The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, March 23, 1897, Image 1

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TARIFF MESSAGE OF PRESIOF.NF McKINLEY. PLAIN, milEOT AND POINTKD. Congress Ih Asked to Increase tlio Tariff Immediately?The Condition of ilxi Kevfluue Demand* Prompt Action. The following message from Presi dent McKinley was sent to Congress upon its oponing: To tho Congress of tho United States : Regretting the necessity which has required me to call you together, I foel tbat your assembling in extraordinary session is Indispensable beoause of tho oooditlon in which we find the revenues of tbu government. It is conceded tbat its current expenditures are greater than its receipts and that suoh a condition has existed for now more than three years. With unlimited menus at our command, we are pre senting tho remarkable speotaclo of increasing our public debt by boriow ing money to meet the ordinary out lays incident upon even an economical and prudent administration of tho government. An examination of the subject discloses this fact in every detail and leads inevitably to the con cluelon that the condition of tbo rev enue which allows it Is unjustifiable and should be correottd. We flud by tho reports of tbo Secre tary of tho Treasury that the revenues for tho Qsoalfycar, ending June 30, 18l)2,fromall sources were $425,888,260. 22,and the expenditure.-; for ail purposes woro $115,903,800 50, leaving an excess of receipts over expenditures of $9,914, 453.CG. During that fiscal year $49,570,-, 407.98 were paid upon the nubile debt,* which bad been reduced sinco March 1, 1889, $250,076,890, and the annual interest charge decreased $11,684,570. 60. The receipts of tho government from all sources, during the fiscal year,* ending June 30, 1893, amounted to $461,710 561, and Its expenditures to $459,374,887, allowing an excess of re ceipts over expenditures of $2,341,674. Sinco that tlmo the receipts of no fiscal year, and with but few excep tions of no month of any fiscal year, bavo exceeded tho expenditures. The receipts of tho government from all sources, during tbo fisoal year, ending Juno 30, 1894, were $372,802,408, and its expenditures $442,605,758, leaving a deficit, tho first sinco the resumption of specie payments, of $00,803,260. Not withstanding there was a decrease of $10,769,128 In the ordinary expenses of the government as compared with the previous fiscal year, its income, was Btill not BultlclcBt to provide for its dally necessities, and the gold reservo in the treasury for the redemption of greenbacks was drawn upon to meot them. But this did not suffice, and tho government then resortod to loans to replenish the reserve. In February, 1894,$50,000,000 fn bonds wore issued, a^d in November follow ing a second issue of $50,000,000 was doomed necessary. Tbo sum of $117, 171,795 was realized by the Bale of these bonds, but tho reservo was stead ily decreased until, on February 8, 1895, a third sale of $02,315,400 in bonds for $65,116,244 was announced to Con gross. The receipts of the government for tbo fiscal year ending June 30, 1895, were $390,373 203, and the expenditures $433,178,420, showing a deficit of $42, 805,223. A further loan of $100,000,000 was ne gotlat d bv tho government In Febru ary, 1896, the ealo netting $111,160,240, and swelling the aggregate of bonds Issued within threo years to $262.315, 400. For tho fiscal year euding June 30, 1806, tho revenues of the government from all snurcos amounted to $109.475, 408, while Its expenditures were $434,078,654, or an excess of expendi tures over receipts of $25,203,245. In other words, the total receipts for the three fiscal years, ending June 30. 1890,'were insufficient by $137,811,729 to meet tho total expenditures. Nor has this condition since improv ed. For the first half of the presont fiscal year, the receipts of the govern ment, exclusive of postal revenues, wero $157,507.603, and its expenditures exoluslve of postal service $195,410,000, or an excess of expenditures over re ceipts of $37,902,396. In January of this year, the receipts exoluslve of postal revenues were $24,316,994 and the expenditures oxclusive of postal sorvlce $30,269,389, a dellolt of $5,952, 395 for the month. In February of this yoar the receipts exoluslve of postal revenues'were $24,400,997 and tho expenditures, exclusive of postal servioo $28.790,050, a deficit of $4,305, ? 059; or a total deficiency of $186,061, 580 for the three years and eight months ending on March 1, 1897. Not only are wo without a surplus in the treasury, but with an increase in tho publio debt there has been a corres ponding increase in tho annual inter est oharge from $22,893.883 in 1892, the lowest of any year since 1862, to $34, 387,297 in 1896, or an Increase of $11, 493,414. It may bo urgod that even if the revenues of tho government had beon sufficient to meet all its ordinary ox penses during tho past threo years, tho gold reserve would still have been In sufficient to meet tbo demands upon it, and that bonds would neoessarily have been Issued for its repletion. Be tbls as It may, it is clearly manifest, with out denying or affirming the correct ness of such a conclusion, that the debt would have been decreased in at least the amount of tho deficiency, and bust ness confidence immeasurably strengthened throughout the country. Congross should promptly correct the existing conditions. Ample revenues must be supplied not only for the ordi nary expenses of tho govornmcnt, but for prompt payment of liberal ponslons and the liquidation of tho principal and intorest of the publio debt. In raising t evoauos, duties should be so levied upon foreign products as to pre serve tho homo market, so far as pos sible, to our own producers; to revive and increase manufactures; to relieve and encourage agriculture ; to inoreaso our domeslio and foreign commerce; to aid and develop mining and build ing, and to ronaor to labor in every held of useful occupation tbo llboral wavert and adequate rewards to which akill and Industry are justly entitled. The necessity of the passage of a tariff law which shall provide ample reve nue, need not be further urged.. The imperative domand of tho hour is the pron.pt enactment of suoh a measure, and to tills object I earnestly recom mend that Congress shall make every endeavor. Before other business is transacted, let us first