The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1871-02-09
Exposure Of an Infamous Scheme.

The Charleston Daily Republican, in the an
nexed concise editorial, exposes the nefariou
purposes of an unprincipled set of men VIII
are seeking to flch money out of the Stat
Treasury, and excoriates them for attempting
to steep its party into deeper iniquity. W.
have no doubt that this 'job' is the identica
shameless transaction alluded to in the editori
al columns of the Anderson hteNgcncer seve
raj weeks since:
Perhaps our readers will remember certain
bill, introduced into the House of Representa-
tives about week ago, with title somewha
like this: "a bill to redeem certain obliga
tions of the State" This bill was quietly re
ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means
and there it still remains. We have good rea
son for thinking that it will soon come forth
again with the approval of that committee, anc
that its authors propose to attempt its summary
passage. We, therefore, meet them now on the
threshold.
What is this bill, with its harmless and I'm
suspicious title9 Listen, honest men OF the
Republican party, and we will tell you.
In 1864 during the last twelve months of the
war, the Comptroller General of the State bor-
rowed large sums of Confederate money from
the Banks of the State to supply the State
Treasury. For these loans the Comptroller
General gave his official notes. Before they
were paid the war closed, and Confederate cur
rency became worthless.
Among the assets so-called of the broken
and insolvent Banks of the State these notes
of the Comptroller General were found, and in
the sale of those assets they passed into the
hands of the present holders, the men who are
now behind this bill of which we speak. The
bill proposes to redeem those notes at their face
valoe, IN bonds of the State.
Look at it! The notes, in the first place,
are Confederate obligations. The money was
borrowed ostensibly and notorously to keep
alive the State Government of South Carolina,
in its armed opposition to the United States.
The payment of these notes is, therefore, clear
ly forbidden by the 10Th Section of Article 9
of our State Constitution, which declares that
''no debt contracted by this State in behalf OF
the late rebellion, in whole or in part, shall
ever be paid!
These debts were contracted, in whole and
in part, by this State in behalf of the late re-
belion, and no decent lawyer or honest man
thinks otherwise.
Equally explicit against this bill arc the
words of the United States Constitution i'll Sec
ton of the 14th Amendment, which declares
that neither the United States nor any State
shall assume or pay any debt or obligation in
Cured in aid of insurrccton or rebellion
against the United States, or any claim for the
loss or emancipation of any slave; but all
such debts, obligations and claims shall be held
Illegal and void
Can language be palmer? And yet, in the
face Of all this, it is proposed to force this bill
through our Legislature to tax cur people to
put money into the pockets of those who i'll
vested in these rotten claims with full knowl-
edge of their rottenncss. We know what we
say. We know the names of the parties who
are putting up this job of wholesale robbery:
We know who are expected to vote for it, and
we now serve notice on all concerned that if
this villainy is not stopped, and stopped now,
they will find their names and their claims adj
verlised in these columns, free of charge. Cen
tlemen, be decent, we entreat you; abandon
this shameful attempt at robbery; but if you
will not, you shall at least be known to be the
corrupt men that you are You know as we'll
as we do that if there is any validity whatever
in these Confederate claims, they are only
worth that proportion of their face value which
Confederate money bore to gold at the date of
the transaction. How is it, that you ask the
State to pay you dollar for dollar for your Con,
teacrate money? 1t is Infamous, and we tell
you that we will make you Infamous if you
attempt to rob the State by pushing this cor
rupt and monstrous scheme through the Lcgis-
lature.