The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, December 12, 1895, Image 1
rl
Till-WEEKLY EDITION. C.,_ECEMERL12___;_
REPIIB;LICA S
WHAT TIlE STATE CO-M3iTTE;
SAYS.OF THE CONT EN1 -.
it NWVIl be R esisted I- "Al Legitimuate
Means"-An Ad;ress to e er
pie of the Stat--3ome !bs
olutions Adped.
At a meeting of the Rcpublic n e_
ecutive committe, '.eld in Coiu:bia
on the 2nd inSt., the 'Qllowin addr.s:
and resolutions were ad opted and or
dored published at the discretion of
the chairman, Cap L. D. Melton:
To the PeorF of Sod i Ca'oia :
It has been weil said that no gues
tion can be regarded as diinitely set
tied until it has been settled aright,
that is, on the basis of right ard ji,s
tice. If this saying is tr e, certa_Ui
the suffrage queetio: cannot be regard-11
ed as definitely settled by the reccnt
enactment of onr .)-callEd Constitu
tional Convention, for 'o
man can pretend that this enactment
is based either on right or juStice. Ois
the contrary, it is the very essence 01
injustice a'nd wrong, being nothing
less than an att-n:pt to perpetuate
cheating and fraud in electi ons by en
acting it into the- fundamental law of
the State, as was fully admitted in
the discussion by its author and chiet
advoc.'te, B. R. Tillman. This, in
deed, was the openly avowed purpose
for calling the convention, an%d_ that
purpose, it can hardly be deie., has
been faithfully carried cut, and that
too in cietr and 1palp'le violation of
the Constitr.tion and lrs of the Lnit
ed States.
In announcing our purpose as Re
puxiicans to resist the enforce:ent of
this nefarious enactment in every pro
per and legitimate nay, a brie-frctro
spect of our very asumaloes political
situation here in South Carolina may
not be amiss.
A little over a year ago a fierce and
bitter contest was forced upon the peo
pie of the State by the dominant Till
man faction. That contest was not
simply for governor and other Sie
oficers and a legislatz:re f<z another
term. but what was of vaftlv more im
patance, it was teeeide as~to the call
of a (o;G ituti;al coaveintion. gain: t
such convention were, of course, al
Republie:s, chiefly iegroes, the very
purpose of its call being their perma
nent disfranchisemen . Besides these
nearly all the. "Conserv ative-Demo
crats"--so-called--and a large portion
of the ''Reformers," or Tiianites,
even were opposed to it as inoppor
tune, unnecessary and dangerous un
der the circums:tances. But the Re
publicans nad, we may siiy, no organ
ization at all, and a vast majority of
them were already disfranchised by
exi.ting registra.tion and election laws.
Nor were the Conservatives at all or
* ganized for action, or united as to the
proper course to pursue, though, as
the result provedi, they had a large
majority of the white vote, as well as
ti negroes, on their side. The Till
manites, on the contrary, followed
b9ndly the dictgtes of a bold and de
tei-mined leader, had possession of the
entire machinery of elections, and had'
no scruples whatever about using it for
the accomplishment of their purposes
-fo -counting iu" irens andi
"counting out" opponents. But, not
withstanding all these advantages, they
were able to count for the head of
their ticket for governor only 39,507
votes out of a white voting populhtion
L of over-102,000, and an entire voting
iopulfation, including negroes, of over
235,000. . hat is to say, the head of
their ticket, on their own count, re
ceived less than two-fifths of the white
vote of the State. ad only about one
sixth of the entire vote. The vote in
* favor of callhng the convention was
Still less by several thousands, being
only 31,402. But of course, Evans
was "counted in" as gover cor, an d the
convention was "counted in" as car
ried. And this is the "majority rule"
of which the Tilimauites never tire of
pnratin g.
As stated above, the Republicans had
no organization worthy of the 'name.
The mere shadow of such an organiza
tion bad long since fallen into "inno
cuous desuetude," and was never beard
of except just prior to Presidential
nominations, when it would venture to
make a feeble display with a viewv to
controlling Federal p.atronage incase
of a national Ren)ublican administra
tion. But it never had a word of vro
test against the grossest cutrares on
the rights of Reputblican citizenship
petpetrated by the Democratic State
governmients. Hence, ita tLhat our
notorious and scaudiuludy fraudulent
registrati,on and election laws have not
been iong since tested in und set aside
by the kederal courts. Such lbeing
our disorganized situation, we could~
not, of course, do anything as a' prty
to hinder the culmination of the Till
manite plans at the elections a year .
