University of South Carolina Libraries
5' 5 WHAT TH[ FRE RANGE ISSUE MEANS TO SOUTH CAROLINA No Hope of Real Progress in Cattle Belt Counties Until Country Is Made Free for Men and Not for Hogs. At the coining Democratic primary the question of the free range of cat tle ;s ito be voted on in four counties - Of the South Carolina coas, namely the counties of Berkeley, Dorchester, Colleton and Jasper. Why the General Assembly of South - Carolina decided to submit such a ques tion to a popular vote in four counties, and denying such a vote to the rest, belongs to the underworld of politics. There is neither rhyme nor reason in such action. It was clear that the free range of cattle was against sound policy and good morals anywhere in a civilized :State. The lower House, where the 4 question was debated thoroughly, de cided, by an overwhelming vote, that no such condition would be tolerated. Tn the closing days of the session the (left hand of political jugglery came iinto action. The result no man has ;attemipted to explain. The upshot is the condition confront, ing these four counties. They have -to vote on the question of whether .the free range of cattle shall be per mitted or not. , It may be taken for granted that the farn population is opposed to it. There is not a real farmer in the State who favors free range. It is in conceivable that any farmer should; for thereby he imposes an onerous tax on himself by having to fence his land. (Caes are on record where the cost of -'fecig one farm exceeded the value 'of all the live stock returned in a whole township. -tttttttttttitittittittttitmftuttuttt Hill Plumbing UPLUMBING, RP Near E.(#e~s Oi MAN~tI OUR .BANIi THEY ARE INSEPARABLE A good future without doesn't often happen, yo SOur institution is a p: Sand investing bank. (MWe solicit the patronas alettributes are likewise. EMly desire to become such. *You never regret moi 1use to regret when it is i The Bank .IOSEPH S? T. M. MOU) *taae ene res IE-I.E Ne -I. I-.am H A) Jt Kills Live Stock Industry. Furthermore, it has been shown that the single county of Orangeburg has more hogs and other live stock than all the free range counties combined. There is no trouble to establish the fact that where free range exists the quality of live stock must be poor and the quantity small. In fact, free range imakes practical ly iil)ossible devolopmnvit of the live stock industry on any considerable The question is a simple one. A few men wish to run cows and hogs over thousands of acres of land, owned by somebody else. They reap the benefit; the other fellow pays the taxes. As a matter of fundamental honesty this requires no arguing. The Consti tution of the United States forbids any State passing a low impairing the validity of contracts. A man holds his land in fee from the State. The State , )llects taxes on it as a charge for I rotecting it and of insuring peaceable possession. Then, under free range, permission is given othei parties to use this land for a cattle range, thereby destr'oying the owner's right and upsetting his contiact with the State. Whether the lawyers see it that way or not, this is a plain violation of the. Constitution of the UJnited States. Thel contract has not only been impaired; it has been abrogated. How the Thing Workq. Let us see how it works. Here are four counties possesing the richest land in America. They are thinly set tIed and citizens have been driven out of them by thousands, taking their earning capacity and their influence into other counties, Berkeley, for ex ample, lost its best developed portion simpIly heeause the citizens in that areit r(4fused to live longer undler such a sY.km. Colleton has alr eady lost a ind Heating' Co.I H EATING, UIRS. flte. Phone 155I our Future saving is something that u know. 'ogressive money saving e of these whose person -and those who earnest 1ey saved. There is no ~one. f Manning ROTT, President CON, Cashier ist Watc1 portion of its territory to Bamberg and will assuredly lose more. Dorchester will infallibly lose its upped portion whenever conditions are ripe and the change can be made. Moreover, these counties were among the firt settled by white men in South Carolimitt, For fifty years they have been losing population; aird there ap pears no hope qf a change, so long as the freo ranige continues. Not niany years ago, the region around Meggett and Longe's Island v6ted out of Colleton and into Charles- I ton, for no other reason than that conditions in Colleton County made it impossible for them to continue in it. All along the line there is progres sive degeneration. The wave of pros perity that struck the State during the war and sent land values skyhigh made not the slightest impression on these cattle belt counties. Progressive citizens naturally drain >ut; reactionaries naturally drain in. Get Fab Ic A -We Fari. AriiS TIE i this Pagt There is loss both ways. thi It is not hard to show any poor man He that he can not have good roads good pr schoolIs, and the other appliances of modern civilization, until his commun- leY ity is settled. It requires the weight Ox of number to give the punch to civili. zation. 1o Large landed proprietors, can he aV somewhat independent of these things. St They can fence land, employ men to ain guard it and make their rights re- po spected. The ordinary citizen who wishes to ing make a living for himself.and his fam- Be liy faces a handica) hu can not over- sh come. The result ii swift and sur,. be: Ile moves out into a free country, free id for men and not for hogs. ~ ex1 Frangc r'ange makces for low living eal ind furnishes a fertile soil for crime. cli Apicture of Bamberg and Colleton, set side by side, is contrast that eann rot fail to strike an ordinary observer, its A similar picture of Orangeburg on sta Goodyes Don't be r priced tires, matter of wi of what tire True Goody ~ \\ in the wor. ~PdI devoted to t Ifyou own 11' Maxwell or I these sizes, y~ year Tires ; Sta tion. I Go there f'or these tiresmrn resources, e / strated exper tilwr l r e $ oodycar I you are as!. L'ar Singlc-Cure 4$ 150 cadnfgs whx d I Tre ad..........L.. Li- 30 x 3%/ hin' 6.C E .09 one hand, and Dorchester and rkeley on the other, is equally im !ssive. rhe lands of Dorchester alt(I Ikerke are even better th.a'n the land of angeburg. j\l &mi intforme11d men )W this to be true. Yet, while angeburg is one of the foremost ricultural counties i nthe United ites. Dorchester and Berkeley are ong the very worst from the same nt of view. \gain, the contrast is equally strik between Iasper and Beaufort, mufort has become modernized, has t forward and taken rank with the ,t. Port royal Island is a picture an 11. A great portion of Jasper (the Lct proportion can not now be re led) is ow-ned by Northern hunting bs and shut to settlement. A Serious Condition. 'he argument brought forward by Senator last session was in sug icee this: Lr Valu< -1-W11L aisled by very cl , for tire economUy i iat tires coAt originai service costs in th ear mileage and c< a Goodyear Tires, 3%-2 and 31 x 4-ic [d's largest tire ft hese sizes. a Ford, Chevrolet, other car taking < ucan equip it with it your nearest S< the exceptionaI va idepossiblebyGood xperience and de tness in tire manufai Icavy Tourist Tubes cost uno more (ha dto pay for tubesi of less merit -why nz such sure protection is availabie mu waterproof bag..... 5 5 . Our people, by firing the woods and running the eattle at large, so depre 'ited the value of our lands that they were bought for a song by Northern people. These Northern people, having bought and shut up, so much of our county, we ask I)ermission of the Gcen eral Assembly to be allowed to ruin the rest. He did nof. put it that way; but that is an analysis of his utterance. IIis re marks revealed a eondition altogether discreditable, and for which the citi-. zens of ils county are entirely to blamle. Who sold these Northern people the lands ? And why did they sell them? They were sold by citizens of the re gion because the lands could not be otherw-is handled to advantne The cow, the hog and the fire furnished the reason. Do these four counties wish to ad vertise to the world that they prefer the condition now existing ? IlN II[I Cars teaply s not a ily but e end. ~nomy of the 1h sizes,Ii ictory Dort, >neC of Good- I ~rvice lue in year's a the price riqc ema..