The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1870-03-10
Veto Message of Gov. Scott.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
COLUMBIA, March l, 1870.

...... COLUMBIA 4OSVs
10 the Senate of South Carolina: 10 T'7
GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE respect
fullv return to your honorable body, in
which it originated, an Act to grant to
certain persons therein named, and asso-
ciates. the right to dig and mine in the
beds of the navigable streams and waters
of the State of South Carolina for phos-
phate rocks and phosphate deposits, with
out my signature, with my reasons there
for. ~ ei ~. ie roi;a.''@7
Divested OF its verbiage and circumlo-
cution, this Act proposes a naked grant
by the State to a. few individuals of a
most valuable franchise, estimated as
worth many millions of dollarL, the con-
sideration for which is q contingent one,
and may easily be evaded altogether.
Upon examination it will be. found that
there is not a single guarantee or stipula-
tion, that the corporators will atany,time
remove one solitary ton Of phosphate de-
posits, or phosphate rocks from tho beds
of the navigable streams and waters OF
the State, and consequently they could
not be required to pay one cent into the
Treasury; while, by the privilege con-
ferred upon them, they could prevent all
other persons from doing SO, thus depriv-
ing the State of large amount Of reve:
nue., and the country of the advantages OF
the vast deposits Of fertilizing materials
SO essential to the development of our ag-
ricultural resources. That there is strong
teptation to such a policy, will be admit
tod when IT, ia recollccted that several of
the leading corporators in this Act
have already large investments in phos-
pilates, by the purchase and lease Of lands
containing phosphate deposits, and the
erection Of buildings and machinery for
their preparation, which would be greatly
diminished in yalueif the immensequan-
titles of these submarine deposits were
brought into competition with them. Tho
interests OF the corporators would be as
completely subserved by permitting or
compelling them to remainidle and nnde.
vcleped, instead Of mourning additional
expense in working them, and by bring
ing more of the material into the market,
endanger the stability OF the present
highly remunerative prices of fertilizers.
Such d policy has already had an illustra;
ton in this State, in an almost parallel
case, in which company from one of the
Northern cities acquired the exclusive
right to mine an extensive deposit OF
manganese on the Dorm estate in Abbe-
vile and Edgc6cld Counties, the condi.
tion of which grant was, that they would
pay valuable consideration for every
ton of the material mined and removed; :;
but the lessccs were the proprietors of
another mine, in one of the Northern
States, the product Of which was abun-
dainty ample tor the supply of the mar
ket at existing prices, and of course there
was no necessity of ,lvailing themselves
of their South Carolina resources, which
could only endanger existing prices and
profits and having secured their object
in obtaining the control of-the deposit,
and thus preventing competition from
that source, the mines were permitted to
remain idle, not ton of manganese was
removed, and not dollar of revenue was
received by the owners of this valuable
propertv. The Act under consideration
is SO incautiously drawn as to afford am.
ple room for another illustration Of the
danger of comforting privileges without
adequate provisions to secure compli-
ance in good faith with promised eqniva-
lents. Certainly it is the more necessary
in the present case, where the property
is so immensely valuable to the State, and
its development 30 essential to the sue
cess of it's finances, and to the prosperity
of its agricultural interests. The temp
tation to restrict the supply of fertilizing
materials to such proportions as will en-.
able those who now havo the control of
them to command their own valuation, is
almost irresistible, especially when it is
recolected how much more desirable, as
we'll IS profitable, it is to derive high
prices from moderate sales, than to be
compelled to take moderate prices, how
ever abundant may be the sales. The in
terest of those who produce the material,
and those of the consumers OF 1T, as well
as those of the community, are therefore
antagonstlc, and it is neither the part OF
patriotism or sound policy to throw the
weight of government influence, or gov
ernment patronage, in the scale OF the
first named. There is little doubt that
fair competition in the production OF the
phosphatcs would reduce the price of fer
tilizers from sixty and sixty-fve dollars
per ton, as at present, to thirty-6ve or
forty dollars, which would afford an abun-
dant profit to the manufacturer and rem
dor essential relief to the farmers of the
State by enabling them to compete, on
their impoverished soils, with those OF
mora favored sections.
The exclusive nature Of the grant is al.
so Objectionable. I am aware that the
word "cxclusive" was stricken from the
bill during it's consideration, by which it
was proposed to divcst it of the odium of
being monopoly, but this was counter
acted by the defeat of other bills, which
proposed TO throw tho business open to