The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-02-24

ond daughter OF Mr. J. II. Wideman. Presid-
ing Elder Smart of the NJ. F. Church South
otticiated at the first named ceremony. ana
this place, tied the knot which bound toseth-
er the loving hearts of the latter couple. The
writer extends hearty congratulations 10 the
actors i'm these life-uramaS, and earnestly
trusts that they may he blessed with length Of
days, prosperity and happiness.
The whites have four churches In Troy-AS-
sociate Reformed Presbyterian. Presbyterian,
Methodist and BaptiSt-and i'll neither OF
them is therea stove or any other conirivanre
for heating the building. We believe 1t to be
the duty of every one to attend some church
and contribute to its support: out we 90 m not
ture ourselves by playing "freeZc-out." We
understand that the Baptist brethren have Sc
cured stove ior their building and Will nave
1t soon as f1ue can IT. ne omt u Sut as tme
somewhat of locking the stable door after the
horse has been stolen.
Troy has recently had valuable acquisitions
to its resilient population in the persons OF
the Rev. II. G. Smart and his eStimable iami-
w. late of Greenwood. Mr.. Smart IS worker
from Work ersviIle, and since bis arrival here
he has put new life into the membership OF
his congregation. His first move was to reor"
gauiZe the sunday School and institute a.
weekly prayer meeting. Then he talked his
brethren into the purchase OF chandeliers 10
light the church and u stove to heat II. All
this Brother Smart has already done, and he
doesn't seem to be greatly fatigued either.
Chin music seems 10 have Il very happy effect
upon the Baptist brothers and sisters.
We earnestly favor Il new deal in tils
State in one respect and that is in the compu.
sition or "nake-up" Of our legislature ana
political conventions. Go into Legislative
body or a political convention in any OF the
Eastern or Western States and you will find
among the members or delegates representa-
tiveS from all classes OF the people-proles-
sional men, farmers. MECHANICS iaDorers, elc'
Here in South Carolina these bodies are com
posed almost exclusively of lawyers; ana II,
through some mistake, farmer or mechanic
manages to slip in, he looks and acts as II ne
was in bad company, ana TINS destroys ms
usefulness. 1t may be argued that it is abso-
lutcly necessary to have lawyers TO frame
laws but us coach-:lnd-fnur can be driven
with ease through II majority or the statutes
argument falls to the ground. AT all events,
the lawyers have had monopoly or thls
Thing long, and we now move that they be IN
yited to take back seats anu lct some other
class come to the front.
The public school here under the able tutor
ship OF the MesSrS PyleS, is in very flourish
ing condition, numbering some sixty pupils.
this schO0l-the study Of "civil government
1t is really deplorable to reflect upon the large
number Of American citizens who are IN III
most utter ignorance OF the institutions or our
country and our governmental polity, ana
that their numbers are being continually al
dcd to. Go into any school In the county to-
day and we doubt if among all the scholars
there can be found half a dozen who can
name the gentleman VINO represent the Stale
in the United States Senate, by whom they
are elected and the number of years for which
they are elected. Multitudes Of those " no are
number OF their Congress ionai District and by
whom it is represented, to say nothing OF the
number of Districts into which the State is a.
vided and the basis Of representation. we
hold that all this and much more in relation
to the workings of our government should be
taught to boys in our public schools. ana 10
girls too, for in our opinion the day Is not ihr
distant when the women OF our country Will
be clOl he'd with the right of suffrage, oppose
it as we may. Men 90 to the polls year alter
year and vote the Democratic or Republican
ticket, as the case may be, without Knowing
any more about the principles of the party
they support than q mule knows about m uslc.
All this could be rcnIedied in a few years 10y
the proper study OF civil government In our
public schools; indeed It's teaching IN schools
supported wholly or in part by the state
should he made obligatory. us is the case in
Missouri, Illinois. Iowa and other Western
States. If some of our educators w0ula de-
vote IL little of the time they give to works on
defamation to treatise on civil government
for use in the common schools, they would be
comforting a great boou upon the rising gener-
alton.
Sensible Kate Field advises her American
sisters to stop talking about prohibition, Wo.
man suffrage etc, and "learn how TO COOK,
and we are pleased to See that the Press ana
Banner also f;lvors "higller education' OF the
"dear creatures"
The distinguished Professor Sumner holds
that it is rot the duty OF the State To educate
its children; that Tins duty drvOlres upon the
parents, and that no man should marry uil-
less he is able To educate the children born 10
him. We have always held THAT the public
school system Is based upon iniustlce-ul on
the doctrine of the Commune, that the rlch
should divide with the poor '-fOrll II oc rlghCi
to tax one man to educate lhe children OF an
other, then we contend that II is eq qua ly right
to tax him to feed and clOthe those children.
To this view Of the case answer is made that
makes man better cltlZcn, ANA
that the very liie OF our Tree institutions de-
pend> upon the general diffusion OF knoWi-
edge among the masses. But We deny that
education makes Il man a "bcttcr citizen, fOr
crime is more prevaicn: among the educated
than among the illtclu classes. Strange as
this declaration may sound to those who have
been taught to believe the reverse, the s;alis-
tics Or every penal institution IN the country
will bear out the assertion. Some years uSn,
while acting in rcportional capacity. we had
occasion to examine into and report upon the
educational status of the white inmates OF the
Missouri prnltentlary, and found that a large
number OF them were educated men and wo.
men, and that large majority could read
and write. We have before us new some hg-
ureS Of the Auburn, New York, state prison,
and from these we learn that Of the l3GS M
mates OF that institution ia>t year, llS2 were
educated in colleges. academies and publlc
schools. Not long since prominent prison
official Of Alaha.na informed us that educa-
tlOU WIS d. CuISC w tllS iSSloSS VI liiS
"for," said he, "the nero pcnitenllary birds
of all the southern States are largely, almost
exclusively recruited from the educated
class At least from those who have lea hed 10
read and writc'' All over the world the pris-
on statistics cOncluSively establish the lacI
that education cannot be counted upon as 1t
preventive of crime. That education tctter
fits II man for any calling in life,, honest or
dishonest, we readily conccde; but that IL
Will change a naturally dishonest person into
an honest one, we empha1icatiy deny, Edu-
cation opens UP avenues to naturally dis,
honest man which he would not he afforded
him in an iiiterate state; and the rapid in
crease of the American Colony in Canada
seems to indicate that the opportunities to
steal enjoyed by educated men are readily ta-
ken advantage OF.
Troy can boast of quite romance. Last
fall gentleman in Atlanta advertised IN the
Augusta Chronicle for correspondence with
u young lady with Il view to lnatrlmony
This advertisement was replied to by Il young
lady Of Troy, who is both pretty anu lntelli-
gent, aud a lengthy correspondence ensueu.
The Atlanta man was badly 'mashed' pretty
early in the game. his letters. we are told, De
ing models OF gush and slobber, such as love
stricken swainS are wont to pour into the cars
of their Martha James. The climax was reach
cd last Wednesday. when the Atlanta man.
sure of bagging his game, alighteu from the
morning train on the a. Il II. K. r.. hicd to
the Jay house, and dispatched Il note to the
fair one. The young lady happened to be VIs-
lting when the billy doO' reached her resi-
dence; but she was sent for by her parents,
and word conveyed to the impatient swain to
call in the evening. The object OF the GENT