University of South Carolina Libraries
Cbe I5Manning times. LOUIS APPELT. Editor. MANNING. S. C., FEB. 25, 1914. PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY CAPITOL CORRESPONDENCE. Columbia, S. C., February 21. As predicted in my last letter the general assembly could not adjourn Saturday night. The reason was that the Calandars could not be cleared, and the most important general meas ures are yet to be acted upon, it is therefore necessary to run into the coming week, but with hard work it is possible to reach an adjournment by Friday night. The senate adjourned Friday night to reconvene Monday night, but to facilitate the work for next week the Finance Com mittee of which I am a member, remained over Saturday and worked all day on the appropri ation bill, giving hearings to those interested, especially to the heads of the several of the departments, and of the educa tional institutions, which are very important in order for the committee to act intelligently on the many items in that impor tant measure; as I have a'ready said, we worked all day Satur day and will continue through Monday in the hope of being able to report at Monday's ses sion; should we get the bill in shape by Monday evening, the senate will at once take it up for consideration, and e a c h item will be discussed on its merits. The budget is the heaviest the -State has had in years, carrying an appropriation of about two and a quarter mil lion dollars. The Finance Com mittee realizing the necessity of holding down the tax levy has endeavored to cut wherever pos sible, and on Saturday. up to the time I had to leave to catch my train for home we had succeed ed in cutting out about $70,000, but whether our recommenda tions will stand I am unable to say, because, even if the senate sustains the coimittee the house may refuse to concur, and it will have to go to conference; when a bill of this importance gets into conference tLere is no tell ing the result. The levy called for by the bill am sent to us from the house n. . levy that will be mills, but if the - s in its reductions' - 10 increase in the taxation for the year 1914. Those who do not follow up legislation do not realize the difficulty in the way of preventing a raise in the levy; the several educational institutions of higher learning are growing larger every year, more buildings are necessary, then too, the demands for the free schools are getting heavier, necessitating a greater outlay of money, besides this, there is the health depars~ment of the State requiring more money for the protection of the health of the people. This department has, and~it is doing a great work in this State- it has made localities, where it was almost impossible to live in the past, healthy and inviting for development; all of us realize the State cannot af ford to take a backward step in this matter for the sake of sav ing a few dollars, as the health of this people is more important than money. This session has been sur prisingly free from partizan bickerings up to the present, and I hope that when the work shall have been ended it can be truthfully said it was the most businesslike session in a decade. Owing to the volume of matter introduced it will be impossible to give consideration to all of the measures, it would take a session of six months to do it, unless the members went at it in a haphazard way, and if they did, instead of doing good to the State they would d harm, in the end it would fall heavily upon the taxpayers. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to dis appoint many of the members who have pet measures, by se lecting what is deemed most im portant at this time. I am sure it will be gratifying to many of my readers to learn of the fate of the gun license measure. This bill which sought to require a license of one dollar and ten cents from those who desired to hunt, after a deter mined and a long drawn out par himentary fight, was killed Friday night by a vote of 23 to 17 but whether it will re main dead I do not know, be cause, the State Game Warden has been exceedingly active to secure this legislation, re enforced by the members of the Audubon society and other agencies, and when his measure' was defeated he did not give up the fight as is shown by his at tempt to have the vote recon sidered, by a motion made at his urgence from a Senator who voted in the affirmative. When the motion to reconsider was made the opposition raised the point of order that such a motion was out of order because the senate at that timein the "morn ing hour," under the rules, no motions other than adjourment, except by unanimous consent could be considered or enter tained; the chair ruled in our favor and the matter went over to be renewed Monday night. If there is a full senate the fight to prevent a reconsideration of the -te by which the bill was kill ' ill be vigorously waged by myself, and unless I mistake the temper of the majority we will win, notwithstanding the activity of the Game Warden and his army of workers, some of whom are working for the