The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1892-12-28

~ To-" : &.
fcorrespondence The Herald and News.l
ConUMBIA, S. C. Dec. 26--l7a gaae rerS-
tns, freely translated into our own verna-
eular, means that 3 drunken man will
speak, the truth. And 80 last Friday
night one of theaboys'w no was taking
his Christmas In advance spoke only
the literal truth when he said that the
term reform Party" as applied
20 the dominant element in this State,
was misnomer, and that they should
be dubbed the tsrnination Party"
It is sad truth that the General
Assembly which has just finished its
first session has certainly exhibited
most destructive tendencies, and has
not reformed worth cent.
There is the salary reduction billp-
gone where the woodbine twineth, the
Whangdoodle roreath and the campaign
bowler rejoices for his first born, is the
answer that echoes through the now
empty corridors ofthe State House.
Where is, prohibition-kiHed in the
house of its friends and 8 travesty
substituted for it, is the reply that Is
sadly heard as the tread Of departing
feet dies away in. the distance. :.
Aud where, oh, where is the much
talked OF reduction Of taxation" 1t
comes in the shape Of an increased
levy for State purposes, and our over
burdended taxpayers, many OF whom
find it hard work to dodge the sheriff,
will pay, for. the year 1888, one mill
mere to the State than they did II 1892.
Reform, p asdefned by the majority
of the State Legislature, consists IN
harassing thes great corporations by
4exatious and arbitrary legislation,
and in destroying the liquor business
in the hands Of individuals and max
ing the State the vender of into1ieants.
Truly the mountain has labored and
brought forth a very, very small
mouse. g.
But scuS 5oaos What is done is done
and it only remains for me to
choronlcle briefly the leading events OF
the closing week of The session.
The week opened with a battle royal on
sprohi ibitian' in the Senate. The Evans
dispensary biil'' YVES taken up as an
amendment to the't tRoper-N ettles bilp,
and in this shape was forced through a
second reading. The minority, under
the skilled leadership of that able and
accomplished parllamentarian, Senator
Smythe, Of Charleston-ably seconded
BY his colleague, Senator Buist, and d-by
fsSenater Sloan, Of Richlan0, and others
made an all night fight oft, and
attacked the bill with eloquence and
logic that could not III answered.
But it was allin /. The fat had
gone forth, and t. foysl command
was obeyed. :,
In speaking against the Evans amend
ment Senator Smythe said he could
not see how the prohibitionist who
bases his opinion on moral grounds
could vote for bill to transfer the
traffic from one channel to another. 1t
was not right to embark the State in
such speculation. The cry OF this
Legislature is, Down with monopoly
Yet this is a monopoly Of the worst
kind. We are all going in as partners
to sell liquor. It is paternalism. Here
we are creating a little army of govern
ment employees. By this bill we send
the State of South Carolina into the
market to buy liquor on credit.
Senator Buist made a three-hour
speech discussing almost everything
under the sun. Several Senators rose
to points of order, asking that the
Senator be allowed TO speak sitting
down, and inquiring if member
could be regarded as present when he
was asleep.
The amendment passed its third
reading in the Senate Friday night at
$50 o'clock and then the fight was
transferred to the House. There, as ID
the Senate, the ants made q stubborn
but fruitless fight.
The speech of Mr.. Sullivan, of Char
lesion, against the amendment was
very funny. He said that it reminded
him of the Black Code. 1t was filled
with nothing but persecution and
punishment. Under it you had to be
. villain or an angel. If you looked at
. bottle unsealed you were william. If
you buy one from the State eealed, yop
are an angel. Under it liquor could
only be purchased in bottles. He hoped
the Legislature would not compel, him
to carry his drink around in his pocket.
Citizen Josh Ashley made char
acteristic speech against the bill. He
had come pledged for prohibition, but
if anybody wonld show him any pro.
hibitioD he would eat it. The amend
ment was twenty-eight sections long.
He was no lawyer but be knew that
thy courts would decide in ten minutes
tbAs no such lengthy amendmet could
ne made on the spur of the minute.
Where was no prohibition in it. Under
it you could not only buy liquor, but
they compelled you to buy whole
bottle in order to get any.
Mr.. Thomas, of Columbia, gave the
most forcible argument against the
passage of the amendment. He said
that on account of its great length it
was practically 8 new bill and it had
not been read three times in the House
as was required Of all bills by the Con-
.stitution. The bill had not been printed,
thus preventing aliopportunity to con-
slider it. The bill did not relate to but.
one subject and that subject was not
expressed in the title, as required BY
the Constitution.
The amendment was passed by vote
Of 81 to 80, as follows:
Yeas-Barry, Breazeefe, Blist, Car
penter, Cox, Covington, Dendy, J. T.
Duncan, Edwards, Estridee, Fielder,
Folk, Foster, Gary, Graham, Ham
NETT, Hardy, Harper, Hill, Jeferies,
Jordan, johnson, Kennedy,sKnotts ].
ID. and 81. J. Kinard, Lemon, Magill,
Malldin, McWhite, Mitchell, Net
ties, Oliver, Parks, Pearman, Phillips,
Rast, Roper, Shuman, Skinner, Smith,
Stackhouse, Starkie, Suddath, Tatum,
Tipdal, Vaughan, Wa'ers, Whitnlire,
WilborD, W. 6. Wolfe, j. S. Wolff,
Wiley, YeldeIl.
Nays-SpeakerJ Jones, Anderson, Ash
ley, Bacot, Carol, Cooper, T. c. Dun
can, Elder, Garris, Glover, Hamilton,
Hardee, Hardin Harris. Hughes, Hy-
drick, Kelly, Leseene, Love, Lorance,
Manning, Moss, Perry. Rhodes,
Rivers. snlIiya Thomas, VonKolnitz.
Weston, VILE nson.
Mr., Nettlss the prob ibitieS leader,
made the foih.wing ssatea lssE
lot fsvor RbilI, 5ut,
,ody. ucn 3 aas Dishes.