University of South Carolina Libraries
Il 3Pam aUKTKS WATCHMAN, xataioiahed April* 1850. "Be Just and Fear not-Let all the Ends thou Aims't at, be thy Country's, thy God's and Truth's." THE TR?B SOUTHRON, Estabiiihed jane, is*6 I Coasolidated Aug. 2,1381. SUMTER, S. C., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15,1897. Sew Series-Yol, XVII. Mo. 20 Publish Srery W?dESsday, JNT. C3k Osteen, S?FMTBR, S. C. TERMS I ?1.50 per ann BID-ia cd vac ce. A?7BRTI8 9 M lit! One Square first insertion.................?$1 00 Bvery. subsequent insertion........ 60 ^. Contracts for three montos, or longer nil "be made at redaced rates. . All commonicatiotis whichsubserve private interests will be charged 'for atad reniements. Obituaries and tributes of respects will be charged for. & Will Yet be Free. Spirited R?p?jr to McKinley's Mobile, AJa, Pee. 7.-Tba Hon. Hanois Taylor, ex min ister to Spain, gives oat the following : The Associated^ Press has requested me to expresa my views as to that part of tfcfe President's message which re late? to the Coban question. Potting aside the irrelevant matter hy which it i*. encumbered, the sub stacee of the only recommendation ac? tually made by the executive to con? gress upon that subject is (hat this government cannot venture to do any? thing to put an end co the inhuman strife which daring the last three years has red aced the island almost toa de sert, because there ia the prospect of the seulement between the combatanIB upon the basis of a so-called plan of autonomy lately patfortb by the Sagas? ta ministry. I believe that congress should firmly and scornfully reject such a policy of irresolution and con-action because the assumption upon which it is founded is an empty illusion. The vital ques? tro afc issue has oot been to ached by theirevolationary effort of Sagasta to end the war bj meaos of a craftily in? incomplete proposition that carries with it no constitutional guarantee whatever AH who are fami?ar with the Spanish legislation know that a valid grant of ' aa autonomous colonial system, that in? volves not only the repeal of all exist? ing laws upon that subject but also "the transfer of the control; of ? .large part of the-uatioual revenues of Spain to a J colonial l?gislature, cannot be made ex? cept by an act passed by both houses of the cortes and approved by the queeo regent; The effort just made io secure tba* result by a mere royal decree, un? supported by parlimenary action, has therefore beet jostiy derided by Romero Robledo, the ovni?ter of justice, as a purely revolutionary proceeding in defiance of the constitution. Only one law looking to home rule in Coba has ever been ca acted, the Abarseza law of 1895, which passed both houses of the cortes uraoimoosly | beoaase it.was utterly worthless. Two yean3 latter, wheo C?novas was forced to put forth, a scheme of home rule he tried to make it apparently genuine upon its face and for that reason he veli knew that the cortes woeld never enact it toto law Under such circum? stances be invented an expedient for circumventing the legislature by aa gaming that tbe entire legislative power of the Spanish kingdom is vested in tba erown alone. . Sagast?, confronted by che same difficulty, bas in like man? ner resorted to the un coo s tit uti on al at? tempt to legislate by royal decree. Knowing that the nation is against him he does not dare tos?ate his proposals clearly opon the main question ; and it ia known that if he ?boold assert even bis incomplete sebease to the pres? ent cortes it would be either renounced entirely or so amended as to deprive it of all vitality. Until the Sagasta plan has first been enacted into law by the cartes, it cannot rise to the dignity of a- proposal ; from a legal point of view it is only so mach waste paper. ID one particnlar the cabinets at Washington and Madrid arc in inden ticaily the same situation. Both are striving with all their might either to defy or circumvent the national will as embodied io their respective legisla* tores. Bot even if the Sagasta plan possessed constitutional validity a careful inspection of its artful terms most reveal the faot that like the pr?t?e tiona sham pot forth hy Oaoovas it con? tains two cardinal provisos that would enable the borne government to reduce the whole scheme at any moment to sere The aotoorat of Coba has ever been tba governor-general aod the pre? sent plan contemplates his continuance aa such with power to crash by veto any and every act of the colonial l?gis? lature. The following are tbe terms of the provision io question. "The supreme authority shall be vested in the governor general, act lng for the crown, to which he shall swear allegiance. As a representa? tive of tbe home government he shall have command of the military forces and sba!' act as delegate of the de? partments of State, war, navy and the colonies. Be is empowered to suspend the publication of national Jaws ahould he deem auch publica t?oo inadvisable As executive of the insular government it ebal! be his duty to sanction and proclaim th colonial statutes. Should be conoid* an enactment of the insolar par h"; ment liable to endanger the nations legislation or Spain's sovereign it terest in the colony he is authorize to forward said enactment before