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m THE SUMTER WATCHMAN, Established April, 1850. 'Be Just and Fear not-~Let all the ends Thou Ahnst at be thy Country's, Thy God's and Truth's.' THE TRUE SOUTHRON, Established June, 18?* ??n?o!!dated Aug. 2, ?88I. SUMTER.. S. C . WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1907. Sew Series-YoL XXVI. So 2& $>k Wb??ptes? m?r Soatl;ro??. Published Every Wednesday, " -BY OSTEEH PUBLISHING COMPANY, SUMTER? S. C. Terms: $1.50 per annum-in advance. Advertisements: .^.One Square first insertion.J 1.50 ^ Every subsequent insertion.50 Contracts for three months, or longer will be made at reduced rates. AIT communications which sub? serve private interests will be charged for as advertisements. Obituaries and tributes of respects will be charged for. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. REVIEW OF THE WORK DOXE THUS FAR. mznary of the Important Measures That Have Been Debated and a Forecast of the Probable Fate of These Bills. Columbia, Jan. 28.-The most sig? nificant feature of the work of the South Carolina legislature in the past Cweek-in fact, the most important so far this session-was the action the senate took on Friday on the Smith concurrent resolution, "that a joint committee consisting of the judiciary committee of each branch of the general assembly shall prepare and :r submit a bill to abolish the State dis ^?pensary, and to submit a bill for the *~ handling of liquor, providing for lo? cal option in the counties between prohibition and county dispensaries." This resolution was adopted by an aye and nay vote of 19 to 16. The State dispensary senators present, Mefssrs. Raysor and Wells, were paired with Messrs. McKeithan and Haynes, lo? cal optionists, while two other State dispensary men,. Senators Johnson and Hough, were absent and riot pair? ed. Had all been present the vote would have been 21 to 20 for the res ' olution. Senator Talbert, prohibitionist, vot ^ ed with the dispensary people. The State dispensary people are counting ^* on him to stick, and they expect Mr. Smith to come to them, which will give them a majority. But their hope appears to have scant foundation. It seems a certainty that the senate, which has been the State dispensary; faction's only hope, is against the system; and will vote for the Carey * Cothrah local Option measure, which J?k the dispensary leaders and all others - admit will pass the house. In fact in effect 21 out of the 41 senators have already voted for such a meas? ure. The decisive battle in the dispensa- J ry warfare-which now gives every j promise of being carried to a conclu? ra sion, probably in iavor of local op *^ tkm-was opened in the senate to? day, when all senate dispensary bills were up for discussion by reason ol theirJbeing made special orders. These bills include Senator Raysor's bill abolishing the State board of direc? tors and carrying out the purification scheme of last year as embodied ir. the Tillman-Raysor-Mannmg bill, which the senate passed and the houe?{ rejected; Senator Talbert's three bills providing for prohibition, and Senator Rogers' bill to abolish both the State "board and the office of commissioner and place the State dispensary in charge of one man to be known as "director of the State dispensary." ^ The thunders of the dispensary ?Pk conflict in the house will begin to roll on Tuesday at noon, from which time to the end of the chapter the Carey Cothran bill and the Richards puri ficaption bill have precendence over all other business. The form?r has received a majority favorable report by the dispensary committee and the ?fr. latter a majority unfavorable re T port, which was to be expected, the house being anti-dispensary with an anti-dispensary speaker. The new dispensary investigating committee has its report along with a great volume of testimony in the hands of the public printers and hope to get the entire thing before the sen? ate by tonight if the senate decides || on a session tonight. This report will be of a sensational character. As yet the house has sent nothing to the senate on the subject o'f the dispensary-in fact, has taken no ac? tion itself. The Smith resolution came to the house today. Whether the house will pass it is altogether , problematical. The local option house r members already have their bill prepared after careful, close study extending through several months, and it is not likely that they will rel? ish the idea of the joint judiciary committee sending in a substitute, the senate judiciary committee being pro State dispensary. Possibly the house local optionists will be willing to pass the Smith resolution and get their friends on the two committees to