The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, July 11, 1906, Image 1
matt an
THE SUMTER WATCHMAN", Established 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 TRUE SOUTHRON, Established Jone, i860
Consolidated Aug. 23 1881.
SUMTER, S. G.. WEDNESDAY. JULY ll, 1906.
New Series-Vol. XXV. So 51
? Wyt Mti?wM at? Sondra
Published Every Wednesday,
-BY-*
OSTEEN PUBLISHING COMPANY,
SUMTER, S. C.
Terms:
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/ Advertisements:
I One Square first insertion.$1.30
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Contracts for three months, or
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will be charged for.
IMPORTANCE OF CATTLE TICK.
A Statement Sent: Out by South Caro?
lina live Stock Association.
SjB^The papers of the State have been
Requested by the South Carolina Live
Stock association to publish the fol?
lowing:
"The common cattle tick is a fa?
miliar sight "to all our people, but
^?very few. outside of those engaged in
I the cattle business realize the im
" portant part it plays in hindering the
development of the cattle industry in
.the State. The cattle tick carries the
"germ" that causes Texas fever, a dis?
ease very fatal to grown cattle. Cat
t tie that are raised on land infested
T with ticks are inoculated with the
germ by becoming infested with ticks
infmedir.tely after birth. At this age
they suffer a very mild attack of the
. disease with no visible external symp?
toms and after they have passed
I through it they are then proof against
P^the infection and can be exposed to
* ticks later in life without harm. But
if cattle are raised on land on which
there are no ticks and are afterwards
moved to tick-infested lands they will
become infected with the disease.
They will also suffer from the disease
j^lf. they remain or? the land on w-hich
.* they were raised ard tick-infected
cattle are introduced among them.
' "Because of these facts the federal
government has established a quaran?
tine line across the countrv dividing
the regions infested with ticks from
'j? those in which there are no ticks. Np
cattle can be moved from the tick
infested regions across the quarantine
line' except when they are being ship?
ped for butchering to^ a slaughter
house which has direct railroad con?
nection. South Carolina is placed be
jfe low this quarantine line among the
tick-infested, regions. Hence, cattle
cannot be shipped from this State
to points above the quarantine line
except for immediate slaughter. Cat?
tle for dairy purposes, or for feeding
.or breeding are barred. Thus, the
v- market for the cattle produced in the
f State is considerably restricted.
"Some of the States deluded with
-in the tick-infested area, notably Vir?
ginia, North Carolina, Texas and
Oklahoma, which had within their
boundaries an area in which ticks ex?
isted only a few farms or ranches
I have succeeded in having such areas
placed above the quarantine line, thu^
opening new markets for th<? cattle
raised therein. This was accomplished
by the passage of a law by the legis?
lature establishing a State quarantine
dividing the slightly infested area
? from the other part of the State and
the -eradication of the ticks from the
infested places in the slightly infested
airea. When these conditions were
bnought about the State quarantine
line was then adopted by the federal
government and made a part of the
national quarantine line. This plan is
just as feasible in South Carolina as
in any of the States mentioned. In
a great part of the State since the
passage of the stock law the cattle
tick has become almost extinct and
exists only on a place here and there.
I The first step in the matter, however,
must be taken by the legislature."
A COSTLY NAVY.
New Boilers for Old Warships to Be
Purchased at an Outlay of
$600,000.
Washington, July 9.-Nearly $600.
000 worth of boilers for intsallation
will shortly be bought for the navy.
New boilers for the battleships New
York and Massachusetts alone will
cost $300,000. New boilers will also
be placed in the Gloucester at the
Pensacola navy yard at a cost of
about $13,000.
THE FIRST BALE.
New York, July 9.-The first bale
of 1906 cotton raised in Falfurias,
Texas, and consigned to Latham.
Alexander & Co., of this city, was sold
at auction today on the New York
Cotton Exchange to Geo. W. Cum?
mings for Ellison & Co., of Liverpool
for 24 cents a pound.
TILLMAN'S CAMPAIGN.
FOUR THOUSAND HEAR HIM AT
SANDY FLAT.