Sonme of us did what we could throughI
the press and on the stump; as individ
nals to encourage the Cor.servatives,
or anti-Tillmaen Demoramts. to organ
;ze and make the Bght, es-pecially
against the convention, plein';them.,
as far as we could, Repubican support.
But after sundry e:Worts the'y ile:d to
combine, and thus left the Tiliunanites
a c;ear road to comiplete success, ex
cept in a very few counties. The result
of the election as given above shows
how easily the Conservatives could
have whipped out not only the conven
tion, but also the entire Tillman State
ticket, had they only organized and
made a deteirmined fipht. So~me of the
Republicans seei mmg the absolute n ce's
sitv of a live and energetic organiza
after the election fur a Re;ut;ca cn
vention to meet in Culuria. That
convention mt last February. _e'.rl
all the counties in the State were _ep
resente., and made suci a showing
that even that very hostile paper, the
Charleston News and Courier, i a
shriek of .larm, e haracterized it as the
first live Republicen convention held
in SouthCarolina since the downfallof
Radicalism in 1876. At that conven
tion. ammo,.. other things, we adopted
a piatfor,r-n ;fi1 accord with that of
the national epub:iican party-on all
national issues of the day-the tarirT
sound money, eivil service reform, ete.
lhese princioles we insist are in no
way hostile or- detrimental to the best
interests of the South, and we deny
that the Republican - party is in any
sense a sectional party any more tuan
is the Democratic party.
But on local affairs we were broadly
liberal. While insisting on a Consti
intion that would make no discrimina-I
tion against any class of citizens. that i
it should not be put in force until rati
id by a popular vote, and that it
-houid provide against fraud in blee -
tions by the participation of the leud
ing political parties in their mnrige
ment. We declared our readiuers to
co onerate with and under the lea(Ter
shi_ of the conservative De mocrats. i?
the~y would organize and take the
lead. We hoped in this way to en
courage thei~ to come out boldly and
assume leadership. This seemed the
only means under the circumstances of
preventing the convention from falling
completely under the control of the
Tiliman :aetion. But the Conserva
tives again dilly-dallied, were divided
in counsel and finally did nothing. T he
result was the Tilininnites were in full
control and wehave cheating aad fraud
engrafted in the fundamental law of
our State. Besides, it is to be pitt in
opeiation without ratification by a
popular vote and the minority is to be
?llowed no part in the management of
elections.
The Ctuesti')nwe are now called upon
as Republicans to decide upon it as to
whether we shall tamely submit to this
gross outrage and injustice, and, as we
believe, clear and pal pable violation of
the Conststution of the United States,
or shall we res:st it by every means in
our power.
On this anestion, the following =es
lations, unanimously adopted, ex
press.our views and decision as to.the
State Repdblican executiTe coiimittee;
as to what should te our course in the
emergency forced upon us.
F'or the execcttire committee.
L. D. Melton, Chairman.
C. F. Holmes, Secretary.
Rlesolvedi, first, That on national
issues we reairm our adherence to the
national Republiean paity asexpresspd
n our platform adopted in convention
Feb. 6, the last past. that is to say:
We are in favor of moderate and
reazonable nrotection for American
labor and American calital against the
cheaper labor and cheaper capital of
other countries. We are in favor of
sound, full value money, whether. of
gold, silver or paper currency, for all
classes and conidtions of people, for
the bread winner as well as for the
capitlist; for the poor laborer in his
ut, as well as for the millionaire in his
palace. We are in favor of a govern
ment service based on merit and char
ater and capacity, instead of on the
corrupt and debasing Democratic
Jackson system of "cto the victor be
long the spoils."I
Resolved, second, That on State is
sues we decline to accept as final andi
definite the Coustitution-so-called
just completed by the Constitutional
convention-so-called-here in Colam
bi, and this for the following reasons:
We regard it as fraudulent in its ori
gin, in that it was frauduh~ntly "~oun-.
