to be acted i upon by the Associatien. Ar. VlI. This constitution may be altered or amended at any annuall meetiug b a vote of two-thirds of the members present. We also adopt the following: First. The President shldt app oint all committees, unless the Association shall determine otherwise. Second. The Exceutive Committee may till :ll vacancies occurring in any A1lce, as also in their own number, until the next annual meeting. Third. Elections for officers shall be by ballot. Fourth. A fee of five dollars shall be paid annually by each County Associa don sending delegates, and the delegates Erom no county will be allowed to vote ntil this fee is paid. Fifth. The regular order of business ;hall be: 1st. Roll call and enrolling delegates. 2d. Reading minutes of last meeting. id. Correspondence. 4th. Report of special committees. 5tn. Report of standing committees. ath. Unfinished business. 7th. New business. Sixth. These by-laws may be altered, imended or suspended by a two-thirds ote of the members present. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. The election of otlicers followed. Mr. [Boyd, of Darlington, nominated Capt. B. R. Tillman for president. Capt. riuman said that he felt that he could lo more for the cause he had at heart by serving in the ranks or in some other :apacity than in the presidency; he. :herefore, begged to dceline. MKr. Farley, of Spartanburg, nomi iated Mr. ). K. Norris, of Anderson. A lelegate nornminated President Talbert, :ho declined. On notion of 3r. Fish Jurne, the Chair east the unaiimous ote of die Convention fo- 'Mr. Norris. Lhe announcement of the vote Wasi' 'reeted with hearty applause, which was esumed when Mr Norris was escorted xo the chair by Messrs. lloyd, Tillman md Tindal. On taking the chair MIr. Norris ex )ressed his high sense or the honor which iad been conferred upon him in his election to preside over so representa ive a body of South Carolinians. It: vould be t'he privilege of the members; f the Convention, as citizens, to con sider the th.ings that afi'cted them as yitizens, and looking to their interests as Igriculturalists to advance them without mntagenizing other interests. It would je their duty to consider as farmers and :0 suggest to the General Assembly neasures for the relief of the farming nterests. They had gone to the practi !al walks of life for a man to fill their ,hair, and with a knowledge of his in xperience he relied upon their indul genee of his shortcomings as an officer. The other officers elected were as fol ows: Vice-Presidents-Col. R. S. Bedon, >f Colleton, for the First Congressional District; Hon. W. J. Talbert of Edge deld, for the Second District; Capt. Joel Beard, of Oconee, for the Third Dis trict; G. W. Shell, of Laurens, for the Fourth District; WV. A. Ancrum, of Ker shaw, for the Fifth District; Gen. E. T. Stackhouse, of MIarion, for the Sixth District; Dr. E. J. Rembert, of Sumter, for the Seventh District. Secretar-J. T. Duncan, of New berry. Treasurer-W. P. Addison, of Abb ville. The standing committee was elected1 as follows: Abbeville, J. Thorrton; An derson, J. B. Watson; Berkeley, F. Y. Legare; Charleston, W. H. Kinsman; Chester, C. W. 3Mefadden: Colleton, F. C. Fishburne; Clarendon, J. E. Tin-' dal; Darlington, ,J. W. Beasley; Edge field, B. R. Tillmnan; Fairtield, W. R1. Rabb; Greenville, W. B5. Buist; Hamp-' ton, Geo. MIosely; Lexington, H. J. Seibels; Laurens, John W. Hudgens; Lancaster, Ri. L. MIickler; Orangeburg, J. E. Wnnamaker; Sumter, A. K. San ders; Union, John P. Thomas; Wil liamsburg, F. 31. Britton; MIarion, E. T. Stackhouse; MIarlboro, RI. W. Pegues; Newberry, J. C. Goggans; Oconce, J. J. Keith; Pickens, H. C. Shirley; Rich land, J. H. liinsler; Spartanburg, H. L. Farley. A number of resolutions, touching upon various matters, were now intro duced, and referred to the standing com mittee. The Convention then adjourned till 9;. o'clock on the morning of the 19th instant. The Convention assembled at o'clock, but took a recess till eleven o'clock, in order to hear the report of the committee on resolutions. Capt. Tillman read this report, as follows: ITnlE l'L.