Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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PIS- -- 5. NELWBERRY, S. C., THURSDAY, AUGU 0,19.PIE150AYR THE RIGHTS OF TH E MINORITY. Unrestrained Majorities in Our Legirla-ive Bodies Are a Menace to Civil Liberty. Majorities are Not Infallible and the Weaker Power Must be Respected. RBY HMN. 31. %. L'CTL::n. Gentlemen of ?ecei. ror and Pirena kosmlan .' tie.?, Ladies and (en tlemnen: * There are some fallacies lately sauc tioned and promulgated by men in high public station that ought to be exposed, and to which I beg to address myself to-night. The doctrine has been enunciated that ours is a government controlled by majorities, and that legislative assemblies should be organized solely with a view of carrying out the will of its majority. This proposition has been approved in a manner that iakes it dangerous. There was a time in our history wheri the science of governmerit, the most complicated and difficult of all sciences, was studied and taught by men with leisure to study and ability to teach. They were deeply imbued with the spirit and principles of popular govern ment, and had the courage and inde pendence of their convictions. - There was a time also when the press and periodicals and the hustings were presided over by men of genius and matured thought. These agencies furnished a ready and convenient medium of communication to the pub lie of the most acceptable and best principles for our guidance. The con flict between the centralist and home ruler was "a battle of the giants" and the people were intelligently in structed in what was the real founda tion of our popular representative sys tem. Some of those teachings are now regarded as heresies, but whatever the choice or predilections of those holding conflicting views, the outcome of the intellectual controversies was instruc tion and information to the public. It cannot be denied that there are now many men of commanding talents in public life and many brilliant writers connected with the pr< ss, but the trouble of our time is the rapidity w :h which we live and move about, i in the pressure of this wonderfully ildustrial age f5r making money we have too little time to think or reflect maturely. Much of the best talent of the country finds channels of employ ment in the pursuit of fortunes, and commands high salaries in the lines of business, in the arts and sciences and what may be termed material, in con tradistinction to strictly intellectual, pursuits. The result is, men of high attainments, of trained minds and sound judgments take up avocations for the money that is in them. and make traffic of their abilities. This observation is not riade in a spirit of reproach or adverse criticism, but to point a fact which I am sure will not be denied. I presume this condition is a neces sary incident to the great material de velopment in progress, eslscially in this coi atry, and more or less throughout the civilized world. Whatever the cause, it is not unaccompanied by danger to our popular form of govern ment. We have so little time to think, that false teachings and vicious theories of government, plausibly presented, are too apt to find a lodgment in the minds of good men, and warp their judgments. Men of intelligence and patriotism, absorbed by the busy, active pursuits of our modern life, are prone to be misled by the attract ive ard.acity of charlatans and demagogues and their zeal for party success. They have not the time, or will not take the time, to investigate for themselves and conse quently yield their better impulses and ju.dgment to the fallacies of those whose business it is to achieve party sticcess at all hazards-and take for granted that which ought to be care fully inquired into and mat urely con sidered. More than that, there are * men in public life at this time, and many not in public life, of ability, edu cation and well trained intellects, of independent fortunes and incomnes, who do not believe in the principles of popu lar government established by the Con stitution, and developed by the.fathers of the republic. Prudence alone pre eats their open avowal of distrust in the people for self goverment, and the next great conflict in this country will be between this class an:d the ad herents of popular soverignty. What do I mean by popular soy * erignty? This is a much hackneyed phrase, as common almost as the al phabet of our language, and yet is not as well understood, or as fully compre hended, as it be?hooves a liberty loving people to understand and comprehend it. Persons living under the brow of great mountains, made common by costant proximity, rarely inquire into their origin or source, or the great ranges of "eternal hills" of which they are a p art. They scarcely observe the'count less and ever varying lights and shad ows reflected on their rugged sides, or study the phenomena or at mospneric influences of their great altitudes. Residents on the banks of a great river, daily witoesses of the downward flow of its exhaustless curren t, seldom know of its source or terminus or inquire of its origin. So with us, we hear so much of popular soverignty, republi can form of government, etc., many of us do not stop to inquire what they mean; in what respecct they differ from other forms of government, how it is, or should be administered and what its orign and probable fate. My friends, popular soveri;rnty means the rule of the people, that the power and sover-ignty o,f governl men t is vest ed in the people. You will doubtless ask, Why announce such a trite truism? why repeat what every intelligent man knows? I ainswer, because it can not be too often stated and urged. especially to the younlg men of the country; second, because a great many apparently intelligent mlen and women have a very vague idlea of the rule of the people, and third, because nmanv, very many men, more than we are willing to acknowledge, (do not believe the people can or ought to rule. If we go to the genesis of this inquiry, you would perhaps ask, how can the people rule, distributedl separately as they are, in all parts of this vast count ry? H-ow c-an they rule and gov~ern, how can they exercise soveri&n. supremle power? The answer is simple and' easily under stood. They rule and govern thirough agients, servants, selected by them at the ballot box. Those agents or* se v-ants are endowed with no power. no0 divine right to goen no auithori!xy, except what is specificailly delegated to and bestowed up.in them by the au thors of their olic-iai beinug. Tihe Pres (lent of the United Str.tes is not a ruler, in