The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1908-01-28
PASSED THE HOUSE.
The Repeal of the Lien Law Now
Almost Certain.
Strong Arguments Made on Both
Sides.-Beieved That the Bill Will

Sides.-Believed That the Bill Will
Pass the Senate.
An overwhelming vote in the house
passed Mr.. Richards bill for the re-
peal of the lien law to third read
ing Friday morning. The bill passed
was very short, being as follows:
Section /. That section 3059,
volume 1, code of laws, South Caro-
lima, 1902, relating to liens for ad-
vances, be, and the same is hereby,
repealed.
Sec. g. That all acts or parts of
acts inconsistent with this act be,
and the same are hereby, repealed.
Provided, This act shall take eff
feet on the first day of January, A.
D. 1909"
When special order bills were
reached Mr.. Richards at once called
for the lien law measure. Mr.. Ruck-
er, who had the floor the day before
when the proceedings were interrupt
ed by Gen. Lees speech, was rcog-
nized Mr.. Rucker stated at the
outset that he was in hopeless min
ority, but he thought the general as
sembly was making mistake in
passing the Richards bill. However,
II the arguments made by the major
ity were correct he wanted the re-
peal to go into effect at once, and
asked Mr.. Richards If he were will
ing for this. Mr.. Richards said that
he was not.
Mr.. E. E. Werner, one of the most
earnest advocates for the repeal Of
the law, talked at length in favor OF
the passage of the bill. He was fol-
flowed by Mr.. Harrison of Greenville,
who argued against the repeal of the
law.
Mr.. ]. P. Gibson stated that he had
called mass meeting of farmers in
his county, Marlboro, to discuss the
matter, but afterwards this meeting
was called off, With present labor
conditions and the fact that there
are now in the fields Of his county
800 bales of unpicked cotton he
thought the repeal of the law un-
wise.
Mr.. Garris also made a vigorous
fight against the repeal of the law,
citing labor conditions and the need
for encouraging the small farmers.
Representative Brantley, Wyche and
A. G. Brice all spoke in favor of the
repeal and denied the statement that
the repeal would enslave the small
farmer.
Mr.. Richards, the author Of the
proposed repeal, then spoke. He call
ed attention to the fight year after
year, the agitation by the farmers
and urged his argument that tie re-
peal of the law would not be hard
ship on the tenant farmer, as was
claimed by the opposition. In an
swer to Mr.. Rucker he would say that
the reason he did not wish the re-
peal TO go into effect at once was be-
cause it would work a hardship on
those holding liens. He therefore
wanted to give the landlords or farm
owners time to prepare for the
change. He believed that the re-
peal might temporarily effect some
Oh the tenants and some Of the land
owners, but in the long run it would
prove a blessing and would take out
of the grasp Of the merchant-farmer,
who charged anywhere from 25 to
100 per cent. for supplies, the poor
man who worked small portion OF
the farm.
The Vote.
On the motion to strike out the
enacting words of the bill, made by
Mr.. Sellers, the vote was as follows:
Nays-Whaley, Aull, Aver, Bal
lentine, Bethune, Boyd, Brantley,
Brice, A. G., Brice, T. S., Bryan, w.
D., Bryan, F. NJ, Cannon, Carson,
Carwile, Cosgrove, Cothran, Court
ney, Croft, Cutler, DeVore, Dick.
Dingle, Dixon, Dodd, j. H. Dowling,
Epps, Frost, Gary, Cause, Gibson, w.
j., Glasscock, Gyles, Hall, Harmon,
Harris, Hughes, Hydrick, Johnstone,
Jones, Kellahan, Kershaw, Kirven,
Lane, Lawson, Lester, Legare, Ma
jor, McKeown, Mann, Miley, Miller.
Morrell, Nash, Nesbitt, Nicholson.
Niver, Richards, Richardson, Saw
yer, Saye, Scarborough, Sharpe.
Slaughter, Smith, ]. E., Stillwell,
Stubbs, Tatum, Todd, Tomkins, Van
der Horst, Werner, Wade, Wanna
maker, Virgins, Wingard, Wyche,
Yeldell-75.
Yeas-Bailey, Beattle, Carey, Car
rigan, Clary, Clinkscales, Derham,
Doar, Douglass, ]. P, Gibson, Good
win, Harley, Harrison, Hinton, Lit
tie, McMaster, Nichols, Norton, Par
ker, Patterson, Reaves, Rucker, Sell
lers, X. P. Smith, Thomas, Vonkol-
nitz, Wallace, Wimberly-29.
Pairs-Fraser, aye, Leitner, no;
Walker, aye, Arnold, no; Robinson,
no, Spivey, aye; Garris, aye, YOU
mans, no; Grier, aye, Cox, no.
Amendments Voted Down.
The house voted down the propo-
sition by 81 to "a to make the law
effective at once and by vote of 81
to 23 voted down Mr.. McMaster's
proposition to extend the time for the
enforcement of the repeal until 1910.
Mr.. Richards believes that the act