The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-11-17
,oint out to our people the better methods

and started for $iUD,mu. Says Gen. :. ID. Lee
in Il recent letter to me: "If the farm and nee
essary farm buildings are already on hand, /
will cost to run it and make 1t u success no
Exceeding SD,'DU annually, provided we Keel
lit out OF the hands of politicians and broken
down gentlemen" The ftrm. feel sure, cal
hr had without costing anything, il the c0ull
ties are allowed tO bid for the location ot th'
,instituiIUI, ami the present privilege iLN oi
fertilizers. amounting tu over S-3,UJJ year I"
gethcr with the Si,ID fnoGs tie land scrip
fund can, in my opinion, easily be made t
support il with very little more help loIn TIL
treasury, and at the same tim" carry on al
the work of our present department OF agrl
culture which is Of any real Urneflt TO The Etr
mrrS. . . !,
I or course, to do this the collection of th'
phosphate royalty woald have to be given Il
the comptroller general, to whom IT. belongs
and the control of the college a!id bnre;Mi q
q. riculturr would have To bn under nhe SANK
hoard and that board SHOULD hc diVorcrd: ~
far as may be, from political nfturnceS: Far
mcr politicians are no more ~ rp TRUSTED ttt
any other class of politicians. and we muStde
= uslrpl and Gun tinuc To demand. that the far
I mcrS OF shc-Ssite. iii their organized capacity
: he entrusted with the control ct our own Du
rcau of agriculture and our OWN college; allt
If our just demands are not granted, then le
us agiiate and organize TIL we secure full con
troll of the St;ste G-rcrnnent, ana lake villa
belongs to Us.
be chosen by the Legislature Or appuihtcd by
the Governor: that men elected out 81
doUrS,' as ths Register phraScd H. cannot IL
safely eutrlsted with the nelnagrrncntO OF pub
. lie funds. or hc allowed 10 control the depart
mrnt Of agriculture and college. II IL hc cstaD
lished. The objection has no weight, ana
why? In the first place, these annual hsrlcnl
turl conventions shoulu compare lnVorably
with the Legislature, both as To ability and
character and, indeed, considering the lacl
! that many of our best and pnres1 men-ial
merS and Others-will not consent 10 WtlioW
: in the mire of politics, but will be among the
| foremost workers in the agriculturaf SOcle
! ty. we may justly claim that our conventions
will be composed of even better maler al tlltii
will meet In the State-lluuSe, aus regards thclr
! fitness Tor this work. Then, the money can
! he Kept bv the Stale treasurer and paid out
on Warrants as now, and every voucher close
! Ey inspected by Il committee OF the iarmcrs
! and OF Tie Legislature TOD, If need be.
| What we want to guard against Is allowing
! the board of agriculture ana thc college oclns
made an asylum for brORcn-dOwn politicians
and old superannu&ed Bourbon arlStOcratS,
who are thurou. hly iRce.npctcnt, who wor.
ship the past, and are incapable OF progress oi
amy sort, but who boldly assume tvgovcrn us
by divine right and are ever ready 20 put IN
their claims TO fill every position oi honor or
profit that may offer. These people are the
bane OF our State, and not Knowing now 10
lead, are riding us like "Sinbads uM lri7Ln ol
the sea-" II they arc 10 get contrO OF our ng-
ricnItural college we had best not found one,
for they viii select It's professors from among
thelr hlntfTeE and friends. and the school Will
fail mos, miser;lbly to fulfil our hopes ami en-
iNcS in az 2rirutural colleges.
desire here to say that in using this Ian
GungeI do not refer to our present ooaFu "
agriculture particularly, but 10 the general
often put in high places and lhe lack OF pro-
grcSS In the State i attributable to 10 lack OF
Sta,ernailship. This work should be paced
lll tie hands Of young and progressive men.
Then, again, ii the State shall give rccoSni-
ton To tue agricultural societies of the cnuii-
ties by imposing this duty upon them they
will not languish and die, as has been The
case herct fuic, but Will grow ana HourlSii,
acting and re-actimg upon each other anu up
oir the' State association. Our best farmers
will consider IL their duty To belong 10 Them,
and they will become schools Of agricultural
progress throughout the State, while in these
annual uathcIin our farmers VIII come 10
know each other from ri! over the State ana
we will not he dependent ON lawyers ANA poll
ticianS TO tell us who 10 select for our offices
OF honor and trust. l regard this rs of great
value and Importance.
