Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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E-U ESTABLISHED 1865 NEWBERRY., S. C., WEDNTESDAY, FEBRUR.T,18, TIl ITBNERRY BARK I INS DECSION IN ITS FAVOK R.Y TH E SU -Action of the Lwer Court Amrm-4dt ad a Writ of Maudxmus Grant-.V. . arbe Hors d Combat. [The State, 12th.] The big fight concerning the Newberry bank's increase of assessment for taxation which has created so much public notice, has been decided by the State Supreme Court, and Comptroller General Ellerbe has been completely snowed under in his high-handed method of raising the bank's taxes. The decisions were rendered by Acting Associate Justice T. B. Fraser and the full court corcurs therein. It is some what of a blow to the new Attorney Gen era. They were filed in the office of the clerk of the court yesterday, a-- I below The State presents them in full, in view of their importance and notoriety. Of course the State government has little to say yet. They - are evidently waiting for the decision in the Marlboro bank case, in which the auditor regularly and in accordance with the law sum moned the witnesses and then raised the assessments. If this is decided in favor ofthe State before the 2oth, then there will be time for the Newberry Auditor to take evidence and increase the bank's assessment in the case as the statute di rects. If the Marlboro bank wins, then the comptroller will have to take a back seat. TEXT OF THE OPINION n THE TREAS URER'S CASE. The State of South Carolina, ex parte the National Bank of Newberry, S. C., vs. Calhoun F. Boyd. as County Treasurer ofNevberry County-Petition for man damus-Opinion by T. B. Fraser, acting associate justice. This case, an original application to the Supreme Court, and the case of the State of South Carolina ex relat.one the National Bank of Newberry vs. Wallace C. Cromer, as County Auditor for the County of Newberry, petition for manda inus, being an appeal from the judgment and order of His Honor Judge Hudson, on circuit, were heard together. These cases grew out of the same mat ter and involved a discussion of the same principles. The second-case is against the auditor, while this one is against the treasurer; and it is claimed that the facts as set out and admitted to be true in the case of the auditor, and now in this copm+n appeal, are modified by state ments made in the case against the treas 7rer. Separate judgments will therefore be filed in the two cases. A reference to the other case will show all the facts, ex cept so far as they ari modified by the statements herein made. The return of the bank for the fiscal year, commencing Nov. 1, 1890, was duly made and sworn to by the president of the bank, in which the persenal property was valued at $15o, ooo, and on which the tax was $2,025. This return was passed without objection by the township board and approved by the county boarsl, and was received by -the auditor without objection. Subse quently the said personal property was placed by the auditor on his tax list and his tax duplicate at a valuation of $230, 0oo, and charged with atax of $3,105 In the case against the County Auditor now before this court on appeal it was admitted that this increase in valuation was made solely on the order of the comp troller general. The return of the treas urer alleges "that while the said county auditor believed that he had been or dered by the comptroller-general of the State to raise the valuation of the personal property of the petitioner. * * * That the said auditor was not actually so directed to do;" but was directed to fol low the general instructions contained in "circular No. 1o." and "that these in structions on the part of the comptroller general, and this action on the part of the county auditor in raising said valu ation, resulted from the information which both of these officers had received. That the said return as made by the pe titioner was below the true value in ,money of the property so returned." This statement and the returns has not been traversed and must be assumed to be true. It is also an admitted fact that the tax duplicate now in the hands of the treasurer was turned over to him before the writ of mandamus was issued to the ..-uditor in the other case heard with this. The application to this court is for a writ of mandamus commanding the treasurer to correct the said "'tax dupli cate in his hands, to enter the value of the said personal property at $i5o,ooo, and to enter the tax payable on the same for the said fiscal year at $2,025, so as to correspond with the tax duplicate now held by the said county auditor; or if your honor should hold that such said ~- correction should be made by the said county auditor for the said county, com manding the said county treasurer to suffer the said county auditor to make said correction." The order and judgment of Judge Hud son, under which the said writ of man damus was issued, have on appeal been this day affirmed by this court. That writ commanded the auditor to correct his d'.plicate. The auditor notified the treasurer of the contents of the writ, au thorized him to make the correction in - the treasurer's duplicate, and verbally re quested him to allow him, the said au ditor, to make the said corrections, either of which the treasurer declined to do. This case against the auditor having been brought on appeal to this court, and it having been definitely decided, that upon the state of facts appearing in that case the corrections should be made, and the required corections having been made in the