provide suflloiont revenue to faithfully administer the government without tho contracting of furtbor debt, or the oontlnued dis turbance of our flnanoon. (Signod) WM. MoKiNbBY, President of the United States. ?An exchange says: " Kerosene will make teakettles shine as bright as now." " Yes," remarked another pa per, " kerosene will do wonders; it will make a bouse shine so it can bo seen for mites, but It Is dreadfully destruc tive tO paint." HILfj ARE* IS AT WOKK. Ills Wife Keeps Him Btuy to Help ? His Hbeam*tUm-A Lecture on Woman's Rights ami Wrongs. I Uko to work when I feel like it. but my wlfo likes for me to work when she feels like it, and so between the two I have to work nearly all the time. Yesterday I was grunting around with rheumatism, but she took. a notion that it was a good day to take the ve randah trellis down and clean away all th't old dead vines, and thought it would holp me to get warmed up by exerolse?and it did. She knows?she has heard me try to play off on grippe and rheumatics before?you can't tool the woman you have been living with forty-eight years?so I got the ladder and ollmbed up to the top and out away the tangled web and trimmed the running rosevinesand the wisteria and Virginia oreeper and then tore away the eld canes and cleaned up all the trash and buruod it. It was a big job for the verandah is fifty feet long and I had to move the old rlokoty lad der a dozzcu times?several times I J;ot sorter 'dizzy and liked to have alien,, but ray folks don't believe I am us old as I am, and they never will be lieve it until I break my arm, or my log. or my neok. Then I reokon they will be sorry. tjV. man never grows old to his own family; no man is ?*hero to his own servant. The sei rant knows him too well, and just so my wife won't admit that I am too old to bo useful, and she koeps me trotting around. She gives me precepts and examples, for shots never idle?makes up toe bed, cleans up her room, puts out the washing and dis tributes it when it oomesin, mends my clothes, darns my stockings, sows on t hi missing buttons, hides ray best pants to keep me from w^rKlng in thom and soolds me ever and anon about my carelessness. She keeps on making little garments for the grand children and still finds time to boss me in the flower garden and go to the missionary meeting, and. writes letters to tbo hoys. She never reads until almost bedtime, but next morning can toll us all the news worth knowing, and has her opinions about Cleveland and McKinley and Lyraan Abbott and Dr. Brougbton and female suffrage. I read to her the recent vote In parlia ment about that and asked her what she thought of it.v "Well," said she, " I dou't care to vote, of courso I don't, but if female suffrage will lesson female 'sufferage,' I hopo It will pass. It makes ray heart bleed to read about these heartless men deceiving and be traying foolish young girls who trusted them?what a pitiful scene it was? that ruined girl following that man and his bride into the parlor cars in Atlanta, and in her presence upbraid ing him with his infamy. And just look around all over this country at the young married women who have been abandoned by their unprincipled husbands, and now havo to work and toil and almost beg for a living for themselves and their little ones. If a jury of women could try these dooeiv ers and these faithless husbands thoy would be sont to the obalngang, where thoy Belong. If a young man embez zles some rich man's money and runs away, the judgo and the grand jury and the newspapers make an awful fuss about it and send telegrams all over tho country to oatob him, but if he ruins a woman and breaks her heart and makes a wreck of hor life it is bushed up and nothing is dono. .1 am not a woman's-rlghta w9man. She has rights enough, but there ought to be some way of avenging her wrongs." That is a faot, and my opinion is that hor wrongs never will be avenged uutll she is not only empowered to vote, but also to bold offloo in school rooms and in tho government of the towns and villages. Tho age of gal lantry and chivalry toward women has passed.. This is the unfeeling age, and woman has to shift for herself. Thirty years ago she worked at seventeen occupations, and now at 130. and gets about half price for hor labor?half the price that tho men* get who do it no bettor. I am ashamed of my sex, and I never buy a sbirt for 50 cents but what I remember that a poor wo man made it?made it in some garret ? worked all day and part of the night, " With fingers weary and worn With eyelids heavy and rod." And yet these lords of creation pre tend tbut if woman is allowed to vote she will get down in tbo slums and lose her purity. She is down In the slums now and would get out If she could. I know women who are at work for less than a dollar a day and have to support themselves and their little children out of It, while tholrrlob employers sit high up In tho ohurohes and say amen and amen to the preaobors pray ere. I know women, good women, ac complished women, whom men have ruined by neglect or abandonment, and all tbey oan do is suffer and be silent. I know women whoso unprincipled husbands have been breaking thoir marriage vows ever alnoe thoy.made them, and still they pass and repass In tbo community as gentlemen. But this is the samo old story?who cares. Now it is said thai, although tho wo man's suffrage bill has pasaod the house of commons by a large majority, It will bo ignonlmously killed in the house of lords?why I should Uko to know ? Tho lords are not a senate, whoso age and dignity might correct hasty or unwiso legislation, but they aro a pampered purse-proud nobility. Tbo most of them are and many of them have as many wlvos as Brlgham Young ever did. But the time is near at hand when women will' be enfranchis ed in more ways than one. The laws of marriage and divorce are better In England now than our-. Tbey are governed by the uburoh?by the ec oleslastlcal courts. It takes no little time to get .married. The*matter is considered and discussed openly and frooly before an engagement Is-made. It must be a union that Is fit to be made and the bans must be . published and announced from tllO pulpit for B< i.i.Wjf Sabbaths previous to tho cev ^y. Consequently there are no clop i :auts ?no runaways, and of courso not so many divorces. Inoonsidorato young people used to runaway to Crctna Green, in Scotland, and