There Was no Wild Enthusiasm But
Received an Attentive Hearing.
His Speech Was Devoted Almost
Exclusively to the Dispensary Issue.
Greenville, July 7.-The political
rally and picnic today at Sandy Flat
did not fall short of expectations. The
crowd was large, the speakers of the
day were in high feather, the order
j was perfect and the weather was
ideal. The conditions could not have
been better.
As has been recoginzed all along,
Senator Tillman was the central figure
of the whole meeting. He is always a
drawing card and he was so on this
occasion. He spoke with his old time
zeal and expression and conveyed his
thoughts in the same kind of language
that he employed when' he first en?
tered politics in South Carolina. He is
the same Tillman today that he was 15
years ago, but he can't arouse au?
diences to the high pitch of enthus?
iasm and white heat that he once
could. The crowd today listened to
him attentively, and there was an oc?
casional "Hurrah for Tillman" and
other outbursts of mild appause, but
the violent enthusiasm over Tillman
of days gone by was conspicuously ab?
sent. He perhaps had more friends
in the audience and fewer enemies
than he had in crowds of equal size a
decade ago, but the people didn't get
as excited over his speech as .they did
in the early part of the 90's. It must
be a fact that the people are not as
wild over politics now as they used to
be. The same interest is not mani?
fested.
j.h. addition to the spech by Senator
Tillman, three candidates for ?Con?
gress from this, the fourth, Congres?
sional district spoke. Congressman J.
T. Johnsor the incumbent, who stands
for re election, spoke first, followed by
the Hon. G. H. Mahon, mayor of
Greenville, and Mr. W. C. Irby, of
Laurens, the other congressional can?
didate, spoke last. ,
It was a political rally, pure and '
simple. People went there to hear
the candidates and the candidates
went there to meet and talk with the
people. A number of candidates who
are in the race for State offices mixed
with the multitude during the day and
the aspirants for county offices were,
of course, largelv in evidence. Among
those seen on the ground were Messrs.
Ansel. Sloan and Manning, in the
race for governor; Col. Wharton, for
railroad commissioner, and others.
It is estimated that fully 4.OOO per?
sons atended the meeting. The best of
feeling prevailed. People were pres?
ent from all over this and adjoining
counties. Men were there who had
driven from thirty to forty miles. . A
large number went out from Green?
ville and helped to swell the attend?
ance, which was unusally representa?
tive.
Sandy Flat is ten mies from Green?
ville, in the upper part of the county.
The grove in which the speaking took
pace is an ideal site for such an af- 1
fair. j . j
?
It was very evident from Senator
Tillman's speech that he had careful?
ly prepared himself for the occasion.
He said:
There is but one important issue in- i
volved in this campaign, so far as
State affairs go. and as for my own
candidacy it rests or the record which
I have made since I entered public
life sixten years ago and the intimate
knowledge which the people of the
State have of my character, personal?
ity and qualification?. I am willing to
.leave it there without discussion or
presentation. The fight is Sta*-: dis?
pensary vs county dispensary, for no
one exp3cts the prohibition candi?
dates, however worthy and w?i? quali?
fied they may be, to Teceive very
much support. With all their efforts
(and they have been many and long
continued) newspapers which have
always fought the dispensary have not
been able to drum up a candidate for
governor who advocates local option
I straight as against dispensary and
prohibition, and only in Charleston
does that idea have any men offering
for office under it. The local option
offered the people is between prohi?
bition and county dispensary, and the
whole fight is to destroy the State dis?
pensary first with no other purpose
tha?n to then obtain the privilege of
reopening the old barrooms under the
new guise of liquor stores, "selling un?
der constitutional limitations." Th
real fight is for the control of the
Legislature, because the Governor
cannot make or change the laws, and
oan only try to enforce them. His only
influence over legislation would b<=>
in tho use of tho v^io power. But it
is all important to get a strong and
good man for Governor. The tin
distinctly demand one.
