The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, May 15, 1877, Image 2
WINNSBOUO. S. C.
'Tuesday, May 15, : . 1877.
B. MEANS DAVIS, Editor,
JNO. S. REYNOLDS, Associate Editor.
The Cirorlt Judges.
The judiciary committee of the
Senate has reported that the election
of judges in 1875 was void. The
ground taken is that the State con
stitution provides that the judges
shall be elected by joint ballot of
the Goneral Assembly, whereas the
present inmenbents were all voted
for viifa voce. The words of the
'constitntion (Art. IV., ?13) are these:
"The State shall be divided into con
venient circuits, and for each circuit
a judge shall be elected by joint bal
lot of the General Assembly." In
?24 of Art. I, is found this general
provision : "In all -elections by the
General Assembly, or either House
-thereof, -the members shall vote vii'a
votc, and the votes, thus ,give'n,
shall bo entered upon the journal of
the House to which they respective
ly belong." 'There are two things
to 'be con'idored-(1) whether the
antecedent provision is repealed by
the subsequent, and (2) whether the
phrase "joint ballot" noeessarily
.involves the idea of the actual cast
of a written ballott. As to the first,
we think the provision being gonoral,
it supersedes any special regulation
on the subject. The Legislature is
dupowereid to elect the judges. The
very section wh'ch provides thatt there
shall be a legis'ative department of
the government ixes the method of
voting in ill elections. The subse
quont article on .the judicial depart
mont may be considered subordinate
or, what 'is equally to the point and
more 'in 'keeping with the 'spirit of
the constitubion, a separate enact
mont, having reference to a distinct
and indopendeint bratch of the gov
ernment. The only objet in insert
ing in this article the method of
election is to show the source
whence the judges are to got 'their
offices-iot from .the peoplo at the
ballot..box, but.from the; .ropresens
tativen of the Uaaer, "mot .and sit
.ting in Genoral Assembly." Again,
'the term ballot by no moans involves
the notion ofscasting one's vote wit
ton on a slip of paper. Worcester- the
very best authority--definos it thus:
"I "A little ball, or anything else, wvhich
is used in giving a :seret wvote ; a
secret method of voting at elections;
'a vote ; ct of- voting." It will thus
.be seen that one of the meanings of
.the term 'is "a -vote." Hence the
teorms "vote" and "ballot" are prop
'orhy interchangeable, and weox may
substitute (in Art. IV., ?14) the
words "joint vote" for "joint ballot."
Now the precodent section distinct
ly requires every "vote" .to be viva
voce, and it wvould seemi clear that
'the genordl :provision was .intended
~to reqluir'"all elections," of wvhat
~soever nature, by the Legislature, to
lbo in the manner stated. The whole
spiiit of-our' present constitution is in
favor of voting viva voce, and( it is
difficult to conceive why its fr'amcrs
should have made an exoeption in
!the case of the most important eleo
tion commuitted to the Gceral As
~sombly.
Such are the chief grou nds on
'which we hold the olection of judges
' ~ in 1J875-except,of course, 'Whipper
.and Mosos and, p)erhaps, Carpenter
*---wass wholly legal and valid. We
aire ready, however, to yield to the
' t upcirior judgment of those better
'versed in constitutional law and
general jrurisprudence.
The Jury System.
Thrre is no feature of the system
~put in. force ,in South Car'olina by
voters. The right to vote belongs
to overybody-4from the most learned
.min in the State dowun to fbbe vorioist
ignoraus. Th'Io ;jurors have boon
ilnimosi instances selectd on the
samoe prlinc(iplO, and a fino mixtiu'o
thyhave boon. Negroes who have
mo equaliificaiion 'whatever, save the
upon the different juries in large
numbers, and at times in great dis
proportion to their strength
in the voting population of their
county. All must admit that this is
wrong, and it is a more sontimentali
ty which induces some peopl , and
the worst species of demagoguery
some others, to advocate it. The
negro is entitled to all the legal
rights enjoyed by the white man,
but to nothing more. It rarely if
over happens that whito men unable
to read are drawn on juries, and
there is no reason why negroes
should enjoy higher privileges. The
present law was framed fo1r the
negro and against the white man.