bo married by an old Scotch blacksmith, but those marriages were declared illogal about forty years ago, and now it is a orimo to bo married any whore save in tho oburob aftor tha bans have bean pub lished. Great solemnity Is attached to tho eoromony. But hore anybody can run away with anybody's daughter and bo marrlod by anybody In any sort of fashion and get loose whenevor tbey take a notion. Tho Whole business of marriage and divorce should be re modelled by Cong.'OHS and made uni form in nil the States. It makes mo sick to read those dlvoroo advertise ments of lawyers In Chioago : " Dl voroes obtained without attracting attention." But tho dovll Is now un chained and the thousand years are out. * Bill A hp. ?Tho editor who was told that his last article was as cloar an mud quite promptly replied, "Well,'?bat covers the ground." The Cotton Growers' Protective Association ?V? t FARMERS ADVISED TO D1VER . BIFY CROPS. The Are* Devoted to Cotton Will Yield More* Profitable Returns? The Kind of Protection Needed for Southern Farmers. The following address was Issued by the Cotton Growers' Protective As sociation, whloh met a few days ago in Augusta, Ga., and, which advises the growing of food orops as the surest road to agricultural prosperity in the South: To the Cotton Growers of America : The Cqtton Growers' Protective As sociation of America, in convention us s ibled at Augusta, Ga., on this 15th March, 181)7, again como to you with an urgent appeal for co-operative ac tion In planting tbo crop for 1807. It is a matter of extreme congratulation that tho appeal made to you in 1805 and 1800 was so generally responded to and tbat the orop of 1805, made up?n the diminished aoreage, did have the effeot of greatly Increasing the prices of cotton. The crop of 1805, though estimated to be 3,400,000 bales abort of tho crop of 1804, was In the markets of the world worth more by nearly $30,- 1 000,000. In the faoo of this result to abandon the Idea of diminished aoro- ' age would be to sound tbo rotroat in ; tbo face of viotory. It is the consonus of opinion among the best tbinkers that if by any means the cotton orop of America should be held within the limits of 8,000,000 to 0,000,000, bales per annum for live years, tho people of thoso southern states would be the richest and most prosperous agricultu ral people In the world. I low can this be brought about V The answor is with you. We appeal to your self In terest and patriotism to do all In your power to keep down tbo production of tho staple. Do not abandon the ground you have woo. Fight on upon tho lines laid down, make the cotton states self-supporting, put more land in clover and grasses for your hogs to run on, diversify your orops, and when you have done all this the aroa devoted to cotton will yield more profitable re turns than if you sought to increaso tho number of your bales. While tho reduction of ?,he aoreago to be planted In cotton for tbo Bole purpose of reduc ing the size of the crop may be Im practicable, tho inorease of area plant ed in food crops must inevitably bring prosperity to cotton growers, Irrespec tive of the size of the cotton crop. There has nover boon a tlmo in the history of our section of the country tbat a movement looking to tbo In creased production of corn, bay, oats, hogs and otbor food orops, was so im portant and,necessary. It is felt by tbe most thoughtful men that' wo are entering upon a year of great uncertainties, and tbat even a small cotton crop may fall to glvo ade quate returns for its produotion. Tho mutterlngs of a storm are disturbing values and unsettling all business cal culations. The prudent man will trim hie sails to meet It. With tho commerce of tbo country Interrupted by war?and war may como?cotton would bo unsalable, except at nominal prices. Every consideration, then, of patriotism, of solf-lnterost and of pru dence dictates that you adhere strict ly to tbe rule of diminished acreage. Earnest men aro earnestly working to lead you and to guido you into pros perity. Do not lot them labor in vain, but cheerfully aud hopefully respond to their appeal. In conclusion, wo desiro to say to evory cotton grower, whether his crop is ten h.ilos or ono thousand! bales, see to it first that your place is self-sus taining--and we mean by this to be sure you grow on the farm an ibund ance of corn, moat, bay, oats, peas, po tatoes, etc., for all tbe people on tho place, both whito and colored. If tho tenant will not produce tbeso articles, soil them to blm and keep tho monoy in your own pocket, in place of send ing it out of tho country. Whon you have dono this, or providod for it, grow what cotton you can. It overy farmer or planter in the cotton growing district will make this his rule of action, and llvo up to it conscientiously, It will accomplish the result we so much desire of making us all prosperous and happy, whether your cotton, which will be a surplus orop, sell for a high or low price. Wo would urge you again to maio suro first of a cheap, homo grown living for all tbe people and nil the animals on tbe place, and then make what cotton you can. We address our argument to each in dividual farmer. Evory farmer may measurably control tho cost'of produc ing his cotton. Let caoh individual farmer rosolvo in his own mind and without regard to what others may do, to cut down tho cost of producing his cotton. By con fining his area to tbo best fields and to tho best parts of his field ; by con centrating his skill, his industry and fertilizers on a smaller area he will produce his cotton cheaper. Evory farmer knows that tho hotter tbo land, the bettor preparation and cultivation, tho more liberal tho amount of well balanced fertilizers ho applies per acre, tbe loss will ho tho cost per pound of cotton. Put only tho boat land in cotton and corn and tho poorer lands In rye, peaa, etc. This will certainly reduce, your j crop product in tbo aggregate, but it wili much more reduce the cost. So that, in auy event, whatever other.i may do, you will bo all right. i ?Judgo Maokey, who has been In Columbia sinco tbo session of tho Genoral Assembly, proposes to pub luh during the coming ?summer a book of abo it. 150 pages, which ho will call South Carolina Lott and Found. The work is Intended to give a history of politics) affairs in this State from 1805 to 1877, with Bpeoial reference to the Reconstruction period, with which