The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, June 02, 1897, Image 2

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BUTLER ON TILLMAN. "Revised Letter" Calls Forth Warm Rejoinder. ~i To the Editor of The State 1 observe in the "modified state ment" of B. R. Tillman, published in the State of the 23d instant, he lugs my name into his- labored effort at vindication The statement from be ginning to end is more in the nature J joi a "confession and avoidance'7 pthan a vindication Expletives and slanders, tis favorite weapons of con l'.troversy, will not satisfy au inquisi tive public, which is getting down to a more serious form of enquiry Ile-says "when these stale slanders about rebates under my administra tion were put into circulation by the newspapers and taken up by Genera! Butler in the canvass three years ago, I met them promptly and vigorously j j t Union and elsewhere, and last j winter I joined with Governor Evans j in asking that the# legislature should j appoint a committee to ok into the dispensary's management and set the charges of corruption at rest for This is very general, evasive and erroneous. In the first place, the "stale slanders** were not "taken up by General Butler** by anything de rived from "the newspapers " Rere is what occurred at Union' I ha,d received a communication from a gentteman in Charleston, not a news paper man, informing me that by the terms of the whiskey trust agree ment, every member of the trust was bound to pay a rebate of seven cents a gall n to ail who purchased a thou sand gallons or upward, that is to say, was bound ander the trust agree ment to pay back se vea cents on every gallon thus bought ; that the Mill Greek distillery of Ohio was a member of tbe tutet, aod therefore bound to return tntl rebate ; that, as Governor Tillman, as chairman of the boar of control, and understood to be the sole responsible head, had ' purchased large quantities of liquor from the Mill Creek distillery, he ought to have received large sums from the Mill Creek distillery, rou ' ring np into the tbousao ds of dollars Toi is substantially the information I received from an entirely reliable, experienced source. Tais communication got into the News and Courier and can be found \n the files of that paper of that date, 'before I had an opportunity to use it cn tibe stomp, in this way : Ai a meeting preceedmg the one at'Union, I do not now remember where, Mr. Kohn, the correspondent of the New s and Courier, asked me r*if I bad any manuscript I expected to ose, I would let him have it in ad- j vance, so that he could make a copy at his leisure, and thereby save him the labor' when sending off his dis [ patches 4 I gave bim tbe memorandum furn- j ishe me as above stated, enjoining j bim not to publish it until I .had em braced it in some subsequent speech Mr. Kohn, through inadvertence. I suppose, forwarded it to bis paper, and it was published before I had an opportunity to refer to it. Mr. Kohn afterwards told me he bad informed Governor Tillman it had been published without my au thority i Notwithstanding this information, j Governor Tillman having the opening j speech at Union, made this publica i lion the text for a violent, coarse, vulgar attack on me, stirring up the passions of a few ruffians and black guards itt the audience, and then j wber* I got up to reply, the m Si ans { attempted to browbeat and bowl mel down. When the excitement was at \ its height and trouble seemed itnxui- i neut, Governor Tillman, as usual, j left the stand and sought a place of] safety In the course of bis ribaldry ' and vituperation he denied having col j lected the rebates and endeavored to j take refuge from the awkward dilem j ma in which he found himself, by j raising other and false issues, having ! . no relevance to the rebate question. When I replied, i said, among other ; things, that?tbete were but two al- : tentatives, either Governor Tillman | had collected the thousands of dol lars of rebates from the >ii i Creek j distillery a*:d wot accounted for them, ! or had beti guilty of a grave 3nd : censurable dereliction of <;f icia! duty . in ot collecting the n-bales ana turn j . ing then, into the State treasury for the befit of taxpayers No charges w< tv. made, but a sim- ; pie enquiry which any taxpayer bad i a right to make, and any honest man would have invited and answered dis j passionately and frankly There was j no occasion for such an outburst of j coarse ribaldry and unseemly pas- ! sion. j The controversy stands to day where it was left off at Union nearly three years ago, except that the sus picion of crookedness in regard to the rebates bas been intensified by a remark which Governor Evans, Lis j friend and colaborer in the dispensary j business, is charged with having j made to Mr. Mixson, late chief dis penser, to the effect that "Ben Till man had lined his pockets with re bates.'