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
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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.