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

alton oI tns present ADMINISTRATIONS, Dut
represents mostly liabilities of previous
admins trations, q large portion tconsist-I
ing Of bonds, issued to meet the ante !,
war debt, in order to maintaiu the. faith
aud cred It of the State.
He says, that the result Of the 6nau
ci4l policy of the present administration
was that in 1870 the new. bonds, bearing
60 per, cent gold, interest commanded
from 80 to S5 per cent of their par val
ue, and were refused to buyers at those
figures. But afterwards, owing to the
opposition press of the State, and the
cry of reputation raised first by the
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 blame
upon this cause says;
"For them now to complain of
our immense bonded debt and high tax
alton, aud to claim oomtEiseration: 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 SEN
tence. iTL LtGt N# 7I-i,-
On this question of responsibility be-
tween them and the State administra
ton, invoke and fearlessly await that
just Judgment which always springs
from the sober second thought Of the
people.
The depreciation in our bouds, there
fore, springs from causes purely artif-
cial, aud in their nature temporary. The
State can and will redeem all her obi
CATION, to the last cent. | nj ght, with
propriety, end this branch of my Mes
sage, here, but | deem it both proper
and timely to show who these men are
that arrcsantly and falsely assume to
represent abroad the wealth of the Stat Z
aud the sentiment of the people Of South
Carolina. They are remnant Of the
class who.,r ruled this State when the
many toled and suffered for the beneGs
httIlo few, aiilits % aoses6maillt s,lbseFyt
cd the largest good Of the spallest ndii-
br. Asserting and exercising pre-
sc'ip,ive right t, goro,n wrong, in times
ip,pt they made tho l,b,tins ,mascss
without. reg:s!rl to race, their pack-hpr-.
SIS, to bear the, burdens. Of. u Govern
mcnt that, conferred its benefits only
upon limited and select class OF its
people. They arc essentially non,pro
duccrs, aud do not contribute fivc per
cemt. 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 the
tax books, and 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-
.hpq would be suprcmcly ridiculous. ii
it were not 50 supremely shameless.
Their present cry Of "rcpudiation
is not surprising. lscpuliation is their
chronic disease. When they were in
power i'll 1872 they rcpudialel 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
sncws Of whose hard handed laborers
these privileged few so long flttened.
Processing to be tho champions of good
"ntn~""nnt .rhnn 49,. ...., - ---...
instead OF eifccting an equitable distri-
button of the taxes over all classes of
property, they created numerous railway
aud other corporations, exempting them
from all taxation forever These cor
oTaiions, 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 and 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-
ierlng that they have caused, and the