The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-09-20
900 for the payment of interest on the
nnhlic debt at 6 per cent. 100000 for


public debt at per cent, 81 100000 tor
the relief of the treasury at 7 per cent,
$500, 900 for the redemption of Governor
Orr's currency, and 100000 for the prr-
chase of lands under the land commits
sion. One million two hundred thou
sand dollars was called for in addition to
provide for the redemption of the bills of
the State bank. These bills have not
yet been redeemed, but are floating about
in considerable quantities, though do
not believe any one knows how many are
in existence.
In this session also the famous Con-
version act was passed. This act author
lied the issue of bonds to take up all out
standing bonded and stock Indebtedness
of every kind, and authorized, further
more. all holders of stock or any kind of
government securities to convert them
into these bonds. The object of this act
was declared to be to give uniformity and
consolidation to all classes of securities.
All these acts, repeat, were presented
by the financial agent, Kimpton, and
urged upon the financial board by him
as q necessity. They were never pre-
pared by Scott or myself, but always by
chamberlain and Kimpton. Chamber
lain used to say to me that Kimpton de-
clared these measures to be necessary,
and he supposed that they were 80.
Under the act authorizing the Governor
to borrow 81, 100000 to pay the interest
upon the public debts, $4,000, 900 of bonds
were issued. Five hundred thousand
dollars of these bonds were returned and
bonded in the presence of the financial
board and others, S250,00O were e1-
changed by the financial agent for con.
version bonds, and 81 ,250,00O remained
out The $500,O00 bonds that were re.
turned had passed through the hands of
the financial agent. While in his pos
session coupons might have been taken
off, or they might have been applied tor
the payment of the interest, and so got
into the hands of the public. In this
last way they might have been presented
to the State treasury honestly for fuEd-
ing. I was sued upon a civil process for
$45O,OOO in 1874, the allegation being
that I had funded that amount illegally
in the treasury. A judgment was rem
dered against me for s75, 5000; but this,
you will bear in mind, was the judgment
on technical wrong in civil suit. AS
soon as the conversion act was passed,
very large number of these bonds were
printed. Of these bonds 81 200, 900 were
issued strictly in accordance with the
provision of the act, but all others issued
were put on the market in an arbitrary
manner. For all that, the money OBJ
tanned by the State on these bonds by
Frank Moses was issued by me, as treas
urer, in accordance with law.
ENORMOUS ISSUES OF BONDS.
Now the So, 100000 which the Legisla-
ture authorized the Governor to raise by
the sale of bonds had to be obtained at
sacrifice. The bonds of the State would
not sell at anything like par. In fact,
when first issued, we were obliged to dis
pose of them for twenty cents on dollar.
when the acts passed the Legislature, /
understood, and I think it was generally
understood by all members of the Legis-
lature except those let into the secret,
that So, ,2oO,0 in bonds at par was the
total sum authorized by the acts. When
the acts were passed, however, Chamber
lain and Kimpton pointed out what was
the literal Interpretation of the acts.
They contended that bonds could be sold
at any sacrifice to obtain the sum in cash
of Sc, 100000. Relying on Chamberlain
as the legal adviser of the board, Scott
and l., consented to the issue of the
amount of bonds necessary to raise the
authorized sum. He found, however,
that the ordinary bonds of the State were
not taken readily when put on the mar
ket. Bankers require the best security
possible, before they will invest their
money in the purchase of bonds, that the
bonds are legally issued: This point
was involved in some doubt, and when
they discovered that there were more
than million of bonds issued under the
act to provide for the payment of the
public debt, they refused to deal in these
bonds, or rather to take them in any way.
In this exigency recourse was had to the
act authorizing the issue of conversion
bonds. The act provides that these
bonds shall be issued for the redemption
of other State securities, but it was con-
tended by Chamberlain and Kimpton
that these bonds could also be issued di-
rectly, that is they could be put on the
market and sold like ordinary bonds, and
the proceeds devoted to the redemption
of outstanding claims and to meet other
State expenses. Scott and l were pre-
vailed upon by Chamberlain and Kimp-
ton to countenance this issue of bonds
When, therefore, these conversion bonds
we're put directly on the market they
we're sold quite readily, for brokers had
no means of. knowing how many were
issued, or could be issued, in one year.
So they secured these bouds as collateral
security, and purchased them in prefer
ence to the others. Perhaps this was not
exactly fair, but we went on the princi-
pie that outsiders were bound to look out
for themselves The object of the finan-
cial board in this was to secure money at
the least cost to the State, and there was
no intention to defraud the State there
by.
DEBT INCREASED s1o,OoO,OOo IN FOUR
YEARS.
During the four years in which we
were in Office the bonded debt was in
creased about $40 100000. All outstand-
ing claims were provided for and wiped
out so that at the end of the four years
the only outstanding debt was for the
current expenses of the State during 1872.
This board has been censured for causing
these acts to be passed. Who drew up
and presented the acts? Chamberlain
drew up every one of them, and Kimpton
presented them. The proposition for the
issue of conversion bonds. directly was
made by Chamberlain i looked upon
this issue as necessity. I look upon it
now as I did then. Ny first opposition
to the issue of bonds in the Constitution
al Convention was due to the belief that
the State expenses could be provided for
without this issue, by taxation. When I
found, however, that the State expenses
were extravagant, and demands were
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