tax duplicate in the auditor's office erty at $5o,ooo, charged with a tax of $2,o25, it might be a serious question whether the tax duplicate in the treas urer's office, so far as this property is con cerned, and in which it had been put at a valuation of $230,ooo, and at which it now stands charged with a tax of $3,105, has anything on which it can stand. The duplicate put in the hands of the treas urer is his warrant to collect the tax which has been ascertained in a proper manner to be due and if represented by what appears in the auditor's duplicate. Would not some of the same conse quences follow, which would follow if an execution were to issue out of the court of common pleas and an attempt were made to enforce . it after substantial changes are made by competent authority in the judgments on which it is founded? This view of the case has not been con sidered in argument and no ruling is made upon it. We will proceed to consider the case as if there had been no writ of mandamus against the auditor and upon the state of facts as now presented to this court. This is not a proceeding to interfere with the collection of taxes with which the courts are forbidden to interfere by sections 171 and 269 of the general stat utes. It is only a question as to the proper mode of arriving at the true val uation and the proper tax cha:rgeable thereon by the officers and in the manner provided by law. Where the officers charged with the duty of assessing pro perty confine themselves to their duties as prescribed by law, this court cannot interfere even without the provisions of sections 171 and 269 supra, but when they do not follow the rules laid down which give them jurisdiction, it is the duty of this court always to open the complaints of those who claim to have been iLlegally dealt with in these officers. The views of this court as to the construction of sec tions 171 and 269 applicable to a case like this will be found in the case of the State of South Carolina ex relatione the Na tional Bank of Newberry vs. Wallace C. Cromer as Auditor bf Newberry County, heard with this case and in which the opinion and judgment of this court has been this day filed. Here, as in the case against the auditor, the next question is whether the valuation of this personal property at $150,000, charged with taxes to the amount of $2,025, is valid, or whether the increased valuation at $23o,ooo, charged with taxes to the amount of$3, io5, is the valid assess ment. It is not now an enquiry whether the smaller or the larger amount is the true value. That question is not now in any way before this court, the question is, which is the valuation ascertained by the officers and in the mode provided by law. This question is a very important one, because if this assessment raised by the auditor on mere information and belief, the source of which is not stated, is to be held valid and binding on the taxpayers, then the auditor may in the same way and on any information he may regard as sufficient, raise the valuation' of every item of personal property returned for taxation by the citizens, however honest ly and truly, and thus increase the public burden to an amount limited only by his own discretion. Banks are not alone involved. It is now denied that the auditor acted on an order from the comptroller-general. We will consider the case as though the claim now is that the auditor acted on his belief as to the valuation of this property, though we have examined this return of the treasurer and we do not find it anywhere stated that the auditor believed the in formation on which he acted to oe true. The auditor's own affidavit in this case only claims that at the time he increased the valuation under what he believed to be an order of the comptroller-general, he had reliable information that :he pro perty was returned at less than its true value and there is no statement of any information and belief that $23o,ooo was the true valuation. Again, it is nowhere stated that there was any exercise of judgment or of dis cretionary power on the part of the au ditor on which he based this increase of valuation on his belief that not $i5o,ooo, but $230,0oo, was the true valuation. His information, or his belief, whichever it may be, while set up as contemporaneous with, or resulting in the increase of valua tion, is not clearly set up on which as the ground on which the anditor based his conclusion and his action in this matter. He believes that he was directed to do the act by the comptroller-general, and acted on this belief. We will, however, consider the case under the assumption that the auditor believed $i5o,ooo not to be the true value, but that $23o,ooo was, and that the increase in valuation was his official judgment, based on this informa tion and belief, and this was his own official act. The authority is claimed under sections 239, 240, 241 and 242 of the General Statutes. Section 240 refers to only certain crimi nal proceedings for the offences t'ierein stated. Section 242 provides for certain costs and expenses incurred in the in vestigations provided for in section 239. In section 239 it is provided that the auditor shall notify a party and commence an investigation in these cases: First, Where any person has evaded making a return. Second, Making a false return of per sonal property for taxation. Third, Has not made a full retuirn. Fourth, The valuation returned is less than it should have been. While in any of these cases the auditor may commence an investigation, he is authorizedto act on the facts as developed