il approval to the council of ministei of the kingdom who will decide witl in two months Should the hom government fail to decide within tb above specified time, the governoi general shall sanction and proclaii the act of the insular parlairaent. In plain language, the governor general can destroy any act of th insular parliament by refusing to "ear ctiba and proclaim -it," or he cai have it destroyed by the ministry a Madrid, of which be is the mer* agent. The fact that the members o such an impotent assembly are to b elected is of no importance whatever I have attempted to demonstratt elsewhere that the primary canse o the endless conflict is economic ant that this difficulty can never be re moved until Coba is independent o: possessed of-an insular parliamen that can regulate absolutely her owr tariffs Nothing could be more dan g?rons than the device employed tc obscure the fact that no such conces sion i? contemplated. A Cuban par liment is to be given the power tc form its own tariff, fixing both import and export duties provided the as sent of the home government can bc obtained thereto In case of a disa greement "the point in dispote sh al! be submitted to a committee of the members of vthe cortes, consisting ol an eqnal number of peninsular and Cubans," Everybody knows that the Cuban deputies in the cortes at Mad rid are mere men of straw returned by the governor general. Even if they were independent no changa could ever be made in existing tariffs without the consent of the peninsular Spaniards, who wo old never listen to such a thing. At the end of three years of whole sale destruction, provoked by Spain through unprecedented political and economic oppression that has brought death and famine to hundreds of thousand s. the Spanish crown at last confesses that the Cubans are right and that their wrongs should now be redressed by 8 genuine grant of home rule. When the preferred scheme is examined it is found to be not only indefinite and illegal, but absolutely wanting in sincerity upon the two vital points at issue. Such proposal has been extorted by the results of a struggle that has so completely broken the military and financial power of Syain that a conquest of the island is how hopeless After expending $300.000, 000 and after sending over the sea 300 0000 soldiers, Spain bas a fighting force in the island of less than 70,000, while the revolutionary army, now in possession of the greater part of the country, numbers about 50,000. Who has the right to say that the heroic men who have main tained in the maniguas of Cuba such a conflict against such odds are not capable of self-government ? Who will say that all the fruits that they have won throngh death by sword and famine should, io the boor of victory be surrendered for an empty sham which means only new bond? age under their old and pitiless op? pressors? And yet (his heartless, .selfish mes? sage has not ooe word of eocoorage meot or sympathy for this suffering people now dying and starving, by thousands at oar very doors Io it they are contempt no asl y deemed as no better than their persecutors For? tunately for the booor of a geoerous Christian nation, this message with oool a?d serene cynicism admits that it does not represent the sentiments of the American people as expressed by con? gress a year ago io the joint r?solu doo in which both booses declared that a state of war did exist io Coba and that it should be so recognized by the government. Congress is politely told to attend to its awo business; that if the r?cognition of belligerency shall become necessary in the future the executive power will aot without ooo gessiooal interference. Ic is generally understood that this deliberate conspiracy to thwart the will of the nation ts to be carried out through an appeal to the speaker of the house or representatives, wbo is expect? ed to so manipulate tts rales as to pre? vent the passage of the pending belli? gerency resolution which the seo ate bas already approved Io other word??, the tyranny of the speakership in the house is to be 60 used io behalf of Spanish tyranny in Cuba as to prevent any ex? pression whatever of sympathy with or recognition of a government whose *.tafus bas within the last few days been described as follows : ..Washington, Dec 3 -Consul G?r erai Lee has informed the State department that the insurgents in Cuba elected and installed at Yaza, Puerto Principe, on October 20, the follow? ing offisera : Pr-sidont, Bartolome Masso; vice president, Domingo Men-! dez CapofG ; secretary of war, Jo?c ! B. Alem?n ; secretary of the treasury, j Ernisto Font Stear liog ; secretary of! foreign affairs, Aodreas Moreno dc Ia j Torre; v. secretary of the interior, Manuel R Silva; general-in chief, Maximo Gomez; lieutenant-general, Calixto Garcia." The house of representatives is either to be muzzled or called opoo to declare that /this revolutionary government which bas virtually crushed the power of Spain in Cuba, has no snob de facto existence as will authorize a recogni? tion of war between the contending parties. That absurd contention be? comes the more grotesque wheo we re? member that Spaio has expended with* out effect against such revolutionary government far more money and men than Great Britain employed