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S. 10. Mr. LAWSON: A Bill to authorize the town of Lamar, in Darlington county, upon a petition of a majority of its freeholders, and a vote of a majority of its electors qualified to vote at an election thereon, to issue not more than seven thousand dollars in bonds in aid of the South Carolina Western Railway, and to levy and collect taxes to pay the interest on the said bonds and the principle thereof. Read the first time and referred to the Committee on Finance.

S. 11. Mr. WESTON: A Bill to create a State Life Fund for the granting of life insurance and paying annuities, and to provide for the administration of the same.

Read the first time and referred to the Committee on Banking and Insurance.

S. 12. Mr. WESTON: A Bill to provide for the licensing and supervision of companies lending money on real estate mortgages or collateral secured by real estate mortgages.

Read the first time and referred to the Committee on Banking and Insurance.

S. 13. Mr. WESTON: A Bill to provide for the classification of property in this State in respect to insurance against loss by fire, lightning, tempest on land, or sprinkler leakage; to require the filing of rates by insurance companies; to prevent discrimination in rates, and to forbid agreement between companies or their agents as to the rates of insurance or compensation of agents.

Read the first time and referred to the Committee on Banking and Insurance.

S. 14. Mr. WESTON: A Bill to regulate the manufacture, storage, sale and distribution of matches, and to provide penalties for the violation thereof.

Read the first time and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

S. 15. Mr. NICHOLSON: A Bill to amend Section 282, Chapter XIII, of Volume I, Code of Laws of South Carolina, relating to primary elections, by adding thereto additional sections, to be known as Sections 282a, 282b, 282c, 282d, 282e, 282f.

Read the first time and referred to the Committee on Privileges. and Elections.

S. 16.—Mr. BEAMGUARD: A Bill to exempt certain citizens of King's Mountain and Bethel townships, in York county, from the tax levies of 1912.

Read the first time and referred to the Committee on Finance. S. 17.—Mr. LANEY: A Bill to provide for the inspection, analysis and tests of oils for illuminating purposes, and for use in stoves and

of gasoline for use in internal combustion engines, and to fix penalties for the violation of the same.

Read the first time and referred to the Committee on Agriculture. S. 18. Mr. CARLISLE: A Bill to amend Section 185 of Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1912, Volume II (Code of Civil Procedure), relating to publication of summons.

Read the first time and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES.

Mr. JOHNSTONE, from the Committee on Local Legislation, submitted a favorable report on

S. 4. Mr. Appelt: A Bill to provide for rural policemen for Clarendon county.

Ordered for consideration tomorrow.

Mr. CARLISLE, from the Committee on Judiciary, submitted a majority and Mr. HALL submitted a minority report on

S. 7.-Mr. Carlisle: A Bill to allow the foreman of the grand jury, or acting foreman, to swear witnesses in the grand jury room. Ordered for consideration tomorrow.

Mr. CARLISLE, from the Committee on Judiciary, submitted a favorable report on

S. 8. Mr. Lawson: A Bill to amend Section 1743, Volume I, Civil Code, 1912, by adding thereto a proviso as to Bethlehem School District No. 17, Darlington county.

Ordered for consideration tomorrow.

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECONSIDERED.

S. 1. Mr. Carlisle:

Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring:

First. That the two Houses meet in joint assembly on Thursday, at 12 o'clock m., January 22, 1913, for the purpose of electing Judges of the First and Seventh Circuits, Superintendent of the State Penitentiary and three Directors of the State Penitentiary.

Second. That three ballots shall be taken for each office, if so much be necessary, and that after three ballots shall be taken for any of these offices the joint assembly shall recede from business until the next legislation day at same hour, at which time not more than three ballots shall be taken on each office to be filled, if so much be necessary. This procedure shall be followed each day until all of the above officers are elected.

Third. That all nominations and seconds to nominations shall be made without speeches.

On motion of Mr. CARLISLE, the vote whereby the Concurrent Resolution was adopted was reconsidered.

Then, on motion of Mr. CARLISLE, the Concurrent Resolution was amended as follows:

By adding after "first" the word "fifth."

The Concurrent Resolution was then adopted as amended and ordered sent to the House for concurrence.

RESOLUTION ADOPTED.

S. 6. Mr. Sullivan: A Concurrent Resolution.

Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring: That the Committee on State House and Grounds have removed from the State House the plaster model now obstructing the rotunda.

The Concurrent Resolution was adopted and ordered sent to the House for concurrence.

MESSAGE OF GOVERNOR ORDERED PRINTED.

Mr. CARLISLE moved that Special Message No. 2, from his Excellency, the Governor, be withdrawn from the Committee on Finance and printed in the Journal, which motion was adopted. The message is as follows:

MESSAGE No. 2.