by the investigation by section 24r, only in the following cases where the party has First, Failed to make any return for, taxation, or Second, Intentionally making a false Third, Intentionally returned property for taxation at less than its cash value. These are all cases of fraud in which the penalty of ;o per cent. addition to the valuation is incurred and must be imposed by the auditor. It is not necessary now to consider whether in these cases it is necessary for the boards, or either of them, to pass on the matter of valuation. The only other state of facts on which the anditor can act when shown to exist by this investigation is where a party has committed "a merely unintertien-al mis take." In which ca.;e the auditor may add such amount as iny be just, and charge simple taxes only against the party. It is not contended that this case comes within either of the first three classes above stated, and no 50 per cent. penalty has been added as should have been done if this case came within either of these classes. Now the word "mistake' has a techni cal meaning. It consists of unconscious ness, ignorance or a forgetfulness, or it may be a belief of the existence of some fact past or present which did not or does not now exist, and on which the party acted. "Where an act is done intention ally and with knowledge of doing, the act act can not be treated as a mistake." Pomp. Eq., Section 854. Errors of judg ment cannot be called mistakes. One of the purposes for which these boards have been constituted by our tax laws is to cor rect these errors of judgment on the part of the taxpayers. The valuation in this case was sworn to and passed by one board without objection, and distinctly approved by the other. It is hard to see how it can be called a merely "uninten tional mistake." If, howeve-, this is one of the cases within the purview of these sections-239 and 242-it is not claimed and it nowhere appears that the auditor acquired jurisdiction over this special case by giving to the bank the notice and in stituting the investigation prescribed in these sections. Until this notice was given the auditor had no more jurisdiction in this case than the Court of Common Pleas would have before the service of a summons in an action for relief, or the Court of General Sessions to try, convict and punish a man for a criminal offense before he has been arrested on a warrant so as to bring him within the jurisdiction of the court. Even if there had been a notice as re quired it should appear that all the pro ceedings were regularly had, which are prescribed in the sections, including the very important matter of the examination of that party and such witnesses as may be called under oath, and that the auditor did not act merely on what he considered reliable information. With these views we conclude that the auditor had no jurisdiction to change the valuation of this property from $150,ooo to $23o,ooo, as that the entry stood on this duplicate and though corrected, or that now stands on the treasurer's dupli cate, with no more authority of law than if it had been placed there by himself in advertently or by some clerk or other per son against his consent or without his knowledge. The views of this court as to the pro priety of issuing a writ of mandamus in cases like this have been given in the case against the auditor, Wallace C. Cromer, heard with this 'case, and it is not neces sary here to repeat them. The order of Judge Hudson and the writ of mandamus issued under it com manded the auditor to correct the"dupli ::ates and this includes the duplicate now in the hands of the treasurer. It will be time enough to consider the :question of the treasurer's liability when ever any attempt is made to hold him re sponsible for not collecting a tax which one appeared on the duplicate in his hand, and which this court holds to have been placed there without warrant of law. It is therefore ordered and adjudged that a peremptory writ of mandamus do issue from this court commanding Calhoun?F. Boyd, County Treasurer of Newberry County, to correct the tax duplicate in his hands for the fiscal year November 1, I89o, so as to enter the valuation of the personal property of the petitioner at $x5o,ooo, and to enter the tax payable on he-same for said fiscal year at $2,025, so as to correspond with the tax duplicate now held by the said county auditor, Wallace C. Cromer, or that he will per mit the said auditor to make such correc ions, which corrections when so made by the auditor in obedience to the writ eretofore issued in the above stated case gainst the said auditor shall be held to be a compliance with the writ hereby >rered. IN THE AUDITOR'S CASE. The following is a complete abstract of he decision in the case of the auditor, vhich is perhaps of more importance: "Both cases which is the case of the au :itor, refer to the entries on the tax (upli ates of Newberry Counrty vs. the National Bank of Newberry, S. C., for thle fiscal year commencing November i, 189o, in volving, therefore, the same matters. Most of the questions raised are the same in both cases, but with difference enough o make it better to have a separate opin on and judgment of the court in each ase. The facts alleged in the petitioner for a writ of mandamius ini she case are dmitted to he true by the nature "f the eturn of the respondent, Wallace C. romer, the auditor, in which no new aterial answer is set up as an answer or efence to the case made by the petition." After reviewing the facts in the ase the petition praying for a writ of nandamus