Judgo Mackey has every reason to be ejptlrely familiar, having taken quite a hand In bringing about the settle ment of the troubles. He says that In his book ho will " with tho sclmetar of truth share off some tall plumes." Ho will start cut With the Secession porlod and take the position tbat tboro was no need for this Stato to have pre cipitated tho war, and that many of her best and abl?st sons woro against the Secession movement. Judgo Mac key expects to have bis book before tho puhllo about tbe mouth of August, and will soon go on'to New York to arrange for Its publication. ?Allowing tbe horBO to stand hab itually upon a dry board loor often causes tho horse's hoof to become brit tle. A linseed meal poultice Is the best remedy. ?Only 70 years have elasped sinoo tbo first railway in tho world fvas fin ished. During that comparatively brief period 400,000 miles hafve* been constructed. THK niri.OMAUC POSITIONS. The Appointment of Ministers to England and France?The ISest Places in t ho Diplomatic Service. The President has made the follow ing nominations to be ambassadors ex traordinary and ministers plenipoten tiary of the United States : John Hay, of Washington, D. C, to Great Britain, and Horace Portor, of Now York, to France, and JHonry White, of Rhode Island, Is to be seoretary of the em bassy at London. Messrs. Hay and Porter receive a salary of $17,600 a year. John Hay Is a native of Indiana, 59 fears of age, and graduated at Brown fnlversity in 1858, and began tho prac tice of law in Illinois in 1861. Presi dent Lincohji appointed him assistant seoretary and kept him in that capacity throughout his administration. He also acted as Lincoln's adjutant and aide-de-camp and was breveted lieu tenant colonel. Entoring diplo matic circles in the sixties, ho was at various times chargo at Vienna, first secretary at Paris, and secretary of legation at Madrid. In 1870, Mr. Hay connected himself with tue press and for nearly six years devoted him self to edito-'ni wo4ra 'eur'ing New Y rk if .. araper. In 1875 he entered politlcp, taking an active part in tho presidential cam paigns of 1876, 1880 and 1884, being then a resident of Cleveland. Presi dent Hayes appoiuted him First Assis tant Secretary of Stuta, which post ho filled for nearly three years. Since bis retirement from ollice Colonel Hay has resided chiefly In Washington elt>, whore he occupies a palatial homo on LaFayctte avenue and has devoted himself to literature with the greatest Buccess, somo of bis best known works being "Pike County Ballads," "Cas tlllian Days," and a history of Lincoln written in collaboration with John Nicolay. Colonel Hay has also hoen a frequont contributor to the highest class of periodicals, and to him has bcon ascribed tho authorship of tho anony mous novel, "The Breadwinners," which caused such agitation in labor circles. General Horace Porter comos of rev olutionary stocV Ills grandfather, Andrew Porter, being one of Wash ington's most valued officers. General Porter's father was David Rittenhouae Porter, at ono time Gov ernor of Pennsyvanla and a prosperous manufacturer. Horace Porter was born just sixty years ago in Hunting don, Pa. Hs was well educated in bis own State, at Harvard and finally at West Point. Soon aft r his gradua tion from tho military academy be was assign d to duty in tho South. He was an ordinance export, so most of his work was in tho military sorvice on the staffs of McClellan, Rosecrans and Grant, where ho earned the reputation as a gallant and foarless figbtor, as is shown by his brevets. Ho served in the Chickamauga and Wilderness cum gaigns and was in tho first assault on harleston, where ho was wounded. General Graut was greatly attached to General Porter and made him Assis tent Secretary of War while ho him self filled the secrotaryshlp. Ho sur rendered his army commission in 18711 and plunged into active business, be ing first president of the West Shore railroad, vice president of the Pullman Car Company, and associating himself with other great corporations in a dircctivo capacity. Ho is well known In tho field of literature, being an author of repute and much sought for as a public speaker. Tho appointment of Mr. Henry White to bo secretary of American embassy in Great Britain is practically a i-eappointmcnt, as Mr. White had bold this ollice for eight years pre vious to Mr. Cleveland's last adminis tration. He has boon in London most of tho time since his displacement and the fact was brought out after his nom ination that he had rendered Mr. Olney important service in tho recent Vene zuelan negotiations. Tho present sec retary, Mr. Roosevelt, resigned somo time ago. MISHIOD A GROWN. An Intercatlug Chapter or South Carolina History. Boston Education Maga/.ina. South Carolina has had ono promi nent man of whom it may ho said, "Ho missed a crown." An account of him and his family forms a chapter of in terest in tho annals of tho historic Pal motto State. Tho Middlotons are not only ono of the most distinguished, hut ulso ono of the oldest of the Carolina families. An account of thorn and their estates reads almost like tho history of somo noblo family of England. Boforo tho English had boon permanently settled In tho colony a dozen years, wo lind Edward Midddloton a mombor of tho council under the Lords Proprietors. Ho was born m England and inherited a largo property. His son, Arthur Middleton. headed tho revolution which throw off tho rulo of tho Lords Proprietors and placed tho provlnco diroctly under the protection of tho English crown. He was afterwards Governor of tho prov ince Henry Middleton, son of Arthur, ?M president of tho Continental Con gress in 1775. The most famous of tho Middlotons was Arthur, who was a signer of tho Deolaration of Independence. Ho was t'.ie son Of Henry (jlist mentioned), and was born at the family soat in 1748. Ho rceolvod his education in England. In 1779 ho took tho fle'd in defense of Charleston, and tho following year he was made a prisoner, but was after wards exchanged. At ono time during tho revolution he declined tho Govern orship of bis St to. Hodled in 1787. His homo, tho Middleton Place (which was in tho low^ country of South Caro lina) has boen destroyed, but tho fol lowing "pon picture" of tho grounds, published in 1888, will givo the reader an idea of what a flno placo It must have been: ?'The old gates with their massive pillars