Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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LOCAL CURRENCY. IMPERATIVE NEED IN coMthrNrmES. f f Kxprrlrnrr an.t Prartic* In <.rf<nt Rrllnln. The V. S. Hernn.l HnnhvC»l. Yomnan’* Convlnrlnc Aririinieiit A|(nlniil Nnlinnnl Currrney. '' To the Kditor of The State: In my preceding articles I have endeavored to •how that jrold is too scarce to alone constitute the money of final mlenijv tion*“> That, as th;> money basis, it is entirely Uk» narrow n. sustain a vol ume of circulation sullicimt to meet Alie requirements of increaaiiiK' popula- tiOnsaml. v'|fdii(linx busiijesnactivities; and that its 'failure to ofrlcicntly imt- form this fund on f«'suits in a com parative Mnirtidiloii of tliemoncy tcl~ ume, whk’ii di-tturha pr<.>pci'ly .\'kiuca^ this territorr, smaller than the combin ed area of Oeoivia and Alabama, against a monopoly of note issues by RURAL the Bank of Kngland and its branches institutions occupying in English finances a position very similar to our National banks -moat ably and speci ously presented in a memorial by the country bahkem to Earl Grey and Lord Altherpe, June 18, 1893, see Gil bert “On Banking," vol. 1. pages 107, L.at “every 110, 111 and 112, were man possessed of practical information 4 ■i I dislocates prices u:»l produces that un certainty, ftbpreheusum and general disLust, which chills enterprise and investment, paralyzes industry and sprea is broaileasf want and distress. That the gold standard is most hazard ous for thra country, lirst; England, controlling ahout lions of American securities, three fourth's of them payable in gold, holds practically an open lien on our fftuut- ces more tlia)» fiftc*en times us large as our treasury reserve, and four times as great as our entire volume of gold. Tins lien, which she cun exercise at any time by throwing these securities Upon our market, not onl •’ subjects our entire linancial system to her whims and caprices, hut giving her c< >i itrol of <m rcu rmncy;.gi yes her a Iso control ofour exchanges and enablea her to set the price of our foreign ex ports; and ip oonjynetftm with 1-he. Northeast, she is~ helping-herself to that by giving the exclusive circula lion of notes to th* Bank of England abundance will becreated in the money market, and in the great commercial emporiums—raising the price of pub lic securities and stimulating the pro duce market—while unexampled scar city will be the consequence in the country, producing (emharrassuien among the cultivators of the soil am nil who are dependent upon them * * * If all bankers should be compelled to fTy iheir customers wilh the notes the course of • exchange—and follow that current wherever it leeds. Inf theee United States the current eets from every part of the interior .and j COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED. especially from the South end West into the Northeast—into four commer- dal cities north of the Potomac, Balt- more, Philadelphia, New York and Boston, «na all the bank notea which To Work for tbo Mato Kxhiblt all Oror tho jgggf- Columbu, S. C., Feb. 20.—Gover nor Evans yesterday proceeded to make the appointments of who understands the subject knows There is no reflex in that current! It will pass for money in those places fall I secure a State exhibit for South Caro- intothe current which sets in that I linp at the Cotton States and Interna direction. Where there is nothing in tional Exposition to be held at Allan the course of trade to bring them back. 1 4 7T our cotton and wheat at prices, which they have set below the cost of pro- dupLkm. Second, because placing us on the same financial plane wfthKu-. rnpr, 11 not only exposes i.tir s\stem to the hiizards of druiniigo ami col lapse by every panic and war in Eu rope, but conijs'lls us to repress our laoor tfnd reduce our prices below: the European level, so ns to lie enabled to underbid Eurojie for gold. The inevi table result of which will be. to de grade eighty-live per cent, of our pern * pie to a parity with the toTT subjection and Wretchudncw; of tfaWyswwawww of Europe. The nretens** that any li nancial system wliicn we may adopt will unsettle our exchanges or dislo cate our commercial relations with Europe, am all the merest,- tuoddla. We do not jjovv, nor liave we ever conducted these exchanges with the slightest regard toourtinauciill -vstom or even to our coinage laws, while it' is true that the Bank of England usu ally receives the Russian inipen^ls, the Fismch NajKileons and the Ameri-. can Eagles without ineltf? it only does'so because of their standard weight. We settle our balances with Europe Hot by coins' hut with bullion and by weight: and to settle this fal.v «£ry of “luB value money of the world," 1 will quote the.highest mi thority on finance, l^ir Walter Bage- ot. see Lombard Street, jmge 41: “Within a country the action of a government can settle the quantity and therefore the value of its currency, but