and quoting iu full the order passed by Judge Hudson before whom the ase was first heard. together with the ;rounds of appeal to the Supreme Court, udge Fraser says: Several of the grou;nds of exemiptiors tate the same propositions in different The exceptions will not therefore be takc up seriatim, but we will consider tI questions we think raised by them what seems to us the most natural orde I. Is this one of the cases which con within the purview of sections i1- at 269 of the general statutes in which it provided that no court or any judge any court shall issue any writ or injun tion, mandamus or other writ or order< process of any kind? The prohibition sestion 171 is only in cases of the coll: tion of taxes and in sec. 269 it is only cases of any officer of the State charg< with a duty in tie collection of taxe No reference is made in either section either restriction on the court in the na ter of assessments of taxes, and the latt section, 269, in the words "the pers( against whom any taxes shall star charged upon the books of the coun treasurer," ought certainly to be held refer to such taxes as are there proper and regularly charged. In the c Ise the State vs. County Treasurer, .4 Sou Carolina, 520, the statute as it there stood was held constitutional by a dividt court, Ch. J. Moses dissenting. This w a case against the county treasurer for writ of prohibition in which 'the opinic of the court was delivered by Associa Justice Willard, and in which Associa Justice Wright concurred. In the ca of the State vs. Gilliard, ii South Car lina, 309, the application was to ti court for a writ of man:lamus directed the county treasurer commanding him 1 receive bills of the bank of South Car< lina for taxes. In this case, Chief Justice McIver, the associate justice, concurred solely on tl ground that the constitutionality of tl act had been settled by the case of tl State vs. the County Treasurer, supa. In Chemble vs. Tribble, 23 S. C., 7 the action was brought to enjoin t! county treasurer from collecting certai taxes for railroad purposes. The const tutiouality of these provisions was agai the subject of discussion Mr. Justic Mc-Iver concurred with Chief Justic Simpson as to their constitutionality, tb former solely on the ground that the mai ter had been settled in the precedin cases. Mr. Justice McGowan, associat justice, dissented in an opinion i which he quoted from the dissentin opinion of Chief Justice Moses in th State vs. the County Treasurer supra, th following language: "The power to tax i the most extensive and unlimited of al the powers which a legislative body ca exert. It is without restraint except b constitutional limitations. "To tie up the hand that can alon resist its unlawful encroachments woul not only render uncertain the tenure b: which the citizen holds his property, bu make it tributary to the uncertain deman of the Legislature." The language is quoted to show the im portance of a strict construction of thes sections of the General Statutes whic] prohibit the courts from exercising pow ers given to them by the constitution ti protect the citizen in his right of pro erty against the demands of a public ofE cer which he claims to be without author ity of law. It will be noticed that all three of thos case arose in reference to the office charged with the collection of taxes; i: the first case the prayer was for a writ c prohibition; in the second for a writ c mandamus; and in the third for a writ c injunction. In ex parte Lynch, 16 South Carolina 32, the application was for mandamu against the comptroller general, an office whose duties refer to the listing and as sessment of property for taxation. Con stitutional questions were raised ini thi cases. The mandamus was refuse~d buti is important to notice that in the case n claim was made that the prohibitions c sections 171 and 269 app.ied to the comp troller general. There was no interferenc with the collection of taxes. It has never been questioned that th< validity of an assessment of property fo taxes, so far as depends on the regularit: of proceeding on the part of the audito and other officers who are charged there with, can be tested by i.he court in an other way than by action to recover eac) the tax paid under protest as provided ii section 268 of the General Statutes. It is well settled in this State that it any court in which a title is set up to lan< which has been sold for taxes the valid ity of the tax title can he called into qucs tion. The tax title under section 313 of thi General Statutes is only presunmptuou: evidence that every prerequisite of the las has been compiled with. The proof of irregularities may be mlad, by evidence alizunde and thereby the as sessment shows to have been irregu-.la end void and the title derived from it t< be invalid. -The questioii has never been mad< whether the method prescribed in sectiot 268, General Statutes, is necessary or evet applicable in cases of a regular method o proceeding by officers charged with the assessment of property as contradistin guished from officers charged with the col lection of taxes. We hold therefore that there is nothin; in sections 171 and 269 which prohibit th< courts from exercising proper control ovel officers charged with the listing and as sessment of property of citizens for th< purpose of tax returns when they proceei contrary to law. The next question which arises in th< case is whether the assessment of the per sonal property of relator at $230.oco charged with a tax of $3, 105, is valid o: whether the original assessment of thi