The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-03-27
Wednesday, March q, 1878.
The General Assembly-Thc Wallace
uouse-Our Debt Of Gratitude.

The General AsSembly-The Wallace
uonse-Our Debt Of Gratitude.
Mark Friday, 2nd March, with a rcd
letter. lIenceiOrth it will be a lies .1esfnS
in the calendar Of South Carolina, n day
TO be held in everlasting and grateful re-
membrance. For on that day the Gener-
al Assembly of '7G-'7S adjourned sine
die and its work-worn senators and rep
resentatives homeward wendell their
way. Mr.. Youmans will no doubt he
able to assure us that they shook their
free passes u of their pockets for a
testimony against the Nems and Courier,
and paid down their hard-earned mileage
Ike men for a railroad ticket.
AS General Assembly it will be IA
NOUS in our State history for the enor-
nous amount of good and bad work it
attempted to do and partially succeeded
in doing. Perhaps no legislature ever
had to deal with so many questions offs SUI
preme Importance; certainly no legisla-
ture ever had to fill 80 many vacancies i'll
high places. That it has lone & great
deal of hard work both ~ a body n in
committees every one must acknowledge
and also that it has done q great deal
Of good work. or the five or six hun
.drcd measures discussed during the ses-
sion. about three hundred have been
passed, and among them were questions
of the utmost difficulty and intricacy,
Involving millions of dollars and affect
ing most seriously the deepest interests OF
the State. 1t would be premature at this
time to review these measures In detail;
but in common with all rejecting citi-
zcns We cappqt refrain from expressing
our admiration and gratitude for the as
sidlity, perseverance,, and industry dis
played by the ex-legislaturc.
When we consider the materiet of the
legislature, we are able the better to &C.
count for and excus some of its peculi-
arities. and wondrous works. While L
numbered amongst its members some OF
the wisest men in the State, there is no
denying the fact that youth and lneXpe-
rience were too largely represented.
Hence arose much crude legislation and
ili-directcd, laundering work. Every
hedgeling statesman had to prove his
mettle, had to win his spurs. Like q boy
with q new axe,iihe had to cut down some
thing if only to try its temper. Hence
speeches innumerable, remarkable for
length if not for depth. The coming cleo
ton will return q General Assembly
of q different and we hope a better
calibre. The success of &c, unexpected at
tho time the nominations were made, car
ried many men TO Columbia who did not
themselves expect to go thither. Some
excellent farmers and young lawyers, we
are afraid, have been spoiled and few
statesmen made out of the material. They
have spoiled the horn without having
made the spoon.
The name by which the House OF Rep
r%esentatives will be Known hereafter is
::the Wallace House." For its manly,
some of its own members would say its
heroic behavior during the. dangerous
times at the close rs, it ~deservesaIl praise
and such has been awarded to it in no
stipted measure. Columbia was then
member Of the Wallace House was to
take ones life in his hand. ORr repre-
s~entatives acquitted themselves nobly,
and by their bravery and patriotism laid
our people under adebt Of gratitude. 10
pay this debt we and the whole State were
not iii the east averse, nor would our pos
tcrity have failed to acknowledge what
portion of it wo might have left unpaid.
utthe Wallace House not willing to leave
any burden to posterity, and anxious to
relieve even the present generation as
much as possible, have succeeded in-re-
ducihg that debt at least fifty cents on the
dollar-to use a financial phrase. Being
the people in their representative capaci-
ty, they have acted as the agents of the
people, apd by the libcrality with which
they have rewarded themselves, they
have in effect scaled the debt of gratitude,
or rather paid one-half of it. Assured
that the people considered nothing too
good fora member OF the Wallace House
they governed themselves accordingly.
Some offices they found vacant, many
they made vacant, and a few they created.
To'these offices they elected either mem
bers Of the Wallace House, or the broth
ers, fathers, or cousins of such. Why
they ,deviatcd from their practice in the
case Of most Of the circuit judges is
only to be explained on the score ofunself-
ishness" and ~magnanimity. Some pco-
pie would den6unce their action asa very
objectionable sort ofnepotism and egotism
Such make quite a mistake. They were
simply taking time by the forelock and
r~ewarding themselves as they knew they
would be rewarded by the grateful peo-
pie they represented. On this debt Of
gratitude We take the same position as we
dido the public debt" We deprecate re-
ppdiati9n; We deprecatc opening up the
whole question; we accept the adjustment
already made with all its advantages and
disadvantages. and counsel the payment
of the remainder by ourselves and our
posterity to the last cent.
We should like to advert to tho "much
speaking the mutual admiration, the
frequent rising to questions Of privilege,
and other features that characterized the
late General Assembly, but 70 do so would
be to ntAe the article like the last session,
far too long and tedious.
Hampton in the Up-country.