ted in" with only 31,402 votes out of
a voting population in the State of
over 235,000 according to the United
States census of 1800; fraudulent in
character, in that it proposes to per
petuate in the fundamental law of the
State the system of cheating and fraud
and discrimination against certain
classes in elections; and fraudulent in
its finale in that it proposes to put this
so-called Constitution in operation as
the fundamental law of the State with
out first submitting it to a popular
vote for ratification. This latter
alone, as has been well said by high
authority, "is contrary to the spirit of
American institutions and hostile to
the true theory of republican govern
ment." We therefore propose to re
sist in every proper and legitimate
way this so-called Constitution, and to
use our utmost efforts before congress
and before the Federal courts, as well
as before returning sense of justice
and fair dealing of cur people, to have
it declared nnll and void. We do not
proose, however, to carry on this
struggle for right and justie~ aloag
at:v narrow or factional lines; on the
contrary, we cordially invite and in
voke the co-operation and hearty par
ticipation of aul patriotic and justice
loving citizens of our State, without
regard to party or faction. It is a
struggle forced upon us against our
will by the dominant, arbitrary ar.d
deotic Tillmnan faction, and no
choice is left us but resistance or cow
ardiy submission to wrong and the
grossest kind of injustice.
Resolved, third, That immediate or
ganization of all friends of our course
is imperatively demanded to en'ective
meet the condi:tion confronting us,
a~nd in order that organization may be
systematic and thorough. a set of
rules have been adopted aind printedi;
copies can be i ~d up)on application to
these heaaqiuart..
Prsier.t Clevelan d'Amoonthe Untcle.
President Cl3veland, autompa1'nNje S C
retary Lamont, Captain~ Wjij an-i D:. B:s
arivd~ at Norfolk. Vi.. an the li:zthouse
tender Maple. At tir bIIJ ye thwr
tr~nsferreA t' th.. Vint. whie'h started at
$ne for the diucki-a z-out..ls of North Care
RAILROAS OF
THE STATE.
ANAL REPORT OF THE STATE
lRAlLROAD CO'I3!SSION.
Their 3!iicage, General Finacial Ccn:
dition and so Forth Very Con
p:.ctiy Stated #i a R ead
ab!e Report.
The following extract from the an
n'l report of the South Carolina
railro dlconiission will be read with
its by the people of this and
other ltates:
The total- mileage in the State on
the 1it of N ovember, 1895, was 2,621.
SI lile s.
ra.era:er c iari ;s ..............2.393.67'.24
'r-"ht . . aiS........ ....... ,5S5.52.77
0:hrr carnings from crerations 10,,5 5.S5
ITrnC from ot'er source=.. .. 539.244.52
(T: inleL tC 3G3S.185:.123i
e:;aneaus ineme of (ieorz:i,
Caroi.:a and Northern 1ail
S7.G25,557.63
Tota expense. maintenance of
wav and stru ta:2. :nlte
naanee of equijp:ent. co duet
ing transCrtation, general ex
penCses and taxes........
1t incoe e..............1,299,39S.O0
:et in:ome per mile........ .. 451.59
A net income of 4 1-3 per cent. on f?
valuation of 810,000 per mile of road.
This shows a decrease of $112,229.43
between 1 8)4 and 189 .
The increase in new mileage during
the year has been the completion of
the Glenn Snrings Railroad, 14.65
miles, nine m es of which was built in
1834, but not reported in its mileage
able for that year; the Latta Brarch,
three milts; the Elioree Branoh, 6.50
miles, built by the Atlantic Coast Line
liiroad,making the total new mileage
reported for the year 24.15 miles.
oEx n.L CO:DITION o ROADS.
There have been some material
changes in the conditions of the rail
road systems in the State since the last
report of th railroad commission.
The Southern'tilway has completed
its-re-orgauization. This corporation
owns the Charlotte, Columbia and
Augusta Railroad and the Columbia
and Greenville Railroed. which they
now call theSouthernRailway in South
Carolina. They are operating the
Asheville and Spartanburg P.ailroad,
the Spartanburg, Union and Columbia
Railroad and the Atlanta and Char
lotte Air Line Railroad under lease.
Nearly all of these roads are in first
class operating condition, but many of
the pr.ssenger depots of thic system aro
indct:te to the needs of the travel
ing public; otherwise the service ren
dered is eoual to the best in the South.
The Blue Ridge Railroad is now
operated by H. C. Beattie, as receiver,
who also has charge of the Carolina,
?noxvilie and Western Carolina Rail
way.
The Lanirens Railwny is in charge of
Judge A. C. Haskeli, os receiver.
The Chester atuc Lenoir and Cheraw
an d Chester railroads arc narrow gutage
roads and are therefore restricted
mainly to local business, having no
means of transfer except by hand.