Says County Dispensaries Won't 1
In any event some counties v
stand by prohibition with its bli
tigers and heavy jug trade by expre
Other counties will vote for cour
dispensaries and the cities where t
principal .newspapers are publish
will have the fight on the issue
State dispensary or county'dispensa:
with the ultimate purpose of havi
the county dispensaries turned ir
licensed bar- room's if the county d
pessaries are abolished. The scher
is to restore the sale of liquor to p:
vate individuals rather than let it i
main in the hands of State officia
Those who clamior for county dispe
saries instead of one State dispensa
must demonstrate how it is easier
prevent corruption among the thir
or forty county boards than to stop
in one State board. I have gre
faith in the good common sense of t:
people, and do not believe they can
persuaded to destroy the State dispe
sary, and leave each county to pu
chase and sell its own liquor. Yet t!
State and News and Courier, whi<
have always hated the dispensary
"'Worse than the devil hates holy w
ter,"
are advocating candidates who fav
county dispensaries. The only possit
good reason that can be advanced <
this line is that the prohibition cou:
ties under the Constitution receive
part of the profits which arise fro
the sale of liquor in other countie
This ?is un just, as everyone must a
knowledge, but it can be Temedu
very easily by having the State dispel
sary make no profits other than a fe
thousand dollars above its running e:
penses, thus leaving the counties ar
the towns ix> divi de the profits'bet wee
them. This can easily be done an
when we consider the expense of bu?
ing liquor in retail quantities and pa>
ing local freights on it instead of buj
ing carload lots and paying throug
freights the county dispensary cann(
stand the comparison. But this is n<
the greatest objection.
The leakage or stealage in bottlin
of liquor Hi each county dispensar
would be immense, and I know of n
way that it could be prevented, no:
do I know any by wh^ch it would b
possible tc prevent the whiskey bein
watred. bettles refilled, relabeled an
other schemes of making money dis
honestly, if the system were adoptee
It is not possible to prevent it and
do not thi.-k any sensible man wh
confiders the question will serions!,
contend taat it is. Even if one-hal
of the counties in the State shoub
adopt the prohibition-blind tiger-ju;
trade programme it would be better
more economical, and there would b
less possibility of corruption and pecu
lation in the purchase and handling o
liquor in the other dispensary caun
ties, if the buying, bottling and ship
ping should be done at one central do?
it
pot, instead of in each county.
Jumps on Charleston.
It must not be forgotten, because ii
was the understanding (and a bargair
was made during the fight in the Leg?
islature last winter against the State
dispensary) that the ultimate purpose
is to have Charleston wholesale liquor
dealers supply the county dispensaries
as well as the jug trade by express in
dry counties, and while this would be
better than to have this liquor ship?
ped in from North Carolina and Geor?
gia, as it r ow is, because it would keep
the money at home, I do not believe
that the people of the State are now
willing, or will ever be willing, to see
the State dispensary destroyed, with
the inevitable result that liquor sell?
ing will gradually go back to the old
system of private control. I would be
glad to have Charleston prosper, but
it is not the loss of the liquor trade
that has hurt Charleston. Other
things are to blame.
The issue between private control
and control by State officials must
hinge at last on the question of
whether or not the people of South
! Carolina shall determine that we can?
not find honest men enough to carry
on the dispensary system and devise
laws to make those who are dishonest
afraid. T say we can. I do not beleive
that every man who handles whiskey
must become a thief. I believe that
the people only need to see and know
that the dispensary system can be re?
formed and cleansed of corruption to
make them stand by it.
I will proceed to give the plan
which appears to m. after a great
deal of thought and consideration of ?
suggestions from very many sources
to be the b^st. We will beerin on the
counties.
How to Cure thc Dispensary.