outside its own country no govern ment can do so. Bullion is the cash of international trade; puner curren cies are of no use there, and eqiiyj pass only as they enntain innre i»r li ssUnl- ie Bank of England, a charge of jier cent, for the interest of loans to graziers, farmers and dealers in agri cultural produce would not remunerate the country hankers so well as 4 or “ because per .cent, docs now upon*the present two bib (.system * * * From these premises it results that the free application o:’ labor to land would be prevented, the cost of cultivation enhancedv markets and the sale of produce impeded anc the pursuits of agriculture deeply in jured.” With all the claims which the Bank of England, has upon the government as its creditor and financial agent, anc with all the influences arrayed on its side, which aris£ from the power am prestige of -great wealth, it has been unable to prevail upon the govern ment to sacrifice the rural sections by taxing out of existence the country- bunks of circulation and to give it a monopoly of note issues. The Scotch maintain their system of note issues, restricted to adequancy, and even in England, an urea less in extent than the State of Georgia, they have a dou ble currency—the notes, of the Bank ol 1 England and the notes of the country iNinks- -the 'circulation of the former convertible into gold to supply the great channels of trade and conducb foreign exchanges; the circulation o:' the latter convertable into the notes ol' the Bank of England to sustain loea TnJiistry m tTierural districts and more re motev wectTong, If m acoontry lesa in extent than the States of Georgia and Alabama it wasccnsidered indis lion." We settled our debts with Europe in bullion wherr xvo were on an ^nrorr- ► verti ble paper basis, we set tie. in the same marucr now, and will continue to do so, no matter what standard we may adopt. As it is my purpose in this article to discuss the Alliance and Populist idea of confining our note is sues entirely to the Federal Treasury, and to deal with a theory similar in some respects, tha* all of our paper circulation should 1m* guaranteed by -the Fcdrralgnvcnmicnl. ■ wo its to i , en*| ment and-dtseonteni among-the cultf der it equally current in all sections of the Union, 1 pro|>oee to Iky dow n at, the outset and to sustain the preposi tion, as a well established facR that any currency which nrculatcsequally at par in cvci scctidn of a country will congest at ttlF great comniereiai centres and Ho? fteelv only in the great artericsof trade, leaving the ru- lal districts ami more remote sections bare of money and sub jected to’ a iisu rious rate of interest,. This khid of a currency once concentrated in the is nsible that Scotland should have her se|H*rite system of finance and emin cntly necessary in taigland, loss in ex tent, than tho Ahite of.Oeoig'ia, ihat they should have country banks of cir culution to supply the local - demani of the agricultural sections, how much more necessary that this couatry, com- jMised t>f forty-four great States, ant comprising a territory nearlyequal in extent to the whole of Europe, that we should have a local currency—a cur reuoy which will not centralize, but remain at home to,suppbrt the pro ductive industries of the rural sections and that could be directly loand to the farmers at one interest cnarge To one who has investigated this question and has no pride of opinion or selfish interests to struggle against, but merely looks to the provision of a wholesome system of finance, which will impartially promote the interest of ail claaaea and redound to the wel fare of the public, the question hardly seems to admit of argument. But if I lie correctness of the arguments pro* ed in the great trade centres, freely ac cessible only in the great channels of trade, while in tha rural districts and more remote sections we have , unex ampled scarcity and a most usurious rate of interest. In the great trade emporiums of the Northeastern cities it is piled up by hundreds uf millions, £nd, while al- 'niost a drug oTT that market at tne very lowest interest, yet it is only to be had on reasonable terms in the irreat arteries of trade; in the rural districts money is scarce and only to be obtained at an exorbitant interest. In this section the farmers cannot bor row it for less than 12 and 13 (icr cent. As was stated in the memorial of the English country bankers it has to be jorrowed from these great centres by local operators and remaned at a dou- )le charge of interest, one charge at the trade centre and another at the joint of local disbursement. Under the present system of finance, money is distributed in the rural districts anil more remote sections only after sev eral transfers, and at every transfer Cnted by the country bankers in 1893 to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Ivord of the Treasury, which could not be satisfactorily answered by all of the ability at the command of such a