Their nhysical condition is good, the
trestles a'nd bridges are in safe condi
tion and acceptable service is given the
people.
The Seaboard Air Line has continued~
to improvc its condition until it need
no longer be termed a new road; its
service is now equal to the best in the
Country.
The Florida Central and Peninsular
railroad operates its South Bound
division in this State between Colum
bia and Savannah. The roadbed, tres
ties, bridges and depots are in good
condition. This road is doing a large
share of the Florida business and is
giving satisfactory service to the people.
The iohysical condition of the South
Carolina and Georgia railroad is first
cas and the people are well served.
All culverts, trestles, bridges and depots
are in good repiair. There have been
100,000 crossties put in the main line
the pant year. The stations have been
reaired and whitewashed or repainted
and arc nea t and clean. All the agents
on this line have been neatly uniform
ed and flower gardens are established
at all depots. This line is the first in
the State toi make the stations and its
anpointments attractive to the travel
iii public. At Charleston this road
has extended its track down to the
wharves, has dredged out the docks
and can now accommodate vessels of
23 feet draught at low water. Con
uetmgr with steamships is a vast im
oeent over the connection with
rv,as heretofore. and will be of in
ca !alaie benefit to the company in
hanj:uc t through2 business, as well
a beit to the city of Charleston.
Te company~1 has added 250 new box
cars to its equipment, fitted with aato
mnatic couplers and air brakes, an I is
well prepared to give the people e'cry
accommodation for handling their
fr.ints.
The Ohio Riv-er and Charleston rail
rod is wori:ed at great disadvantage
on accont of the competion it meets.
It is 167 miles long and is crossed by
trngl compjeting lines at fiVe different
ponsa.out 20 miles apart. There
ae six mleCs of trestles and briieges,
vayn in~ height from 20 to 90 feet.
Th tastls anui the depots along the
line a:-e in poor condition. Every
t of money earned by the road
.b vi 5xd charges is expended on re
pairs. The "ages of all the employes,
from su1;erintendtc down, are low.
The superintendient dese'rves especial
mvention for his conduct of the road.
WTar no complaints as to the ser
vice he is giving the people. When
Receiver Chamoelainl operated it, the
road fell behito pay:ing its operating
m xpnse $45')0 per annum for sever
al years. The present -manageient
has paid orerating expenses and de
serves our congratulations.
The Chari;stun and Savannah rail
. has been improving its terminals
in Charleston and its eleient superin
tendiet is -eep,:g its service :p to its
iual first clasS standard. This road
oeratS the Green Pond. Walterbor?
end Dranchiile railway.
The Port Royal and Augusta rail
way is still in the hands of Receiver
Averill, who has mnaaged it with his
usuai ability, and notwithstanding the
strong Competition of the Savannah
river, he has been able to improve the
pnyceal condition of the road and
gradually inerease its revenue.
Receiver Cleveland still has charge
of the Pcrt Royal and Western Caro
lina railroad and the recent inspection
of tis propcrty shows n,ro substan
tial "mrovent in the way of illing
u; trestles, putting in steel viaduets,
b:ilding new depots, etc., than obtains
elscwhere in ti. Stat;. .All the money
made br tis road is pmut on the
phyicalI beitt,rnent of the property;
not onc cent has been par out in in
terest. The property is advertised for
sale by the courts; if it is left in the
hands of its present management a few
years longer the owners will have a
desirable property f* sale and the
State will have another first class rail
road for the bnefit of the people.
The Atlantic Coast Linehas purchas
ed during the year the Charleston,
Sumter and Northern railroad. Its
mileage has been divided amongst its
system as follows: The Cheraw and
Darlingtotn ra:lroad ocerating that
portion of the road from Darlington
northon ard. and the Manchester and
Augasta operating from Darlington
southward. The absorption of this
rail road by a competing road, with the
changes of management, has brought
some friction and inconvenience to the
public by changes of schedules and
connections, but the assurance has
been made that ihe system can render
I a better and cheaper service than can
I be rendered by two systems occupying
the same territory, and the commission
nl::sist on the _tlantic Coast Line
givicg the public along the line of th
olJ Charleston, Stunter and Northern
railroad as efileient service as they
have enjoyed heretofore.
All the roads that go to make up the
Atlantic Coast Line system in thisState
are in fine conditi.on and the entire
serv:ce is one of the best in the coun
try. Considerable work has been done
by this system to their terminal facili
ties in the city of Charleston; 300 feet
have been added to their already large
depot, making it one of the most com
modicur id the South.
