The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, April 06, 1886, Image 1
jwv ;v ->
I *
i- ' ' W
i ? - ? ... - - - ^?M?1 ???MM?M?ftTf1WH1 >?M
- (The vVbbnilk 3Hcs5j^nn\
VOL. 2. ABBEVILLE, S. C., TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 188G. NO. 31. -
frighting far Free Trade.
[From the New York Star.]
The Hon. John J. Dargan, a prominent
citizen of South Carolina, was in
New York a few days ago in the inter eat
of his pet theory, free trade, which
be says is growing more and more popular
in all the Southern States. Mr.
JDargan is a well-preserved man of forty-five,
with a wealth of black hair and
a wiry, black mustache. He is the son
r * olavo.KnKlnr anrl ntrno /?nHnn
plantation of over five hundred acres.
His Opinion on all political and industrial
questions is highly valuod in his
native State, and he is much respected
throughout the Western and Middle
States, where he is weli known.
Mr. Dargan has made -a close study of
Che tariff question in the broadest philosophical
sunte. He ??ploys trenchant
arguments to show the iniquity of protection,
which he says, robs the poor
and wealthy alike to enrich a few.
"John C. Calhoun/' said Mr. Dargan
to a reporter, "was the apostle of free
trade. Ho announced its bonefits in
thundering tones in the Senate, and was
backed up by Webster. Away back in
1834 both Webster and Calhoun voted
against protection, and Massachusetts
and South Carolina, with the exception
of one representative, voted with
them.
"Protection at bestisonly a provisional
*' echeme. It is a rolic of the war, and like
either iiraIaqq Anr) hnrffill ri omonfnou nf
those bloody times, it ought to go. It
tflrat sprang up in Nov England, and for
* long time was exceedingly unpopular.
It gradually undermined shipping and
-aommeroe, which are the mainstay of
avery country, and drove capital into
manufacturing channels. Nobody pretended
that it was not wrong in principle
in the course of time, however, capital
iaU found they coald thrive upon tho
wuowkhi ^afffre situation, and placed
anillibna^^frfmin^llioabs of dollars in man-'
faature*. They were protectod from
healthy competition by the high tariff
placed upon imported goods, and that
left them frco to chargo what they liked
/or home products.
"The consequence was that the buyer
n*id from 10 to 40 nnr cent, more than if
? - ? I " " I
was worth for almost everything ho
bought. Labor, of course, received a
4 slight benefit from protection, but the
cost of living was advanced out of all
} proportion to the average man's income,
i Naturally the country soon began to
uffer from over production, and the
price paid for labor dropped, without
a n V <1 nrv ? ?*
?hj vui i wp^vtiuiia^ uovi \;aau III kUU tUQi UI
living. That brought on hard tiiuet; and
the labor troubles which have been agitating
the entire country for the last ten
year*.
"As I have said, MaBsachusett* taught
t South Carolina the lesson of freedom.
1 Now the time has come for South CaroV
lina to pay back the debt?to teach Mas*
\ sachusettN that there is a higher and
broader freedom than the mere immunity
from chains?the liberty to go
where one wills, do what he wills and
i buy what he wills without being obliged
to pay tribute to iniquitous taxation.
| Cotton was king once, and the advocates
\ of slavery claimed that it could not be
i uwept away without destroying the buU
i vrarks of national prosperity. Slavery
k was at length wiped out, howevor, and
T the South stills stands firmer than ever,
' with the cotton crop fully twice as great
as it ever was at any time before the
f war. The sapie holds good with respect
to tariff protection. It will be wiped out
t bo distant day, and the utter wreck
] _1 _ L!.L 2A- ? -1 i - - -
i ana rum wmcu im? aavucaies ciaira to |
see in its abolition will fail to follow,
r Unjust taxation has been the bane of the
American Republic from the start. We
can never be a prosperous people until j
| att'class discrimination, which protection
directly favors, is abolished. Protection
as it now stands shelters the capitalist
at the same time that it cripples
'] and crushes honest toil.
