The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1905-01-11
his importan, matter and now re

This Is a subject of the utmost i'm
portance to all the people,, subject In
! which Is included much more than the
Improvement of our roads. The ben
cits 10 be derived. from any point OF
view, are numerous, and strong bus
mess considerations make 1t inpera-
| tive that this valuable work should be
7 properly attended To.
Pensions.
/ The largest appropriation made by
! your body is for the care Of the Con-
! large when compared with the total
appropriation, but when viewed In an
/ other light We cannot but feel that we
would like TO do much more for the old
soldiers who In years that have gone
I did SO much for their state and their
/ country. The total number Of pension
( ers on the rolls this year was S.554. and
! $l9I I.3O9.42 was the amount distributed
! among them. The law, generally
| 80, akinS, is working satisfactorily. but
/ in reference to certain classificationS 1t
! is believed that Improvement can be
made. ana the comptroller-gencral
! will specifically direct your attention
! to the proposed changes. Anything
( pertaining TO the proper care Of the
/ veterans OF the Confedcracy will, |
am sure have your most thoughtful
I consideration. We owe them n deep
! and l:tating debt OF gratitude and to
and declining days. need this care.
should be. as ii is. a privilege and one
I of the first duties of our people
Biennial Sessions.
At your preceding session an
amendment TO the constitution pro-
viding for biennial sessions Of your
body having been agreed upon, IL was
! submitted To the qualified electors Of
! the State at the general election. Il ma
! jority Of whom voted in favor OF this
amendment. Believing as I 10 that
! biennial sessions will afford all neces-
sary legislation. and will result In a
! a. f,f |
! Will ratify this vote In order that the
! amendment may become effective.
! Should this be done, you should, at
| this session. take such action AZ may
| be necessary to adjust and conform
! other parts of our constitution and
statutory law to the change wrought
! by the enactment providing for bien-
! lial sessions.
In this connection shall submit Il
recommendation which l deem most
! important. For many reasons 1t would
| be wiser and better to have all OF your
! State officers elected for a term OF
| four years. not allowing them to sue
ceed themselves The reasons for such
II change are obvious, and do not need
| to be here discussed. The expense and
necessary neglect of duty incident to
| conducting q campaign every two years
| Is alone almost sufficient reason for the
| proposed change, and the people should
also be spared the loss of time and the
inconvenienccs OF too frequent cam
!
| fact that the best interests of the
State would be subserved by making
this change In our constitution. and
| recommend II to your favorable ac-
| ton.
! Ph0sphnten.
| regret 10 report to you that the
mining of phosphate rock In our rivers
has, for the present ut least, pructi-
cally ceased Only two companies are
now at work and operations are con-
Quoted to Il limited degree. In the VI
cinity OF Beaufort no work whatever
Is being done.
During the past year several appli-
| cations were made for q reduction OF
| the royalty. which Is now 25 cents per
ton. The board OF phosphate commits
sioners. after considering the matter,
reason that the royalty Is now SO small
that no further reduction would he
ikeiy TO encourage mining. An addi-
| tional reason for this was the fact
| the holders Of the bonds Of the State
and the board felt that without their
consent they would not be justified in
making the REDUCTION requested. A to-
ceived for tho last fiscal year.
Protection of Finh and Oyater Interests,
These interests are of far more i'm
portance to oyr State than seems to
be realized, and at present they are
practically neglected. 1t should be the
policy OF the State to develop these re-
sources by affording that protection
which Is absolutely necessary to pre-
vent them from being destroyed With
proper care these interests could be
made a. valuable source of revenue to
the State. The difficulty In Iegislating
upon this subject has always been a
lack or such information as was neces-
sary to make efficient and at the Same
time practical laws. Until such in
formation can be furnished and such
laws suggested nothing In my opinion,
VIII be done. I recommend. therefore,
that q commission be appointed whose
duty 1t shall be to make thorough
examination OF this subject. to report
at your next session.
The United States. with an annual
pr prodnct 81 t amounting am to about s125.oo6.
! CoUoV, Cnr is the q, largest silk manufacturing
practically demonstrated that our
climate Is admirably adapted to silk
culture, and III this were undertaken
most desirable class of foreign Silk
growers here AL necessary materials
fof: silk culture can DE obtained free,
ana an. the r,ea government will buy. at high
In the United States. In 1902 the
cocoon crop of Italy sold for $35.6l5,-
10000. and this value of cocoons is
more than quadrupled when manu-
aaffased gaihnrsd "a SILK crop can be raised,
and In South Carolina this would be
finished by the first or second week in
AS a profitable and desired addition
to our diversified crops. I think this
an important subject for our careful
! consideration. = Y -, '
The Dome of the state House:
During the past year the commission
.. Tor the completion OF the State house
reported to- me that, In the discharge
OF their duty. they had cause. to fear
thnt the dome of the State house wiit
In an uns1fe condition. Tho. commits.
sion requested me to take Immediate
: steps to have the dome examined. By
agreement, it was decided that
should apply to the secretary OF the
treasury to secure the services OF o
. competent engineer for this purpose. s
did so. and tho secretary promptly