The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-03-11
A Long. MINDED Legislature.

S2Ty. some llLLl0 Clm6 ~ usually re-
quired for the people to make up their
verdict on legislation, and in doing so it
might be we'll in passing judgment the
consideration that the session cost the
State over 5000. And it takes consid-
cradle in the eyes of a Reform body to
give ''value received" for such an
amount Of money.
It has been studiously proposed In
whatever has been said with reference to
the work of the legislature, to deal with
all with absolute fairness, and under NO
circumstances to give practical coloring
TO any reports. So as not to appear 10
break this rule, the opinion of a staunch
Reformer-the first has been publicity
ex pressed-might be given,
It is what Gen. R.. e. Hemphill, of The
Abbeyille Medium has to say, and is
given without prejudice for or against
the members.
'The present House of Representatives
is a strange body" writes Gen. Hemphill.
"Take them one by one, and they seem
to be men of honest motives and intelli-
gence. They are respectable in appear
ance and their conversation denotes aver
age information, but take them collect
lively, and the body does more foolish
things than any other crowd ever did
without being paid for 1t. Some people
excuse the House by saying it has no
leader, as If it was necessary to have a
leader TO show how to vote upon q simple
proposition like at what age a person
should be exempt from road duty.
Neither is a leader necessary to show
whether to vote to allow Anderson
County to build q new court house and
Jail, or whether there should be a new
magistrate al Calvert's or q voting place
at Greenwood. And it is about just such
inconsequential matters that the majority
of the laws SO far enacted are concerned.
No leader is necessary to get permission
to run an electric street railway in Brook
land, q small town across the river from
this city; nor whether NJ. S. Bailey, of
Clinton, should get back S. that he paid
in taxes through mistake several years
ago. In such matters it appears to me
that a leader is entirely unnecessary, for
no 'hsad WORK" is required. No great
harm would come to the country If either
side prevailed"
Ii anything were said in The Ne,Os and
fourier anent the foOlishness OF legisla-
tiun someone may rise to q question of
spersonal privilege" But anyone who
has kept up with the work Of the body or
who now looks over the list Of ratified
acts can readily see what has been done
at a cost of $1,000 a day.
Governor Evans was right when he
said in his message that the work ought
TO have been done in thirty days, and 1t
would have been better, no doubt. for
the State, the treasury, the Administra.
ton and the people generally had the
Assembly been 'prorogued at the close OF
the thirty days had such action been pos
sible. There wss nothing done by the
Legislature that will make it historical.
There was nothing unique or remarkable
in what was done Old laws were tight
ened up, or re-enacted in the main, to
meet changed conditIons, and here aud
there something in the way of special
legislation was passed that occasiuned q
stir and may affect future ven For
he most part things will go On as they
have with the new laws on the statute
books.
The changes that will, perhaps, be of
most immediate effect will be the Act
with reference to the style of insurance
policies; the Act reducing passenger
fares; the general school law; the Act
providing tor public cotton weighers; the
Act with reference TO mortgages, build
ers' liens and the county sinking funds.
The special Legislation includes the
payment OF small claims, the e1emp-
lions from the stock and other general
laws and church and railroad corporation
legislation. 1t really seems as If the
Constitutional Conventions unfavorable
committee report, the objections OF mem
bers and everything else could not nor
will not stop the legislative curse OF
special legislation.
Although, tor instance, the Constitu-
ton especially inhibited such q thing as
a legislative charter for q farmers mu-
tual insurance company, MI. Godfrey 3.
Fowler had an Act passed through both
houses. Such legislation not only re-
quires printing and the consumption of
time ordinarily given bills, but an aye
and nay vote has to be taken upon such
matters preliminary to the introduction
of the bill. This bill cost the State sew
eral hundred dollars, and the charter
could Just as well have been secured
through the Office of the Secretary of
State, but that would have cost five or
six dollars, and then it was q farmers
organization, and objections to the use
less Ok Expenditure OF hundreds of dollars
were without avail.
This, however, is only an evidence OF
the tendency towards special legislation.
IL seems to be a growing and lnerldic-
able evil. It costs the State thousands
CT dollars usslessly, but tho combination
Of similar conditions conspire to have
the bills passed. It is a case of: "Don't
object to my bill and I won't to yours"
There has been a great deal Of lobbying
this session, and by that is not meant
pernicious or improper efforts for or
against the passage Of bills. Insurance
agents, railroad attorneys, tobacco
growers, metropolitan police officers, dis
pensary authorities, bank authorities and
very many others have been about ~
impress the importance or the vicious
ness of his Or that legislation.
There is one thing that imperatively
needs re,nedying. Indeed it might al
unost be- said TO be outrageous
to SEQ how the legislative session is al
lowed to close. In the first place there
IS no reason why 50 many of the most
Important Acts should be left over for
hual action. They could as well be dis
posed of In the early part of the session
as in the last few hours, when not halt
the members are present. Suppose Gov
ernor Evans had objected tc the appro-
prlation bill or had wanted further legis-
lation, there would not have been q
fourth of q quorum available. Ten
mem bers, by actual count, were present
when the last work was done and a con-
current resolution could have been just
as easily as not slipped in had anyone
been so disposed and there would not
have been ten members present 10 have
objected to its immediate consideration.
It is all wrong to gay the members be-
fore the work of the session is owe and
Just q sure AZ the certificates are unreal
ICED assets there will be no trouble about
holding a quorum. It is entirely too
dangerous to permit a few to hold the
reius in the close of any legislative body,
no matter who may be interested.
The estimate is that the appropriation
bill, which is for expenses for the year
1896 and two months OF last year will net
$3.50, 600. To pay this there will be about
$3.50. GOO taxes, and the expectation 10 to
get 3 5000 from insurance and corpora
ton fees. In case the State gets the $685.
600 from the State ~dispensary there will
BIZ no deficiency, but just whatever is
short for the year on the expected dis
pensary profits will be a deficiency, as it
will take about the full $l93,000 and the
other available funds to pay the items OF
the appropriation.
Then, too, the levy for 1897 was fixed
at Al mills, and Comptroller General
Norton still insists that with the dispen.
sary and phosphate royalties taken from
the general fund q 81 mill levy was neces-
sary, unless some other source of revenue
besides the direct tax on $3.50, 1000, 1000 OF
property be devised. A Al mill levy, he
says, will raise abous S762. 600, and that
does not seem to be sufficient to run the