"Not long ago a wealthy miner in
'!t Pennsylvania asked Congress to place a
boavy tariff on iron. His reason fo? so
doing was as follows : His mines were
, hard to work, because the veins were
U imbedded deeply in rock and were trail
'versed and cut up into rocky sections,
r It cost him considerably more than it
ordinarily would to get the iron out. On
that account, he said, he could not begin
to compete with foreign producers, nnd
lie wsnted Congress to help him out of
i the difficulty. He would hsvp to rune
the pri^e of his iron, of course, because
of the expense of digging the ore, and
he seriously supposed that the protection
of home industry under the circumstances
would be the natural result. It
apparently never occurrcd to this miner
that his argument was unsound and pernicious.
Carried into effect, the principle
he actcd on would compel consumers
to pay exorbitant prices for his iron,
without the privilege of going elsewhere
to buy cheaper and better goods. It was
pure and simple selfishness, and that is
the bottom principle of protection. .Protection
doesn't take the buyer into consideration
at all.
"In the good old Democratic days before
the war the South supplied the
lion's 6hare of statesmen and political
economists. George W.Jones, of Tennessee,
was for twenty years known aB
the Watohdog of the treasury, and it is a
matter of record that he saved the country
over $60,000,000. No Southern Senator
or Congressman could be bribed.
Now, as a matter of fact, I think the
South will eventually solve the the tariff
problem, and it is determined to begin
the fight at once. The Northern people
re bu uvjvuit'u vu lUHiiuiuciunug umv
they Tail to see the evils of protection on
account of the accidental benefits attending
it. In a Massachusetts town, for instance,
where nine-tenths of the population
and wealth are hid in factories, it is
only natural that they would want to
kill off all opposition by unjust tariff
taxation. The farmers and other industrial
producers and all the consumers
suffer, and even the protected few are
injure*? in the long run.
4*The South is going to take its proper
stand in the matter of protection. It will
take its proper place also in the government
of the future. By that I don't
mean that it should jump into saddle
and override the bounds of equity, but
it will raise its voice against corrupt
legislation, and will labor to stamp out
that hydra-headed monster, protection.
We are even now in danger of being
swamped by excessive, taxation, and"
what will tho future bring forth ?
"Garrison, Summer, Phillips and
Beecher preach free trade : so did the
bulk of the statesmen. Protection is
a modern makeshift, but is as far from
being an improvement. It is as great a
curse to the protoctcd industries as
slavery was to the slaveholders, and
those who snatch it from them, like the
abolitionists, will be their best and truest
friends. The advocates of protection say
it wou'.d never do to tinker with the
tariff at this late day?it might unhinge
and unsettle our entire political and
economic scneme. The same thing was
said of slavery : yet slavery was abolished,
and the whole conntry was immeasurably
benefitted in consequonce.
But even if there should result a temporary
upheaval, protection, like its twin
sister, slavery, must be destroyed, be|
cause it is morally and in principle
! nrrnntF ''
Effect of Dargan's Speech in Colombia.
Colombia, S. C., March 30.?[Special.]?The
Free Trade Club is somewhat
disturbed over President Dargan's
'parallelism" address in Brooklyn.;
Some of the members do not realize the j
necessity for making comparisons between
African slavery and industrious
slavery. They think there may be some
resemblance between these subjects but
don't like the comparisons all the same, i
Thpy may now believe that negro slavery
was wrong, but they cannot promise
the Abolitionists who they believe
brought on the war, that desolated so
many bright homes in this land of ours.
These men, they are witling to admit,
may have been actuated by good motives,
btft they are not ready to applaud
them for the course thoy pursued in ad
vocating tbeir principles. Perhaps the
Northern papers object just as much to
the address of Mr. Sherman, who introduced
Col. Dargat), to .the Brooklyn audience,
and who said that no Southern
Congressional Representative had ever
been accused of dishonorable actions in
the discharge of his public duties, while
this could not be said of the Congressmen
from Mr. Sherman's section of the
Union. The free traders of the North
need the assistance of the free tradors
of the South, and a portion seems to
have agreed that they will concede
much to each other by acknowledging
what tboy believe to be sectional sins
arid then unite for the future. Col. Dargan
may be wrong in his position, but
no man"can charge him with insincerity.
