The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1882-02-08
The Combat ThickenS.

SENATOR FiSHBURNE MAKES Al
SPEECH IN OPPOSITION TO THE
STOCK bAW, AND IS PUSHED
TO THE WALL.
Declarations that Will not Down at
Anybody's Bidding, though tie Ora.
tor May be Crushed to the Earth.
(Rcgiatcr.l
COLUMBIA, Thursday FEBRUARY y
At o'clock Mr.. F%ishburle called for
the special order for that hour. This was
the following:
Bill to exempt and relieve. the Coun-
tics Of Charleston, Colleton, Beaufort and
Hampton from the operations Of an Act
entitled "An Act to provide a general
stock law and regulate operations OF the
same" and to require tho County Com
missioners of said Counties to build a
fence on the boundary line separating
Orangeburg and Barnwell from SAID
Counties between he Santee and SaVal
nah Rivers. :,
Mr.. tishburnc obtained the floor and
made n very earnest speech in support OF
the bill. He spoke substantially as Iol-
lows: ,.,,
I rise to speak in support Of this I'LL
and ask the indulgence of tho Senate ;or
Il few moments while / state briefly why
it should pass. In advocating TINS meas
urc / do with the purcst motives when
over actuatcd any man III the aavoc.Ey
of any measure that he felt bound by the
highest duty to defend. The general stock
law which has boon passed is 4 hardship
TO the lower Counties. 1t IS simply rum,
eternal ruin, to my constituents who sent
me here to defend their interests. L DIS
claim u bitterness of feeling IN tllls
matter, and in my intense earneStncSs
to achieve my purpose | may err. l re.
o~ornize the fact, III all its solemnlty, that
wien 1 held up my right arm and took Il
solemn oath to discharge my duty as q
Senator l would be called upon to lace
many stern necessities, many unpleasant
duties. But I will not III the hour OF
danger desert my people n VIII hoI
shrink any duty which deVolvcs upon
ME as q Senator or as Il citizen OF South
Carolina. I came here to uphold by my
voice and nv vote the rights of my peo-
| nle and T will do it. l will use AL the
%pursuasive powers I possess to induce tue
Senate to pass this bill. ~ great many
! men say that, because we have voted 10
pass this general stock law, we would be
inconsistent to pass a bill such as the one
we are now considering ; that we cannot
20 back on that Act and reopen the qucs.
tion. But I would ask them. is IL right
to stick to a mistake? If a gross wrong
has been done, is it not better to undo 1t
then, on the plea of consistency, TO SUCK
to it ? This is the tlimsicst OF all arGii-
mcnts which are urged against the Dill.
! 1t has no weight Whatever, n ought not
to receive any consideration Whatever.
What I claim and insist upon is that this
hall lao oo,>NnnI sN far &c II lnnr S
| upon the Counties named in this bill. L
claim that it is neither wisdom nor policy
to force :upon these Counties what they
do not desire and what they ask to be re-
lievcd from. They plead for justice, for
rirht and for fairness. The intere is OF
South Carolina are varied they are di-
ycsiied. What is good for II part OF
the State is bad for another. What will
be hailed with approval in G~reenvlllo
will meet with condemnation in Beaufort.
| What will benefit upper Counties Of the
State will curse the lower Counties. But
this fence law, ~disrega"dinG this prime
fact bears upon all alike. V is good for
some, but bad very bad, fol.others, cspe-
cially for those enumerated in the Dill.
Now these Counties, realizing that 10
force them to come under this law VIII
be to hurl them into hopeless ruin, have
modestly come before the General Assem-
bly and asked to be exempted from the
provisions of the general stock law.
They say their interests demand that the
law shall not apply to them. Is not this
q reasonable and Just request? Is there
an ything in this to excite such violent OPP
position here? In these counties it IS a
matter of bread. The people cannot Ii v
under such a law. We only ask this in
tho name of men who have done their
duty to the State and to the Democratic
party. These are the oldest Counties III
the State and possess men of intelligence
and truth. These men have always done
their whole duty whether in peace or in
war. The bones Of their ancestors lie
bleached in all parts Of the world where
thew have gone at the bidding of the
State. The Legislature should recognize
the Just claim of these men and heed tholl
reasonable wishes, for they make only
requests of the most reasonable charac-
ter. 1t is not, | say. wise to force these
men to live under a law which is a great
hardship and bears heavily upon them.
1t is not a political necessity. Why, then
force them to give up rights which lhey
have enjoyed from time lmmcmorlal
We claim by inheritcnce that this law
should not be imposed upon us SO nd
lOcIllN. " " ooh viva o. 1890
because you have 4 majority in your
favor YOU refuse to grant them. because
n majority Of the Counties Of the State
desire this law, Won say the other Conn-
ties must also have it, whether it is adj
| apted to their wants or not. | insist that
this law is not adapted to our wants. Arc
we dogs that we should be treated in this
way I claim we arc not. AS / said be-
fore, I will, if necessary, get upon my
knees and plead with you to give MS this
right. When you force such obnoxious
measures upon our people you must en-
pect the worst consequences. No people
will submit to such Tyranny. No people
Will live under such grinding cnactments,
You may well expect to inritc Il revolt
ton if you force such an oppressive law
upon our people. l warn you. Senators,
before you cast your vote you better con-
! slider we'll what you arc doing. You now
have an opportunity to allow excitement,
to pour oil upon the troubled waters.
! Will you do your duty?
Mr.. Wylie said that as q Senator, 4 law
yer and chairman Of the Judiciary Com
mittee he felt it his duty to movet to strike
out Section Q of the bill. This section
provides for the levy and collection of a
lax upon the people in the counties
named. Article =, Section Is, Of the State
| Constitution explicitly says that all meas
ures for raising revenue shall originate in
the House. Tho question is, does this
section propose to raise any revenue? If
it does it clearly is i'll violation of the
Constitution and we are bound to vote
against it.
Mr.. Fishburno said in reply that the
section did not propose the raising of any
! %revenre. 1t simply. said that a tax OF
| 1l.,J-o ,,;lI, cl,,lI la lopia6 far fhn mr.
pose named, but did not specify the
amount. This, then, was not a measure
to raise revenue. The House would have
to fill out these blanks and that would be
virtually originating the measure in the
House.
Mr.. Harllee made ..stronS speech
against the passage Of the bill.
Mr.. FiShburnc again spoke ut some
length, insisting that the bill should pass.
He said that only ono member OF the
House was in favor of the stock law; that
fifteen out of the seventeen members from
Charleston were opposed to it that the
whole of Beaufort county was willing to
be taxed to be relieved from this Onerous
law that Hampton and Collector were in
the same condition and would cheerIully
pay the necessary tax. There are tWen-
ty-scven Legislators from these three
counties in favor Of allowing us what we
ask for. and there are only five opposed to
it. Is tins not strong proof that our peo-
pie want what is asked for? These three
counties contain enough cattle to feed the
entire State for years to cotnc. They pos
sess more live stock than all the other
counties in South Carolina contain. We
only ask the right to be taxed to build
this fence. Our rights ate in the balance.
DO not compel us to rush all at Onre upon
tho market with our cattled and sacrifice
them. We ask this and demand it,. We
only desire time. DON'T force upon
us Liils extreme measure.
On motion of Mr.. Slnythe, who follow
ed up his motion with brief speech,
Charleston was excepted from the bill.
Mr.. Bradley then moved that the enact
ing clause of the bill be stricken out.
NJ. EiuLhurnn in demanding the Nnas