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The Fort Mill Times. DEMOCRATIC. ?ubli>h?d Thursday Mornings. . W. & W. R. Bradford Publishers W. R. Bradford Editor B. W. Bradford Manaukr Subscription Kates: One Year *1.25 Six Months .. . .65 KORT MILL. S. C.. MARCH 31. 1910. The Pre?? Coming Into It* Own. There is something to be' said in favor of the present-day attitude of the press of the State toward the politicians ?this in the face of the complaint of an office-seeker that the newspapers are not as liberal in publishing political matter as they formerly were. The complainant basefc i his case upon the conditions J which prevailed in an era in which the press had a misconcep- ' tion of its duty to the public and disregarded its own .interests. A score of years ago, when tb i Democratic party of South Carolina was split in twain, when there were two factions grappling desperately for mastery of the Stiite government and partizan feeling was running high ? in the days of Tillmanism and anti-Tillmanism naturally there were not lacking newspapers to espouse the cause of either wing of the party and as a consequence much valuable space was devoted to puffing the interests of the candidates who represented the faction with which the newspaper was aligned often regardless of the merit or fitness of the candidate. Then n was that the politicians were in clover. Some of them seem to think that conditions are, or should he, the same today with respect to the publication of their '"boosts" by the newspapers, but conditions are not the same. In the days of factional fighting it did not matter so much, in many instances, whether the candidate could more acceptably fill the office than his opponent: the query to be decided was whether he was a Tillmanite or an antiTillmanite. That was the test. And that question being answered to the satisfaction of the editor, he got busy with his pen and set down the man whose interests he championed as the one and only candidate to elect if the country would not go headlong to the devil. No'compensation came the way of the editor, of course, for his enthusiastic and perspiring editorials. He did the real work and the candidate got the pay ?the office. Happily that day is passed, and it is better for all concerned that it has passed. Now much of the same class ot matter that formerly was published as editorial goes in the advertising columns and is paid for. Certainly there are yet instances of candidates for public office receiving indorsement of the ne\vsj)apers, and rightly so. It is the duty of the honest editor to supply the public with any information he possesses as to why one candidate should be preferred over another. But the day of indiscriminate editorial indorsement of every man who was labeled with the factional tag of which the editor approved is irone. The newspapers of South Carolina have fallen upon better times. One of the courts of New York city has placed a heavy fine on a fruit dealer convicted of giving only 12 ounces to the pound. This is a form of theft which is doubtless prevalent in eveiy State of the Union. The scales ot many small merchants, especially in the cities, are doctored to cheat the customer and no one is brought to book for it. In our own State efforts have been made to induce the Legislature pass a law providing for the inspection of merchants' scales, but like many other bills which would have proved salutary if enacted into law, this one never saw the light of day. ii m m \ * "The Record9' Wcmk-Kneed? The Columbia Record is not < able to attach any special significance to the recent victory of < the Democrats in the Fourteenth Massachusetts district. Eugene N. Foss, the Democratic nominee, was elected over Wm. R. Buchanan, Republican, by a majority of 5,640. In the congressional election of 1908 the j same district went Republican by a plurality of 14.250. "Foss j is a recent convert from Republicanism," says The Record, i "and is still something of a pro- | ; tectionist." So he is, but the: Demncrats nf MnfisnnVinspM-s r>nn. sidered him a good enough party man to nominate for lieutenant governor a year ago, and he came within 8,000 votes of being elected. Mr. Foss made his campaign on national questions, ( laying particular stress on the increased cost of living, due to ] the protective taritT enacted last year by the Republican Congress. And he won in a district that never had gone Democratic before. Still The Record does not find anything in the victory to feel good over. Mr. Foss is certain to vote with the minority on every party question that is disposed of while he is a member of Congress and it is a little surprising that a paper we are pleased to believe is as Democratic as The Record should question his allegiance to the party and undertake to minify a victory which was unquestionably one of the most significant the Democracy has won in many a day. The Columbia Election. An election is to be held in Columbia Saturday to decide j whether that city will adopt the commission form of government or retain the old system of elect- j ing aldermen from each of the j wards and a mayor. Columbia i being the capital of the State, every patriotic South Carolinian is interested in anything which promises progress and develop-1 rnent for the city. During the last decade Columbia lias improved wonderfully. No city in tin' South has outstripped her in substantial growth. The city is , now nearly twice as large as it was ten years ago and there is tn> evidence of a sloughing of the prosperity that has been noticeable on all sides. This is the ! principal argument being used against the commission form of i government. If the city has ?i. in i? ti. ii. Ki uw ii mi steuiuiy