The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-01-10
The Finances of tho State.

The report of the Comptroler-General OF
the State for the year ending November l.,
1870, is printed at last, and we regret to
say that its financial statements will be
found as deceptive and disingenuous as the
statements for 1869, which were fully ana
lyzed and exposed during the Reform cam
paign. We do not charge the Comptroller
General with the deliberate purpose to mis-
lead taxpayers at home and capitalists
abroad. The official reports, properly
handled, snow their own discrepancies, and
do afford the means OF determining, approx
imately at least, the financial condition Of
the State. What we complain of is, that the
Comptroller General, by ingenious arithmet-
ical conjuring, produces false impression
| upon the popular mind, and shows only q
moderate increase Of debt, where the broad
facts point to an addition Of millions. We
have no interest in depreciating the credit Of
the State. On the contrary, it is our desire
to fulfil the public obligations and pay every
farthing which is honestly due. But it is
necessary that the truth should be known
and if the State officials remain tongue-tied,
because they aye unwilling to make mortify
ing disclosures, their evasion Of plain duty
will not relieve them from either RESPONSE
bility or blame.
The Comptroller General, in his printed
report, (page 2I says that the funded debt
on the 3lst October, 1870, amounted to
81, ,665, sOs 9S, which figures agree with
those given by Governor Scott in his annual
message to the Legislature. We say, how
ever, and are prepared to prove, that, &C.
cording to the official report of the Comp
troller General himself, the funded debt OF
the State is understated by at least two mil
lion dollars. That is to say, the Comp
troller-Genera1 does not include, in his
statement of the public debt, November l,
'Is7O," (page 7l,) either the 100000 of {
per cent. bonds issued (page 3l) for the
relief OF the treasury, or the whole amount of
the ss0O,OOO OF per cent. bonds issued
page 3l) for the payment of interest on the
public debt. Nor do we find, in the debt
statement, any record Of the $4,000 Of 6
per cent. bonds issued (page 35) for the land
commission. These sums-deducting $780,
900 OF the $500, 600 OF interest bonds, which
amount is reported-make up $4,000, 600
which must be added to the statement OF
the public debt as given by the Comptroller
General. It may be said, as was said
during the Reform canvass, that these
bonds are s:signed up" and issued, but
are held as collaterals, and do not
form part of the legitimate State debt. We
reply that the meagre reports OF Mr.. Ktmp-
ton, the Financial Agent, show that he has
now in his possession only Sl,5O0,OOO of
State bonds, against S2,7OO,O0O held by him
on the same dag in 1869. This is not all.
The accounts show that the State owes Mr..
Kimpton the sum Of $3.50, 843 95, representing
monies advanced by him. That large sum
did not come out Of Mr.. Kimpton's pocket,
and we have the right to assume that
81, 500, 900 OF State bonds were hypothe-
Gated, and so remain, as security for the
loans negotiated by Mr.. Kimpton for the
State Sixty cents on the dollar is quite as
much as New York banker would lend
upon South Carolina bonds, and, to that ex-
tent, these bonds are as much a liability as
if they had been sold outright. Indeed, Mr..
Kimpton must have to carry heavy weight,
as he charges the enormous sum of S94, 977 ~
for "erpenseS, express charges, stamps, IN
'terest" &c. or the Land Commission
bonds, (s7OO,0oO,) we see no trace. They,
also, may be hypothecated, or worse.
We think that we have now fairly shown
that the State debt is, at least SO, s65, ,9OS.
Adding to this the guarantee by the State OF
S4, 600, 900 of bonds OF the Blue Ridge Rail-
road, we have total liability exclusive of
other guarantees) Of no less than SI3, $685.
90S, which is about the amount at which The
State debt was put down by this paper dur
ing the Reform canvass. 1t is only neces-
sary to add that in 1869 the total funded
debt, as stated by the Comptroller General,
was s6,lS3, ,349 II. and that in 1868 the
funded debt was only SIS, ,4o7, ,3O6 81. In two
years the Radical party have added sS,OOO,-
600 of achtch toe haze knoacledge, to the liza
bilities Of the State.