stand intact, but of tho home stead itself only the ohimneys and parts of tbo walls remain. At Middleton Placo, an Englishman would feel at homo evon to-day. .Many of the old terraces and hedges remain as they wore a century ago, and tho ample grounds, wbloh oro tolorably woll kept, have a decidedly English air. This placo is still In possession of tbo Mid dleton family." During the present century this family has furnished ono governor to South Carolina; that wasllonry Mid dleton, pon of the "signer;" he lillod tho ofHco 1810-12. after which ho sorved in Congress, and was also, for several years, ministor to Russia. When a young man, he traveled a good dcul In Europe, and for somo ttmo during tbo Frenoh revolution was in France. His death occurred in 1846. Governor Middleton and tho lato Gov. Bonjamln F. Perry wcro both members of the Union party during tho . stirring times of nullification, and Gov ernor Porry, in his delightful "Roml nlsconcos" (which can well hn read I with pleasure and profit by many others ' besides South Carolinians), has given us a pleasant sketch of Governor Mid dleton, with whom ho was well ac quainted. Among* other things ho says: "Governor Middleton told me that ho was personally acquainted with almost every distinguished man in Europe. He saw Bonaparte in every station which he had tilled, from that of General of tho Interior to his seat on the throno of France. He was on termsof intimaoy with him while hewas Qonoral of tho Interior, and was in the habit of visiting his family. At, ono period of their acquaintance ho re ceived encouragement to addross his stop-daughter. 'Little did I then think,' said Governor Middleton, 'that she would ovor be a queen.'" Am I not right in saying that Gov ernor Middleton missed a crown '. Who can doubt tbat, had ho married Na poleon's stop-daughter, ho would after wards have been made king of some Eu ropean country by tho groat warrior, and ho would undoubtedly have raado a wise and just ruler. We may sup poso, however, that as Governor of an American State ho was probably hap pier than ho would havo been as king of 8omo Europoan country. McDonald Fuhman. Ramsey, S. C. FKEH PUBLIC LiIUHAHIKS. The Opinion of an Experienced Observer as to the Honcllts to bo Derived A. 8. Rowell In the Piedmont Sun. Too much importance, cannot bo attached to tho value of a Free Public Library in u town, and especially in a "cotton mf'g town." We are behind tho times in this rcspoct in tho Old Palmetto State. If we want to take u front rank among the progressive States, wo must move forward. Agri culture and manufactures cannot achiovo the beet result, with a lot of ignoramuses as employers aud employ ed. The masses must be fairly well educated in order for any community to stand abreast with the best. It is good moral policy for a town to es tablish a public library : it is good business policy for a manufacturing company to found a freo library for the benefit of its employees. The youthful minds during tho formative period will seek in almost any direc tion for that which will satiate tho longing folt within. if parents or friends at this time will wisely direct tho expanding intellect along tho line of reading good and useful books, tho mind will naturully turn from dissipat ing habits aud foolish pustimes into thoso channels that will bo productive of pleusuro and profit. Good habits will bo formed instead of bad one?, and the Individual and community will bo tho hotter for it. Of courso tbo dis cipline und training of a good school will better aocomplish tho same end. Let it bo understood that wo arodircct ing our words chielly to those who do not havo all tho school privileges de sirable. Wo are fortunate in having hero in Piedmont a free public library. In tho very beginning of tho history of the place tho directors of tho company made provisions for its establishment and enlargement, and the original idea has boon earnestly fostered aud pro moted by tho Presidents ever since. Many of our young men and women have passed the school day to take up tho stern realities of life, but wo as suro them that education need not stop on that account. In our library are works of every cluss, aud if there be a felt need of any particular lino of good usoful books, that want will ho met. Fifteen or twenty minutes u day spent, in studying or reading up im portant subject s will in tho course of a year bring tho student a vast amount of valuable information. Wo would like to seo our young men and women taking more advantage of tho privilege our library holds out to them. They would bo the gainers personally and indirectly would benefit tho town. Wo would also like to seo the state of South Carolina have a free library in every town. As wo said in tho beginning tho im portance of such an institution cannot bo too highly estimated. Let us see bow this subject is lookod upon in other sections of our country. In tho New England States, two libraries, that of Uavard College and the Bost.m public library, each contains more volumes than aro contained in all tho libraries combined in tho State of Vir ginia. In tho Now England States there aro 050 Libraries of 1,000 volumes. Tho city of Boston appro priated thisyoar $200,000 to her library. In Massachusetts, of the 353 townB and cities, 328 havo free public libraries. Comparing tbo different States tho following interesting statistics aro developed : Massaehusettes has for every 100 population 2?7 volumes, New York 74, Peunsylvunia 51, Mary land 89, Virginia 22, Kentucky and Louisiana oacli 20, South Carolina 18, Tonncssco and Georgia each 15, Alabama 8, Texas 4. In 181)1, tho libraries in tho New England States had 7,219,124 volumes. In tho South ern States 2,250,212 volumes. Hero in Piedmont wo have a library of nearly 2,500 voIuiuob, or seventy ono volumes to ovory ono hundred ol our population. So it will he soon that our town is pretty well up in tho scale. All wo want to do is to use tho books well. ^ ?Tho air is so clear in tho Arctic legions that conversation can bo ear-, ried on easily by persons two miles | apart. It has also been asserted on good authority that at Gibraltar the 1 human voice has been distinctly hoard at a distance of ten miles. ?A gentleman traveling in Porsia says ho has boon in a town whoro tho bolls ring for prayer flvo times a day, and business mon rush out of their oIHcob to tho churches, leaving