It .smhould at once be radically
changed. No man, b he white or
black, should bo allowed to sit in judg
mont on the life, liberty or property
of another, without the educational
qualifications necessary to enable
him to do so intelligently. No man
should be permitted to take a .scat
in the jury-box unless he is able
to read and write with facility. No
man without theso qualifications is
fit to be a juror, unless he is en..
dowed with extraordinary intellectu
al qualities. And if he has these
he can very soon acquire the knowl.
edge needed. We have had too
much of ignorant juries. Already
some of the judges, beginning with
Judge Mackey, have ruled that a
Iman unable to read cannot sit as
a juror in a case where docunentary
evidence, whether printed or written,
is introduced. As Judge Mackey
well said when he first made the
ruling, written evidence is
to the man who cannot read just
what oral testimony is to one total
ly deaf, or written words to one
totally blind. In all higher courts
indictments are used, and it is upon
the instrument itself that the fore
man wvrites the vordict. What a
mockery, what a sham, what a tra
vestie is such a verdict when the
foreman has to make his cross-mark /
How utterly absurd to cause a man
to affix his signature, under oath, .to
a document of which he is unable
to read a single word a ! 'Tho soon
or +hi sort. of thina Fdoru thn bettor
for the State and for the .causo of
justice. The jury law should at
once be so amended as to require
jurors to be able to read and write.
Those qualifications are exacted of
jurymen in the United States courts,
and the improvement in the charac
ter of the juries has bcen immecnso
ever since the old law was changed.
If a Radical Congress could consis
tently enact such a lawv, surely a
'Democratic Legislature may do the
same. But we want no6 examplo.
The change would be right, and is
demanded by every consideration of
justice. An intelligent jury is a
p~rotection to all the rights of citi
zenship :an ignorant one a great
source of danger. Let the Legisla
ture act promptly in this matter, and
the advantages of such action will
soon show themselves.
The House has p)ostp)oned thme
consideration of the usurybui to thme
regular session. T1his 'is wise.
Tbere is great diversity of opinion
on thmis subject, and there shonid -be
no hast. Let there be a full hear
ing on all sides, and the maturest
consideration. Then let the Legis
Jaturo act, and its; course will be
heartily accepted b~y the wvhole
LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS.
FamDAY, May 11.
SENATE.
A nuumber of bills and join't ,rso
lutions were introdued, read by
title, and properly referred.
'Several committees made rep~orts,
which were laid over undler the
rules.
The following bills wemie road a
third timom andl sent to the House :
To regulate the appointment and
salary of trial jjusticos in and .for the
county of Orangoebuug; to incorpo)r
ate the Spaitanburg and Rtuthierford
Railroad ; to regulate the appoint
ment opf county officers.; .to regulate
the appointmient anmd salary of trial
justices in and for thme -county of
Brtrnwell ; to authorize the mayor
of CJolumnbia to exercise certain pow
ora and duties, and for other purposes
therein mfenltioneCd ; a bill to amnd~
an~ act entitled "An act. to ,.+horie
the governor to appoint additional
trial justices for Union, Georgetown
and Greonvillo counties."
On motion of Mr. Byrd, the vote
whereby the Senate postponed the
considoration of a bill to provido
for the election of county treasurers
and county auditors was recons
sidered, and the bill was ordored to
bo engrossed for a third reading.
Adjourned.
HoUsE oF REI'PRESENTATIVES.
A number of bills, original and
from the Senate, were read by title
and properly referred.
The 1ousei agreed to the Senate
amieflnmenit to it resolution invoking
Executive elemency, by a vote of
78 to S.
The Houso also concurred in the
Senate resolution to elect it chief
justice on Tuesday the 15th inst., at
I o'clock.
The committee on ways and means
submitted at bill to raise supplies for
the fiscal year comencing Novei
bor 1, 1870. On motion of Mr.
Sheppard, this bill was maido the
special order daily, immediately
after the appropriation bill is dis
posed of. The bill lev i,s seven
mills-Iivo for general Stato pur
poses and two for interest on the
public debt.
Mr. linort, from the committeo
appointed to iiivestigate the conduct
of Associate Justice Wrig ;ht, sub
smitted ia report, and mi-oved that the
House go into secret session during
the reading of it.
The motion was adopted by a
vote of 63 to 15.
A bill to amend sections 55 and
56, chapter 120, of the general
statutes, relative to liens oi crops,
was taken up for a second reading,
and was discussed without action.
Adjourned.
SvrunAr, May 12.
SENATE.