personal property at $15o.ooo, chiarge with a tax of $2,025, is the valid one. I is not a question here as to which is th< true valuation of the property, but which is the valuation ascertained by the oilicer: and in the manner prescribed by law. The valuation of the property at $150, ooo is duly sworn to in the return by the rroper officer of the relator-the Nationa n Bank of Newberry S. C. This valatin was not objected to by the town:-hip board n of assessors and was approved by the county board of equalization. This valuatiou, therefore, was the clear d duty of the auditor to place upon the tax s 'list and tax <:plicate, with the taxes >f chargeablc upoi :i, unless uer c- cumstances and in accordance with1 the >r mode of procedure provided in sections 11 239, 240, 241 and 2.;2 of the Gener Stat C- utes. In The auditor has a special jurisdiction d and the facts which give that jurisliction i cannot be presumed, but must appear a-i O fir-mativelv. It i; only by the provsions t- of section ELi, General Statutes, that the :r presumption in favor of the existence of' n all facts necessary to give regularty to t .d the antecedent proceedings were in favor : of the auditor's deed und.er sale for delin :o quent taxes. That presumption is certilIed y to the tax ti'le and goes no further. >f In all other cases the:e facts must be S .h proved. In this case it is not claimed or n even intimated that the auditor himself U d proceled under the circum:stances and :in is the mode prescribed alld sections 239, 240, L a 241 and 242, slm. 41 It is therefbre not teIe. .r L rIher to 'e consider sections in this case. The foilow te ing is the statenient of the action of the i e auditor in petition which is not denied in 1 - the return and therefore must be accept:d e for the purpose of this appeal as true: o "So the matter stood until the mioiit,, of ( o , 18K1, when the said auditor addcd e to the valuation of the said property $90- s 000 and entered that property on his liA I n and his tax duplicate as of the value of s e $230,000, and thereby charged that property a e and your petitioner with the payment of e taxes amounting in the aggrecate to $3.105 1 instead of 2,025, which would have been , the tax on said property at the valmion. r e alleging as the sole reason ior such in n creased valuation (and no dubt correCtlyv ihe order of one W. H1. Ellerbe. styling t n himself comptroller general of said State t e Had the comptroller general any authority f e in law 'or mnaking the order like this one, e directing the auditor to arise the valuatian of any particular property returned To: g assessment and taxation' e Bv section 217 the comptroller general a may direct the audito- yiv written order g to reduce the valuation of tihe real or per e sonal property, and nothing is said as to 0 e his power to order an increase in valuation. s Section 254 gives any person who,e pro ! perty has been assessed above its true i value a right to appeal to the comptroller- P general from the county board of equaliza tion: an appeal, not from the act of the anditor, but from the judgment of the I board on a question of value. Section 261 1) provides that the comprtoller general shall t prepare and transmit to the auditors all I proper forms and instructions which they t are required to use and obey. We do not - find anything in either of these sections. and our attention has not been called to any ' e. i section which gives the comptroller-general - the right to make an order, or to the . 0 it auditor the right to obey such an order, - directing him to raise the valuation of per - sonal property as made in any specificecases - and passed upon by the township and coun ty boards without change. SThe right to appeal to the comptroller r general in cases of excessive valuation, of q 1 course cannot confer the right in any case f to increase the valuation. By section f 229, G;eneral Statutes, the auditor is ex f pressly forbidden to increase the return as made by any tax-payer or his agent, except ,by authority ot the board of assessors. s In this ease it is not claimed that the au r ditor proceededl as in a case where the prop- t -erty ray not have been listed at all, as - in section 229, or that there have been nay proper proceedings utnder sections 230,-20 t 241 and 242. If the argument. as it now h >stands, is valid, it is solely on the ground f that the same was increased byv the order C - of the comptroller-general.U 3 It is trne that the conduct of the auditor is placed on an apparently dityerent ground in the case of the samie relator vs. the coun-c r ty treasurer, but we are confined to the facts ias they were admitted to be when the ease r was before Judge Hudson, from wvhose rut - ing this appeLI has been taken. hi - We conclude, t herefore, that in mak 1 ing the order relied on the comptroller 1 general transcended his jurisdiction and that the audito'r had no right to Sobey ihe order and thus place upou his I tax list and duplicate a valuation other - than the valuation oif $150,000) a:s the - same stood when it came to is handls sworn to by the president of the bank, ti without objection by one board a:nd with the approval of the other board and upon which the taxes shlould be ) taxed on his duplic'ate. In the view we have taken of thish - case it was the plainiministerial dty of r the auoditor to placee this personal prop erty on his tatx list and his tax dupl1) cste at $l50,00uI, the valuation whic t had i;een placedi upon it lby the oatho the president of the banki andwhh was p)assed without obj:ectioni by the ftownship, and approved by thiecounty board and to charge it with the tax t .that valuation at 8.025.00, and nothing' . has occurred since to invest him wit any discretionary power in reference ,thereto, and the unatuthorized order of the eomptroller-genteral has no:~ hne .his relation thereto. . Whenver a' s'ecific AClIy isr5ra by htv of a partical::-r cflec.r u:n.' ttended with the exerc'ie of an:: deree of offleinl elemnt of di:secti:on and on~ the performtanic of1 which ind ividual hb rights depend'1. m:andamt 1051- the~ op e proprite remed f.v or a iuie orre fusal to p,erformi a du..y. Hig e ft manpiamuS.a Seti-mi .: T A cmnissonfo the .