The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-05-03

Will forget Cn6 aniuQSttleS cuSOtSS1CNNy
political strife, RISE superior to the petty
consideration ofipsrtisanship, and deTot-'
ingyoafselges with patriotic zeal to the,
service ofyour State, that you will strive
earnestly .to restore its lost prosperity, to
revive its wasted Industries, tosreforn all
abuses in its government, and to promote
peace, harmony; good and Justice
among all classes and parties: To
the. saccompfishment sVof fa4 these ! noble
aimadIr pledge Amy constant I niiWearled
and earnest efforts; and in this patriotic
workiI ooidg6ke yotir aid, gentlemen OF;
the Senate and House of Representative
not.sIone as memb bersi Of the Legislature;
but as patriots and Garolinians. - io:::ef
The. anomalous condition Of affairs!
during the past Hour months, while it has
entaifed the necessity :of convening the
Gshefaf 2 Assembly, has precluded me.
from laying before this body such fnll
and accurate information asis desirable,
or making precise. aud definite recon-
mendations on particular measures which
will demand your attention. Circuna-
stances with which you are all familiar
have prevented 5my access to- The books
and records of, the various. departments;
of the Stats government, and hence i
can n-neithesspeak authoritatisely of the
exact financial condition of the State,
nor make such particular. suggestion as,
under the ordinary condition OF public
matters, 1t would have been my pleasure,
no!iess than, my duty, to have done.; At
present. 7: can, therefore, only call your
attention in general terms to q few sub
jects which require, immediate action on
your part, and Imist ask for your indul-
gence if am unable to do more than to
indicate the broad and comprehensive
principles which, iE; my judgment, ocan
give peace, stability and good govern
ment TO, ,ouES State. TO the wisdom and
patriotism .lof the General Assembly is
committed the grave duty of bringing
back to t5oura people these ihestimable
blessings. The merit of success will be-
Ions. to You, gentlemen, if you succeed
and to you will the responsibility at,
tach if the hopes of your constituents
are disappointed. ;fat-4 !
The first, as it is the most important,
subject to. which yopr attention is lnvi-
ted, is thatAef Che fnanciaE condition of
the State. It is needless for me to say
that. .this ronditionli lis leplorabtg, forI i
showa by sn, empty, Treasury and ruined
credit; by stagnation IN commercial cir
cles and depression ,ip agricultural enter
prises; by. rpublicb and personal poverty
as widespread as ilamentable.
ALI efforts TO bring about q better state
of affairs Will prove nnavailing until the
fitfances of the State are put in a healthy
condition and the credit Of the State es-
tablished on the sound and honorable
footing they once occupied. But In the
meantime there is an imperative necessi-
ty,that the immediate needs of the State
should be provided for, and in doing
this the burden of taxation should be
made as light as possible, for the 'resour-
cesof our people are we'll nigh exhausted,
and the season of the year at which the
taxes will be called for is most unfortu.
nate.f While it is the province Of the
House of Representatives to Tx the
amount of taxes requisite to meet the
demands Of the State, and the time and
mode of their collection, J. venture to
offer some suggestions, on these points for
the consideration of the eLeglslature: 1t
is due alike. to the honor and the credit
as we'll as to its future prosperity, that
there should be no question nor doubt as
to our determination to meet every hon
est obligation of, the State fairly. and
faithfulIy-; but it is equally our duty to
ascertain what are its honest liabilities.
The suspicions which attach to portion
of the outstanding, obligations of the
State, and which, to greater or less ex-
tent, affect the value of all, render it ina
perative that these obligations, whether
funded or not, should be strictly scruti.
nized with view of ascertainiug which
are valid, and which are not. There
should, be condition: precedent to the
payment of .aterest on any of the out
standing obligations of the State, wheth-'
er in the shape of bonds. or otherwise,
and also to the further funding of any of
the State indebtedness into the console
dated bonds authorized to be issued under
the.act of 1873, to reduce the volume of
the public debt. r.
In order TO effect this object in mode
satisfactory and equitable, alike to the
State and to the. public credit, ! respect
fully suggest the appointment of q COM
mission. to consist of one member from
each House of the Legislature, the.
COMPTROLLER General and the Treasurer
of The State, and three citizens of fnan-
cial ability, to whom the whole question
of the financial condition of the State
shall be referred, and under whose direc--
tiol,s q thorough and complete investiga-,
tion of the; funded and floating indebted,
ness of the State :shall be made; and
who shall be empowered to require a
registration before them, or before such
officers as may be designated, Of the con-
solidation bonds Of the1State. Obiiga-
tions, the validity of which shall be thus
ascertained, shall be: certified in such
form as the commission or the Legisla-
ture may prescribe, and the coupons on
such bonds alone shall be receivable for
taxes. The commission should also be
charged with the duty ofreporting to the
General Assembly at tiats'ne1t regular
session the precise character of all obi.
cations of doubtful validity, or clearly
fraudulent. with the specific. facts. or
testimony upon which their conclusions
are based, AS all the records and books
showing the amount iof.. consolidated
bonds now outstanding, with the nature
of ithe; securities on: which they were
issued, have been withheld BY the late
officiais,, am unable to state, with any
degree, Of accuracy, what portion of the
nnbic debt has been converted into con-
solidated bonds and what portion remains
IN he funded. But from the best sources
of iffofInation before me, ], estimate the
amount yet TO be funded as about three
million dollars; which, at the rate estab-
iished for funding, will require the issue
Of 81 500, 900 of fleonsolidated bonds,