during our entire revolutionary war. There are limits even to the patience of the American people; and tbe time bas now come when the executive power should be made to feel through public demonstration that the na'ioo wilt no longer permit its sovereign will in a righteous cause to be entirely set aside in the interest of a tremulous, selfish, short-sighted policy. The whole con? test now centres in the passage of the belligerency resolution pending in the boose. If that cannot be carried, then nothing whatever eau be done to end a strife that bas been going on for fifteen years out of the last twenty-nine, and which after destroying our commerce with tbe island bas become a war-cloud that to-day obscures every business enterprise. If the present administra? tion proposes to indefinitely postpone such uncertainty at the cost of every business interest it must be prepared to accept the consequeoces At this last stage of the straggle there can hardly be a doubt that if belligerency should be recognized, wi tb io three months the insurgents would be so dominant in the islandahat the war could shortly be ended by the recognition cf Coban independence. Those who are best informed firmly be? lieve that without one word of aid or sympathy from us that result will be attained within twelve or eighteen months. If bungling diplomacy shall permit such an event the situation may assume a serious form that few seem to contemplate. If we scorn and spit upon the Cubans until victory and in? dependence are won without aid or comfort from us, why should they noj turn to ooe or the other of the great maritime powere that will theo be only too eager to supply ali their wants and to enter into the closest relations with them ? We have for a long time de? clared that no European power other than Spain shall ever possess Cuba. We may so blonder as to be forced to maintain that contention at the point of the sword Out of such possible difficulties the way is now clear and easy. Let the pending belligerency resolution be promptly passed by the house and Spain's power in Cuba will collapse like a punctured balloon. For that reason she is making a desperate fight against it with the aid of the present administration. Only through the triumph of the revolutionary govern? ment oan permanent and lasting peace be established in Coba ; only through a prompt and decided expression of sympathy with that government oan we extricate ourselves from a dilemma whioh is fast growing into the most short-sighted and disgraceful episode io our natl on a! history v HANNIS TAYLOR WILL SELL STATE COT? TON. Penitentiary Board to Dis? pose of Its 1,500 Bales. The regular monthly meeting of the board of directors of the State penitentiary was held at the institu? tion yesterday. It being the last meeting of the year quite a large amount of routine work bearing upon the annual report was done. Governor Ellerbe, who is an ex officio member, attended and urged the board to dispose of its cotton some 1,500 bales-at once. The re? commendation of the board was adopted and the cctton will be sold forthwith to the buyer offering the best price for the lot-The State. Mrs. McKinley's Condition Mer Rest Less Peaceful--Hie Presi? dent in Attendance Canton, Ohio, Dec. 9.-The day bas been almost devoid of incident in the room of Mrs McKinley, who still lingers at the point of death' Her rest during the day seemed a trifle less peaceful than heretofore, and at times sbe experienced trouble in breatbiog, tbe trouble being accompanied by ap? parent distress in the throat, the direct evidence of which was an ominous rat? tle. At neither of bis calls to-day did the attending pbyMcian note a distinct change in tbe patients condition, and each time be expressed ?ropes of sur? vival for some hours ;o ouse. Presi? dent ?McKinley has been at the bedside nearly all day and will remain there until midnight. The patient has taken no nourishment for many hours. Four Bales to the Acre. Mr. E. D. Thompson's Phe? nomenal Crop "Paid Hand? somely." The Yorkville Enquirer reproduced The News and Courier's recent edito* rial relative to the phenomenal orop of cotton raised ou ooe aore this year by Mr. E. D Thompson, of this county, and I send you Mr. Thompson's reply to the inquiry you made as to whether or not the crop was profitable, which he furnishes to the Enquirer : Editor of the Yorkville Enquirer : Io your issue of December 2, 1 note a suggestion from The News and Courier to the effect that many people would probably be interested to know whether or not there was a profit io the crop of four bales which I recently gathered from an acre of cotton. At the time of writiog the report it did not occur to me but what I was sufficiently explicit on this subject to enable any cotton reiser to figure the whole matter out for himself, and with entire satisfaction, but if you will kindly allow me the space I will be pleased to go into fur? ther details. The crop paid me, and it paid hand? somely. Here are the figures for fer? tilizing : 1,033 poa ods Charlotte acid $6 71 433 pou nd 3 kain it 3 24 233 soluble guano 2 09 50 bushels cotton seed 5 00 6 two-hcrse loads diable manure 3 00 Total $20 04 Now comes io the labor. Estim?t irg the labor of a hand at 50 cents a day and that of a boree