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

III Oiuef 10 DnOW tnat the view we to0k
Of the action Of the Houss Of Repfeseh.
tatlves upoh the qucstion OF paying the
interest upon the State debt was correct,
we quote the fifth section OF the appro-
priat.on bill, which relates 70 the snhiect
The following are the exact words in
which the section was passed by the
House of Representatives:
Sec. 8. 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
Januar, and July interest upon the con-
solidatien bonds and certificates of stock
of the State, Issued under the provisions
public debt: Prorhled, 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
commission raised for that purpose at the
present session of the General Assembly,
and until said commission shall have de-
termined the same TO be valid and bona
Gde.
placed upon this section than that the
commission VIZ; to have entire control in
paying out the money and regulating the
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 five thousand
dollars for defcu ncics This was inten-
ded to 60 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 cut
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 appros
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, committee
of conference was appointed rs follows /:
from the House, Messrs. j. 7. Hemphill,
! r. w. Sinp=oa and j. 4. Blue; from the
; Senate, Messrs. Jeter, Nash and Wither-
spoon. These committees held a confer
ence, aud it was soon ascertained that it
would be difficult to agree upon terms, as
the Senate wished to pay off one class OF
creditors and the House desired to pay
| another. The Hoaso committee, committee I. :s
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 of
the bonanza and deficiency claims, and
also to authorize th, Governor to borrow
two hundred thousand dollars, to be
equally divided between these two classes
Of debts, with tho proviso that all claims
should be submitted to commission to
report at the next session Of the General
Assembly. The Senate committee reiec-
ted these terms and the two committees
were discharged, after which q commit
tee of free conference was appointed
fron, both bodies rs follows: Senate,
Messrs. Gary, Crittenden and Howard /;
House, Messrs. Hood, Bamberg and
Miller. This committee has not had any
better success than its predecessor and
heKoe, the Legislature is at complete
standstill. This trouble is the legitimate
consequence of the effort to prefer one
set of creditors to another, and the most
expeditions and satisfactory method of
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 been
scrutinizcd and acted upon by the GEN
cral Assembly. A resolution forbidding
the payment of taxes in coupons until
the bonds to which they are attached
have been acted upon would, we believe,
prevent any trouble from. this source.
We hope that tic House will refuse to
appropriate anything for the payment
of the bonanza warrants and deficiencies
other than those contained in che 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 g commission 10 investi-.
gate the debt during siie ssaiiiiii;1Ier, they
viii be able 10 act intelligently and salts
factorily upon this most important ques-
ton when they meet next fall.
The House of Representatives adopted
a concurrent resolution to go into an
election of Judges for the F.Nh and
Eighth Circuits On Wednesday the 9Th
inst. This resolution was to be acted