He iR bold, brave, pure and patriotic. He
may allow his enthusiasm to carry him
too far, and he may say things distasteful
to his friends, but he is always actuated
by liigh and honorable motives.
?Richland in the Augutta Chronicle.
Banning the Blockade.
Twenty-six years ago to-day on the
1st of April, 1865, an incident took place
off Galveston harbor in which Capt. Sim
Adkins the Nestor of Charleston harboi
then the gallant commander of a dashing
blockade runner, the Fox, bore n
prominent part. The story is best told
by John F. Mackie, then a sergeant in
the marine corps, and doing duty on the
United States Steamer Seminole, one ol
the blockading squadron off Galveston
harbor.
Mr. Mackie relates how the Fox was
discovered about 10 o'clock in the morning
"righ abeam," how all hands were
cahed to quarters and the Seminole
started in pursuit of her prey, a long,
low steamer about eight miles to the
eastward, burning black smoke, steam
ing rapidly to the nortward and westward.
The stranger sighted the Seminole
and changed her course instantly
from west to northwest, and steamed
directly for the Texan shore, distant
about eight miles, which trends rapidly
to the northeast above Galveston. By
this course the stranger would strike
tho shore in about an hour,
unless prevented by us from so
doing. If successful, she could make
an inner channel which runs between
the shore and a sand bar which runs
along the Texan coast, distant about
half a mile from the mainland ; but on
this bar there is only aboui ten feet of
water ; inside there is twelve, and sometimes
fifteen feet.
The Seminole overhauled her prey
gradually and prepared to open fire,
on her from our eleven-inch pivot, exploding
a shell right under her bow and
nearly deluging the ship with water, but
doing no further harm. While we were
reloading the pivot she put her helm
' hard a-starboard" and ran across our
bow, heading directly for the shore?
distant about a mile and a half?apparently
intending1 to run herself ashore.
While this was being done we wero not
idle ; the change, or course, compelled
us to "shorten sail.'*
As soon as the last man reached the
deck Capt. Claruy shouted "Put your
helm hard a-starboard, sir." "Hard
a-starlioard, sir," answered tho officer at
the wheel the same moment, putting the
wheel sharply about, and the ship turned
on her heel as if she knew what was
expccted of het and started now right
abeam, starboad Hide about a mile off.
bringing our whole battery of five guns
to bear on her. The captain cried out
to forward nfie : "Fire as soon as you
are ready and without further orders,
only don't waste the ammunition. Pivot
there, sir; fire carefully, and aim at the
wheel-house and at no other place. Sink
her if possible ; go ahead and show us
what you can do. Quarter-deck battery
(six eight-inch guns,) take good aim and
fire as rapidly as you can ; aim at the
wheel-house ; don't let her get away
from us.''
All this was done in less time than it
takes to describe it, and as we were now
nearing her rapidly it seemed impossible
that she could escape us. A shell from
the rifle exploded over her; a shell from
the eleven-inch burst close beside her,
and the three and eight-inch shell guns
were sending their compliments thick
and fast, but strange to say not a tingle
shot had struck her. She seemed to
bear a charmed life. We were about
a half a mile distant from the shore
when she suddenly changed her course
to south-southwest and started to run
down along the coast, headiug directly
for us.
It was now nip and tuck. The
stranger was going to run for it, and had
the bar between us. Our only chat.ce
was to sink her before she got in. Nothing
now could save her, as the steamer
Peguin, which had been after the other
sail, which, by the way, was a passing
friend, now joined us in the chase, and
opened upon the flying steamer with no
better succes than before, her-shots flying
wide of the mark. The most tremendous
excitement prevailed en board
each vessel. Capt. Clarey raved and
sworo and stamped in an intense but
subdued tone, but all to no effect. Shot
after shot went over and exploded beyond
on the shore; some exploded short
and covered the steamer with spay,
some in the air, others cut the water
just ahead, some just graced the stern,
but not one touched her apparently. It
seemed impossible to strike her. The
le j.1
Iuivii n ui ACU cuv ?u1i9 M 11 VUtJJ WlflC
fnly toys in their excitement, apd loaded
and fired as if their lives depended
on the accuracy of each shot. So rapidly
did we fire that we had to wait for
> the smoke to lift before we could see
s for the next shot.
