Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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ki mm TD the Voters of the Proposed New County of Lee. Fellow Citizens: It is to be re? gretted that the agitation for the for? mation of a new county has again arisen, and that this matter should once more disturb the public mind. Twice before has the attempt to form a new county been defeated at the polls. Private interests and personal am? bition are largely responsible for this continued agitation. "We think this agitation proceeds from two classes of men-First, those who desire to speculate in real estate about the proposed county seat : and, secondly, those who desire to obtain public office. The public at large will secure but few of these benefits, and their prop? erty instead of being benefitted will have to bear increased taxation. Does the record sustain the forego? ing statements? Let us see : In the year 1896 the proposed coun? ty of Salem was defeated at the polls. Efforts were made to have the county and State boards of canvassers reverse the verdict of the people, but these failed. In the year 1898 the agitators changed the name to Lee County and slightly changed the lines, all for the purpose of evading the requirements of the law. This scheme was again defeated at the polls. New tactics are now being resorted to. Zigzag surveys in Kershaw and Darlington Counties, as the map shows, have been made, the object be? ing to include those individuals favor? able to this last project, and exclude those who are opposed to it. The so-called survey, it is said, was made in part, by counting the revolu? tions of a buggy wheel while driving along the public road. Even by this extraordinary method only a bare fraction of ten and one half square miles above the Constitu? tional minimum has been obtained. A block of territory two and one-half miles each way and amounting to two or three large plantations is the nar? row margin claimed by its promoters. A competent corps of surveyors to resurvey these lines will be put in the field in a few days by men who are de? termined that the truth shall be ascer? tained regardless of whether the result be favorable or unfavorable. During the United States census last year a topographical survey was made for the purpose of the census, and it was discovered that two of the new counties in South Carolina, viz : Bamberg and Cherokee, have less square miles than the minimum re? quired by the Constitution, and are now, so to speak, unconstitutional counties. The truth shall be known about the Lee County area at whatever cost Again, the assessed values of prop? erty in the propsed new county is put down in the petition at about $1,700, OOO. This is also only a small fraction above the Constitutional limit, and as the record shows, is only a result of a conjecture. The truth about this fact will also be carefully ascertained. Now, as to the Public Offices. Four years ago it was given out that Bishopville simply wanted to be the County Seat for the public good 12nd the public convenience. She wanted none of the offices. When the Primary Election came off, Bishopville and vicinity had at least one candidate, and in some instances two, in the field for nearly every one of these public offices, and succeeded in electing some of them. The files of the newspaper then pub? lished at Bishopville will show this to be true. This palpable breach of good faith so disgusted some of its former ad? herents in Kershaw County and else? where, that they are now opposing the present new county. z Again, four years ago the village of Bishopville promised that if made the county seat, it would furnish all the public buildings for the new county, free, and without cost to the tax? payers. A public meeting was held and the promise ratified. So soon, however, as the election was over and the new county supposed to have been estab? lished, an effort was made to borrow $15,000 from the State Sinking Fund Commission upon the obligation of the new county wherewith to erect these buildings. A county's obligation could only be paid by taxation levied upon the prop? erty in the new county. This act was such a breach of good > faith that a circular signed by a num- ! ber of prominent gentlemen residing in the new county was published and distributed broadcast, denouncing the attempt to impose this large debt upon the people, and threatening to call a new election to change the coun? ty seat from Bishopville to some other point. Some of these circulars are still in existence and will speak for them? selves. It is now proposed, as we see in the public prints, to make a deed to the Opera House just erected in Bishop? ville and donate the same for a Court House. The public records in the Clerk's Office at Sumter will show that there is a 85,000.00 mortgage upon this Opera House, and we learn that an addition? al ?1,000.00 has since been borrowed to complete it. A gift, burdened with 86,000.00 of debt and which is doubtless the full value of the property, is not in itself an evidence of sincerity or good faith. The tax payers of the new county, if the same is established, may be called upon in a few years to pay off this mortgage by taxation of their property. Besides, we saw in the newspapers a few days ago that Judge Gary had decided in the Sydney Park case in Columbia as follows : H "But property held by a city, as a Public Park for the use of all its