The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-02-11
COhUEMB'Il[A. |; 4 s.. G.
Tues lay Morning. February II. 1878.
~ Advantages OF = CHANGE In the
Fence Law.

"AAA ADs ooJootA uoAOCo uhhIuS homo
modification or change in the fence law.
It is, s,oppressive as it stands. It imposes
d burden upon the productive industry
OF the country as weighty as it is unnc-
oessary and unjust. It permits any one
to turn his stock upon crops. whether
cultivated. or natural in forests and fal
low lands, when they are not thoroughly
enclosed and guarded. Damages for in
juries done to crops cannot be recovered.
except where plaintiff oan show that he
had what is known as lawful --fenoe.
Thisfance must be OF a certain height
and; closeness. and be strong nud sound.
Any defect or decay. whether by wind,
fire or floods, or even tho maievolence Of
third parties, is fatal. And in Thus re-
,quiring the owner to guard and protect
his crops, and holding the aggresser as
justilable and blameless, our law of en-
closures has been properly characterized
al based on principle adverse to all
laws. as we'll as Justice and the rights of
pfoperty. Law. accordiueAto Black
stone, is rule of society. authorizing
what is right and forbidding what is
WKofg. The fence law cannot stand the
tsktpf this principle. It is "a manifest
ipjgstige.
Thbre arc certain expenses in this life
which men appear 10th to find out.
How many families helpless wives and
delicate ohildren-in almost every square
milo Of oil this country, could be made
vastly more comfortable thsp they are.
iffRa MONEY that the husband. CONSUMES
ipsdtihkihg, smoking aHd gambling were
only appropriated to their use! The
money thus wasted by many young men,
from sixteen to twenty one years of age,
it carefully boarded, would support them
one. and, in. some, instances, NO, doubt,
two years. ;at q, good school or college.
It is surprising that our planters and
farmers no not count the cost of fences.
We cannot account for their indifference,
except upon the supposition OF igno-
ramos. or that they ind q sort Of luxury
in them, like the liquor drinker in his
dram, and dislikes to think of the ex-
pense. or from reluctance to stir them
selves and get out the ruts of old custom.
It is time they should wake up and look
about them, and realize tho fact that it
is no "Oastle of Indolence" in which
they are placed. Do they think that
$40, 900. 900 expended in fences in South
Carolina ISIS good paying investanent3
We know That they generally. desire q
changein the fence law. but they have
not spoken with sufficient earnestness
upon it-hardly loud emo ugh, in fact. to
be heard. From an article in the Feb
ruary number of the Rural Go,,olinian,
by General Hagood, We collect some
authentic statistics. which We RECON-
mend to the confederation both OF the
farmers and the Legislature:
,"ME. Hammond estimates the cost OF
fehSing the improved lands OF South
Carolina at 81 per acre. Gen. Ohesnut's
estimate, in report to tho South Caro-
lima State Agricultural Society, in 1859.
is 81 IS. The duration of the ordinary
rail fence of the country is known to be
about ten Year,; and this gives an az
nusl assessment upon the planter, for
fencing his crops, of forty cents per
acre. There are about 1000, 900 acres
OF improved land in the State; and we
thus arrive at the enormous amount of
81, 600, 900 as the annual cost to our i'm
poverished people OF fencing their crops
"a sum four times what sufficed for the
entire administration of the State Co.
vernment before the late civil war. The
United States Agricultural Report for
1871, in discussing the statistics OF fences
IN the United States, places these figures
still higher. South Carolina is credited
with $2l. 1885, 1896 invested in fences,
upon which the annual depreciation
would be So, 1869 The estimates of
Messrs. Hammond and Ohesnut are only
Tor boundary fences; that Of the depart.
ment includes cross-fenoes, and is corro-
borative."
We would think, that with snoh facts
before their eyes, no one could hesitate.
1t is at least four times as costly to fence
stock out as to fence them in. But
there are many other points, somo of
which we will briefly state, besides that
OF money outlay in building and keep
ing up fences, which deserve consdera.
A. m