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/ Poge Eight THE CLINTON CHRONICLE. CLINTON. S. C. ^ ^ *■ -jf- • > ■Mill Thamfctf^Ociobef 17, 1940 . Q A Privote Citizen Spcoks His Mind SPtaAIOR COMMENTS ON MEN AND THINGS Dr. Snyder Does Not Methodists' Exclusively. Punitive Domage Suits Bar To New Industries. T Fifty years of service to Metho-. bly was a | bri|^t and wholesome dism, to South Carolina and to hu-1 exception. Indeed, the people of the inanity is the record of Henry Interment Here For Raymond Wood, 10 Raymond Wood, 10 years of^afe, died at a Lancaster hospital Saturday afternoon after a week’s illness. The body was brought here Sun day ^afternoon and intermefit took place at Roeemont cemetery. Ftmeral services were held at two o’clodt at ML Pisgah in Lancaster. Raymond was a son of Rev. B. L. Wood and Mrs. Maude 'Waldrop Wood, untR recently residents of the Lydia Mills community where Mr. Wood was pastor of the Baptist churA. Besides his parents, the de ceased ir siurvived by the following brothers and sisters: B. L. Wood, Jr., J. G. Wood, Mrs. Maxine' Thompson and Miss Maudidine Wood. 15-YEAR YOUTH ’ WINS $1X)00 FOR PICKING COTTON son Snyder. Years ago he was the j pfrscuting enterprises and will act friendly atmosphere among brilliant professor and decisively when given the facts, speaker, carrying a gracious person-; ality and luminous thought from the- mountains to the sea. In recent’ years, while still the charming speak-! on any occasion, he has become one j of the sages to whom the state i looks for counsel. * With all deference we cannot per mit our Methodist brethren to exer cise an exclusive option to Dr. Snyd er, we claim him for the state, and he becomes one of those who are enshrined in the hearts of humanity. Spectator, a Baptist, never knew Dr. Snyder as narrowly sectarian, on the contrary, he has always been a tow ering figure among us, albeit gentle' and modest always. i Dr. Snyder, through Wofford col^ lege, has been a great minister in the Master’s service, but from the pul pit and platform he. has been as a guiding light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. P. O. EXAM AimOtTNCED ' The United States civil service rommission announces an open com petitive examination for filling the position of substitute clerk-carrier in the Clinton postoffice. The receipt classes of our people is a surer guar antee of fair t/eatment than any oth- ^ ^ _ er influence, and it es^ercises a wider!of applications closes Oct. 28, 19M. appeal than any other in making in-j Inf<»mation may be obtained at the dustry choose our state. I local office. BlythevlUe, Ark., Oct 15.—Harold Masm, 15-year-old Sanath, Mo., high school lad, won the world’s cotton piddng championship here today, picking 12f pmindt of cotton in two hours to beat a field of 1S6 contest ants from all sections of the cotton beH. Mason, youngest contestant in the field, was awarded 81,000 by the National Cotton Picking Contest as sociation of BlythevlUe. “I never saw so much money be- JL fore in aU my life, much leas have it,” the champicm declared when Gov. Carl E. Bail^ made the formal award of the 1,000 one-doUar hills. *’rm going to save it and go to the University of Miasouri where I wiU study agriculture.” ■ > FOa PBBSPIRING FEET UBB STA-QRI LOmN At Tew DtngglM’s tie • DEPOSIT WILL • BlSi TVS • ANT ABTICLl • UNTIL • CHAlbTlIAB I There are four obstacles which work against our state in trying to persuade industries to come here: the punitive damage practice, annual sessions of the legislature, high lo cal taxes, both county and municipal, a disposition to soak the corpora tions. All these obstacles to our development are man-made and can | be removed. From the Eiiglish we inherited as (our law all the old legal doctrines whi(|h were in effect there until j these states became independent, j Among the practices was one jcalled i Exemplary or Punitive Damages, by I which a man is sued might be! charged not only with actual dam- j ages, but because of certain fraudu- i lent elements he might also be re-' quired to pay extra damages for punishment or to make an example' of him. In the course of years