citi? zens, cannot be taken for any other public use without express legislative authority." So it would seem that Bishopville has no authority to make a donation of its Opera House to the new county, even if she has the disposition to do so. It is rumored that various other pre? texts are being resorted to, For in GRAND OPENING OF THE NEW BON MARCHE ? LEND TTS TOUR EAR That we may whisper into it something that we know will make you feel happy : OUR SIMPLE MESSAGE IS: That the New Bou Marche, 259 King Street, Charleston, South Carolina, has decided to enlarge their business and has selected your beautiful, wide-awake city, Sumter, South Carolina, to establish a Branch House of their im? mense Charleston Establishment. Our facilities for buying largely and selling our goods at a living profit have placed us in front rank in the CU. I ll TO.Y IPR Y GOODS .11. IR ME T. Determined to follow the same rule in Sumter, S. C., will soon place us in the confidence of Sumter Citizens and Sumter County. All we ask is to give us a fair trial and we are safe of your support. We will open our doors on or about the 5th of October, 1901, with a full and carefully selected Stock of Staple and Fancy Dry Goods. Hoping that you will give us your liberal support and with the promises or rather . _ More Goods for same Money ! Same Goods for Less Money ! We are respectfully yours, A. SHAHID & BROTHERS, MAIN STREET, -_- - ? - SUMTER, S. C 5 CASES Fruit of the Loom Long Cloth at 6* cents. 1 CASE of Soft Finished Long Cloth at 4? cents the yard. 10 BALES Sea Island Homespun, 1, yd wide, at 4c the yard. SPECIAL 500 dozen Handkerchiefs at 3c each, regular price 5c 500 dozen Hemstitched Handkerchiefs, extra good quality 5c each, regular price 10 cents. 500 dozen Men's Handkerchiefs at 3 cents the piece. 500 dozen Men's Hemstitched Handkerchiefs at 4 cents each. 500 dozen Towels at 3 cents a piece. 500 dozen Towels extra large size at 4 cents each. 500 dozen colored bordered Union Towels at 10c, worth 15c. EXTRA SPECIAL 250 dozen Ladies' and Children's Stock? ings, extra heavy ribbed, at 9 c the pair. SPECIAL OFFERINGS IN UNDERWEAR: 50 dozen Men's Under Shirts, Fleece-lined at 38c each, worth 75c A DRIVE-150 dozen Ladies' Ribbed Fleeced-Lined Under Shirts at 15c, worth 25c. A BARGAIN-5,000 Yards, 28 inches wide, Fast Colored Percale at 6c, worth 10c ^ stance it is said that the people of Spring Hill have been told that Bish opville is not to be the county seat, but that the same is to be located in the centre of the new county, and that it would likely be somewhere between Ryttenberg's Plantation and Smith? ville. Again it is rumored that the advo? cates of the new county are spreading it abroad that Major Coker has 6200, 000.00 to spend on an effort to estab? lish a new county with Hurtsville as county seat, and therefore unless the people voted in favor of Lee County, they would have go to Hartsvilie as the Court House. Akin to this plan and in order to frighten the people seems to have been the alleged effort four years ago to form Shiloh County. Since the defeat ] of Lee County we have never heard j or Shiloh County. This is significant, i The question recurs. For whose benefit is all this agitation? Aside from the real estate owners in Bishopville and certain politicians who want public office, who is to derive any advantage from the forma? tion of the new county? Is the public convenience to be pro? moted? Just look at the situation a moment : A ride of an hour or two by rail, at small cost and at great saving to men, animals and vehicles, enables the peo? ple of Bishopville and vicinity to at? tend to all public business at the Court House. The telegraph and the telephone have annihilated distance. The Rural Mail Delivery about to be inaugurated precludes the necessity of ever going to the Post Office. In the "good old days" the people came to the Court House to make their tax returns and pay their annual taxes. Now in most counties the Auditor receives returns' and the Treasurer collects taxes almost at the doors of the citizens. The people of Lynchburg and of Shiloh are now in an hour's ride by rail of the Court House. In the new county they will have no railroad connections with Bishopville. but must ride eighteen to twenty-five miles in their buggies and wagons. The same is also true of the people of Spring Hill Township. How then i is the convenience of the public im? proved? The pretext is preposterous ! '. Indeed a prominent supporter of the new county, residing in Bishop? ville, is said to have recently remark? ed, that owing to the rapid increase of public utilities, the railroads, tele? graph, telephone etc., that if they did not secure the new county this time they never would get it. ? So much for the convenience of the public. Then as to the important question, Viz : What will be the effect of establish? ing a new county as to the public debt i and taxation? The Constitution requires that a new county shall assume its just pro? portion of the debts of the old coun? ties. Kershaw rCountv is now groaning under a public d?btfcof 8100,000, of bonds issued in aid of the 3 C's Rail? road. Under the Constitution the new conntv must assume and pav its just share" of these $100,000.00" of bonds. Sumter County owes a bonded debt of 815,000.00, the new county must assume a large part of this debt also. The proposed Lee County will there? fore start out with a heavy debt. The condition of Darlington