at 25 cents a day the expense for . Work $ 6 95 Picking, 4.125 pounds at 40 cents 16 50 Ginning 4 00 Bagging and ties 1 20 Hauling to marget 2 00 $30 65 For my cotton, when sold, I reoeived an average of '6J cents per pound 1,722 pounds $105 47 100 bushels of cotton seed, worth 10 00 $115 47 Subbtract total expense, 50 69 Leaving net profit of $ 64 78 Of course I have left oat certain ex? penses, including interest, eic that are usually counted in ; but the value of the fertilizer that. has not yet been made available, and die calculation is close enough for all practical purposes The cost of my cotton, it will be seen, was not quite three cents a pound. This I know i* so low as to be almost beyond belief with many farmers ; but. in my opinion, it is easily possible to make further reducion io the cose. Now, before I conclude, allow me to make another observation, As the result of my report already published I have beeo literally overwhelmed with letters asking for cotton seed aod for various points of information. Ip re? gard to the cotton seed I will do the best I can to carry out my proposition to send a pound to all who send me twelve cents with which to pay post? age; but I oannot undertake to answer all of the letters that I am receiving. This I regret very much, but positive? ly I caooot spare the time Respect? fully, E. D. Thompson, Point, S C , December 3, 1897 Doom of Durrant. San Francisco, Dec. 3.-Late this afternoon the supreme court dispell ed the last hope of W. H. T Durrant, the murderer of Blanche Lamont and Minnie Williams by disposing in a Hummary manner of his two appeals In a written opinion from the pen of Chief Justice Beatty, which is con curred in by all but one of his asso ciates, the court affirms the judgment of Judge Baber8 > io remanding the prisoner to San Quentin until tbe date set for bis excution, but he cites the sentencing of Durrant to be hanged on November ll, and remands the caseto the superior court with io struction8 to proceed according to law AB the remittitur was ordered issued forthwith and the court holds that excution can only be stayed now by the issuance of a certificate of probable cause it only remains to re sentence the condemned man, which will probably be done to morrow Justice G a rou tte alone dissented from this opinion, maintaining that Durrant'8 appeals should have been dismissed, as the time required by law for their perfection had been al? lowed to lapse. Prof. Rudolph Virchow, the great scientist of the Berlin University, cele? brated bis 50th oooiverrary as a teaob er in that instution a few days ago. On the day before the anniversary, while lecturing to bis olass, he was sud? denly overcome with weakness ?nd was unable to go on. As bo is 76 years | old, alarm was felt for bis condition, i bu? he recovered shortly, and was able J to receive the congratulations of col- ? leagues and others on the following day j at his home. THE WILSON ACT VS. THE DINGLEY ACT. "TARIFF FOR DEFICIENCY." New York World. Washington, Dec. l.-The Dingley Tariff act aa a producer of revenue promises to be a three-to-one failure when compared wilh the Wilson law. Upon the basis of results BO far at? tained, it is estimated by unpreju? diced authority that the first year's de? ficit under the Dingley law will equal the deficiency for the three years under the Wilson law. The statement made by Secretary Gage that the excess of expenditures over receipts for the first year under the new tariff will not go beyond $25,000,000 is ridiculed by financial experts. fiven permitting Mr. Gage to use the entire $58,000,000 derived from the sale of the Union Pacific rail road, as though it had been obtained through the collection of duties on importations, his estimates are still below those made by reliable ac? countants in the government service at New York. The officials of the administration have become so alarmed at the con tinuous deficit producing character of the Dingley bill that they have resort? ed to unusual methods in endeavor? ing to hideits defects Such an opportunity was presented when the Union Pacific railroad was sold to the reorganization syndicate, and the first payment on this account, $13 645,250, appeared yesterday in the treasury statement among the ordinary receipts of the government for November By thus joggling with figures Secretary Gage was able to present a surplus of receipts over expenses for the month. The deficit by months since June 30 has been : July, $11,073,000 August, 14'565,000 September, 3,235,000 October, 9,310,000 November, 8,543,000 Secretary Gage's figures for No? vember, secured by carrying into the cash $13,645,250 paid on account of the Union Pacific sale, make a sur? plus for the month of $5,553,000 But this money is no part of the revenue derived from the Dingley act, and must be deducted from gov? ernment revenues to ascertain what the law is producing When President McKinley succeed ed Mr. Cleveland the available cash in the treasury was $212,837,255 Immediately the preparation of a high tariff bill commenced, and under its influence, importers having taken ad vantage of low duties and fearing much higher ones, the cash in the treasury was increased from March 1 to August 1, uutil it reached $233, 016.000. From this point, with