i We were now rapidly approaching
' Galveston harbor, and it seemed as if |
she was going to get away in spito of ub. \
i Since changing our course last time we ]
I were both sailing, or steaming rather, ,
> dead to windward, but she being the 3
? lightest draught was making hotter time
than we, and slowly but surely getting ,
' away from us. Her captain for the last |
hour had been walking the bridge be- ]
> tween the wheel-hoses, with both hands ?
in the pockets of his pea-jacket, sinok- ]
ing a cigar very unconcernedly ; but
that there was a feeling that their lives
and property hung only on a single
thread was manifest in the way those
wheels flew around, leaving a boiling,
foaray s?a far astern, and the thick, huge
volumes of black smoke that poured
out ef the funnels told a story that did
not need trumpet to announce. The
channel now began to widen, and if she
could only hold her own for twenty
minutes she would escape. What must
have been the thoughts of that captain
as he walked to and fro on that bridge,
with the air full of flying missies, now
hid in their smoke, the next minute
drenched with their spray; few feet
above his head ! He never flinched an
inch or changed his manner, but kept
quietly on as though it was an everyday
all air.
Fate, says Mr. Mackie, decided in
favor of the flying steamer. In spite of
every effort that could be made to pre- s
vent her, she reached the Bay of Gal- c
enton, which is nearly three miles t
wide, and as ihe channel is very dan- t
gerous to vessels drawing more than ten t
feet of water, and as we were getting c
into three fathoms again, with intense t
chagrin we gave up the chase, sending t
as a parting compliment an eloren-inch v
shell with our regrets.
As the flying stranger passed out of 1
range her captain hoistered the Confed- ^
erate flag and dipped it three times, at t
the same time taking off his cap waved <]
it towards us and bowed gracefully in f
our direction his adieu, steamed in un- t
der the guns of the fort at Galveston i
and dropped his anchor, safe at last. )
yfe returned the saluto and went back t
to our station for the night, as it was 1
now nearly sundown, after one of the i
most exciting days that we ever spent, i
with less credit to ourselves than could t
possibly be supposed u?der the ciroum- f
stances. r
The Galveston iVe/p#, of April 14, 18- I
65, published an accouut of the escape
of the Fox. Shot, shell, grape, shrap- t
nel, says the News, every ingenuity c
which Satan and his children, the Yau- c
keen, have invented, were thrown with t
the rapidity of lighting and the abund- r
ance of hail at, around and over, and in s
the water beneath the doomed victim ; c
elongated shot and shell shrieked be- t
fore, behind and over her, or struck the f
water and riochetted over her decks i
like?woll, liko 4 flock of sheep over a i
pair of bars. Strange to say, although i
hundreds of shots were fired, but four 1
took effect. An ugly shell, a foot and a s
halt long, exploded a few yards from 1
the ship and a portion of it burst the <3
sheet plate two foet above the water, f
but the missle rebounded and fell into r
the sea. c
A ten-inch shell, nearly spent, came p
over the rail on one side and passed out "c
beneath it on the other without doing g
any harm, though the wind fanned a 1
couple of persons who stood near. The t
shrouds were cut beneath another as he t
ascended, but this Daniel was as little .c
hurt as his namesake among the lions, g
A piece of shell cut the 'scapepipe
above the deck, but nobody was hurt e
and no one scared. There were some t
old veterans?Morgan's men and others
?who had escaped from Fort Douglas,
on board, who looked upon tho whole
affair as a very small one, or boing only
passengers took no interest in it, and
the officers and crew seemed to take it I
as a matter of course. They received fi
three cheers as they steamed gaily into
port with the .utmost composure and ?
did not appear like a man answering a
fulsome toast to regard it as the proud- c
est raomeol of their lives ; in fact, they I
did not seem at all proud, though they
All the bill for an old-time Mississippi ^
steamer : ,
A bully craft and a bully crew,
A dandy mato and a captain too. .
