The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, January 31, 1901, Image 3
*
AN EXTRA SESSIONj
, i
Likely That Congress Wi'l Meet in
April.
NOTHING DErl.NITE IS KNOWN,;
But it is Thought That an Extra Session
Will be Called for Special
Philippine Legislation.
"Washington. D. C., Special.?That
senators regard seriously the prospect
of an extra session of congress in view
jd* the president's urgent recounnenda'Itfon
of legislation concerning the Philippine
islands, was evidenced by the
activity of the;e who wish to avoid an
extra session. The speculation concerning
the probability of a called ses,
6ion was rendered more definite by the
fact that senators known to be gen
orally well informed concerning the
president's plans, joined in the discussion
of the outlook.
Careful inquiry also developed the
fact that the president has canvassed
the subject with a few senators. He ;
does not appear to have indicated any j
fixed determination of Issuing a call, ,
but rather to have consulted them a3
to the advisability of such a proceeding.
In all su:h instances he seems
to have had the necessity of Philippine
legislation in view, and senators generally
express the opinion that in
case a meeting is called the Philippine
question will receive the lion's share
of attention. The urgency of the administration
on this point is due to the
importunity of the Taft commission.
Senators are divided upon the question
of the necessity of congressional
action upon the Cuban constitution
Some of them contend that congress
will not be oaned upon to act In any
-way upon the constitution. Others admit
the correc tness of this view to the
extent of saying that congressional
action will net be compulsory, but they
* - "?* -?1- ~ ?I
advance me idea (.uai t>i comc^n,
will desire to have congress share the
responsibility of whatever ste-p may
be taken with reference to the' Cuban
government.
The senators who oppose the ship
subsidy bill are especially opposed to
an extraordinary session, and will do
all they can to prevent the callng of
one. Upon the whole, the most that
can be said is that both the executive
and the congress are discussing the
wisdom of an extia session, and that
no conclusion has been reached on the
point. They adimt the urgency of a
rTimber of questions which they know
^fannot lie disposed of at this session.
At the same time they hesitate seri
? 1.. * V? ? vA-rvArt oiKi] itu f,P fj
\:u*iy WiUIC 11it? lvai>vuoiui?u; ?
called session, which it is generally believed
would, if called at all, continue
until will into the summer.
Two Children Burned to Death.
T^ake Cilv. Fla.. Special.?Too residence
of George Fleming, agent of tho
Seaboard Air Line, at Watertown. was
burned Saturday morning at i o'clock.
Mr. Firming, his wife and oldest child
were badly burned, and the twoyounge
children burned to death. Tho two
children who wre cremated were little
girls. Fern and Fay, aged 3 and i,
respectively. Ml-s Stella Crawford,
lister of Mrs. Fleming and niece of
Dr.?John L. Crawford, secretary cf
state, was also dangerously burned and
her wounds may prove fatal. It .is
generally believed that the family bad
been chloroformed and the house fired
by incodiarios after robbery had been
committed, as considerable money and
valuables were cither stolen previous
to the fire or burned. Not a member
of the family awoke until the flames
bad enveloped the house and they
were then aroused by those attracted
to the scene by the blaze.
(leneral Hanager Spencer.
Washington, D. C., Special.?It Is
announced officially that H. B. Spen cer,
now assistant general manager of
the St. Louis-Louisville lines of the
Southern railway, will be appointed to
the position of general manager of
those lines, effective February 1, to
succeed Goo. C. Smith, who has resigned
to accept an important position
..with the Wc^tinghouse interests.
Telegraphic Briefs.
The wheat crop in Uruguay and Argentina
is in a very bad condition.
The Standard Oil Company has secured
a monopoly of the North and
South Lima fleld6. in Ohio.
n-a-PTi A Collins, of St. Ixnns. Mo..
committeed suicide at Chatham. Ont.,
by cutting the arteries In his wrist.
John D. Ro.krfeller has agreed to
give Oberdin College $200,000 of a
$500,000 endowment fund, provided the
whole $300,000 is raised this year.
Liee Conkling, 17 years old. was
struck in the back cf the head by a
snowball at school at Middletown, N.
Y.. several days ago, and died from
the injury. ... ?. ,
| OUR LAWMAKERS.
i
Proceedings of the Legislature In Dc?
| tail.
SENATE.
j Twelfth Day?The senate transacted
no more business than was absolutely
rwMswv. Onlv routine business was
attended to. and the body was not in
! session more than an hour.
Air. Livingstone introduced his bill
to provide for the appointment of a
code commissioner and to define his
duties.
