Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1909-02-17
SESSION DAwING no A CLOSE.
Wrestling With the Liquor Question.
a May Lic' nse Surveyors. S

Columbia, Feb. 16.-Special: We
hope that this is the closing week of
this session Of the General Assembly,
but 1t is not yet certain.
The action that is to be taken on
the liquor question is not yet def
mite. The sale of whiskey for last
year was three ar, half million
dollars in this State more than was
| ever sold under the old system.
There are now twenty-one counties
that have dispensaries and the same
| number that have not, SO 1t is evil
| dent that the vote will be close one
| either way. To see the bad effects Of
! the sale in an adjoining county one
! just has to be at Hodges on a Satur-
! day afternoon and see the men loaded
! down with jugs, boxes, sacks, grips,
| etc. There must be from fifty to two
hundred gallons going away from Abb
| beville in this way on Saturdays, and
e considerable amount every day.
| have never stood for the legal sale or
| intoXicants, or liquors as a beverage,
! by any system, bit | am now more
convinced than ever that the present
| arrangement Is worse than the other
OF the twenty-four acts that have
been ratified only one Is of general
operation. 1T releases students in the
colleges of the State from the Obliga
ton to teach in the schools of the
State when they are appointed by
the Federal Government to the army
or navy.
have bill pending, with a favor
able report, to provide law for sur
veying land. 1t requires a license for
every surveyor, to be issued by the
Clcrk OF the Court upon the payment
or five dollars, to persons who are
competent. They are authorized to
survey and locate and establish lines
after giving all persons interested
twenty days notice of the time and
place to begin the survey. This will,
We hope, save the people many vexa-
| tious law suits over little strips Of
land that are not worth having We
have seen several cases Of this kind
in Oconee within the last few years
Several thousand dollars were spent
at the last two or three terms of the
court In expense of litigation, while
all the land in controversy would not
be worth one hundred dollars. This
class of lawsuits does more to divide
the people and make family feuds
than any other. We should have
| competent surveyors and when q sur
vey is made it should mean some
thing.
There is a joint resolution in both
| houses, with favorable report, direct
ing the Attorney General TO bring an
action to remove the Augusta dam
I as nuisance If the owners do not at
once comply with their obligation not
to "obstruct the free passage of fish
and the free navigation of the river"
which was in the grant under which
/ the dam was built to the South Car
olina bank. This case has already
been in the courts, but the owners
satisfied the individuals and the mat
ter was dropped. We expect this res
olution to go through with but little
or no objection, and f the Governor
and Attorney Gen, ii are vigorous
in their action we expect results
within few months. Georgia
agreed to put in the fish-way re-
qu:red by the South Carolina commit
tee, but they failed to do anything,
and we were obliged to appeal to the
courts. There Is plenty of law on
this subject now If it was Just en-
forced. The people up the river for
more than hundred miles are de-
MED the pleasure and profit Of fish
ing just to save the owners Of this
dam few thousand dollars. If we
can get proper fish-way in this dam
at Augusta, We believe, within a few
years, the migratory fish, such as
shad and channel cats, will again run
up these streams. The older people
remember when these fish went
down the river by the million in the
fall. No doubt cutting them off
from running these streams has re-
duced the supply Of these fish on the
coast One Of the strongest fights
Of this session has been over the low
country methods Of catching fish.
The way they fish at the mouth of
the streams practically prevents the
passage of the fish, thus giving the
low-cOuntry exclusive possession of
the State fish industry. They should
certainly allow the up-country some
opportunity to enjoy natures luxu-
rieS and delicacies. When the value
Of the fish as they used to be is es-
limated 1t is an enormous waste. 1t
would be worth million and a half
dollars annually TO the citizens on
the Savannah river and its tributa-
rieS.
The bill which | introduced TO
prevent commercial discrimination
passed the Senate and is now on the
House calendar with majority favor
able and minority unfavorable re-
ports. The friends of the measure
say they will get it through this
session, but the time is dangerously
short The effect of this measure
Will be TO prevent the Standard Oil
people from running out the indie
pendent oil companies. At present
OF. Is selling from the wagons in the
Augusta district from s to 10 cents
gallon, and other places at 13
cents. Then the Standard would be
forced to sell good oil where they
have sharp competition. The Stand
ard Oh Company sells 95 per cent or
all the oil nsed in this State, and 1t