Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1905-01-18
LEGISLATURE MEETS
South Carolina Townmakers Get Down
TO Business.
BOTH HOUSES ARE ORGANIZED,

Session of the House and Senate Open7
ed on Tuesday and Both Branches
Organized For Business.
The Senate organized by the cleo.
ton of the following named officers
Senator r. l.. Manning, Sumter, tenn:
rorary chairman; R. r. Hemphill,
clerk; ]. F. Schumpert, sergeant-at...
aIms; w. Fl. Stewart, reading clerk,
Rev. w. I. Herbert, Methodist, chap
ain. In each case the incumbent waSS-
reelected and nCne was opposed ex.
cept Chaplain Herbert. Mr.. e. S. Din:
gle, OF Charleston, was re-appcinted
assistant clerk. %
The dispensary question came up in
the form of a resolution by Senator
Blease, who seeks thorough investi-
CATION of not only every department
of the system, but of every rumDr that
has been started against it. y
After Clerk Hamer had called the
House to order at noon, on the nomin-
alton OF Mr.. Prince Altamont Moses
was unanimously chosen temporary
chairman and was Immediately sworn
in. He swore in the new members.
The House then went into the cleo:
lion of Speaker, and Mr.. M. L..
Smith was chosen.
J. C. Haner. of Marlboro was re-.
elected clerk. When he had taken
the oath of office, on motion of Mr.
Altamont Moses. he reported the or.
ganization of the House to the Sen.
ate, which had already reported to
the House as being organized. On the.
nomination of W. P. Pollock, J. S. VIII.
son, Of Lancaster, was reelected ser.
geant-at-arms.
After the Dispensary.
The legislative machinery was not
quite ready to move with dispatch in
ali its parts, the new bills not being in
shape to be acted upon as yet. So the
sessions of both houses were short, and
neither was characterized by interest
ing Or important incident. The Senate
adjourned after the introduction of two
unimportant new bills, and will likely
adjourn until Monday.
The House was in session only an
hour, during which the Governors
message was read. Representative Fra
ser introduced a resolution to abolish
the Saturday sessions Of the House, SO
as to adjourn on Fridays until Mondays
at noon.
An important new bill touching the
dispensary is that by Representative
Toole, who seeks to amend sections7 Z
(the Brice act) so as to require the:
State boards consent before more than
one dispenser can be appointed many:
county If a fourth of the qualifiedseIse=,
tors of a township in which itais pEos,
poseu TO locate dispensary petle30f
for it an election shall be held and a
majority at the ensuing election u1y
reject the dispensary or in like manner
vote out dispensaries already estab-
!. l:shed. With the exception Of Henry
and Beaufort counties, dispensaries are
not to be established in unincorporated
towns except by special act Of the Leg
islature. Counties may remove or es-
toblish dispensaries by majority cleo
tion or petition of one-fourth the quail
fed electors, but these elections may
be held only once in four years.
Section 4 provides for the appoint
ment Of the third member of the
county board On the recommendation
o. the mayor at the county seat. The
county boards are to approve the Or
ders sent in by the dispensers for
liquor.
Thursdays Session.
Thursday was again do-nothing
day ir the South Carolina Legislature,
each house house adjourning after a
brief session, during which some new
bills were introduced. Speaker of the
House Smith announced his new COM
mittees, and this having been done in
the Senate and the engrossing depart
ment having gotten we'll under way,
it is expected that both houses will be
working smoothly and with dispatch
by the first of next week. By all aye
and nay vote Of SO to 90 the House
adopted Mr.. Fraser's resolution doing
away with Saturday sessions. In the
House a number of new bills were In
troduced. These included Josh Ash
leys bill to abolish the immigration
department..
In the Senate, Senator Blease intro
duced his bill calling for a reduction
in railroad fares to 2 1-2 cents mile
from cents a mile The committee
favorabIy reported his resolution call
ing for a rigorous investigation Of the
dispensary, but so far the result Is
that nothing definite will result from
the Investigation and little attention is
being given the resolution. The resolu-
ton went over, Senator Brice objecting
to immediate consideration.
Senator Raysor's dispensary bill, fol-
lowing the lines of Governor Heyward's
suggestions with the exception that it
gives the appointment Of the three
authorized to suspend the commission
for cause. The members of the board
are to be paid $500 year, and are
to meet weekly instead Of monthly.
The purchasing authority is taken from
the board and given to the commission
ers, who is required to open the seal
ed bids submitted to the State Treas
urer in the presence of the board.
The Senate and House committee ap-
pointed by the last Legislature to in
vestigate the feasibility of establishing
a State fertilizer faculty has submitted
its report to the effect that the resolu-
ton under which the commission was
created failing to provide for expenses
the commission has found thorough
investigation impossible. State GeolO-
gist Sloan, whom the commission call
ed to it's aid, estimated the cost of a
thorough investigation at $4,000 and
two years time. The matter is of
some general interest in view Of the
sad way in which the phosphate in
dustry of the State has fallen off in
the past dccade-dwindling to almost
nothing from great and prosperous
undertaking.
The fight over the formation Of the
new county of Calhoun from partss of
Edgefeld, Abbevile and Greenwood