We are Wot Responsible for the Blowing up of the Maine BgM?MMMMMMiJUIMMMMMMMMMBMRUT WEJ JlRE ii fj SF* (h % "St H I J hjgSMMMSSMM. ?SJSJtJMii FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF HIGH FRIGES IN SUMTER. JUST RECEIVED: A full line of Spring Pants Patterns. 30 Rolls of Fancy Matting. * 1 solid ease of latest pattern, colored bosom Shirts at 99c. 1 solid ease of Embroideries-Patterns and Pri?es to suit eyer jone. J. RETTENBERG & SOWS. --=--?w-mmmtmmmmm--amm WEDNESDAY, MABCH 16, IS! ?_ The Sumter Watchman was tonne in 1850 and the True Southron in 18( Che Watchman and Southron now i &e combined circulation and influer cf both of the o!d papers, and is mai festly the best advertising medium Sam ter. IS THIS JUSTICE? A lenient jury makes publio lawle: ness. Wheo a court of justice saves t life of a red-handed murderer who b forfeited all claims to mercy by killii in cold-Mood a good citizen, the peep ara not to ba condemned fer belie vii that law ts made and administered f tba protection of the cr i m io al classi and not for thc protection of tba Hvi and property of the law-abidtog pei pie. The germ of lyneb lav is nursed inj life and fostered by the failure of til law to properly punish the crimina who are carried toto court that jastk may be meted out to them? . Justice^ ia itself, baa co element c ; mercy ; it is not mixed with tecdernee not baieney. ?kao? justice is cold and cruel aad i founded upon the inexorable law of na ture that says that which ? maa sow ?bat masc he also reap. There are crimes that no punish men ?ava tba death penalty fits, and justice i chewed when that extreme penalty i not meted out upon the person of th gnfity aso. < Such a crime was the brutal mut der of W J. Lee, and auch a erina ina! waa Charles Williams, who wai tried yesterday, bot recommended t< j the mercy of the court by a lenien and tender hearted jory. Death 01 fte gallows was his just deserts aux what the public bad the right to de ,. maud and expect. But the lenten: jury placed it beyond the power o the judge tn impose the death sen tence, and the gallows was defraud ec of its legitimate prey Justice stooc ready to avenge the horrid crime, bu! the jury interposed its powerful veto, i and the blood of William J. Lee still cri?e alood from the ground foi the exact and foll justice supposed tc V:" be guaranted by the laws of the land. Charlee Williams bas gone to the peu itentiary for life, but is that adequate punishment for his crime ! Is that the ||ii punishment that fits bis brutal mur der of the man who fed bim from his own table ? Ia that punishment fot ? stealing behind an unsuspecting man v;via the darkness of night and crushing ::- in his skull with ao axe4? Is that pun? ishment for depriving a young wife of husband and protestor, and an in? fant child of a father ? ls that jus? tice? No, it is neither justice nor right It is a miscarriage of justice ss great and flagrant as bas ever come under oar observation, and the evil that will spring from it will be greater and more griev? ous than could possibly result for any crime that could be com? mitted by any criminal or criminals. It bas incensed the friends, relatives and acquaintances of the dead man and the public generally, and has strengthened the prevalent belief that the courts are uncertain and unsatis factory places to go when justice is wanted and a criminal is to be pun isbed. Tba people who are io favor of swift and summary punishment for well established and undoubted crimes are entrenched io their posi? tion, and we who have plead in sea? son nod oat of season io favor of patient submission to forms of law tire stricken dumb, fo? law is a hoi low mockery, justice sod has taken flight from the temple where she was j wont to preside in other days ! Charles Williams was either guilty of the morder of William J hze lo cold blood and with the most diabolic malice, or be was innocent ; there was no middle ground, the evidence direct and implied, as well as that which was no; brought out in the trial, made it im? possible for ao impartial miod to do other than to choose one or the other j horn cf the dilemma. If guilty his crime merited the death penatty ! no other punishment was adequate to his heinous crime ; if inno? cent he should have gone forth from the Court House a free man. Yet the lenient jury found bim guilty with a recommendation for mercy. Ia God's name, what mercy was he enti? tled to, if ho was guilty ? what mercy did be show the man whom he brained with an axe ! where was there justice io asking meroy for so guilty and cruel a wretch ? It was not meroy, bot a len? iency, a miscarriage of justice inexpli? cable and inexcusable. And the jury is responsible. May God forgive them, each and every one, for thc wrong done their county and their State. When there is a lynching io Sumter County, wheo some red-handed mur? derer is put to death without form of law by an outraged people, let them re Sect on the first fruits of their leniency. The presentment made by the Grand Jury on Thursday last immediately be? fore that body was discharged for the present term of court should never have been written, lt is a sweeping in? dictment ?f the city of Sumter and of tbs magistrates of the