powerful organization as the Batik of England, to the effect that a national circulation will congest in the great commercial emporiums and flow free- y at reasonable interest only, in'the great arteries of trade, “while unex ampled scarcity will be the consequence in the country, producing crabarrass- gn by real channels of inula, as it will la* V * k- Uy ar in> xorable law of finance, there . Hre no automatic inlluencew to red is tri 1 >iile it. TWiTsolpiently this Tvdistii- bution is only effected by theapplica- tft>n of-i,om4M‘%tra stimulus; which us ually appears in the guise of extra in terest ami heavy brokerage. To deal intelligently with the questions of of this nature, we cannot l>e governed by the edicts of apolitical' parties, or the expressions of off-hand opinion, ... but only bj* a careful investigation of the phenomina resulting from similar financial conditions\in the past. The rechrtls of the great continental na tions furnish but a meagre field for this investigation,' subjected not only to the disturbances of internal dissen- tions, but to the greater risk of for eign invasion and plunder, which they have several times .realized dur ing the last century. They have only recently begun to develop a tendency towards perfection ni their tinancial systems, and,this development has’ "beenseriously retarded by theappre-.- hensions of their people, naturally arising from the experience of loss by these disturbances and invasions re sults which have caused a strong ten dency among them to hoard, and .to display a timidity towards the deposit system. - v* - ' ' V ■ ~ 1 In England, a country whose finan cial system has remained stable for centuries, free from violent revolu- • lions, and undergoing its mutations gradually to correspond with changed surroundings, is presented a field in which the subject of finance may be studied with edification in.almost* ev- ery phase and from almost any stand point. It is here' that the scicuce of money lias been most diligently stud’ j ied, and most thoroughly understood, and it is here that the system of only a national money lias been rejected. , It must be borne in mind hat the un answerable arguments advanced against this system, which could not be rebutted, by the ablest and most' powerful of moneyed influences of -England apply with Ynore than double force to the United States. In comparing the a^as of the two countries, we find, that whilst Great Britain comprises an extent of only -• 88y0OW square miles, the United States comprises an area of over 3,500 000, nearly equal in extent to the whole of Europe. Now, the arguments used in valors of the soil and all who are de- pendent uiKMi them,” is not admitted, they can be amply confirmed by the experience in this- country with the notes of the Second Bank of the United States and the din*ct aiuLflositive opsr- ati«)*.s of an army of the most eminent statesmen who figured injpublic life from 1812 to 1840. This tendency,of its issues to congest at the great trade centers of the Northeast was discovered after the establishment in 181H of the Second Bank of the United States as earlv as 1820. For we tind that in De cember of that year a memorial was presented to Congress by the President and directors of the bautT 'coni ^^ 5 ^ mg that as thess notes were current everywhere and everywhere receivable in, payment of government dm*s, they ■flowed continually to the great centers of receipts and disbursements, and left the South and \V»«t without a nation al circulation; and to remedy this evil, they petitioned-Congress'to so amend tkc charter as to make these notes re ceivable only for government dues at the branch banks, where they were made payable, except at the office in Washington. The purpose of this amendment is perhaps more plainly stated in a recommendation of a simi lar nature from the Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. Wm. H. Crawford, in the same year, from which 1 quote: “'The effect of this modification would be to make the nob's of .the offices of the Bank of the United States, except f hejoffice 1 in this district, a local cur- re-ucy, which will ffiittfr and continue iu the local circulation of the State in which they are issued.” This amend ment was refused by Congress, and Mr. ljuigdon Cheves, the president of the bank, at the tri-ennial meeting of the stockholders in 1822, again “stated this law of circulation and explained the inevitable tendency of thebranch bank notes to flow to the Northeast, and the impossibility of preventing it.” With a view of retaining the notes of the branch banks at the place of issue, the management, then directed the branch banks to give drafts on the Eastern cities us a means of retaining their notes, but savs Prof. Albert Bol- les, iu his linancial histy of the United States from 1789 to I860 page 323, “the branch notes and the drafts issued in consequence of these intsructions, were swept Eastward by the operations of trade. A vacuum