the sense usually appied to that term, in the sense of having in his own right, and exercising supreme, soverign authority to govern nor. The limit and letter and scope of his power is well and distinctiv defined and marked out n by the Constitution and laws made for s his guidance. ThegovernorofaStateis not a ru!er. He has no power except t such as is conferred upon him. All p executive, legislative and judicial ofii- v cers of the government are servants, I agents discharging duties of govern- i: ment imposed by law. Th.e offices n they hold do not belong to them, but s to the people, and they are held in i trus' for the people. Officeholders are t trustees, responsible directly (or should be) t- the sovereign authority from f which the trust originates. Official I trusts can only be faithfully and prop- t erly discharged when this responsi- v bility is fully recognized by the trustee, q and can only be foly demanded and a enforced by the appointing power, the a people, when the principles regulating t the appointment and administration I of the trust are intelligently compre- t hended by the people. This rule ap- t plies to every department of a popular o form of government, and ignorance or a neglect of it may lead to oppression, b rnal-administration and usurpation. V Recurring to the observation in the v opening of this address, I have said n that the doctrine or theory that ours t is a government controlled by the will a of a majority is a fallacy. - 1 desire to emphasize this statement, and repeat I that it is a gross, flagrant fallacy. The a experience of mankind has proven, t that an infuriated majority, bent on t power, plunder or resentment, whether j1 acting in legislative halls orlon the high- ( wuy, is the most irresponsible, destruc- I tive, oppressive tyranny on earth. An c aggregation of men, combined in a e majority of numbers, will do, in their a aggregate capacity, what the individual c of that combination would shrink t from with abhorrence and shame. A q hundred :yrantsare more grinding and a unscrup ,lous in the exercise of power, t controlled by nothing but their united a will, than any single tyrant who has t ever disgraced the annals of human e government. A despotism founded on c the will of an uncontrolled majority is c infinitely more oppressive and danger- r ous than a despotism represented by a t single despot. t Profiting by this experience and with a a full knowledge of the weakness and i proclivitiies of mankind when clothed i with irresponsible power, the founders I of this republic hedged about and re- i strained majorities in the administra- I tion of our public affairs with every r couceiv tble limitation consistent with I the orderly conduct of government. s The Creator of the universe, in con- c structing streams of water seeking their t level by the laws of gravitation, made them to wind and meander on their e downward flow to check and regulate t the momentum of the descending vol- E ume. Straighten any river, so that its cur- t rent will fall unobstructed to its. level, i and the accellerated momentum of the m stream would carry destruction in its course. Invest any majority of popular I representatives with absolute, uncon trolled power, and it would go crashing t through the monuments of liberty, I created by the fathers of the republic, 2 until it carried them away into the t great'sea ofdispotism aid iuin.. Majori- f ties in legislative assemblies require the strong hand of restraint upon their will r far more than any element of power in t popular government. An experience r of years in the legislative department of I the United Stated convinces me of the I truth of this, and of the wisdom of those provisions of theConstitution which im- ( pose checks and restraints upon them. I If it were not true, if the will of the s ir.ajority is to be conclusive of any and every public measure, why does the r constitution reouire that an act of Con-< gress shall hav~e the appro-val of thet President, or its passage over his veto, before it becomes a law. Why was the power conferred upon the President to veto a bill and require a two-thirds votei of both Houses of Congress to over-ride a the veto-why should a two-thirds vote a of the Senate be required to ratify and j confirm a treaty? Why was the Sn pemie Court, representing the jidicial' t>ranch of the government,invested with c power to invalidate an Act of C<.ngresst by declaring it unconstitutional? Why a were the first ten amendments to the' Constitution adopted so soon after the c ratification of that instrument by the a the States, every one of them placing limitations upon the powers of Con- 8 gress, upon the majorities of both a oranches of Congress? No, young gen- t tlemen, ours is not a government con-c trolled by majorities, but a government i of.the people, conducting their public s aflairs by representatives and agents, t and they, in turn, are controlled - and ~ restrained in their delegated functionst by a written constitution and laws a niade in pursuance thereof. I might cite many other provisions of the con stitution and laws to establish this I proposition, but every intelligent man i knows that it is true, and I only refer c to andl emphasize it to combat a ten- e dency in somna quarters to insist that t a numerical majority may do what it 3 pleases. There is no justification for i such a principle in the Constitution or rules made under its authority, for the e government of legislative bodies-no 3 authority for such a principle, except a t reckless ambition or desire to carry e party measures with a high hand, and J seize power and plunder. under the spe- 3 cious pretext that the majority should a rule. I do not deny the rule of the t majority after it has expressed its opin- I ion, assertedl its power, in a constitu- t tional manner, and in accordance with a well recognized parliamentary mneth- d ods5 of procecure, and with a full t andl complete recognition of the mi- c nority. It is not against this phase y of tne question that I am directing my i i emarks, but against the vicious heresy, y that whatever a majority decides,under y the impulse and infiuence of its own l will, is right and must prevail. This a has been claimed aud-enforced by per sonls high in official psto,and :. the- t ory more danligerouis to popular institu- '1 tionis was never advanced.g I It is only necessary to recall incidents in our recent legislative history to t confirm the truth of this. In advert iu-s to them, let me say in passing. that d whatever references I may make, I am u not governed by political or party con- q sideratins, and