Mr. Appelt introduced a bill to regulate
and make uniform the salaries oi
the clerks of court.
The judiciary committee made a favorable
report on the bill regulatig
the voting of cumulative stock in corporations;
also a favorable report on
the bill as to alien ownership of land.
Gov. McSweeney sent a message
transmitting the annual report of the
attorney general.
The following bills passed their second
reading:
Mr. Sheppard?Allowing a woman
dower only In property m which her
husband died seized in fee.
Mr. Sheppard?To create a Stateboard
of entomology.
Mr. Goodwin?To require owners cf
property situated partly within aod
partly without incorporated towns to
make separate returns.
Mr. Barnwell?To amend section 34
of the revised statutes relating to the
right of peremptory challenge.
Mr. Goodwin?To validate certain
railroad bonds in Laurens county.
Mr. Goodwin?Joint resolution proposing
an amendment to article V. of
the constitution relating to the jurisdiction
of magistrates.
Mr. llderton?To provide for the enforcement
of the concealed weapon
law.
Mr. Dennis?To amend the act in relation
to damages caused by defective
highways.
Mr. Mower?To validate the drawing
of jurors for the year 1901.
SENATE AND HOUSE?JOINT SESSION.
Thirteenth Day?This was the day
appointed for the election of certain
officers by the general assembly.
The Senate attended In the hall of
the house of Representatives at 10:30
a. m. and the two bodies in joint ses
gion proceeded to tne elections.
The elections in some cases were
close enough to be interesting, though
not exciting. There was no show of
party spirit, and merit and personal
popularity seemed to be the only issues.
The elections were not concluded at
one sitting, but the following selecting
were made.
To be State librarian, term two
yeaYs, salary $800 per annum, Miss Lucy
Barron of aMnnin.
To be judge of the Fifth circuit, term
two years, salary $3,000. Earnest Gary,
succeeding himself without opposition.
To ho iiirico of the Seventh circuit.
D. A. Townsend. winning over Senator
Hydrick with a surprisingly large majority.
#
At the hour of taking recess, the
election of a code commissioner was
in progress.
Fourteenth Day.?The special order
in the SenateWas Mr. Henderson's bill
to make township assessors equalizers
as well as assessors of property. At
the close of the session the day before
Mr. Barnwel' had pending a bill to
strike out the enacting words, but yesteray
morning he stated that after consultation
with different Senators he had
decided taat the bill ought to pass, and
therefore withdrew his motion. Tho
bill then, with slight amendments,
passed its third reading and was sent
to the house.
The committee on agriculture made
a favorable report on the bill to reguIte
the width of the tires of vehicles.
The penitentiary committee made an
unfavorable report on the bill to auhorize
the sale of the State farm.
Several bills were passed over by request
for future consideration.
At 12:SO the Senate adjourned.
Fifteenth Day?In the Senate the
committee on cemmerce and manufactures
which was to have made a report
on the child labor bill, stated that it
would be unable to report until to-day.
The members of the committee refused
to give the slightest intimation as to
what the report will be.
When he Charleston exposition bill
was taken up for its second reading.
Senator Graydon moved to strike out
the enacting words. He said that possibly
he was the only Senator opposing
the bill, and that he did not know that
anything he would eav would change
anybody's opinion, but he felt it was a
duy he owed to himself and to his
constituents to fight the appropriation.
On motion the bill was made the special
order for to-day.
The following new hills were introduced:
By Mr. Mayfield?To regulate the
traffic, in cotton seed.
By Mr. Marshall?To set aside a
room in the state house in which to
place Confederate relics and to put the
same in charge of the Daughters of the
Confederacy.
By Mr. Graydon?To fix the price of
royalty on phosphate rock.
By Mr. Manning, by request?To provide
for the degistering of marriages,
births and deaths.
By Mr. Gruber?To require railroads
to run two trains carrying passengers
in each rirection daily.
Mr. t.iyinbston's bill to authorize the
sale of the State farms was made the
special order for Tuesday of next week,
and Mr. Manning's bill in relaiio to
wide tires was made the special order
for Wednesday.
The following bills passed third reading
and were ordered sent to the house.
Mr. Barnwell's bill relating to alien ]
ownership of land.
Mr. Henderson's bill relating to the
manner of holding elections in corporations
and to carry out the provisions
of the constitution in regarfl to the voting
of cumulative stock.
Sixteenth Day?The Senate passed
the Charleston Exposition bill by the
following vote:
For Exposition bill?Senators Aidrich.
Appelt. Barnwell, Blakeney, Bowen.
