The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1896-02-12
THE ISSUE.

Sheep raising has never attained
the proportions that the Importance
of the industry and the adaptabi'lty
of the soil and climate Of the South
invites. The failure of those who
have undertaken sheep raising to
realize fair profit on their invest
ment in money and labor is due en-
tirely to the ravages Of The thousands
of worthless dogs that infest the
country from the mountains to the
sea.
This dog cursed condition of the
State is not incapable of remedy, if
the members Of the General Assem-
bly,, who are supposed to legislate
for the benefit of the State, will face
the situation like men and enact q
law that will provide for the extermi-
nation Of the surplusage of dogs 1t
is an old belief that the people will
punish by retirement to the shades of
private life the Legislators that dare
to impose tax on dogs or enact any
law that will curtail the privilege the
dogs have SO long enjoyed of roam
ing abroad by day and night and
preying on whatever that snits their
taste.
Get the average man into the Legis-
lature once, and his very bones ache
with longing to stay there for two
terms at least, or until he can get a
better Office They are very timid
and wary about taking part in the
enactment Of any law that is calcu-
lated to arouse the hostility of their
constituents. Hence, believing that
when they refrain from striking a
blow at the dogs they are engrafting
themselves in the good graces of the
voters, they have voted to kill the
dog law with persistence and regu-
larity each year. In this respect the
Reform Legislatures have followed in
the foot steps of the Legislatures of
anti-Reform days. The dog prowls
through the State, monarch Of all he
surveys, while the sheep, defenseless
and without friends among the Office
holders and politicians, are conspic.
uous by their very fewness. AS long
as the State has Legislature, COM
posed of men who fear the dog, her
citizens will continue to wear clothes
spun and woven from wool grown in
other countries
There is no particular issue for the
next campaign-the Constitutional
Convention is a thing Of the past,
Clemson College has been built and
is supported at large expense. the
Woman's College has been built also
and is maintained in handsome man.
ner at large expense, Coosaw was
throttled long ago, aud the phos,
phate royalty is too small a thing to
worry any one, prohibition mas been
lost in the success of the dispensary
system, and so on through the list of
things and questions that once held
the public attention and agltated
politicians-tbey have all ceased to
be issues-and we suggest that the
dog question be made the paramount
issue. Let every Legislative candi-
date be interrogated concerning his
views on the dog and, when neces-
sary, let us have recourse to that ven
erable and much respected instltu-
ton. the hand primary, to test the
sentiment of the people en- the dog
This dog question is a serious mat
ter, and we are deeply concerned
over it. 1t is worthy Of place in
the political annals of the State, and
the dog days of this year will be bet
ter spent in discussing the dog than
in pursuing an ordinary humdrum
campaign in which the only issue
will be the Offices and how to get
them.
Hoods Pills cure nausea, sick headache, in
Il rct IN