Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1874-12-10

expended by different officers of the State,
without the usual accountability for such ex.
penditures, be wholly discontinued. recon
mend, in place of that system, that distinct
appropriations be made for all public objects,
which can be anticipated or enumerated, and
then, that small sum, not to exceed ten or
twelve thousand dollars, if so much be neces.
sary, be appropriated for contingent expenses.
to be paid in specified amounts to the several
officers who may require it, upon the warrant
of the comptroller-general, drawn upon vouch'
ers to be filed with the comptroller-general by
the officers obtaining the warrant.
The records of the expenditure of this fund
will thus be placed with the comptroller-gen'
eral, where they will remain accessible to the
people, and liable at any time to examination
and publication. The reduction of public ex.
penses by this system will not be inconsidera'
BILE, while the gain to official morality by the
removal of opportunity for questionable uses
of public funds will be great
Another subject demanding our most prompt
and energetic action is the reduction OF the
expenses of the General Assembly. 1 cannot
believe that any difference of opinion will ex'
ist upon this subject The public within and
without the State have united in pronouncing
the expenditures heretofore made for legsla'
tive ex penses, an intolerable abuse. Since
1868 six regular and two special sessions OF
the General Assembly have been held. The
total cost of those sessions has been S2,147,'
43O.97. The average cost of each regular
session has been $320,405.16. The lowest
cost of any regular session was that of the
regular session of 1S6S-69, amounting to
$3.50, ,OO5.79; and the highest cost was that
of the regular session Of 1912, amounting
to about $751;, ,23410 Besides these amounts
now specified there are outstanding of bills
payable issued on account of legislative ex.
penses during the same period, 92,275.15
These figures render comment supertiuous
The problem is to reduce these expenses to an
economical limit.
The first and most obvious measure of re-
form is the shortening of the length ofthe ses'
sions. find the average length of the ses'
sions since 1868 has been 105 days. 1t is
clear that no public requirements will war:
rant sessions of such length in the future.
am aware that this may be regarded as a mat
ter so peculiarly within the direction of the
General Assembly, as to make any recon-
mendatons of mine impertinent. But my
convictions ofpublic duty upon this point are
too clear to allow me, for any cause, to with
hold the free expression of my views. can
not see at present any reason Of public ma
ture which can require a session of more
than thirty days. If this General Assembly
could set the example of return to the for
mer rule in this State of a final adjournment
before the Christmas holidays, am confident
that they would receive the heartiest approval
of all our people. know of no services which
could be rendered by remaining in session
longer period, which would be held as valua-
BILE by our constituents as the example of a
return to rigid economy in this respect.
One cause oflong sessions, which feel bound
to specify, has been the passage of an inordi-
nate number of special Acts Of incorporation.
Whoever will examine the Acts of the Gen
eral Assembly during the last six years, will
be convinced of the waste of time arising from
this cause. The remedy is obvious. Let a
general incorporation act be passed, or let the
present Act be duly revised and perfected,
and then let all ordinary applications for
corporate powers be made under the provis-
ions of such Acts.
Inc SeCOuu IuedSuIe VI III
legislative expenses which urge, is reduc-
tion of the number of subordinate officers and
attaches of the General Assembly. Upon
this point am happy to speak in commenda.
ton of an Act passed by the last General
Assembly. By that Act the total number of
subordinate officers and attaches in both
branches of the General Assembly is limited
to ffty-seven. tiust your attention will be
given to this subject, and that if, upon exam
inaton, the number therein provided for is
found to be the lowest number consistent with
the proper transaction of business, the law will
remain undisturbed.
The third and most important means of re-
ducing legislative expenses will be found in
cutting off the gross abuses which have here
tofore existed under the name Of contingent
or incidental legislative expenses. l am un-
able to obtain a statement Of the precise
amount expended during the last six years un-
der this head. find, however, that the av-
erage expenditure ofeach regular session since
1868, for attaches and contingent or inciden'
tai expenses, has been about S258, ,424.65.
Of this amount 1 estimate that not less than
100000 have been expended for contingent
legislative expenses at each regular session.
If these figures do not teach their own lesson,
then argument would be idle. Let it be borne
in mind also that the amounts now stated rep
resent only the actual payments made. There
remains still a vast amount of unpaid claims
in the form of legislative pay certificates, es'
timated at not less than S50O,000.
In seeking a remedy for these startling
grievances | am convinced that nothing is Sc
essential as the establishment of a proper sys
tenn of accountability in the payment of ex'
penses Our present system is wholly anon
alous, so far as | can learn from examining
the systems prevailing in other States, and is
wholly at variance with the general theory o.
our own State in the payment Of other public
expenses.
The Comptroller General is the proper
auditing officer of the State. His office il
intended to be the permanent depository Of
the written evidences Of the expenditure o.
public funds. The separation of the duty Of
auditing from that of paying, demands agains
the State is essential. The requirement Of
proper evidences of the character and validity
of every demand made against the State, and
the preservation of those evidences for public
! inspection, is also essential.
In order to meet these requirements, | re
commend that all payments to be made on &C
count of legislative expenses, be made by the
State Treasurer, upon warrants drawn by the
Comptroller General, for which the voucher:
shall be filed with the Comptroller General.
In the payment of members, subordinate
officers attaches, &C., the only voucher re
quisite would be duly certified list of all per
sons who held those positions. The Comp
troller General having satisfied himself of tht
correctness of the lists furnished by the Off
GERS of the General Assembly, and the author