The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1890-01-30

&c abao d pnc1, Al" this was whatthe corpo
Q ration attorneys, who were there in tn,
y intetes of their clients and not of theii
i constituents, had been working for
t "The goose that lays the golden egg
Q was not killed-"existipg institutions
t were not disturbed. Phosphate rock,
@ which had been manipulated down to
: So 40 per ton. advanced in two months
, after the Legislature adjourned to SO. 90
and has since ruled between $3.50 and
= 81 80 per ton. The golden eggs are still
, being laid, but not in the States nest
whether some of them have not gone
into pockets which they ought not, is an
open question. Now, we want TO warn
the people that the charter ot the Coo
saw mpany--obtained by bribery, It is
said, of Radical Legisl lature-expires
In 1891. This company, which has
grown fabulously rich, claims to have
a perpetual contract, with exclusive
right to mine in Coosaw River, and
pay only ono dollar per ton for. the privi
lege. The next Legislature must act on
this question, and the next Attorney
General may have to test these claims
in court. The whole question of phos,
phate management or mismanagement
must be settled. Can the taxpayers
| NANo'N w CIV" uuT ouI u uO uOu W ~ W
the Senate, or elect corporation lawyer
as Attorney Genoral2 Shall the politi.
clans choose him, or shall we, casting
about amng the amony honorable, patri-
otto lawyers Of the State. make the selec-
| tiou uurselves2
| RAILROAD LEGISLATION.
The Legislature which has just ad-
| jou.ned has other sins to answer for, or
rather the Senate must be held respou-
sihle The people demanded that tho
Railroad Commissioners should have
something TO do besides draw their sala-
ries and spend them. We want protec-
tion against the greed of the gigantic
corporations owned at the North, which
regard South Carolina as a lemon to be
| squeezed, and care nothing for the vel
| fare of our towns, our State or our peO-
pie.
The railroad laws Of 19-made the
| commission a power to defend the
people against imposition. The same
! Legislature which enacted it having been
bamboozleed or debauched, at the very
next session left 1t only as a sinecure
with fat salaries and no power. We
have just seen the disgraceful farce re-
peated. The law was vastly improved
at the session Of 1888, but after a year.
| which has shown the weakness and un-
| fitness of the present incumbents, for
they have done very little, the Senate
| peremptorily refused to make any
changes. The Railroad Commissioners
now in Office have been ''tamed" 80 to
speak, by the railroads, and men who
have not been 80 long under their wing
might have done something in the inter-
est of the people, but that same Senate.
which has again and again thwarted the
people, which refuses to reduce salaries,
which fought the Clemson College aud
yielded at last to o-neGessity onlY, which
is the stronghold of aristocracy with its
old, extravagant, non-progressive, i'm
practicable ideas, which in word is
dominated by Charleston's rich politi-
clans-that Senate resolved to MAINTAIN
this "existing institution" too, statu
quo.
VI all the taxes we pay, the pensions
to Confederate veterans are submitted to
most willingly, and we regret that we
cannot increase the pittance they re-
ceive. But the continuance of men in
office as political pensioners, after their
ability or willingness to serve the people
| is gone-when the interests, and even
rights of the people are thereby sacri-
| ficed-this pandering to sentiment-this |
favoritism-i a crime, nothing more
and nothing less. Rotation in office is |
cardinal Democratic principle, and the |
neglect to practice it is the cause of |
many ills we suffer.
We cannot elaborate the other counts |
in this indictment. We can only point |
briefly to the msmanagement Of the |
penitentiary, which is burden on the |
taxpayers, even while engaged in no
public works which might benefit the |
State. To the wrong committed against
the people of many Counties (strong-
holds of Democracy by the failure to
reapportlon representation according to
population, whereby Cbarleton has five
votes in the House and ten votes in the
State Convention, which chooses our
State officers, to which 1t is not entitled.
10 The zeal and extravaganza of this
aristocratic oligarchy, whose sins we are
pointing out, in promising higher edu
cation for every Gloss except farmers,
while it neglects the free schools, which
are the only chance for an education to
thousands Of poor children whose fa-
theirs bore the brunt in the struggle for
our redemption'in 1876. To the con-
tinued recurrence of horrible lynchings
which we can but attribute to bad laws
and their inefficient administration. To |
the impotence of justice to punish Grim
inals who have money. To the failure to |
call a constitutional convention that we |
may have an organic law framed by |
South Carolinians and suited TO our |
wants, thereby lessening the burden of
taxation and giving US better govern
ment.
DEMAND FOR A CHANGE.
Fellow Democrats, do not nll these
things cry out for changer Is it not
opportune, when there is no national
election, for the common people who re-
deemed the State from Radical rule to
take charge Of it3 Can we afford to
leave it longer in the hands of these who.
welded to ante-belum patriotism and
honor, arc running it in fha internst "a q