unuer ine om system of government, why try something new and untried? is I being asked by those favorable to the old order of things. Fortunately for those who are advocating the change, they are able to reply that while the commission form of government has not been tried in this section, it has been tried in other cities and has I brought about appreciable im- ; provements in every department of the government of those cities. There is no gainsaying that Co- j lumbia has suffered from ward politics; but whatever the result | of the election, all our people sincerely hope that Columbia will continue on the upgrade. ) The Times has been urged by a number of citizens to "roast" the town authorities for the gambling which occurred in connection with the "carnival" held in Fort Mill last week. It is admitted generally that games of chance were operated in viola-; tion of the law and that these games should have been stopped, or better, should not have been allowed to start. But there is nothing to be gained by "roasting" any one. The mischief is done, and we would better pass on to something that will help Fort Mill become in fact, not in fancy, the "best town in South Carolina." , Military titles are a drug on the market in South Carolina. Here we find the Gaffney Ledger referring to an alleged forger as "colonel," the aforesaid colonel, a stranger in tiattney, being accused of sharp practices in Florida and having spent a few days in the Cherokee jail awaiting requisition papers to be taken to the State of Governor Gilchrist for trial. However, it may be that The Ledger had , .information that the "colonel" ^was born with his title. * Th*?re is scarcely a town, however small, or a city but has its unsightly places which by the outlay of a little time, taste and money might be easily transformed into beauty spots, adding to the attractiveness of the town and increasing the pride and interest which every one should take in the place in which his life is spent. Too frequently the thought of making such improvements is delayed until the busy season and when other things demand our attention. The best thing is to make all plans now and then the execution of them in the growing season is an easy matter.- The planting of a shrub or tree, the filling in of a little hollow, the making of a flower bed, keeping the grass mown ? any one or all of these things often work such wonders that we are surprised the improvements were not made long before. igHsasasasasgsBgasasHSEsai 1 MULES. la in g We have just { ' stables in Rock b ? nice mules, som< ijj have shipped tl in) Inl u r> rl cad p U1IV.1 L11C111. I S. J. KIMBJ fot5SH55g5gEcraSP 5^e5?g?525 ? No^ The Chan At Ask the hur tended our sale never saw sue Millinery, Dry < When you ] i sale, just stop a "knocking?" I Sale Ends P. H. Stallin Of course it takes more than one swallow to make a summer, but the appearance of the swallow is a pretty good sign that summer is on the way. Just so the victory of the Democrats in the recent congressional election in Massachusetts. The election> of Congressman Foss does not make the house of representatives Democratic, but it is a harbinger of what is coming next fall. When the house of representa' tives booted Joe Cannon out of the bosship of that body, the old reprobate came nearer getting his due than at any time since he was beaten by a Democrat in 1892. Einstein is the name of one of the Pittsburg grafters. It would be a hard matter to find a better name for a grafter. Einstein and graft sound svnonvmous. ^Sa5E5E5a5SSgSE5BSa5H5E5Hfa .MULES! I "i ^ l received at our f\ lill a fresh car of e of the best we jj| lis season. CaH I \LL & SON. I vfcLb'^, -^SgS5ScL5Z5E5a5H5H5lni nHBaHHRLT'WHHHBHnBHBHHHi n In Full B ge of Busi P. H. Stalli ldreds of peopl< i and they will a h bargains in ? Goods and Notic hear a person md think: hasn't vverv "knock" is ? ? J Saturday Ni igs' Store - F< ( Brennecke & Co. in charge) # 1 r 5 || Table Ec 6 9 WHEN YOU GET TIRED OF WITA A GROCER WHOSE EARNINGS AT THE END OF 6 J COME HERE jj WHAT A LITTLE READY 0 YOU DAILY. OUR PRICES i WE KNOW YOU WILL HI 8 QUALITY OF OUR GOODS 8 & w 9 9 Stewart & Cul 9 ?0???SmSHo>??SHS) |mola ? If you like goo ? have what you \ ?) make special prices ^ 5, 10 and 30 gallor ^ We must get rid | Farm Im] ? We have a go< 0 kinds of Farm Imp ? are selling them at t <> possible. Let us s< ? need. by | McElhaneyS ? ??o????????? @e Hast =? ^ iness Sale Vl 9 ngs =? n e who have att( ill tell you they u d shoes, Clothing, f >ns. "knocking" our he a motive for i a "boost." ight. Come! 1 >rt Mill, S. C. "~ r V ? .V, \ ' X 4 :onomy. I RUNNING AN ACCOUNT 0 PRICES EAT UP YOUR * 5 THE WEEK OR MONTH, 6 % ! AND SEE || MONEY CAN DO FOR Q \RE REASONABLE AND Q ? PLEASED WITH THE 9 PROMPT DELIVERY. * 8 9 9 I Telephone LP, Number 15. 9 9 tCkOJOHOiiCfcO i ???????????? lssesI d Molasses, we ? vant. We will 0 on purchases of S i kegs. g of these at once, q plements | od stock of all ^ >lements and we ^ :he lowest prices ell you wat you ^ c Company | {our V egetable Garden It is now time to be getting in order. Every family should ave one. Not only profitable, ut a pleasure to grow your own egetables. As to Garden Seeds We are now receiving our anual fresh stock consisting- of 3rn, beans, peas, turnips, peper, tomatoes, watermelons, can?loupes, etc. Buy your garden seeds from s and make a success of garem ng this year. "ort Mill Drug Comp'y J. R. HAILE, Mgr. JBB&Ilk ; / i N > S i \ \. v j 'hinkiflg of Building? If so. lot me figure with you. I can ivo you money. At any rate, let me jrnish you estimates. I use the b??st rade of material at the lowest prices, o jobs too lar^e, none too small. L. A. BRADFORD Balldar and Contraotor, Ft Mill. S C.