shall not deal with v them in a party or political sense, or I with a view of scoring a political t point, but as a citizen of the republic, t ninved by a es of duty and a sincere l: desire to contribute as best I may to ; to the curing of public evils, the correc- o tio of errors and the preservatlon of s t he true principles of republican institu- t tions.IThese institutions will soon be ine your keeping, young gentlemen, and r yuuutto study anid understand a "-ilative bodies ought to be or- t 'anized anid conducte'l 'or the transac- s ion o the publie business.'' "Majori- t ties re beici responsible, and therefore i o. :lit to be aillotwed to have their way,'' rt Thi is the at tractive phraseology r <'uployed by the apologists of parlia- - memtary desposism, and is misleading. C In this p)arliamientary p)ronunciamento, a no prov ision appears to be contem- li plated for the rights of minorities, and g orities who have their share of respon bility. Bands of highwaymen, organize for te transaction of business, and are not articular about the rights of their ictims, who may be in the minority. 'hey get through with their business i the most expeditious and summary ianner, and are not troubled by con ;itutional restraints. They see spoils i reach, and they take and divide :em among themselves. Brigands might have valuable lessons om recent precedents in a high par amentary body of select representa ves, and "count" their victims, the inority, who are present, to make a uorum for the "transaction of busi ess" and the adoption of measures bhorrent to their sense of right and > which they are unalterably opposed. y such a parliamentary performance aese same brigands could transact aeir business with, at least, the color f justification. They might go further nd keep a roll, and not only "count" ut record the opposing minority, rhether present or absent, and after rards appeal to the record, about which othing aliunde can be proven, to show at the majority was within the law nd had "transacted business." This very thing was done in the last louse ofRepresentatives,under the plea bove set forth, that the House "ought > be organized for the transaction of he public .usiness," and that the ma )rity ought to be permitted to rule-the ,onstitution and laws, right, justice, onesty, and public decency to the ontrary notwithstanding. Was there ver such a travesty upon constitution 1 government? Under the authority f such precedents, a reckless revolu ionist in the Speaker's chair would re uire only one man to "count," and notherto "record," to pass any measure ha might meet his approval, or trans et any public business that he might bink needful or desirable? Was there ver such a pitiable spectacle, such a onfession of the weakness of the brutal .octrine that the majority ought to ule according to its own will, and ransact the public business according o its own pleasure, as when the loudest dvocates of this monstrous and unre >ublican proposition are compelled to avoke the aid of those who oppose it, y resorting to arithmetic, and count ng the opposition, before they can >ass a measure? Why call on the mi iority? Why with a majority of mem ers make a false record if the majority hould rule? Where was the quorum harged with and held responsible for he transaction of public business? It as found not to be large or tractable nough to enforce this new-born doc rine of "majority rule." Its weakness ,nd fallacy was further demonstrated >y resorting to the outrage of unseating nembers of the minority, almost by rute force, in utt -r disregard of the ight, justice and law of the case. his additional act of naked usur >ation was found necessary in the progress of this parliamentary revolu ion to reinforce and strengthen the iitherto imperfect fabric of tyranny. Iore representatives of a free constit tency must be driven and expelled rom the body to purge it of opposition. nd even then, the majority did not ule without the aid of a "count" of he minority. What were some of the esults? One hundred millions of dol ars of surplus revenues were in the >ublic treasury, and the majority ranted it and they took it under cover f "majority -ule." One hundred mil ions, the hard earned money of the overeign people collected by taxation onder the specious guise of majority ale! One thousand eighty odd millions f dollars were taken from the people's reasury by one Congress ! One billion ight.y odd million ! This same majority,by these methods, assed a measure, the Force Bill, more niquitous in its provisions, revolution ry in its terms, for reaching in its as aults on popular rights, than any ever resented to the Congress of the United states. In the transaction of such 'public business" the majority trans ended even the untenable proposition hat the majority should rule and by a tsurpation unparalelled, I repeat, 'counted" the opposition, the minority, ounted and recorded members, as iding in the passage of mes res to which they- were opposed, to iva validity to their acts of usurpation nd outrage. They cut off debate by he adoption of a cloture rule, stifled iscussion, by gagging the opposition. Vhy ? Because they wanted power and poils and they said the minority "filli >ustered," "obstructed legislation," revented the "transaction of public 'usiness," that the "majority was re ponsible, and should be permitted to ule." These are matters and facts of public story, and are legitimate subjects of ublic criticism. I desire to repeat. I o not animadvert upon them for party fect or advantage, but to give point to e dangers of the theories from hich the flow, and the promptness ith which those theories are put in ractice, when personal greed and party xigency may seem to require it. I ould denounce them without regard a the political party from which they manate or may put them in practice. denounce them now, because they -iolate the spirit and letter of the Con titution and laws, and are inimical to be principles of our free institutions. denounce them, to give warning to be people, whose rights and liberties re menaced by them. Up to a recent ate I did not like the word "fillibus er." It was coined out of conditions f invasion of the territgry of a friendly eople obnoxious to our republican leas of justice and fair play and to the olicy of our government. As now ap lied to parliamentary proceedings, it as ceased to have any terrors for me, nd I rather like it. It is not used, has never been used in his country at least, to obstruct or pre ent the orderly administration of the overnment. No man or minority nor arty under our system of representa [e responsibility