The Fox loaded cotton at Galveston '
and fluecessfully running the gauntlet of
the Federal fleet, reached Havana in
safety* s i
rhomas Jefferson on the Farmers Move
ment.
Bekch Island. S. C., Mar. 2G.
Editor Edgefield Advertiser : Th<
ilarni excited by the Farmers move
ment, having led some patriotic jour
nals to forecast many fearful things
imong others a McClane and ltussel
raid on the solid Democracy of ,th<
3tatc, I have thought the following
extracts from the letters of Mr. Jef
Person bearing directly on the prssen
mevement might relieve the anxieties o
tome.
better of Thomas Jefferson to Dante
Williams, of S. C., Nov. 4th, 1SOS.
"Agriculture iB a science of the firs
>rder. It counts among its hand-maidi
;he most respectable sciences * * ii
jvery college and university a profes
lorship of Agriculture and the class e
ts students might be honored as tin
irst. Young men closing their acade
nical education with this as the crowr
)f all other sciences, fascinated witl
ts Bolid charms and at a time wher
;hey are to choose an occupation, in
ttead of crowding the other classes
vould return to the farms of their fath
;rs, their own, and those of others ant
'eplenish and invigorate a calling nov
anguishing under contempt and oppres
lion. The charitable schools instead o
itoring their pupils with a lore, whicl
he present Btate of society does not cal
or, converted into schools of Agricul
ure might restore them to that brancl
qualified to onrich and honor themlelves,
and to increase the productions
if the nation instead of consuming
hem. * * The general desire of mer
o live by their heads rather than by
heir hands, and the strong allurement!
>f great cities to those who have any
urn for dissipation threatened to make
hem here as in Europe the sinks ol
oluntary misery."
One of the last letters ever written by
lir. Je1ftrtwrirtt'to"vr*n5r'?n%sr ol
7a., 26th Dec., 1825. After alluding to
he attempt of the Eastern States to
lissever the Union, of which the Hartord
Convention was a subsequent chaper,
he says, the next chapter "opens
pith a vast accession of strength from
rounger recruits who having nothing in
heir feelings and principles of '76, now
ook to a single anil splendid governnent
of an aristocracy founded on bankng
institutions and monied corporaions,
under the guise and cloak of theii
avored branches of manufactures, com erce
and navigation, rioting and ruled
>eggared yeomanry.''
Since those days the proportion ol
own to country population hns incroasid
seven fold ; the money power has
leveloped a financial network sensitive
o the slightest variations in the greal
narkets, about every interest and peron
however remote and obscure ; the
nonied aristocracy have become giants,
nore astonishing than those of ancienl
able, while agriculture and every rural
nterest languishes. These results are
n part to improvements in the mechancal
arts, but in stiU larger part to legisation
which these improvements have
uggested and rendered practicable
low tar tney are desirable can not be
liscussed here. But certain admitted
acts must be borne in mind ; the deatk
ate of cities greatly exceeds that of the
ountry ; the proportion of crime and
poverty are much greater there; the
;ost of city governments is many time*
;reater than that of administering tin
aws in the country and they aro the
>roeding grounds of political corrupion
; they seem to be morally, politicly
and physically an unhealthy
n?n w + K
I therefore commend to the considration
of the public the opinions ol
he great father of our Democracy. *
Very Respectfully,
Harry Hammond,
Carolina Congressman.
"Richland,'' the Columbia correslondent
of the Augusta Chronicle, sug;est8
some probable changes, or attempt
>t changes, in the Congressional delegation.
In the 1st District, Jennings W. Perry,
>f Walterboro, will oppose Bamuel Dib>le.
Itr the 2nd Distriot, ex-Senator HenInronn
mar nnnfton Ti Tillm?n
STo doubt he will if he sees any chancc
>f success ; but but Our Uncle George
a pretty solid with his constituency,
tnd would bo a hard man to.beat.
"Riohland" says, "Hon. George John*
itone, of Newberry, has beau montion<
- ed as a possible candidate in the 3rd
District." Wo quote further from "Richland
Col. Aiken being practically out of
B the racc, there will be a "go-as-youplasc"
fight in that section. Hon.