* And further, by recent in timations and suggestions on the ; same Hoe from some* of Governor Till- j man's closest, and, as is generally) supposed, most confidential personal friends. Now, the simple and only j question as to this brandy of thespis-1 pensary management involving hun-1 dreds of thousands of dollars to the ! taxpayers, is, were the rebates ol j seven cents per galion collected from j the Mill Creek distillery and other ! whiskey dealers, and if not, why not. Governor Tillman cannot sidetrack this momentous issue by tirades of abuse against newspapers and any and everybody who chooses to ex ercise their rigbis as free and unterri fied citizens it is the duty and business of news ; papers to inform the public of cur ; rent events, and it is the business and duty of liberty loving citizens to hold every public official to the strictest accountability for his official acts The officiai himself may be cloud and besmirch his own reputa tion by evasion, irritability and pas sion under legitimate criticism and enquiry. The stench from the' dispensary scandals have reached the acute stage and its founders aud promoters" owe it to themselves and to the peo pie of the State generally to probe it to the bottom, let out the foul effluvia, "or hueh " That is what Governor Tillman has recently advised the United States senate to do Legislative committees are very good things in their way, when they are in earnest, but when men have said "the horse was sixteen feet high." they will scarcely turn round, eat their words, and admit the horse wa9 only sixteen hands high. If the whiskey dealers who have sold whis key to the State could be brought into court and forced to testify, some reputations would be much better or worse off It is about time the people in the State were taking matters in their own hands, stop listening to twad dle and nousense and have a general overhauling of their affairs Prejudice and passion and resent ments may be very handy weapons for charlatans and demagogues to boost themselves into office, but they are getting to be very expensive lux uries Taxes which were premised a few years ago to be reduced, have been increased, and are likely to be still further increased if a hall is not called, and the taxpayers'1 have to pay the piper while the demagogues dance. Public offices were promised to be reduced, but they have increased in numbers and tbe taxpayers have to pay the salaries while the increased officeholders dance. This, I say, is getting to be a pretty expensive lux ury, especially when considered in the light of the falling off of revenue from the phosphate royalty, and other sources which helped to mest public expenditures. It was promised that the dispenAary would pay a half million a'year into j , the State treasury, and ought to nave done so under honest proper manage ment. What a pitiful showing has been made ! M. C BUTLER Washington, D C., May '25,1&97. Charge the Legal Rate. Several newspapers that come to rhis cSce haye boasted that they got the tygal printing JOT a certain amount "thereby saviug the county from being f robbed by paying the fui} legal rat* " Such newspapers are disgrace to their profession. In no state is the legal rate for official printing more than should be charged It is nowhere ex- j ] orbs tant. Indeed in many cases it is absurdly low Wheo a newspaper cuts beio.v this rate to ge: the work he is 6wiudiiDg himself. The average county official, clothed wirb a little brief authority, is con stantly anxious to make a record for coor.omy by forcing the publisher to take work at a discount He bioks this shows his smartness The way to reat such fellows is to charge 'e-jal rate zr;d stick to it. Nine times out of r.'n tue rat;* will he paid. In the tenth in-tance the publisher will preserve bis j self respect which is worth more than; all the legal printing in tbe would. Toe Country Editor. Take JOHNSON'S CHILL & FEVER ] 7 QNJC ^zzt^^&B^ j i Philadelphia, May il-It is dtfi- j ti : t i y mettled that the most important | conference yet held io A o:." ri o in coo- | < uecrion with the Cuban cau^e will as-' '.embie in Philadelphia some time UfX : vi' f i Genera] Palma will preside j With bim will be Quesada, ihe young i charge d'affaires. They are coming j here, it is stated, to prepare plans that ;:iay meet with the entire approbation of hi administration at Washington Free Pill . Send your address to II. E. Lucklen <fc Co Chicago, and get a free sample box of Dr. King's New Life Pills. A trial will convince you of meir merits. These pilli* ure easy in actina and ire particularly effective in the cure | of Constipation and Sick Headache. For .Va laria nd Livfr troubles they have been proved invaluable. They ire guaranteed to ho pen fcctly free from every deleterious substance ! and to be purely vegetable. They do not j weaken by their action, hut by giving tone j to the stomach und bowels greatly invigorate tho system. Regular size 25c. per box. Sold j by J. F. W. DeLorm Druggist. 