Mr. Whitomore asked and ob
tained leave of absence on account
of seious illness in his family, and
stated that ulpon all matters, with
the exception of elections, lie was
paired with the Senator from Lox -
ington.
A number of bills and joint reso
lutions wore introduced, read by
title, and properly referred.
The following were read a third
time and sent to thme House: Joint
.resolution (House) to repeal special
tax levied on Edgelield county ; bill
(House) to extend the time for
county officers elected at the lat.
general election to <g'llify , hill
(House) to amend the charter of the
town of Greer's in Greenville coun
ty ; and bill (House) to incorporate
the Mechanics' Building and Loin
Association of Gr.cenville.
Adjourned.
HOUSE OF REPmRESENTA'IIvEs.
A numbher of bills, original andh~
from thme Senate, were readc by title
andl~lproperly referred.
The following bills were read a
third tiime :To provido for the
drawing of' new jury lists ini cer'tin
ounties; to amendli~ se3ctionii 15,
chater 30), of-the general statustes, me
ilating to the levy of tsaxes in school
districts ; to repea~l a joint resolu
tion to allowv the county comnmis,
siener of CJoileton county to levy a
special tax to pay paist indebtedness;
to prsovide stationery and fuel fo~r
the General Assembmhly ; to au thorize.
the apploilfniment, of a triatl justice
resident in Bla'cstock ; to samend
ebapter 145 ohf th~e general statutes,
relating to the pasy of the directors of
thoe penitenitiary ; to abolish the
oilice of oflicial st/Jmnogmfpher ; 'to
allowv A. T. Semy the to redeemc ceertain
forfeited lends ; to charter the
Hamrp toin Phoi8Jsate Companuy.
TJhe appropr~l)Iiat ion bill was taken
ump 5umd discussed fill adjournment.
[Wo shall publish this bill in fubs as
seon s it hsa! have become a law.
EDs.]
The bill to r(eoa the lien law was
discussed without linal action.
A messamgo wias received from the
governor, stating that he had trans
mitted to the President the resolu
tion oif the G'eneral Assemb1 ly askinig
Excntive clemency for certain as
cused persons, anud had areceived the
following reosponso.:
WAshINoToN, D. C., May 12, 1877.
T1o -Goy. W~ADE HAMPTON :I am
.informed by thme Attorney General
.that lie has instructed the District
Attorney df South Carolina to ;puo
pare for' trial only three indictments
in the Ellenton cases, and to notify
:the parties in alil o~thor cases that
.they need not prepare for trial. It
is possible that only one camse will
be triedl. The fact that thme indlict..
moents wvoro found by the grand jury
comaposed of both political parties,
setemisto justify the assumption that
thme prosecutions are not par11tisanl.
I agree with you that a general
aurmosty shouldextend to all-politi,
cal ol'enses except those wJiiah are
of the gravest 'ecutracter.
iR. B1. IHYEs, rz~iidonv.
Mr. Aldrich introduced a concur
rent resolution to extend theo'thanks
of thme General Asaembly to Presi
dont Hayes for his olemoeney.
Ajrinedi
KISSING T HE QU E EN'S HAND.
----0
110 W 1'PA li~''IS .t lI !'RI :.VTE;) A TI7
TBll| uilils,, Cl'rT.
A CourtDross .-Tedious Formaltios - A
Moment of HpiLilines) s Superior Privi
logos Accordod to the Sons and
Daughtors of Uncle Sam.
Olivex Lo~an1 in 11.(a pers' Iim-r.
The London fashionable Scsts
really begins with the first opening
of the Queen's drawing room. To
be presented to her uu-ijusty is the
great object inl life of all ladies who
have a desire to figure in English
socioty. A kiss of her majesty's
han(1 is a prereq1uisite of i (lit ree
into distinguished salons. A few
vords of advice are here given to
American ladies who desire to share
this honor with the native Briton.
The first condition of the cereino
nay (after you have received notilica
tion fromt the United States minis
ter that he can-or rather that his
wife cal--plresent you at a certaini
dai(:) is that you shall order a court,
costunme. Now, a court cost ume can
be made to cost more or less mooney:
or perhaps I should rat her say it. can
be made to cost. more, i'in t not less.