report the Carey-Cothran bili, as a majority er minority measure as the case may be. The dispensary has been and will continue to be the chief topic of in? terest, but affecting the farmers and rural business interests even more vitally is the subject of the agricul? tural lien law. The house by a vote of 78 to 32 passed the Richards bill on Thursday to repeal that portion of the law which allows the merchant to advance for the coming crops. This is a fight Mr. Richards has been prosecuting for ten long years, to repeal a law which has been in exist? ence for 41 years. Strange enough the senate the very next day by a vote of 27 to 10 killed a senate bill look? ing to the same change. Mr. Rich? ards, however, who never gives up, says he is not beat, that his bill will j pass the senate when all members are present. He has counted noses. The bill has been sent to the. senate, but it does not yet appear on the senate cal? endar which means that it might be a week or so before it is reached in that body. So far there has been no Tegislation on the subject of railroads, but the house showed its temper toward them a few days ago by the overwhelming? ly large majority with which it pass? ed the Frost resolution calling for a joint inter-session commission to in? vestigate the railroads. The resolu? tion was looked upon as a railroad method of gaining twelve months, and was killed regardless. Representative Frost, however, has not given up and will bring the bill up again with, a changed title. Personally, Mr. Frost ia very popular, and his name carries weight with any measure he en? dorses. The senate's decisive action on the Carlisle anti-bucketshop bill seems to mark the beginning of the end of this business in the State. This is the Sanders bill of last year, which passed the house, but was killed in the senate. It is a sweeping measure, outlawing all forms of "future" busi? ness. The Toole ten hour labor bill has been drawn to the front of the senate calendar by being made a spe?ial or? der, and may be called up at any time. It has been favorably reported and will likely . become law. Senator Carlisle has a bill in the lead of sec? ond reading bills in the senate, call? ing for a limit to the hours railroad people may work consecutively. The railroad men make most of their wages now on "overtime," and it is also difficult to get the work done, the bill will meet with decided oppo? sition. A subject cf far reaching import? ance now up for discussion in the sen? ate is compulsory education. The bill under debate is Senator Raysoi's "to require all parents or guardians to cor-p^l their children or wards to ?attend school for 12 weeks in the year." .Another educational measure pend? ing b?fore the senate is Mr. Raysor's bill providing f~r a system of high school? throrrhcut the State. The Smith Resolution to Abolish the Dispensary Voted Down and the Battle is Pitched on Richards Bill and the Carey-Cothran Measure. * - Columbia, Jan. 29.-The house today by a vote of 65 to 45 passed ihe Rucker bill increasing the pension ap? propriation to $250,000. The house, without opposition, to? day tabled the Smith resolution call? ing for the abolishment of the State dispensary and calling on the joint judiciary committees to report a county dispensary-local-option bill to take its place. Both factions in the house prefer to fight the dispensary battle along the lines it has mapped out. It will choose between the purification bill of Rich? ards and the local option scheme of the Carey-Cothran bill. The debate began at noon. NEW INVESTIGATING COMMIT? TEE MAKES REPORT. The Facts Brought Ont Prove That Corruption is Encouraged by Pres? ent Methods of Making Purchases -The Raysor-Manning Bill Would Have Killed This Graft. [ Columbia, Jan. 29.-In the senate ! last night, Mr. Christensen presented I the j report of the legislative investi? gating committee appointed to in ! quire into financial conditions at the State dispensary. The report came unexpectedly as Capt. J. G. Richards, a member of the committee, was out of the city yesterday, but he return at 9 o'cloc't last night. No witnesses were examined except officers and officials of the State dis? pensary. Capt. John Black could not be examined as he is very ill at Hot Springs, Ark. The testimony begins with Commissioner Tatum's letter to dispensers and gives replies from 69 out of 108, who condemn the practice of the several boards in projecing with new brands-which- eventually become hs~d stock. * " The board several times acqiesced in the commissioner's request to can? cel orders, but in the last shuffle of the cards he appears to have got lost, for the stuff began to pour in by the carload before he