The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1866-12-06

and criminal, to the civil authorities. II
equal and exact justice is meted out to all
the inhabitants Of the State by courts and
iuries-if the freedmen receive that pro
lection of person and property which the
laws now guarantee them, we will not
again bo adjudged by Provost Courts and
Military Commissions, and we will vlndl::
cate before the world, our high sense Of
moral right, by enforcing impartial JUS
tice, whether the suitor be humble or ex-
allied. 3.
Experience will demonstrate the wis
dom of your enactment authorizing ne
groes to testify in all cases. 1t takes
away the impunity which bad men have
long enjoyed, in tempting these ignorant
people to perpetrate crime for the bene-
fit of the temptors.
The result of the experiment at the
late Fall Term of tho Courts has been
entirely satisfactory, and most of the
freedmen who have been called to the
witness stand, have manifested highly
creditable desire to tell the truth. The
extension of the privilege has had q sal
utary influence in encouraging and eleva-
ting their moral senses. Many of them
appreciate their obligations to society,
and readily assist in bringing to punish
ment evil-doers of their own color They
arc invaluable to the productive resources
of the State, and if their labor be lost by
removal to other sections, it will convert
thousands of acres of productive land in
to dreary wilderness. For this reason,
I have felt it to be my duty to discourage
their migration. The short crops of the
present year should stimulate the planter
and farmer to renewed energy and enter
prise. He will, however, find his lands
of little value, if he cannot command la
bor to cultivate them. If the negro re-
main here, his labor must be made suffi-
cicntly remunerativo to subsist and clothe
him comfortably. Schools must be estab-
lishcd to educate his children, and church
es built for his moral training.
The experiment of free labor, whilst it
has not been entirely satisfactory, is far
from proving a failure. Where the blacks
have been adequately compensated and
kindly treated, they have generally Ia
bored faithfully. Suddenly relieved from
the controlling will of others, and ex-
empted from the compulsory labor which
had, through life, been exacted from them,
they have performed, during the present
year, an amount of voluntary labor which
may we'll excite surprise. The Incidence
of some, and the improvidence of many,
will doubtless cause them to undergo
much suffering before they are educated
fully to the necessity of constant and un-
tiring labor, and to proper thrift and
economy.
Humanity and sound policy unite in
aged, tho infrm and the helpless, and 1
therefore respectfully recommend the
passage of an Act making it incumbent
on the Commissioners of the Poor to pro-
vide suitable buildings at the various Dis
trict Poor Houses for their accommoda-
ton and to subsist them.
The Regents of the Lunatic Asylum
have wisely and humanely made provis-
ion for the reception and treatment of in
sane cclored patients, and the Commis-
sioners of the Poor in the several Districts
should be required to make the same pro-
vision for their support in the Asylum as
now exists for white pauper patients in
that institution. The idiotic and epilep-
tic may be we'll taken eare Of at the Dis
trict Poor House.
FINANCES.
The Governor states that there has
been paid into the Treasury, from all
sources, s477,743.97; and paid out $780,
6SS.94, leaving balance in the Treasury
on the LIST of October of l73,O55.O3.
TAXES.
On this subject the Governor says:
IF the General Assembly ro-enacts the
clause in the Tax Bill Of tho last year,
recurring that all taxes shall bo paid in
cold or silver, National currency, or Bills
Receivable, and continues the authority
to the Treasurer to exchange the Bills
Receivable for National currency, thcre
is no good reason why the value OF the
former should not be at par with the lat
ter. The Comptroller-General estimates
the appropriations for the present year at
three hundred and two thousand seven
hundred and ton dollars, which sum will
be increased, if the recommendations
hereinafter made, to provide for the pay
ment of the public debt, should be adop-
ted by you. The payment of taxes is, at
/ all times, onorous to the public, but is pc
culiarly oppressive to the people at the
present time The ordinary expenses OF
government, however, must be met, and
the faith and credit of the State main
tanned untarnished, and taxation is the
only resource left us. The burthen
should be rendered as light as possible
by the most rigid economy in making
appropriations, and by requiring strict
accountability from all public functiona,
ries. Material changes in the subject