The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1917-02-21
WHAT THE LEGISLATURE
HAS DONE so FAR
new Laws Bringing Fire Insurance
companies Back Most Important.

" Io.'-lnC General AS
semDly may adjourn tomorrow night
" may continue in session several
u"y". ne nquor question has not yet
BEEN settled The Senate DuRont
quart-a- -month-o -on-prescription" bill
and the House "bonc-dry" bin have
been sent to free conferences and
what the result of the conference will
DC nobody can forctell. The liquor
matter is probably the only thing that
Will prol0ng the session, so If Tho con
'erecs hit on a satisfactory compro-
mise there is no reason why final adj
1loninmcnt should not come at least
" tomorro" night.
The appropriation bill Is also in
lrcc conference, but 1t was announced
in the house last night bv Mr.. Cothron
one OF tho cOnfCrccS, that work on ihc
appropriation bill would be completed
Dy O'Clock tomorrow afternoon
The people of The state, naturally.
arc asking what has the General AS
SEmhly accomplished at this session
very liiiic radical Or faI-rcachng leg
iSlation Will find its way on the statute
books.
by far the most ovcrshadowing and
tfencralY important work was the
adoption OF the series Of bills pro
posed by tho Manning Fire Insurance
commission. 1t is not to be argued
whether the inSurgcnt companies were
justified in Withdrawing from the
state after tic passage Of the Lancy-
doom Act. The fact is that the ins,lr-
lng public was met with condition
ana not theory, and the General AS
scmbly with the full endorsement of
In ,t,N,s 4 - .i..I
Grything that was thought necessary
to insure the return Of the withdraw
ing companies. Seven bills were pre-
scntcd and suggested by the commits
sion and Of this number all of them
we're enacted into law with the cxcep-
ton OF the one that related to the
valued policy clause, which it was
thought would only complicatc the sit
uatiOn and was not a direct repeal of
the valued policy" law which was de-
sired by the fire insurance interests.
There was no evidence Of opposition
IN either the House or Senate to the
desire to have the withdrawing com
pancs return to do business in this
State and the General Assembly, fig
uratively speaking, could not have
done more than to have passed a resolu-
ton Of apology. If mischief was done
by the passage Of tho Laney~Odom Act
l. has been completely undonc by the
cnacimcnts at this session of the Cen
cral Assembly. Perhaps the next most
important matter was tho universal
expression OF approval OF the pcrma-
nent highway development in South
Carolina. Spartanburg County alone
voted without referendum, to un-
dertake n million dollars worth Of
permanent road work in that county
alone. a dozen other counties fol-
lowed this example and during the
year Of 1917 there will be millions and
not few dollars expended on the
permanent road work of South Caro-
lima.
To insure the pcrmancy and the
cooperation Of both the federal and
State authorities a highway commits
S!Gn bill was enacted There were n
series OF proposition along this line.
In the Senate the principal sugges-
tions came from Senators Sinklcr,
Brice and Johnson and over on the
House side the Crum-Carter Berry sug-
gcStionS were those most generally
considered. The situation, however,
resolved itself into such wide diff
fcrences that n compromise was cf-
fccted In free conference. The cruX
Of the highway commission situation
Is that the board will consist OF five
members, three being the heads of the
departments OF the engineering depart
ment at the University of South Car
Olina, Clemson and the Citadel, and
two to be appointed by the governor.
The support Of this board is to come
by way of q license tax on all auto
mobiles operating In the State. This
tax is to range from five to ten dollars
per car and is to be in lieu Of city
and county license fees. The major
portion of the funds is to be eXpcnd-
ed in the county where the license is
collected. The proportion Is so per
cent to tho county and 20 to the State.
The disposition Of the General AS
scmbly was unfaltcring in its support
Of the common schools A direct in
crease OF $4,000 was granted as a
subsidy for tho weaker schools
throughout the state making the fund
distributed along this line for the va
rious grades or schools aggregate
about 100000.
The bill looking toward the estab-
lishment Of an institution for the care
Of the feeble minded of the State
passed the house, but was not pressed
in the senate. where 1t would have
passed had it been insisted upon, but
the opposition Is altogether Yfavora-
BILE for some such work. 1t is pos
sible that 1t might be worked out as
coordinate branch Of the Florence
Reformatory.
The asylum policy OF developments
was continued. Three hundred thou