Gentlemen of the General Assembly:

I have a right to presume, in fact, have been informed, that a committee, appointed by the last General Assembly, for the purpose of investigating certain matters connected with the winding up of the old State Dispensary, will report to you; and, in said report, will furnish certain statements taken by them in the city of Augusta, in the State of Georgia, as well as others in this State, in matters relating to myself as a private citizen, as a State Senator and as Governor. Being fortunate in having each and every member of that committee as a political, biased and prejudiced enemy of mine, I have no opportunity to incorporate in their report an answer to this so-called evidence and statements. I, therefore, herewith transmit to you a speech delivered by me in the city of Chester, in the State of South Carolina, on the 20th day of July, 1912-being the State campaign meet

ing at said point. I transmit to you this document for the purpose of having it placed in your journals and in your reports and resolutions, that the future historian of the State, if he desires to record the truth, will have my side of this all important question; and, furthermore, for the purpose of showing to you that this so-called committee went outside of their jurisdiction and were made the laughing stock, not only of the people of this State, but the people of other States, by allowing one skunk to mislead them and to make tools and monkeys out of them.

It is not a matter of much difference to me, but it is a material matter to the people of this State, and particularly to the future history of the State, that the charges which were made before this band of political pirates should be exposed in order that the record of the Governor of our Commonwealth should be known and the falsity of the charges shown; otherwise I would not bother you with it.

Requesting that you give it a place in your Journal, I am,
Very respectfully,

COLE L. BLEASE,

Governor.

Fellow South Carolinians:

On Friday, July 12, and on Saturday, July 13, a committee, appointed by the State Legislature, commonly known as the Dispensary Investigating Committee, held meetings in the city of Augusta, Ga. The acts of that committee and the matters brought out before it have been sent broadcast over your State and to all other parts of the United States as well. Every daily newspaper in South Carolina, and practically all the weekly newspapers, have carried accounts of the meetings held on those two days. In a number of newspapers my name has been carried in large headlines-headlines not setting forth even the truth of the reports appearing in the papers themselves. I candidly state that I have been inclined to pay no attention to the slanders, rumors and insinuations-none of the matters referred to should be dignified by being styled "charges"-that have appeared in the newspapers, as coming before this committee, but it has occurred to me that it is not me and my good name alone that are involved, but the good name and honor of the Palmetto State and her great people are also affected. As your Chief Executive, it is my duty to defend my State and my people; therefore, I shall, at this time and in this manner, lay bare before you the damnable conspiracy to cause the people of South Carolina to lose confidence in my honor and to tarnish the proud name of the greatest Commonwealth in the American union.

On July 18, in the public prints, a prominent citizen of this State, who has been a personal friend of Ira B. Jones, an opponent of mine in the race for Governor, and who has recently been giving Mr. Jones his political support, commenting on the rottenness of the Augusta proceedings, demanded that Mr. Jones denounce those proceedings. Presumably in reply to that demand, Mr. Jones, at the campaign meeting in Columbia on July 19, announced that he approved the conduct and actions. at Augusta. Differing from the view taken by Mr. Jones, I am now bound to give my reasons for my disapproval, that the people may pass judgment between Mr. Jones and me, and our respective opinions. My statement must necessarily be of some length, but I ask you to become informed of every word of it, remembering that it is not one-tenth as long as the reports which have appeared in the newspapers in the attempt to reflect upon your honor and mine. It is my purpose to give you facts in a plain manner-and I shall comment on those facts. My language, in some instances, must be strong, but it is language that a gentleman can use and must use on such occasion, for the reason that no other words will properly describe my meaning and convey the truths I shall set forth.

POWERS OF THE COMMITTEE.

First, I wish to call to your attention the power given to this Dispensary Investigating Committee by your Legislature and the duties required of it. I refer you to the Acts of the General Assembly for the year 1912, page 1041, for the law under which this committee is supposed to be proceeding. The title of the Act is as follows:

"An Act to provide for an investigation of the acts and doings of the State Dispensary Commission, and the acts and doings. of the Attorney General in connection therewith, and of the acts and doings of the committee of the General Assembly appointed under a Concurrent Resolution of the General Assembly, dated January 31, 1905, and of the acts and doings of any other person or persons in any way connected with the affairs of the State Dispensary, and the investigation and winding up thereof."

It authorizes and empowers said committee to summon before it any person or persons they may deem proper, and to require such person or persons to answer, upon oath, any and all questions that the committee may deem relevant, and may propound to him or them; and upon the failure or refusal of such person or persons to obey such summons or notice, or to answer such

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