The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1902-10-30
AN IMPORTANT STATEMENT I

TO THE VOTERS OF SOUTH CAROLINA:
The townships Of Dunklin and Oak
Lawn in the county Of Greenvillc; Cokcs-
bury, Nincty-Six and Cooper in tho
county Of Greenwood; Sullivan in tn
county Of Laurcns, and Huictt and Pine
Grove in the county Of Saluda, hereby
call to your attention the proposed
amendment to Article VII Section II of
constitution of 1895, which seeks to de-
stroy the corporate oxis! s!ence Of tho said
townships, and respectfully ask that
you vote in favor Of the said pro-
posed constitutional amendment, for
the reason that it is the only hope to re-
lievo tho Taxpayers Of the said town
ships from tho payment Of an enormous
| debt for bonds issued in aid Of railroad
which was never built, and for which
they have received absolutely no sCon-
sideration. The said bonds were illc.
gally issuel in the beginning, as the
citizens Of said townships respectfully
allege and will endeavCr to show, and
the said Indebtedness has been declared
null and void by the supreme court Of
South Carolina, whose dc cision should
all loyal citizens Of the State, the dccis-
ion Of any other court to the contrary
Notwithstanding. So then, the tax
payers Of these townships claim:
| U) That there is no moral considcra-
ton for the said indebtedness, inasmuch
as the conditions prescribed by the Act
upon compliance Of which alone the
| bonds should be issued, wcro never COM
piled with and the people Of these town
ships have received absolutely no con-
sideration for the said enormous debt,
the principal al,.nc Of which amounts in
tho ncighborhood of ono hundred thOus-
sand dollars, and which has been draw
ing interest at seven per cent for some
thing like sixteen years.
| ~ That the said debt does not cOnsti-
tute legal Indebtedness against the said
townships il we accept as final the de-
cision Of the supreme court Of South
Carolina, which it Is our duty to do.
That the decision Of tho Federal courts
upon questions Of this kind is not au-
thority binding upon the State courts or
the citizens Of O State has boon fro
quontly decided.
In the case Of Congarco Construction
company vs. Columbia township, report
cd in 40 s. c., $50. At page $50 the
court uses this language:
"Again, it Is urged that, inasmuch as
tho supreme court of the United States,
in tho case Of Folsom ve. Ninety-Six
township, 159 u. S., GIL, has bccn called
upon to pass upon the same questions as
were considered and decided by this
court in Floyd vs.. Perrin, and has taken
q different view from that adopted by
this court as to the constitutionality Of
the statutes there involved, (our own
court in that case having held the bonds
invalid) this court ahould now, with q
view to securing uniformity Of judicial
decision, abandon it's previous we'll
considered opinion and adopt the Wow
taken by the supreme court Of tho Uni
ted States. While this court fully rec
ognizes tho superior authority and bind
ing force Of all decisions Of that distln-
guished tribunal in all cases involving
tho construction Of tho constitution and
laws Of the United States, and Is al
ways ready to cheerfully follow and &C.
quiesce in such decisions, yet we do not
tribunal, or the binding force Of it's de-
cisions, involving only the construction
or validity Of our own State constitution
and laws. Upon such questions it Is our
sworn duty to pass untrammelod by tho
dicta Of any foreign tribunal, whether
State or Federal, no matter how high it's
rank may b., and to decide such ques-
tioDs according to our bost judgment"
The facts are briefly these: In 1886
tho Legislature passed an Act amending
an Act to incorporate the Greenville
| GNU wv hOyhl TalirOau company Ill
certain important particulars, and among
this incorporating g certain townships
along the line of the said proposed rail-
way, and authorized these townships
TO subscribe to It's capital stock upon the
Terms and conditions therein expressed.
Iheso conditions were never complied
with, and tho records in tho office OF the
county commissioners for tho various
cuntles Will 80 show. The said bonds
of tho original parties to whom they
wore issued: Notwithstanding tho fail
ure to comply with tho conditions prece-
dent required by the Act, bonds on be-
half OF these several townships were is
sued IN an amount varying from ton to
twenty thousand dollars to each town
ship. A company was organized for the
pre- tended purpose Of constructing tho
said road. This company pretended to
! ha grading thu rnad and tharahu aacnrnd