coun? ty. This city ia alleged to be in? fested with dens of infamy and vice, but oo sp?cifications are msde. This is an indictment that cannot bring the guilty parties into court for trial and punishment, and no one should know better than the members of the Gra?d Jury that such an indictment would be promptly thrown ont were it brought before that body. The Grand Jury bas maligned the reputation of the city without using the power within its hands to eradicate the evils. If the Grand Jury knew that the evils complained of existed io this city it should have gone a step further, prepared an indictment and summoned witnesses, or it should have remained silent until prepared to do so. A general charge is worse than no charge at ail. An irjustice was also done the Mag? istrates of the county when the Grand Jury asserted that some of them were negligent io performing their duties. Who, save 'the members of the Grand Jury, know which of the Magistrates have bceo negiigeot and which have not ? By making a general charge each aod every Magistrate bas been made liable to the charge. If some of them have neglected their duties, why net specify ? It is wrong to condemn j the faithful officers along with the on- j faithful. The Grand Jury bad the in j formation requisite and the right to speoify the Magistrates of whom com? plaint was made, and the Magistrates who failed to perform their plaia duty should have been named io tho pre? sentment, as a mere act of justice io the other Magistrates who have proven faithful. We are opposed to measures of re? form that injure tba inooosnt atong with tho guilty; we are opposed to in? dictments tbat damn feo inoooent per? sons along with one criminal and leave the public to gues9 which of the eleven is the criminal Seekers After Gold know tbey rtay be dn sppointed, bot seekers after bealtb take Hood's Sars&parilla with tbe utmost cocfi deoce that it will do them wonderful good. Hood's Pills are the oaly piils to take witb Hood's Sarsaparilla. Easy, yet efficient. Hon. J, Wm Stokes' Speech. Wheo the bill to appropriate fifry million dollars for tho defence of the country w** ander consideration in the Hou^e of Representatives many of the Coh{?re8=m:in took advantage of the time allowed for debate to speak in favor of the hill There was no opposition, and the ppeakers? merely placed them? selves oo record sod pledged the support of their constituents to the goveromoat in cane of need. The Hon J Wm. Smokes," the Representative from this district *pok'1 as follows : Mr Speaker, 1 take it that no argu ment is necessary to commend this bill to the judgment of this House or of the county. It is, in fact, but an expression of the conclusions which have already been reached in the minds of all informed people in this House and in this country at large It is scarcely necessary, either, Mr. Speaker, that I should state what al! must be aware of, that the people of the State which I represent are in favor of this and of every measure which may be deemed necesssary in the wisdom of our Chief Executive for the prcservatien of our national honor and vindication of the traditions of which our flag is the symbol There is scarcely a day, Mr Speak- j er, I might say scarcely an hour, since the relation between this conn try and the Spanish Government be? came strained that the people of my State have not been sending words of encouragement and assurances of support to die executive department of this Government. The entire militia of our State-infantry, caval ry, and artillery-are already pledg ed. My people are ready for peace, and they are ready for war. In calm expectancy they await the issue Within twenty foo' hours they may be mobilized ; and once in the field, they will go as far 88 the farthest in support of the dignity of tbe nation and the honor of the flag I have to day, Mr Speaker, trans? mitted, at the request of parties from my State, assurances of that sort and requests for the address of enlisting officers. In short,' Mr. Speaker, never in her history has South Caro lina more sincerely nor more unani? mously illustrated the motto which for well-nigh a century has inspired her sons-Al ways ready with our lives and our property" for tbe de? fense of liberty and for the honor of our entire country. [Applause.] Wo are granfied to learn from what seems reliable authority, that there ?B a good prospect of the appointment of Capt. E. H. Holtnao as postmaster of oar city. While we regretted hie leav? ing the Democratic party before the Presidential eieotioR and openly allying himself with tho Republicans, still we acknowledge the right of every man to have and act upon euch opinions of national policy as he shall deem best for the country We are entirely satisfied that his appointment will give very general satisfaction to both Democratic and Republican patrons of this office. Tho State's Reward. There have recently been some in? quiries as to whether the reward of? fered for the Lake City murderers by the governor applied to a conviction in the United States court Yester? day a representative of The State asked about the matter at the exe? cutive office, eliciting the information thal the reward by the governor was offered for the apprehension and con I viction of the parties who committed ? the murder ; inasmuch as the parties j cannot be tried for minder in the' Federal courts, the reward conse? quently applies only to a conviction in the ?tate cour and has no bear? ing whatever upon any of the other charges that might be brought in the Federal court.