\TFORI. After due consideration of the various resolutions referred to us, and taking into consideration1 the power invested in us to make independent recomnmenda tions of our own volition, we submit thec follow~ingt llationa as embodying the substance. of such resohttions -as were acted upon favorably by the commflittee, and as indicating the refoims a2nd mecas ures which we deem of great importance to our interests as farmers and citizens: We, the farmers of South Carolina iu Convention assembled, after muature de liberation and after all the light and ex perience gained since our last Conven tiion from the fullest discussion among ourselves as to the gen'eral objects to l e attained, hereby express our continued and unshaken contidence in our Farmaers Association as now organized to nccom plish great good for the State if p~rop~erly couducted and kept within legitiniute bounds, and we hereby reiterate our de-* ternmination that there shall be hence. forth in South Carolina an organization for the protection 'nd advancennt of our agricultural interests. In furtherance of this purpose and as embodying the present views of the State, we respectfully urge upon our General Assembly the necessity and ad visability of the following measures: 1. The estalblishnient of a real agricul tural college. separate and distinct from the South CarolinaCollege, and modeled after those of 'Mississippi and Miehigan. We believe that the necessary funds to build and equip this institution can be secured b y lopping oil needless expendi tures, aid abolishing or cons-din useless oiices without increased taxation. We further recomnmend, as a means to asSist in building the institution, that the ditTerent counties of the State be em powered to bid for it by oflering bonds or land. 2. That -.7 vxnerimuental station should be estaliA:ed at or in connection with said Am;ieultural and Mechanical Col lege, the same to be under the charge of its faciivY, and that we memorialize Con gress t' pass the bill introduced by Mr. Hatch anid 1ow pend:ing, which appro priates ' !.0 annually to each State for the pm-pese, and that we ask our Senators and Congressmen to use all legiti-.m means to secure its passage. . '. t i order that our agricultural admin tratin rap% be divorced as far as possil. from politics and politicians, and the: men best <qualified to perform these anportant duties be selected by I those mno.-t competent to judge, in order that we ny secure a board of agricul ture a , e efficient, zealous and repre sentate, o lnow our needs and will try to supply them, we urge that instead of being chosen by the Legislature they be elected by thiisiarmers' Association. The board of agriculture should consist of ten members, five elected annually. They should have the power to elect their own secretary, whose duties would correspond with those of the present commissioner. Their duties would be the same as the law imposes on our pres ent board, except as the collection of the phosphate royalty, which should he given to the comptrollQr-general. In ad Jition they should have control of the gricultural college and experimental tation, and should by means of iarmers'1 institutes build up and keel) alive coming agricultural associations. 4. That the system of inspection of ertilizers is now defective, and iio ade quate punishment for frauds provided. We therefore urge such additional legis Lation as will secure the needed protec tion without imposing unneces:,ary re straiuts upon the manufacture and sale of rtilizers. Cotton seed meal, whether sold :s a fertilizer or as feed for stock. hould be inspected and its adulheration pmnished. 5. We urge the Legislature not to squander the State's property by allow ing the wholesale exportation of phos phates at merely nominal prices, and that with a view of lessening the burdens f taxation, they Lke into consideration the adivisability of increasing the phos phlate ro-valty. We~1ecommiend the passage of such legi'sla'ion as will protect the farmers of the State pgainst imposition and fraud in the weiging of cotton. 7. We respectfully urge such legisla tion as will protect us against forest tires negligently tarted. . The equalization of taxes demands arnest consideration at the hands of the; Legislatuie, and we urge such action as cal best secure it. 9. We urge such alterations of the fee bill as will guard the estates of dead per sons against abuses and provide protec tion for widows and orphans.I .!0. In order to secure the needed re-' forms in our county governmeins and to reduce the burden of taxation, as well as to secure such changes in thme judicial system as may be needed, we earnesily request our legislators to consider the advisability of celli.1g a constitutional convention, unless, in their judgment, the necessary changes may be better ob taed by amendment. After the reading of the platform a motion was made to take it up by sec tions. This excited some discussion, and a division was demanded on the question, resulting yeas 39, nays 2:3. The platform was then read by see tiojis, and was adop~ted. During the progress of thme reading there were one' or two short discussions. The platform was then adopted as a whole. AN A(;RieULTU~iAL eoLLD:.. The following resolutions, adopted by the Anderson Farmers' Club. were re fered to the committee: llesolved, TIhat the Novemb Conven tion be urged to demand of our next Legislature the establishment of an agri cultural college separate and distinct from the South Carolina College. Riesolved, That we ask