Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1881-01-06
The Stock Law.

AAo 0tOCh AhWs
GEN. GARY DISCUSSES THE EouIrY AND
EcoNCMY OF THE LAw-SoME INTER.
EsTINa figures.
In the last number of tho Edgefcld
advertiser Cen. NJ. w. Gary gives tho
provisions Of tho stock law to Edgefeld
County in answer to q note addressed 10
him by thirty-seventy citizens of the ooun-
ty. He says that the lands of this State
originally belonged to the State, and were by
degrees granted to the citizens of the State.
For years there were thousands of acres
known as "public ands," which furnished
common range for tho stock of every
citizen. Now there aro no public lands
and tho products Of the soil have changed,
the suall fields have changed and commons
Tor pasturages arc unknown.
know of no law that gives the owner
OF stock the right to pasture them upon
tho land Of his ncighbor, and ho is liable
under on old statute to nn action for dam.
ages for trespass of stock. Then the stock
owner has no right to complain if his
neighbors claim exclusive right to pasturoge
upon their lands. AS there is no law or
equity in tho claim of tho stock owner,
propose next to consider tho proposed
change 10 tho law from on economical stand.
point.
The first thing to ascertain is: What is
tho value of tho stock in this State?
The second is: What is tho cost of the
fencing of tho State7
by reference to tho statistics of 1871, of
the agricultural department of the General
Government, tho value of our stock is 49,.
4Ol ,282. The cost of our fencing is S21,.
l36,S79. These figures disclose tho
astounding fact that we cxpend moro than
ten dollars in building fcnces to keep out
ono dollars worth Of stock. It would
seem that further argument on this question
would bo unnecessary. But in order to
make the matter still clearer, 1 will give
the results Of the calculations of some of
our own people. Gen. James Chestnut, in
report to the South Carolina Agricultural
Society in 1860, estimates tho cost of
feucing tho improved lands of South Caro-
lima at four dollars aud quarter per acre.
Mr.. E. S. Hammond, of Aiken County,
estimates the cost ut four dollars per acre.
take it they arc not wido of the mark.
Now the average duration of our fences is
about ten years; this gives an annual assess
mcnt upon tho land owner of forty cents
per acre for fencing his arabic land
There are, according to the census of
1860, about 100000 acres Of improved
lands IL the State; and dt tho ratio of four
dollars per acre as the cost Of fencing, wo
arrive at tho enormous sum of S16,00O,00O
as the cost every ten years for fencing out
the stock of the State.
The above figures arc taken from the
ceosus of 1860; but if you will turn to the
census of 1870, thcro arc about 100000
acres of improved lands, aud the cost of
fencing these would be $12,OOO,OOO.
II is evident that tho custom, as it now
exists, is in favor of tho owner of stock,
and puts at disadvantage the land owner,
tho renter and tho laborcr, in the ratio of
ten dollars to one dollar. And it must
not be forgotten that this is cotton grow
ing State, and that stock raising is only an
incident in our agricultural 'pcrsuits The
present system of labor makes the adoption
of the stock law an agricultural necessity.
1t is notorious fact that tho average value
0! our lands per aero will not reach four
dollars, as is evidenced by our various
public sales of ands. The cost of building
the fcnce is moro than tho market value Of
the land, md there is widespread dispc-
sition on the part of freedmen to shirk tho
splitting of rails. There are but few cross
fences in our best organized farms; and
as general rule, only have an
outside fence, and it not strong enough to
keep the stock out of our folds Stock
that is not kept under fence usually disap.
pears when turned out at largo. Sclf-pre.
scrvation is she first law of nature, and
the tillers of soil will kill stock before they
will lose their crops, upon which depends
the support of themselves, their wives
and children. An 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 1t was best to wait until Newberry,
Aiken and Lexington wore ready to adopt
the law, and so save tho expense of build
ing line fenco between tho counties.
An 1ct to An,en0 an Act Entitled "An
Act to Prohibit the Sale of Seed Cotton
Betvccn the Time Of the Seuinga and the
Kissing Of the Sun, and to Regulate tho
Sale Of Seed Conon," approved Junc
8, 1877.
BE IT ENACTED, &c., That Sec
ton | Of an Act entitled Gan Act
to prohibit the sale Of seed cot
ton between the time of the set
ting and the rising Of tho sun, and
to regulate the sale Of seed cot
tom" approved June 8, 1877, be,
and tho same is hereby, amended
by striking out in the last line of
J. IL Al