Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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An Honest Primary tThe Item will publish a few ar? ticles under the abovs caption writ? ten *?y a member of the legislature. They are etrtctly non-partisan and eolnt out the ?hange? necessary to eliminate fraud without taking away the ballot from any l ?emoerat. The articles are in no way inspired by any candidate for office and none know of their preparation. They are designed solely to assist the mane ef l>ernocratlc primary voters to dean house Bills to this end will be set? ae en in the next legislature and our readers are of ?ours* interested in the sublet i at this parti ular time.) Do Your lhau Thinking, e Few ere found to ?> >pose all pri? mary reforms. Those against change cloak their purpose. They do not de? fend present cot.ditto is, that is a hopeless task. They *u uid back and object to each change s.igge-ited. sav? ing it will take the ballot away from the poor man or the man who can? not write. These ooje<tors giv* no reasons for their charges, nor do they offer other measure. Men arc expected to follow them blindly. Bvery man should do his own think? ing about these primary changes. The troubles are before us. and known of sll men who care to look. The reme? dies proposed are easy to understand. The firmed Ich. Record the voter poll lists at the court house before and after voting. Permit the voter to enroll SSj only one club Hat. and only in the pre? cinct where he lives or works. Identify the voter at the ballot box. Where important requirements are violated hold another election. Theas safeguards are those advo? cated by experienced party workers from all sections of the State. They havs been gathered from discussions on many occasions during many years. Leaders in the legislature who oppose extreme measures came to a pretty general agreement at the last *esaiou to support a bill embodying these points Let us examine them, tsklng the last one Prat. The* Prosit jr. Penalties) are seldom enforced. Why? Reo.use th'y seek to punish, but not to remedy?directly. The law s*?vs the manager who does not carry out the rules, shall be pun? ished. But the defeated candidate doesn't care to prosecute him. the public is not Interested enough to. ! Neither are out for revenue, nor seek-j Inn? thn unpleasant tnsk of preventing future trend by present punishment.! The candidates are interested in the iminedia?* outcome, though. Thej eng their friends will go to a lot of trouble to locate fraud if it will do them any good. Qlve them the right to ;l new election whenever the law is violated in the important partuuluis and they will watch for l irregularities like hawks. Then vio? lations of rules will immediately de? feat theit purpose ami become use? less. Mind you. new elections would be held only when important, specified infractions of the law could be shown, not for trival irregularities. This would necessitate making each step in enrollment and voting plain, and open, and recorded whore all men may examine what has been done. Today everything is s> obscure that even where much fravd is proved. I and more believed, it is about Impos? sible to upset an election. This pow? er to upset an election would be a weapon dreaded more than any pun? ishment of monogen now set down In the law books. , l*rot??ctiiiff the Lists. It is absolutely necessary at any kind of an election to have a correct list of those entitled to vote. The club rolls should be made up some weeks before the election and sent to the county clerk of court. (Shortly before the election the clerk should send a copy of each Met to the election managers of each club. ? After the election the county execu? tive committee should send the rolls back to the clerk. This system allows the lists to be examined by all Interested parties, and opportunity to have names put on Of taken off on proper showing, before the election. After the elec? tion any one may compare the voting list used with the copy kept by the clerk, and the failure to use the prop? er Hit becomes a matter of record. At present, even where the rules ere carried out, and a poll list is used. It is about impossible, in the five days allowed, to check it up. How Don candidates in populous sections tell in five days before the electon whether the names put on at the last minute; are fraudulent or not? The candidate is helpless. Identify the Voter at the Ballot Box. Managers in big voting precincts seldo.n know all the voters in them. When a man presents himself to cast hl? ballot and gives a name found on the poll list he is allowed to vote un? less th? managers know he is not the person he represents himself to be. Th? burden ??r proof is on th?? man-! ager. His (ask is doubly difficult be? cause the rdles allow a man t<> enroll 1 I hll name up in live days before the prlmary( In a preclncl where he does not resldOi and in as many precincts as he likes. He may move Into the 1 township on the 84th, have his name ' put on the poll list by a third party and vote in the latter town on the j 30th. The law should be to enroll in per son. In only one precinct, and that , the one in which the man resides or works; and the voter should be given a card by his club officer, where he enrolls, to be shown at the polls. This card to have his