The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, December 15, 1897, Image 1
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.
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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.