George Johnstone, who may be a candidate.
is one of tho most distidguished
j lawyers in Carolina, and probably the
, best equipped politician in the State,
g He is handsome, polished in his man
ner, possessing a certain amount of
t personal magnetism, a ready debater
f and a natural orator, qualities which
eminently fit him for the high and
I honorable position of a Congressman.
He would make a splendid Representt
ative. He stands a fine chance for
i the nomination, unless some candii
date appears, which is probable, who
- will inherit the vote of the Granger
f element that has heretofore consti5
tuted Col. Aiken's strongest backing.
- The race, in this event, will be interesti
ing.
1 We have heard Capt. Jas. N. Lipsi
comb, of Newberry, the present Secre
tary of State, also mentioned as a candii
date. And Mr. W. C. Benct, of Abbe
ville. has also been mentioned.
1 In the 4th, 5th and 6th Districts rcr
spectively, Messrs. Perry, Hemphill and
- Dargan will not likely have any opposif
tion.
1 Smalls will have no opposition in the
I 7th, the "Black District," unless some
other "brother in black" rises up to coni
tend with him.?Newberry Observer.
} A Carious and Interesting Incident in
the Family History of the Bayards.
The subject of presentiment concern(
ing death and fatality in families spoken
, of in Hancock's case recalls some sad
; points in the Bayard history. Few
j. families have been more depleted by
sudden death than the Bayards, and in
many instances there have been fore,
warnings jind pnDaeatim?nts. It is said.,
that Miss Bayard wrote a letter indL "
eating her approaching death. There
are now in Washinhgton many old naval
officers who remember the interesting
( circumstance attending the death of
Mis Bayard's cousin, Charles C. Bayard,
at Mount Vesuvius. He was the favorite
son of Richard Bayard, of Philadelphia*
wnose lather and Secretary Bayard'i
father were brothers. In 1843, whitfe V
on board the United States ship Cato* '
gress, in company with several youlnjg
friends from on board, he made the M-4
I cent of Mount Vesuvius It was tho
same Congress that went down in
P Hampton Koada before the Merrimac,
and in the party was the same Joseph
Smith, who as commander of tho Congress
had his head taken off by a cannon
ball and of whom his father said,
when he heard that |he Congress was
taken:' "Then Joe is dead." In the
parly also was Leham B. Ashmead, of
| Philadelphia, with whom young Bayard
| afterwards went to Jerusalem to visit ,
the Holy Sopulch^e. While there they
both had tattooed on their arms by ail <'
old dragoman the heraldic arms of
Jerusalem, with the date of their visit.
In the case of young Bayard the tattooed >
[ cross developed virulent features, fester
I ed and finally be becamc sick, and the
arm became greatly awoolen. He. continually
declared that ho would die, and
even after it appeared to grow 'entirely
well he was in the habit of saying to
Ashmead and other friends : "This arm
! will be the death of me yet." Ten
years afterwards young Bayard left for
a cruise in tho Columbia as flag Untenant
of Commander Morris. Before ,
r leaving he took a sad farewell of all his
friends he declared to one and all that
"they would never see hii%again." He
P was very dejected and despondent. Ten
years to a day from his previous visit in
company with young Carroll Tucker, of
Marylandf and a fe'wfrienda, the Colum ,
bia being then at Naples, he made the
ascent of Vesuvius, during an eruption.
With him wcro Rear Admiral 8impson :t
. and Rear Admiral Calhoun, who were
. the lieutenants. He had the arm of a
. Prusian army officer. He was quite gay.
Just near the Hermitage, where he had
halted ten years before, the party stop*
. ped, finding it would be dangerous to ga
nearer the crater. As they were - turnl.o
* m..o a* 1 J
"6 AMMO vi I?T? iuu ruvR Buuva
, young Bayard on the arm where he had
, been tattooed, outting it fearfully and
, obliterating the cross, and before the
party could reach the foot of the tolcar
no he died. His mother is still living
upwards of ninety years of sge. Bis
' body it buried near the foot of Vein*