Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1868-07-17


State. A well digestic code of Publ,
Laws, with full and clear index, will b.
OF great value to all classes of our peo-
ple, professional or otherwise. Such .
code South Carolina has never possessed
The committee appointed for this purnos,
should be composed Of men of the hi,.h-
est legal ability, aud should b. empow-
cred to omit from the code such statu,e
as are no longor in accord with our Con
stitutlon, or that conflict with the cbanoe
IN our political and civil systems. E.n,
c'aliy should the plea Of "neneflt or CIer-
gy'' which has so long disgraced the Ju
o'c'ai system of the State, be no longer
recognized by our courts. 1 trust t-th,
General Assembly will make an appro
pr'a''on sufficiently liberal, to give a fa;,
compensation 10 the members that Com
mission ior their necessarily arduous Ia,
bors.
STATUTE OF FRAUDS.
Section 90, Article l, of the Const;tu.
.'on' having provided that "no person shall
Dc imprisoned for debt except in
cases OF iraud,' shall at an early day, en-
act Statute of Frauds, and also a new
Statute Of Limitations. defining the rights
remedies and liabilities of creditor, md
debtors.
invite your attention to Section 8.
Article 8, of tue Constitution, which pro-
v'des that it shall be the duty of the Cen.
eral Assembly to provide from tune to
time for the registration of all electors"
1t is important to the safety of the
State that the rights of its electors aud the
purify OF the ballot box should be rigidIy
guarded. I therefore -ecomms nd that
you will pass stringent laws prescribing
the duties OF registrars and judges Of cleo
tons. with appropriate penalties and pro.
v'd'ng also for the punishment of briberv
and corruption at public elections.
REMOVAL OF POLITICAL DISABILITIES
lwou'd earnestly recommend that your
honorable body will at any early period,
memoral'ze Congress to relieve every citi.
zen Of South Carolina from all political
disabilities. Imake this recommendation
the more readily from, the fact thst thsra
arc believed to be none of that clas. IN
this State who have committed Infamous
offences against the laws of war,
lie statute of disfranch,senent GA.
doubtless wise and proper at the earliest
stage OF reconstruction, apd justly mark
ed the nat:ou's adherence of those who
having been trusted leaders of the people
mad led them into rebellion against the
benign government of their country.
Yet tho continuance of such disfrauchise.
.nehs would be an anomaly under our
Republican system, based upon the doc
tr'ne OF universal !sufsrage. Let US hope
that such an act of magnanimity will not
be mistaken by the class disfran el,i.ed.
while they deny it will tend to make them
objects Of sympathy, and will be as it were
to keep knife sticking in an open wound.
EpUcAr1oN.
Civil liberty and the education Of the
masses are inseparabls.
The safety OF free State rests upon
the virtue and Intelligence of the people,
aud it cannot preserve the one without
eu:tlvatlng the other. All republics OF
which history makes mention, have owed
their decline and fall ito the. corruption
Of TIE people; who having become un-
mindful Of their righta and dutiss through
ignorance, became the prey of dem.eoeuss
through choice. In a country .uch a.
ours, where the humbIest citizen, II wor-
thy and we'll qualified may. aspire to the
station OF the highest, and where the hard
handed child of poverty aud toll NAV be-.
come the Chief magistrate of the rspub.
lic' the diffusion Of intelligence among
the masses is not only a measure of puplio
justice, but pitaily concsrns :ths public
safety. -.
The Government of the United States
has been 50 mindful Of the impor, amos Of
popular education, that It has alreadv
given 7o.ooo,0o0 Of acres Of public lands.
worth at least ninety millions (sQ ,o00. .ooo9
Of dollars, for the establishment OF sehoola
and colleges in the States and territories OF
the Union. I would, therefore, earnestly
recommend that The provision of our con-
stituuon upon this subject be. carried out
in its fullest extent, and that As thorough a
system Of free schools sbsll bs established
as is consistent With the present taxable
resources Of The State.
Ideem Il proper to add, that sa.isiaoto-
~ assurances are given that congres. win
within brief period, make a libstal gran,
| Of public Iands to this Stats. for the ersa,
ton Of permanent eopspop school fund
thus in . great measure relieving our ,peo-
lpte fom the burden Of Taxation Tor. th.y
Fspeciat egsct., ! respectfully ssgee.s th.,
H. -. s~srkS