The Camden weekly journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1853-1861, 1855-12-04
GOVERNORS MESSAGE.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, Nov 81, 1855.
Gentlemen Of the Senate and House Of Repre-
scnt0tlres:
You have resumed the discharge of your
constitutional duties under the most enccurag.
ing circumstances. The pecuniary pressure
which, a. the beginning of the year, bore so
heavily upon all classes of society, has hap
PLY passed off without its anticipated disasters
Commerce continues to prosper and widen
her domain; Agriculture rrjoices over full
harvests; aud Labor Of every description feels
the stimulus of remunerating prices. The year
has been one of unexampled health; and our
people, in quiet and security, have successfully
devoted themselves 10 their various vocations.
Representing Il Commonwealth thus blessed,
You will unite with me in offering to the Giver
of all Good the homage of grateful hearts, and
devrutly supplicating continuance OF HIS
favor
In the discharge ofthe duty imposed on me
by the Constitution, | shall rrcOmmehd to
your consideration various measures which |
think important to the public veal. Your in.
tclligencc will enable you to select and your
patriotism will prompt YOU to adopt, such Of
them as will adTance the interests and promote
the general prosperity of our common con-
situcnts. The public good especially commit
ted to your keeping, cannot, in my judgment,
be more certainly attained than hy steady
adherence to ihe long.settled policy Of the
State. New eaactments and notifications OF
existing laws arc some times required to suit
The varying circumstances of our condition;
but legislation which seeks to break down the
corms and usages to which Il people have long
been accustomed should not be resnrted to ex.
cept under the exactiag pressure of necessity
The people of South Carolina have great rca
son to rest CONTEXT with their Constitution us it
stands. 1t is far better that lis immaterial
defects should be borne than that we should
begin the hazardous work of constitutional
REFORM All of the old States the conede.
racv, except our own, have at different times
made fundamental changes in their Constitu,
tons. These changes may have served for
the moment to cap'ivalc the p"pulacc; but
have not been able to discover that those for
whose especial benefit they were introduced
have been distinguished by a higher elevation
Of sentiment, or been rewarded with greater
prosperity than our own people, who still cling
with confidence to their old FORMS and gath
cr hope for the future from the encourag ing
rccolIeclions of he past. Continue, then by
your example and policy, TO teach your con
stitutenls not to lean ON Government, but to
rely on their own energies to work out their
destiny. A people thus trained will be more
| Jealous Of their tights and when assailed viii
stand up more rlanuIly in their defence. than
if their minds arc bcwildcrcd and their time
wasted in trullesS efforts To better their c0nd
ton by periodical changes in their organic law
The pr"clivilirs of the age are to my mind
olninous Of any thing but good to the cause OF
true progress. In certain sections OF the coun'
try doctrines have been avowed and scenes en-
acted which, in the better days of the Rcpu bllc
would have consigned their authors to lasting
irfamy and cxerraiion. The advocates of a
higher law, sit in high places, fanaticsm rules
triumphaut IN the laud of Hancock and Otis
and mOhs and riots are So common that the
misguided masses are fast acquiring a taste toI
blood. In view Of hiJcous phases which Rad
calism has elsewhere assumed, and the bitter
fruits of its triumnhs, Conservatism may con-
fden,ly appeal to the patriotism Of the refor
mers of a mider latitude to postpone their la
Jors to more auspcious period. There is
wisdom and safety in the Injunction of Holy
Writ: "Prove all things; hold fast that which
ia good" commend to you the preservation
of our Constitution in all its integrity. 1t has
served us and we owe it to ourselvs to transmit
it intact to our posterity.
First il, order and highest in Importance,
invite your especial attention to the financial
condition Of the State. The right to lax tc
your constituents-the most responsible and
dclcate Of all your trustS-cannot be wisely
exercised without constantly keeping in vie"
the amount of our obligations, and properly es
timating the resources with which they are tc
be met. How far it may be prudent to increase
our Indebtedness, and in so d"ing create, at nc
distant day, necessity for increased taxation
it will he for you to determine. Our people
are patriotic, and am satisfied would make
AS heavy sacrifices as any people to preserve ILL.,
violate the public faith but it must be borne
in mind that they cultivate exhausted lands and
they will form an exception to the rest OF thelI
countrymcn, if, with the prospect Of onerous
taxation before them, they do not emgrate tc
more favored regions, where, if they have high
taxes to pay, they will have rich harvests Oh
which the contribution would be levied.
The following statement exhibits the public
debt of the State, as it appears on the books
of the Loan Office, on the Both day Septem
ber 1855:
cont'd standing. int. M. int