It must certainly be it ball dress of a
good deal of elegance, an(d it impera
tively requires that cumwbeirsome and
always thereaft:,r useless article, a
court train. Individual taste may
hang this train fromo the waist or
fromn the shioulrsT ; bou) it lax ly who
shouilid present herself at court wit h
out it would inevitably be refused
admittance, as not cMnformiing to
court rul's, thal widV1h1 the taws of
the Medes am I Persians were ntu
mi we inexorahlo. Again, it is ih
lerativc that low.-sneck.ed body and
short sleeves should be worn : and
as lnuiiy Amlericanl ladies have not
appe:red ill dress (lit in tis way
since childhood. and not unfrtent
ly have consCiciniolus scruIles ab,>ut,
such exposure, the con(di tiou is
sonetines a1 h:rd one. But, it is
quite inflexible. with court authiori
ties. Ill hel.th is the Only exelp
tiol.
The Queen's (rawing-rooms are
held at three o'clock in the afterinool,
at tho >soumbihi e but imposing Bue!:
inghami Palace, in LIan ie n. 1'er
sonls whoe und1erstanmd the lumuy3
tedions ori s 11 a1 delays wvhicih con
5smni1(e timi-e at these ceoiiI(flnies cen
crilly mike it at point to start for
thepal ase ut, ue as two 11011b hO
fore the time fixed for the oienn.g
o: the court. Reeon tly it has beten
more than ever desirbie to be at.
the palLce in good season, as the
Queen somaetimes r'emains lbut a
snort time, when the ditty of receiv
in;g is relegated to the Princess of
W\'ales. The fattigue of sitauniluig
becomes in toleralde to the Quaeeen
afterc ani hour or sC, n1od( this, cou -
led~ wi th the fact t hmt the heated
atmosphuerO (engenderedt. byv crowded
roomJs causest' heri nattSue. renuders lher
dlisappecaraince noit surprisihng ; niever
thieless, to miyke great eforts for
weeks to be p)resented to the Q ueen,
.to at last attain that object, anld then
at the stupremie inomlnent to arrive at
the palae and find the Queen gone,
its, to say t he least, a rathier disaps~
pointing experiene
Befoie enlteriing the ( Queen's pres
ence the lady whlo is about to be pre
senuted must remove her righit-hiand
glove. Whent thme Lord Cnamber-)i'.
lain reads aloud her iname from a
card whiich has b,.een furnished him,
thus introducing her to the Queen,
the presented lady nmust make a pro
found courtesy and (xtendt her bare
vight haindl. with the pahni~ diown
ward1. Upon1 it the Q ueen placesI
her handi(, and the hltidy kisses it.
Let it here be obsuerved t hat sho
must kiss it with her lips only. At
'the leaLst intrusion of the nose-tip in
the perfor(mn1ice, it is said, tihe
Qtueen withdraws her hand hastily.
Inuneiidiately afteri the Queeni's handiol
is kissed1, thme ladty mtust ris(o andl~
paiss on.. courtesying as gracefully
and rapidly us she catn to timo other
.members~l of the Royal family. At
<the door of thme prsec chiamb er
ber trinii, which hats b~een carefully
looked af ter by3 (1on1 t oiiih--taken
off' her arnm at the enmtran ce, and
spreadl out to its full extent when
she was atbou t to .appr~oalch the
Queenm--is restored to her arm.
T1his is a p)olite bit that she may
put ini a1 (tpearance ats soon ats
51bo likes. 'ThIe whole ceremony lasts
so short ia timno that it is tanitaliz,
img.
But to English lidies of a certain
.rank in life a presentation to the
Queen is indispensable. Its absence
would be likely to cause the umost
unp~leasanit remarks. On accession
to a title a lady of rank must 1)0 pro
sented to tihe Queen, on comning of
ago, on marrying. To omit the
ceremony wvould indiento-what ?
That thie lady inl question did not
,entertain a suitable esteem for the
recognized head of thme British govft
ornmnont ? that the Queen had made
objections to the lady:? Hefr .mnijos.
AVy is said to bo extai'eely strict in
tie HUall0.4' &xejt'taundeis ni u--- sf
applicants for presontation Oxcopt
those whose moral charactto' will
bear thiorought ex:tnination. No
doubt that hindreds of such appli'
eants havo been refused the privilege
of kissing the Queen's hand during
the thirty live years Victoria has
worn the (owIi ; and a worse hu.
inliation than this by far is that of
ia few persons who have succocdod
in el'ecting at presentation only to
be afterwards branded with the tor.
rible disgrace of having their names
piblished5 far and wid1o a8 persons
whose presentations are to be con
sidered as never having taken
place, the 1amo having eot
cu'irrel tI ough an error im
regard to hi ir private charactor or
their social standing. I have known
of two casos5 of this sort within my
own cirelo of nraquaintance. ono
was a young mitan from Now York,
who was prescntmld as an American.
