University of South Carolina Libraries
?ifjf i 7~ j " LIBERTY A>'1) MY NATIVE HOII,." j VOLUME IV. '- - ----- ' NUMBER 41. ABBEVILLE C. 1L, S. 0., DECEMBER 8, 1847. i: Published cvrry Wednesday Moniiii'i l?v ClIAULES II. ALLEN, KDITOK AMI rilOI'KIKTtlK. TEBtMS.?$1 if paid within three months | from tlie time of sul>scrihin<r. or iyri.OO if paid j within nix months, and ?r2.50 if not paid until j the end of the year. No subscription received for less than six mouths, and no paper discontinued until all arrearages are paid. Subscriptions will ho continued unless notiee he given otherwise, previous to the close of volume. O' No paper will he sent out of the iState unless payment is made in advance. ADVERTISEMENTS, inserted :tl 7.~> cts. per I square of twelve lines for the first insertion, and 37 1-2 cIh. for each continuance. Those not having the desired number of insertion;: marked upon them, will he eontinued until ordered out and charged accordingly. Est rays Tolled, )?>3.Ub,to he paid by the Magistrate. (tip For announcing a Candidate, $2.00, in advance tTT The 1'ostage imiRt he paid upon nil letters mid comimmicalions to secure attention. MESSAGE, OF THE GOVERNOR OF S. ('AlioUNA. To tlu> Honorable Members of the Senate, anil of tlio House of Heprcsentatives: Gentlemen:?The representatives of the good peo]>le of the State, you have met here to consider of and provide for their welfare. The ''universal frame" is governed by immutable and unerring laws?the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, and all is harmony. Hut humanity is left in its blindness and feebleness, to provide for its own changing and never satisfied necessities. I need scarcely remind you, that the lawmaking power imjjoses on the law giver the highest responsibilities which individuals can incur in relation to their fellowinan. It involves not only tlie obligation of providing for the passing day, but after generations have a claim upon you, to which you are bound to respond?not that any tiling that you may enact will be immutable, but thai your enactments may serve as guides and lights to those that may come after us. To me the constitution has imposed the humbler, but delicate duty, to give you from time to time, ''information of the condition of the .State," and to recommend to your ''consideration such measures as I shall judge necessary or expedient." And I shall enter upon this duly in the purfeet confidence, that coining from all parts of the State, with lull knowledge of the condition and wants of your constituents,you will readily perceive any omission and correct any error of my own. Perfection is not to bo expected in the works of man, and a few are found who arc hardy enough to question the wisdom of some of those Jaws which have hern ordained by almighty wisdom for tho government of the moral world. It is not then matter of surprise, that still more complain of' those which emanate from the hand of man. Some are governed by what might be characterised a perversity of thought, others are from delect of education incapable of reasoning aright, and a still more nnmerI l % it i r? i I ous ciass arc i>cnigiueu uy uieir scilistincss. Hence the clamor which i.s raised not only here, hut every where else where law governs, about its delays and uncertainties. To frame laws therefore, to meet the views of every individual, is not impracticable, but any attempt to do so would be productive ot nothing but anarchy. All that can be attained, is to preserve the old, and frame anew lho.se best suited to the wants and necessities of the great mass of the people. There is no one who is conversant with our general laws, and has witnessed their effect and operation, but must admire and approve of their general fitness. The English Common Law, founded on the wisdom and experience of ages, shorn of some of its rude proportions by successive enactments of our Legislature, and by slow and cautious judicial decisions, and moulded to a lorin suited to our peculiar circumstances, and the genius of our people, is the great foundation of those rules by which we are protected and secured in our lives, liberty, nnd property. They may be susceptible of improvements, but as a principle of legislation, I would lay it down as a rule, that any attempt to change these great land marks by legislation, ought to be done with great care and circumspection. A partic4ar case may develope apparent evil, but ^there is danger in remedying that, others ,of greater magnitude will grow out of the .remedy, and long experience has persuaded .me that the safer course is the correction / ?. i I * i! _1 __ .oi it Dy wnai is somcumes sugmauzeu as i Judicial Legislation, but not therefore the Jess safe or salutary. It is not the pro-1 yioce of the Judge to make the law, but to Apply the principle to the practical concerns,of life, and it is no cause of wonder that the wisest are sometimes mistaken in itg application, in some of the infinite variety of ca?es that daily arise. These errors are (developed by time, and the true correction is in the .correct application of