Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1872-09-05

pal GlCS dIC hhOUH3J HhSuOfOk SolASds 1op
am not willing to 60 before Loyal League
jury and a partisan judge. The jury "is call
ed to convict; the judge to sentence"
j. w. AVERY.
ADDRESS OF THE TRUE REPUBLICANS.
To the People Of Soath Carolina:
On the 18th day of October next, you will
be called on to elect the various men who shall
fill the various Offices in the State government
for the next official term.
The condition of the affairs of the State at
this time causes the gravest concern and most
serious anxiety in the minds of all good citi-
zens. Taxation unprecedented in amount in
the history of this State weighs upon the peo-
pie. No man but feels the BURDEN but how
ever and by whatever channels the taxes reach
the Treasury, they come finally, in great part,
from those who till the soil in the form Of re-
duced wages, and the increased cost of food,
clothing and other necessary expenses of
comfortable existence. The hard hand Of toll
largely pays the expenses of the State, though
the money may be deposited in the Treasury
by those who own the capital and the land.
Let no man fatter himself, therefore, that his
poverty renders this subject of taxation one
of indifference to him.
Besides the vast sums which have been
drawn from the people by direct taxation, our
rulers have been heaping other burdens upon
us and our posterity, by enormous, and in
many cases fraudulent, issues Of bonds, the
very interest upon which is sum so large
that it seems impossible to pay it. Conceal
<,p tbo rao1 toto oe 4os hoe hoor,
practiced to criminal extent; report after
report, statement after statement, has been
made by the financial officers of the State,
making false exhibits of our public debt; and
it was only when an outraged public opinion
demanded and compelled an investigation,
that our real situation was developed, and
was found to justify the worst apprehensions
which had been felt.
The public mind is too familiar with the
facts to require more to be said concerning the
bond frauds; but it is worth while to consider
here the question, what has become Of the
money so lavishly poured into the treasury :?
To what objects have we seen it appropriated
by those who, under the law, are appointed to
disburse it? Have the rights of person and
property, which it is the special function Of
good government to guard, been secured 7
Have the children of the people been fur
nished with the means of that education
which alone can fit them worthily to perform
the duties of citizenship? Have the humane
institutions in charge of the State been cared
for? Have the resources Of the State been
developed; its industries fostered; its present
and future welfare provided for with reasona-
bic prudence2
The answers to these questions are in the
mouths of all the people. We are ashamed
to be compelled to confess that the State Gov.
ernnent has failed to protect the citizens, not
only in the enjoyment of those rights and
privileges intended to be secured by the pro-
visions of the State and National Constitu-
tions, but even in those more limited rights
which no respectable civilized government on
earth allows to be violated in the persons OF
its subjects and it has been the strong arm
of the Federal government which has released
thousands of men, women and children from
a terror with which they could not fail to be
filled, by countless outrages perpetrated upon
their friends, relatives and neighbors, by con-
spirators, whose deeds the world reads of with
horror.
The public schools have been crippled in
their work, and in many cases closed, because
their teachers applied in vain at the State
treasury for the small salaries justly due them
and necessary to their daily support.
The inmates of the Lunatic Asylum must
have been turned loose upon the community,
but for the humane efforts of its efficient Su-
perintendent, who pledged his private credit
to obtain food nobody would sell on that Of
this great State. The doors Of the peniten-
tiary may be flung wide open any day, to
allow the exit of band of convicts, whom
the warden cannot feed, because there is no
money in the State treasury to purchase food.
The Judges of your courts have not been paid
their salaries for many months, and are COM
PEELED, in most cases, to borrow money to
supply the wants of themselves and their
families, and to be subjected to the tempta-
tions too often placed by rich suitors before a
judiciary irregularly or inadequately paid.
It would be easy to continue at almost any
length in enumerating what has been left
undone, which ought to have been DONE It
is easier to say what has been done which
ought to have been left undone. Jobs Of ev-
cry conceivable description have been under
taken, the interests of the State have been
constantly and systematically set aside to en-
rich those who scrupled at no kind of bribery
or corruption to secure such legislation as the
jobbers required.
Public money has been squandered for OBJ
jects of no public moment. The expenses of
some branches of the Government have been
so enormously increased as to astonish ell who
are not familiar with the character of many
of those who fill important positions in the
State Government.
"Pay certificates" drawn by the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, purporting
for expenses of the late session, to the amount
of over 100000, have already appeared at
the Treasury and been paid or exchanged for
the notes of the Treasurer, and it is estimated
by those in a position to judge wisely, that
$250,000 in "pay certificates" is still afioat in
the community, to be presented whenever
there is any probability of their being allow
ed. This will make the expenses of a single
session of the General Assembly over $780,.
900, or more than 1000 per cent. of the sum
which was formerly considered sufficient to
pay them.
Enormous sums have been lavished in pre-.
tended support ofan EARNED force" which is
non-existent. ..-
The most corrupt practices have obtained
in the making of contracts by State officials.
The contract with the Roberts and other arms
companies of New York, under which there
was drawn from the State Treasury over
100000, while said arms company received
less than 100000, is a type of the manner in
which the State Treasury has been depleted.
The public are familiar with the enormous
extent of the bills for State printing. For