The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1871-12-09

alton of ths present Administration, but
represents mostly liabilities of previous
administrations, a large portion .ieonsist-
ing Of bonds, issued to meet. the ante:
war debt, in order to fnnintaiu the faith
and cred it of the State r
He says, that the result Of the fnan.
iqllrpolicy of the presenttadorinistration
%as 8 that in 1870 The now bonds, bcssiag
go per cent gold, interest commanded
from 80 to s5 per cent Of their par val
pe, and were refused to buyers at those
figpres. But afterwards, owing to the
opposition press of the State, and the
cry,of reputation raised first by sthe
Chamber of Commerce aud Board of
Trade in Charleston, our securities were
terribly deprecated. The action of the
Taxpayers Convention was also extreme
ly disastrous to these securities. The
Governors Message in laying the blams
upon this cause says:
"For them now to complain of
our immense bonded debt aud high tax
alton, aud to claim conmiserations for
these direct and inevitable consequences
of their own acts, is to initiate the Grim
inal who, having murdered his parents,
plead orphanage in mitigation Of sem
tence. fTZJqq A8 ,JI9tEi !;
On this question Of responsibility be-
tween them and the State administra
tion, invoke and fearlessly await that
just Judgment which always springs
from the sober second thought Of the
people. .aa
The depreciation in our bonds, there
fore, springs from causes purely artifi-
cial, aud in their nature temporary. The
State can and will redeem all her obli-
CATION, to the last cent. L might, with
propriety, end this branch of my Mes
sage, here, but L deem it both proper
and timely to show who these men are
that arrogantly and falsely assume to
represent abroad the wealth Of the Stat .
aud the sentiment of the people OF South
Carolina. They arc remnant of the
ehss who, ruled this State when tho
many toiled and suffered Cor the bsneGs
ias,sttIe iewIaiiiita a Gssesduss,t asbseTyr
cd the largest good Of the spidllest NUM-
b'r. Asserting and exercising pre-
seip,ive right t, govern wrong, in times
Ipsst thcy aiile zthcs hbsting 4ipaSsesl
without reg;s;!rl ri; to race, their pack -hqr-.
srs, to bear the, burdens. of. a. Govern.
mcnt that, Conferred its bone6ts only
upou Il limited and select class OF its
people. They arc essentially non pro.
duccrs,, and ,lo'h contribute Ave per
cent. to the thirty millions value Of the
annual exported products Of the State
Claiming to represent a large amount of
capital, their names are chiefly found on
the arrear list, when found ut all in che
tax books, aud nearly all Of them have
long since voluntarily recorded them
selves upon, the roll Of bankrupts. Their
pretcnce,, that they are. the guardians
of the honor aud credit of South Caro-
hpg would be suprcmcly ridiculous, ii
it were not SO supremely shameless
Their present cry Of "rcpudiation
is not surprising. llcpuiiation is their
chronic disease. When they were in
power in 1872 they repudiatel all their
debts due loyal men, both private and
public, and have themselves been re-
pudiated by the people of South Caro-
lima, upon tho blood and muscle and
sinews of whose hard handed laborers
these privileged few so long flttened.
Protesting to be tho champions of good
government when they were in power,
instead of eflccting an equitable distri-
button of the taxes over all classes of
property, they created numerous railway
aud other corporations, exemptine them
.ise.;i All taXatiUn forever Thee cor
,rorations, although owning millions Of
property throughout the State, pay not
one dollar of taxes into its treasury, and
even successfully claim, in the courts,
exemption from all municipal taxation
for the residences aud pleasure carria-
ges aud horses of their officers in our
towns and cities, where, in nearly every
street, these wealthy benefciaries of the
State own long rows of houses, untaxed
and untaxable, which they buy and sell
on speculation. .
Remembering the general private suf-