for a reorgani-1 zation of the department of agriculture in the interests of economy and of the farmers of the State. THE FAC~~oRs AND THE USURY LAw. MIr. H. R. Thomas introduced the fol lowing resolution, which was also re ferred:' Whereas the usury law has had no en'eet in cheapening money, but has shut the farmers out from obtaining the same and turning us over to the outra geous charges of the cotton factors and merchants, amounting to from :30 to 100) per cent.: And. whereas. these laws force the far mes to exchange cotton for goods, ena bling the merchant to fix the price of the farmers' produce and to exact the price of his goods, thus doing away with the circulation of money among the farmers. to the detriment of the whole country: Therefore we recommend the repeal of th usury law. The following was introduced by a delegate whose name could not be ob tained: Resolv ed, That plaintin's in referee< C ourts be req1uired to give bond for siif ficient amount to cover probable cests of suit. TheC committee on resolutionms reported a piaper, submitted b.y Dr. IRembert, with the recoimmnendation that it be pub lished and that its consideration be de ferred until the next meeting. A fter some debsate, an assessmnm of onie dollar was laid upon each delegate. to pay the expenises of thme Convention whieli thme treasar proceeded to collect. ( a Timnmm timen imoved that a com mittee of live be appointed to take steps to have the legi.,lation recomindended by the Convention presented to the ( General AssemOly and passed, if possible. This evoked another discussion. Capt. Stackhouse thought that the executive committee should be entrusted with the work. Another delegate thought that a coia nittee of three would be solilcient. Their expenses would ha -e to be paid. and as the farmers had been preaching retrenchment it wold be as to well prac tice it right here. Finally it was agreed that the com mittee should consist of three menbers, to be selected from the executive con mittee. THE NEW oRIlULTI1AL Ao\RD. Capt. Tillman next suggested that it would ie necessary to be prepared with an agricultural board in case the Legis lature drcial to turn the bureau over to the Associ It a, as recommended in the platform. e moved that the com mittee on resl tions be instructed to name ten members of the Association, who by reason of their character. ability, earnestness and zeal will command the respect of the farmaers ot the State as fit to be tl:e first board of the reorganized bureau. This 'evoked a long discussion, in which Capt. Tilhman took an active part, explaining his views and intentions. The motion was finally adopted with an amendment ro1'niring the names to be submitted to the Convention for confir mation. .A LOVEFEAST. Capt. Titinni'.i next, with an apology for the frequency of his occupancy of the floor, stated that it was known thet in some of his letters published last win ter he had used words in reference to the State Agricultural Society which might be considered too strong. He said he had been honest in what he had said. It was stated by many of the members of the State Society that this Association was antagonistic to that body, and was intended to supersele it. He for one remembered that during the lark days of Radical rule in the State, the State Agricultural Society was pe haps the only organized body of white men in the State. He desired to deny that lie had the least feeling of resent ment or distrust for that society. He desired that harmony and concert of action should exist between the two bodies, and with that view he moved that a committee of three be appointed to invite the State Agricultural Society to mcet this Association in joint eonven tion-a kind of lovefeast-this evening at 7.30 o'clock, in order that there might, be a union of the two wings ol :he gr-td army of farmers. 'Applause.j Tie i tion was unanimo'usly adopted, and t., Convention then took a recess until 7.30P. M1. Evening Seinon. At half-past 7 about one hundred members reassembled at the Hall and the meeting was called to order by the president, Mr. D. K. Norris. The first business before the expected lovefeast was the announcement of a new b oard of agriculture in case the: Legislature should adopt the recoimmen dation of the Convention and transfer: the m anagement of the bureau of agri culture to the Farmers' Association. The appointments, as announced by the committee on business, are: D. 1 Norris, Anderson; M. L. Donaldsun, Greenville; E. T. Stackhouse, Marion; B. B. Tillman, Edgefield; D. P. Duncan, Union; Allan Johnson, Newberry: John son Hagood, Barnwell; B. A. Love, Chester; E. L. Reeves, Charleston; A. E. Davis, Fairfield. (in motion of MIr. Shell, of Laturens, the report of the committee was adopted and the appointments were confirmed. The members of the Convention were then