The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1891-12-03

buI VIC Will nope Jnat inc IN |
;rease i'll property values, which are ex-
)ected 10 result from tho DEVELOPMENT |
IF the water power, will in time REM
ourse the State. There is one contract
or a year sill to be fulfilled, the work
Being or shares, but the directors have
iecldcd that i'll future they will only |
arm out the cOnVicts for net sum per
capita to contractors, and they viii bend |
all their energies, i'll llrmlng to the de.
vclop,hcnt Of the State farm in Sumter |
known as the DeSaussurc place.
PHOSPHATE COMMISSION.
In accordance with provision Of the !,
act creating the same, the Phosphate
of which the executive s.
cX-of1icio q member, was organized IN
January last: and we made an extended
and thorough investigation Of The phos-
phalc Industry. The amount OF capital
invested i'll this business is very large,
and no conception of the ingenuity dis
played in adapting means to ends and in
overcoming difficulties Cat first glance
seemingly insurruountahle) can be OBJ
tanned withouL II personal Inspection Of
the works.
On the lst OF March in accordance
with the instructions of the act crcatin"
ll!c commission, We took possession of
Coosaw river and Issued licenses to mine
Vhcreln to three companies. Two of
these entered the river, but were Ell.
Joined III / ,e Cni,cu States court by
Judge SimOntOn. lie took ADVANTAGE of
The Fact that TIC Phosphate Commis.
sioners wee treated us individual Is rather
than as State officers, although he knew
lhcy were State officers, - grant the iu-
junction.
AS the public prlnts have given full
accounts OF all subsequent litigation and
ii present status OF the COosaw case,
L shall not mention IT further than 70
say that while there has been Il decrease
IN the revenue COpSC uutnt upon the
StOppagc OF the COoSaW Company of
S32, ,GGG.GO, we feel that the State is 70
DC congratulated upon the present sta
JUS, as there Is every reason 60 expect
lhat the United StalcS Supreme Court
Wili sustain The view already expressed
III the decision Of Chief Justice Fuller
and the sllit le terminated early next
year.
The price of phosphate rock cog
tlnueS nigh, and as soon as work can be
| resumed III CO0SaW river there Will be
an Increase in the income of tie State
from royalty more than sufficient to re-
coup us for the little loss We have Sus-
tained i'll maintaining the right of the
Stale to control her own properly. 1t
would be wise, in my opinion, to give
the Commission the power to impose q
graduated royalty to correspond with
The prices OF rock, and also to permit it
20 Tx the royalty on rock in streams
other than Coosaw at Il less ratio than
\ IN ll.lt Of 4 l,..x
low grade, ana some Of the deposits are
very hard, making mining dillicult.
| There core, fixed royalty for every
| locality perclud,S profitable mining IN
many streams if conccsSionS are not
made to the miners. It wOu!a also he
better When C00Slw river is opened to
apporIon that territory among tie
different persons applying for a license
and require thrm to mine over tbs
whole allotted territory. We have
round, by the report OF Inspector Jones,
lhat under the management of The
bureau OF Agriculture, Comm: :ssioner
Butler and NJ. II Rrche, the different
companies, notably the CooSaw, have
been paying less royalty than tha law
requires, by reason Of not making due
allowance for the moisture expelled in
drying the rock. How much of this, if
any, can DC recovered will have to be
determined by the courts, if the ALtOr-
ney General shall deem it wise to ente,
suit. The loss to the State thus dis
covered has amounted to Sl32,35 81
since mining operations were begun.
and 1886 6,3I309 since the establishment
OF the Agricultural Department in
1856. The difference, 6.45 per cent, be-
tween the amount Of moisture actually
expelled and that which the companies
| D t,,. l>t,
year TO more than $l1 { 70, and ;s the
present officials canaot be held reSpon-
Slblo FOR any Qu03 agreements or neg
lect on the part Of their predecessors,
payment OF this sum will be demanded,
and, If necessary, enforced in the courts.
while we will in future require payment
on the aSiS Of 81 10 per ION for dried
rock.
Before leaving this subject | desire to
mention the Importance OF some steps
Icing takan to prevent the damage now
| resulting to the States interests in the
| Ashley, StOnO and EdiStO rivers by tho
dumping OF the debris or tailings into
| those streams from the works of the
land miners. Some time ago | ad-
| dressed communication to Capt. T..
Y. Abbot, /. 5. Engineers, at Charles
ton, asking for information as to the
| lilling up of these streams by reason Of
this debris being emptied therein. lie
replied that he had reported to the
authorities AT Washington in regard to
Ashley river, bnt knew nothing of OBJ
Struction to the other streams men
toned, and informed me that Congress.
last December, mad passed an act pro-
hibiting the dumping Of such material
INTO navigable streams. The States
interest is to prevent her phosphate
beds from being buried so that they
cannot be prolitably mined, and the
United States seeks to preserve the
navigability Of rivers. But for fear the
United States authorities may not press
the matter, | call it to your attention.
EDUCATIONAL AND COLLEGES.
| The Governor says: soar free
schools are not in Il satisfactory condi-
tion, and never will be until the pres
ent unwieldly, cgularly shaped dis
tries are Subdivdrd, and small, com
pact ones substituted, i'll which shall be
permanently located one school house
for each race. This is tie basis upon
which local taxation supplcmentlng
| thn tWn-mill fay Il