The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-10-13
lrnoM OUR owS connEsrosprsr.,

lnc c,ops III "iiilamsOlirg, so lar MS have
Deen able TO ascertain, will be very light this
senson. Peas and potatoes are better Than
anything else. Rice has almost entirety lhiled.
Inc stalk Is good, and Mt distance looks finely;
without the necessary grains Corn Is scarcely
nn average. l think It Is doubtful If more than
enough has been made to last the county half
inc required lime. Cotton Is also quite light,
In the early part of the season. The crop IL also
made considerably less" by the stealings of
the freedmen: The fact Is, that tho truiiic in
stolen cotton h9s gone TO such an extent rs to
Dc an fntolern6le nuisance. Unless stoDpcd
IN IN some wny, the cotton culture will be
nlneasurably nn as,y broken up. 1t is more than can
their capital In tho production of cotton, and
then have .onc-half to two-thirds of IL stolen
and carried away in the autumn by lazy and
pilfering negroes A case occurred near this
village few days ago, which is certainly en-
traordlnnry. gentleman had n seven acre
field picked entirely over in the course of one
night. Another gentleman, about two miles
over the same night. To do this, there must
have been an organized gang of thirty or
forty thieves. =,
Does 1t not become those having the law-rrin-
king power In their hands to be looking
around for some remedy which will put an end
to so great crime, and which Is attacking the
very Vitals OF the honest agrlcuturist, be he
white or bluck
The Town Council of Kingstrcc has prohbI-
ted, under severe penalties, the buying and
selling of cotton and other produce Within
the limits of the incorporation after 8 o'clock in
the evening and before sunrlscin the morning
BY resolution they hive requested the cour.y
merchants TO conform to the spirit Of the Or
dinancc. But, while this Is c0mmendable, rs
showing Willingness on their part to do nil In
their power TO prohibit SO great curse, yet
men reg regulation does not 20 fur enough;
over the State. The law must prohibit the
tratlic In daylight rs we'll rs ut night. The
penalties muss-be made to apply 10 the pur-
chaser rs well us to the seller. / would pro-
pose something like this.
"If any person shall directly or Indirectly
purchase any product Of u farm from any per-
son who Is In the employment OF another, en-
lance of his right to sell, the purchaser shall
De glhlty nf O mlsdemcanor and upon cOnvic-
na ion Oh any Such offence, shall be liablc to
sa l1mS not eXSseang n.e hundred dollars, and to
months; and the seller shall be liaGie to n fine
! at least equal to twice the value Of tho product
| sold; and If that be not imme ediatcly paid. sLall
suffer Imprisonment I'm the pcnitentiary ut the
discretion or the court"
This Is Section of the act to amend the
criminal n law, passed at the regular session in
suit the present Legislature They no doubt
thought 1t was blow against the poor freed
mans rights, which were specially committed
to their charge, and hence ut their session Of
1862, lAct No. 1881 they repealed it, and
substituted no other provision, thereby leay-
Ing every one privileged to sell and buy what
they pleased. The consequences are now to be
| seen all over the country.
therefore move the readoption of th6S ecc-
4 lion, with the amendment, that the seller and
purchaser be put upon the same footing, that
the fine be five hundred dollars as therein
stated, but If not paid Immediately, that the
offender rccelve,0ne tash on the bare back for
each dollar The fine, to be imposed at inter-
| rats Of one month r''f'H' .-lt -;
To this there will be tho cry that there IL
ignominious punishment, not consistent with
the progress Of the age" Tic truth is, this
| so.callcd progress of the age" has nearly
ruined our good old State, and subyerted afl
our timc-honored customs and laws; and so
sure as any certainty can be, we must, sooner
or later, return to some of the former modes
OF punishment, or else tho honest man can
ample, is the only proper mode OF Punishment
| for the thief; and the lraflic now commented
upon should be punished in the same manner
on account OF the great difficulty of detecting
those who violate the laws, The nature of tho
penalty would be a terror to evil-doers, and
thus, TO great extent, prevent the crime.
Speaking of the Town Council reminds me to
have gotten into. You viii remember that In
1868 the Legislature passed an act to provide
for general election of town officers in all
the Incorporated towns and cities in the State.
This act provided that the officers SO elected
should hold their Offices for tho remainder of
the term, as fixed by the charters of the re-
spective towns, and for one full term after.
for an annual election of officers on the second
Monday in September. The charter was re-
modelled In the spring of 1869, but the clause
Us to the time of the annual election was
pealing all former laws In reference to
the incorporation of KIngstree The cues
tion now arose whether the Council elect
ed @ under tho net Of 1853 should hold over
September, 1869 The citizens, SO far as was
able TO learn, did not care anything about the
question, as they. were well enough pleased
with the persons then composing The Council;
but some time In August tho lntendant, for some
misunderstanding with the other members of
Council, resigned his Office. In o fow days af-
other three wardens held a meeting, at which
they considered the question whether they
would order an election to fill the vacancy OF
intendant and one warden, or to I'LL the entire
hand. After fun consideration the latter course
was adopted, and the usual notice published In
the Star for ten days. On the day of election the
,htendans ihu f, was Reelected and so was one Of
few days afterwards the intendant called his
wardens together for qualification, whiCi. was
done: Now, We heard It nll over the streets
np..-that they contended they had right to
hold over for one term more. Rumors also
%ere Yt1,e rife Of ,aqnda'nuses, quo ,oarrantoes,
SnT 70 tas DO
The new Council arc in possession and hold
their regular meetings, though tho books, pa
pers, &C., are still in sthe hands OF the former
gives retiring Council thirty days within
which to turn over. This time has not elaps-
ed. When 1t does, / presume something may
be done. ~.
Real estate Is appreciating in this county. #
the following instance can have any effect in
proving the fact. A, gentleman near Indian
Town Church was about to move to the West
some time last year. Before leaving he was
ri l,f
plantation for flftec1 hundred dollara, and
could not find q purchaser. He went on his
way to the West, and leit his plantation in the
hands OF friend for sale. This friend sold
purchaser took possession, and about ten, days
ago he soldri agaius for ,465OO. This was