It was afterwairds known that he was
horn an Englishman of low degree,
and had been naturalized ; so ho
was obliged to bear the mortification
of being repiudiated as not worthy
of pre;entatiun to the Queen. An
other was the ease of a lady whose
history was sad(, but, in no degree a
eriminal one. The obloquy of the
disavowal of her presentation to tho
Queen literally broke her heart.
The victory achieved by George
Washington gives to every Ameri
enna the right of asking a presenta
tion to the Queen. But British sul.
jects enjoy no such privilege. Such
of them whoso birth and social
standing entitle them to presenta
tion are but as the merest fraction
against the enormous number who
may never hope to enjoy this (to
themi) unlohtainable honor. And
iw't. only have hundreds and hun
dr 'ds of thousands of 'nglish ladies
and gentlenen never been present
ed to tle Queen, but thousands and
thiousands never saw\ her or any of
her children. If they are so loyal
Sto her her merely becauso she is
their sovereign lady, I lie representa
tive of all that is great and powerful
in England's wealth and strength,
when they have n1o Personal knmo wl
edge of her whatever, not even by
sight, what wouild be the miteasure of
popularity the great Queen of Great
Drt ain ald Empress of India would
enjoy if someS practicalscheme conld
be devis.ed by which on eertain days
tnid during certain hours the great
public, irrespective of birth or rieh
es, were allowed to present them.
selves before her Majesty, and ono
by one bow in token of respect anud
esteem
SOUTII CAROLINA NEWS..
Ninety-.six has beoe risiteda by
hiilst:iies as large as a hon's egg..
Thie "no fence" systei based
ufponi naitu:dI agreemn(:t is Working
A oioeld wonmin has been ar
rest ed in Lancsaster, chiargedl w~ith
st;ang fireV to a house and burnina
two colored children to deoath.
Mo grmain mald les cotton then
u: al lias beeni plan ted inl Kiershawv
this year, 2iail the f~~arers are hard
i t work. The outlook is oncour'ag
A new p)aper1 will shortly be0 pub
lishied at Ninety-Six. It will be
under thme control of' Mr. McSwcony
of Columbia, at (one timil% a1 ~omp~osi...
toir in the office of the 1Tuion-JLe.
aitd.
J. J. Daerlington, Esq.,, of WYash,
ington1, D. (C., will deliver the ora
tion befoloC tihe Alunni Association
of Erskinie College at the coinug
comnhnccement in June.
Wi. Christie Btet, Esq.,and Miss.
Susan11 McGowan, dauighiter of Gon.
Mc tGow-mia, wereC miariried inlAibovillo
on1 thme :rd inst., and left for a visit
to Scothmnd, the bridegroom's place
of nativity,.
The amatecur tr'oupe of Camden
nndeir the dlirectioni of Mr's. Dr'
Barnehi of (Camden, hlave ronlderedl
"Pmdi i Pry" with great succ0,
The reempts, amaounting tot200 wl
he used to purcl'hase uniformns
the lire comlpany.fo
.rThe Young Meni's Chriulian Asso,
ciation of South Carolina met at
Gr'eenavillo last woock, and hiad an
interesting session. The following
ofhecers were elected for theoensuing
year : T1. S. Moorman, President;.
W. H. Cuittino, 1st Vioo President;
J. A. Elkins, 2nd Vice President
L. B. Austin, 3rd Viee President
L. N. ,Zealy, Secretary ; J. N. Rob~
son, 'i'.l aurer.
Georgo Gr'ioe, colored, wvas killed
on the 6th inst., on the Old Doby
p)lantaitionl upon the western side (If
WaT~torce river in Kor'shawv, by
(Goorge PhillIips, also coloredl. The
night Mead boonu playing cards at
aghtiand Gnally quarreled about
the game, whereupon Phillips stab,
bod Gr'ico in the region of the
beart, inflictmng a wvoundl from wich
the latter died in three minutes.
Phillips abscondod.
Jonnio Juno Croly and Mmne.
Demnoresut are goitig to Europe for
t~wo or' throo~ mon~iths, andl will
bring hiome thQ fuhionis s
hanrs,