Brantley. Brice, Brown. Dean,
Dennis, Douglass, Gaines. Glenn,
Gruber. Henderson, Hydrick, Ilderton,
Ms/shall, Mayfield, Moore, Mower.
Sarratt. Sheppard, Stackhouse, S:anland.
Sullivan. Walker?27.
Against the bill?Caughman, Goodwin,
Herndon, Hough, Sharpe, Talbird
?6.
At the night session of the Senate
the military committee reported favor-,
ably on paving the expenses of the
military in the Georgetown and Florence
troubles. The amount is $2,562.10.
The same committee reported unfavorably
on sundry petitions from the
Daughters of the Confederacy, in reference
to tie completion of the Confederate
rolls, and the report was adopted.
A message was received from the
governor conveying a proposition of
the Columbia Gas Company to light the
State House.
The committee on roads, bridges,
and ferries reported a substitute bill as
to Mr. Barnwell's bill to regulate ferrv
j tolls. It provides that such shaU
| operate daily and continually, com!
mencing at 6 a. m. and ending not later
than 9 p. m. Any person who shall
meet with unnecessary delay on any
public steam ferry may recover $10 for
each and every hour delayed. The
maximum rate for passengers shall not
exceed ten cents for a single trip. Ten
dollars may be recovered for each violation
of this eection. The committee
reported on the Graydon phosphpatc
bill, making the royalty 50 cents a ton
instead of $1, as the bill provided.
Senator Stanland Introduced a bill
repealing the free pass law.
All third-reading bills were passed.
A favorable report was made on a
joint resolution to refund penalties
j paid on taxes after December 31, 1900.
Mr. Ilderton's bill prlviding for a
$5,0C0 license for dealers in pistols was
, killed by a vote of 16 to 12.
mncVi rmnosition developed to a
; change in the rules whereby Acts
might be ratified without the presence
of both houses that the proposed resolution
to change It was withdrawn,
but not until after quite a long discus;
sion.
Seventeenth Day?In the Senate the
Charleston Exposition bill passed its
third "eading and was ordered sent to
the house, after an amendment by Mr.
! Barnwell as to the reading of the section
relating to securing county exhibits.
| This section, which was proposed by
Mr. Gaines, provided that the commission
should expend "so much as may
be necessary" to secure full exhibits
I form each county. Mr. Barnwell's
amendment made it read that there
, should be expended "so much as the
commission might deem necessary" for
I V? ? rt nnrnooa
lino
HOUSE.
Fourteenth Day?The House had a
, busy, day and accomplished a great
deal. Second reading bills were waded
into and disposed of without ceremo'ny.
There was not a third reading bill on
the calendar. Nine bills passed second
reading, and two were killed. The two
latter were to provide a capitation dog
tax, and to compensate the victims of
theft
| At noon the senate and the house
met in joint session, and after the vote
for United States Senator had been
tabulated. Senator Sheppard, president
' of the Senate, announced the election
of B. R. Tillman to be United States
I Senator.
Gov. MeSweeny sent a message to
1 ^ nnnomittino' tho 1 Pt.tPT of I
UIU IIUUOC, uuitcaiui,!..;, ?..v
Mr. E. B. Clark.
j Fifteenth Day?The House of Representatives.
by an overwhelming vote,
j refused to extend to cotton factory opi
cratives rights of "fellow servants'*
guaranteed railroad employes.
! The' house killed Mr. Wells' bill to
provide the death penalty for attempt
to ravish. The judiciary committee report
was unfavorable, because an attempt
to murder receives a lighter seni
tence than does actual murder, and the
I committee thought the case in point is
j identical.
A number of new bills were introduced,
among them the following:
i By 'Mr. Sinkler. to remit fees of
teachers attending special spring
courses at South Carolina college.
| By Mr. Estridge, to pay salaries of
sheriffs In monthly installments.
By Mr. Cooper?Aor an additional
term of court for Laurens.
I By Mr. Ruc.ker?To provide for union
depot at Anderson.
| By Mr. J. C. Robertson?To provide
a room on the senate side for Confed:
erato relic.
Sixteenth Day?The House covered
considerable ground by menas of com,
mitee reports and mapping out its Calendar
work.
j Only two second reading bills were
I disposed of. They were important
measures, which consumed a great deal
of discussion.
First, the school supervision bill of
Mr. Thomas was killed. Second, the
Richards bill, exemprlng the graduates
of the South Carolina Medical College
from further examination before the
State Board of medical examiners, was
given its second reading.
There were long and interesting
fights made on each of these measures.
On motion of Mr. Bacot the Charleston
Exposition bill was made the special
order for next Tuesday morning.