4 Writing paper 15 cents a pouad at H. G. j 03teec Co's: Complications Arise. Possible Renewal of the War in the East. London, May 27 -The Athens^ cor respondent of the Times says:. Ic is believed that complications have ariseo, owing to the advocacy by some of the powers including Russia, of a Turkish occupation of Thessaly until the indem nity U paid, and to England's firm resis tance to saah a project The Greek government is preparing for a possible renewal of tbs war A dispatch to the Time* from Lirissa say3 tba impression is general among the Turkish troops that there will be more fighting. A brigade of Redifs has started for Phourka, armed with mausers A dispatch from Athens says that the municipu! authorities have confer red the freedom nf the city upon Gen. Riccotti O-iribaldi and Amiieare Cipri ani, the Italian socialist leader, io re cognition of their "eminent services i? the field." London, May 27.- A dispatch to the Daily Mail from Vienna says that the Turkish government, has moblized 50,000 additional troops, who are now in readiness to advance ioto Thessaly, and that the government is makins D rr acive preparations for a Turkish ad ministration of the proviooe. Athens. May 28 -An exciting scene took p!aco ai the ministry of marine to-day. Signor Di Felice, the Italian Socialist leader, rudely accost ed and insulted, M. Ralii, the Greek premier The latter immediate Iv summoned the police and bad Di Felice put on board and Italian ironclad lying off the Piraeus, with a request that be be not allowed to again set foot on Greek soil. As ~oon as be was on board tbe ironclad, Felice was liberated, at the request of the Italian Minister, the Duke Avaro?, OB bis solemn prom ise to quit Greece without provoking Further incidents. SUPPLIES IN ABUNDANCE,. The Relief of Distressed Americans in Cuba. Washington, May 26.-Consul Gen jral Lee cabled the State Department to-day from Havana rbat the amount of supplies be has now on hand there for the relief of American) citizens in dis tress is abundant and will last for some :ime. Presumably this statement ap plies generally to all the consulates, fe r the consol general has been in consult?* rion wilb his subordinate consuls on this matter, by direction of tbe Secre tary of 'State At any rate, the de partment will now paase before moving rurther in the direction of distribution )f relief. Yesterday steps were begun to burry forward supplies from this country to j Duba just as soon as General Lee was eard from General Sullivan, com uifisiary general, hns selected one of bis most experienced assistants. Cap ain Davis, who rendered such good service at Memphis in the j ? lief of the fi>od so8:arers, to go to Duba with the upp es. if necessary, ind diutribute them under the genera! plans of General L*e. The New York :o >missarv depot was to undertake the purchase of tbe supi lies Then Mr. tl A. Smith, a director in one of rhe teamship lines plying between New fork and Havana, had offered free ran^portion to Cuba of the supplies, ud every thiug was iii train to begin o move as soon as word came from jeceral Lse. Now, bowevsr, the de - arrment will wait uutil General Lee notifies is that there is further need for ?elief before putting i s plan into opera ion. -MM - . >?. -i Take JOHNSON'S CHILL & FEVER TONIC. s*~*8*^" -mn am^ - Shinny on Your Own Side. The Georgia papers in season and out. of j-eason seem ro take pleasure in giving South Carolina a dig because this cid commonwealth is trying to cur tail tho traffic io !;quor, and has sought, as far as possible, r'> remove from our young mei) the temptation to j drunkenness. If our Georgia brothers would tak;> a suggestion kindly, we would surest that, they devote their energies ro the rectifying of the cowardly and brutal abuse that i> daily b'ing inflicted on her convicts. F r cruelty 3nd barbar ous treatment, of convicts the Sta e of Georgia stands pre-etnio^nt Thc treatment wh'ch is a^corced to defense less convicts perhaps has no paiailei for cruelty and meann^sn. and yet the newspapers of that Sute occupy their j time and attention casting :-!urs at South Carolina because she ha* star up ! her bars, and reduced tho evil of q:;or j drinking Brethren, please take ho beam out of your own eyes, and tako the disgrace I of brutality iroai your ow Sute be- ; iorc intermeddling with our effort to j redact tae whiskey evil io South Caro lina The State of Georgia has no ritjht to 1 slur at any o;her Stale as long as she j perpetuates a system of cruelty to I prisoners that would disgrace barba- j rjarj9 -AbbeullePx^y^ndBauoer. LIVE QUESTIONS. A Series of Articles Contributed by Advanced Thinkers. WHAT 13 TO DE DOME AND WHO SHOULD DO IT? A. Strong and Lucid Discussion of thc La bor