The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-12-10

Attorney General Connor's report 10 the
General Assembly IN lS77, and he re-
ports OF The Commissioner OF .iyrirui-
turc. together with thc testimony taken
by The Phosphate commission in lS>1.
''ln 1870 the Radical! Legislature grant
ed privileges to a copolaiion known a>
lis the River and Marine Company to
mine rock in the navig;iblc waters OF The
State .or twcnty-onc "cars The State
received nothing for this valuable fran
chiSe. but i; is believed that il Was Sc
cured 10y bribery. and this belief is
strengthened by the fact that it was pass
ed over the veto OF Governor Scott. The
F., CooSaw Mining Company Obtained from
the original grantors exclusive right 20
mine in C00Saw River. and with Il paid
up capital OF S273. 600 commenced opera
tionS. In 1876 the General Assembly
passed III act confirming the exclusive
right of the tooS;.H Company 10 mine
! that river for the term OF twcnty-Onc
years at fixed royalty of one dollar per
/ ton, and this lease will expire on the lSt
of March, 1891. The act of 1876, as l
have been informed, was drawn by the
! Attorney Of the coosaw Company, andso
adroitly wordcd It's to give color to the
! claim that the grant to that river was
! perpetual, 80 long as that company
shall make true returns, &C., and under
this the company, as am informed by a
large Stockholdcr. claims that its tenure
! is not 4 lease expiring in 1891, buta con-
tract running for all time.
This claim is prepostcrous III my iudG-
ment, and base my opinion on that ad
mirable report Of General James Connor,
which has been already mentioned. !
state further, that this opinion is held
by the retiring Attorney General Joseph
H. Earle, and his successor, General y.
J. Pope. SO, while we NAV expect the
Coosaw Company 10 appeal TO the courts
to sustain their claim, we have the opln-
ion Of three distinguished lawyers as
against its validity, and the General AS
sembly must not hesitate to move for
ward and act as properly and deciSively
as though no such litigation was threat
ened.
The Coosaw River TO which this COM
pany lays claim, is perhaps the best
phosphate field in the world. The lease
under which it has been mined for twen-
ty years, has made every stakeholder
wealthy, and they gave the State moth
ing for this valuable franchise. Their
pl mt which has been obtained from the
surplus profits is valued at S1139.n00 or
over, and in the meantime, by fabulous
600 has been returned TO the stockholders,
as I have heard over and over agian.
.'When you are told that the output Of
this com panv this year has been !01, 900
tons, worth s. per ton f. o. b., and that
the cost of mining this rock including
royalty, cannot exceed S4.25 per ton, and
is believed by many, to be much less, the
margin of profit exceeds 100 per cent. on
the original investment. The total roy
atty secured by the State from its phos-
phate beds has been over $1,000. .0G0. and
of this amount over half has been paid
by the CooSaw Company. These facts
are mentioned as they will be the basis Of
the recommendation / am going TO make
as TO the management Of the States phoS-
pliate territory. The expiration of the
Coosaw lease in March next, makes il
possible. in my judgment, TO double
the income Of the State from the phos-
phate royalty without in juring the in
IduStry, or interfering with any vested
right.
We come into office upon platform de-
manding survey of the phosphate territory
and its lease at auction to the highest bidder
after q minimum royalty has been tiNed by
the board Of control upon each district sur
reyed. So the people have in Il manner tax
en- the question from the domain OF debate
and We must determine what shall be the
scope and extent OF such work. Anything
less than thorough and reliable survey
would be Il waste OF the time and money, and
this will take good dea! Of both.
But cost what il may, il will well repay its
cost. and until we have the data which can
alone be thus obtained we can not legiSlate
intelli2ently or derive the benefit from this
valuable property that We ought. ThS year
the royalty has been S22::;1 900 and all OF il en-
cept about 5000 was paid by six large mining
companies. whose field Of operations is con
Beaufort. Iou Will be told by some that this
indicates the exhaustion OF the deposits. but
am sure it only means that good rock is
more plentiful! or more cheaply mined there
than elsewhere. y survey alone can demon
Strate the truth or ial>ity of this belief which
is based upon the assurances of experts who
themselves, have mined in other waters of
the state.
As the reliance Of capitalists upon an esti-
mate OF the value OF any given deposit Of
pho, pilates vii! depend largely upon the
character OF the man making the aurvey, I
have thought il best to obtain the help Of the
United States government. if possible, and
ask the detail OF an officer of the navy or
coast survey to do the work; I think, upon
inquiry an appropriation of $4,000 will be
sufficient to start with. and by The time the
General Assembly meets Il year hence, IT. will
have something definite TO so upon and can
continue the work or not as IL may deem best.
In the meantime, by means OF this survey
and the opportunity for further investigation
a clearer understanding as 10 the best system
of management OF th.S important Industry
can be obtained and the General Assembly
can then act intelligcntiy.
We do not want to kill the goose that lays
these golden eggs; we only want the state 10
get her Just share OF them. ln the meantime
as soon as the CooSaw lease expires, lSt OF
March next, let us open that river to all min
erS who choose to enter II, allow the Board OF
Control to parcel out the territory among
them so as TO prevent conflicts raise The roy
atty TO 81 per ton, and place one or more in
spectorS on the ground 10 supervise the work
and weigh the rock when shipped, give en-
larSed powers to the Executive ANA his cam
peers on the board as TO requiring Il mini
mum amount of rock 10 be mined and leave
to their discretion after examination 10 raise
the royalty outside OF CooSaw Rive- 10 such
miners, as do not choose TO re!inQui>h their
present ground. II the COoSaw Company
goes TO law, give the power 10 shat down
their works and thus force this giant munop-
oily TO reinQui>h its hold on Il property whose
value is unknown, but which is estimated by
experts as worth millions. Any half way
measures will not do. and this cUttIc fish
must be graSped with 4 mailed hand. The
state owes the company nothing and il will
fight muca longer and harder j! ii is met
timidly.
".Al the river rock, mined in South Carroll
ma, is exported 10 Europc, and last Year the