The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-11-17
THE PLANTERS PLATFORM.
w1ss, CONSERVATIVES JUST.

! WlSA, CONS6fIF ft1-SFlS1
Practical Suggestions to. and ReaSsn'
! able Requests Of the State LeEislH-
ture -. Mattcr which Everyone
Should Read.
! We. the farmers of South Clrolina in Con-
, vcnIiUn assembled, after mature delbcralion
and after all the light and experience canned
since our last Cons cn ton from the lulf'St ulS-
cl,s<ion ainOng ourselves as'to the general OBJ
icctS tu:be attained. hereby express our con-
timed and unSllaken confidence in our ilrIn-
crS' association as now organized u accom-
plisl great good Tor the State II properly con-
dacted and kept within legitimate oounuS,
and we hereby rci;cratc our determination
that there shall he hencefprth in'Snuuh Caro,
ma an organization for the proteclion ana au
; yancrInciit of our agricultural interests.
In furthrrance of rhiS purpoSe ar't us en-
bnuyiug the present views of the FARMERS oi
the Stale, we respectfully urge upon our Gch-
cral Assembly The necessity and adri>aoillly
Of the following measures:
!. The establishment of Il reat agricultural
college, separate and. distinct from The Sout
Carolina College, end modelled after thu>e oi
Mississippi and Michigan: We believe that
the necessary funds TO build and equ'p ms IN
sttulion can be secured by looping Oft need
less expenditures, and abplishipg or c0nsoli-
dating useless offices without increased TAXA
tion. We furthcs recommend, as means 70
assist in building the institution. that the dli-
icrcnt counties of The State bc empowered 10
bid for il by Offering bonds orl land.
9. Thai an experimental station should De
established at or in connection with s;No AZ
ricultural and. Mechanical College, the same
to be under the charge of its facullyr ana I'lA
we mrmoriaGize Congress to- pass the bill In
troduccd by Mr. Hatch and now pending,
Which appropriatcs Sl5J0O annually to each
State ft,r the parpoSe and that We ASK our
Senators aud congressman 10 use I'LL leSlti-
mate mpanS to secure It's passage
g. Ehat in order that our agricultural ad-
ministration may be divorced as far as posi-
Bile from politics and politicians and the msn
best qualified o perform these important du-
tics he selected by those most competent 10
Judge, in order t;rt We In:ty secure board OF
agriculture at once. efficient, Jealous and rep
resentative. who know our needs ana VIII u!
To supply them. We urge that instead OF being
chosen by the Legislature they be elected oy
this Farmers Association. The BOARD OF agrl-
culture should consist of ten nclnners, live
elected annually. They sho'rld have the pow
or to elect their own secretary, whose duties
would correspond with those of the present
commissioner. Their duties would be the
same as the law impose: on our present Doar.i,
except as to the collection of the phosphate
ROYALTY, which should he Fl zen tu The comp
trollcr-gcneral. In addition they should have
control of the agricultural college anu expert
men tai station, and should by means oi fhrin-
crs' institutions build up and keep alive conf
iug agricultural associations.
!: That the system of inspection OF fertilizers
Ia now defective, and inadequate punishment
additional legislation As will secure the need.
ed protection without imposing unnecessary
rp>traalt upon the manufacture and sale ol
fcrtiliacrS. Cotton seed meal, whether sold as
Il ier riliZer or as feed for stock, should be ILL
sprcied and its adultcration puniShcct
>. We urge the Legislature not te. s9nhndtr
the States property by alluwinGIbe wholesale
cXpnrtation of phosplEteS at merely nominal
prices and that vi tlI u view of lrSscnlng the
burdens OF taxation. they take into cnnSideril-
tIon the adviS;tbFlily Of increasing the phoS-
phatc royalty.
6. We recommend the passage OF such le.is
lalinn as: will protect the farmers OF the state
against imposition and fraud i'll the weighing
of cotton.
will protect us against forest fires, ncglgehtlS
started.