their places of businoss alono nnd unlocked, and nobody ovor has a thing stolen. ?French papers insist that tho roller-boat of M. Ba/.ln, which is to cross tho ocean In three days, is likely to be a success, and that it will glido over tbo water as smoothly as a car riage along a road. A trlul trip on the Thames Is promiBod shortly. ?Jack rabbits aro so numorouB in some partB of Colorado that thoro Is an annual " round-up " to exterminate tho posts. At tho round-up hold tho week before Christmas at Laraar 15,000 rabbits woro killed. ?A whalo recently captured In arctio waters was found to havo im bedded iu Its side a harpoon tbat bo longed to a whaling vessel that had beon out of eorvloo nearly half a con tury. ?Whlto-wlno vinegar can bo mado by adding flvo gallons of ralnwator to 10 pounds of mashod ralsln.i, and let ting it stand in a warm plaoo for a month. ?It Is thought tho output of tho steel rail companies thisyoar will he In the neighborhood of 2,000,000 tons, or fully throe times tbe output of 1800. ?" What is It that causes tho salt ness of tho ocean V" asked a teacher. " It is the codfish," said a little girl. A WARNING TO THE COTTON FARMERS, DO NOT INCREASE Till; ACRE AGE. The Cotton Goods Trade ExceedIngljr Dull?Food and Forago Crops Should be Ample?Make Cotton a Surplus Crop. Tho following letter in reference to decreasing tho production of cotton and increasing tho production of food supplies is sent out for the information of cotton planters. Coming from an export statistician on the production and consumption of cotton, it empha sizes tho conclusions and justifies tho action taken by the American Cotton Grower*'Protective Association, which met in Augusta on the 15th Inst. Now York, March 12, 1897. Hou. Patrick Walsh, Editor Augusta Chronicle. My Dear Sir : Though our present cotton crop will probably not exceed 8,500,000 bales aud tho stocks in the world's market! and mills at tbo end of tbo season may bo oven below tho moderate ligures ut Its commencement, tho fact remains that cottjn is half a cent per pound lower tnTtn a year ago. The cotton goods trade is exeooding ly dull and prices at about the lowest. Many American mills are running on | short time. My friend Mr. Thomas j Ellison, of Liverpool, thinks tho Euro pean mills will consume no more cotton the present season than during last i season. In view of tho injury to British trade from tho pluguo and I famine in India it is, in my opinion, { even doubtful if last season's consump tion will be uctuully maintained. In Bombay, tho cotton mills aro practical ly, closed, thus releasing moro cotton for export to Kurope than had been esti mated. It Is to bu added that tbo cotton crop iu India will be larger tliau tho estimates of several mouths ago. Our Congress is abaut to meet in extra session to discuss u general revision of the tarilT, and tho uncertainty as to tho outcome of tho matter will depress every kind of business. The session may bo a long one, and it is by no means certain that any kind of a tariff bill will bo passed as tho Ivopublicana do not control tbo Sonata. The de pression in business ou uccouut of uncertainty in regard to tho tarilT would then continue into 1898. Theso ] are the conditions which confront the ! Southern farmers upon tho eve of planting time this spring. It scorns ! to me they indicate with a clearness [ which admits of no question that ovory farmer should first make provision for ample food and forage crops before considering tho matter of cotton acre age. In July last, when tho crop prospects were so favorable that many peopie predicted a yiold of 10,000.000 bales, the price for November delivery declined to noarly (i 1-8 cents, while middling cotton on tho spot sold at 7 1-10 coats. Had not tbo severe drought occurred, the crop might easily have reached 9,500,000 to 10,000,000 bales and this ad dition to tho supply would probably have resulted in lower prices by fully one and a half cents per pound than aro eurront today. I tiiiuk middling cotton would have sold at live and a half (5 1-2) cents in New York and this would have been disastrous to Southern fanners and a serious injury to tbo eutiro country on account of tbo disturbance iu foreign exchanges, which would huvo been caused by ho great a shrinkage in tho vaiue of our cotton exports. 1 do not believe that one planter in a thousand can produce cotton so cheaply that ho can SOU it on the basis of live and a half (5 1*2) eonts a pound for middling in New York and get back oven the co^t of pro duction, to say nothing of any profit. It is woll for our Southern farmers to remember that the cost of produc tion exerts no intlucnco whatever on the immediate market value of any commodity. The present price is gov erned almost entirely by tho existing conditions of supply and demand. When commodities are sold for less than tho average cost of production, that fact will necessarily curtail pro duction, and a diminution in prico. Farmers, 'however, cannot wait for theso processes as they aro generally compellod to soil their crops promptly in order to meet thoir obligations. It is truo that corn is considerably lower in Chicago than it was a year ago, while oats and. provisions aro a trifle lower and wheat and Hour a lit tle higher. The reduction in tbo prico of home of these articles, bowover, should bo no reason for planting moro cotton and less grain, for of what avail to tbo Southern farmer would bo tho low prico of grain and provisions if his cotton had to bo sold for 80 littlo as to icavo him no surplus money in which to buy tbe&9 things '.'' Tho world does not need as much American cotton as can bo grown on the present acreage. If all Southern farmers would raise thoir own food and forage crops (in cluding meat and farm animals) and make of cotton a surplus or "money crop " they would have in their own hands the amplest protection aguinst low prices for cotton, inasmuch as the overproduction of the staple would be avoided and they would never be forced to sell their cotton in the periods of its greatest depression. Yours very ruly, Alfred B. shepperson. THE PENSION MUDDLE. Tlio Now Act Will Cause Pensioner* to Wait lor Their Money. Columbia State. Tbo new pension law has bad tho comptroller general scratching bis head and wondering where tho Stato board of pensions is at. There are ?omo provisions in it that would pu/.zlo anyone. Asa