would dlare resort to fillibustermng" except to prevent or efer a great wrong, to postpone action ntil the people can pass upon the uestion at issue. In that view it is a aluable and proper weapon of defense. t is frequently the only method of ringing important issues to the atten ion of the people, and securing a popu ir verdict. I have- seen it stand like a eritable stone wall for hours, days, reeks, months, against the direst con piracy to circumvent the liberties of be people ever contrived by man. The plea then of the "majority iers," if I may so express myself, as justification or excuse for their clot re rules and stilling methods, that be minority "fillibustered," and ob tructed thbe transaction of the ligitimate usiness of the government, is a false lea and a false pretense. The question may be asked-if the inority may delay action indefinitely -how can a conclusion ever be reached n measures which the majority ,want dpted ? I answer, let the majority eep its quorum present, and not dele ate its power and authority to one un who may, or who may not be, a tyrant and revolutionist, to "conit a quorum from the oppostion, permit the utmost freedom of discussion, so that the issue may be fairly and fully pre sented before the people, and let them, not the Speaker, declare their verdict. Their verdict is conclusive. In the bal lot box the minority does rule, and upon that there is or should be no re straint. One or two observations more and I have done. One of the very greatest evils, I might say curses, of our time in the conduct and administration of govern ment, both State and Federal, is too much law making. Almost every leg islative body in the country is deluged with bills and resolutions and acts. An act is passed at one session to be repealed or modified at the next, breeding confusion and uncertainty in the minds of the people and instability 'in public affairs. I think this may be accounted for on two assumptions. 1st. That printer's ink and stenography have become so cheap that the average statesman is encouraged to ventilate himself somewhat at the public expense and 2nd, that the people are looking too much to the government for aid in their private affairs, instead of relying upon theni sel ;es, as in the good old days of self dependence and independence, and individual self-reliance. Perhaps the tendency of our modern civilization to combination, co-operation and corpora tion dwarfs individualism, overshadows and paralyzes individual effort; hence the government is appealed to as being the only agency behind which the in dividual can take refuge. Whatever the cause, the effect is mischievous, and the government is assuming a relation of pa'rnalism to the people and the pec n+', a relation of dependence instead vi mastery to the government. If"filli bustering" could check this evil, if it could postpone it, I should fall down be fore and worship it. I should incorporate it in the rules for the regulat' n of leg islative bodies, and make it an adden dum to Jefferson's and Cushing': manuals, and in doing this I sbould feel perfectly assured that the govern ment, State and Federal, would be administered more satisfactorily and honestly. I know that in advancing these views I shall incur the criticism, perhal' displeasure, of the rapid-firing, maga zine statesmen, whose coruscating am bition will not tolerate opposition or delay, :c. T shall, nevertheless, young gentlemen, endeavor to impress theni earnestly upon you and ask you to in vestigate for yourselves their soundnese and wisdom. Majorities in legislative assemblie: unrestrained by anything but theii will, cloture rules and kindred iniqui ties are dangerous weapons in the hands of any party. Experience has shown that they will be used for per sonal and party ends, in entire disre gard of the public interest and welfare and you, young gentlemen, should see to it, as far as you may have the ability that these great powers be rescued from the impious hands that have seizec them, and restored to their proper cus. todia s, the people themselves. Great, talents-have been and will be employed to justify and excuse theii usurpation, plausible arguments will be advanced in the presss, periodicals, on the stump, to uphold it, but a vigi lant public eye, a careful examinatiot by those who have the time and ca pacity to think and examine, will puncture the fallacy and expose the imposture. Parliamentary practic"s in the Britist House of Commons have oeen appealed to, to support the late arbitary, tyranni cal and unconstitutional proceedings in both branches of the last Congress. It is not always safe or wvise to rel: upon precedents made in the adminis tration of monarchical forms of gov ernent, however liberal they may be, to sustain methods under a republicar system. The very appeal stamps then with suspicion. But when the parlia mentary proceedings of the English House of Commons are misrepresentet as they have been, when the truth o1 history has been perverted and su p pressed as it has been, and will be, t< justify usurpation in this country. th! authors of this fraud sink beneath con tempt. I venture to assert, that in the whole history of that illustrous body, the House of Commons, unrestrained as i is, and has been from its foundatiot by a written constitution, there has never been such an instance.or examplE of usurpation and oppression as was practiced in the last Congress of thE United States-nothing approaching it. No Speaker of the House of Comnmons was ever invested with such powers as were placed in the hands of the last Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and no Speaker of the House of Commons ever ap proached the Speaker of the last House in the reckless, revolutionary manne: with which he weilded the power hE was invested with. Cloture rules have been adopted in' the House of Commons. They were adopted in the last House of Represen tatives, and were attempted in the Senate. Such rules ought never to be used in any parliamentary body ina free country. They are the natural outgrowth of so-called majority rule, and the twin sister of tyranny and usurpation. In the House of Cow mons, the cloture rdle, the rule to closE debate, was adopted after a long, heated and acrimonious discussion, and ever then, with many misgivings as Lo its wisdom or proprietv. This was in the British Empire. The Speaker of the House of Commons, is a non-partisan. He is elected to protect the minority and never permits debate to be closed until the minority has had full oppor tunity to be heard-and the fullest and freest discussion had on the pending measure. But