County dispensers should be elected
in the Democratic primary, th^ same
ns o'her officers. The county board
should he composed of the mayor of
ihe town in which a dispensary is Io
cared, the supervisor of the count
who is the business agent of the coui
ty, and one man apopinted by tl
governor. The county dispens
should be removable by the governs
for cause. The State board 'of contr
ought to be elected by the legislator
but its duty should be confined i
general direction and supervision <
the business, the same as the penitei
tiary and. Hospital for the Insane ai
run. It should not purchase any wibi!
key or anythink else required in ti
business. Everything required, ir
eluding the whiskey, should be bougl
under annual contracts made as fo
low: After the State commissioner hz
advertised in the manner prescribe
by law (and this ought to' be ver
clear and specific, leaving nothing t
the discertion of any one, and goin
fully into details) the bids should I
opened in public by three men select
ed just before the date fixed by tb
governor and the contract made wit
the lowest bidder by the year for th
supplies to be ordered out by th
commissioner as nedeed. These thr?
men are to serve only once, and ar
nually there shall be three new me
chosen to male the contracts. Th
bidders will not know who "will mak
the awards and, therefore, cannot er
ter into collusion in advance, and eve
should the governor, which is incor
ceivable, be willing to select a boar
which would act corruptly, the spec;
fications of the biding made with min
uteness and the publicity would pr?
vent any graft. ^
Xo whiskey or liquor should be pur
chased except from government bond
ed warehouses. In the case of wine
and beer the brewers should alon
furnish the first direct from the brew
-eries, and the small quantitiy of th
other used could be hedged about i:
the advertisement so as to insure hon
esty and the purest and best article
For the information of those who ar
not posted I will say that the govern
ment bonded warehouses are unde
the control of the United States inter
nal revenue officials entirely and whis
key deposited in them comes directl;
from the still, and the owner is no
permitted to manipulatte it or handl
it in anyway until the tax is paid am
it is removed. We thus get a guaran
tee of absolute purity without a chem
ical analysis and such liquors are a
much staple articles of commerce a;
corn, wheat or bacon. It is the blend
ed and rectified whiskeys that ar<
adulterated and where the cheating
comes' in. The blending and mixing
could be done in the State dispensary
where there would be no incentive t(
increase profits by adulterations, be?
sides the law would provide seven
penalties, for that kind OL thing.
The county dispensers, being electee
by the people, will'be anxious tc
pteaxe the peop*e as they will be beat?
en at the polls if they do not do theil
duty. The county board chosen as in?
dicated will be responsible to the peo?
ple also, with every incentive to give
a good administration. The whiskey
purchased in that way will be as pure
and as good as can be obtained under
any possible conditions, and there is
'absolutely po way in which corruption
can creep m, if'there is the least ef?
fort on the part of the people and the
governor to prevent it. %
Slaps at thc Governors.
^ The trouble with the dispensary
now is that our governors have neg?
lected their duties and have not kept
supervision over the workings of the
local dispensers and the State board.
People are Rightly Disgusted.
The people are disgusted and they
have a right to be, but the one crime
which they should not forgive is the
failure of the last legislature to change
the law so as to prevent any further
stealing and to restore the dispensary
system to its -original purpose, that of
controlling whiskey and minimizing
the evils inseparable from its sale and
use. The enemies of the dispensary
were bent on killing it, and the com?
bination of political and other in?
fluences in the House having failed
in that, compelled the election of a
new board because they refused to
change the law and continued all of
the old and proven evils. It was the
most glaring betrayal of the people's
interests that I have ever known re?
spectable white men to be guilty of,
and while many of them are my fr
and while many of them are my
friends, at least politically, I take the
responsibility to say that every man
who refused to put safeguards around
the purchase of whiskey and change
the system of management in the last
legislature ought to be left at home.
Such men cannot be trusted. They put
partisan advantage above public du?
ty, i
- i
G rover C. Mathis who killed J. B. !
Gaylard near Heriots, Lee county. ?
last winter, has been granted bail in >
[he sum of $3,000 by Chief Justice (
Pope.
DISPENSARY FINANCES.
OFFICIAL FIGURES INDICATE
THE SOLVENCY OF THE IN?
STITUTION.
Nevertheless It Could Not Pay What
It Owes ii' lt Were Forced Into Im?
mediate Liquidation-What It Has
Paid the State.