rosult, oven construing tbo aot as it was evidently intended it | should pass, tho pensioners of tho State will of necessity he compelled to wait possibly till August, before thoy can get thoir monoy, and it is no fault of tho authorities charged with tho ex ecution of tho law. In tb'j lirst placo, in tho -icction pro viding for tho tlmo for tho payment of tho pensions tbo ligures fixing tho year were loft reading " 1890 " instoad of "1897." Of courso tho intention is clear, but unless i ho law is construed in that light nothing at all can bo paid not.'I the Goncral Assombly meets again. Then township boards havo boon provided for and otbor complex machl norj ?o thoapproval of applications. Thoro a?o something ovor 1,000 town ships in tho Stato. It would bo a physical impossibility to got the boards organized In ovory township in tho Stato and have tho applications go through all tho machlnory provided in timo for tho payment of tho pensions by tho 15th of Juno, as Is provided. Comptroller Genoral Norton, who has had muoh oxporlonco with this pen sion mattor, doolaros that leaving everything olso aside it would holm possible to got tbo warrants out to tho pensioners In the several oountlos bo loro the middle of July or August. He is going to propare a sot of In structions and rulos governing tho organization of tho township and county boards aud simplifying the law so that they can work in a uniform manner, but doos not think that this will facilitate matters very much. Ho will endeavor to remodel tho former blanks in such a way that they can bo used. In addition to those troubles, tbero is tho matter of tho formation of now counties. Scarcely one of them will bo in working order in time for tho township boards even to be formed. There is but one way loft open for tho pensioners in these counties to got their money along with the others, und the others cannot get theirs until it is known bow many there aro in tho several new counties, inasmuch as the umounts havo to be pro-rated. This Is by a looso construction of tho law, requiring the boards iu tho several old counlios to act upon tho applica tions of thoso residing In tho new countios or leuviug the pensioners in tho new counties out altogether, letting tho Legislature help them when It ro- j convenes. # A BACKWARD LOVER. ilia Troubles a-ui Perplexities Ah Boen by the Maiden Bister. Sister Em came into tho kitchen and exclaimed excitedly ! " Oh, Matilda, Joe is going to ask pa for mo, today." "Humph!'' said I, for I never loso u chance to snub her, for sho is always sneering at mo for boiug au old maid. Now I am all practicality and rush and hurry, aud moving from morning til night' my hands arc big and red and rough ; I am stitY aud long and angular ; all tho graces of my girlhood havo been scrubbed, washed aud iron ed out of me. Hut Bin's different. Sho is one of the lolling, languishing kind. She can simper and giggle, and "Oh, don't Johu-ah," in a "Oh, do John-uh " tone of voice, aud sho has had beaux with out number over since she was horn. After sho had been deluged with lovers of all nationalities, she caught, a real Yankee, not ono of the sharp, driving, money-making kind, but a gentle, soft-headed, tender-hearted fel low. He never failed to put oil to morrow what ought to bo done to-day. Well, as I started out to say, Km had announced that Joe was going to ask for her, and I had "humphed" in my most incredulous style ; for during the last five years Joe has hud periodical spasms of courage. Full nineteen hundred times he had made up his mind to ask pu for 10m. and then begged oll'. I could never . understand why it was such a bugbear, for pa would have been perfectly de lighted to give her away, for she has always beeu quite a bill of expense to bim. After a few days Em would prod him to the verge of distraction. Then he would brace up again aud promise to do it, but it always ended iu his postponing it indefinitely. So 1 said "humph !" as aggravating ly as possiblo. That made her furious. " You act as if you thought ho wouldn't ask pa." At that moment Joo unluckily came Into tho kitchen. "Em, hadn't you jusl us soon wait until next Sunday V" " No, I wouldn't," sho cried, an grily. " But. Em, by that time I might got a raise in my salary." Poor fellow, ho was only earning $15 a week, and it was the dream of bis life to get a "raise." "Yes," Em answered bitterly, "a raise has bee n your excuse for the last four years : why don't you ask permis sion to put it oft until after tho Nash ville exposition ?" IIo evidently did not notice the cut ting sarcasm of her voice, for ho said, eagerly,? " Why, that's a good idea ; suppose wo wait until then, so you can be at home to help your folks entertain your relations V" Km was in such a rage that she almost cried, but instead sho fuirly screamed,? "Joe, do you want to marry mo ?" "Of course 1 do," ho responded placidly, "or olso I wouldn't como to see you." " Well, then, you must ask pa, for 1 am not going to get married without his consent." " Hut I am going to ask him." " When ?" " Now, sec hero, Em, do bo reason able ', he knows what I como here for, and, of course, he is willing, or he wouldn't let me come." " When are you going to ask pa''" she repeated angrily. " Why?ah, i don't know?ah !" " Well, now, I'll tel! you ono thing, Joseph, that if you don't ask him to day, I'll never, uevor marry you." " Oh, Km, don't ho hard on mo !" " You march up this minute, sir, and ask pa for mo, or I'll never marry you !" and ??he rushed out of tho room, Hung open the piano and begun to play eo violently, that 1 thought every cord in the instrument would snap. Joe looked ut me appculingly. " What do you think I had hotter do V" "Go upstairs and sec pa," I replied. " Do you suppose she'll feel better in a few minutes ?" he inquired anx iously. "No, sho 16 in dead earnest, aud if yon want her?" "I'll havo to ask for her, I suppose," he answered, with u disconsolate high. I couldn't help feeling sorry for him, for he looked as dejected as if he were go'ng to tho stuko. " It won't bo very hard," I ventured to say. " Oh. it's a terrible thing to do." His lips grew white, the perspiration stood out on his forehead, und he was shaking from head to foot with a ner vous chill. So bo went upstairs, and was gone about five minutos, and then thoy both came tearing out into the kitchen, where they danced, and embraced, and kissed