in free America, in the admiinis tration of a government of the people by a majority exercising delegated powers, that majority adopted a clot ure rule, under which a great revenue bill i.volving millions of money to be taken from the people was passed, practical ly without debate. The Force Bill, that I have characterized none too strongly as the direst conspiracy ever contrived by man, was put through the House with the smallast opportunity vouch safed the minority to discuss and ex pose its infamous provisions. A worthy, honorable member fromi our own State was unseated in just six minutes by the clock, without a hear ing, and without the ceremony of notice to him that he had been ejected. These are a few illustrations of the virtues of nmajorit? rule-and only a few. They are startling enough in their audacity and bold ness and revo lutionary enough in execution to put the people on notice as to what they may expect if this persuasive but dangerous doctrine of majority rule is allowved to reassert itself. They must not forget that power, in whatevern form it may be clothed, is always ag gressive and will seize and hold on to just as much more po ver as it dare to. Congress is the great political octopus gathering in with its irlnunierabl branches every power within its Col stitutional reach and strai.ing ever, fibre of its jurisdiction for nore. I do not know that I can more ap propriately bring this addres to close, than by quoting an extract fron some remarks of my own in anothe place, and with your permission I wil do so. When the Force Bill was unde discussion in the Senate, during such parliamentary struggle as this countra had never known, in making my con tribution among other things, I said 'It has been observed that Republic are never destroyed by external power or influence, by pressure from without but by internal dissensions, the ener vating effects of wealth and luxuriou! indulgences, corruption, and the los of self-reliance and vigilance of the peo ple. And this has been true in the past is true now, and will be true for all time "When we reach the point in ou history when the people can not elec their representatives under local laws o their own, the day of the decadence o popular government will have set in and the destruction of popular liberti as we understand it under our form o government will have begun. The dangers to our free institutions do no lie in the unfitness or unwillingness o the people for self-government. I docs not lie in the encroachments o the executive and judicial department: of the government, nor in the exercisi of undue or improper powers by the States, but in the aggressive usurpa tion and absorption of power by Con gress in assuming to itself prerogative and rights which under the constitu tion belong to other departments, ti the States, and to the people. We ar replacing, by rapid gradations, year b, year and session by sesion, a constitu tional republic of limited powers, witl well-defined co-ordinate departments each intended to move in its ow; sphere by a parliamentary governmen where minorities can be crushed, th, States paralyzed, courts converted int, political machines, and executive au thority shorn of its legitimate coasti tutional power." THE WEDGEFIELD ALLIANCE. Rather Than Blindly Follow the Behests c Coat-Tall Politiciane, the Organiza tion Unanimously Resolves to Disband. [Special to The State.] VEDGEFIELD, S. C., July 27.-A the regular meeting of the Wedgefiel sub-Alliance Saturday afternoon it wa unanimously resolved to disband ani return the charter. Their reasons for taking this step ar not secret, and a prominent member c the Alliance said: "The entry of the Alliance into poli ties having seemingly destroyed all in terest in the prime objects of the orgn ization, and the recent actions of th county and State Alliances havin, sbown that all who will not follow th behests of coat-tail politicians and swal low the visionary sub-treasury bill i: toto are to be held as no longer longe loyal Altiancemen or worthy of cor sideration in the councils of the ordei the Wedgefield sub-Alliance is mue: displeased at this prostitution of th organization, which is still worthy o great veneration in its true conception and has decided that rather than b compelled to give up their manhoo, and the inalienable right to think an vote as the members choose, they wil leave the organization to the fate whicl is yawning to receive it, if its presen policy and leaders are followed." There was no opposition whatevert this course. This Alliance never ha made a man's political faith the crite rion by which his loyalty was tob judged and to have such a criterio: thrust upon it is more thani our farme: will stand. AGAINST TH E SCHt-TREASURY. At a recent meeting of the Ridg Spring Alliance, No. 849, it was unani mously resolved that the sub-treasur; Ischeme is obnoxious and dangerous t the Alliance. P. N. TIMrER3fAN, Sec. Ridge Spring Alliance No. 74n. There is Fun Ahead. [From the Edgefield Monitor.J Next year will be a whopper in poi tics, and if age had not already deal harshly wvith us we would be incline< to skip a few months. We are anxioL Ifor the fray-anxious for it to be don with. The possibilities of the comin Icampaign are great. It has been hintet in certain quarters that there will be triangular fight by thesub-treasuryites the Tillmanites and the Anti-Tillmax ites. Anyhow, there is lots of fun ani fury ahead and we can scarcely wai for it. There will be many men on ever; corner and the fence will be literall; packed. Governor Tillman's oppositio; to the sub-treasury will weaken hi IAlliance support, but it is foolisht predict that he will go dead; he wil Iprove the liveliest corpse in the nex campaign, and we apprehend tha Messrs Talbert, Stokes & Co., will agail embrace the Governor- or, that is, si very near him. "On with the dance, etc. Not a Miracle, Now. Until recently (onsumiption wa considered incurable, but now peop] are beginning to realize that thedis ease is not incurable. The cure of Cor sumption is not a miracle, now. D) Pierce's Golden Medical Discovery wil cure it, if taken in time and given: fair trial. This world-renowned remn edy will not make new lungs, buti will restore diseased ones to a health. state when other means have failed Thousands gratefully testify to this It is the most potent tonic, or strength restorer, alterative, or blood-clcanser and nutritive, or flesh-builder, know. to medical seience. For Weak Lungs Spitting of Blood, "Liver Complaint, and Dyvspepsia, or indigestion, it is at unequaled remedy. SEvEN CENTS A P'OUND). Thec First Bale or~ G'eorgia Cotton Goe Beggina at a New York Au,ction. NEW YoRg, Jly .