The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1915-03-31
SHERIFF BURTS.

-GOV6rQOr ldillilIiS iioo oSSAi
upon to make many appointments.
His appointees, almost without ex-
,ception, have been snen we'll quail
fled for the positions. He has made
AN earnest endeavor to find the best
man and when he has found him,
that man has been appointed.
In naming Mr.. R. M. Burts for
the office of Sheriff of Abbeville
County, the Governor has shown a
determination to stick to his pro-
gram. No better man in Abbeville
County could have been found for
the office of Sheriff. Mr.. Burts
is a man of character, and a man
in the best of standing in his COM
munity. He is man of good
sense, of sound judgment, and he
will enter upon his duties with a
full determination to enforce the
laws of the state. He is a law
abiding man himself, and while he
will enforce the law in kindness and
e mercy in Abbeville county, he will
nevertheless enforce the law. Gov
.ernor Manning will find him in line
with his program for law enforce
ment.
This appointment, we think is
fortunate for several reasons. In
the first place, Donalds has not had
county officer in a good many
years. Several good men in that
= section have offered for office in the
last several years, and owing largely
to the fact that they are in the cor
ner of the county, the Donalds can
didates have never been able to
make the trip. We are glad that
"a man from that section of the
county has been named. We hope
he will continue in u::ice, and the
people of that section encouraged
to believe that we still deem them a
part of the county.
The two leading candidates for
the appointment, or rather the two
men most seriously considered for
the appointment by the Governor,
were both residents of Abbeville.
The city of Abbevilie now has pract-
3cally all the officers in the Court
House. The Clerk of Court, The
Master, The Judge Of Probate, the
Auditor, and the Superintendent of
Education, are all lifelong resi-
dents of the city. The County
Supervisor resides in the county,
and was not a resident of the city
when he was elected. The Treasur-
~er, we believe, was residing in Alb
beville when he was elected, but we
are willing to call him a country
man, he was born on Long Cane
and will never get over it. 1t
would seem therefore, that the city
of Abbeville, if not selfish in the
matter, has furnished about it's full
share of the county officers. We
say nothing against the efficiency of
any of the men in office, but it
would look like we wanted every
thing, if we were not willing to
give some other section the sheriff.
We think the appointment most
fortunate, however, in that it evil
dences new departure in politics.
Heretofore, when an appointment
was to be made, a small coterie of
office holders about the Court House
has had the appointment practi-
'cally in their hands. This should
not be so. When a man is elected
to Office he is servant of the peo-
pie. He has no right to try to con-
troll the appointment of other off,
GERS. He should attend to the
duties assigned him, and let some
one else name the v:aer officers. Of
course, this does not mean that he
should not have an opinion, nor
that he should not advise with the
appointing power when he is re-
~quested. But it does mean that
no "ring", real or apparent, should
control the politics of the county.
and that is what you always have
when few men can name all the
officers in the county.
We therefore congratulate Cover
nor Manning on his stand in taking