Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1871-05-18
The Tax Payers Convention.
From the Correspondence of the Charles
ton News
COLUMBIA, S. G. May 9

Not since the year 1861 has ther'
assembled in South Carolina such al
array of marked and distinctive mel
as are now in oonventionin this city
Scan the names, and you will fine
that they have been repeated fol
nearly generation of public life
Scan the faces, and you will see some
thing of the strong individuality
which has left its imprint on the peo.
pie, directed public sentiment and
achieved power. You will find among
these delegates men of rare prudence
ability and forethought; men who
have filled the highest Offices in the
State and dignifed the councils Of
the nation; men who have been bat
tered and Scared by the tempests Of
war; men who once possessed almost
the wealth of princes, and dispensed
hospitality with lavishness that
knew no limit; men whose influence
at home concentrates and directs the
public will, and makes them the
| mouthpiece for its expression men
identified with the past. the present
and the future of South Carolina
the owners Of its soil, and by right
the best representatives of its inter-
ests in the body now assembled.
Take a look at some of them as
they sit in this spacious Senate cham
Der. There is the president, Hon.
William D. Porter, of Charleston, a
former lieutenant-governor of the
State, and wearing still the front of
statesman-one whose voice in
counsel has been heard on thousand
occasions, in peace and in war, and
whose courtly grace as presiding
officer has lost none of its charm,
although, for the moment, he occu-
pies the chair of a colored successor
to the honors of Senate.
Yonder sits Hon. Gabriel Cannon,
of Spartanburg, also a former lieu
tenant-governor. His hair is frosted
by time, and his tall figure droops a
little under the burden of years, but
they have been years of usefulness,
and his people love him. Standing
near by is Major General NJ. c. But
Ter, of Edgefeld, the handsomest
man in the convention, and one of
the brightest intellects in the State.
Popular in manners, frank in address,
fluent in speech, and ready deba-
ter, it is no wonderethat he has met
with success in every department of
life. So, too, with that keen, rest
less-eyed man, General Gary, also
from Edgefeld. One would notjudge
from his quick, elastic step and flow
ing locks that forty-odd years have
played their pranks with him. but he
has been admirably preserved, and
few men in South Carolina enjoy
more deserved fame. He is forci-
bic speaker-sharp. incisive: and an
ugly antagonist.
On the other side of the chamber
is General Johnson Hagood, of Barn
well-calm, undemonstrative, and SO
full of gentleness in speech that you
would not suspect how, on more than
one occasion, he led, as it were, the
forlorn hope," and once charged,
almost alone, into the jaws of death
to retake his captured flag, Generals
Kershaw and Kennedy are not yet
here; but there sits Wallace, of
Union, the high-toned Christian SOL
dier, who, always honored by the citi-
zens of his district, does equal honor
to them on every public occasion.
There, too, is Hon. James Chestnut,
of Kershaw, Ex-Governor, ex-United
States senator, and ex-Confederate
general-perfect type of the old time
statesman. Sitting by him is Hon.
A. P. Aldrich, of Barnwell, formerly
the speaker of the House of Repre-
sentatives and judge. A magnificent
head and face, out of which CLEAN
pair of gray eyes that mean busi-
ness, tell you of intellectual power
and resources that have never failed
the people in their time Of need.
But to-day he is only "a taxpayer. :"
Yonder, three or four seats distant,
is another public man, whose name
has been o household word in
South Carolina for generations-Ex-
Governor Manning, Of Clarendon,
whose princely home and library
were given to the flames by Sher-
mans troops. see, also, in yonder
corner, quietly watching the tide of
events, Hon. George A. Trenholm,
once the Secretary Of the Treasury
of the Confederate States. Few ex-
eel him in speeel-7 and none in tinan-
cial abilityw-ll.is side is Colonel
Richard %,athers, who, after a quar-
ter of aAeentury in New York, where
he won wealth and distinction, returns
to his native State 70 assist in work
ing out the problem OF her welfare.
Col. Lathers has such happy way
of presenting dry facts and figures,
that they seem almost picturesque.
One of the solid men of the conven-
ton, and greatly beloved by his peo-
pie, is Col. T. G. Weatherly, Of Marl-
boro'. Practical, progressive and hope
full of the future; no member will, in
a quiet way more impress his infu-
ence upon this body Colonel F. F.
Warley, of Darlington, is another
strong man, whose voice was for wal
when war meant fighting, but in
peace is heard hopefully encouraging
his people and denouncing their op-
pressors. He is one of the promi.
nent lawyers Of the eastern part o.
the State.
/ might go on and fiji columns
with personal descriptions Of the dis
tinguished publicists around me, but
enough has been written to convey
an idea Of the character of the con
yention. These. gentlemen have me-
to discuss the situation calmly apf
without passion i, not to gFieye pyel