The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-11-29
rb, Governor's Message.
the means of meeting lis legal liabilities.
Ths paw OF Members OF the General As |


The Pay OF Members OF the General AS
sembly.
The first important measure of retrencn-
ment demanded by our financial condltlon, Is
q great reduction in the amount Teceiveu Sy
members of the General Assembly lor tne'i
services. TT ,,;o,
The constitution provides (artlc!e II, sectlon
2S) that "each member ,,t,on OF tns n,s. sSs re-.
Assembly under this constitution shau re-
ceiye six dollars per diem, While 10 SESSION.,
and the e.f,lrther sum of. twenty cents ior every
mile of the ordinary route OF travel IN goinS 10
and returning from the place wnere sucn ses-
sion Is held, after which they snaii receive
snch COMPENSATION as shall be fixed by law;
but no General Assembly shall have the power
to increase the compensation OF It's cWn MEM
hers.n I would recommend that, IN lieu OF
per diem, each member shall receive an an.
nual salary, to be fixed at such rate as VIII
greatly diminish the cost to the State OF tne
sessions of the General Assembly, as COM
pared with the amount now paid under t9S
system of per diem compensation. IL VIII
also enable the General Assembly to proVlae
an assessment for the amount required Lor lae NC
pay of its members, and will enaGie Inem a.,o "
obtain their pay with certainty. an saiary
fed that q moderate, yet adequate salaI!
could be provided uy law. and great saving
be thereby affected to the State treasury.
Won woild thereby also greatly diminish the
Incidental expenses of the General Assembly,
bv destroying what might offer great inouce-
ment to many members TO proiong LILO ses-
sions. A., ,ono
fhat the present session of the Legislature Will
be short and economical one, as the hnanclal
Condition of the State will not admit OF any
unnecessary eypendit re OF money. All the
influence of the Executive Of the state WIN oe
exerted Id accomplishing TINS END, ana ne
tr,lsry that he will have the active sympatny
and cooperation of each and every memDer oi
the legislative department.
The large amount Of money palq TO the at
taches, such aS clerks, messengers, porters,
&C., is without parallel In he history OF ieg-
islative bodies. 1t was claiped at the TIME py
the members that most of these were men VINO
had been driven from their homes on account
of their political opinions, and 1t became tae
duty of the General Assembly to provide means
for their support. While this may be true, and
that it may have devolved upon the SIate Gos-
ernment to provide some means ior tneiT Prvs; ns
lection and support, yet very unusual ana
expensive mode of extending that support was
adopted. 1t might have beea bnt justice 10
have made regular appropriation ana leVleo IL
upon the counties from which these men were
driven; thus the yictims of poliucai preluolcsi
would have been provided for and the actual
perpetrators Of these outrages made 10 1eel tnat
# was an expensive way of controlling politi-
cal opinions
The Codifying Commission.
The commission to codify the laws has been
in existence for nearly three years, and mas
cost the State about fifty thousand dollars (S50-
OO0,) and It's work Ia not yet completed.
minds of the State that this work could have
been done thoroughly at cost OF not more tnan
five thousand dollars. / would, therefore, re-
commend that this standing reproach to the
State Government, and unnecessary oIaln
upon the treasury, be removed WITHOUT aeiay,
1T, d tha-n do Ne
ploying competent 1urist 10 compiete the coo-
'tlcation of our laws.
The ONCE of Land Commissioner.
recommend that the Office of land commits
sioner be abolished, and that the duties OF the
office be devolved upon the secretary OF State.
-, The School Commissioners.
The thirty-one school commissioners, at
their present salaries which are exceedingly
large for the amount or service that they rem
der, cost the State tbicsy-one thousand i've
hundred dollars per annum. l. therefore, re-
commend material reduction in the salaries
of school commissioners, so as to reduce the
expenditures on this account to sum not ex-
ceediug ten thousand dollars per annum.
General Reduction OF Salaries.
There is great and instant need for the re.
duction of the salaries OF State officers, and
for a decided dlminution of the clerical force
employed in many offices OF the Executive de-
partmeDt. In some cases the State Is paying
clerks to perform duties that should be, and
eau be, discharged by the officers themselves.
In my opinion the salaries of all officers, ex-
cept the Judges, should be reduced one-thlrd.
Adjutant-GenerarsO once.
The Office of assistant-adjutant general
should be abolished, and the adjutant general
should be required to perform the duties OF
State and County Auditors.
sb hao ohnlfoh-
ed. and It's duties performed by the comp
troller-general.
aIhe Office Of county auditor can be dispensed
with without ipju.y TO the public service, and
the duties of tnat office devolyeo upon tna
county treasurer, thus effecting q saving to
the State Of not less than Atty thousand (S0-
000) dollars per annum, and securing even In
creased efficiency in the collection OF taxes. :
Trial justices.
Invite your early attention to the recon-
mendaIions Of my last message In regard to
frial justices. The aggregate costof this class
OF officers Is very near one hundred and twenty
thousand (l2O, ,000) dollars annually. The trial
justices In the City of Charleston alone entail
upon the county an e34eaai1are eS6 o, aoouf
would, therefore, urge. In addition to my for
,mer recommendations on this subject, that the
Office Of trial justice be abolished In the City
of Charleston, and that, In lieu thereon, three
police Judges De created Ior tnat Cilys WIZ
shall receive adequate salaries, and shall 'exer-
else the Jurisdiction vested In trial justices. !
would further recommend the appointment OF
one police Judge In each of our principal
towns, dispensing. with trial Justices therein,
and vesting In such judges the Judicial powers
now exercised by the mayors courts, as, under
existing acts, the mayors and intendants OF
our cities and towns may crowd our Jails with
prisoners sentenced for trifing offences, thus
increasing the expenses OF the several. coun-
Recorder Of the City Of Charleston.
Srecommend that the Office Of recorder OF
the CITY of Charleston be abolished forthwith.
This is a State cfice cheated by act OF the Cen
eral Assembly many years ago. but 1t has LOT
long period fallen into utter disuse. Althongh
the recorder receives a salary OF twenty-five
hundred (2500) dollars per annum, and has
clerk at six hundred '(600) dollars per anDum,
'.payable by the city, am credibly informed
that he has not held more than two sessions
of the City Court, for the trial OF criminal and
civil causes, during the past ten or twelve
wears. It Is mere eXcrescence on our judi
cial system, aud the people OF Charleston
should no longer be taxed to sustain It.
Clerks OF the Senate and House.
would especially direct your attention. In
this connection. to the propriety OF reducing
the salaries OF the clerks of the Senate aud
House. Taking the number Of days on whlcn
these officers are presumed to be employed,
their compensation per diem. respectively, Is