The short roads in the State, like the
Branchville and Bow-ian Railroad,
Caroli:a Midland Uacwy,.. George
town and Western Railroad, Hampton
and Branchville Railroad, are in fair
operating condition.
Dating the year there have been
various complaints to the commission
as to interstate rates; among these the
most important one being the com
plaint of the farmers shipping water
melons to the Northern markets. The
commission are of the opinion that
these rates are too high.
Recently Mr. Haviland Stevenson, a
represc:tative of the intermtate ecmi
mission, visited the South Carolina
commission for the parpose of discus
ing these maitrrs and the papers filed
with the board from tbe complainantL
were tarned over to Mr. Stevenson to
be laid before the interstate commerce
commission. This commission has every
assurance that the matter will be fully
investigated and some material reduc
tion made in the rates on watermelons.
THlE NEW MCHIA.ND MILLS.
Its First Shipment of Goods Made
Very Early.
IThe P.iehland Cotton Mills have
bonterecord for early shipments
ogodto market. This mill has
madec its 1irst shipmnent of goods from
three to six months earlier than mills
of its size are usualilv able to do. It iS
a beginning that President Whaley has
every reason to be prond of. The mill
Iis no-v running right along and Presi
dent Whaley says: "The prospects with
the present market are all that can be
desired."
The Columbia State his been pre
ented with a sample of the escellent
product of the mil1, a beautiful speci
men of fine goods, which are displayed
tin the office windows, so that he who
runs may read the s.gns of the times.
The texture and. finish of the cloth
is unuulflyv fIne.
Terse>c eresa tha record of this
niP is as~fozlows, av' it specks for itself:
On Mondiy, Feb. 4, iS95, tha Rich
land Cotton mills organized by elect
ing a board of directors and other offi
cers. The first cull of 20 per cent. of
the amnount subscribed to the capital
stock was uride on Feb. 15.
The boted of corpxatrs received
thcteror the :mill on the 18th of
On the first of cach consecutive
month a call of 10 oc-r cent. wasissued
to each sharaLolder to be paid on the
15th. The ca'bs were paid up very
p roimtly.
On Feb. 20 work en the site was
commenced. nil orders for material and
machinery having been placed. Brick
work begun on March Lth. From that
time the work was rushed rapidly to
copletion.
On Oct. 5, at three mintes of 2 p.
n., cotton was started through the
openers, anti, although del.syed by
some tardy machinery na repairs to
tho looms, which were caused hy somse
minlor pLrts going wrong, cloth was
made :tnd work was pushed so that a
shipment of nine hales of 43 twills was
made on Nov. 28. 183~>. "Thanksgiv
ing day," over the South Carolina and
Georgia, by steamer to New York, they
thus reaching New York Monday, ex
atly two .iays less than 20 months
romn the eraaization of the comn jany,
The Aged Statesman Makes the Last
SpCeeh of the Seesion.
Below is given the farewell speech
of "Un:le" George Tillaan, delivered
to the Constitutional convention, when
ho was so enthubiastically called for at
the cio-e of the convent:on's proceed
inss on the ia:Il night. It was the
last sl,eechc made in the convention.
It was listened to with the closest at
tention. It deals with the Federal
outlook in an interesting manner.
Here is the speech in full:
Mr. Pressdent and gentlemen of the
convention: I had no expectation of
being invited to address the convention
on-notbing in particul~ar and every
thing in general. But sinco I have
been called on in such a complimen
tary manner, I would either be more
or less than a m,ln if I did not thank
the convention for such a compliment.
Mr. President, we can all hope a
great deal from the Constitution we
have adopted. It is not such an in
strument as we would have made if we
had been a free people. We are not a
free pecple. We have not been finee
the war. I fear it will be some time
before we can call ourselves free. I
have had that fact very painfully im
pressed upon me for several years. If
we were free, instead of having negro
suffrage, we would have negro. slavery.
Instead of having the Laited States
government we would hare the Con
federate States government. Instead
of paying $3,000,000 pension tribute,
we would be receiving it. Instead of
having many things that we have, we
would haLve other and better things.
But to the extent that we are permitted
to govern oulselves and pay pension
tribute to our conquerors, we have
framed as good an organic law, take it
as a whole, as the wisdom and patriot
ism of -he State could have desired.
Perhaps, sir, if I were to speak ap
proprititely on such an occasion as this.