But let US hope the demand for rctrench'
ment ana reform in our public offices, ana tlle
urgent necessity for something being done To
promote our l;tnguiShinS agricultural inter
csts, will cause the General Assembly To ACT
without further agitation and discussion. II
il does the farmers CAN turn their atlenuon tu
the question of reforming themselves and
their methods, ard all politics be eliminated
from the farmers movement. puHtlrill rc
form once obtained. and the necessary laWs
for Slcrng and protesting our farming IN
tcrrsts being passed, the movement Will he
come n means OF hrinsing about agricultural
reform and we viii covenant to let The poIli-
clans alone II they will let as alone. But as
"rlcrnai vigilance is the price Of liberty so,
while working to bring abouta healthy agri-
cultural progress we can Keep Sharp Whtt u
upon our lawmakers, and see thas thcy uonl
back slide into OK tru ragance.
1T Is the caSi, st thing in the world 10 ot
waStefnl with other peoples ihnnry.ahu ILL
Arp SAYS most men don't regard H. iluch of II
crime To steal from tEe puuir. But II we sec
a
our annual conventions sound Il note OF warn
ing and bid the backsllders Ia Ike heed. SHOULD
our expectations that the Legislature VIII re.
form existing abuses AMI be more cconoinlclI
prove lafiaciouS, ihcn we must rrdoublc our
efforts two years hence and STE that we are
not hamho0zrd again in our choice OF pub
lie officials.
to whether the Legislature recently eitccd
shall give us relief or not. III any event an
annual convention OF farmers IKE thlS VIII
exert Il most salutary influences, both upon
the farmers and upon our public scrra MS.
and hope that we shal! continue 10 holu
them.
In conclusion advise that we do nothing
Glshly and that we USr due dclibcralinn in
making any recommendations to the Le2iSla
turc. We had better effect Il permanent or
ganiZatipn and max" no Su"g Stion whatever
than do something that shall result badly.
In other words, DIvy croekrtt's motto Is II
most excellent one ~ adoit: 'Be sure we are
ri.lr, and then Gsrahcad.
! The sentiments applauded were C) The ref
prrnrc 10 :hc farmers being ''sround to
POWDER" (2) The declaration That the farm
. crS had only to act tremendously ana IN ~
conservative spirit to obtain all thcy asked :
C0 the allusion to the "kcking and spueal :
ing" of otiircholders: () the reference To pol
ticianS AZ Il brok cli-,inwn gcntle,ntn:" G') the
dectarltion of the superiority IN character ol
the Convention over the 1e=i>laturr; Q) the
defamation against lawyers ana pnlltlritnS
selecting officials for the farmers, and ~ the
cxhortatluu to ''rcloublrd effort two years
hence"
eoMMITTEEs, &C.
IEcsSrs. J. 7 Duncan of Newbcrry, and ".
P Addison, of Ahbeville, were unanimously
elected secretaries.
The cnunticSnf Aiken. Barnwcll, Beaufort,
Chesterfield, Georgetown, llorry. Hamrion
ana York were hnrcln eSehtcdi ana mon
was only represented by one alternate. Rich
land had :r large ttt'le-atinn, and Charleston
one above the average size.
Mr. Ward, of Ianrcns, moved that the
Chair appoint member from each county TO
serve on the credentials committee. MT.
Fi>hburnc. nf Cullcto;r. secured the adontinn
pf an amendment providing that each dcir-
CATION elect its own cnmnhttccuan. and IN
this s!are the resolution Was carried.
The following members conStiiHte the COM
miitce: Ahbcvii!r, y. w. Jones; Anderson,
]. \. Hall; berkeley, j. W: H. Clcmcnt, 1;
Charleston. G.. L. Holmes; Chester, f.. p.
j. L. Tindal!; Darlington, W. +: Mcknight
TlsrlIrId, B. II. TiIlman: Fairfield. Samuel
Met ormick Grccnvillc ii. &. Gilreath: ker-
shaw, G. w. Mosclry; Lexington. Isaiah
Marion. Il. G. Crawford: Marlboro, j. Il.
Green; Ncwbcrry, II: II. Folk; Oconee, J. J.
Keith: Orangchurg. +. ID. RdtcS: Pickens. II.
burg. II. l.. Farlcy; Sumter, A.: Il Sanders;
Union, John T.. Thomas; Williamsburg, IL.
\. Eaddy.
ELECrISG PRESIDENT AND OTHER OFFICERS.
NJ u,,y1 of T,,rlinrton uomin,tod Cant