full name and address, and a nnmber all to corre? spond with the club list. Upon vot? ing, a corner of the card, or a coupon attached to it. should be torn off so that it could not he used twice. ? Provision should be made for issu? ing duplicates where a card is lost, and for transferring a voter from one ; precinct to another when he changes his residence. These oardl would be issued to ev I ery Democrat now entitled to vote I who could show his residence in the state and county, and precinct the re? quired length of time. In Conclusion. Here are outlined Changes in our : present system, not a new system. ! Only outlines are given. Discussion j of details would take more space than these articles can claim. Hut they are I designed to carry out these general ideas. No attempt is here made to take the ballot from any class. Hon? esty is the aim of the changes?not disl ranch isement. Whether wisely or foolishly. South Carolina has long since established ' the purest of Democracies. Such movements do not go backward. Uni? versal white manhood suffrage once secured will never be relinquished. But it may he thwarted and crippled, and cheated if it does not protect it? self from carelessness and corruption by strong and well considered laws. Legislator. I llisliopvlllc Policeman Dead. at t L .*' ^ ? Bishopville, Jan. 14.?In the death Of Ed Cappell Bishopville loses a splendid poliee officer, a steay and reliable man at all times, and one who made good at everything he un? dertook. He was on duty just a few days ago but while in the discharge of his duty contracted pneumonia and died last night at 11.30 o'clock. He leaves a wife and child. Mr. and Mrs. LeGrand Harvln, of Greenville, are visiting here. FLOOD SWEEPS VALLEY. ; H011ELL, W. \ A, INUNDATED AM) RE8IDENTB FLEE TO JI1LL. Dam of West Virginia Pulp and Pa per Company Breaks and Wall of; Water Hushes Down Potomac. Cumberland Mr., Jan. 15.?Hud? dled in rude shacks and about blazing camp tires, hundreds of flood refugees tonight watched and waited In West Virginia while the northern branch 1 of the Potomac river, swollen to an j icy Hood, swept through their homes ; in the towns that dot the valley be? low. A wall of water, starting from the broken dam of the West Virginia Pulp and Paper company at Stoney I Creek, moved down to the Potomac, I inundated the town of Schell, W. Va., ! where the two streams meet and started a Hood wave, laden with wreckage and Ice, down the Potomac j valley. Warnings of the approaching flood j lent the residents ol small towns I along the river scurrying to safety in the hills, where tonight from vantage 1 points they peered through the dark- i j ness in an icy gale toward the swollen waters below. Telegraph and telephone communi? cation was cut off by the tlood during the day, but was reestablished to? night. Humors of several men caught at Shaw, W. Va., 20 miles from Schell, which could not be con? firmed, were the only reports ol cas? ualties attending the tlood. The Hood warning emptied the town of Shaw and sent many residents of Blaine. Harrison, Kitzmiller and other small places hurrying to the ridges. Fear [that the water might rise still further prevented many refugees from re? turning to their homes, even in towns where, little damage was done. The Hood wave apparently expend? ed its energy in a mad 20-mile dash down the valley of Stoney creek from the burst dam of Schell. This valley, however, virtually was uninhabited. It was owned by the West Virginia Pulp and Paper company as a right of way and watershed. The bjaj dam, which impounded a lake of water five miles long and which was C5 feet high, had Deen weakened for several days. Last night it began to crumble and a farmer from the mountain village of Mt. Storm rode down the valley warning the few inhabitants of the impending break. A part of the big structure gave way early today and at noon the sweeping waters carried away the greater purl of the lace of the dam. j The released weight of water eamej In a wall-iike wave, sweeping down' lipon Schell. There the roadbed of the Western Maryland railroad WASI washed out and traffic tied up. Ih low Schell the rushing waters joined the Potomac river and for TO miles the gradually diminishing wall of water rolled on. increasing the height of the river by from three feet to eight feet in its 70 mile course between Schell and Cumberland. PEOPLE FAVOR WILLIAMS. Everybortly Believes. According to Owen, That Munsey Trust Course is Beyond Reproach. Washington, Jan. 15.?The senate banking and currency committee con | eluded hearings today into the nom I ination by the president of John Skel ; ton Williams, assistant secretary pOf the treasury, to be comptroller of tne currency and ex-oflicio member of the federal reserve board. Final ac? tion will be taken tomorrow. Hear? ings continued toduy on the action of Mr. Williams In connection with the deposit of government funds in the Munsey Trust company of Washing (ton when that institution recently : took over the I'nited States Trust company to avert a failure. "The testimony of every one,'' said Senator Owen, chairman of the com? mittee, tonight, "has been convincing that the action of Mr. Williams in the Munsey Trust case was right and nec? essary. The committee will vote to? morrow to report his nomination fa? vorably."' _ SXELL