measure in the hope of making salaries out of the big revenue will put at the disposition of the head of the department. While to many, this measure may not appeal as being of great im portance, to those who under stand the conditions it is of more importance than many of the measures introduced at this ses sion, especially those whe live in sections where the privilege of hunting and fIbing is re garded as an inalienable right bequeathed to them by t:.eir forefathers. When the Senate adjourned Friday night the rate bill was under discussion with the Sena tor from Sumter entitled to the floor; when we return Monday night he will contindfe his speech with a pobability of several more speeches by other senators on both sides of the controversy to follow. I doubt very much if a vote will be reached before Tuesday or Wednesday. This is a very important measure, it involves much more than the average man thinks-more to the general welfare than to the railroads in my opinion, because, if the two cent flat rate is put in to effect the roads in self defence will be forced to carry the Act into the United States courts to determine whether or not the two cents rate is confiscatory, that is to say, whether or not the passenger earnings in this State are sufficient to give the railroads a fair return on the in vestment, and whether on this rate they can comply with the public demands for more trains, quicker schedules, better sta tions, steel bridges and cars as per the requirements of tbe In terstate Commerce Commission at Washington, all of these mat ters will be taken into considera tion, and it will result . in long litigation which must be paid for by the taxpayers. I recall one case in this State a few years ago when the representatives of Dillion County secured the pas sage of an Act to require through passenger trains to stop and re ceive passengers at Dillion sta tion, the railroads pleaded against this legislation, and showed conclusively that the courts would not sustain such an Act. because it would interfere with interstate travel and the United States through mails, but they were not heeded, the result was the Atlantic Coast Line was forced to carry the matter into the courts after en tailing great expense upon them and the State. The road won its contention, and an appropri ation of several thousand dol lars had to be made from the State treasury to pay the costs and the extra attorney fees, so it will be seen that whenever the legislature undertakes to place restrictions~ upon our public car riers it should be exceedingly cautious and sure of its ground before it undertakes it, litigation is expensive and the taxpayers are the burden bearers. In the pending legislation it is conceded by all of the Senators that a two cent rate is impossi ble on the short lines of rail roads, it is conceded that if the two cent rate .is insisted upon it will seriously affect the prog ress of the present and the con templated railroad development in this State, but in spite of this, there are many who insist upon forcing the railroads to reduce the passenger charge. I am convinced that if the masses would look into this question they will agree, it is not the pas senger rates where the remedy for the complaint lies, but it is the freight rate and the slow transportation. Instead of under taking to regulate the discrimi nations in the freight depart ments of the railroads where there may be just cause for com lint, they cret the cart before the horse and go after the im- 1 possible. There has not been the least effort on the part of 1 those antagonistic to the rail- 1 roads to devise legislation which will secure for the masses cheap er freight rates, but the whole tight is made to get a half cent knowledge to master it. A man 1 who is qualified to make rates I for railroads is sought after by s these corporations at very en- 1 ticing salaries, this being true, 1 how can the ordinary laymen I hope to be in a position to know 1 anything about the subject, and i when he is sent to the legisla ture and undertakes this kind of regulation he must necessarily I resort to guess rather than to ac- a tual facts. I stand ready when- 4 ever I am shown where the rail- t roads are not treating the peo- 1 ple justly, either in their pas senger or freight rates, to pro- c vide such legislation as is ne- z essary to remedy the trouble, t but I will not undertake blindly 1 to impair the earnings of these c public benefactors, merely to d gratify political ambition. r I am in a position to hear the e arguments pro and con on this t subject, and I find the propon- c ants of these railroad measures t totally without any facts to sus- ' tain their contention, they sim- e ply say the railroads are making e money and they should give up c their profits, on the other hand i the railroads show,not only from x their books, but their reports s sworn to before the Unite States f Commerce Commission as re- I quired by congress, their earn mgs, operating expenses, cost of construction, interest on bonds, together with the