knew that the big orders had been placed. The report confirms Mr. Tatum's report that whiskey was bought ir? regularly and further shows up a transaction in which Maj. Black in person bought $125,000 worth of whiskey. He was authorized to make arrangements for a certain grade of whiskey, but the legal methods of purchase do not appear to have been complied with. There is also sensa? tional testimony in the evidence of the new rectifier and blender, Nor? folk, who swore that some of the goods for which fancy prices had been paid are of no substantial value. The entire testimony will be given to the senate today. Following is the report of the com? mittee: To the General Assembly of the State of So*?th Carolina: In pursuance of the concurrent res? olution passed by your honorable body on January 15. 1907, for the in? vestigation of the affairs of the State dispensary, your committee beg leave respectfully to report: That your committee met and or? ganized by the election of the Hon. Niels Christensen as chairman and the Hon. William X. Graydon to con? duct the examination of the witnesses, and the Hon. E. M. Rucker as secre? tary. Mr. H. H. Glaze was appointed stenographer for the committee. Owing to the limited time allowed the committee to report, we have not attempted to go into any general in? vestigation of the financial status of the dispensary, but have rather con? fined our attention to the manage? ment of the affairs of the State dis I p?nsary. We deem it just to say tl I no obstacles were thrown in our v I by the officers and employes of ' jinstitution, but they testified f e I and freely as to all matters inquh I about. Wc examined no one but , ricers and employes. We have h all the testimony taken in the inv titration printed for the use of 1 members of the general assembly a transmit the same herewith. We hi refrained from making recommenc tions, preferring to leave it to ye honorable body to say" what acti you desire to take on our repo without any suggestion from yo committee, contenting ourselves si: ply with the findings of fact whi we think the evidence demands. We find as matters of fact: 1. That the State dispensary overstocked, and that there was6 hand in the State dispensary on Ja uary 15, 1907, about $669,000 wot of stock. 2. That $400,000 worth of sto is sufficient to run the State dispe sary. We find that this overstocki; has been going on both under the c board of directors and under the n< I board. 3. We further find that in the pu chase of liquors for the dispensai the law has not been observed in number of instances, and that liquo have been bought contrary to the ru established by the board itself for tl purchase of liquor. 4. We find that the present boai of directors passed a rule on or abo the 8th day of March, 1906, that 2 orders for the purchase of liquo must be signed by at least two mer bers of the board of directors, bi said order was subsequently modifi< so as to allow the clerk of the boai to order the bulk goods. 5. We find that Mr. John Black, member of the board of director purchased a large amount of liquo amounting to about 1,600 barrel from Clark Bros. & Sons of Peon UL, said Black making said pureba.* in person in Peoria, 111. We also fin that at the same time and place I : made a purchase from Lehman & Cc the amount of which we have bee unable to ascertain, but 300 barre were shipped to and received by tr. State dispensary. We also find thi Mr. Black made a purchase in perso in Cincinnati, Ohio, of 600 cases c liquor from Moyse Bros. These thre lots of liquor thus purchased by M: Black amounted to about $125,000. 6. We find from the testimony ths the liquor thus purchased by M: Black from Clark Bros. & Sons, a $1.50 to $1.75 per galon, is a very in ferior quality of liquor, being what i known as high wine, and is not wort more than .$1.33 Jp $1.35 cents . pe gallon, "and "can be bought in the mai ket at that price. 7. We find from the testimon that Mr. Black is out of the Stat? and we are informed that he is sic! and hence it was impossible for th ! comimttee to get his testimony, . bu ! a letter of his in relation to sai j Clark and Lehman purchases is i: I evidence, and your attention is call ed to the statement therein contain ed. 8. We find from the testimony tha the present board of directors ha constantly substituted other goods t be shipped out to the county dispen saries, in place of the goods ordere* by the county dispensers, and tha the goods so substituted were not sat isfactory to the county dispensers, o: 1 to the people, and that they wer< shipped over the protest of the count; dispensers, and over the protest of th< State commissioner. \. 