Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1856-01-30

iiuneerng laueries in his ear. And so rank are the
vices oflyng, intriguing, ,corup,ing, dipomazing and
log rolling in Our Legislature tina. many OF the trading
members (who are also candidates or asprants for
some other ofice actually promise to vote for all the
candidates, ,nnd impore an injunction Of secrecy upon
each one to prevent detection. have, mure than
once in the Inst five years, heard many ttco Dc.
featet candidates for The same Office swearing .ihss
each of them had majority pledged TO support him
previous 10 The electinn and that after third man
had beaten both of lhem still majority Of the mam-
bes came to each of them and assured him that they
had voted for him. Yet the Legislature, in which
these scenes annually occur, is continually prating
about the corruption which would ensue from giving
the election Of Presidential electors to the people.
Nor are candidates before the Legislature content
with The tactics above described. The moment an
election for members Of the General Assembly take,
place and it is ascer,aned who are closen the mail
bags TEEN with all sorts Of eectoneerng documents.
have now in my possession twsniy.eight leIters,
which have been written to me by candidates since
Oct 1854, asking my support for offices in the gift Of
the Legislature. 1t wonld be perhaps = breach OF
confidence to publish these letters, and therefore for.
bear 10 do it; but lhe originals arc in my office and
any desirous Of inspecting them can do it for tho
asking. Sume Of them are perfect models of tact,
eicacy, Aattery and argumenta,ion presenting in an
elegant bu, brief manner the claims Of their authors,
or of their authors frendto Office. will hazard the
remark that least three thosand just such eleclio
neering cpistes as have received, within the last
fifteen months are forwarded to the members Of the
Legislature during every of that Bodys exisencr,
and they are all addressed 10 the Hon.. What
curious Book these letters would make If they could
be collected and printed for the public eye! In no
State Of the Union, as far as know, is tho title Of
Honorable" conferred upon members Of the Lower
House of the Legislature except in ours. Still do
no, c.nsure candidates for their ,ervy in bestowing
titles upon Representatives is one means of pay
ing their court 10 men whom the people elect to make
laws, but who, in reality, do little else than make
elections. Our system Of Government forces eandi.
date. before the Legislature, thus to humble them
selves, as naturally grayitalion forces water down
hill And in this connection, suppose were to con.
cede (Which do nop the correctness OF JUNIORS
plausible defence Of the Parishes, would the conces
sion weaken my position. that an Olgarchy OF five
hundred men rule the State by letting The Legislature
elect all our important officers under the mask Of the
secret ballet.
"JuxroR" ues Inc the ranke,t injustice when he
alleges that seeking political Prelermsn' by e1
citing vulgar prejudices against the Bar" am do
ing no such thing. am but trying to show the people
their true condition in the State Government lhave
sad and repeat that Attorneys the best Of law
makers, where temptation is out of the way, but Al
the temptation of the numerous Offices in the gift OF
our Legislature lie mostly in the path Of Lawyers, the
argument must have its full force. do not, cannot,
will not retract it. Every Representative should bs
elected with the greatest canton who Is to be holh
Legislator and an Elector in so many elections as take
nIace in our General Assembly. maintain the broad
doctrine that the election Of so many officers by our
Legislature, and the voting by ballot has tendency
To corrupt the Representatire-gag discussion and
prevent fair lrul Of strength for against any mea.
sure upon lis mere merits. This is so becanUe in tho
very nature of hngs most Of the candidates and rs
pranis for these Offices must also be Representative
Electors And to what class OF persons do most OF these
candidates and aspirants belong! Undoubtedly to the
Bar, as JUNIOR" himself admitted in his frat COM
munication We have about three hundred Lawyers
in South Carolina and they nearly all candidates
or aspan,s for some office in the gift Of the Legi'la-
ture. cannot now recall to memory, but one
od Lawyer in Tie whole State who has never at any
period u his life saugt an office from the Legislature.
and thai one is Mr-BoBo distinguished member Of
the Spartanhurg bar. The single Office OF Commis'
soner in Equity is the glterng prize for which, al
least one hundred members Of The Carolina Bar nre
ever struggling before The Legislature. Almost The
entire Bar Of the State attend the sngs OF the Legis-
la,nre as regularly as if they were members Of that
Body And cunning fellow, by champaign and
atlcry oeniimes manages 10 get an office from tho
Legislature, when perhaps an hundred men IN MS
District or section of the State coalI beat him for tho
same Office among those who knop him best.
However, Lawyers are not the only class OF Rep.
resenarivcs who betray their trust in Columbia for
personal advance ement. Many Farmers, Doctors,
Militia men, and others in order 10 secure their own
election M Representatives, even denounce Attorneys
for seeking office from the Legislature, and then DO, or
attempt to do, the same thing themselves At all
events bu, few Repre- sen,atyes of any class, have
dared to expose the rolrnness OF affairs at Columbia
on-prolsssional Representatives arc in many cases
either too ignorant to speak or they are brbed hatsr-
ed u. intimi,ated to silence. Members, however, for
bear to publish the result of their observation and e1'
perence q, Representatives in the Legislature IRON
mulesty, or an ndi'position to engage actively in
politics It would be the devil reproring rn for any
member of the Legislature, who na candidate or a.
pirant for an Office under tie conir Of HAT Body to
object TO lawyer, or any one else, becoming Rep'
resentalive eertor as we'll as himself My true posi-
iion the fore, is that except in very rare
cases. should I've elected the Legislature when ha
known to be seeking an nfice from the Legislature
uttered this remark at Aiken also, and have done II
publicly on several occasions when advocating divi
son.
Villa, ! said at Aiken, relative to Lawyers, office
holders, office seekers and the inhabitants at neal
the Court Houses of Edgeield and 'arnwe was fnten
ded merely indicate hopo classes Of Persons as being
the only ones, according TO my judgment, that could
offer any interested opposition to division. And Let
me ask " JUNIOR" if political prefsrment" and mol
principle had been my object, would have assailed
those other strong bodies Of men A. well as the law
yers! Would it not have been more consistent with
the CHARGE he prefers against me- that should have
let them alone and have appealed only to vulgar preu
dices against the Bar! IL "political preferment
promrted my actions would have espoused the cause
of division three years ago almost solitary and alone
Would advocate it so warmly now, when it remains
10 be seen which party the division or anti.divsion
is the sronger If" political prefsrment" guided my
conduct, would take sides so nnequvocally on tl'o
Electoral Question without knowing the feelings Of q
majority OF lie voiers, in Edgefeld, on that subject
Would press the iperious necessity Of having South
Carolina represented in tho National Democratic
Convention, when such step is IN direct conflict