requested to occupy the chairs on the left of the hall, leaving those on the right for the members of the State Agri-! cultural and 3Mechanical Society, who had been invited to attend a joint meet ing, and a recess was taken until 8 o'clock. At twenty-eight niinutes past $ o'c'ock Captain Tillman moved to adjourn. A delegae asked what had become of the lovefeast at which the State Ag,.cultura and 3Mechanical Society was to have as sisted. The chairman replied that the Convention had expected them at 8 o'clock and had waited for them; that much to his regret they had not ap peared, and as the hall hadt been promised to the Survivors of the Wallace Hous at half-past 8 o'clock he didn't see how the Convention coul wait. On motion, the Convention then ad journed sine die. -The reporter of the News and Cou rier adds this statement : "V Wihount being informed as to the. cause.s wich prevented the attendance of the State Agricultural and 3Mechanical Society, I venture to say that the joint meeting proposed was imipracticale for the rea son that the Society was not in session, its annual meeting being appointed for the next night. No doubt the p~roper explanations will be made. Proe-edin;;' of te l'tj-(.erte . The convenltion of third and feairth e:IMs potmtr of Sou1th Caoina was held lt nirht at Stanl.ey's llall. The conven tion! or'izti/ed at- ft lows: PrelSillut-F. A. Schilicy postmaneger at Urn'ebulr:: Vice-P~residen t-D I).( lleri bl~rt 01 Nedboerry, WV. C. lose of i 'n'nols vile W. '. Varner of (reeleyv~ille. Se rtrv and Treasurer-li. E. Bonner of Re sohltins wer~e aop ]ted asingani erase of compen!1l:tatin. Th le followiou delegate-' \0t ef repeenlt Sothtl Carolina 't ib N:a (onvenion~ of Po,-inaiter- i. I e m Iil. I1 . Bi on r no itd o re: r.-:ent Sout Carlin u the aiond' Li ceniiiI'e (Conunittee. A. resoliutiona 0a adopl*e:1 *.diing . oranize/ con y ' I coVenin'. ter(, Gne ral ack nowleing the. reci. an nvtratin to~l aned th meetin.th a 1Tlat i,: all very wll. bt whatistb I oue when~ a man'II. hir b.eio Io i '1 ni ..rii e'. marrltiiellI ;&- rg.s a~aisVr-.tenec6a sRve% are! I)etected. 'I Te current niumber of the Pelmal's Art .Jouirnil contains complete a paper on "Di.pted riandwriting," prepared bY its editor, '. T. Ames, the well 1u.wn penmanship expert, and read be fore the Business Educators' Conven tion. The subject is of such broad and genrral interest as to warrant the repro duction of the article in these columns: "This is a sublject that has been grow ing greatly in importance during the past few years-that is the legal investi gation of questions arising from hand writing in our courts of justice. With reference to the value of such labor as experts are ab1)le to perform in this re spect there is a wide difllerence of opin ion. "Many of the jurists of our day esteem it highly, and many not quite so highly. The question really comes to be-is there any such a thing as scientific and satisfactory investigation of the various phases under which handwriting appears in our courts. We all know that forgeries are very numerous-that scarcely a week passes in this city that there are not tried causes involving in son manner the genuiness of hand writing. Most of those present are familiar with the methods resorted to by forgers in producing their work. The great majority of forgeries are not by persons who are skilled in the art of penmanship; many of them are of so imperfect a character that a good judge would wonder that there had been any question raised respecting it. I have been called to investigate forgeries where there was scarcely a semblance to the genuine writing sought to be imi tated, others where there would be a general outline, but the character of the work would at once stamp it as spurious. The great proportion of the forgeries of signatures are perpetrated by means of tracing-the parties making an outline with a pencil and then writing it in with ink-forgeries of that class are very easily detected when carefully exc mined with i good glass, and especiaiy with a good microsozpe. Another class, and the most dangerous, are prepared by skillful writers taking a signature and practicing upon it, as upon a copy, until it can be reproduced by the forger with a tolerable degree of accuracy, some times to an astonishing degree. i have seen such signatures where it was impos sible to determine with any degree of certainty whether the signatures was .spurious or genuine. Forgeries executed by the tracing process are insariably demonstrated to be such, I believe, be cause no man can at the first following of a tracing make a .gnature which will deceive a person who is familiar with the gnuinie-the shades will be different, and the strength of the lines will be different, and where thcre are short comings in this respect they have to be covered by retracing. These