Columbia, July 9.-The cry is going
the rounds that because the State
dispensary has only $323,000 cash on
hand with which to pay some $800,
000 worth of outstanding claims the
dispensary committee has been hold?
ing up that the institution is insolvent.
There is no foundation for the asser?
tion, which is ridiculously untrue. If
the dispensary were liquidated todaj'
it probably could not pay its debts,
for the simple reason that the great
amount *of whiskey on hand, which is
the principal asset, could not find sale
at its value. But if every business
were forced to quit that could not pay?
out on a liquidation basis there would
be a mighty panic in this country.
To meat its less than a million dol?
lars worth of debts the State dispen?
sary has assets amounting to $1,400,
000, of which- $323,000 is in cash,
$56,000 in real estate and ihe re?
mainder in stock in the central and
sub-dispensaries. At least these are
the. figures given out from the book?
keeping department at the central
dispensary, and previous formal re?
ports bear out their truth,
Since the State dispensary was
started in 1893 it has paid back the
$50,000 borrowed from the State, has
paid $4,S68,613.61 to the State school
fund and the cities and counties, has
accumulated assets of one and a half
million and run its sales up to three
millions a year in spite of the grafting
and the clumsy manner in which it
has been handler by incompetents ele?
vated to office through politics. In
competent private hands the dispen?
sary would be a mint, but whether it
can be continued on its present basis,
whether it should be continued, there
is the gravest sort of doubt. That is
the problem the State is now wrest?
ling with. It is ""not the purpose of
this article to attempt to answer that
problem or iny phase of it but merely
give a few figures which have not
heretofore been published.
Figures dug out.of the official re?
ports made from year to year to the
legislature show these results:
Transferred to general State ac?
count-?895, $50,000; 1896, $150,000;
total, $3,466,915.96.
Paid State school fund-1S97. $50,
000; 189S, $80,499.55; 1899, $75,000;
1900, $100,000; 1901, $100,000; 1902,
$142,755.91; 1903, $1S5,602.S3; 1904,
$235,663.17; 1905, $163,675.77; so far
in 1906, $25.000-total, $1,163,197.25.
Profits paid towns and counties:
1896, $132,267.63; 1897. $S4,7S2.7S;
189.8, $91,716.45; 1899, $220,492.35;
1S90, $298,166.28; 1901. $424,285.87;
1902. $443,198.76; 1903, $512,216.35;
1904, $603,998.22; 1905, $655,791.27
total, $3,466.96. . '
How the business is progresing in a
financial way since the great volume
of grafting has been uncovered by the
dispensary investigating committee,
and since fifteen counties in the State
have voted out their dispensaries, it
is difficult to say. There has been a
material falling off in the sales to dis?
pensers for the quarter just ended, in
spite of the contention that the coun?
ties that have gone "dry" have merely
transferred their purchases to dis?
pensaries in adjoining counties. And
not a cent has been paid into the
State school fund as profits for this
year, although the Mower act of 1902
requires these payments to be made
within ten days after the close of each
quarter. The ony money paid to the
State treasurer for the school fund
was ?25.000 paid on March 23 last
when the dispensary committee got
to hammering on this point, and this
was from profits accruing from last
year.
The report for the quarter ending
May 31 of this year, which will be
made public in a few days, shows total
sales to dispensers of $172,0S4.95 for
March, $191,507.37 for April and
$226,133.36 for May-total, $589.729.
GS-which is more, than $100,000 less
than for the same quarter of last year,
when the sales totaled $698,5^6.01,
5241.496.17 for March, $253,327.10 for
April and $204,772.74 for May. The
?ales to dispensers for December,
L905, and January' and February of
:he present year amounted to $729,
L9S.49.
For the six months ending May 31,
1906, the profits to the cities and
?ounties amounted to $301,261.33. As
his half of the year includes the win?
er and best months it seems probable
ha; the profits in that direction will
all i ff this year not less than $100,
00.
For the quarter just ended the pur
j TOBACO TRUST INVESTIGATION.
T?ie Inquiry is of Great Interest to a?
