Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-07-16
SOUTH CAROLINA NEWS.
Lerislatiye Candidates.

August Kohn in News and Courier:
There appeared in the SpartanpurS
Herald yesterday this very pertinent
editorial paragraph: wanted, Legis.
lative Candidates" There is a vast
deal of serious significance In the par,
agraph. Sometime ago there appeatiea ppieo.
in this correspondence the foiloWins
paragraph: THE conditions In this
county are very much as they are IN
most of the state Substantial business
men cannot be induced to make the
sacrifice of running in the primary
and going to the general assembly.
At least up to the present time
there are no candidates onerlns
from that class. If Richland county,
or Charleston county, or any otn-
er county could. for instance. get on the
DELEGATIONS such men as are on Colum-
bias sewerage commission, their work
would be Of untold value. and the COM
munities would be certain to De pene-
fitted. 1t Is a great pity that expert
enced business men are not now o1er-
ing for positions in the house, as was
the case before the primary system
was started. OF course, it is all very
we'll to give the young men chance'
and no one could object to this custom.
but there ought to be good learen ol
wiser heads and business experience
ed in industrial and business matters.
The cry from Spartanburg Is the echo
OF the same conditions that exist here
and in Charleston, and in Union, Ches-
ter. Greenville and thirty odd other
counties in the state. 1t is lament
able condition and demands the serious
attention of the voters Of South caro-
lima. 1t is all very we'll to have lot
of young lawyers, striving for fame and
experience, run for the general assem-
bly,. It is a lauuable ambition and
commendabe as things now go, and
It is we'll that they run to keep out
men less educated and with narrow
views. But what is needed is little
leaven of experience. Young lawyers
are hard workers and ambitious, farm
ers are generally pretty level-headed,
but what is badly needed Is a larger
and stronger contingent of business
men-men who have made successes
at their homes. The day of prejudice
against the bank president or the mill
president or the large merchant. who is
y success. has passed, and what the
Spartanburg Herald ought to do IS to
persuade some such men as John b.
Cleveland and J. n. Montgomery and
A. H. Twitchell and Arch B. Calvert
to sacrifice their time and serve their
people. They will do good. They Will
set the fashion and other business men
will consent to serve their state. as
they did in the constitutional conVen-
ton. and as too few now in the legis-
lative bodies do. 1t has been my for
tune to be intimately associated with
the work of the general assembly every
wear since 1892, and without any eXag-
reration it can be said that one sound,
solid. experienced business man is
worth to his county Chree average leg
islators. What he says is listened TO-
What he says is believed and what Is
more it counts and often leads the way
ont of the wilderness of confusion. IT
is a good investment for any county
and, what is more, such legislators are
not looking aheau to election to some
state office or to get on some board
Such men can and do make more al
home and they are free TO act and work
without fear of injuring their personal
prospects. The tax and financial con-
ditions of the state are serious. They
need good and experienced workers &c
untangle them and to do the right
thing by all interests. and 1t is natu-
raj that those who have worked mos'
in such matters know best how to solve
such problems. Unfortunately. how.
ever. most people seem to be satisfied
to let things jog along, until some day
there will be very rude awakening
The business interests have been toe
indifferent. In every county at least
one substantial merchant or imam OF
affairs" should be included in the del
epation: and the masses would be the
gamers. simply because those who pay
the bulk of the taxes are far more III
terested in the vital affairs of theii
state than those who barely pay more
than their poll tax.