in the circulatation was thus produced that could only be supplied by the local notes.", In a speech delivered in the United States Senate in 1834, see Benton’s “Thirty Years in the Unitad States Senate " vojL I.. page 451, Thomas Ben ton, wno was tne right bower of Presi dent Jackson’s administtration, said: “The theory of bank circulation over an extended territory is this, that you may put out as many notea aa you may in any one place, they will im mediately fall in the track of com merce—into the currant of trade—into is a trade-wind which blows twelve months in the year in the same direc tion.” The president of the bank, Mr. Biddle, testified before a Congressional investigating committee in 1832, that there was an absorbing tendency of the branch bank paper to flow to the Northeast. . ... Mr.Calhoun,in atpeech in the Uni- ted States Senate, . September 19,1837, said: “Theconnection of the gdvern iv ment with tlie banks whether it be a combination of State banks or with at ties comp national institution will nqi^ssarily I organization centralize the systeui at the principal n - . point of collection and disbursement." * Commission Mr. Webster, in a speech in the Uuited States Senate^ March 12-J838, said: “Government notes are no sooner issued than they commence their march towards the place where they are most in demand, that is the place of the groatest pubHc of the great est public receipt. If yon want cen tralization, sir, and enough of it, if you desire to dry up the small streams of commerce and till to overflowing the deep and already swollen main ta, in accordance with iho-plan agreet upon between himself and the Young Men’s Business League of Charleston fully detailed yesterday. Governor Evans, as already stated, is to he the exofficio chairman of all committees for the entire State. He has made the following appointmepts. It should be [stated, however, that there are severa other appointments yet to be made to make tfie committees in several eoun to' complete the Assistant coniriifssioners in charge of the work of preparing $he exhibits for their respective districts, Who shal be known as the central committee fcnd executive board of the South Car olina exhibit: First district -J. C. Hemphill,Char leston. Se<5ond district—W. H. Mauldin, Hampton: channekyouwillact very wisely to I J^ 1Ie district John K “ Iirad1 ^ for the State at large and manager of the South CaroK^ lbjph has already been done for the. re exhibit, E. L. Roche. * lief- iff the sufferers. Business has that end if you keep out of the receipts of the Treasury all money but such paper as4he government may furnish .and which shall be not otherwise re deemable than in ^receipts for ' debts due the govrnment, while at the same time you depress the character of local circulation." The correctness of my proposition so fully confirmed by past experience and endorsed by the contemporaneous utterance of our ab lest statesmen, is also thoroughly sus tained by the conditions in our present financial situation. We now have only a national money—a circulation equally current in every section of the Union—“where every dollar is as good efery-where as every other dollar.’’ And what do we behold? A thorough repetition of past experience, the am- lest confirmation of The authority I Fourth district —W. A. Clarke,Rich land. Fifth district UeRoy Springs, N Lan caster. ! ' -rT - •g Sixth district—J. J>. Montgomery. Marion. \/ Seventh district— George H. Cornel son, Orangeburg. Three commissioners for each of the several counties of the State, as fol lows: Abl»eville—J. K. Durst, L. ~W White, R. R. Hemphill.. AikeH*-Thomas J. Davis, B. F. Hoi ley, T. S. Williams. • Anderson—P. K. McCulloch, J. Belton Watson. Barnwell—L. W. Youmans, S. G. Mayfield, Robert Aldrich. Beaufort—J, TI AverUR JU), El Berkeley—E. J. Dennis, H. L. Bar ker.-J. B. Morrison. Charleston—J. Adger Smyth, W. H. Welch and L. A. Emerson. Chester—R. A. Love.T. J. Cunning ham, O. Barber. « Chesterfield—O.. T. Redfern, W. P Pollock, H. M. Finlavsou. Clarendon—D. J. Bradham, J. E. [ Tindal, C. S. I^nd. Colleton—M. R. Cooper, M. P. Howell, Benjamin Stokes. Darlington—R. W. Boyd. Edgefield—B. R. Tillman, ( R. B. Watson, John C. Sheppard. Fairfield—Tliomas W. Woodward, W. J, Johnson, J. Q. Davis. Florence—W. F. Clayton, F. M. Rodgers, J. O. Byrd. _ Georgetown—Miles Haazard, Sol Emanuel, W. R. Congdon. Greenville—H. B. Buist, John Fer- guson< J. A. Hoyt. Hampton—M. B. McSweeney, C,, J C. Hutson, John J. Garnett. Horry—E. Norton, C. P. tjuattle- baum. *■ Kershaw—W. M. Shannon, -J. D. an additional interest rate is charged, J Trantham. J. W. tloyd". so that by the time it rerches the rural) T ” borrower it is freightened down with such a heavy brokerage that no avoca tion except successful mining or gam- jling can long survive it. To those organizations which are sincerely endeavoring to better the condition of the agricultnral classes, and to those modest men who publicly laim to