Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-06-09
#liseellaueuus 8eading.
OUR cONGRESSMEN.
What, the South Carolina Representa-.
tives Did the Past Session.

close has been busy one for some OF
the members of the South Caroline
delegation, and in those things tc
which they failed to bring success thi!
year they confidently hope for better
results next time.
Taking the states by districts and
closely analyZing the work Of the diff
ferent congressman an excellent op'
portunity is afforded the home people
to judge of their qualifications, and
as to whether or not they have come
up to the standard required of them
A word of explanation should be Civ
en-. While the work Of most members
is valued according to the publicity
attached to it, it must be understood
that some Of the very best men ir
congress are rarely heard Of except
in their committee work, and in that
particular have proved themselves ex-
ceptiohally strong. They make no ef-
fort az grand stand plays, but. concen-
trate their every effort on committee
work. and in many instances accom-
plish more than could be done In any
other way.
Modesty forbids the members OF
the South Carolina delegation from
telling what they did during the ses-
sion just ended, and when The News
and Courier correspondent made an
outline day or two ago of what they
had accomplished, most of them de-
clined, saying that they had done the
best they could and that their records
would have to speak for themselves.
| Mr.. legare.
| Charleston's representative, Mr.. Le-
gare, applied himself closely to the
interests Of the naval station, Fort
Moultrie and local matters in and
around the city Of Charleston
Through his efforts he secured a good
appropriation for continued operation
Of work at the naval station. got $50
ships and $125.6OO for the sea wall on
Sullivan's Island.
| Realizing to the fullest extent the
great value that the completion Of the
naval station will be to Charleston,
Mr.. Legare devoted his efforts to that
cause and the results speak for them
selves.
There were numbers of other
things that claimed Mr.. Legare's at
| tention and just before the final ad-
journment Of congress he succeeded
in having passed a resolution increas-
ing the pay of employees in the house,
aggregating about s5O.000 a year.
Mr.. Patterson.
Representative Patterson was inter-
ested in the establishment of train
ing station at Port Royal, fish cul-
ture station, good roads drainage, war
claims, the enlargement Of the rural
free delivery system, and in fact.
many other things that were Of vital
interest to the people Of the Second
district. In addition to Ghis he secur-
ed an appropriation of $4,000 with
which to erect a federal building at
Aiken, and expects to get the same
amount for Edgefield next year.
During the session Mr.. Patterson
made some excellent speeches, in one
of which he blistered the president
for his usurpation Of federal author
ity receiving liberal cOmmendatiOn
from his colleagues for his efforts.
| Mr.. Aiken.
Representative Aiken, as a member
of the committee on the District of
Columbia, was called upon to give a
large part of his time to these matters.
He found time, however. to secure $780,
900 for Federal buildings at Newberry
and Abbeville. and $4,000 additional at
Anderson to secure a number Of PEN
sions for the people Of his district, look
after war claims, and to give much of
his time to departmental matters.
Mr.. johnson.
| Mr.. Johnson, as the representative of
the Fourth district, spent much Of his
time since Christmas in the prepara-
ton of the public buildings BILL which
was passed on the last day Of the ses-
sion. carrying with it an appropriation
of about $4,000, 900. He secured $780,
900 for Union and $4,000 for Laurens
and in due time both those progressive
towns will have magnificent public
buildings.
For a long time there was a belief
that after all the president might veto
this bill unless currency bill was
passed. and it is still thought that such
might have been the case but for the
sudden passage of the latter bill in the
senate on the last day Of the session.
Mr.. Johnson gave much of his time to
the South Carolina items in the bill,
and when it was intimated that some
of them might be cut out stood firmly
| by his state.
While Mr.. Johnson had not to his
credit the introduction of a very large
number of bills and was rarely heard
in debate except to ask questions, he
has kept himself fully informed as to
the work of the house. and Is credited
as a good listener and we'll posted
man.
Mr.. ElIerbe.
| Mr.. Ellerbe's opportunity will come
next year. when the house committee
on rivers and harbOrs will get to work
making up it's appropriation bill. AL
ready the effort has commenced to Sc
cure not less than $50,OOO.OO0 each year
for the rivers and harbOrs of the Unit
cd States, and Mr.. Ellerbe will be one
Of the men to pass on the appropria-
tionS 1t will thus be seen that he will
hold one of the most important COM
mittee places in congress, and that he
will be able to exercise a tremendous
| influence for South Carolina and other
states
This year Mr.. IIllerbe has devoted
considerable attention to the interests
of the people of his district in the mat
ter of extending the rural free delivery
system and in agricultural matters
generally. In addition to this he has
pushed a number of private war claims
and secured $4,000 with which to erect
Il new Federal building al Darlington.
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