will appear under the glass in over-lapping layers of ink. This will also be true of ferged signatures that are traced by holding them to the light, as to a pane of glass or to a light, but there is also a diil'erent movement, and hence different quality of line-there is that in the writing which shows it is not wri'ten with the ordinarv and natural motion of the hand. ' There will also be a nervous -emor, and the slower the hand is moved the more apparent will this be. If one signature is placed over another and found to cover it in every respect, it is inevitably the case that one is a forge rN. Most forgeries are unskilfullv exe euted by a professional, or by one who might be called a pen artist. Many are made by elerks who get an idea that they cin reproduce their employer's signa ture; they have had very good opportu aities to get acquainted with the genu ine, yet rarely fail to be detected. One of the most frequent phases in which these investigations arise is in disguised handwriting in the form of abusive, black-maihing, threatening or obscene letters. Persons unfamiliar with this matter can scarcely realize the ex tent to which this species of crime is carried. I venture to say that during the past year dthere has not been one week in wvhich packages of anonymous letters have not been brought to my olice for investigation. MIany of them are of the very worst character-many threatening the lives of people. many abusing p~arties, and many growing out of the strikes. Only recently letters have come from the proprietors or man agers of a railroad who have been threat ened with death by supposed employees. All manner of means are resorted to by writcrs to conceal their identify-some times the letters are even hand printed. Sometimes they are so skillfully executed that no trace ofi the identity of the writer is left. These cases, however, arc rare, for very few persons can write to the ex tent of a page of any sheet and impart to it some of their own characteristics. The worst of all hand-wrsiting to inves tigate wold would be that of a school boy who had no characteristics to his hand writng-who has not practised under cirunmstanees which imparted any indi idultwo orpersonality to his writing. Iftoteachers of writing should write a letter and bring it up absolutely, ac cording to principle. to the standard of any system, there could be no compari son as to the personal characteristics of the writers. As we go into business, however, we depart from the standard forms of the school-room, and each of these departures constitutes the peculiar personality of the writer. lHere was ulustated" upon the blackboard numer ous specimens of these habitual changes.) T hese departures are mostly unconscious; a person gradlually drifts into these varia tins in hi prasctice tillustrated by the ltter L on the board . - short time :ago t had occasion to examine a dozen long letters. whi I prononced forgeries, in the genue iadwriting the crosses of thle t witu rare exceptions were slauted down, hut in the simuliatedt writing they invariably ra m>. To hese letters were presented b pa rties~ making a claim against anes tate, and were uifered in evi' enea soiin" a consideration. All the ero.r iags of'the t in the forgeries ran upward wihI found to be trute of the writing 0f the p'arty on'ering the claim It was the lttle unconscious habit which had nti~ been uuted by the forger. in disguising writing, it would be um cessarv' that~ a person shiouldl know all his littie pec'uiariti's, but as they do not these iuv aiably creep into the forged or dsuised writing. -\ lot of disguised lee~~,..s iit ns,, bands ashorttimle since that were printed in Gothic letters, nniformly at first, but, after a while, the party fell to printing the main part of it in lower case (illustrated on the board), and by-and-by the writer came, uncon sciously, to make the i and t exactly as. in script-and finally a word appeared in script-generally persons in printing the lower case will make i's, c's and t's, unconsciously, as they would write them. After going over pages of the writing the identity of the writer was fully dis covered. "Probably the most difficult class of cases arises where a writer copies or makes use of another handwriting to disguise his own. Now if I should at tempt to simply disguise my own hand without any copy or ideal before me, I should endeavor to use forms outside of my own hand, foreign to myself, and thus avoid identity; but where I take another handwriting and, by imitating that, supply myself with new material, my disguise would be all the more difli cult to penetrate and explain. I now have a case in hand where this has, as I allege, been done. On the one hand it is alleged. that a certain party has written blackmailing letters in a disguised hand; on the other hand, the