9. We further find that the boarc of directors failed or refused to bu: in sufficient quantities X corn, X gil and" X rye, although there was a bi? demand for this class of goods, anc frequent requests made to the boarc to order that class of goods, and thal the board claims that certain firmi refused to ship out this das? of goods when ordered, but we find on exami? nation that there are on file man\ bids from other reputable firms of? fering to furnish these goods. 10. We further find that the board of directors have purchased large quantities of objectionable case goods, in which there was a very large profit to the sellers, in many instances over 100 per cent., but that they failed or refused to purchase the popular cheap goods, in which the profit to the sellers was very little. 11. We further find that a large part of the overstock in the State dispensary consists of case goods for which there is little or no demand, and which was bought over the pro? test of the commissioner and the county dispensers. 12. We further find that there has been paid on the Clark purchase the sum of -$30,000, and that the checks for same were countersigned by Com? missioner Tatum, although he had been informed of the facts concern? ing said purchase. 13. We find that since the meeting of the general assembly, the board of directors has adopted a resolution that all orders for liquor must be countersigned by Commissioner Ta? tum. 14. In addition to the stock on hand, we find that all of the Decem? ber purchases have been ordered held up by the board-that is, orders is? sued not to ship the goods-except the Clark and Lehman purchases, which were held up by Mr. M. H. Mobley, clerk, which action was con? firmed by Mr. Black. 15. We have not been able to as? certain the number of cars of liquor on the sidetracks in the city or en route to the dispensary at any par? ticular time. Mr. Tatum stated in his evidence that he was informed by the railroad authorities that on a certain day in the first week in January there were 36 carloads on the tracks here. Mr. Mobley testified that he made an examination three or four days later and found 12 cars on the tracks, some of which was glass. Under tho authority vested in your committee .wo have instructed the dispensary officials not to pay any more money to Clark Bros. or to yoar tongue to ALUM and look in the glass-you will see the effect You can't help puckering-it makes you pucker to think of tasting it By the use o? so called cheap Baking Powders you-take this ^puckering, injurious Alum right into your system-you injure digestion, and ruin your stomachs AVOID ALVM Sap plainly BAKING POWDER Royal is made from pure, refined Grape Cream of Tartar-Costs more ^than Alum but you have the profit of quality, the profit of good health. Lehman, and we submit the matter to your honorable body for such action as in your opinion may be necessary. N. C. Christensen, Jr., W. N. Graydon, . On the Part of the Senate; E. M. Rucker, J. P. Carey, I J. G. Richards, On the Part of the House. ! NEGROES CONDEMN LAZINESS Race Conference Issues an Address to the People. Columbia, January 2?.-The Race Conference today adopted unanimous? ly the following address to the peo? ple. "We, the members of the Race Con? ference of South Carolina, assembled at Columbia, January 23-25, 1907, desire to congratulate our people on the interest shown by them in this, the first negro Conference, that has ever been held in this State to consider the conditions and to ad? vance the interests of the negro race. We wish to congratulate also the committee of arrangements and the ? earnest promoter of this Conference, f the Rev. Richard Carroll, on this in? teresting and successful meeting j which has been attended by several I thousands of persons, both white and colored, and which has been address? ed by several leading and distinguish? ed men and women of both races. "We desire to put ourselves on rec? ord and to make the following decla? ration. "That this Conference expresses it? self as being opposed to all idleness, crime and shiftle?mess among the lower element of our people every? where, and that all thc members cf the negro race be urged by us to cul? tivate habits of industry, economy and sobriety, and so endeavor to become intelligent, orderly and law-abiding citizens. '.That while the confernece con? demns in the strongest terms all criminal assaults upon women, white and black, and holds that all persons guilty of such offenses should receive the severest punishment by law, it also condemns lynching, and all forms of mob law, as vindictive and unjust. '.That we advise our people to stay out of the cities as much as possible, where they are exposed to evils and temptations, and to remain