Orangeburg times. [volume] (Orangeburg Court House [S.C.]) 1877-1881, 1881-01-13
TIE STOCK LAW.

In the last number of the Edge
| field .4drcrtiScr Gen Nj w. Gary
gives his opinion on the question Of
extending the provision Of the stock
law to Edgcteld County in answer to
a note addressed to him by thirty
seven citizens Of the county. He
says that the lands Of this State
originally belonged to the State, and
were by degrees granted to the citi
zcns of the State. For years there
were thousands of acres known as
''publc lands which furnished q
common range for the stock Of every
citizen. New there are no public
lands and the products of the soil
have changed, the small fields have
changed and commons for pasturage
are unknown.
know ofno law that gives the
owner Of stock the right to pasture
them upon the land OF ais neighbor
and he is liable under an old statute
to an action for damages for trcspass
Of stock. Then the stock owner has
no right to complain if his ncighbors
claim exclusive right to pasturagc
upon their lands. AS there is no
law or equity in the claim Of the stock
owner, | propose next to consider the
proposed change in the law from an
economical standpoint.
The first thing TO ascertain is:
What is the value Of the stock in this
State?
The second is: What is the cost
Of the fencing ofthc State?
BY reference to the statistics of
| 1871, Of the agricultural department
of the General Government, the value
Of our stock is $2,40l,2S2 The cost
Of fencing is $2l. l.l3G,S7S. These
figures disclose the astounding fact
that we cxpcnd more than ten dol
lars in building fences TO keep out
one dollars worth of stock.
1t is evident that the custom, as it
low exists, is in favor Of the owner of
stock, and puts at disadvantage
he land owner, the renter and the
laborer, in the ratio of ten dollars to
:hc dollar And it must not he for
yotten that this is Il cotton growing
State and that stock raising is only
an incident III our agricultural pur-
suits. The present system of labor
makes the adoption Of the stock law
an agricultural necessity. 1t is 4
notorious fact that the average value
of our land per acre will not reach
four dollars, as is evidenced by our
various public sales of land. The
cost Of building the fence is more
than the market value Of the land,
and there isa wide spread dispo. i
tion on the part Of the. freedmen to
'hlrk the splitting of rails. There
are but few cross fences in our best
organized farms; and plantations as
II general rule only have an outside
fence, and it not strong enough to
.eep the stock out of our fields. Stock
that is not kept under fence usually
i.app"ars when turned out at large.
lfprcsrrNaIoN is the first law of
na.urc, and ,nc tiilcrs Of the sol will
Kill stock before they will lose their
crops, upon which depends the sup
port Of themselves, their wives and
children. And enlightened public
opinion will not blame them for it,
Gen. Gary says that he did not
press this matter while he WAS in the
senate because he thought ii was best
% wait until Newberry, Aiken and
Lexington we're ready to adopt the
law, and SO save the expense OF build
ng line fence between the counties
S-z.ssu-~----
Gen. Stccdman, Of Ohio, recently
visited Gen. Hancock and Mr.. Tilden.
Thc former wouldn't talk about poll
tics ut all, and the latter declared he
had retired from the field Of political
tho.ght and activity forever-not, he
said, as Iloratlo Seymour retired in
1865 but prrmancutly w h, Gen.