accused claims some one has simulated his hand. Ex perts have been called in to show that it is his handwriting disguised, and others to show that it is not but rather a manu factured imitation of his writ~n. " At this point Mr. Ames ed upon one of the members to write his auto graph upon the blackboard, and called upon a skilled writer to imitate it as - nearly as possible, which being done, Mr. Ames instituted a sharp anysis of the original signature, indicating its personalities and pointing out wherein the copyist had failed to reproduce these personalities, but had unwittingly incorporated, through foree of habit, those of his own hand. The exercise was listened to with marked attention and apparent interest." NIGHT GLO1Eb REVIVED. Modern Beautie, Said to Be Returning to Fash ions or the Last Century. The remarkable discovery has recent !y been made that " white hands are oming into fashion again," says London Queen. It would seem that hands have been growing less white than they used to be, and have suffered from too great ttachment in ladies to lawn tennis and oating and other masculine accomplish ents. Chal d and red hands are aever pretty, ud these, of course, inva ciably follow on outdoor exercises. The evil is, happily, not beyond remedy, and :o offset this purpose "the daughters of Eashion," as many of them will learn with surprise, now have dishes of hot ivater shaped like a flower leaf on their toilet tables, in which they steep -heir hands for a while before going to bed, then anoint them with vaseline and put on gloves lined with a preparation of old cream. These gloves should be of wash leather ard several sizes too large [or the hand. Before the paragraph has gone its tardy round in print these night gloves will murely be made an instance of the amaz Eng luxury of our degenerate days, and point, we may be sure, a very doleful noral. In the absence of any general knowledge on this point, the ladies of ashion will be looked upon as having riginated a perni-tious practice, which, ogether with the toilet masks of which ive recently heard so much and saw so ittle, might indicate a lamentable degree >f oveirefinement, such as we should ertainly be reminded has invariably receded the decay of empires. The old receipt for perfuming gloves uns : Take amber grease a dram, civet lie like quantity, orange flower butter a luarter of an ounce, and with these well nixed and ordered daub them over gent y with 'inc cotton wool, and so press hie perfume into them. Other devices - or making them "richly redolent" oint generally to the use of oil or fats s being the 'best available and most argely employed means to secure a ~oc d and lasting perfume. As for such loves being considered excellent for Sight use we have the lines in Swift's goem on "The TAdy's D~ressing Room," ihowing on the itable : ?here night gloves made of Tripsey's hide, Bequeath'd by Tripsey when she died. Where a lady's maid is reassuring her nistress in a poem of 1790, as to her own mperiority over a rival, the maid say's: [ know the arts she labors to disguise, [ know whence all her boasted graces rise : ?hose charms which gained the creature such renown, re culled from every quarter of the town; Sh buys her beauties at a price immense, Her breath from Warren and her teeth from Spence ; Each night her face is wrapped in greasy hands, and Chinese gloves enfold her arms and hands ; If such a madeup thing can rival thee, Let park canals strive with the fonaming sea : Let Oxford hacks with Pegasus compare, And broad St. Giles' vie with Portman square. There would be some suspicion of chemical treatment about such gloves. Although a French philosopher some time ago asserted that glovers, of all artisans, were the most mild and amiable, owing to the soothing intluence of leath er upon tempera aient, this discovery had not been made when Chinese gloves were in vogue, and more direct agencies acting upon the outer man or woman were all that were sought after. " Med icated " gloves are used by Dr. Johnson's born beauty in the 120th Rambler, the doctor probably not knowing much of toilet mysteries. This young lady is represented as always most carefully ten ded and put under rigid cosmetic disci pline at night, never permitted to sleep until thoroughly anointed with "beau tower water and May dew." her hair pefumed and oiled, and the softness of her hands secured by medicated gloves. A .'peial dispatch fromt $an Autonio, 'T-exas, says B3. P. McMahon, w'ho escaped f'oml Las \acias. Mexico, Monday, when lwtlehtt i ier and his party were attacked :m kld tay" that Griner was killed by r1.:rCpoice('L'rs who wer~e hired to com nIh Ii blvi 0w brothers unmed Ar miao.) Thet A riho professed friendship f'1 d riner, but turnedt .n the Amnericans wi h t reahrus \tenge'ance a. o n as)Ur the I" lice" be'gan the attack.