-etio of P jurors wa cmele bymndn: T strike froml the jury li: ihune of a person nt iables ... tjury d:y , See. el 9). it has been hl tha the: right ' might be granted agains: assors whoP had improperly asse.sed "h: . of bank stock o'vned by the relato to can'cel or I crrect the assessme'nt. >ee. 1:0, ftb. I' In -amilton, 3 Ind., 42, the auditor as compelled by niandamus to issue ..s dup;iete for a tax on real property -ithout added thereto 1 uer cent. !!egalvly asesd by the State board cf It iz deemed, however, tLat there is mohr and adkquateremedy provided sections 2AS and 2,i9, General Stat te.:, ia holding that these sections re uncOst*ttion-A, in so far as they -revented the court from interferring v.th the collection of taxes, it was not icee.=arv to hold and this court did iot, that there was any other adequate emady besides those which the courts vere prohibited from granting or that he one or ones governed by the sec ..)os were adequate. The dicturu- of seciate Justice iaskell in the State s. Gaillard is all the authority we have m this subjeet. Fven if the remedy giv!n in these cetitfus were applicable ini this case, t is not adequate. If the existing reme inadequate to place the injured arty in the s.mne position he occupied :fore the injury or omission of duty omplained of, it is insutlicient for the urposes of the rule under discussion, Dd will not prevent the interpretation f the court' by ma-damus. High on aandamus. It can hardly be said that in case of aiability to pay the tax, it is an ad quate remedy if, at the end of a long, xpensive lawsuit, the taxpayer may ucceed in consequence of the illegality a the assessment in preventing him elf and family from being stripped by tax execution of their household oads and thus turned *)ut of their omestead. For these reasons we th uk that the wlator is entitled to relief, and that a -rit of mandamus is a proper remedy. It is, therefore, ordered and adjudged lat the exceptions be overuled, and iat the judgment and order appealed -om, be arlIrmed. Victionary Additions. [Vrom the Writer.] ltecent literature has added a few ] -ords to the dictionary. Carlyle is )ster father to more of these than any ther one writer. Some twenty-eight re traced to him. Browning leads the i oets. Quite a number of slang words and 1 hrases, such as "bulldoze," "cheek," cheeky," "fad," "fillibuster," "fire ug," "fish story," a "dark horse," nd to "have on the braio,' now find a lace in new standard dictionaries. The technicalities of the Stock Ex-~ bange, "bulls," hears." "long," shoit,'1 option," "narg. ' ud the rest make 2eir appearance roz Lhe first time. "Telegrapher," "telephone," "micro- I hone" and "phonograph," are well stablished, and "cablegram," though iil viewed with suspici6n, is probably levitable. Origin of slang. [From Harper's Bazar.] Phrases and slang terms are fre nently born of interesting episodes, as itness the following: Peter the Great, hile off driving in the neighborhood Moscow on one occasion, was seized ith' the pangs of hunger. "What ave we in the hamper?" he asked of is aid. "There is but one candle left,i our Mojesty," replied the aid, "but I ink I can exchange it for a fowl at ie next farm house, if you wish." "Do so," replied the Czar, "for I am Limished and do not care for a light mnheon." The aid laughed, and.as e had surmised managed the ex iange, but the birdl was found to be nusually tough. "I do not think, osky," saidl the Emnperor later-"I do nt think the game was worth the mudle." Jccige Waxemn's Political Pro verbs. If a man ir kuowed by -.he cumlpeny e heaps, some candidates had better sep out of the p)olisemen ssite. Thar's more or less poli.ieks in a jug 'licker. Good politicks is a e( a )i eks is bad. Law malkin' ha3s tt b ere ke ennything else. \\iie a an gto to pure togo to epoles5 to vote, he'd better go to ceaven. Th'le gt,vernmnut shark ought to L~e owe out of the wai.er. Sonme men ain't quite big enuf to i~ld ofis and be a gentleman at the mue iime, so they hold offis. Stealin' an omece ain't got the place the crmi inal calander tIat it ought hav~e. m're voteS is east for persoal popu rit v than fer efiscensv. 