tho well settled principle. The great beau ?JCj?myfiar.Td<T?i wnmtm i.wi ri .'awc?i I?t? ty ami excellence of the common law, is its wonderful adaptation to all times, places, and circumstances. I do not mean that otic common law would equally :ipply to all countries, but that in every country in whif.h right prevails, must have, so to express it, a common law of its own, possessing similar properties, founded on the usagus and necessities ol'its cili/.ens ; it provides a remedy for every wrong, and would be unwise to fetter it by arbitrary rules, the operation of which cannot he foreseen, unless the evil admits of no other remedy. I have therefore, nothing to propose to yon on this head, nor does any important defects in our statu a i*}' law. affecting the rights of properly, now occur t<> me. Mankind readily accommodate themselves to any system of laws which are founded on correct morals, and are .cnown and unchT stood, and the same dangers and difficulties present themselves in reforming and modilying the. statuary laws as in the common law. Neither ought to be handled without great caution and circumspection. Il'evils do exist, they will he found on a careful examination. not so much in the laws them- ! selves, at? in the machinery by which they are carried into effect. It is vain to expect their legitimate and successful operation in the hands of unskilful artists, where the machinery is defective, or the power employed is insuHicicnl for the work to be performed. Occasional complaints against delays in the administration of justice has suggested these remarks, but when it is known tliey are heard throughout the world, wherever the laws are administered through the agency of Courts of Justice, it gives as ou i u ii VyV luui uiuj cii to?: utiuLi win ui iu\; 11 c eessity for caution and deliberation in meeting out justice than in the varied systems through which it is done. No community will or ought to br satisfied with any system, which docs not sccurc reasonable despatch in its administration, and if there he any defects in our own, they ought to be coriccied. The mere machinery of ihe iaw does not uliec.t private, riglits, anil these may be safely changed or modified to suit the exigencies of the times. Of the nnticnce. dilhrcnce. zeal and ahili I ' O 7 ty of the Law Judges and Chancellors,with most of whom 1 have aeled for many years. I can speak with confidence, and 1 pay them no compliment in saying that no state in this Union is served in this department with more fidelity and ability, and if there are any unnecessary delays, they will be found in the want of sutlicient time to despatch the business with that caution and circumspection which is indispensable to its correctness. I mnv lmv<? rwr:>..ir.ii (!> - ring the present session to call your attention more particularly to this subject, and will for the present lorbcar to press it further. DISTRICT roLlCK. Amongst tlio subjects requiring your immediate at ten I ion, and calling for radical reform, is our District Police. That it is badly administered ;it least in some departments, is universally known and acknowledged, and 1 am persuaded that if the delects in the system itself and the equally defective, execution of it had been clearly seen and well understood, a. corrective would have been belbrc applied. The Commissioners of Roads, of the Poor, and of Public I?uildings, have discretionary, not to say unlimited power of taxation over the citizens, and yet in effect they are accountable only to themselves, not only as to the fact, but for the manner ofdisbusr^ing the fund and the uses to which they are applied. I do riot intend to impute any thing improper to any individual or particular Hoard of Commissioners, but it is a power susceptible of the greatest abuses, defying detection, and I am satisfied that they themselves would generally desire the strictest scrutiny into their accounts. They are by law required to exhibit their accounts to the Attorney General and Solicitors, but this isneeessarily matter of form. These oflicers are for the most part necessarily ignorant of tin propriety and necessity of the disbursement of these funds, nor will the most specious vouchers suffice to demonstrate it. There is no one to question their propriety, and what they exhibit on their face is taken for granted. The administration of the Free School Fund is equally exposed loabuse, and there is one instance falling within my own knowledge, in which a Hoard of Commissioners had been imposed on by one of its members, by ihc fabrication of receipts in the name of fictitious persons, representing the disbursement of funds ; and it is no unworthy compliment lo the honesty and integrity of our people, tfraj instances of this sort are so rare, when n& facilities and temptations to fraud are-so great* This is not all. It is confidently believed that if the labor authorized by law for keeping our roads in repair, was rigidly required and judiciously directed they would ganerally be kept in good condition. It is believed too, that that the poor are wretchedly provided