By that time the bill will be taken up
In t&e House, the Senate bill will be on
the House side and can be substituted
and in that way considerable time will
be saved.
It was distinctly a speech-making1
Jay on the House side,
i Chairman Elder, of the committee on
claims, reported a number of claims
which were approved and ordered paid,
j The ways and means committe reported
favorably on the bill providing ]
for the erection of the steward's hall
for the South Carolina College,
j A favorable report was made on Mr.
McMaster's bill requiring life insurance
companies to Invest their reserve made
on policies in this State in South Carolina
companies.
A great mass of com mi tee report3
came in to-day and the Calendar tomorrow
will be quite a little, volume.
To-day the Calendar covers ten pages.
After the committee reports had been
cleared up Senate bills were read and
referred to the various committees. An
unfavorable report was made on the
bill to require licenses for hot suppers.
An unfavorable report was made on
the second bill relative to the divisioa
of dispensary profits.
Mr. Banks withdrew his bill abolishing
county boards of control.
The third reading bills all went
through and were ordered sent to the
Senate without objection. All the third
reading bills were adopted without opposition.
They are:
Mr. Sinkler's bill to amend Sections
156 and 158 of the Code of Civil Procedure
In regard to the service of summons.
Mr. Mc Master s Dill to ex ten a the
rights and remedies of employees of
railroad corporations, as provided by
the Constitution to employees of street
railway and telephone companies.
Seventeenth Day?The House passed
Mr. Stone's bill to allow all convicts
whose sentences are not over ten year9
to be used on county chaingangs.
The House killed Mr. Bacot's bill to
provide for the appointment of State
librarian by the governor; Mr. Durante
bill relating to the proper return
of property for taxation, and Mr. Uorroh's
to limit to nve days the time for
recording mortgages, etc.
Among the new bils presented yesterday
were the following:
By Mr. B. Smith, to appropriate
$200,000 to the public schools.
By Mr. Dean, to Increase the pension
fund of Confederate soldiere from
$100,000 to $200,000.
By Mr. Austin, to protect keepers of
boarding housee.
T>.. if- \c-r uii_
L>y mr. LUfuiugunu, iu yivviuc iur
:ttate and county boards cf asst'scments.
By Mr. Weston, to admit dying declarations
as evidence in civil case.* as
now held in criminal courts.
By. Mr. Whaley, to fix the price of
gas in cities of over 40,000 inhabitants.
By Mr. Stackhouse, to provide a
sinking fund for Marion county.
By Mr. Croft, to appoint Col. Jno. P.
Thomae, Sr., a commissioner to complete
federal rolls.
The Charleston Exposition bill came
over from the Senate.
Mr. J. C. Robertson Introduced a bill
to declare dogs personal property, etc.
RAM'S HORN BLASTSri
great question
I'y'Wmr I 13 not' aro you rea"
J dy to die, but are
/Z7\ you ready ilve
r a*aiii?
V Mcn are 67611 roa"
Pay to amena me
gospel and thea
put the amendment
Giving love by
} tho way la the way
^ to getting love.
If you do not flee
from tho devil you
will be fleeced.
The gilt on the ginger bread does the
hungry little good.
Only he can secure success who Is
willing to face failure.
The dance is as much the propaganda
of hell as the gospel is that of heaven.
You cannot expect to feel at homo in
the church while you stay out on the
stocp.
, 1 iie SKepuc nirs ?l iu? i?uimcnt
miracles with a view oX hurting
its morals.
Many preachers yield to a reversed
temptation; they turn the bread Into
stones.
There is no promise that tho church
which is a poor beggar will rest in
Abraham's bosom.
There is a tremendous chasm between
the poetry we applaud and tho
prose we apply.
The greatest contradiction is the
church that pretends to pray to God
while It preys on the world.
When Paul wrote of "lifting up holy
hands" he was not contemplating tho
stand and deliver style of prayer5
Worry wears.
Haste makes waste. i
Wishing is not willing,
Faith frames fate.
It is beet to kill serpents in the egg.
When heaven is in me neart neresiea
are kept out of the head.
No man was erver healed of a disease
by reading a medical book alone.
Only they who have known the great
change now know no changes.
A list of the victims of football during
the year 1000 shows nine deaths
and fifty more or less seriously injured.
It is safe to say that the damage
done by this alleged amusement
infinitely outweighs any benefits !t
confers upon either participants or
spectators of the game, says the San
Francisco Chronicle.
*
PITIFULLY SMALL RETURNS.
