The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1875-03-10
Address Oi kcrshaw County Commission.
CrS.
TO OUR FELLOW CITIZENS.

Uron the undersi. has fallen
through your suff' ages and choice the
important and difficult duty "f man.
aging the affairs Of the County for the
next two years. Large and varied,
an! scattered, are the Interests con-
fidcd to our care, and So much SO that
under the best and most dligent and
and yigilant attention with abundant
mcans at our immediate command We
could hardly indulge the cxpcctation
that they conld all be SO managed
that we shCull escape the ccusurc of
all. But what chance have We OF do
ing so II Tic present greatly cmb1r.
IA: Scd and cntanllcd condition Of its
Affairs That you may justly appre-
cia,c the d flicultcs of our situation.
AMI not indulge in any nnnecccssari-
ly harsh judgement of ourselves, or
cur actions, or our failures 10 act, we
propose, in this short address, to ad-
wise you sON.cwhat as to the present
cont!'i"n If our county affairs. And
to eft ct our purpose we do not feel
1t necessary to go beyond our own
imme 'iate sphere Of action, and
therefore We will commence with
things us we found them to exist on
assuming the duties Of the Office to
which we have been elected by you.
In the first place, then, We found
me of the most important brio gcs
III the county entirely swept away,
aud requiring to he entirely rebuilt
aud many others needing cousidera~
bic repairs. There having been no
provisions made by the Legislature,
cr the old Board Of County Commits.
si"ners, for the purpose, we, acting
under the authority given to us in
Chap. 8, Sec. 10, e the Revised
Stat ties, lm"St as soon as we could
obtain our commissions, qualified and
assumed the discharge Of our duties,
and understanding the true condition
OF the county in this respect, ordered
our county treasurer tu try and col.
lcct tax Of one and half mills on
the assessed value of all taxsble pro-
in the county, for the purpose of rais-
ing a fund to enable US to rebuild
bridges and highways running
through river aud creek bottoms.
The county treasurer thought he had
no right TO do so unless it was author
lied and sanctioned and dire ,tcd by
the Comptroller Genera of the State
and referred the matter 10 his con-
silcrati,n. He decided that we h I'D
10 right to levy and collect such tax
without new and special delegation
OF authority and POWER from the
legislature to do so, aUa Of course
the county treasurer refused to com.
ply with our directions in this res
poet.
At the last term. of the Circuit
Court, Tudge Carpenter in his charge
to the GraLd Jury deciated that we
had no right to use any portion Of
'hc :und raised Ivy the ordinary coun.
ty tax for thc purpose of rebuilding
and repairing bridges and highways,
hut tn, t special tax must be raised
by MS for that purse.
These two decisions Of Judge Car.
pcnter and the Comptroller General
render us entirely powerless to da sin.
gle thing towards this highly i'm
portant matter.
Besides this, an Act of the General
Assembly, Of March l7th, I'd, go
regulate the manner in which public
funds shall be discussed by public
officers" mike it n felony "for anyr
public officer, State or County, to ente-
into contract for any purpose what
soeycr in excess of the appropriation
made for the accomplishment of such
purpoSc,', aud as no appropriation
has been made for bridges and high
ways it would be a felony under this
Act for us to use any part of the or.
dinarg county tax t'r this purpose.
And We therefore think it bnt just
and right that we should give notice
that we will not be responsible for
any damage that may be incurred by
bad bridges this year.
Another act OF the General Assem-.
bly, makes it = felony for US to use
any part Of the taxes collected for
this fiscal yo,r which began Novem-
Der III to defray the expenses of any
preceding year. hence you will 500
chat we caLnot pay any debts against
this county which arc prior to the lst
Nov. 1874.
After very closely made estimate
We see that the necessary expenses OF
the county for the current year will
be about $4,000. while the amount
realized frem the county tax for this
purpose will not be much more than
$4,000, and how we are to meet four
$4,000 Of expenses with $1,000 OF
means is entirely beyond our compro.
hension. We have promised reform
and economy, aod it shall be prac :
ti,nd TO our utmost ability. But