AND REARBON. Anderson, K n. 16.?The Commer? cial Secretaries of South Carolina met In session at 12 o'clock today with twenty-five secretaries presenc. I A. V. Snell of Charleston was chos? en president and K. [. Reardon, of Sumter, secretary. An adjournment was then taken until the afternoon session. The secretaries will go to Clemson College tomorrow morning as the guests of President Iliggs of Clemnott College. "E. L R." Chronic Indigestion Permanently Cured. "Six years ago," writes S. E. Car? penter, East Aurora. N. Y., "I was in very bad shape suffering from Indi? gestion, could not eat solid food, when a friend advised me to t:ry Chamberlain s Tablets. I found steh relief from one box that I contin* ued using them until cured. and though six years have elapsed I have not felt the slightest return of my former trouble." For sale by all dealers.?Advt. REPORT OX COTTON. Commissioner of Agriculture, Prepare* Review for General Assembly? statistics lav Year. Columbia, Jan. 16.?Commissioner Watson of the State department of agriculture has prepared the follow? ing section oi his annual report on the South Carolina cotton crop: "The South Carolina cotton crop this year has been a matter of wids speculation in ao far as its site is concerned. Since August the depart? ment of agriculture has steadily esti? mated the 1913 crop at 1,400,600 run? ning bales, which is equivalent to say? ing that the estimate called lor a sec? ond largest crop ever grown in the State. "Up to January 1 1,342,^27 bales had actually been ginned, according to the government report. After Jan? uary 1 in 1912 r, 1,029 bales had been ginned. If there are only that many bales still to be ginned of the pres? ent crop the department's estimate of ? the crop exceeds what, will be the total crop by 6,244 bales. In the year 1911, howcve .after January 1 over 100,000 bal^ were ginned, and In 1910 over jO.000 bales were ginned. It is very likely that several thou? sand more hales will be ginned after January 1 this year, as was the case in 1912, and if that be true the de? partment's estimate of the final total crop in running bales will almost ex? actly meet the actual final figures, "The crop ginned by counties In this State up to January 1 for the years 1912 and 1913 is as follows: On the face of the ginners' returns on January 1 Orangeburg county leads the State as a cotton producing [county, followed in the order named by Anderson, Barnwell and 2&arl i boro." How to Break Up a Bad OoML Geo. P. Pflung, of Hamburg, N. Y says: "Chamberlain's Cough Remedy will break up a cold the quickest of anything I have ever used." This remedy contains no opium or other narcotic. It is most effectual and la pleasant and safe to take. Try it* For sale by all dealers.?Ad vi. County Auditor was in the city Sat* urday after visiting various places in the western part of the county during the past week to receive tax retu.rs. When Yon Are KHhrqw. Food ferments in your stomach when you are bilious. Quit eating and take a full dose of Chamber Iain's Tablets. They will clean out and strengthen your stomach and tomor? row you will relish your food again. The best ever for biliousness. For sale by all dealers.?Advt. .MllltlMtlHHIM?Ot?'ltllM<*4^ UHHIIMMllHdiniMMIMMHI MMMIMMIl MMH HATS Craator Pr1?* 2.35 $3.00 HI Lk WAISTS Creator Sale 1.48 50r kl MONAS Creator Sala 15c $3.<M? SHOHS Creator Sala 91 MK> S SHOES Ceeutor Sala ?C MENS PANTS Creator Sale 74c LADIES' SHOES Creator Sale 38c n\s HER PAPRfl Creator Sale 1c SPOOL COTTON Creator Sal* 2c LADIES MOSF Creator salo ? l .0? H ATS \ n m i >t sale 1.48 HAMBURGER SUITS. Creator Prira 13.95 LADIES' SILK HOSE Creator Prlca 4c 50e TIES Creator Priae 19c W. L. DOUGLAS $4.08 SHOES .248 $6.00 WOOD BLANKETS 2.69 WE'VE CERTAINLY "MOPPED UP PRO PER" Rather a crude expression, but it just fits. We got it all. liberally speaking. Of course we couldn.t gather in all the crumbs and leavings?we just had to let a little get away for the other fellow. Thousands of People Just Coining Money Every Day! Facts?Ask anybody. The Creator Sale "Created" all fight?not only a record breaking business here-but great wailing and gnashing of teeth among our competitors?they've tried to break in on the line?but nothing doing? the crowds are headed for The Under the Red Umbrella South Main St. Near Sumter Hotel Be Sure! UN Five $500 Hundred Dollars in Merchandise Given Away during the 13 Day Creator Sale, consisting of Sewing Machines. Leather Rockers, Goats, Blankets, Waists, Trunks, E tc. Register your purchases, you are entitled to the presents. See our windows, see if you can do it-there is money in it. Remember the 13 Days Sale, Jan. 19 to 24 at the BANKRUPT STORE. Bankrupt Store's CREATOR. SALE And They're not Going to be Stopped. Under the Red Umbrella South Main St. Near Sumter Hotel Be Sure! $580 Five ?00 Hundred Dollars in Merchandise ki mil it OVKRHHOKfl Creator Sale 39c ItJMM OVERCOATS Creator Salt* 7.95 LADIES* BERGE st ITS Creator Salo 3.98 SILK PETTICOATS Creator Sale 1.48 CRIB RLAVKBTS Creator Sale 9c LADIES' HANDKER? CHIEFS 3 fir 5c WRIGHTS UNDER WEAR 69c FLEECE LINED UNDERWEAR 29c LADIES' UNION SUITS 25c CHILDREN'S UNDERWEAR MUSLIN PETTICOATS Creator Sale 39c 18c MEN'S HATS Creaior Salo 69c BOYS' suns Creator Salo 1.98 ADLERS & MYERS KID GLOVES 89c 10a HANDKERCHIEFS Craator Sale 3c