The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-02-08
The Blue Ridge Scheme Defeated.

| The Blue Ridge Scheme Defeated.
The correspondent of the Charleston Nears
gives full account of the Senate proceedings,
in which the Blue Ridge scheme was disas-
trously defeated:
| COLUMBIA, S. c., Jan. 80.
The members of the Senate to-day put an
effectual quietus upon the Blue Ridge Railroad
swindle, and at the same time, and by the
same action, indicated very clearly their disap-
probation of the credit system in legislation.
Mr. Leslie intmated, on Friday last, that the
Senate was not disposed to tolerate the c. Q. ID.
principle, and that as the New York adver-
tisements saw. "the money must accompany
each order to secure the shipment of the
GOODS" and the friends of the Blue Ridge
scheme have doubtless found by this time, to
their entire satisfaction, that promises to pay,
contingent upon the passage of bill, hardly
sufficient motive power to turn the senatorial
grindstone for an axe of such proportions.
The measure came up to-day, Immediately
after the morning business, as the special order
of the day, and motion was made by Swails
to again postpone the consideration of the bill
till Thursday next. Nash hoped not, and
could not see any reason why g vote could not
be taken then as we'll as any other time.
Whittemore accused the Senators of acting in
bad faith toward him. He had been called
out of town for day or two, and they had
agreed not to take up this bill of denominations
until his return but he noticed by the journal
that they had made determined effort to take
up the bill on Friday. Now that it had come
up he was prepared to say something about it,
and hoped the motion to postpone would not
prevail Hayne called for the ayes and noes
on the motion to postpone, and afterward
withdrew the call, which was renewed, howev-
to have Swails get up and TELL in n clear, dis
tinct voice, so that the Senate could hear him,
why he was so anxious all of sudden to have
the thing postponed, when he had been all
along trying to hurry it up. Swais replied
that it had been talked about so much that he
began to think there was something in it him.
self, and he wanted time to study Oh it. Leslie
thought that the bill as drawn was q delibe-
rate insult to the Senate. 1t was rs bad as
though it asked them to set fire to the State
House, and then sit there until the building
was consumed and he submitted that the men
who drew the bill were either downright luna
tics or else they thought the Senators were
idiots. The bill proposed to pay the debts OF
several railroad companies while the State was
unable to pay its own debts, and it proposed
to do great many other things just as absurd
He did not propose to vote for any postpone
ment. He wanted the bill killed there and
then, and afterward the friends of the measure
might bring in a new bill having the same gen.
eral object in view but being decent in its pro-
visions The vote on postponement was then
taken and lost by eleven to fourteen.
Smalls then moved to strike out the enactlng
clause of the bill, but being reminded that this
could not be done while the bill was under
discussion, he moved to amend by striking out
all after the enacting clause. Whittemore said
this was cutting off the body from the head,
and he did not know as it made much differ
ence whether they did that or cut the head off
He wanted to meet the bill at once, and if the
Senate liked the bill let them pass it, if they
didn't like it let them kill it by straight vote,
without any dissection, decapitation or vivisec-
ton about it. Smalls insisted that his molten
was the best one. He understood that the bill
had good heading, and if it had good head
and corrupt body it would be good idea to
cut off the body and throw it away.
Swais moved to recommit the bill, and this
motion taking precedence Of the other, it had
some show of passing, until Hayne rose with a
motion to indefinitely postpone the whole mat
ter. This started another lot Of filibustering
motions, and provoked a speech from Smalls
who said they were all protesting that they
wished to kill the bill, but if they did, why
didn't they vote for his motion instead of beat.
ing around the bush? He thought it was all
very thin, and that it looked as though, after
all, they were in favor of passing the bill, and
were only trying to compound with their con-
sciences or to CANNON their constituents by e
show of opposition. After little further de-
bate, a vote was reached on the motion to in
definitely postpone, and it was carried by a
vote of seven to eighteen. This action effectu-
ally disposcs of the bill of denominations, as
the rules of the Senate provide that no matter
which has been Indefinitely postponed can be
again brought up, nor can similar bill be in
troduced again during the present session.