The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-12-30

its power, the purchase of lands, the payment
for same, the sale OF Land commission bonds,
have al been made 10 su5serve certain or
gauiZed result, viz: The primary benefit OF
members OF the advisory board, and the land
commissioners and their subservient allies:
IErtrdct from an Ordinance 10 Create q Board
of Land Commissioners, passed by the Con-
Stittional Conuention.l
lst 1T shall be the duty OF the General AS
sembly to provide for the establishment of
board OF commissioners of public lands. (of:
which board the mptroller-generdl OF the
State shall BE- member,) defines the powers
and duties of the board, provide for tue cur
rent expenses thereof. and fix the compens a.
ton OF the members"
2i "Tne commissioners shall have auth0rl-
ty, under regulations of law, 10 purchase i'm
proved or unimproved lands. cause them to
be SURVEYED and laid Off into suitable
tracts. ami sold to actual settlers under
specified conditlOns-provided, that the late
at which any purchase shall be made shall not
exceed seventy.f1v per cent. Of the value OF
the land so purchased, including The improve
ments thereon; such valuation to be ascer-
tanned in the manner hereinafter provided by
law
Sd. THE General Assembly shall have au-
thority to issue to said commissioners public
stock of the State; that such stock. or the
proceeds thereof, shall be applied in payment
for the land purchased; and such stock shall
kpot be negotiated at less than the par value
6hereof. The aggregate amount OF purchase
ID land in any fiscal year shall not exceed the
kr value of the stock OF this State created
ID appropriated for such purpose"
18th. "The General Assembly shall provide
oy law for the security of funds in the hands
Of the commissioners of pubic lands, and Tor
the accountability of such officers, and shall
require bonds TO be given therefor"
Upon this ordinance, which was believed to
be mandatory In Its requirements, the acts OF
March q, 1869, and March l, 1870, were pass
en- The following extracts are given from
the act OF March. 1869:
lst. "The advisory board il authorized and
required 10 appoint suitable person, to be
of South Carolina, who, for the faithful dis
charge Of the duties of his office, shall exc
cute to the people Of the State OF South Carolina
written undertaking, with good and suffi-
cent surety, in the penal sum Of twenty thou
: sand dollars, TO be approved by the advisory
f board, and filed in the office Of the secretary
of State.'
2d. The Governor. omptroller-general,
treasurer. secretary of State and attorney
general are declared to be The advisory board
to the land commissioner"
Sd. "The said land commissioner shall hold
his office at the pleasure of the advisory BOARD.
and be governed by their instructions and
advice
Atm. sit shall be the duty Of the land CON-
missioner 10 purchase, or cause to be pur-
chased, any lands in any portion OF the state,
improved or unimproved, at such price as tne
advisory board may determine, not to exceed
in the aggregate amount, In any one fiscal
year, the par uulue of The public stock OF this
State, created fer this purpose"
5tn THE said land commissioner shall not
purchase from, or sell 10 the State any land;
neither shall he engage In speculations IN
lands, either on his own account or as an agent
for other persons or corporations, and upon
,conviclion thereof, for every SUCH offence,
shsll be fined and imprisoned at the discretion
Athe court"
: 9Th. "All lands purchased by the land COM
missioner shall be sub-divided into sections
of not less than twenty-five, nor more than
one hufdred acres, and sold to actual settlers,
on conditions provided by the aet.'
7th. 'The books and records of the land
commissioner shall, at all times, be subject to
the inspection of the advisory board, or any
member thereof; and the said land commits
sioaer shall, Annually, make detailed report
of the transactions OF his oftlce to the General
Assembly"
slh. "The treasurer of the State is author
lied and directed to issue 10 the land commits
sioners, If in the opinion OF the advisory
board so much be necessary, bonds OF TINS
State, in the sum OF two hundred thousand
dollars, with coupons attached, bearing six per
cent. interest, the principal payable In twenty
years, to be signed by the Governor, and
countersigned by the comp,roller.general;
the coupons to be signed by the treasurer OF
the State. The faith and credit OF the State
is pledged to the payment Of the principal and
interest of said bonds, and sufficient amount
of taxes levied to pay the interest accrulng
on said bonds annually"
lErtracts from act Of March l, 1901
lst. "lhe treasurer of the Slate, as in the
foregoing extract of the act Of March, 1859,
under the same regulations and restrictions, Is
authorized and directed to issue bonds OF this
o. el.~ ale nd vol in
: same time to the land commissioner, in the
sum of five hundred thousand dollars"
I'd. "That the land commissioner shall be
subject to majority of the advisory board,
and any purchase or sale of property made
without their advice or consent shall not be
valid"
Sd. No purchase shall be made without
the certain knowledge of the commissioner,
that he will be able TO sell the same without
1sl'y'' THE TWO ADMINISTRATIONS.
= The land commission has, up to the time
this committee was appointed, and since lis
establishment by law, passed through two ad-
ministrationS. The first commissioner, IN the
management of the affairs of his office, was
so secret, mysterious and unwritten that In
vestigations were laughed at and discovery
dehed. And, as if to carry the mockery OF dis
closure to more supremely farcical conclu-
sion, the late first commissioner, By strategies
well known 10 nlmSell, SucceeUeu III SECURING
the appointment Of such committee, during
the last session of the State Senate, to ex-
anime into the affairs of his office, as he
desired; and in order to facilitate the work OF
oblivion, he caused 10 he employed The son Of
q certain beneficiary OF the commission,
(whose parched acres and barrens were pur-
chased icr $50 4ss, ten times their value) to
take down, In short hand, the evidence given
during ''ihe citing of this committee, brought
together at times and in numbers the most
convenient, under the dictation Of the skilful
operator, the substance Of which Is as little
known as all his other proceedings, and will,
no doubt, see 'the light when the darkest
transactions of the land commission are un-
yelled.
During his administration the largest money
ed transactions of the commission were COM
pleted, and, therefore, the details Of his work
are Of the most importance to those who have
been called upon to furnish the means for him
to operate with. These he persistently and
publicly refused to give, and uses his cunning
devices to stihe and conceal.
COMMISSIONER NO. 2.
The second commissioner, though frequent
ly required by the General Assembly to make
complete reports of the work Of his ohce,
aoan,ipolv followed In the footsteps OF his