this! matter of damages for punishment i or to make an example of one has! grown in our state so that regard-1 less of any fraud or peculiar cir- j cumstances requiring an example thei plaintiff will ask for both actual and! punitive damages. | What has that to do with us? Well.l if a poor man hits someone with his car the person who is hit will do well to get the five, ten or fifty dollars necessary to cover loss, but if that! car had been owned by a great cor-| Annual sessions of our legislature running from January untilJune keep all the business interests in fear, for, until the general assembly adjourns, it may at any moment— and especially in final act known as the free conference committee on the general appropriation bill — enact some requirement or impose some tax which will hamper or hamstring the business of the state. Forty-two states have biennial sessions, includ ing North Carolina, Georgia and Vir- ginia, but we keep things stirred up six months in the year. Twice the people have voted for biennial ses sions, and twice the legislature has ignored the popular demand. Our state taxes are not notably higher than those of other states, which is hardly an argument for new business. If we could tell the world that our taxes are lower than others we should have a talking point. U is the local unit — county and city — Which is so drastically out of line. We have piled on services and the state has contributed to the counties, assuming heavy obligations of schools and roads heretofore resting on the counties. But the counties have im posed on real estate burdens of tax ation which make our'state an unln- vHing field for investment The hostile attitude of some law makers has made it seem that noth ing but a foolish and narrow politi cal claptrap dctenniiies our regula- tkms eoocerning business. The mem- benl>lp of the rocent general assem-! \ as# . A ONCE A YEAR MAMMOTH VALUE EVENT LAr.AWAT TOVX OHUBTIIAa Ctlf TI MOW AMD lATX Thousands of Watches—^Diamonds—^Silverware— Jewelry—Spe<^aUy Priced NATIONALLY ADVERTISED WATCH VALUES poration or a man with a little prop-' erty there might have been a suit for 850 as actual damages and $1,000 as punitive damages. The vice of our practice is that however innocently L one may have been at fault the'' wealth or even small means of a man | may excite some lawyer to result in j verdicts entirely out of proportion to the merit of the case. And if the defendant should be a big cmpor-! ation all .sense of right, justice, equi ty and proportion is sometimes thrown to the winds. This kind *of practice is not common among thej members of our bar, but it is too fre- ‘ quent at that. Consider the case ofj £ big corporation, it mu^ operate i through individuals, oftentimes our| friends and neighbors. Usually when' it injures some one it is the act of I our neighbor who works for the cor-* poratioi;. jSo far as he is concerned i we would a.sk little or nothing, but! if his act can be charged to the cor-j poration -then the bill for damages! swells enormously. If a corporation! be sued for fifty thousand dollars it * can never tell whether the jury will say fifty thousand or five thousand. The full amount asked for hangs over the corporation like a note in the bank. The practice of our state scares away investors. We should not let a few lawyers fatten at the* expense of the development of the slate. No one .should object, to fair dam ages lor injuiies sustamed, but the pratiiee oi .shaking down a man or an fcnterpri.se is a prostitution of jus tice. a.s well a.s an obstacle to the growth ol the business of our state. liOIN 17.JiWiLMIN ♦3^! EEtik AEMNMMI MMIk M flMt smlct In • fTARTiNG tm noM mm Imr s4wt jowr pattwa «l HI. vcrplate frsa laaMw FT ■>— ar —tMy -/ > m tka biUiuMel Con in Midi lit w'Wp ywi 15-JEWIL ELGIN 17-J|WIL RQIN NK MlM«l aritf m- iAATf VttiiM Ml I I ^ jEWELRYiiin 10 WJOMA titggm ■Wm- % NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY <iii<SAVE . .for CHRISTMAS SFECIAL Legtlur 4%[fc Wateh EfUMte M ■% ... HeavF SttrUnf Silver CaaibHflidirB $1.49 Pr. ftvad Street A- r u ■ V-V...-,; .A ' .-1^ . Qintei^ g. c. Reatrvig Amy Iteai VB ctnpmiAs ■S'