8:a!ming at womcanhond's door is a sh e, Clad ina her vergi nal purity, A creature fair as the lilies be. A ad, like the lilies, alass, how frail; T1hey are horne to earth when ther storms prmevail, And their life goes otu L in the sum mier gale. Whlen we see a frail andi lovely erea- s .re, stadling on the threshol between rlhood and woman hor d, we shiver ithi a fear of what m~ay be, because we ive s.aen so many~ succumb at this 8 itic:al pjeriod of life What is needed a this time is a toni;o and invigorant mecthiing that wvili promote proper' uctional action of the female organs. be only remiedy to be depended on is I r. Pierce's Favorite Prescription. e bis tunequaled medicine, wvhich cures iseases pceuliar t o women, is especially. duable at the peried 'when the girl 'osses the threshold of womanhood. sed at such a time, it never fails tot oduce a most beneficial result, and any a fragile grirl has been tided over 1i oflif5e's most trying periods by it. hiWdrn Cry for PitchEr' (atie. FROM JERUSALEM STREET. "II" is Positively Not a Candidat. i Governor-The Alliance Is Pros,!ring Edit3r Herald and News: After ; enforced absence of some months, (a; cntributor), from the columns of yo paper, (for which you should be s premely grateful), I am impelled to E licit your kind offices in what, at pr( ent, seems to be the most momento dilemma of my existence. It is ei dent, from the way in which the lea ing (?) journals of the day are castih about for a gubernatorial candidat that their intention is to secure t] best man possible for that insulted p sition, and whilst I am compelled admit that there is a modicum of re sonablentss in the demand for the su mersion of all private affairs beneal the deep, still waters of patriotism, at the offering up of one's self upon t) altars of common interest, still I a forced by circumstances, known on to myself, and over which I am unab to exercise the least control, to po" (icely assert that, under no consider; tion, will I allow the use of my nan in connection with the race for th; rf0ice. I hope that my friends (wl haven't thought of such a thing), wj appreciate the position occupied t myself in this matter, for whilst the: may grow out of my refusal cortai grave complications still, there :are bost of others, almost, if not quit iompetent enough, who, if appearanci speak the "m.other tongue" plainly, a: inxious to feel the clasp of the "sacral 3ial fillet" about their brows, froi whom can be chosen the slandere bearer for the coming campaign. Th lecision is to be considered final, for while at least. If I succeed iu ti ruture in roping in those aforesaid ui :ontrollable circumstances, the advis Aility of the above statements will r 3eive all due consideration; but, atpre mnt I am unwilling to submit my sen! )f modesty to the eulogies of that illu rious trio, The State, the Chailesto sews and Courier and the devil-f aaving instinctive knowledge of tl irst, personal of the second, and son light acqaintance with the third eel, at the bare mention of the copar iership, like girding up my loins, an getting me into the shady seclusion < :le Isothermal hills. The Sooth-sayers and Astrologers a ;redicting rather a warm time, polit :ally, this summer. If you have take my stock in the prediction, I woul idvise you to sell out at cost, for if an .rinciple pr .:niinates in the minds he masses,to the e1clusion of all other ;hat principle is economy, not as d, .ned by Webster or Worcester; but i )rauded into the quivering pound < lesh "next the heart," by the rapacit )f the Ogres who are preaching "ove: ;>roduction." "Over-production" 4 wYheat and bacon in the West, wit our at $6.50 and bacon at 7 cents i he southern markets; "over-proda, ion" of cotton in the Soutn-whei linety-nine families out of every hur Ired c. ld use in their midst two hur lred yards of cotton cloth, and still I hort of enough to'mieet their necessi *ies; when almost the whole negro rac >ver which they have mourned, an bout which they have shed oceans< iipocrytic crocodile tears, are shiverin a rags, worn to such a degree of gossa ner like thinness, as to excite the ut ~vailing pity o)f his slightly more con ortable land-lord. We are tired of progress for a whilE We are going to retrograde a little jus o rest. We are going to devote mor ~ttention to the productioni of the sta: 4f life, raise more hogs, have more mil ~nd butter, beef and mutton, going t york out, sell out, give out, or fight ou >f debt. Going to try and fill our chi Iren's heads with something better tha otton-mania, and render them lesssu eptible than we have been to the s uctive voice of the curse of the Souti We are going to tell them aroun 4ur firesides all about this cyclopea truggle between trickery and muscli his supreme effort to destroy the cor idence of the people in their ow >ower, to wean them fromithe organ ation which is educating and unifj ng them, and which will eventuall 'oIl as a resistless ocean over every bu vark of "separatism" and fraud. It is often asserted by those, who d tot exercise a proper care over their a~ ertions, that the "Alliance is falling t >ieces." Poor, frail, feeble mortal! biu tot this flattering unction to you osom, mistake not the deep quiet c ecurity for indifference. The perio, 'f excitement is past and the erac onviction and determination has bee: eached. The prediction of the politi Ian and the advice of the Quasi Colc tels, who farm so beautifully in news apei-s, serve to excite only a smil4 'olitically speaking we are Unitist .nd expect t a vote the whole ticket, th ominees of which are the old woma: nd the babies. Let the wily trickster indulge in a auch mathematical prophecy us com orts with his ideas of pleasure; th nswer to each problem which may b browded in mistery to him, as at th ngers ends of these same apparentl; nconicerned sons of toil, and will b iven at the proper time and place i: uch a convincing manner, and tihv ueh a degree of accuracy as to caus yen the father of tigures to stay hi aeasured stri!ne o'er the fair ground if Olympus, and throw up his hand a wondering admiration; no excitt aent, no friction, but .simply a goo iealthy brogan full of manliness oi op of all the little schemes for the per etuity of pusiliarimous dominatiori Jes, the time has come to call a ha] .nd reflect, to consult as to the paten eansn for the t hirty thousand busnine failures that respond to the rol call of mercantile prosperity, consequent or upon the present "best financial sys tem under the sun"! the "ullness of n time" has come for a cateclietical ex aminatimn of the probabilities and pos ar sibilities of the two hundred and fifty millions that make up the Rlockafeller u- Estate, the quondam cab-driver, and 0 yet the man that will soon be able to S- girdle the earth with dollars. "What s millions died that Cxsar might be great." What is the trend of all these things? 