Tax Expert Finds Cotton mil Property
fluch Undervalued.
The following report made by an expert
tax official on the most Important
matter is of particular interest just at
this time; it is made to Aiken county,.
officials:
To Jas. L. Quinby, A. S. Seigler and
W. E. Mealing.
Gentlemen: The board of equalization
in March, 1900, appointed you,
with myself to investigate certain returns
and make such suggestions to
our representatives a3 would tend to
* ' 11? AUa.
equalize mure eueciuauy uio
of manufacturers. A certain portion of
this work was assigned to me, which
I have investigated and beg to report.
I respectfully call your attention to
the report of the Hen. J. P. Darham,
comptroller general, for the fiscal year
1899, page 137. Under the head of
"Average value of property appertaining
to manufacturing," you wil' see
that the total value of all material used
in the State by manufacturers was for
the fiscal year valued at $1,955,429. Of
this amount Aiken county returned
$349,925 or nearly 18 per cent of the
entire amount. When you take into
consideration the fact that the only
manufacturing interest in Aiken county
during that fiscal year was confined to
the Graniteville, Langley and Aiken
Manufacturing company's cotton mills,
the return of the State at large, as
shown by the comptroller general's report,
is absurd. Sections 229 and 239
of the revised statutes provide the
manner of ascertaining the value of the
iixaiericu ua^u uy uuuiuu&uiiuturn
should have been enforced and not allow
Aiken county, whose spindle capacity
is very small when compared
with other counties throughout the
State, pay 18 per cent of the entire tax
on material used by the manufacturing
Interest in the State, simply because
they make a Just return.
On January 1, 1900, there were in operation
in the State of South Carolina
1,348,254 spindles engaged In the manufacture
of cotton. A conservative estimate
of their cost, on real estate,
mills machinery, fixtures and tenements
would be $20 per spindle, and at
the usual ratio of 65 per cent, for this
cla=s of property would represent a taxable
value of $17,527,302. To this
should be added sundry supplies, stools .
in process and materials on hand, or
$3 per spindle, giving an additional
taxable value of $4,044,926, or a total
return for taxes for the 1,348,224 spindles
of $21,572,261 or a ratio of $16 fof
fa Yntinn
What do we find? The returns from
13 counties, Including 56 corporations
having 1,217,687 spindles or fully 90 per
cent of the State's total spindles,
shows only $11,811,415, or a ratio o!
only $8.76 per spindle for all purposes
of all values, or less than 53 per cent, ,
of what it should be.
In these returns we find mills returned
as low as $4.23 per spindle, and
as high as $20.18 total for taxation.
Forty-three per cent of the returns
show that they have paid taxes on material's;
57 per cent, are not taxed on
materials, some mil!3 paid as high as
$5.75 pe-r spindle on materials, others
of the 43 per cent, returning material
for taxation returned .05 per spindle for
taxes. Three dollars per spindle Is a
very conservative estimate for materials:
yet the total for material returns
for 1,217,078 spindles was $838,491.
and this Item should have been, aa
shown above, $4,044,962. Now, with
these facts before our representatives,
they can not fail to see that it ie necessary
to adopt some uniform method
or system for the taxation of cotton
mills.
'My idea is a spindle basis for the ent:re
plants throughout the State, to
cover real estate and machinery, and
a sworn statement of the materials,
stock in process, sundry supplies, etc.,
itemized from the books of the corporation
and filed with the auditor, when
other returns are made# and a law
making it the duty of the comptrollei
feneral to see that the law is complied
with and the proper returns made.
Respectfully submitted,
DAVE H. WISE.
Live News In Paragraphs.
Charged with robbing tho malls.
Mall Carrier Edward Emmett has been
arrested at Staunton, Va.
A Buenos Ayres dispatch aays that
the Argentine wheat crop is estimated
at 2,600,000 tons.
Divorced women of Vienna have
formed a club to give legal aid to ua|
happy wives and to provide themselves
w.th home comforts.
The Seattle (Wash.) Branch of the
International Council of the World,
colored citizens, has offered a reward
of $500 for the conviction of each person
implicated in the burning at the
stako of Fred Alexander, at Leavenworth.
Kan.
| Captain Charles Belmont, of the
steam yacht Saranac, and often employed
by millionaires, was killed by
a trolley car at New York.
The City Council of Omaha, Neb.,
ha.s offered a reward of $5,000 for Pat
Crowe, the kidnapper, dead or alive,
making the price on Crowe's head now
$18,000.
At the christening of the steam
launch Florentina at Cannes, France,
15 persona fell into the sea, but all
were rescued. _ ;