cost of the contemplated improvements as 1 required by law, and other data < that gives the thoughtful man < something to base a judgment E upon. If the evidence on file < with the railroad commissioners t of the State and of the United t States, is to be respected or to I be regarded, then it is convinc- i ing to my mind there is not a railroad in South Carolina mak- z ing six per cent on its invest- 1 ments, and besides, since con- e gress has undertaken to require c all of the trestles to be rebuilt of steel and concrete, and the 1 wooden cars replaced with steel I ars in the interest of safety, the bonds and stock of all of thei railroads have been greatly im- I paired from the investment1 viewpoint, in other words. they are seriously hampered in dis-t posing of the bonds on the-mark- I ets, because the returns from these bonds are not as enticing as 1 other investments, therefore, with this condition brought about by congessional legisla tion, it is easy to see how much more serious it is for the rail- 1 roads when the law undertakes1 to affect their earnings. The people of this State are 1 being favored with more rail-< road development at this time t in twenty five years, they do not want anything to happen which will tend to arrest this development. Take the Bonsal] system of railroads recently be gun in this State; the projectors 4 of this enterprise are pleading with the legislature not to pass< any legislation which will cause 4 the cold shoulder to be given them when they go to the money centers seeking the means to carry on their work of develop-1 ment. Mr. Bonsai, -the head of, what is commonly called thei Seaboard, who is considering i the developing of this section,] says, "the passage of such leg-1 islation at this time would re tard the development for yearsi to come, and would be little 1 short of a calamity should the1 bill for a two cent rate be passed" I Mr. Bonsai further says, "the proposed reduction of the pass enger rate to two cents, now i before the senate, would put a quietus on any further railroadi building in this section." Well, some say, Mr. BonsaI "is a rail road man, he is talking for hisi own interests." Suppose he is, and he is unduly alarmed, are we in a position to put our judg ment up against his? Do we know that he is unduly alarmed ?] He is building railroads, and of1 necessity must go to the money centers to secure the means; he i per mile reduction in the pas senger rate. I presume the rea-< son for this is, to undertake to study out a revision of the I freight rates is more than the average legislator can give hisc time to, and when he has done ita he will then have an up hill taski bo impress his colleagues with 1 his correctness of his conclus ons. Railroad operation is a life i time study, and it takes expert z knows the difficulties he must s encounter to get this money. I We do not. I, therefore ask, is ;o the pleadings of those Rre in a position to know, ra than to follow those who n these demands without b >ossessed of knowledge to %ontrary. I note that Senator Tillh vbo has been clamoring for wo-cent rate, no v admit e would unjust to require hort line railroads to opera wo-cent rate; when he n his admission, he virtu )roke down his contention he rate altogether, because t is true, that it would be x >us to the short roads. at agree it will be, then how e get around the fact tha will be equally ruinous to ther roads that are compe o operate with vastly more >ensive cars, enginesi track ,tc., and besides, if a hun( nile road in this State woul< uined on such a rate, would he same ruin come to the tr ines operating in this State >ne hundred miles? It will to to argue the trunk I hake up any loss they wc ntail in this State by the erstate traffic, because whey ourt is called upon to cons! his question it will not consi what a system is making on ntire system, but what are arings within this State, will it consider the freight ei ngs, each department of i oad system will be conside eparate and distinct. Th ore, if a railroad is makin arge profit from its frei ,arnings, and not making a : onable return on its passer arnings, it would hold suci pct to be null and void, as een decided in a numbei tases already. I am not goin :ast my vote to reduce the p nger earnings, but should >pportunity be given me, he proper evidence, I shall' o bring about a revision of reight tariffs, and shall rote to force the railroads pend money in such impr nents as will give to the tra ing public better safety ai ,nces and more comfort oaches. The Fortner bill has not een acted upon by the sen think it will be reached arly part of next week. I ti t will be passed, but not in >resent form; some amendn ill be offered which will nake it so drastic, at the s ime, will have the effect >roponents desire. I wassh in amendment that has not een fully developed, wi >roposes to make it unlawfni ~ny teachers to teach in chools of the opposite r: vithout first obtaining the: nission of the County Boarc ducation. Such an amendn wold leave tbe regulation his matter entirely