--The first hall of the new crop of Georgia cotton classed about strict low middiing, raise< in Dougherty County, was sold at pub lic auction to-day, in front of the Cot ton Exchange, at seven cents pe pound. The Beantiful Trio. [Clinton Gazette.] Three pretty giris wearing very b,roa4 and well-becoming bats was the gramv sight of the season last Saturday. Thi beauties nmarchedl up Broad street, ant captivated the entire business portiot of the city. I w-ant one of them-hats That dlistention of the stomach whit' many p)eopic feel after eating, miay b duie to improper miasticat ion of the food ;but, in most cases, it indicates: weakness of the digestive organs, th< best remedy for which is one of Avyer Pills; to be taken after dinner. THE GRtEAT DEBATE. Tcrel. ai.d Ti'nan Had It Hotand Heavy I at Spartanbura. [Special to the News and Courier.] r S'ARTAN:'1:R, S. C., July 24.-To I day the debate between Governor Till r I::n and ('ol. Terrell was the great t point (,f interest, aLd reportorial in quiry for the debate was strictly in - secret. The Alliance people had put forth extra force to preserve that se s crecy. Reporters gathered on the bal 3- conies in windows of the hotels, and in the shadows of the walls of the Opera - House. It was all in vain. All that 5 could be gathered was a word here and S there from the speakers. It was, of - course, especially desired to hear what Governor Tillman had to say. Alli ance men got into the hall, but there r were Non-Alliance men, in a crowd t three feet thick and deep, who did not f get into the hall. If there were any f reporters in the ball they were very few in number and were not known in that official capacity. Canvassers f who were Alliance men for the reve e nue of this meeting only, were pro t jected into space. They knew nothing, f could get nothing, and have nothing t that is either news or true. f * * x f Governor Tillman, President Stokes and Col. Terrell went on the stage through the crowd in the left side pas . sage and were cheered every step of a the way and were cheered again when . stepped on the stage. p Col. Terrell, it being "a civil case," e had the opening and reply. An ar rangement was promptly made by giv ing Col. Terrell half an hour to open, then Governor Tillman an hour and a half, Co. Terrell to close in an hour. Goverror Tillman was also accorded t the privilege of interrupting his oppo e nent and getting categorical answers to his interrogatories. - COL. TF!tELL was warmly received, and coming for ward he said that he deemed it a moral obligation to be here, but one that, aside from that consideration, gave him infinite pleasure. He had learned to know and appreciate the South Carolina Alliance men and those who were not only allied with him organ ically but in thought and principle. [Applause.] He had come not only to teach as best he could, but to be taught, for mutual enlightenment was the spirit of the age. [Applause.] He was glad to meet so skillful and able an op ponent; but the audience should re member that the meeting was for a single purpose to discuss before the Order (he would emphasize this ex pression) the sub-treasury bill in its essential features and its principtes, and he knew that the discussion on the other side would take no wider latitude. e Going into the argument he said that g the sub-treasury was one of the de e mands of the Alliance and as such it should be respected. He felt and knaw that neither the Alliance norany other r popular organization could exist if it did not ask something that would beu efit the whole people. He held that the men of the St. Louis Convention were equal in brain and influence to any delegates that ever attended a con " vention. That convention was com e posed of men who in the end repre sented the sub-Alliance and therefore the people. f GOvERNMENT CONTROL OF TRANSPOR t TATION the third demand of the Alliance. He o held that the constitutional right of .s the Government could not be contro -verted, and the Alliance was only ask e ing the Govera ment to carry out the a law. .de held that the expenses of the s people's pockets. He then alluded to the demand for financial reform, or, as expressed by the Ocala platform, the abolition of national banks and the es e tablishment of sub-treasuries. SThepiti~on of Col. Terrell is here -given in hslanguage as follows: "We demand the abolition of na tional banks. By this the Alliance means banks of issue. *We believe the Government alone has the right to make money and in the national bank ing system the Government has dlele gated that power to the banks, without restriction as to the amount they should Skeep in circulation. With the latitude Sgreat abuses have grown up in connec stion with them, and the circulation e has been exp)anded to suit the money Spower to the great hurt of the farmers aand laoasof the country. The prop ~those who can control its money, and Sbelieving this to be so the Alliance Srightly demands the abolition of the tnational banks and banks of issue. CO3MING TO TH E POINT. 1 Second, We demand tha.t. the Gov s ernent shall establish sub-treasuries o or depositories in the several States I which shall loan money direct to the t people at a low rate of interest, not to t exceed :2 per cent per annum on imiper a ishable farm products and also upon t real estate, with proper limitations ' upon the quantity of land and amount of money. In this demand the Alli ance intended to provide for increasing the circulating medium by advancing s money on land (which they demand a shall be increasedl to 85() per capita.) .Ini the advance on farm products the .intention was to give to the circulation that flexibility absolutely necessary to jthe welfare and protection of the farm ers. . Now let us first look at the necessity t of an-increase of the circulation. I be lieve that I shall be able to prove to the satisfaction of any fair minded man that a very great crime has been comn mitted against the people by contrac tion of our circulation. If you will cx Samine statistics for the last twenty-five years you will find that they will prove three things: First. That the per cap ita volume of currency has been con stan tly and materially lessened; second, that bankruptcies and failures have rapidly multiplied in consequence; third, that the national debt during this periond has increased instaud of being dimninished. lie then dealt with the subject of the e contraction of the currency and the re sultant failures and losses. Speaking jof the plan of relief Col. Terrell said . that the