for, although ihc sums annually mmammmBtKmmmmmmammmmm?????wofH?? i now cxactcil in the form of taxes an- ample, and that il is notorious, that the Free School funil, large and liberal as it is, has failed almost wholly of the object* for which it has been appropriated. There is, unquestionably, delects in the system itself; but the great defect is in the want of principle and rule in its administration. That these evils do exist is universally known and conceded. The dillleulty is as to the remedy, and t feci great distrust of my ability to suggest one which will prove effectual. The leading feature of any remurlit In l>o Irt choiipii ll.o V J ~v" 7 V, v..v- Ul,. countability of all the Boards of Commissioners or other agents, to an authority independent of their own; and I would re5p :ctl"i111y recommend, as worthy at least of an experiment, the appointment.ofu Court ?>r Supervisors, of the Police in each district to be appointed by the Executive with the advice of tho Senate, to consist at least of one for each member of the Ifouse of Representatives, allowing at least oneofeiich Parish?clothed wilhall the powers of these several Boards of Commissioners, and with power to appoint overseers of the roads, of the poor, of public, buildings, anil of free schools, in such numbers as they may think lit, to be chargcd with the execution of the laws provided for their respective departments within the precincts to be assigned to them, and to account to tin* .ln.l.n>c i?r ( 7 """O" W Wl Supervisors at regular periods, lor tlie manin which they have discharged their duties and disbursed any funds thatv nave been committed to them. I submit, too, that the Judges or Supervisors should be required lo meet regularly at the Court House of their respective districts at least, once in every three months, and hold their sessions publicly, and be authorized to punish all delinquencies in the overseers. Tho report of the Circuit Solicitors to the Legislature in ueeemOer, IStt'J, will supply a useful guide in framing the details of such a system, anil their able arguments as to the necessity of a radical relbrm of our District Police, supersedes the necessity of vindicating it here. The proposed reform has at least the advantage of securing accountability lo an indepcnrlant authority. Clo'hed with limited judicial authority it might be rendered eminently subservient to the purposes of justice, particularly in the trial of slaves and free persons of color for capital ofiences. The tribunals which now exercise this power, it is known,:are generally not only ignorant of the principles, but even llie forms of law, and incapable ofannalyzing anil comparing facts, independent ot' the humanity concerned in it, it has always st.iuck me as a strange incongruity in our laws, that whilst the life of a slave is put in jeopardy on a trial before such a tribunal, the slightest injury to his person entitles the owner to resort to the highest tribunal in the Slate.? If there be a class of offences of which they are capable, requiring a more summary mode of trial, make tlu m an exception, it is believed too, that the juridiction of contracts to a very limited amount, of petty trespasses and misdemeanors, might be safely confided to it. and would relieve the Superior Courts ofa burshen, which unimportant in itself. is calculated to delay nnd obstruct matters of more consequence.? The want of men to fill the offices of Judges was a leading, and according to my recollection, the only reason for* abolishing the County Courts in 1790. and that is no matter of surprise, as that generation was brought up during the. Revolutionary War, when there was no means of obtaining an education, and yet the memory of some of the Judges is cherished by the old inhabitants, us examples of strict impartiality and ability in the administration of" Justice.? But that objection no longer exists. The South Carolina College has shed its light throughout every portion of the State, and it is believed that in every district, educated gentlemen, some of whom have studied law as part of a finished education, and in other instances retired lawyers, will be found willing and able to serve the country in the capacity of Judges of such a Court, and one such at the head of the Cour of each District, would ensure it confidence and respect. EDUCATION. In the increasing usefulness and growing prosperity of the South Carolina College, the State is reaping the full fruits to the liberal patronage which she has heretofore bestowed upon the institution. It ranks now among the most useful asylums of learning in the Southern portion of the Union, and under its present wise and prudent and energetic-government, it bids fair to take the lead of all. It is only a lew who have lived, like myself, in times proceeding the or gamzation, wno can realize tne Denents resultingfrom it. Before,the organs of imparting science and learning within the State, were a few grammar schools, widely dispersed, in which the ancient classics were principally taught, with which were occasionally unit, ed a