be statesmen, and are yet fighting the establishment of a local currency, professing to believe that ewoaly-relief is to-be had by~ exrrs J. H. A. sive issues of government notes, made egal tender, 1 desire to commend for their consideration in addition to the quotations already cited? the follow ing, first, Irom Wm. H. Crawford's report, as Secretary of the Treasury, made to the House of Representatives February 24, 1820: “If a hatidhal cur rency should be established the de mand for it in the Southern and West ern States, for the purpose of trans missions, would be incessant, whilst its return by the ordinary course of trade, especially in the latter, would >e slow and in some degree uncertain. It is, then, believed mat the IviTs which are felt in those keftions of the Union where the distress is most general, will not be extensively, . relieved by the establishment of a na-M iave c h ar K e finances of the shall Lancaster—Ira B. Jones. Laurens—J. D. M. Shaw, J. <>. C. Fleming, J. B. Humbert. Lexington—J. W. Lybrand, G. E.< Hannan, C. M. Efird. Marion—William Evans, C. A. Woods. Marlborough—C. S. MeCall* — Breeden. Newberry—E. H. Aull, II. C*. Mose ley, Tliomas W. Holloway. Oconee—S. Y. Stribling, J.R. Earle, P. Dfittdy. —— Orahgeburg—Thomas M. Raysor, J. W. H. Dukes, L. -D. Bates. Pickens—Julius E. Boggs. TiC.Rob inson, D F. Bradley. .. - ’ Richland—John T. Sloan, L. D. Childs, J. y. Marshall. Spartanburg—T. J. Moore, Stan- yarne Wilson, Josi*ph Walker _.Sumter—Altamont Moses. Aycock, L. M. Knight. \ Union—Senator Douglass, W Nicholson, T. C. Duncan. Williamsburg -R. C.-Logan, Dr. A. H. Williams. ■ ♦ . York-W. L. Roddey. Neal. J. S. Brice. immioners-rrf-finance: -A^rrire'w Simonds, E. H. Pringle and E. H. Sparkhaui, of Charleston, who shall tional currency.” rSeeond, from homas Benton, who, in a speech in 1 le United States Senate, 1834, allud ing to a petition from North Carolina, praying for an additional issue of the notes of the Second United South Carolina exhibit, and all contributions Sank, to relieve a stringency existing in that State, said: “If a hundred mif- ions of United States bank notes were carried to the upper part of North Carolina and put into circulation it would be but a short time before the whole would have fallen into the'ciir- rent which sweeps the paper of that jank to the Northeast.” Mr. Benton held it to be fully established, first by argument, founded in the nature of jank circulation over an extended territory and secondly, by proof, de rived from the operation of the pres ent bank of the United States, that neither the present bank nor any one lat the wisdom of man can devise, can ever succeed in diffusing a g«yi- or collections be sent and upon whose joint order all expenditures will be made. Samuel W. Wilkes has been ap- StateA I pointed .resilient commissioner for the State of South Carolina at Atlanta. Freohlrnt of Wiothrop Collegt*. Columbia, 8. C., Feb. 22. - Tuesday night at a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the South Carolina Indus trial and Winthrop NormaPfollege. Professor D. B. Johnson was elected President by a unanimous vote. The opposition to him, which was predict ed did.not develop. It was generally believed that he would be elected. Nevertheless, such a vote was a hand some compliment;' The two things that weighed most with the Board were his executive ability and his in fluence with Northern educators, Jfr- the Trustees of 'the Peabody eral paper circulation over the States I ^nd,'to which the College loojcs for of this Union’’ laid. Professor Johnson has been In my next article I shall attempt Superintendent of the to show that our hope for a low rate % ? aud nine years President of interest and prosperity in the rural l ofthe Wmthrop Norma! sections mainly depends upon the es tablishment of a local currency—that it is our only hope to decentralize our circulation aud relieve us from finan cial thraldom. L. W. Youmans. Fairfax, S. G, Feb. 11, 1895. College, for whose more extended work he has been selected. Professor Johnson was born in LaGrange, Tenn., January 10, 1856, where his rather was founder aud President of the LaGrange Female College. He worked his way through college and graduated with the degree IT-. „\it » r ix ,1 II * I of A. B. at Uie University of Tennes Henry M. Bruns, LL D.. the oldest I ^ Knoxville> TenU ) ^ 1877< w ith iving graduate, and for many years a the first honor of his class, and with jrofessor of the college of Charleston, I the senior captaincy of his battalion, died at Summerville, S. C„ on Thurs- Immediately after graduation he was , ■ i.- o-r.w I elected assistant 'principal of the day, in his 87th year.