The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1906-03-14
UDe gulateDlllJla ilaa SME1ral.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH "A, 1906.

g WEDNESDAY, MARCH IA, 1906.
The Spmtea. Wdtctnan was founded IN
1850 and the True SoatAron III 1866. The
WatcRS,a,s and Soataron now has the COM
6inaa circulation and influence OF Dotn Ct
she old papers, and is panifestly the lest
adYertising mecium IL Sumter.
zunu..as..1.s.A.z
The eolunabza Record, a newspaper
that has succeeded because it com
r,elled success by merit as a newspa-
per, has been enlarged and is now IS
sued as a seven-column siN-page pa
per. This enlargement d1ecessitateo
the installation of new press, and
ahe Record is now in a position to is
sue ssiss3larger and better paper than
ever
If the new directors OF the state
ssispensary live up to the resolutions
adopted at their first meeting and en-
force the law to- the letter, the oispen-
sary law will at once become what it
should be-a system for the regula-
: zion Of the whiskey business and a
means by which the admitted evils of
the nouor traffic may be minimized
These directors can, if they are SO dis
posed, accomplish what thea Legisla-
,fure refused to proYfde for-1he en-
Sorcement of the. dispensary law hon
essp and fearlessly. If this is done
the opposition to the disgsnsary sys-
tenn and the demand for It's abolition
vii die out. except amongst the blind
figer ans high license element.
The CONVICTION of George Hasty
proves that the most adroit and re-
sourceful of criminal lawyers cannot
always defeat the ends of justice.
;Mr. Harvie Jordan is a focible and
convincing taiker, but the cotton
grewars seem to be hard to convince
shat the crux of the whole question
OF higher prices for cotton is the re-
duction of acreage Unless the crop
ahis yeat is kept within bounds, the
hoIdingeof the surplus Of last years
crop VIII not help the situation at all:
"a ten to eleven million bale crop this
year will. guarantee moderately high
prices, while "a thirteen or fourteen
million bale crop will sell for or 6
cents.
The senators have already com
menced Juggling with the -Tillman-
Hepburn-Roosevelt railroad rate bill.
Before it has run the gauntlet Of the
aaaread attorneys in the Senate some
sof the nominal supporters of the
measure are interpreting certain pro-
svisions in way that, if the courts
take the same view of it after it be-
comes q law, will be all that the rail-
roads could wish, for such judicial
construction Of the meaning and in
tent Of the law would permit the rail
roads to tie it up hard and fast in the
courts for an indefinite period, and IN
the meanwhile they could go ahead
and violate the law with impunity.
It is stated by well informed au-
fhority that the fear that there will
be a defcit in the State treasury this
year owing to the reduction OF the
levy for State purposes and the IN
crease Of the appropriation by the leg
Islature in the face of this decrease in
the levy, is not we'll founded. The
position is taken that the ordinary in
creasesin the saluation OF the property
returned for taxations coupled with the
increase resulting from the efforts Of
,CoInptroTer General Jones to- have
real estate and personal property
placed on the tax books at something
like its real value, wilk4nrovideE ample,
revenue for all purposes. even at the
reduced levy It is to be aoped that
this view is the correct one. The
State Should be on a cash basis. 1t is
not, good business to pay interest, and
there is no sense in the State contin-
usng to borrow money to pay ordinary
running expenses
The fertilizer manufacturers must
make immense profits if they can af-
ford to throw away privilege tax tags
<as they are charged with doing. Last
season there were reports from va
rious points IN n.this State that with al
nosa every consignment Of fertilizer