O-acsiion. I. In every attempt nt reform a constant effort should be made to keep before the public a clear conception of each ono cf the factors concerned in it-the factors which are attempting the reform nd thc institutions to bo reformed and also their relative share in the problem. Without this car two steps backward will be taken with every one forward, because public opinion is one of thc strengest of all forces for or against progress, ano it is being formed much moro by tho intelligent but unthinking public than hy tho logical thinkers who give out their views in lectures and treatises. Tho few who hear or road these well planned efforts and digest them intelli gently are g" atly in the minority to the unthinking class which has no time for this and yet expresses its opinions freely upon all occasions. But this class is able to think and would do so if sufficient data were fur nished in a concentrated fcrm. The needed data today are this constant lit eration cf the factors engaged in the prob lem under discussion and their share in it. In the labor problem these factors are overgrown and unprincipled money power, public opinion, capital, unions and thc nonunion workingman. (I do not include money, because a desirable understanding can be arrived at without bringing in this factor, to which is given a fictitious interpretation much oftener than tbe right one. ) Public Opinion. As at first stated, public opinion is a big factor, which criticises right and left among the others, but never asks what is its own share in the problem. Too often also it considers only one cr two of these others, oftener still only the unions which it condemns, without a question as to the cause of their exist ence. Right opiuionscannot possibly follow from such methods, and wrong opinions add so much to the complication of this question. It requires no art to dis cover that unions are imperfect, as are all other human institutions. The ob server can detect that they are some times guilty of acts of injustice, but to get below this surface and decide wheth er an institution has a right to live in spite of defects requires careful think ing. Unions are established for the avow ed purpose of protecting labor. No crit icism of theirmethedscau be just, the*], which does not carefully consider these three questions : First.-Does labor need protecting? Second.-From what dees it need pro tecting? Third.-Are unions, in their efforts to protect, guilty of any more or even as much injustico as that which they are fighting? It will be better to discuss the second question first, assuming for the moment that labor doesneed protecting. It needs this protecticn, then, not from capital necessarily, but from overgrown and un principled money power, which capital may or may not be. Too much time can not be given to making this distinction plain, fer thc careless thinker knows the great value of capital better than he knows anything else, and he will throw himself indiscriminately against any criticism of it, or any attempt tc limit its power. It must be remembered that even where capital is guilty cf grcss in justice it is often because it, too. is so driven to the wall by this overgrown money power; that for themomeut- there is nothing else for it to do. And even in criticising this over grown money power it must bo made plain that it is only when itisunpriuci pled and interferes wi lb the rights of humanity. There can be no logical ob jection to the amassing cf any number of millions when it is honestly done, as it probably can be. Even if these mil lions arc kept locked up or dispensed only for the selfish pleasure of the owner -provided again this gratification does not interfere with others1 rights-there can bc no logical crusade against them, but; if this power is deliberately used against human right?, that becomes an other and very different question, i The unprincipled money power which is able to buy up railroad?, water lines and governments, and chooses to do this, with tho result of crowding our small industries and making work scarce, is the ono factor in all the five which is always vicious and also the stroij c-st. But to get the careless public to look at this power long enough to discover its enormity one must nut distract its atten tion by railing at capital or vast but in offensive fortunes. Unfortunately tho slavish veneration of property above finer values is still deeply rooted in the best of minds, and it will always be aroused into feverish activity if money power is attacked, un less the attack is made in the most dis criminating way, unless the point al ways insisted upon is tho evil uses of this power. Misused Fortunes. The attention should then be kept fixed upon tho pernicious use to which some vast fortunes aro put, until thc public is able to set these wils side by side with the injustice dono by unions. | Only so will it ever discover that cf two j evils unions arc thc least; that the re sult of unprincipled money power is to I lessen work and wages for all, while j unions do at least protect a portion of ! humanity from this decrease and are at j the same time waking the public to the . rt-al situation. I think tho public would not have been wakened in any other way for this wascn-that the entire subject of tb? privations of labor has bien hc(h> to be aroused by anything short of au j ear th quak J. Meanwhile the..nt v. 07; s arc.