in the ha f the several county boards he State, in so far as the ic schools are concerned, b aubt if it could affect t he ate schools. I also doubt if ortner Bill, even though p d as it is written, can have Rfect in the regulation of rivate schools. I1 am in rec f a letter from a friend in C andon, whose past office is I ity, urging me to vote for assage of the Fortner] I'his friend, evidently is anx hatldo not cast a vote w: vould be detremental to my tical future.; as he cautions hat if I do not support iortner measure, I "will 1 0 do a bunch of explai1 hould you ever offer youi n a political way." I appre he solicitude of this gentlet iut I must insist upon resi ng my own judgment _ and cience in a matter of this b mnd I frankly and boldly hat if I am the only man in ~enate to do so, I1 shall op] Dhe Fortner measure as i written, even though I s iave to do "a bunch of expl g should ever offer yourse. i political way." If I had to 'orm my votes political exp nc~y I would not be fit tio esent the people of Clarent can foresee some of the ical future; already signs I ~ppeared to put mue wise of v s going on, it is not of rei late either, but it is the re f scheming for a numzbei rears, based upon persi iatred because of an inabilit ecure my co-operation, and ontrol my political and pers< cts, but "should I offer mys n a political way," I will m he offer to the people of C ndon who have trusted onored me in the past, f they reach the conclusion t L longer desire my service: hall bow in humble submiss ut as long as my mind isi al, I will not be under the rol of any man or set of n 3r will T permit myelnf to who late my conscience- If the time ther ever comes when I must go be sake fore the people of this county sing playing the role of a hyprocrite the before I can secure their sup port, I shall gladly retire and nan, let the hyprocite have his way this and the people the consequence. s it At the proper time I expect the to give the people a full and ,te a complete account of my steward iade ship; they already have had an ally opportunity to know what I have for been doing since they entrusted , if me with their commission; I have 'in- every week attempted tc lay my id I record before them. therefore, will they are prepared for the future. ,t it At this time I am not inclined the nor will I permit myself to have lled my mind diverted from my duties ex- I prefer to '-let the heathen ge. rage," and lay his schemes for Lred my political destruction, but I be when the battle is ordered on, not and bushwhackers can no longer nk remain unseen, then, and not for until then, will I open my bat not teries of defense and offense. nes The bill for the establishing a uld Magistrate at Alcolu has passed in- but not yet ratified, this will be a a done in a few days and Mr. E. der C. Dickson will be the magis der trate, that is the present. expec the tation. the The matter of the Supervi nor sor's salary has been adjusted ,rn- satisfactory. Before I was ail- aware the county furnished an red automobile thought this officer ere- should get a salary of $1500 g a and so fixed it, but the house ght delegation amended it by mak rea- ing it $1,200. I proposed to give iger him the same salary as the Au i an ditor and Treasurer - which is has $1,350, this the house members of would not accept, so rather than g to have a controversy I acceded to ass- their wishes and agreed to the the $1,200. kith About this automobile, I did ote not know the county purchased the it; but thought it was the super lso visor's personal property, when t Ilearned this I went to see ve- about it and found the county vel- did buy it in the interest of the pli' county's service, I think this ble was wise, and will be a money saver in the end. The machine yet was placed at the disposal and ate, for the use of the supervisor, the with the agreement that he keep ink it in repair; and pay for the gas tsoline out of his private funds, ent the expense of keeping up the not machine and for running it does *not come out of the county. I its make this explanation. lest some awn may be misled from statements yet and impressions that have been uch made. for I do not think there is much the chance for anything to be done ac about the reformation of the per- primary system. A bill has [enf passed the house, which I have ttnot had an opportunity to read, of but if the provisions of it are as nds told me, it is purely useless, in absolutely ineffective and nec mb- essarily expensive. utI With regard to the rural po e lice a provision was placed in _the supply bill for $2,730 for an their salaries should the Comn any issioners employ them, but the this was done without increas eting the levy. The proper thing a- to do would be to increase the tlevy for this purpose, but those 3.who were so urgent for this Bions system insisted that it would ihover pay for itself and I want to see whether or not they are p-correct, my personal opinion is me it will not, and shouldlI be cor this rect there is bound to be a deficit aing even with the most economical -sel rmanagement of the county af effairs, however, I will take the iate chance for this year anyway. aan, There shall not be any mecrease ect- in the county levy this year. con ind, When I return home next say, week it will be for good, so far the as this session is concerned, then ose hope to get back at my post t is where I can write some edito hall rials on current topics, writing ai. these kind of letters are alrighit f in in their way for the readers at eon- home, but there are other mat edi- ters which need attention and rep- which I like to indulge in- my Ion, self at times. )Oli The asylum investigation has iave been another one of those long rhat drawn out and useless, as well :ent as expensive things brought sult about by petty jealousies, and , of in a measure, politics. I doubted mal the wisdom~ of tio investigation yto from the first, and the farther it twent the more convinced 1 be mal came that it was a waste of elf, money. I am a warm personal ake friend of Dr. Babcock, and lar- should deplore his leaving that and intitution, but is is evident to and my mind if he stays there he hey will have to have better disci-|I ,Ipline among his subordinates;[ thad he, when these jealousies; i-became apparent, exercised his on- authority and nipped the foolI en- ishness in the bud, there would I ui-nomt hae beehan any trouble but in the goodness of his heart he was indulgent and tried to sat isfy all parties, with the result that he failed to satisfy any of them. All of this stuff about anybody attacking the personal character of Dr. Saunders is rot, the only intimation of this sort came from Dr. Griffin, and hel immediately disclaimed any thing of the kind, and at once. apoligized when he saw that the lady took offense at his state ment, and, he has ever since, then disclaimed having any in tention to reflect upon her per sonal or moral integrity, but The Columbia Record will not have it so, it insists upon trying to fan the trouble into flames by constantly refering to the inci dent and making political capital out of it for future use. I know the editor of The Record he has not so long come from editing a newspaper in Georgia, he will find when he undertakes to ap ply Georgia journalism to South Carolina, there is a difference. Dr. Griffin has time and again said that he respected Dr. Saunders for her moral charac ter, and their differences were entirely professional, mainly be cause of her not treating him courteously and interfering with his duties, but granting that Dr. Griffin has not been able to sus tain his contention, or that he has, I cannot see wherein it has anything to do with the moral character or the fitness of either. I have not read all of the tes timony taken before the com mission, but from what I have read, it looks to me that it was prolonged to soften the miser able slander Senator Tillman uttered when he sent out his personal letter to some senator, and then complained when that senator made it public-a thing Senator Tillman has been guilty of I know from experience. However, since the investigation has taken the shape it has, it may result in bringing about some reformation at the institu tion in the way of better disci pline. I believe if my friend Dr. Babcock will report the first member of his staff, who under takes to make trouble, to the Governor, that Doctor, whether it be a man or woman, will lose a job, this is what he should have doue at the beginning. The investigation has proven Dr. Saunders resourceful, a splendid doctor, an able woman. a fine lawyer and a shrewd politician. A. $100 Reward, $100. earhe tha there is at les ono dreae dsase that science has been able to cure in all its stages, and that is Catarrh. Hail's Catarrh Cure is the only positie cure knownt the medical disease~and giving the patients trength by build ing up the constitution and assisting nature in adohin it wok- The proprietr hae o muce Hundred Dollars for any case that it fails to eudedrend F. s. oCHEY &Co., Toledo, 0 H'ls Faml ill are the best. tins to; }?oyste comyai FOS OLD TIME Sun Dried Peaches 9c. Lb. These Peaches have no looks to commend them, but the Quality is There They are free from grit, perfectly dry i'and of deli cious flavor. THE CHEAPEST FRUIT TO EAT Makes fine pies, dumplings, and are equally nice stewed. Manning Grocery Co As The Spring Time Comes on we want the Ladies to come in and see our PERFECTION Oil Cook Stoves and Bakers. The Stove needed for warm weather. We have sold more of these Stoves the last year than any other retail firm in the State.li We want our Farmer friends to see our One and Two-Horse Plows, Subsoilers, Cultivators, Planters, Distributors. And a great many other things which go to make farming easy. PLOUIN HAIDNRB COMPN'Y When You Want the Best Meat, See or Ring JAMES' MAREET. -He will Sell it for Less. All Meats At 12 1-2c, Per Pound He does his own work-That is why he can sell it for less. wmn. JAME~s. 2o7 sters" tiizer deaer says (ou, aakIyOusefThyk r's is die 3st2ndc1'd of TRADE MARN .Ro.j ster Guan~o Co.. Norfolk, Va.