County is not known to us. Then, too, the public buildings must be paid for. A Court House and Jail must be erected, and a Poor House and farm must be provided. The cost of a Court House, is con? siderable. The Only one built in this section in the past few years was at Bennettsville, said to have cost be? tween thirty and forty thousand dol? lars. See also the expense of roads and bridges. The new county is traversed for many miles by Lynch's River. Expen? sive bridges and constant repairs will be necessary. Taxes must necessarily be high, and the people cannot be deceived. The petition for the new county only claims some 81,700,000 of assessed values. The present county of Sumter has about 80,000,000.00 of assessed values, and yet taxes are entirely too high now. How then in reason can a small county with a small income sustain a County Government and pay all of the salaries, fixed charges and expenses unless by heavy taxation. The thing is impossible. Business men cannot be deceived. The unthinking may be aroused too late. Again, the proposed new county is an agricultural county. There is no large accumulation of wealth at any one point, and hence the small tax? payer must bear the burden. The only town in the new teritory is Bishopville, with no aggregation of wealth there. Its buildings and town lots are assessed at only some $42,000. ~ We believe it now depends mainly upon the dispensary for the means to conduct its government. The new county will therefore have no municipal wealth to draw taxes from and it has very little railroad propertv. A small part of the W. C. & A. Rail? road about Magnolia, and an incon? siderable part of the C. S. A: X. Rail? road is all that lies within the new ter? ritory. What, then, we ask, will be left to bear the burden of taxation? On the other hand the City of Sumter with its 6,000 inhabitants or thereabouts, now pays about one fourth of the en? tire taxes of the county. Its banks, factories, mills and manufacturing es? tablishments represent in the aggregate a large wealth and large taxable values. Its total assessed values is some 81,500,000. Tilt- railroads, which are heavy tax payers and represent an enormous wraith will remain in the old County of Sumter and swell its taxable values. The Southern Railroad, The Sumter & Wateree Railroad, The North Western Railroad, The Manchester and Augusta Railroad, The Wilson and Summerton Railroad, The Cen tral Railroad, The Wilmington, Colum? bia & Augusta Railroad, except a small portion near Magnolia, and the Char? leston, Sumter and Northern Rail? road, except above St. Charles, will all lie within the County of Sumter and pay taxes only therein. The new county will get none. We repeat, therefore, that the new county will practically have no pro? perty to bear the burden of taxation except the lands and live stock of its farmers. The advocates of the new county may undertake to deny the probabil? ity of high taxes, but the facts are all arrayed on the other side. A new county at heavy cost and no corresponding benefit is a doubtful investment. Another important consideration : Many of the merchants of the new connty and hundreds of its farmers have for years depended for financial aid upon the banks at the Court House with their half million dollars of capital, surplus and deposits. They have been accustomed for years to borrow money from these financial institutions wherewith to conduct their mercantile and planting opera? tions. We have understood that it is the custom of banks, as a rule, not to lend money outside of their county limits. The reason is plain : they h&ve no speedy means of consulting the public records in other counties to obtain the necessary information as to the financial standing of their customers and hence they refuse to make loans to outside customers. Many country merchants and farmers are therefore likely to suffer inconvenience and loss for want of financial accommodation. LASTLY. Is there no county pride dwelling in our people? Is there more than a hun? dred years of the glorious history of old Sumter District to be sacrificed at one blow? Did not your heroic ancestors under Generals Sumter and Marion drive the British invader from its borders and aid in achieving the independence of our common country? Are the survivors of the civil war, the Confederate soldiers of Sumter District, the men who fought side by side in the Seventh Cavalry, in Gard? ner's Battery, in the Sumter Greys, the Sumter Volunteers, the Chicora Rifles, the Claremont Troop, the Claremont Rifles and many other heroic commands: are they to sur? render the proud record of the past, desert their old county, and in their old age become strangers to each oth? er? Are the children and grand-chil? dren of the dead Confederate heroes of Sumter County to be told that if they would learn of the fame of their illus? trious ancestors who died for their country that they must go into other counties and search for their names upon their monuments'.'' Must we surrender the proud record of Sumter County made in the dark days of 1876 when we threw off the yoke of the alien and the negro and resumed the government of our be? loved State? Are these glorious memories to be cast aside in the mad rush for gain-, that a few real estate owners may make money and a few office-seekers obtain public office? Is this to be a foretaste of Commer? cial Democracy? Not unless the old ! County of Sumter is torn