The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-06-07
PAYMENT OF THE STATE DEBT.

tn order to show that the view we took
Of the action Of the Houss of Represeh.
tatives Upon the question Of paying the
interest Upon the State debt was correct,
we quote the fifth section of the appro-
priation bill, which relates to the subject.
The following are the exact words in
which the section was passed by the
House of Representatives:
Sec. 5. That the sum of two hundred
and seventy thousand dollars, or so much
thereof as may be necessary, be, and the
same is hereby, appropriated to pay the
January and July interest upon the con-
solidation bonds and certificates of stock
of the State, issued under the provisions
of the Act to reduce the volume of the
public debt: Provided, That no part
thereof shall be applied to the payment
of the interest upon the said consolidated
bonds and certificates of stock, until the
holders thereof shall have submitted the
same to the inspection and scrutiny of a
commission raised for thatpurpose at the
present session of the General Assembly,
and until said commission shall have de-
termined the same to be valid and bona
fde.
Now, no other construction can be
placed upon this section than that the
commission was to have entire control in
paying out the money and regulating che
State debt. At the time the measure was
originated, its advocates intended to in
vest the commission with the most plena-
ry powers, and it was not until after
strong opposition to the proposition was
developed that the report of the commits,
sion to the Legislature was agreed upon.
Hence, we were entirely correct in our
position upon the subject.
When this bill went to the Senate this
section was amended by striking out the
interest clause, and inserting in its stead
an appropriation of seventy-hve thousand
dollars for deficiencies. This was inten.
ded to 20 towards the payment of amounts
due on salaries, &C., inside of the State.
and when the bill was returned to the
House it very properly refused to concur
in the amendment for the same reason
which induced the Senate to strike out
the interest clause. The Senate thought
the bonds ought to be investigated, and
the House thought the deficiencies ought
to be investigated, and we think both are
right upon this point. The Senate did
exactly right in striking out the interest
clause, and the House was equally right
in refusing to allow the deficiency appro.
priation to be engrafted on the general
appropriation bill.
Having thus differed as to which class
of States creditors deserve preference in
the payment of their debts, a committee
of conference was appointed as follows;
from the House, Messrs. J. J. Hemphill,
R. w. Simpson and j. G. Blue; from the
Senate, Messrs. Jeter, Nash and Wither'
spoon. These committees held confer.
ence, and it was soon ascertained that il
would be difficult to agree upon terms, as
the Senate wished to pay off one class o.
creditors and the House desired to pay
another. The House committee, it is
said, offered to appropriate the sum Of
two hundred and seventy thousand dol
lars, to be equally divided between the
payment of interest and the payment o.
the bonanza and deficiency claims, and
also to authorize the Governor to borrow
two hundred thousand dollars, to bt
equally divided between these two classes
of debts, with the proviso that all claims
should be submitted to a commission tt
report at the next session Of the Genera
Assembly. The Senate committee rejec
ted these terms and the two committees
were discharged, after which a commit
tee of free conference was appointed
from both bodies as follows: Senate
Messrs. Gary, Crittenden and Howard
House, Messrs. Hood, Bamberg ano
Miller. This committee has not had any
better success than its predecessor; ane
hence, the Legislature is at complete
standstill. This trouble is the Legitimate
consequence of the effort to prefer ont
set of creditors to another, and the mos
expeditions and satisfactory method o.
avoiding the trouble occasioned by this
difference is to refuse to appropriate any
money for the payment of any set Of
creditors until their debts have beer
scrutinized and acted upon by the Gen
eral Assembly. A resolution forbiddine
the payment of taxes in coupons unit
the bonds to which they are attached
have been acted upon would, we believe
prevent any trouble from this source
We hope that the House will refuse te
appropriate anything for the payment
of the bonanza warrants and deficiencies
other than those contained in the appro'
priation bill as they have already passed
it; and we also trust the Senate will re-
fuse to appropriate one cent for the pay
ment of interest at this session. Then,
by appointing commission TO investi-
gate the debt during the summer, they
will be able to act iutelligently and salts
factorily upon this most important ques'
ton when they meet next fall.
The House of Representatives adopted
a concurrent resolution to 60 into an
election of Judges for the Fifth and
Eighth Circuits On Wednesday the 9th
b. Ho