The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1906-02-21
THE I3E}zII:naL assembly.
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sa.c ed Biennial Sessions.

Columbia. February 1.-THE Cen
eral -Ass41aoly, wa:cla adjourned to-
night, was expected 10 deal with three
mos, important matters: Taxation. the
dispensary and biennial sessions. Il
did nothing on any one of the three
topics. The record is q blank, per
!laps. more than blank.
Just FOR the moment it may be well
to give tie finale on the dispensa:y
legislation. The Whole situation is
expressed in the trite expression,
Nothing done" Not a syllable in the
Act in force when the members came
here has been changed. One PROPOSE
ton to amend the law after another
was killed The House stood to the
finish against the State dispensary,
while the Senate on the other land,
insisted and persisted that the State
dispensary must stand, and that the
thing to do was to purify the State
dispensary and not abolish it. AS was
said last night the House would have
agreed to almost any reasonable prop
osition that would have contained
abolition Of the State dispensary. 1t
wanted local option, and it voted to
that effect time and time again. The
Senate, with it's forty-orle members,
blocked everything that was proposed
by the House, and persisted in it's one
idea that the State dispensary could
be purified by it's bills. Last night,
when the House by the largest vote
recorded, rejected the Senate bill,
practically all hope Of legislation was
gone Some seemed to think that
there might be something done by the
conference committees, and if the
Senate had agreed to the proposition
to abolish the State dispensary and
let the counties run the dispensary,
where they wished, and kept prohibi-
ton in those counties that have it, the
way would have been very clear.
This morning there was a whisper
that the General Assembly would ad-
iourn without electing the new board
or commissioners. and in this way
force Governor Hayward to appoint
board of directors. It was urged that
in this way business-like and good
board would have been selected by the
governor. Governor Hayward, how
ever, did not care for this to be done
and thought the General Assembly
ought to meet its own troubles, but if
left to him he would do the best he
could, but be much preferred not to
have a thing to do with the appoint
ments.
The first bill which went to confer
ence and then to free conference was
the remnant of the Morgan bill. The
committees on this bill were:
Conference-Senators Blake and
Williams, and Messrs. Browning. Gas
ton and Otis.
Free Conference-Senators Walker.
McIver and Efrd, and Messrs. Rich
ards, Sanders and Whaley.
Then the Rucker relict went through
the mill. On conference there were:
Senators w j. Johnson and J. B.
Black and Messrs. CASTOR, Arnold and
Ashley. On free conference Senators
stackhouse, Bates and Wells, and
Messrs. Richards, Otis and Nash.
All the work of the conference COM
nittees counted for naught, and both
of the bill were reelected and abso-
lutely nothing was done in the way of
dispensary legislation, except to eject
the executive officers Of the dispensary
under the old law, which provides for
the S400 salaries, about which so
much has been said.-News and
Courier.