and dismem- j bered to form two "Pocket Boroughs" j possessing neither weight, influence nor power in ;he affairs of State. No ! a thousand times, no ! Then go to the polls and record your solemn protest against the same. I Another matter : Those of yon who have been induced ? to sign the petition are by no means committed to the new county. Signing the petitions meant only that the pub? lic may be allowed an opportunity to vote upon the proposed measure. All fair-minded men are willing to g*'ve their neighbors an opportunity to ex? press their sentiments upon public question at the ballot box. The bal? lot, not the petition, is the method provided by law for the} citizen tc record his choice Besides men have the right to change their minds upon any question upon learning the true condition sur? rounding the proposition. We therefora earnestly entreat you to vote down this new county scheme, for the third "ime, and, as we believe, forever. Respectfully, Your fellow citizen, T. J. McCutchen, James M. Mathis, E. Alexander, J. T. Green. S. J. Hill, H. B. Skinner, Jno. M. Miller, S. Liles Miller, J. D. Clark, J. A. Hickson, J. E. McCoy, W. B. F, McCoy, Jasper L. Horn, Henry V. Anderson, G. W. Stokes, F. S. Potts, L. Lane, P, Rodgers, E. J. Goodman, L. W. Sessions, J. W. Hodge, C. W. Durant, J. A. McLeod, E. E. Keels, J. W. Wilson, G. W. Hawkins, C. Tavlor, J. A. DuRant, Henry Y. DuBose, M. D., R, C. WTactor, Jr., J. P. Wilson, Jr., T. J. DuBose, L. L. Fraser, Jas. E. Herriot, J. A. McCutchen, H. T. Strange, E. G. McCutchen, H. D. G. Williamson, S. H. Colclough, L. M. King, W. A. McNeill, W. W. Fraser, H. B. Fraser, L. Lawrence Fraser, Jr., T. D. DuBose, W. D. Fraser, W. T. McLeod, Jr., W. E. Dick, C. Grav, J. H. Gray, W. T. McLeod, J. W. Hug? gins, E. B. Colclough, R. J. Yates, W. B. Colclough, W. S'. Dinkins, and others. The State of South Carolina, Sumter County. I, Shepard Nash, Clerk of the Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions for Sumter County do hereby certify that there appears of record in my office in Book No. 33 of the record of mortgages of real estate at page 419, a certain mortgage executed by the Town of Bishopville to E. P. Rieker dated l?th April, 1901, covering the lot of land in the Town of Bishopville, whereon the public buildings are locat? ed and being composed of two parcels bought by the Town of Bishopville from J. M. Seigneous and Mrs. M. G. Dennis, respectively: which mortgage secured five bonds of said Town of Bishopille, each for'one thousand dol? lars, and each dated April l?th, 1901, and??due and payable in one, two,,three, four and five years time with interest on each from the date thereof at 7 per cent per annnm, payable annually. In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my hand and seal, this 7th day of October, 1901. Shepard Nash, Clerk of the Courts of Common Pleas [L.S. ] and General Sessions for Sum? ter County. Zt Happened in a Trug Store. . ';One day last winter a lady came to my drug store and asked for a brand of cough medicine that I did not have in stock," says Mr. C. R. Grandin, the popular drug? gist of Ontario, N. Y. "She was disap? pointed and wanted to know what prepa? ration I could recommend. I said to her that I could freely recommend Chamber? lain's Cough Remedy and that she could . .ike a bottle of the remedy and after giv? ing it a fair trial if she did not find it worth the money to bring back the bottle and I would refund the price paid. In the course of a day or two the lady came back in company with a friend in need of a cough medicine and advised her to buy a bottle of Chamberlain's Cough Remedy. I consider that a very good recommenda? tion for the remedy." It is for sale by Dr. A. J. China. WALLACE 1$K OWS "WELCOME. The Evening News of Evansville, Ind., says: ''The announcement cf the coming of Wallace strikes joy to the hearts of every '?rchin and show-goer in the city who has seen the Wallace Shows, and who has not seen this famous aggregation of entertaining features? Practically everyone, for Wallace has been here many times, and his popularity has increased with each visit. His show is undoubtedly the greatest now traveling, and the Evansville public always accord it a hearty welcome." The above statement is heard every place where these shows exhibit. The Great Wallace Shows will be in Sum? ter on Saturday, October 12. - M ? O . -? A Compliment to the Sumter 6raded School, Mr. Lee, teacher' of Reading in tbe> public schools of St. Louis, Mo., was i in the city last week and spent several hours in the Sumter Graded School. He afterwards told a gentleman that : this is "the best ordered .school that ? he has visited in the South." He is : on a tour through the South, visiting, the Public Schools. - na i - 4iI wish to truthfully state to you and the readers of these few lines that your Kodol Dyspepsia Cure is without question, the best and only cure for dyspepsia that I have ever come in contact with and I have used many other preparations. John Beam. AVest Middlesex, Va." No prepara? tion eq aals Kodol Dyspepsia Cure as it contain.' all the natural digestaDts. It will digest ail kinds of food and can't help but do you good.-J. S. Hughson ?.t Co. Change oTs hedule. A change in the schedule of the afternoon train from Columbia went into effect Sunday. Hereafter the train will arrive at 6.03 p. m. There was no change in the time of arrival of the morning train from Charleston.