on the farms, purchase homes and property in agricultural sections and to length? en the school term by supplementing the public school fund in order that they may better educate their chil? dren. "That this confereree do appeal to the whites to make a difference between the good, intelligent, indus? trious, law-abiding class and the bad, ignorant and worthless element,in the negro race, and that they do not at? tempt to humiliate and punish the respectable and thrifty negro along with the vicious and shiftless ones. "That this conference call upon Our people everywhere in the south to do all in their power to cultivate peace? ful and fraternal relations between the whites and blacks, and to en? deavor to promote good feeling and mutual respect, and confidence be? tween the rajes "That we entreat and invite the better class of white citizens to join hands with the better class of negro citizens in every community, and thus to make a strong and united effort for the suppression of lawlessness and crime, and the maintenance of law and order and justice among the peo? ple of both races; "That our people do not wish any social equality with any other race, but we do insist that we be accorded all the civil and legal rights guaran? teed us by the lav.-, and that wherever there is a separation of the races the accommodations provided for our people be equal and just. "J. L. Dart, G. T. Dillard, L H. Ful? ton, W. B. Romans, J. B. Middleton, R. A. Cottingham and J. S. Sawyer." There was a section of the above address commendinb United States Senator Foraker for his efforts in the renate to_J>ring. about a full and open inquiry" into" the Brownsville af? fair, but, after a warm debate, it was stricken out. The wiser and more conservative men took . the ground that that was a political measure, and this was not a political convention, therefore . it should have nothing to do with it, and they carried their point, and the section was stricken out REPORT ON RAILROADS. The Interstate Commerce Commis? sion Makes Its Report to Congress Under Recent Law. Washington, Jan. 25.-The inter? state commerce commission today transmitted to congress its first re? port on its investigation on discrimi? nation on monopolies under the joint resolution . of congress of March 7, 1906, known as the Tillman-Gillespie ! resolution. The report deals with j bituminous coal carried east of the ? Ohio river and in the teritory bound- | ed on the south by the Norfolk and ! Western railway and on the north by j Canada, and on the east by the At- ! lantic seaboard. The roads involved ! are the Norfolk and Western, Ch esa- j peake and Ohio, Baltimore and Ohio, ! Pennsylvania, Buffalo and Pittsburg, ! Beech Creek division of the New, York ! Central and Hudson River, Pittsburg, j Shawmut and Northern, Buffalo and j Susquehana railroad and the Western ? Maryland railroad. j The report says that all of the ! above companies own, directly or by ! stock ownership companies, large in- J tercsts in coal lands. The report con eludes with recommendation for legis? lative action based on the develop? ments thus far. These recommenda? tions are: * "First. That every common carrier engaged in interstate transportation of coal be required to make public the system of car distribution in ef? fect on its railway and the several di? visions thereof, showing how the j equipment for coal service is divided between the several divisions of its road and how the same in til -, when the supply of equipment d?. _s not equal the demand is divided among the several mining operations along such road, and that the carrier fur? ther be required to publish at stated periods and at each divisional head? quarters upon its line of road the sys? tem of car distribution in effect and the actual distribution made to each mining operation under such sys? tem. "Second. That where the capacity of the mines is the basis for the dis? tribution of equipment, a fair, just and equitable rating of the mines be required. "Third. That after reasonable time carriers engaged in interstate com? merce bc prohibited from using 'in? dividual' or 'private cars' for the handling of coal traffic. "Fourth. That carriers engaged in interstate commerce bo forbidden after reasonable time to own or have any interest in any operated coal proper? ties, except such as are exclusively for their own fuel supply, and that ownership, either directly or indirect? ly, by officers or employes of common carriers of any coal properties or any Of the stock of coal companies, along the line of road by which they are employed, be forbidden." A summary is given, showing, as developed during the investigation, the interest of officials in corporations