Growers, Handlers, Manufacturers
and, Incidentally, Users of Tobacco
Nashville, Tenr.., July 5.-The Fed?
eral court grand jury today began an
investigation of the alleged Tobacco
Trust, particularly as that trust af?
fects the growing of leaf tobacco in
Tennessee, Kentucky and other states.
The government is represented^ in this
investigation by District Attorney Till?
man and Assistant District Attorney
Brock, who have associated with them?
as special representatives of the gov?
ernment the Hon. Henry W. T?ft, Fe?
lix H. Levy and Edwin P. Grosvenor,
of New York.
This investigation is one in which
there is widespread interest among
the growers, handlers and manufac?
turers of tobacco, lt is along the lines
for which the Tobacco- Protective As
socaition was formed; that asosciation
having been organized for the purpose
of combating the alleged Tobacco
Trust which the jury today began to
investigate. The result of the inves?
tigation will be watched with great in?
terest throughout the tobacco section
Many witnesses have been summoned,
0
and the investigation will continue for
lome days. . .
MURDERS IX BEAUFORT.
Two Whites and a Negro Shot to
Death by Negroes.
- /
Beaufort, July 5.-A white Saan, a
white boy and a negro man were1
killed by negroes near Hardeeville
between sunset of the third and sun?
set of the Fourth. With one excep?
tion this is the first time for over 30
years that a negro has killed a white
man in this section.
Mr. Hugo Schlegelmilch, of Hardee?
ville, was killed by a negro field hand
at his plantation, 17 miles from Har?
deeville, at sundown on the Fourth.
Mr. Schelegelmilch was walking
through his field with two companions
and met two ?negrees who worked on
the place. Without warning, one of
them shot Mr. Sc'nlegelm?ch through,
the breast it a shotgun. Djeath was
: instantaneous. Mr. Sclegelmilch had
never had any trouble with the negrov
but one of his companions had. The
negro escaped and had not been,
caught up to this afternoon.-* .
Mr. H. G. Heyward,- magistrate at
Hardeeville, received the news this
morning and went at once to the scene
with a posse. Mr. Schlegelmilch was
an exemplary young mao, about 25.
years of age, and a general favorise..
He was a gradute of Clemsonv an d'"
spent several years on ranches in the -
West.
Charles Simmons, the 13-year-old:
son of Mck Harrison, of Pritchard
ville, was wounded in the stomach "Brer
a negro boy .on the afternoon of the
Fourth. The wounded lad was car- :
ried to the hospital in Savannah, andi
is reported to be dying. The shooting:
occurred about five miles from where
Schlegelmilch was killed a little later.
The shooting was done with* a gun?
and is said to -have been intentional..
The negro escaped.
On the eve of the Fourth, a negro
carpenter was killed by a negro team?
ster at Purysburg, about two miles
from Hardeeville. There was a quar?
rel over whiskey at a gathering, re?
sulting in a fatal knife wound in the
ne?k. The same night a negro V7as=
shot in the shoulder at a negro club*.
v ? ' ?. re?
house on the outskirts of the town,.
but not fatally injured.
NOT A CANDIDATE.
t\V. R. Hearst Says He Will Not Seek
the Democraitie Nomination for
President.
-
San Francisco, July 7.-W. R.
Hearst has declared himself out of the
race for the presidency in 190$.
Hearst says: "I would like to state
very positively that I am not a candi?
date. Bryan said the othei/day that
there were others besides himself who
had claims on the nomination, through
services rendered the party. He men?
tioned Folk. Bailey and myself. While
appreciating Mr. Bryan's compliment,
I must decline to be a candidate. Let
the list stand, if Bryan please, Bryan
or Folk or Bailey."
Mr. C. C. Langston has sold his in?
terest in the Anderson intelligencer
to Mr. Victor B. Cheshire, and will re?
tire from active business on account
of continued ill health.
chase amounted io $589,461.19, and it
is a remarkable fact that for the same
quarter of last year when the former
board, which has bo-en so much crit?
icised, was in charge, the purchases
were juct $5.10 less, although the
sa:es were over $100,000 more. The
purchases were $589,456.09.