the Dingley act in full operation, the deficit has continued uutil November 30, when it was. for that portion of the fiscal year already completed, $46 000,000, and running at a ratio of more than $100,000,000 for the entire year During the three years the Wilson act was in operation the deficit was : 1895, $42,805,000 1896, <2f\203,000 1897, 18,052,000 Total, 86.060,000 Admitting that there will be an in? crease of importations during the lat? ter part of the year, it is claimed by experts whose authority cannot be questioned, that the deficit will reach at least $85,000,000, which will be as much of a deficit in oue year as was accumulated under the Wilson act in three years. When President Cleveland assumed office March 4, 1893, there was an available cash balance in the treas ury of $124 000,000 When Mr McKinley became President on March 4, 1897, there was an available cash balance of $212,000,000. The balance, aside from the ordi? nary revenues for Mr. Cleveland's term, was increased by the sale of bonds to meet the excessive and per manent expenditures that had been saddled upon the treasury by the preceding Republican congress. These bond issues were made as fol? lows : 1 February, 1894, $50,000,000 5s 2 November, 1894, 50,000,000 5s 3 February, 1895, 62,315,400 4s 4 February, 1896, 100,000,000 4s Total, $262,315,400 Upon these issues the premiums realized amounted to ?31,138,786 (cents omitted), as follows : First issue, $8,633 295 Second issue, 8,538.400 Third issue, 2,800,844 Fourth issue, 11,166.246 Adding the principal and premium, the Cleveland acministrstion increas ed its revenue from thia extraordi? nary source to the extent of $293, 454,186 And of this amount Cleveland left to his successor $212,000,000. ? MATTERS IN MEXICO. Issuing More Silver Bonds Preparing to Receive Bryan. City of Mexico. Deo. 8 -The cham? ber of deputies has approved the bill aothoriziog the minimier of finance to issue a new series of 5 per cent, silver bonds of the interior dcb: to the amoont of $20,000,000, making the total authorization $60.000.000 The bili is now before the senate These bonds are issued to convert the floating debt in the form of subsidies, port works, payments etc., and as a means of mak? ing the interna] debt uniform. These bonds are always io active demand in Europe, where they are mostly held by small investors, who regard them as an excellent form for placing their sav? ings. The bonds are quo.ed at 78 to 80 in this market. The bill bas gone to the senate from the chamber of deputies, approving the contract with the Mexican Telegraph company for the introduction of an in? ternational cable and telegraph service. There is much interest shown IQ Bryan's approaching visit and tbe dis? position is to treat him as a distin? guished American without regard to his political standing as the chief of the Democratic party. He will be cordial? ly recoived by the government and will receive many attentions. The Amerioan residents in various cities are organizing reception committees. The Newberry College Claim. Washington, December 8-Rep? resentative Lat im er arrived here to? day and is delighted to find that his Newberry College bill has been placed at the head of the private Calendar in the House. The bill has already passed the Senate, has the unamimous report of the committee on claims in the House, and there is no reason why it should not be pass* ed beyond the fact that Speaker Reed refused to open the door to the pay? ment of war claims dnring the extra session. The McKinley Prosperity. Fall River, Mass, December 8. At a general meeting of the Cotton Manufacturers' Association it was voted unanimously to reduce all wages in the mills of -the city, the amount and time of the reduction be? ing left to a comnittee, which for some time has had charge of the matter. It is understood the cut will not he lees than 10 per cent and that it will go into effect on January 1, The cut will affect 28,000 operatives, who are paid an aggregate weekly wage of $180,000 SUICIDE OP A JURIST. ' Helena, Mont. Dec. 7 - Judge Horace R. Buck, associate, justice of the eupreme court of Montana, shot himself through the right eye aboot midnight at his home in Lenox, a suburb of Helena He had spent the evening with a party of friends at a neighbor'** house, seeming very cheerful. Auer chatting for a while with his family, he went to his room, and soon afterwards thc shot that end? ed his life' was heard. His wife ran upstairs and found him lying on the floor, dead The judge had been breaking down in health for some time and it is thought was seized with a sudden impulse to end his un? easiness. He was 44 years of age, a native of Vicksburg, Miss , and a graduate of Yale. He came to Mon? tana in 1879. Christmas cards, calendars, bookleis and gift books io large assortment and hand? somer desists than ever shown before. H. G. Osteen & Co BTJCKLEN'S ARNICA SALVE. The best Salve ia the world for Cuts Brui5es, Soras, Ulcers, Salt Rheum, Fever Sore, Tetter, Chapped Hands, Chilblains, Corns and all Skia Eruptions, and positively cure Pilot or no pay required. It is guaranteed to give perfect satisfaction, or money rel ended priao 25 cents per box; For sale by Dr J. F* W". Dc Lorene. ROYAL BAKING POWDAR CO., NEW YORK.