The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1875-08-26
THE COTTON WEIGHER.

the purpose of forming an ASSOCIATION u
change the past system of weighing cotton
sold in this market AS this matter has be-
come one of such great interest it may be
interesting to give brief account of how 1t
became connected with the town govern
ment, and also of the causes which render
it advisable to have this connection severed.
About the beginning of the war, at time
when every man was weighing his own cot
ton, and no one questioned his right so to
do great irregularities in the weights occur
red, and certain unprincipled men practlccd
fraud in their weights to such an extent that
the merchants of the Town, generally, de-
termined to put stop to it by selecting one
man to do the weighing for all buyers and
sellers, and selected Mr.. 0. H. P FAINT,
gentleman in whose judgment and integrity
all parties could place the uttermost rell-
ance as the cotton weigher for the Town,
and made it a rule or matter OF contract be-
tween the parties that the seller should pay
ten cents for every bale weighed. This sys-
tenn continued until after the war without
any question as to it's legality, and in 1866
Mr.. FAINT being engaged in business desired
that he might have all opportunity to take
an oath of office and give bond for the
faithful performance of his duty as cotton
weigher, in order that there might be no
| complaint from the sellers, and at his re-
quest the merchants Of the Town asked the
Council to create the office Of cotton weigher
and to elect Mr.. FAINT as such weigher. The
Council, which was composed of Judge
Murray as Intendant, and Messrs. Hoyt,
FAINT, White and Whitner as Wardens, ac-
knowledged they had no right to enforce
the ordinance, but as matter of convenience
and accommodation to the merchants they
did pass the ordinance, and required
oath of Office and bond with security from
the weigher. They also further complied
with the petition of the merchants by elect
ing Mr.. FAINT the cotton weigher Their ex-
ample has been invariably followed by their
successors in office, who have always elected
the persons recommended by the merchants,
until the present Council. This was placed
in the hands of the Council at time when
it was difficult to get men to serve as coun-
cilmen, but since then it has become such
desirable (?) position that some men are
willing to spend half their nights upon the
streets for weeks before the elections, and
spend their money in frequent treats to Sc
cure the suffeages necessary for election.
The election of cotton weigher has thus
become an injury to the Town, by creeping
into our municipal elections. and virtu-
ally being controlled by set of negro
voters, who are neither buyers nor sellers
so that after the result of the recent election
II was clearly understood that the merchants
were to have no influence in the selection OF
the next cotton weigher, but that political
and family affairs had plainly designated
who the coming man was to be. 1t was
evident that Col Cochran intended forcing
his brother-in-law upon the people IN the
face of their earnest protestations, and as
MANY of our citizens thought it inexpedlent
and unjust for our Town government to be
prevented into tyranny and source of fami-
" revenue the meeting of merchants and
cotton buyers, the proceedings of which ap-
pear elsewhere, was held, and after mature
deliberation they decided that they would
weigh their own cotton, and would unite
together and employ some one gentleman
to do the whole of this weighing for them,
and of course they pay him for his services
lust as they do any other one of their clerks
and it costs the seller nothing. Mr.. J. Is.
McGee was unanimously selected for the po-
sition, and it is expected that he will enter
upon his duties at an early day. The selcc-
ton gives very general satisfaction. The
action of COL Dodamead, Supt. G. d e. K
r., is most highly appreciated for its cour-
tcsv and liberality in furnishing the mcr-
chants with the necessary scales.
The present Council have, however, passed
an ordinance requiring every bale of cotton
to be weighed by the man elected by them,
and propose enforcing it by apenalty. This
involves some very nice legal questions, and
is in our opinion monstrous tyranny, for
if the Council have the right to fix tax of
five cents per bale they also have the same
right to fix five, ten or any other number OF
dollars, and it is as clearly an ordinance i'll
restraint Of trade, and therefore void as any
can be. The law under which they claim
this power is a clause of Sec of thcamcnd-
ed charter, which reads as follows: "And
the said Intendant and Wardens shall have
full power to make and establish all such
rules, bylaws, and ordinances respecting the
roads, streets, markets and police of the
said Town. as shall appear to them necessary
and requisite for the security, welfare and
convenience of said town, or for preserving
health, peace, order and good government
within the same" Now the weighing of
cotton cannot be embraced in any Of these.
The word Markets" clearly refers to articles
sold for consumption by our citizens. The
Council has no power whatever to enforce
| an ordinance abridging the rights of any
class of citizens, unless it be upon some sub
iect that affects the interests of the inhabi
tants of the town, and the sale Of cotton docs
not come within this list for it affects no
other persons than the buyer and seller.
| They have the same right to appoint some
| one man to measure off every yard of goods