few of the elementary branches of the occult sciences?higher grades of mental u culture were reserved lbr the very few who had the means of going to some of the Northern or foreign colleges to complete their education ; and mental darkness pervaded the land. Hat under the fostering influence of this in.itituiion, the lights of literature and the sciences have penetrated the recesses of the mountains, the islets of the sea coast, and spread ovor the whole intermediate space. The number of students is now something like four-fold what it was a few years a^o. and this addition would seem to indicate the necessity of an addition to the number of Professors, and necessarily enlarged accommodations for the students. I will not anticipate what the hoard of trustees, whose peculiar duty ami province it is to advise on this subject, may surest. Hut J I will not allow myself to question, that | whatever appropriations may he necessary | to sustain and promote this invaluable insti! tution will not be with-held. 1 Of our Free School system I shall forbear to say anything at present, as a Committee nftlu> HoM :i> .if I?. 1 ^ j?i v.i^nmu*uo >v^i?(;u:iijjed, ut the last session, with examining into it, vvilh a view to its improvement, and it may he reasonably expected that they have bestowed upon it all the attention that so important a subject deserves; and that they will bring together all the information that could he obtained. The system, in its present form, as well as the manner in which it is carried into effect, is the very worst that can he conceived, and calls loudly for improvement. But as the starting point of any improvement, I would suggest the absolute necessity ol appointing a general Supervisor of the schools, without which it is respectfully submitted, all attempts at improvement will be vain?without it, nothing like system, so necessary to every enterprise, can be obtained?next to this, the most important is the means of obtaining competent instructors. ELECTION OF ELECTORS FOR PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT. It will not escape your notice, that by the act of Congress, the first monday in November next, is fixed for the election of Electors for President and Vice President. For the last fifty or sixty years, they have been elected by the Legislature, the time appointed for the election being within the pe noU ol its regular annuai sessions, but the time now fixed is between the election of a new Legislature and the term prescribed by the Constitution for their assembling. If the Legislature determine to exercise the power themselves, the questions will arise, 1st. Whether you have the power to adjourn yourselves over to that day?if not, Jd. Whether you have an authority to provide for the assembling the newly elected members, and if neither, 3d. Whether the Executive has, under the Constitution, authority to convene them. I do not, myself entertain any doubt on either of these ciues lions. In the memorable session ofNovcmbcr, 1834, specially called to provide ngainst the operation of the obnoxious tariff laws of the United States, the newly elected members were convened before the time appointed by the Constitution, by the proclamation of Governor Hamilton, upon the advice at least of the Judges of the Court of Appeals, of which 1 w;is a member, and it it is a little remarkable that irreconcilably I divided as we were upon the political questions that agitated the whole Slate, we all, -i -i . wmiuui cuuccii, tiiiuu iu nic conclusion mill the newly elected members constituted the true Legislature, and so advised him. The conclusion at which I then arrived, was n>;t without due deliberation, and 1 believe it has been sanctioned by general public opi- i nion. I have certainly not changed my own. It follows that this Legislature has no authority to adjourn itself over to a time beyond the next election of members, and I think there is as little doubt that you have no authority to prescribe a time for their meeting. If you may, ihere is nothing to restrain you from prescribing rules for its course of legislature. The question is resolved by familiar rule?that an agent or representative cannot, by the appointment of a substitute, extend his authority beyond the time limited by the authority under which he acts. Has the Executive the authority to convene the newly to be elected members?? His power in this repect is limited by the Constitution to " extraordinary occasions." Is this one of that character? It may be said that it is not, because the occasion is foreknown. Now, if the passage of the act had been delayed until alter the next session of the legislature, I can hardly suppose that even this objection would be raised, and yet this Legislature is as impotent to provide fcr tho occasion, unless by changing the manner of appointing electors, as by the individual manner ofapp inting the electors, as would be the individual members in March next, disperced throughout the State, and the "occasion" is the more ^extraordinary," as there is no other moans of providing for it, unless the