The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1875-12-02

A:
branch of the public service at the
present time: A vast floating debt and
the loss of public credit, to say nothing
of the. hardship imposed upon thousands
of individuals, are among these evils. I
trust, therefore, that nothing will here
after induce the General. Assembly to
neglect to provide by tax for all the esti-
mated expenses Of the current year. -
The second constitutional duty inn
posed and made imperative by this Sec
ton is the levy of o tax sufficient to pay
tthe. deficiency oof. the. preceding year:
This duty has likewise been neglected in
former years. The total amount of def
ciencies for the last fiscal year, including
the loss in the South Carolina Bank and
Trust Company, is $308, ,S72.15, of which
it should be said that $127, ,724,03 are the
result of the failure Of the South Caro-
lima Bank and Trust Company. -.-.
Of this amount the sum of $249, ,372.29
las / have pointed out in detail in my
Message Of this date, returning the Tax
Act Of the last session,) should be pro-
yided for in the levy for the present year.
IF the General Assembly. shall perform
its duty in this respect we shall during
the present year witness the prompt and
regular payment of salaries and appro-
priations for public institutions, and a
consequent restoration of our State credit,
together with the increased efficiency
of every branch of the public service.
The ultimate burden of taxation will not
thereby be- increased, while in the ab-
sence OF. extraordinary causes the entire
item of deficiencies will be eliminated
from the next annual tax levy. Such re-
suits will follow the simple discharge Of
our constitutional obligations, and ! do
not. permit myself to believe that the
General Assembly viii fail to secure
them.' ~: ,o.,,,,i 7.;s N .esi'ce '.1a.
FAILURE OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA BANK
~ AND TRUST COMPANY. -
The most nntoward event affecting our
public interests during the past year has
been the failure of tie South Carolina
Bank and. Trust Company. At the time
of its failurethis Bank had 500, ,753.79
of money belonging to the! State, of which
amount $106,829.30 belonged to the
fhnds;f for the payment of interest on the
public debt, the remainder = $98, ,94, ,49,
belonging to the general Sopriations
for. the last, fiscal year. This fail
ure took place on the ID, day of; July
hast, and Immediately thereafter, on the
motion. of the Attorney General, the
Court Of Common Pleas for Richland
County appointed Hon. e. @. Dunn the
Receiver Of. the assets and property of
the bank. What amount the State will
finally receive in the distribution Of the
property OF. the bank, on account of Its
deposit, it is now impossible to determine
even approximately The nominal
amount of the liabilities of the bank is
reported by the Receiver to be $368, 49,
06, and the nominal assets .$314, ,960.24. -.
OF, the assets Of the bank, it may, in
general, be said that they are ito the last
degree unsatisfactory and uncertain in
value, as well as unavailable for present
conversion into money. The evil effects
Of this failure have not been limited to
the State, but the funds of several of the
Counties have also been lost, ..re--r,
y The management Of this, bank, j. the
caubes of its failure, and the responsibili-
ty therefor, i do not deem it my province
to discuss tthis time: The property and
assets of the bank being in, the hands of
the Court, all legal questions inyolved, in
the failure must be determined by the
Court. The circumstances attending the
deposit Of the State funds in this bank,
as. wen as':the motive of the. several
members df- the Board having the selec-
ton of the. banks of deposit for State
funds, have already been made known to
the. public. IF !, the General, Assembly
shall desire further information respect
ing these matters, / shall be ready to; fur
nish all information within my power (;
OF if it shall, hereafter seem incumbent
on me to discuss these matters further, /
shall make a special communication to
the General Assembly. ~
: There is one subject conspicuously pre-
sented by this failure which I desire to
bring to the Immediate attention of the
General Assembly :, the question of the
safest method of keeping our State de-
posits in the future. h
The law at present requires the Gov
ernor, the Treasurer, and the Comptroller
General, acting together as q Board, to
select tie banks Of deposit, having, ret
erence to the rate Of interest which may
be obtained upon the deposits and the
security of the banks. 1T is obvious that
the rate of interest paid on the State de-
posits is ofHlittle Importance, compared
with the security of the banks. With
reference to the security of the banks,
the board of deposit can do little more
than to select such banks as stand we'll
with the community generally and hre
trusted by private persons in the care Of
their private funds. This does not, seem,
in the light of recent events IN this State,
to afford sufficient protection to, the pub;
lie funds. have been unable to arrive
at q satisfactory conclusion ON this sub
iect, and must therefore refer it,
without specific recommendation, to the
wisdom ofthe General Assembly. It Isl
subject demanding immediate .c0nsidefai-
ton, and if / were to make. any sugges.
ton. it would be. that the subject. be re-.
ferred by: your honorable; bodies for con.
siderationa and report to a Joint lSpecial
Committee, selected with special refer.
ence to their financial and business ex; ex
perince and capacity. " = .,s,, ..',i
-. THE PUBLIC DEBT. - -
Since November 1st,, 1874, S. 624, ,7o6. .Sll
of tie bonds and stock authorized by the
Consolidation Act of December 22, 1875,
have been issued. The entirei amount of
this class Of our public securities issued
up to that date is $9,61S, ,29O.S1. About
seyen-tenths of all the bonds and stock
made exchangeable under that Act have
thus been exchanged, The great disaster
Of the failure of the South Carolina Bank
and Trust Company has been most Sc.