The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-01-08
body upon them, bear materially upon the

body upon them, bear materially upon tho
great question before us.
That grave doubts as to the validity Of 9
portion of the public debt existed Is q well
known fact. and this fact Is admitted In the
preamble to the Validating act Of March IT,
1877, the aTowcd purpose OF which act was 10
cure, all supposed defects and irrcsuinrltles IN
the issue Of certain classes of bonds therein
specifically enumerated. That such was the
legal effect of the act is expressly held In the
case Of Morton Bliss & Co., VS. the Comptrol'
ler-Gencrai, IS. {. 40,
In ISL because of the grave charges or 1llc-
gality In the issuing of bonds under the va.
rious acts Of the Legislature, the House OF
Representatives appointed a committee 10
inquire into the matter Of the over-iSsue OF
State bonds, n on the HDth of December,
ISL, a joint committee Of the House and
Senate was appointed to inc &C
counts, of the state Treasurer Comptroller;
general and financial agent. The report Ol
the first committee Is to be found on page S67
X. and r., ly7l.2, and the full report OF the
joint committee covering over SW pages, Is
appended to X. and r., lS7l-' u,
These reports are full and unSparinG, ana
evincc Il spirit of candor somewhat Surprls-
Ing, considering the active completely or us
authors in the profligate financial legislation
of the period. Be this as |: may, 1t Is certain.
~ true that these reports laid before the Leg
iSlature and the people of the State an
amount of Information touching The imam.
cial affairs of the State, little II any, snort OF
the light that IS shed OH the subject by the
able report Of the Bond Commission IN March
1878.
By these very elaborate reports OF Deem.
Ter, ISL, the State authorities, the Lcsisin-
ture and the people, were made aware ot the
number Of bonds issued under each ACT, ana
of all the alleged defects and Irregularities In
this issue sale, and hypOtlccation ; u fact OF
the utmost significance In It's bearing upon
the issues involved In these suits, rs will be
seen hereafter. w
two months after these very full reports, ana
T.. A.. r~- - r. .vHn..n snhn rfrns tlnrntn
touching the Irregularities OF various classes
Of bonds, the Legislature passed the Validat-
Ing Act, which declared all these various
classes Of bonds to have been duly and regu-
larly Issued,
OBJECTIONS ALREADY ANSWERED.
One year subsequent to this significant act
the suit OF Morton, Bliss d Co. VS.. the Comp
troller-General was decided. In this suit
nearly every Notwithstanding every sub.
stantial~o bjectiOn-now raised was then urged
against the validity Of the several classes OF
bonds In lieuof which Consolidation bondsat
fifty cents OH the dollar have since been Issued.
Every question was decided squarely against
the State and In favor OF the bOndholderS In
that suit. 1t decided that the bills RecciVa-
Bic bonds." the Interest on the Public Debt
bonds" the "ltelicf of the Treasury bonds,'
the Land Commission bonds" were valid
obligations of the State; The force and effect
rable criticism. Until ovcrrllcd, 1t Is the law
Of the case, ana rights acI i.rcd under 1t cam
not be Invested, even should IT now be over
ruled.
But to defeat the practical operation Of this
Judgment, the Legislature on the I'D Deccm.
der, 1873, repealed the provision OF law which
required the comptroller ito give notice Of
the rate per centum necessary to be levied
upon the taxable property OF the State
| The operation of the writ of Inandnmus was
thus avoided, II the ~bOndhOlders were bal.
fed, being thus to some extent left IN dOubt
as to what amount of her debt the State was
| liuhla FIR and what. remedies were available
to them to enforce their demands.
CONSOLIDATED ACT.
In this state of the case, 1t being once more
doubtful rs to the ultimate determination o
the question involved, and yet with full ltghI
before them, the Legislature resolved to CT
feet a settlement OF the bond debt OF the
State, and with this view, OH the I'D Deem
Der. 1873, passed the "Act to reduce the vol
unc of the public debt commonly known q!
the Consolidation act.
This act rejects 8, 965, 900 of the Conversion
bonds as being illegal and void, and provide:
for the funding at fifty cents on the dollar o
the entire remainder of the O~utstandin:
bonds and certificates Of stock, and all out
standing coupons maturing and to mature OF
the LIST day of January 1874.
To preclude misunderstanding, the amount
of outstanding bonds and certificates Of stool
issued under each act arc carefully given II
figures, and conform exactly to the report o
the Treasures. Of date October Ii, 1873.
By thisrcport 1t appears that the entiredeb
of the State. evidenced by bonds and certiti
Gates of stock, W. =
The act declared void..""...."... 5,965,UO U