each other like two mud crea tures. Sho was so proud of him, and ho was so glad ho had the thing of! his hands, that they nearly strangled oach other. Thon ho had to tell hor about 10 times bow ho felt when ho went up stairs, and what pa Bald, how ma look ed, and what thoy thought, and how thoy acted, und all about it, until I was forced to como to tho conclusion If this Is tho Ninotconth century stylo of "asking pa," I am glad no ono ovor askod for ino. ? - ? ? ? ?It la rolatcd that about a year ago a houso in Wichita, Kan., was entered by a burglar and a pockotbook contain ing aome money was stolen. Uecontly tho owner of the pureo received a let tor through the mails inclosing a $10 bill and tho following note : " A year ago I stolo a pocket-book from you containg $00. I havo been sick and remorse has boon gnawing at my heart, bo I sond yon $10. When re morHo gnawa again I will send you somo moro. Hurglar." ?A good railway engine will travel 1,000,000 ralles.before It wears out. WAYSIDB GATHERINGS. Bits ol Humor and Nuggeta or Truth for t h<> Multitude. ?Satan docs not objout to our holiness i if wo aro proud of it. ?Mexico is tbo riobost mineral country in tbo world, not excepting Peru. ?The queen has 60 pianos at Os borno, Windsor and Buoklngham Pal ace. ?No man has any bettor religion than that which boactuully exhibits In his daily life. ?The worst troubles lose their keen edgo when we insist on getting somo good out of them. ?Owing to tbo dry, cold atmosphere, not a singlo infectious disease is known in Greenland. V ?Michigan produces one-fifth of tbo iron of this country, mining nino mll liou tons a year. ?About $2,000,000 worth of Amer ican whiBky is annually sont abroad, most of It from Baltimore. ?American collogos rocoived last year gifts of monoy and property amouuting to $16,000,000. ?Keep your conscience clear In tho sight of (Jod, and you need not fear what men may do to harm you. ?It is said that peoplo who drink a great deal of water have rbouma tism less than tho non-water drinkor. ?Tho United States and Gormany arc tho only groat powers that have no postal saviugs banks. ?Politics should bo treated as any injurious insects undor entomological rules and woll sprayed with common sense. ?Thero is a movemont in Colorado to erect a monument to tho memory of Zebulon Piko, tho first explorer of Pike's Peak. ?Tho tono of a piano is host when tho instrument is not noar a wall. An even tcmporatu"o should bo maintain ed in tho room. ?To prevent corrosion of collar but tons by contact with' tho neck, a re cently patented button has tho back madu of cork. ?Spain's wretched showing in ag ricultural pursuits is said to ho duo'to tho use of primitive implomontsof tho time of Julius Caisar. ?As early as tho timoof Aloxandor II of Scotland, a man who lot weeds go to seed on a farm was declared to bo tbo king's enemy. ?Before tho great freeze in Florida tho annual orange crop was from eight to ten million boxes. The estimate for this season is 70,000 boxes. ?Broad as a dally article of food is used by only ubout one-third of tho 1,500,000,000 peoplo that constitute the present population of the earth. ?Claus Spreckels is building a $0, 000,000 house In San Francisco. In it there will ho six bathrooms that will cost $00,000, no two of which will bo alike. ?An error of a thousandth part of an inch in astronomical records may mean a dilTerenco of 200,000,000,000 miles in tho distance of a star. ?When a man is no longer afraid, but is prepared to welcome whatever comes, because bo sees In it the ap pointment of a loving Fathor, why then he is in a happy state. ?The man who comes to tho sta tion two minutes behind time, and sees the train scudding out at tho Other end, derives no satisfaction from the provorb, " Better late than never." ?Aunty?I feel provoked to think that you and your mum ma wore in town the othor day and went to tho restaurant instead of coming to our house for dinner. Why didn't you come V Little Nephew?W?> was hun gry -?~~e?-o? Til 10 NATIONAL CAPITAL. Notes Ahout Men and Things In and Around Washington. Tho domo alone c' tbo capitol cost $1,200,000. Tumbull painted tho four boat hit torieal pictures in the capitol rotunda. Tho state, war and navy building was begun in 1 ST 1. and cost $10,000,000 to complete. Tho now naval observatory at Wash ington is ono of the finest scientific plants in the world. Genen infield Scott fathered tho Boldierfe i. .no, which was established by Congress in 1857. The Crawford bron/.o door of tho Senate wing weighs 11,000 nounds, and cost nearly $f>7,000. Ainsworth K. Spofford has been li brarian of Congress sinco 1861. His salary is $1,000 por year. The Congress of tho United States has met annually in Washington sinco November 17, 1800. The hall of tho Houso of Represen tatives is tho largest legislative as sembly room in tho world. Tho columns of tho eastern portico of tho capitol are each solid blocks of sandstonu, thirty feet high. A marbl lOlumn surroundod by a statue of Lincoln stands In front of tho district courthouse. It costs about $loo,(tot) a year to run tho white house, exclusive of tho pres ident's salary of $.V),000. Seventh, Ninth, Fourteenth, F and G streets are rivaling Pennsylva nia avenue as business locations. The bronze propeller of his famous flagship, the Hartford, was cast into tho statue of Admiral Farragut. The Rogers bronze doors at tho main entrance of the capitol toll the history of Columbus, and cost $28,000. Tho capitol rotunda is nlnoty-flvo foot six inches in diuinotor, and from lloor to canopy measures 183 feet throo Inches. The terraces of the capitol woro only completed In 1801, tho total cost of the building footing up $14,455,000 The treasury building was complet ed in 1809, at a cost of $8,000,000. It is the largest government department. Pennsylvania avenuu, paved with asphalt, and 100 feet wide, is consider ed tho tiuost parade street in tho world. John Qulncy Adams designed tho allegorical group, " The Gonlus of America," on tho castorn portico of the capitol. Tho Socloty of tho Army of tho Ten nessee orocted tho $50,000 statue to (ienoral Jarnos B. McPhorson in Mc 1 'horson square. Tho oostoiii ?. department building was orocted in 1839, and oxtended In 1855, at a cost of over $2,000,000. The reclaimed Potomac flate will add about 1,000 acres to the mall, extend ing down tho river In the form of ? I promontory.