^ He was | Knoxville High School, in which position he served ten years, when he was elected assistant professor of mathematics in his alma mater. In 1880 he was awarded the degree of A. _ He was jrominently identified withthe edu- | cational interests of Charleston^ and was the father of th^ late Dr. John | >ickson Bruns, of New Orleans. Since the year 1891 more than 11,- 000 claims, aggregoting $40,000,000, lave been made for land taken from the _ndi*ns. The sums paid since 1799 un- < er the act passed that year for what He called depredation claims will 1 M. by the University /ff Tennessee. The young ladies of the Winthrop Normal College presented‘an address to the Governor and the Board asking that Professor Johnson be elected will remain in charge of the schools for the remainder of the ses are r . . amount to more than one hundred bil-1 tion and will go to Rock Hill in Sep- lion dollars., • item her. COLUMBIA LETTER. A BATCH OF INTERESTING- FROM THE STATE CAPITAL. Th« Cold Snap and Ua KITocU What U ollIlqi-.ByaaU of Oroator or Lom latereat to the People of South Carolina, \ f Columbia, Feb, 23^—Special: The capital city has about recovered from the freeze—which, by the way, was unprecedented. There has been snow before—sleet before^—suffering before —but not of the extent or the xind ex perienced Iasi week and the early por tion of this. The weather is wintry still, but the sun shines, and the streets are not fit for folks to walk in without rubbers. There was a good deal of suffering. The weather put ting an end to business, many people were thrown out of employment for . rtv the time-and these of the class who l ouse live by their daily labor. Charitable people and benevolent organizations came to the rescue, however, and erfced'^aih, and soon we shall, in the enjoyment of the beautiful spring for which Columbia is prover bial, will be so well upon us tnat we shall have quite forgotten the freeze ABOUT POLITICS. Considering tliat this is an “off year,” and that even the fight over the Constitutional Convention ought not to commence for some montns yet, we are having a good deal of politics on hand. - \ The meeting of the convention call ed by “the forty!’ lias been postponed. But there was, first, the, conference, between Representative Conservatives and Reformers, ,and then the issuance of the address of the Democratic State Executive Committee. The confer ence was held with closed doors, and all the participants have been dogged ly reticent about the proceedings. It is stated land the’statement appears to have commanded general credence) that the conclusion reached was about thus: The two factions, ih each coun- A,d Eye Witnees Tells of tlie llutekery of — Tlious»n<ls of ChrintaliM. Boston, Feb. 22.—The Globe pub lishes tlie following from Moosh, Asia Minor, which it says is the first des cription by an eye witnesg of Mooshir Pasha's ‘'march of blood.” (Mooshir jJaEcr_accoui>t-flf the aclion of the Pasha is the military governor of Er- cOn fere nee. Until there shall be some zerian ar ty, are to have equal representation in the Convention. In the counties en titled to an uneven number of dele gates, the odd delegate is to be as signtd to that faction which carried the county in 1892: Such is the news- authoritative statement of the matter, people may amuse themselves with conjectures on the possible effects of the alleged plan of settlement, on thf party.and on the Republican enemy! THE NORMAL UOLLEOE. Much interest has centered in the choice of President of the State Nor mal and Industrial College at Rock Hill. It was said that there were several applicants, but the board of trustees seemed to have made up their minds in advance of the meeting. Prof. D. B. Johnson, superintendent of the ciiy schools of Columbia,and of the Winthrop Training School, was unanimously elected to the •'position. Prof. Johnson is admirably equipped for the position. A first-honor grad uate of the University of Tennessee, le has been actively engaged in school work for the past eighteen years. lie organized the system of common schools in this city, and his good work is shown in their great efficiency and jopularity. He Originated the Win throp Training School here. Tke trustees of the Woman's College, at their meeting, handled only routine business of no public interest. The election op professors is to take place on the^lStn 1 of May. THE VOLUNTEERS ENLIST. The Richland Volunteer Rifle Com pany, commanded by Capt. Joseph K. Alston, at their meeting last night, *de-' cided, after a very full consideration of the subject, to enlist in the State militia under the Act passed at the re cent session of the legislature. The action of the men is said to have been ** p / -^1-- — A_ ■ *» t AX ^ tit ifvi i rrrr^ x lit" » TjiutiWSCT rvITT© Company ife’bne of the oldest military organizations in the country. Its rec ord is throughout a most honorable one; ■ ■- .