Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1863-12-23
For the Advertiser.

South Curolin,, and to this cad venture to fuz-
ni,h ysu the following b:ief summary Of tho
proceedings Of that body al to the matters Of
general concern.
There wore thirty -one .(31) acts passed and rat;
fed in all, but thcrc arc very few of them COM
parstive,y in which sae poorlo in general are ma
terially inters sted:
Ist can Act to continue in f,rcc the laws here
tsf"re enacted in rotation to the cultivation VI |
Cotton"
This Act limits the planting Of Cotton to snr
acre TO the hand, and is merely continuation Of
the Acts of Dscstnbvr 1852, and Of February and
April '6s. Tho p:opristy of ths provisions OF
these Acts WAS seriously questioned about the
tim. Of thoir cnacimunt; but judging from the
appareat unapiuity with which the Asta Wsrs
ssuiinus6 in force by tho Legislature at its lste
sessios il. napy fairly be inferred that The ennst-
msnti, wise onss and justified by the exiEencie'
sf the country.
I'd. "Aa Act to amend an Act entitled an Act
to suppress the di.tillation Of sririuOus liquors
in this State"
This Act authorizes The Governor to apP"inta
skilful Agent IN each judicial district and Pari,h
in the State, to distil limited quantity Of pure
spirits f.g mediinal purposes; the liquor not to
oxcsed~the price of three dollars per gallon. The
Spirits when dhtilicd to be distributed among
the Druggists and Physicians Of the State III the
| proportion of Fifty gallons to each, who are to be
charged with the proper distribution thereon
among the pc, pie for medicinal purposes The
ds.isr is to ehtcr iato bond, with good sureties,
in the pen atty of tca thousand dollars, eenditien-
I'd that he will not make moro spirits than is
specified in his hccnss; that the spirits made
shall be puro; that he will make none except for
medicinal purposes, and that he will deliver all
tht he makes ps stipulated in his contract. Con-
sidering the absolute necessity for m abunaan
supply of sraiu in the CsufedorscJ at this time
aud the strong temptation to convert itinto ~hii-
Key by which large gain might be realized il =
su q, cent justification for the strihgsncy Of this
enactment. It's however an Act Of tho same
character as the Act restricting tho planting Of
Cotton, and can cniy be j1stasd on the Ground
Of positive necessity; a nseOssity in fac, inrolv-
ing nothing short Of supply of tread
4th. (" An Act to amend the Act in relation to
Ia .uppl, of Negro Labor for the military defence
of the State, passed l. September 1868
Tho fact chat the Lsgi.la'4re has found it ne
cessary tu nuke so many enactmeuts on this sub
ject SHOWS thai it is subject OF great difficulty
and embarrassment. This matter Of the supply
of negro labor for Coast defence was referred at
an carly period of tho Session to Special Com
mi.tee Of nine members, of which was one; and
after much discussion in Committee, with all the
Information that cruld bs obtained the Subject
from Con. Bssurczard aud others, it Was deter
mined in Committee that the only way in which
the necessary supply Of labor could 10 obtained
Was to adop, syatem OF impressment. This de-
,artmeut Of the service had been SO badly man
aged herctofur and the military 9u:h,rities had
acted in suvh b 1 faith to tue enwcrs Of slaves
that it " As th vug hi that reasonable pecunayy
penalty for dc.auit would prompt tho grea, ma
jurity Of Slave owner. tu send forward their
Slaves vixen required, aud the effect would bu to
br ng us Al! uudsr the military imprcsfipg aseut.
which is an eva iLuch to be dreaded, and one
which no Une Il ull Informed ON tip suhjocI WoulS
b. willing 70 encounter Ii was Thought therefore
to 10 absolutely necessary for the preservuioc o
tie authority Of the Starc Government. that
the Legislature should adopt measure that would
ensurc the requisit. supply vi labor, and to de- 1t
! by thr legal nutu"rltcs oi the State rather thar
bring evory in the State in iu.m-iiate con-
tsct w.lh tho militzr. authorities. Thw Act Of
tn. last ssssiun therefore PROVIDES that whenever
| a r.qu,sirp is made ur,n any pivision IF tn"
State inr it. quota of Slave labor il shall be the
duty vi Ito commissioners of Roads 10 SUMMON
the owners of Slavea 10 send the Lands each ole
is liabo for fixing the time and place Of delivery
and if my fails TO dsliTar his hands at tho
tina. and place specified, the State Agent is nu-
thorized forthwith to send st Of thu dcfuultcr.
tn the Sheriff Of tho Districts in WHICH the de.
farlters reside, and the Sherifs are thsrcupon
qurcd forthwith to n,rrets the Slaves each de-
fauting owner il liable t" furnish, and to dOli,er
tham TO tho State Agent Mt the time and place
said Asen, may deEignarc, the doiaultug own.r
to ply the Sh, riT costs for impr"s uent ard tle
entt Of tran.ror'sti"n Of his Slaves, oad the
sinvss 81 Impressed To be lopt in tervic, twice
tho Length ef ,ime they would have heen required
To serve had they gone forward without impress
monf.
Tho chief oSjsc'ion on The part of tho gront
majority Of Slave owners to this rcquisiton il not
that they are unwilling to contribute labor the
defeneos. On the contrary, the majority would
bs perfectly willing to send their hands forward
for thirty days could they havs any reasonable a.
svraNee that thsir slaves would he returned to
! them ut tho ssd Of the time for which they are
| furnished. The Legislature can mako a law by
which tn, ciiizeHs Of tho State can Le forced to
soni their slaves sn the Coast, but MS soon Nc ibey
got to their destination they placed under au-
thoriliss other than the State authorities and be-
ynud tho control Of the State authorities. The
law Of South Carolina place tho slaves in scr-
vice, but it is un~l,;c rc'uru the slaves st tie
chi OF the torn Of service unless 1t is perfectly
agreeable to the military authorities, who are not
subject to Tho State laws This is tho great Diff
Guilty in the way Of administering the law Of tho
State On this subject.
5th, rAu Ac, to declare and amcnd the E1-
empti"n law of the State"
This Ac. provides that tho e1cmotious under