^l'ojdin.q fr. cloie air d ai of TiV g'wages, \!ZTT ! y have made it possible for some working men to give expression to their side of the problem. It is from til ese, after ail, that the fundamenta] truth must come; it is the working man and woman who have known all the bitter mealing cf unending toil without due remuneration and recreation, but have left the strength to reason justly, who can see the truth as it is. The man cr woman to whom life goes easily can rarely get a clear outlook thrown the mists of prejudice which ease is always weaving. Living wages! From whose pockets, then, are these to come? They cannot bo drawn from the one source which is de liberately making work scarcer ana scarcer, and which could pey them with out missing rho sum except as it. checked a diseased ambition. They cannot; be drawn from this'source, because there is but one power which could control this greatest one, and that is public opinion, which 3 yet to be awakened. Eut neither can these higher wages come from the pockets of the rest of the world, because it also is so cramped with the conditions this overgrown power has created that it groans over the mere thought of limiting its ideals still fur ther. And yet this limitation need becnly temporary and could become its own cure, as will be seen if one only considers carefully from what source money, in the legitimate sense cf the term, is derived. What yiozxey Is. Broadly speaking, money is made by the interchange, cf all thc productions needed tc supply every possi ble ideal of living. What, then, is the first ^necessity in such an interchange? Naturaily.consum ers, and plenty of them. But what is a consumer, if it is not a human being with plenty of wants and ideals which have become so necessary to him chat he would rather work for them than do without them? There is no lack of hu man beings upon this earth, as we well ; know. But they are a drug iu the rftaf ' ket instead of a beneiir, just because so j many of them are content, or must ap- ; pear to bc content, with the mere leav- j ings of life. Naturally, the lower the scale of liv ing the fewer the productions which will be required and the more sluggish this interchange, for it is the multitude of human needs and of hands to gratify them which makes true wealth, and whatever interferes with this healthful interchange pf these two factors is the fundamental cause of poverty. Bad Effects of Poor Wage*. Two results follow,, then, this habit of paying wages so small that it be comes impassible to gratify legitimate human needs and tastes. The first is that this poorly paid class fails to keep up the healthy reaction between supply and demand, as it easily could if well paid. The second is that wages which merely keep son! and body together eventually kill one's courage, and with it the desire to supply even one's sim plest needs, lu this way we are constantly produc ing tramps and parasites, which must be supported by money paid out in char ities instead of paid living wages. But thc careless thinker does not see this, be cause he always stops with the state mi en t that the poor are poor because they are shiftless, ignorant, idle. This statement is often a cruel slan der. But even were it true in every case, the truth dees not end there. The truth will never be reached until we cease telling why people are pour and ask in- j sistently why they are shiftless, igno- j rant and idle. Doubtless the money spent in charities exceeds what would be necessary in ; wages to enable this class to take caro j of itself, but the wasteful outlay does j not step even here. From this parasitic j mass at the bottom arises not only a j physical hui a * moral contagion, from I which it is impossible to protect thc i mest" carefully guarded homes. Add, then, the expenses of charities and pe- j nal institutions, the sums spent in pro- j tecting our homes from this contagion, j and to this thc agony when death or | disgrace proves it t& have been spent in : vain. Does it not seem that it might pay to have spent this money in the begin- j ning in living wages, even thcugh, in ! his turn, the laborer spent it foolishly? j One had better be amusing himself with j spending foolishly wages which he had : earned than to become a parasite who refuses to earn at ali, and in whom all ambition, and decency even, has been | killed. Potent Public Opinion. But for two reasons it is better to look i upon this as a struggle for more work j rather than for higher wages. First, it would lessen immensely the opposition J cf unthinking public opinion, since nc j one finds fault wi th a wish to get work. ; The only difficulty would then be to ; convince that work was really scarce. j Scccud.