—*—i—' »»-'■■' ■■ THE NEW FACTORY. Ground lias been broken for the tichland Mill. A large 'force of lands has already been put at work jy CoU Coleman, the contractor, and no time'will be lost in pushing the mill to its completion. Mr. R. S. ’ringle has been placed in charge of the company's property as general superintendent. He expects to rush things through, and within seventy- live good, working days, fair weather Trevailhi^, ftffflroprsWTlave the bfg mill building closed in. 5 1 THE STATE’S WATERPOWER. The Supreme Court has just decided a case of some interest to the ^tate at arge. When the Columbia canal was ceded to Xh®““atyrTHc State reserved 500 horse power, for the use of the jenitentiary. When the Electric Light Company started business the water- jower was prOcurred under a contract with the penitentiary authorities. Afterwards the owners of the canal (who purchased it from the City of Columbia) brought suit against the Electric Light (Jompany, to restrain them from using the waterpower— this on the ground* that such use was confined, by the terms of the law, to the penitontiarv, and could not be eased or transferred to other parties. . udge Hudson decided.for the Electric Jght Company, and the' Supreme Court sustains his judgment. ' A NEW ORDER. There was a meeting last evening : or the purpose of organizing a local council of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics—an order which las been establishedr» in this country since 1853. Among other things in the declaration of principles of this order appears the following paragraph, which is self-explanatory. It should jc stated, too, tnat it costs nothing to join the order: “In the strictest sense we are a national political organiza tion, but we oppose with unanimity the slightest taint of partisanship. Our Country' is our motto, and we iteep this motto steadilv before us. We are cognizant that there are great and powerful enemies within our midst, requiring the strictest surveil- ance of all who are at heart, word and in deed Americans. We, as members of this order, affirm our allegiance to 1,he objects of the order as paramount to any partisan affiliation, and urge upon the membership harmonious, united and intelligent action in carry ing out the principles. INFANTICIDE. ' About 9 o’eldbk yesterday morning j )r. Lester was called to see a negro woman, named Rebecca Green, who ives near Waverly. He found a new- y born infant lying dead in the house. The woman seemed anxious or a certificate to the effect that the child was born dead, and was so per sistent that Dr. Lester's suspicions were aroused. He withheld tne cer tificate and-notified' the Coroner.' In the afternoon a jury was summoned and Drs. Talley and Lester made a post mortem examination. Finger prints on the child's throat and other evidences of strangulation were found. The jury found that the mother killed the child; and she has been commit ted to jail. » - OTHER MATTERS. The wooden portion of Allen Uni versity, a college for colored people, located in the eastern suburbs, was destroyed by fire on Thursday morn ing. The new brick annex was not injured. The origin of the fire is un known. The several railway companies in terested have accepted the new “joint rates" proposed by the ruilr&ad com mission. Mille Rhea, an actress of considera ble note.will appear in the opera bu Monday mght, m the popu lar play, “The Parisians.” A number of J^lemson College stu dents have passed through the city in the past few days, qji their way to Fort Hill. Governor Evans and Ex-Governor Tillman have gone to the North—for what purpose is not definately known. Dr. K. F. Maurice, a prominent cit izen of Kingstrec, died in this city on Wednesday. He had been in bad health for some time, and had come here for treatment. The semi-annual examinations at the South Carolina College nave re cently closed. The progress of tlie students, as shown by these examina tions, is said to have been highly sat- isfactory. •, The Supreme Court lias granted a new trial to J. Mims Sullivan, con victed of the murder of Herman GIF reatK, in Greenville, about two years ag°- , / gr THE MURDEROUS MOOSHIR. > zerjan and started, by order of the Sul tan into Jhe Sassuim district last Sep tember. Innumerable burned villages and 7,293 lives was the price of this official visit.) ’ * * Moosh, Asia Minor. Jan. 7.—The numbers of our dead countrymen in the four towns visited by Mooshir Pasha will not be fjir short of 7,500. This is from the bodies counted and kno.wn to have perished. We cannot tell how many others there may be. The first town entered by Mooshir was Shinik. It contains four villages. Shinik, Mezera, Koojock and Pop •. When our people here heard of the sir- rival of the Pasha Fr.'' Johaunis, 240 of the leading townsmen went to meet lim to have nierev Upon them. They were surrounded oy soldiers long be- ore they cod Id get to Mooshir Kasha and every one was killed. Their Jodies were put in tlie church and jurhed. Then they proceeded to burn he villages. Tlie number killed from Shinik proper number 623, and 317 from the rest of the village*. Those who escaped are now in tlie villages surrounding this town, but the vi llag- ers are ^themselves very poor and many gb hungry.