I C.ght to speak from a :.ational point
of view--about our Fe:.eral relations
and about our future as forecasted '0V
our present sturroundings. Bt it is
too vast a subiect to be taken offhand.
Tie convention, though is tired out.
Many of them are making preparations
to go hormc, and I shall therefore not
attempt it.
I will cisually allude to a few mat
ters in national politics which gave me
hope of a better future for us. One is
the fact that I am satisfied that the
Republican party has adopted a new
departure towards the negro. The
silver question has to a great extent
superceded the negro question. It
was the silver question that saved us
from not onvl more reconstruction
hell in 1890,but that saved the govern
ment of the United States from being
revolulionized from top to bottom.
The Lodge force bill under Reed's
manipulation, passed the hous of re
presentatives and came within a one
vote of passing the senate. So near
did we come to having our present
form of government overthrown, and
yet South Carolinians were wrangling
over local matters here, simply
scrambling for office without any p_in
ciple at stake and didn't seem to
realize how near we were to having a
a political volcano exlploded under our
feet. Free silver sas ed us. The free
silver senators said: "We are more
interested in free silver than we are in
the rights or wrongs of the negro. -
and as the south is almost unanimous
for free silver, we would be a parcel
of fools to help the eastern States op
press the south o:) the negro question."
Free silver then saved us in 1390, and
I believe gentlemen, free si]ver vwi'
save us in the presence of the over
whelming Republie-.a sentiment that
now dominates the north. Not only
dominates the north, but all the ber
der slave States. Remember Dela
ware, 3Meryland, West Virgiuia, North
Carolina, Tcnnessee a::d MIissouri all
went Republican at the last election
on account of the Fedleral election laws
being repealed.
The free silver question will not die
soon. It is a living question. It has
as much vitality as the negro question
ever had. Of course, Disraeli was
I ight when he said a race issue in pol
itics was the most vital that ever
could be started. But a financial
question like free silver is almost as
strong. It will te years perhaps be
fore the silver question is finally set
tlea, and until it is the negro question
will be relegated to the rear. The Re
publicans realize that the negro ques
tion is a secondary question now, aind
hence it was theyv consented to the
repeal of the Federal election laws,
wbich gave them back the southern
horder states, and those horder States
have gone to the Republican party to
stay. They have gone where they
naturally belong. Hence there is no
more solid Democratic south. We are
to find other alliances and economic
issues are to take thae place of the once
greet issue. Besides, the Republicars,
when they chose to exercise it, with
out passing any law, can exercise
great power ever the south-admitting
or excluding her representatives or
senators. They will be put to the
test whether they will be willing to
shut the doors of congrees to the Socth
Carolina representatives in the p)resent
cnrs.Not feeling the necessityj
for it in the house, they mnay not do it~
except in some eases where they may
feel it necessary to keep the negro in
heart, to retain the balance of power
in the northern States, which are con
trolled by' the negro votes beause
they have to do something occasional-1
iv 'to warm that race up. But I am
satsfed they have adopted a new de
parture. They are divided themselves
on the silver question. The east is
not sol.d for silver. The west hasa a
large majority of silver and today theI
only tw'o principles left to the Demo
dratic party in South Carolina aire en
mity to Cleveland and friendship to
free silver and the silver senators will
n ~ot pemi any leeislationl on the ne
gro queAti n and the courts have re
to punish South Carolina. So we can
reasonably hope to have some i eace
and quiet for a few years at least.
They are going to let us alone and if
we don't pile on too much animis opi
busque pariti in attempting to assert
our sovereignty they will let us have
considerable elbow room.
But they are a queer people, especi
ally under the rule of Tom Reed, who
at the present stands the best chance
of being the next President of the
United States, and if he is, I tremble
at what may happen. I was laughiug
the other day with some gentlemen at
the idea of anybody quoting the Con
stitution of the United States to Tom
Reed, if he were President. He is a
very ambitious man, but there is many
a slip betwixt the cup and the lip and
a better fate may be in store for this
coantry than to have such a dangerous
man for President.
I could go on and enlarge on this
theme if I had drea.red that it was the
pleasure of the convention to listen to
m?. If I ha- had a!y idea that it was
the pleasure of the gentlemen to call
on me I would have presented other
silver linings to the cloud that hovers
over us. I do not despair for the re
public. I cannot believe that the great
God above us is going to desert this
people and turn it over to anarchy or
civil war. I believe in the sober sec
ond thought of the great Anglo-Saxon
race, who will decide their differences
at the ballot boxes rather than with
the cartridge. I believe that we are
going to have a new alignment of po
litical parties. There is no telling
what parties or factions we will have
in the fnture. None of us need make
any rash promises or assume any ex
treme positions as to where we will be
one year hence in politics. I believe
new political parties will be organized.
