Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1890-07-03
Commissioner Butler to Capt. .Tillman.

TIE COMMISSIONER ANSWERS THE
CHARGES MADE AGAINST s1IIsfsRLF,
AND HIS DEPARTMENT IN TILL
MANS LATEST SPEECH.
/ have just read Captain B. r.
Tillman's charges Against tho De-
partment Of Agriculture and against
myself, made in his GreenviIle
speech. As he took the trouble to
write them out for the reporters,
there is no possibility of his saying
hereafter that he was misquoted..
For the past four or five years I
have been compelled to meet and OK
pose his charges, and have endeay-
orcd in all that time to keep within
the bounds Of dccency. My efforts
have been to treat him courtcously
under strong provocation to do
otherwise If | now depart from
that rule | trust the people of South
Carolina will attribu.e it to the Just
indignation of man and public
servant who feels himself persistent
ly, maliciously and willfully SIAN
dcred.
His first and second statements,
that ethc bureau has made no hon
est effort to protect tho farmers
against being swindlcd by buying
guano below tho guarantee" and
that sit has not enforced it's own
regulations" are simply false, rs the
reports of the Department will show.
These arc general statements, that
can only be answered in similar
manner. When specific statement
is made, it will be answered rs it de-
serves.
His third statement that "although
the law is known to be defective
and tho punishment inadequate, no
attempt has been made by the Board
or Commissioner to have it amended,
except that the matter was mention.
ed i'll one of the Department. reports
several years ago." he likewise knows
to be untrue, but being more spe-
cific can be met in n more positive
manner. At my request several bills
were introduced in the Legislature
at different times. Two of these
may be cited: One by Col. L. r..
McIvcr at the session of 1885, which
passed the House and failed in the
Senate (sec House Journal, session
1885, pages 126, 1876, 175, 1856 and
3400 and another at the session of
1887, introduced by Senator You
mans, but failed in the Senate,
think. This latter bill 1 have not
had time to trace through the Jour
nails. These two arc sufficient to
disprovc the charge that the Com
missioner has not made an effort to
have the laws amended where, in his
opinion, amendments were required
So many of I,illman's charges are
made in a rambling way that it is
only possible to answer them gene
rally, and this | will do as nearly as
possible in the order in which they
arc made.
| have not contcndcd that all
manufacturers were honest. If that
were true, analyses might be un-
necessary. Some have attempted to
dcSraud, and have been punished
with all the penalties the Depart
mcnt could impose. SO much for
that.
With an earnest desire TO visit the
scvercst penalties contemplated by
law upon any manufacturer who at
tempted to dcfraud the farmers,
requested Attorney General Miles to
inform me if an analysis of any
brand of fertilizer showed dcficicn-
cy, from the examination of sample
drawn out of particular lot, whcth-
or the Department could seize and
condemn any other lot of the same
brand not found to be deficient.
He gave his official opinion that only
the particular lot inspected would be
liable to the law. TO make this per-
fcctly plain, suppose that lot of
Baltic Fertilizer, sampled at Green
vile, was shown by analysis to be
deficient. When the Commissioners
undertook to seize and condemn that
lot, he found that it had all been
hauled away and put in the ground,
but he knew at the time that there
was another lot of the same brand
at Spartanburg that had not been
inspected or analyzcd. He could not
seize and condemn the Spartanburg
shipment, because, in the opinion of
Attorney General Miles, it had not
been analyZcd. and. indeed an onoly-