-If a strong public opinion is ' created against all mi t hods which de prive human beings of werk, that cf I itself would ser in train conditions from | which higher wages or tiu-ir equiva lent would follow naturally and with- \ out injustice to any oue. Such a point of view would reveal readily that if it is right for a vast j money power to get control of tho j world's work solely for its own aggrau dizement nothing can bo said agaiust j unions doing the same in a small way in j self defense and fur the benefit of a; lease a part of humanity. When public opinion can be made to j take this attitude,, its criticisms will bo j turned in the right direction, and the j problem will then begin to settle itself J logically-that, i , in this great subject j tho responsibility for present conditions j and the power to control them rests with ; the five factors in the following order: Vast and unprincipled money power. : public opinion, capital, unions and the nonunion workingman. If due attention is given to criticising the first two, there will be left little time or need ) | criticise the other thre.o. Mr >. G. H. &f XR London liridjro. London bridge is constructed of gran ite and is considered among the linest j specimens of bridge architecture. The present structure was commenced iu 1824 and completed in seven years, at a cos of over 250,000. Discharge from Her Ears -Top of h'er Head Broke oui in Scrofulous Eruptions Grey/ Worse Unc'er Treatment Xi i J W? Gave Her Hood's Sarsaparilla-She Has Rosy Cheeks Now. ""When my baby was two months old she cried night an'."! dayj : seemed TO ii i gre :r :>:.; . ha*] a discharge from h<-r <. : r ;.- top of her head broke oui I:: > -rofii'.ous eruptions. The doctor gave me -<: IC thing to stop thc discJnirgv and ease the pain, but isis treatment did not cure her v.ml wc Y.'ere s ry to see She Grsw Wo,^ instead of tfeticr. The top of hoi head broke out with scrofula. A crust would form on her head and fall off. taking- the hair along with it. and this continued for two or three months, when something seemed to tell me to try Hood's Sarsaparilla; and I did so. together with Hood's Pills and Hoou:s Olive Ointment. Soon The Disch^ge Stopped and the sores were rapidly healing. In a short time her hair grew out ano she now has rosy cheeks and is al? right in every way." Mus. I. LLOYD. Spring Valley. X. Y. Hood's Sarsaparilla is thc Best-iv, 2aet the One 'True Blood Purifier. Sold by ail druggists. 81. six for S5. X. B. If you decide to take HoodV. do not be induced to buy any sub stitute. Get only Hood's. BEAUTY HATH CHARMS and all the charms which beau ty likes best to don are shown in our grand display of fash ionable jewelry for this season. Jewels like these would en hance the charms of the most fascinating belle, and surely no fair one would despise such brilliant aids to her beauty. Like personal loveliness, they conquer admiration on sight ; they score new victories at ev ery inspection. Those who look over our stock do not willingly stop .with examina tion. Beauty may now be made ea~ iy irresistible by a few judicious purchases from our display cf up to date jew elry7. L. W. FOLSOM, Jeweler and Optician, SIGN OF THE BIG WATCH, Oct. 16. NATURES REMEDY] THE BEST BLOOD PURIFIER ON EARTH. Manufactured by the American Drug Co., Washington, D. C. "r Htur ?s Reined;. " is notan old medicine, hut the product of this intelligent age It is nrepared from a formula, made hy a corps of the mos; eminent pfrnsicians in the United States coa posed of Roots, Herbs and Bark, in such happy proportions as to positively cure kl I diseases arising from impurities of the blood. "We Guarantee it to Cure Rheumatism. Kidney Diaorders, Liver Corr? plai t. Constipation, Sick and Nervous Head ache, Neuralgia. Dys; ep: ia. Fever nd Agu*-. ScrofuU, Female Complaints. Ensipdar. Nervous Affection?, Catarrh and ai Syphilitic Discuses or we will refund the money For sale by T. J. McLendon, Agi, Cypress, S. C. In Sumicr County by R. C. McMsncs, SCO UT : Edward Durant, BisbopviUe ; J. W. McCo'v, St. Charles. M Y i3-3' SOMIER RESTAURANT, Reduced Prices Regular Meals 25cts, Private Dining Room for Ladies. Dec. 30 DR. li. ALVA SOME DENTIST. office OVPR STORE OF SUMTER DRY GOODS COMPANY -Jiurauce on Main Stree*, ietween Dry Goods Co. and Durant & Son OFFICE HOURS : 9 to 1.30 ; 2 to5 o'clock. April 9. 2 Great Sontiiern Detective Ipici. CHARLOTTE. X. i\, DO ALL K NDS of legetimate Detective Wotk at reasonable rates. ARSON. MURDER, DIVORCE SPECIALTY. Match I(-tm*