-The State. ' A SPANISH THEORY ! AS TO THE CAUSE OF THE MAINE DISASTER. Havan?, March ll.-To day Cap tain Peral, president of the Spanish naval court of inquiry into the cause of the Maine disaster, granted au in? terview to the correspondent of the Associated Press, whom he author? ized to say it was the first and only interview he had given any newspa? per on the subject of the inqtairy. i Captain Peral speaks excellent Eng lis!? With him in the naval court is Lieutenant Salas. He has power to call in for consultation any army or ! navy ^engineer or expert on ex plosives or marine building. He has twice called in such, and will do so again when necessary. Captain Peral said : I 'Our divers are hard at work ex I ami o i ?jg tbe bull of the Maine Great j difficulty is experienced, owing to the j j deep med in which the bull is buried ? j and the condition of the wreck for j ward of amidships The whole for- j ward part of the ship is a mass of j iron and steel debris. We have hoist -? ed up mach of it ; but in the mud it ! is not always possible to tell what j parts of the ship, armor, deck beams or stanchions are found, the explosion so changed their positions "We think we have located the j ram or prow, but not in tbe position j supposed The forward turret, mount? ing two large guns, was blown clear off the hull into tbe water on the star? board We shall continne our work and try to examine the huU forward i down to the keel lt is possible that we may propose to the American au? thorities to raise the hull by means of the floating'dock brought from Eng land and now in Havana harbor "We cannot believe there was an external explosion of a torpedo, for the following reasons : A torpedo, following the line of least resistance, must have blown a great bole in the mud at the bottom of the harbor. No each hole was found A torpedo must have thrown a latge mass of water into the air if exploded at a depth of only twenty-five feet or so, or at least have produced a wave reaching to the other ships and the shore* of the harbor We have ex amined every one on shipboard and j on shore who saw the explosion, but no one can be fcund who remarked any upheaval of the warier or a big wave "A torpedo explosion always kills fish in the vicinity. No fish were kill ed by the Maine disaster, as fisher men who have known the harbor for many years testify To produce the effects noted in the wreck, a torpedo would have to be of enormous size, fully 150 or 200 kilos. "I am therefore of the opinion that the explosion occurred within the ship I know and respect Captain Sigsbee, and I believe the Amer? ican regulations affecting naval conduct, which I have read and found admirable, were carefully observed But some things which cannot be foreseen are bound to hap pen in any navy 1 have been read ing of the explosion on the English ship Doterel, which the English be lieve was caused by chemical com? bustion in the paint used for quick drying. I have also read an English account of shells that were found burst open because of hardening points that split and produced heat ; thus flashing the powder in the in? terior of tbe shell .'As I have said, I do not believe there waa any carelessness on the part of the officers of the Maine. I do believe there was an accident which could not possibly have been foreseen. Such is my judgment, at present, with the facts that are in possession of the court. W7hen our court of inquiry finally decides, its judgment will be in accordance with the best evidence that can be pro? cured. We are having pians, dia? grams and drawings of the wreck made as fast as the divers are able to give us definite information." Captain Peral waa mo3t courteous j during the entire interview. He j illustrated nome of the points he made by ink sketches on the desk before him He spoke as a judge would whose miod was ready to weigh any evidence brought before the court over which he presided. Captain Pera! requested this corre? spondent to make it known that he had granted the interview iii his un official capacity, and not as presi? dent of the Spanish court of inquiry, which the ?aw forbids him to do. Military Department of South Created. Two Warships Purchased. Rushing Work of Fort?fi. cation. Washington. March ll -Hoping for and expecting the best and prepared for the worst, about represents the sit? nation in the war and navy department these days The officia!? still profess confidence that there is to be a peaceful outcome of the present threatening dif? ficulties, but meanwhile prepare with serenity to meet their doty if events should shape themselves otherwise. The most important and sigoifioaot developomeors of the day were tho de? cision of (be hoa-e naval committee to ' place ia the naval appropriation bill a provision for three new battleships and a (.occlusion oa the part of the secretary of war to issue, tomorrow morning a new military department, iocludicg within i