$. The equalization of taxes demands earn
est consideration at the hands Of The l.cSlS-
laturr, and we urge such action us C;ln DeSL Sc
cure II. 800
q. We urge such alterations OF The fee bill ns
will guard the estates Of dead p'rSnns against
abuses and provide protection for WIDOWS anu
orphans.
IO. In order to secure the needed reforms In
our county governments and To Icduce the
burden of tnNntiDn. as we'll us to secure Such
changes in the judicial system MS may he need
cd, We earnestly request our Legislators 10 con-
siucr the adviSahi!ity of calling n cQnstltu-
IiOnal convention, unless, i'll their Judgment,
the necessary changes my be better OUlalncu
by amendment
TIL ADOPTION OF TILE PJIAIFUlsN.
After the reading OF the plat form motion
was made 10 take II up by sections. This eN-
cited some discussion. and Il division was de
mandcu on the question, resulting Yeas ~,
nays 23.
The platform was then read by sections, and
WAS adopted. DtTihStilc pra,grrsS Of theread'
ing there were one or two short disctGiSi"nS,
during which Farmer Tillman was called up
on To explain matters, which lie did in his us
ual forcible and graphic sly le.
t.tt flrSt tf.hn
the agricultural college lie said that there
were many expenses In, the State G"ycrminent
which could be Topped OFT, and in hat way
perhaps $j0OO0 could he saved. He also men
toned incidentally that there Was some talk
in Abbcvillc Of taking the De la Howe fund in
that county and devUting it to the establish
mrnt of All agricultural college.
Some mcutiOn was made Of class T"GiS'att0n
when that section relating to the election of
The bureau OF agriculture by the Farmers AS
S0catinn was reached. which gave Farmer
Tillman q chance TO deliver, in his own graph
ic and incSve way, Il thrilling speech. i'll
which he denied the imputation that this
would be class legislation, and in support OF
his position mentioned the fact that the doors
of the Farmers Association were open alike
10 doctors, lawyers, merchants and even fac
tors.
TIE FEES. OF PHYSICIANS.
When the section recommending the
amendment of the Tee bill was reached men,
Der arose and suggested that while the Con.
vcntiun was on the subject OF fees 1t might
very we'll devote It's attention to the fees of
hysicians. lie couldn't understand WHY Il
phySician who was summoned as a witness In
Court was paid so Il day for his Attendance,
whilea poor farmer, whose lime was equally
as valui BILE, was paid ~ cents. This was class
legislation with II vengeance. He also stated,
as Il matter OF TACT, that in the State Of New
York the maximum lee allowed Il phySiclnh
for Il case Gf obstetrics was $40, while in South
Carolina from saej 10 so was charged. Upon
the whole he thought that physicians fees
needed as much regulation as lawyers fees.
DR.. Thomas, of IniGn, said he had been
practlcing medicine for over furty.fire years.
and lsis aniiorm charge for Il case of obstetrics
only charged s5. Still he was willing TO have
the ft'rs regulated. From this point the de-
hat" branchcd out into general discussion
on the subject OF obstetrics and pbySirian>'
until Il member called attention 10 the fact
that the proposed section had no reference tn
lawyers fees, but only "a, the fees Of Courts
aud Court officials, and the section was there
upon adopted without dissent.
There was also Il spirited discussion on the
subject of Il constitutional convention. The
platform recommends q constitutional con-
vcnlnn unless the Legislature thought the
reforms desired could be effected by amend
inrnrS.
DR.. Beard moved as Il substitute that il be
stated that, in tie opinion of this Convcntiun,
Il constitutional convention is Il NECESSITY.
lr. Thonas, Of Union: Lets have IT
squar5ly down. We want constitutional
cOnvtntiUf."
Afier considerable discussion The section
was ;slnpted ts it was originally reported. and
Tie platform then adopted us Il whole.
AN AGRICULTURAL eoLEEGE-
The following resolutions, adopted by the
Anderson Farmers Club, were referred to the
committee:
Rcsolrr,i, That the November Convention hc
urged 10 demand of our neXt Legislature the
establishment of an AGRICULTURAL college Scpil-
rate and distinct from tho South Carolina Col"