The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1912-03-13
Saving OF Taxable Revenue.

act to redeem the State debt, by issu-
Ing l-2 per cent refunding bonds.
The comptroller general asked this
year that this act be repealed and his
request was carried out. Mr.. Jones
explained that the bonds to be issued
under the act of 1910 were non taxa
bic, and then under federal statute,
II they, as State securities. were not
to be taxed, federal securities could
not be taxed. The federal statute does
not allow discrimination in favor Of
banks investing in State securities
and against banks investing in feder-
al securities or government bonds
Thus II the States bond issued by the
act of 1910 were not to be taxed, no
United States securities could be tax
ed and the State would lose thou
sands of dollars that would otherwise
be secured as revenue derived from
taxation Of national bank shares dur
ing the 20 years in which the bonds
provided for by the 1910 act are to
run.
In addition OF course, to the loss Of
tax revenue on investments In federal
securities the State would lose the
tax on the amount invested in State
securities. The loss on the two to-
gether. said Comptroller General
Jones would aggregate in the 20 years
about $1.sO0.000. The act Of this year
provides for the issue Of taxable
bonds. The comptroller general sta
ted that this was not only the most
important piece Of legislation con-
nected with his department. but was
OF great Statewide importance. This
bill was vetoed by the governor but
was passed over the veto.
Treasurer and Sinking Fund.
There are two other departments Of
the government that are closely as
ISOLATED with that Of the comptrol-
ler general, these being the State
treasurer's Office and the office Of the
sinking fund commission. The
heads of both these departments sta
ted that the act to retire the State
debt was the principal piece cf legis-
lation enacted this year affecting their
departments. The new bond issue
retires all outstanding bonded indebt-
edness Of the State. with the excep-
tion OF the blue" bonds. which are
2o-year 3 1-2 per cent bonds issued In
1878 and later.
judiciary Department.
There was no legislation enacted
that will affect the judicial depart
ment directly. Attorney General Ly-
on gave as an instance Of an act that
will indirectly affect his Office the act
TO establish q State warehouse sys-
tenn. It being provided that the attor-
ney general shall test the act In the
supreme court before any of It's de-
tails are put into operation. Laws
relating to the late State dispensary,
such as the Crosson winding-up bill,
affect the attorney generals office
also.
Historical Commission,
A. s. Sally. Jr.. secretary Of the
South Carolina historical commits
sion. in talking Of the results on his
department Of this years session,
stated that the principal piece of leg
islation affecting his department was
the item Of the appropriation bill to
allow $500 extra for the printing of
certain records saved from the fire
that recently damaged the State cap
itol Of New York at Albany, which
records contain valuable history con-
corning this State. The records are
scorched and charred and unless they
ere copied their data will never be
Put generally before the people. How
ever. this printing Is now In progress.
These are the original records Of the
navy board Of the State during tho
revolutionary war. The State Of
South Carolina. with great difficulty
maintained a navy Of it's own during
the revolution. and the records Il
this attainment have been preserved
for many years in the New York
State library.
Confederate Records.
The general assembly also allowed
the historical commission sufficient
money to print a volume Of TOO or
500 pages. giving sketches and ros-
ters OF five or six regiments Of South
carolina troops In the Confederate