The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-05-11
Men and Things at ttheCapital-A Straw
of fHope-Taxatfon.
rrRoM Our OWN coRREspoNDENr.l ]

lEROA OUk OWN COhn6orONUG.NA.J
COLUMBIA, Nays.
The commutation of the sentence of Friday
Nixon, from death to Imprisonment for life IN
the State penitentiary, is straw OF hope fol
our State. The murderer goes to the peniten.
tiary. Nobody in South Carolina dreams that
he will not be out of that before election day
in October. He, like the hundreds that have
gone there before him, must be pardoned 'tC
preserve his civil rights" Now the hope in
it lies in this, that the case Of Friday Nixon is
80 extreme that nothing but drowning Gov
ernor would clutch at such q straw. His Ex-
cellency must feel that his case Is wel-nigh
hopeless, or he never would take such step.
A general idea of the tendency Of real estate
in Columbia may be gathered from statement
of few points in reference to two houses "a
small and large one-since 1866. The small
house, valued at $1,000, has fallen In rent from
$25 month In 1866 to SIS in 1870. The city
taxes on the same, for the same period, have
fallen from sl2 to $40 the year; but the State
taxes have risen from 50 So In 1866 to $40 In
1870. The larger house, valued at $4,000, has
fallen in rent from $37 so month in 1865 to
$50 in 1870. City taxes have remained steadily
at $35; State taxes, however, have gone up
from Sc 80 in 1866 to $40 in 1870.
INSTALLATION OF THE NEW COUNCIL.
The installation of the new Mayor and Couu-
ell of the City of Columbia, this morning at IL
O'Clock, was rather tame affair. A. crowd Of
negroes, many Of whom were women, were in
attehdance to see the show. But there was
not much show, and the crowd was quite dis
gusted, and left soon. The whole matter oc-
cupied but a few minutes. When the hsur ar
rived, the retiring Mayor-Mr. Mckenzie
advised the new Mayor-Mr. Alexander--that
he was ready to administer the oath of Office
to him as his successor. The oath was ad-
miRistered; when the old Aldermen vacated
their seats for the new, to whom Mayor Alex
ander proceeded to administer the regular
oath of installation. That was all. The old
officers retired, and Mayor Alexander sat at
the head Of his Aldermen ready for business.
The number Of applicants for the elective
Offices is said to nearly equal the colored
population ofthe city. Besides these, the tag-rag
and bob:tail Of scalawagerie are gathered In
upon theHnew Council, begging for chance to
serve the city-for consideration. Notice Of
ten days is required under the law before any
elections can be held.
THE FoRGERS.
Sampson, the Massachusetts chief clerk of
Treasurer Parker. (of Massachusetts, who Is
in jail for forgery Of State bond coupons, is to
be tried for the felony here In South Carolina;
but the authorities Of New York are urging
the State authorities Of this State to send
regulation for Metcalf, who is In prison In
New York. 1t is not very apparent to our
lawyers why he (Metcalf) Is not amenable to
the laws efNew York. Others are trembling
in their shoes here about it.
OUR DEAD.
Th6decoration Of the graves of our Confede-
rate dead is to take place tomorrow, commit
tees Of ladies having been appointed to deco
rate those in the various church-yards and at
the city cemetery. The decoration Is to be
done quietly by the ladies-no ceremonies or
speeches or parade. After the work is done,
the citizens are to resort to the cemetery
about i've in the afternoon and that will be
all. CoRsAIR.