sub-treasury was introduced to _ gire the p)eop)le control of the circula r tion and the power to p)revent discrim ination against the prouucer. He dis cussed at length the need for mxore money and defendedl cotton as goodl a basis as gold bullion. wE sHotCM M AY so: This was the essential part of the azr I gzument, and the speaker maintained it with great force. Col. Terrell in his 1address necessarily went over a great 1deal of the ground( covered in the ad -dr-ss of Col. P'olk, .nd which was givenl to-day in the News andl Courier. G;ovERNORI TILL3IAN Swas received with great enthusiasm Swhen he arose to speak. He was evi dently in the house of Alliance men s and friends. Opening his speech he. said: "I thank you for the cordiality with which I was received by you yester day, and for the renewal of that feeling to-day. At the outset I would call at tention to the charges that have, been made inside and outside that I have been fighting the Alliance. I need not t.ll you that such charges are not true. [Applause.] "I am aware that the Alliance has been criticised and that I have been applauded and patted on the back on the assumption that there was a per sonal fight between the Alliance and myself, but I tell you my friends that that endorsement has been of no avail. I Applause.] It was too transparent. [Applause.] If they have been urging me forward on the supposition that there was a wer between me and my friends in the Alliance, they have been mistaken." GOING FOR POLK AND STOKES. Governor Tillman said that at the outset he was obliged to complain of the injustice of President Polk coming here and taking a vote in the Alliance on the subject matter of the debate of to-day. He desired also to know why President Polk had the right to elimi nate five planks of the Ocala platform and that such a furor was riised be cause he differed with his brethren on one single plank. .[Applause.] I claim, said Governor Tillman, that the action of President Polk and of Presidont Stokes was nothing more or less than a usurpation of authority not granted by the constitution of the Alliance. TESTING THE OCALA PLATFORM. Governor Tillman then took up the Ocala platform and discussed it from the opening to the closing section. He laid great stress on the value and im portance of the free coinage of silver and explained the robbery committed by its demonetization. He then argued in favor of an income tax and the abso lute necessity of haviie Senators elec ted directly by the people so as to get rid of the power exercised by million aires who bought and sold the people like cat'e and hogs. He claimed that the sub-treasury bill had come to the peopfe downward from the St. Louis meeting in a perfunctory way, and that it bad gone back to Oca la and had been endorsed in the same 'way, with the result and effects not understood by the people, the source of authority. [Applause.] "But I will not deny," he said, "that the agitation has done great good in this broad coun try of ours, for it has called attention of the world to the fact that the producing classes are sorely oppressed, and are demanding, crying for relief." [Ap plause.] Governor Tillman then touched upon the currency questi:n. I am, he said, in favor of a flexible currency, of a greater volume of currency; but I main tain that a flexible currency as enunci ated by Col. Terrell means an attempt to fix prices by legislation, to fix the price of commodities by statute. That, my friends, is fallacy, because the price must be regulated by the inflexible law of supply and demand. FOLLY OF THE COTTON STORAGE IDEA. Governor Tillman said that in case cotton got dammed up in the ware houses the consumers would know that it would have to come out in time and that just as soon as the quantity was known, which could not be concealed, the price would gravitate to its normal level. This illustration he introduced to show that an artificial means could not evade or run counter to an estab lished law in the commercial world. It was asserted, he said, that by spread ing the supply over twelve months the tall in price would be prevented and that the evils of inconstant prices would be obviated. They had, how ever, forg4te': that by the terms of the bill by whicn the whole could be only held for twelve months, one-twelfth of the crops must be sold each month, and that there was absolutely nothing to prevent the speculator from having the same chance as he holds under ex isting laws. He would have the same chance with the sub-treasury as he now has with the people. The Governor held to the position that 13e sub-treas ury bill was class legislation, or, as 'he put it to-day, "it is a special privilege rather than a right." I admit, he said, that the Government has loaned mon ey, but the right for such action is based on the general welfare clause of the Constitution, and not upon pro scriptIve or statutory right. It will not be denied that any scheme may take for its assumption of right the elastic general welfare clause of the Constitution, which t rota its very name settles no specific right or principle. G001) DEMOCRATIC DOCTRINE. I hold again, said Governor Tillman on the next branch of discussion, that the sub-treasury bill is fairly open to the chartre of p)aternalism. It proposes to concentrate the business of the peo pIe in the hands of a cer tralized power at Washington, and this is in absolute contradiction of the principle laid down by Jefferson that the Government gov ens best that governs least. LAp plause.-] In other words, that there should~be equal rights to all and special privileges to none. He would appeal, he said, to the cood eense and patriot ism of the people in the majority to aid in the obtaining of just and reasonable laws. instead of the partisan favoritism shown 1L the Government in the maintenabce of national bank< and nursing private manufacturing indus tries. [Applause.] P'OLKC AS A SOCIALIST. He characterized Col. Polk's views on the money question, referring to the Government lending money with the avowed intent of injuring other classes of business, as Socialism. It would amount in the end to a division of the property of tue people and produce a condition in which the provident and the improvident would share alike. Governor Tillman repeated here that the Alliance all agreed as to a grievous wrong existing, and that the dispute was only cs to the remedy. He pointed out as causes of the burden on the peo pIe of the South the ineqlualities of the burdens laid on their shouldersa:s comn pared with the people of the North and elsewhere. He showed th:at the mil lionaire aind the poor