1g Let us examine only such history as is even yet not dry upon the paper; let ie us enter into an honest examination of 0 the actions of our government in the to Chilian matter, and although it cause a-us to hang our heads in shame, let us witness the anomaly of a Republic; d the Republic of Washington, of Jeffer i son and of Jackson; the "Land of the e free, and the home of the brave," assist ing a tyrant to enslave a brave, chiv le alrous people, who are struggling to form a government like to our owa thereby securing themselves the-price e less boom of I&L "liberty"(!!!) -S, and that too through an unwelcome tool who claims to be an "Irishman." 10 If I have one drop of any blood in me, 11 save Irish, I do not know it, and I for one repudiate, disown, the traitor to *e the principle which fires the brain and swells the heart of every true son of a Erin. Will our government further stultify itself by imposing on the weak in the countenance of Egan as minis :e ter to Chili, or wi ill it remain upon the eminence upon which Chilian opinions d and concessions have placed it, and recall the shame of the nation, or bet ter yet expatriate him, and let him a answer to Chilians for his crimes e against Chili. But may this not be a part of a programme to impoverish the people, and then accustom them to think that there is no great harm in 3 tyranry and monarchy, after all ? Don't uncrstand from what I have said,.that I, or that any honest man has the slighest objection to opulence, ir honestly acquired; far from it; I know ,e of very few who would not entertain ,e feelings of admiration for the man I who, by dint of energetic means, over comes the thousand and one obstacles that lie across the path of most of us, rises superior to them all, carrying with him the consciousness of no wrong e done to his fellow man; such an one is ever the recipient of my heartiest well n done, so long as his honor is untarnish d ed by the glamour of gold. Y In conclusion the ma.ses are advised that the guage of battle is lying at their feet, and they are well satisfied that such is the fact, and are simply awaiting the voice of the "herald," an nouncing the order of procedure. when Y it will be taken up and flung into the faces of the challengers with a foice ) that will convince them that the earth b is yet short of a sufficient quantity of igod for the enslavment of the yeoman ry of our country regardless of occupa etion or class affiliation. This will be no war of words, but influenced by a com munity of interest, you will see the Efarmers' ranks interspersed with volun teers from all other vocations, ready to Sdo battle for the trustful eyes that look to them for protection. The solution of tne problem is ours. Let us not leave Sit as a heritage of woe to our children. Respectfully, H. - Jerusalem Street, Feb. 9th, '92. A Boy on Girls. e Mark Twain considers the following the funniest (genuine) boy's composi tion he ever son;: ON GIRLS. Girls are very stuck up and dignefied itheir manner and behaveyour. They think more of dress than any thins, and like to play with dowls and rags. They cry if they see a cow in afar distance and are afraid of guns. .They stay at home all the time and go to church every Sunday. They are al ways sick. They are al-ways funny ;and making fun of boy's hands and -they say how dirty. They can't play 'marbles. I pity them poor things. They make fun of boys and then turn round and love them. ~"I don't believe they.ever kiled a cat -. or anything. They look out every nit3 and say oh ant the moon lovely. There 0is one thing I have not told and that is they al-ways now their lessons bet tern boys. SThe ne-:t by a girl on boys is a twin r to the above. A GIRL'S ESSAY ON BOYS. [St. A ndrew's Church Record.] f Boys are men that have not got as 1 big as their papas, and girls are women - that will be young ladies by and by. - Man was made before women. When - God looked at Adam, he said to him -self, "Well, I think I can do better if I 5 try again," and then he nr.ade Eve. e God liked Eve so much better than iAdam, that there have been more women than men. Boys are a trouble. s They wear out everything but soap. - If I had my way, half the boys in the B world would be girls, and the rest a would be dolls. My papa is so nice, B that I think he must:have been a little i girl when he was a little boy. "Love and some are unable to con ceal themselves,'' and so it is with r catarrh. No man suffering from this B loathsome disease, can conc.eal the fact s from the world. No matter how cul s tured, learned, social or brilliant he is -while his friends may be polite s enough to dissemble their real feel - ings--his very company is loathsome. I What a blessing it would be to hu m ianity, if every person afflicted with catarrh in the head, could only know - that Dr. Sage's Catarrh Remedy will .positively snd permara'ntly cure the t worst case. The manufi.eturers guar t antee to care every case cr forfeit $.500. The remedy is pleasant to use, and cs ts only .50 cents.