Democracy is not dead. Its principles
are eternal, and the principles an
nounced by Jefferson, the great father
of it, in his first message in 1801, have
been the political bible of freemen
thrc ugi:out the world; it is their bible
to-day, and all that we have to do is to
teach our boys and young men those
principles and let them always refer to
them as the test of every public man
and public measure. We may join the
Republican party down here for mo
tives of policy. I sometimes think
that if we had joined the Republican
party just after the war it might have
been better for us, but we could not do
it. We were too honest and too proud.
We had to come down sorter by
degrees.
Now our party has been almost dis
banded by the treachery of Cleveland,
and the policy of the Republican party.
There is no change of heart in.:them.
They never went back on theTnegro
from principle; it was policy,..Their
gold bugs would insist that 5rlver
should be destroyed as- money, and
their own people revolted at it because
they were not willing to have white
slavery established by those who wish
ed to regulate wages by controlling the
amount of money in circulation. That
is what saved us once; it is what saves
us now. It is what will save us for
many years in the future, which shows
that God in his mysterious way works
out things to the right end in the long
rn. There are general causes which,
under the same circumstances, with
the same men, will work out the same
results. Those causes have been at
work for our good as well as for our
harm in some respects.
Mr. President, this is perhaps the
lst time I shall ever talk in a delibera
tive assembly of my countrymen. I
am done with public life. As I re
marked on a previous occasion, I have
enjoyed far more than the average.
share of public honor. 7\Iy ambitions
have been gratified. I have nothing
to regret except that 1 could not do
more for my country.
In our debates here I perhaps may,
in the heat of the moment, hs.ve said
things in a tone of irritation or made
remarks that had better' not been
rtered. There was no personal feel
ing if I did so. It was but the impulse
of an honest heart trying to speak the
truth as it was understood by me. If
I have hurt any member's feelings in
any way, either in debate or in free
personal intercourse, I beg his pardon.
For the few years that are left me, sir,
I shall always cherish the remem
brances of this convention with pleas
ure. I believe I speak what every
member on this floor feels in his heart
when I say from the first day when we
met here to the present hour, the can
vention has become more and more
consolidated as one man, and inspired
by one purpose, stimulated by one
efort, to do0 the best we could for our
old mother State, showing that we
never have been divided on principle
daring the last six years of strife, and
that our polities have been based upon
men and not 'neasures. personalities
and not principles, and true Democ
racy as deli ned by Jefferson demands
measures not meu.
It must be a source of great gratifi
cation to every member here and to
their constituents at home to see with
what unanimity, with what courteons
ness and yet with what independence
of action their representatives in this
body have made the Constitution which
we have just ratified. It is a rainbow
of hopc that the State may hereafter
he united as in the past, as one man.
'or, remember, my countrymen, it
took all the efforts we could lay forth
in '76, and for many years thereafter,
to control this State; and if we bec'ome
divided, as I fear we may be, and as I
hope we will not for some time to
come, we may iind it still more difi
elt-I wo' say impossible. I have
u abiding faith in the Anglo-Saxon
race, as there never has been a con
siderable number of them together
anywhere that they did not dominate
an race with which they came in con
t'c~t; and whatever may happen I have
faith that they will rule. But as I
said, let us never forget that it took
the combined forces of all the men,
wo.en and r-hildren in South Cro
lina to get and keep contro, and tat
we ought to try in a spirit of self
sacrifice to come together here as we
were in '76.
Gentlemen, I will not detain you.
longer. I thank you for the high com
pliment you have paid me. Would to
God I could have done more in my
feeble way to help on the labors of this
body. I have done my best, and so
have you all. I hope that as South
Carolinians, as white men and Demo
crats we will go on as prosperously. in
the future as we ever have in the past.
And no matter what shall betide us in
the future I believe we can meet any
fate, and nothing can go amiss.witb
us unless we forget thatwe are white
I men, Carolinias and Demacrats. (rw
lunged applause.) - -
FINER FERTILIZERS.