- - ' Mooshir Pasha left Shinik to go to the-next town in the Sasosun district. This town is Alyan and has fourteen villages. The people heard of his com ing and how that he had twenty-four companieseach400 men besides twenty three cannons. They knew that it was useless to appeal to l.im. so they fled to the village of Chi because of its NEVER delayed Jl ' Pi YMENT. i NEVER,. ■ ■; V - — COMPROMISED \ CLAIM. NEVER **-,•. •• . .. ‘ •.~ v ^ • --v-v. . * .. # • . ,0 HAD A ^ ? LAWSUIT. —- Such Is the record ^of^the J 4/ Hi STAUNTON LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, | Numbers of Beneflclsries Testify to Itt f Promptneee and Soundne Natural Premium Insurance on the Approved Plans. The new “Coupon Policy” of the BtM» ton Life Is a model of simplicity. In addi tion to all the beet features of modern life insurance U provides for the payment of the "coupon” IMMEDIATELY after death, without notice or the formali ty of proofs. The “coupon” covers 10 par cent of the face of the policy, and Is In ad dition thereto. Agents wanted. Liberal CommMon Live men can make big money. Address ■ » ino. & Reynolds, General Amt, COLUMBIA, S. U, A $700.00 PIANO FOR $275.00. letter escape him. They stayed in the mountains for almost twenty days, and when all food was gone and there was nothing left to do they fledas best they could. Two thousands bodies were left behind at Chi. Gali-Gazan was next an because the town has twenty-two villages around it, Mooshir brought Kurds, Ahmidie and irregulars, numbering 30,000. The towti was desreted, for the people, with all the food they could carry, lad fled to the mountains: They stayed in their fastnesses for thirty days and at last with a frenzy born of lunger and despair,-tliey made, a ter- fTKe rusTi down tlie .mountain siaes and attacked the . tyrants instead 0/ waiting to be killeu. Patriot Vartan Was like a god and killed nineteen men with his own sword before he fell dead. 'V Bedras was a soldier, too, and en couraged his children, and when lie was at last killed his body was cut in jieces and given to the dogs. Alpag was the last town that the jloodthirsty tyrants visited, and this jlace contains eight villages —Verient, Chaden, Moodavar, Eukik, Kalaxaz. Choroop, and Davlorig. The people had for the most part made their es cape, but when Mooshir and his soldi ers went their way 1,300 bodies were ound even here. Many more were jurnefl, but their nuqiber cannot be mown. ' All bodies were left where tliey were jutchered aud those who would travel this ^district must risk their lives through the pestilentiaT&dors that go up from so many dead. All who es caped from the Sass^un district came to the villages and plains of Moos If,’ and hungry, destitute and bi^jken- learted, they look for hope and help and sympathy from the civilized world to whom the news of their terrible lot may come. RICE MILLS. We offer a complete Bice Mill in one machine. The rough rice Is placed In hopper and comes out- cleaned and polished ready for ta ble use. Machine can be operated with horse power and will clean 100 bushels of rough nee per day. CORN MILLS Of the latest designs, vertical and horizontal, double and single gear. ; Boiler Mills, Saw Mills, Engines, _— Gins andtPresses, Wood working machinery V. C« BittttlAt. - COLUMBIA, S.O.. This SDDoancement will oerUtnly Interest everybody that Intends to purchase a piano in the near future. We b-ve be»n carrying Musical la- struaienti for several yaars In eon- neetton with our Furniture bustneH, but for ibasom satisfactory to our- selves, we have decided to discon tinue the sale of planoe, and offer our entire stock at mannfaetnrers' cost We do this believing that It Is cheaper to dispose of them at what they cost us rather than earry them month after month hoping to get a small profit for them. The Instruments that wo offer oro first class In every reapeet and an most positively guaranteed to bo -nmrequat’to Any instrument on the marke*. wlthoit regard to oaao or price. We shall be pleased to nod a eat* logue of olanos to anybody who will send us 0 cents postage for the some. And if you are Interacted and axpost to buy a piano In tha near future you will certainly aavs quite a saaa of money to purchase from us before our stock Is exhausted. Remember that when the stock Is gone we shall buy no mure and that tbls opportun ity will close forever as the Instru ments are sent out We ddiira to say that we h«ve an lllostratod cata logue of Furniture, embracing every thing usually carried In a first elass furniture store. We will be pteased to mall this catalogue upon applica tion. ' , L. F. PAUSE FT, 846 BROAD 8TKEET, Aug.usta, Ga* 4c: COTTON JjMakea 4e* PRIOlMf evee m PIANOS A ORGANS no NT ks discouraged, but LJV-ni 1 write for eer gnat <■ / Baxoain List and WendarfuUy M 4 Easy Installment Term*. 4e. PMCES. uibak Haes 1ms tkaa Twwnty Hearty Mw fqw x New Yon give away riiees. we at < Frtem. took Mirror Top Orgaa eely Cam, SAVE MONEY by beyinc from the Greatest Southern Music House. MJDDU ft 14ns, lannah,fia.