farn er were the simultaneous and necessary product of such laws. He thought that there was just as much hope at present for get tinmg the sub-treasury bill through as there was for the South being paid for negroes or getting the Federal pensions reuced. On the contrary, he saw a disposition to pension every bummer, whether or not he had ever heard the v-hiz of a bullet. In fact he believed the tiume was comring when the pensions would be increased to $200000 SOMETHIING An,OCT THE TH IRD) PARTY. Governor Tillman then paid his re spects to the Thlrd Party. He read a tabulated statement showing the elec toral strength of the Democratic and Republican parties of all the States. He took those States in which the farm ers were in the majority and said that if all of them declared for a Third party they could not elect the President. The idan i hesid, for the WVester'e and Southern farmer to control the country, but that would be impossible if they carried all the States in which the farmers have a majority. It should be remembered that, while there were 8,000,000 engaged in agriculture, there were 11,000,000 engaged in other occu pations. They should remember that the Republican farmers in the North were particularly bitter, hostile and partisan as regards the South, and that the Democrats were for the most part from the cities. They should remem ber that the Democratic majority of 60,000 in the city of New York had - been, and could be, discounted by the Republican farmersofNew York State. They should remember that Kansas had given 80,000 majority for Harrison, and yet we are asked by them to turn our backs on the Democrats of Connec ticut, New Jersey, New York and In diana, and this too for the mere risk of electing a Democratic President by the Western vote. THE DANGER OF DIVISION. Governor Tillman showed that the sub-treasury bill could not be forced on the National Democratic Convention and that the issue now could only have the result of dividing the National Democratic party, as it did in 1860 and give the Republicans a continued lease of power. I ask you, he said, do you not realize that there are anxious poli ticians all over the tr.ited States, and right here, too, in South Carolina, who are fervently praying that we divide here to-day? Do you not know that the Haskell party watches this proceed ing, and is hoping for and expecting a division, and so are the Republicans and all other opponents of the State Democracy? He would remind the Alliance that Senator Peffer, the expo nent of the Kansas Alliance, had said that, of course, he would support-the Alliance, but he would vote with the republicans on other interests, and that Powderly, the chief of the other wing " of the industrial army, the Knights of Labor, coupled his support of the Alli ance demands with the condition that political equality should be accorded ~ the negro. I maintain, he concluded in vigorous style and earnest nanner, that division in South Carolina means the negro. THE GOVERNOR'S IDEAS ON THE CUR RENCY. Governor Tillman gave as his remedy for a flexible currency the repeal of the 10 per cent tax on State banks and the establishment of banks to issue money based on land and crops just as our credit is now based on loans and mort gages. He was in favor of the farmers establishing their own banks ant] print ing their own money instead of paying such rates of interest. He held that we might have a sub-treasury under State control, but a sub-treasury under national control meant the perpetua tion in power of the party by which it was established. A TIELY WARNING. He would warn his brethren that a division in the Democracy at this junc tion meant a conti nuanceof the Repub lica.ns in power and the possible enact ment of the force bill. He would fur ther say that a division between the Farmers' Movement and the Alliance meant a return to power of the Ring, which they, with such a hard fight, overthrew last fall. [Applause and cheers.] Governor Tillman closed by making an appeal for unity, harmony and charity, and the State. Resolutions of thanks were tendered Governor Tillman and Colonel Terrell for the information they had imparted by the discussion. - BS. R. T., Spartanburg, July s4, 1891. (Aiken Journamand Review.l "Expecting Their un!versai shout and high applause To fill his car; when, contrary, he hears On all sides, from innumerable tongues, A dismal, universal hiss, the sound Of public scorn ; he wandered-" --MILTON. THE BIG ALLIANCE SCHEME. I Col. Peek Goes to New York to Perfect Ar- -_ . rangements for the DeaL. ISpecial to Augusta Chronicle] ] ATLANTA, GA., July 28--Col. Peek, - of the Alliance Exchange, goes to New York to-morrow,. to perfect arrange ments for the transfer of the business of the Exchange to the Alliance com- I pany. IL seems the Alliance storekeepers are, under the new arrangement, to take stock in the new company in re-, turn for their store property, and are tO receive a percentage of the gross earn ings for their work. Oswald Wilson is at the head of the scheme. The opponents of the'propo sition to transfer the business clai mit means simply the farming out to New Yorkers of the trade of the farmers. This is denied, but such secrecy pre vails thlat it is impossible to get at the exact arrangement. The vicissitudes of climate are trying to~ most constitutions, especially to peo pL. having impure blood. For all such (and they constitute the majority), the best safeguard is Ayer's Sarsapa' la, the use of whic.h cleanses the bloo and strengthens and invigorates the sys temn. sAM JONEs ROTTEN-EGGED. The Evangelist Meets with an Outrageon Assault in Houston, Texas. HoI:sTox, TEXAS, July 29.-While preaci'gg to a large audience here to night, and when in the middle of his discourse, some people on the outside turne d out ~i e lights and rotten-egged Rev. Sam Jones and his audience, most of whom were ladies. There is great indignation felt and trouble may ensue. Pensive and ExpeLsive. Many a woman si"in~ks .~om con suIting a :.hysician about functional de rangements and weakness, and prefers to suffer in silence. She is sad and pensive, and her neglect of her ailments. will prove expensive. It may cost her her life. One of the most skillful phy sicians of the day, who has had a vast experience in curing diseases peculiar - to women, has prepared a remedy - which is of inestimable aid to them. We refer to Dr. Pierce's Favorite Pre- - scription, the only remedy for woman's peuliar weaknesses and ailments, sold by druggists, under apositive guaran- - tee from the manufacturers, that it will give satisfaction in every case, or money