F : er Samples Found Deficient This
year Than in Any Year Previous. -
Below is given the annual report of
Secretary J. P. Smith of the. State
board of fertilizer control, contained-in
the eighth annual report of the South
Carolina experimental station, whieh
shows very fully the improvements
made in the grades of fert:lizers fur
nished during the pastyear, and shows
the income derived by the State from
the fertilizer tax:
15SPTCTIOa ER FE'IIIZES.
Owing to the great depression in the
fertilizer trade the past year the ship
ping season did not open as early as
usual, consequently our inspectors were
not started to work till about Feb. 1,
and therefore had only about two
months in which to work. However, -
they made a thorough canvass .of the
State and visited most of the shipping
points several times during the season.
Three hundred and forty samples of
fertilizers, representing 206 brands of
goods, were collected. All of these,
except the duplicate samples, were ana
lyzed and reported in.bulletin No. 20
of the South Carolina experimental
station, 10,000 copies of which were
distributed throughout the State. Com
paratively few cases of irregularities
were discovered. Thegreatestdlifdculty
we have to contend with in carrying
out the law of the State is the collee
tion of the privilege tax on cotton seed
meaL This contiines to.. give us
trouble. Under the law, as_construed
by this department, we tat the meal
when it is.sold as a fertilizer, and we
regard it all as a fertilizer unless it is
branded as stock food, but in many
cases it is bought by farmers and deal
ers in carload lots, frequently from.
mills in other States, without stating,
and perhaps not knowingfor,whatpu
pose it is to be used, and is shipped
and distributed free of the tax, when -
doubtless a large portion of it is used
as a fertilizer. As the law now stands,
persons who are disposed to' disregard
t can easily do so and have a loophole
of escape from its penalties. In "miew
of the difficulty of onforcing the pres
ent law, and since cotton seed mealh.e$
come into such general use as a co'n
pmercial fertilizer, I would recommefd
that the legislature be asked to place.it
on the same footing as other commer
cial fertilizers and make it liable. to
the privilege tax in all cases. .The
State of Georgia has had such a law in
operation for several years, and I feel
conident that it would be to the inter
est of the farmers to have the law' so
amended and that the manufactufers
themselves would not object to it. I
think it but just to state in this conu
nection that I believe most mills in the
State try to comply wit.h the law as it
is, and sonle of them e,*en pay the tar
on all meal they sell now rather than -
run the risk of violating theState laws.
GUaRASrEES.
It is gratifying to report that fewer
samples have been found below th~e
manufacturers' guarantees, than in any
year since the organizacion of this de
partment. Under the act~ of 1894,
which allows a limit of 3 .per cent.
below commercial values, only. two
brands of goods were fonnd deficient.
niBMEXs' sanIYEs.
A greater number of farmers' samples
Ihare been received tais year than last,
and all of those collected according to
the prescribed rules o'f the de1partmenlt
have been analyzed and reported to the
rersons sending them.
~Instructions for collecting. and
fowarding these samples are always
frnished on application .to the fer
tilizer department and it is important.
that farmers comply striutly with these
Irules, as they have been adopled solely
for their benefit.
The following table sh'ows the work
of the department this season, also for,
e omparison the corresponding figures
of 1894 are given:
Privileg'e tax collected, 1893, 830,
I077.93; 1894, $1.3,499.06. Amount of
Ifertilizers sold in the State, (tons)
1895SO, 120,311; 1894, 173,996. Nuin
her of s.tmples collected 'by inspectors,
1S95, 340; 1894, 500. Nnimber of sam
pies analyzed, 1895, 206; 1894,- 234.
Number of samples below guarantee,
195. -23; 1894, 41. Per cent. -of
Isamples below guarantee, 1895, 11;
194, 18.
*Under the present law, which re
quires that the commercial valus based
npon the actual analysis shall not fall
8 er cent. below the commercial value
based upon guarantees, only two
brands were found denicient.
The following statement shows the
total expense of the department . for
Ithe past year:
Saaries of chemists and secr4tary. .$2,12407
C1'emical4 supnlies and fuel. ..4%6
Po;stae, stationary. eteca........... 63.72;
Freigt andi expenses.....-....... 52.51.
IPriting tax tags...... ..... .. 900.00
Sresof veterinarp surgeon... 34.70
sairi's ad railroad fare of inspec- -
Total...... .......... $4,379.40
The Pradential Committee. of the Amerl
can .oard of Foreign Missions asked theRed
Cros Society to- -take charge of the relib! -