The Sumter watchman. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1855-1881, 1870-02-02
,., (P"r The Watehman.l
IIAB TRADE IN NroLRN SEED COT.
TAN

tho Agricultural aud Mechanical Con
vention Of tho State, the Legislature
has refused, by vo,o unanimous will
the exception Of two votes, to do any.
thing to regulate, or discourage the
traffic iu stolen seed cotton. This rc'
suit was openly predicted on the foo,
OF the Convention, aud ,was. tie CHIEF
rcason why that body declined to make
any application on tho subject to the
"powcrs that be-"
The application was, however, Sc
spcctfully, aud in good faith made, By
The direction and request Of mass
meeting, composed Of white and colored
citizens Of Sumter County. 1t was fat
ly, po;n:cdIy, and even defiantly refus-
ed
Beyond all doubt, this County suffur-
ed under this evil more than any other,
and hence the application came from her
people. In somo sections of tho State
especially ip tho upper counties,
where tho much deridcd Democracy
prcdominatos, tho evil is scarcely known,
but in the lower and middle counties, it
prevails to such an extent, aud has, un
dor the fostering care Of the "powers
that be-" SO rapidly increased, as to rem.
der it almost proftlcss to cultivate cotton.
All the profit Of the farmer is diverted
from tho pockets Of the lawful owners
and transferred to set Of men willing
to live in idlcncss aud vico and be On.
riched by the honest aud hard labor of
others. The farmer has nothing to
live on but his drops. To tako this from
him, is to take his very lilo, and tho life
Of his wife aud children or what
is in SUN and substance equivalent to
this.
No wonder, tllcn,. that there has been
much anxiety fol, apou this subject
no wonder, TOO, an application was
madc to tho Legislature to dc something,
it was not dictated what, but something
which, in the wisdom Of tho Logisla-
ture, would check, if not put stop to
this evil-somcthiug which would dis.
courage this stcaling-somcthing which
would protect the property of the citi-
zons. But, with taunts aud threats, the
application was refused. In order to
cnsuro the defeat of tho measure, it was
cvcn asserted by ono "wisc legislator"
that it was revival Of tho "slayo code"
the author Of this assertion knowing,
at the time lie made it, that this was
impossiblc-that the law asked for was
to apply to whlte as we'll us colored, and
it's terms were left to the Legislature
to dictate; aud therefore, unless tho
legislators themselves made it so. it
could not be "an effort to revive the
slave codc."
The design, however, was accomplish.
ed-thc relief aud protection asked for
wcrc refused and rejected, and the
light fingered fraternity we're left to iu
dulgc their propcnsitics ad itbitun.
1t is much to be regretted by all wcll.
wishcrs to the peace, quiet and pros.
pcrty Of tho country that this course
has been pursued. Many Of us had
hoped that with such law as the legis-
aturc might have passed, there would
be no longer an excuse, much less
reason, on which to justify the cx.
trcmcs to which some Of our people
have rcsortcd in the protection of their
property. Many Of US have been oppos-
cd to the extremes rcsorted to BY the
ku klux Klan-h have counsclcd and
argued tor resort to the Legislature
tW relief aud the law Tor redress but
how now can we answer, when We are
told that tho relict sonsht from the
Legislature has bocn refused, aud the
law fails to put stop to tho growing
evil! What can We say whom. wo are
told, rs we have been, "tliat the citizen
owes allegiance to the laws of his coun>
try only SO long as those laws protect
Him in his life und IN his p,ppcrty, and
when those laws fail 10 give him protcc.
ton in his life aud IL his prDprriy-and |
when it refuses to make n
lair effort to do SO, that jnst then aud
lScrc the right rcycrts back to the
citizen to protect his life and property
IS best 10 can"
BE this good reasoning or not, would !
il not have been wisdom in the Lcsis.
ature to have left no such excuses for
shc extremes which all ,leploro and re.
;ret ? Would it not have been better
'or them to have given assistance in
putting quiet stop to all these evils?
Would it not have been better, by |,
wise, statcsmanly course in this matter,
n lavo IN rn,vn nll tIo rosnanS ibilfv fnr !