Legislature shall see fit to provide another manner of appointment. The only alternative is to give tho election to the. people. The present system has worked well heretofore, and I am upon principle opposed to any changes, unless certain and practical advantages are to result from them. This certainly has one advantages. The members of the Legislature have greater facilities of ascertaining tne qualifications and claims c>f the candidates than the groat mass of the people, and are therefore less liable to be imposed on by the artful misrepresentations of designing men. If you should think otherwise, it wilt be for you to determine whether to elect them by districts or a gcueral ticket. It in obvious that if the general ticket system is adopted, the up country will on account of the greater number of voters, have the entire control of these elections. Now. the representation in our State Legislature is apportioned generally amongst the Districts on the basis of taxation and population, with I snmn rnn/'ocQtima ?<-? tin* -f , -x/www.vwg IV v i?' -? A ai ioiiu^ \t l lilt' i'J VV country, on account of their peculiar territorial divisions, the result of a compromise between the up and low countries, with a view to establish something like a balance of power, if by any possibility conflicting interests should arise?the only value of a written constitution being to protect tho weak against the strong. The principle of this compromise has gcnei ally governed in the election of Senators to Congress, by selecting one from each section of the Stale, and good faith requires that it should be carried out in the election of electors. The Constitution of the United States authorizes the Legislature of the several States to nrescribcd the manner nf nnnniiit ing electors, and I have heard it urged that as the power was limited to prescribing tho manner, the Legislatures themselves had not the power to appoint. Our long continued usage gives the answer to this argument; but if the question was now open, I do not think there would be room for much controversy about it, The power to appoint, necessarily involves the right to direct the manner in which the power is to bo executed; and tho idea that one may authorize that to be done which he himself is I pronioneu 10 ao} would seem to involve a contradiction?a fit and willing agent might not be found, and it would be criminal to confide it to one who was unworthy of confidence, and if the position be corrcct, | the power must remain unexecuted. I submit these views with great deference and profound respect, and under perfect confidence that however you may dispose of the question, your councils will be directed with a single eye to the well-being of tho State. FEDERAL RELATION. I transmit herewith certain resolutions of the Legislurc of (he State of Virginia, which I am requested by the (iovernor of that State to lay before you. 'l'hcy arc directed against that proviso oft he bill then under consideration in Congress, appropriating money to prosecute the war or negotiate a peace with the Republic of Mexico* usually called the Wihnot Proviso, and affirms among other things, that the passage of that Proviso would make "it the duty of every slaveholding State, and of the citizens thereof as they value their dearest privileges, the sovereignty, thciT independence, their right of property, to take fiim, united and concerted action in this emergency." r r\ o 1 /~v *> 1 n ? 11 /-v x fiiii uidu ii;\|uv.ou:u \,\j my in;iuiu )Ullj and herewith transmit, certain resolutions of the Legislature of Connecticut, upon the same subject, approving and affirming the principles of the Wilinot Proviso. 1 have also received from the Governor of Rhode island certain resolutions of the Legislature of that State, of the same import, which I also herewith transmit. These conflicting resolutions raised the question whether Congress had or had not the constitutional right to prohibit slavery in the States ad muted into tne Union neretolore and may be hereafter admitted. If the question was now to be agitated, for the first lime, one who is familiar with the history of our Government and has studied our Conslitu/ion in the spirit of its original design, would be surprised that such a question was ever raised. The States of which the Union was composed at the adoption of the Constitution, were clcarly intended to bo placed on a footing of precise equality, and the framers of this instrument would have been startled at the idea that those afterwards to 1 _ _ . J ? 1 1 I oe aumiiieu were 10 ?e regarciea as unworthy of the sacred privileges secured to the original States, the right to legislate for themselves, and that Congress might, by act, prescribe rules for their legislation.? The argument in favor of this proposition is based on that provision of the Constitution which declares that 4 Congress mfay admit other States into the Union"?that this, in terms, is a discretionary power, and Congress may therefore annex any condition that it thinks fit, and consequently the right to interdict slavery or involuntary