University of South Carolina Libraries
-t - --" St Etuoertic ottral, etaottv to sottieu afijs N--m- toft t ligte EfeatreN. t .retitr "W will Gling to the Pillars of the TaimpIO of c it ust Oil, we will Perish nm ett -- W. C. MORAGNE, Editor. W. F. DURISOE, o riEDGEFIELD EMBER 5, 1850 3jonn~a ~eiot~to oute~n 3~aijn, ft~g 3)~ti *~ttI~ct,?L~~tati'4-Wo~u~~smpxau*, ~tinIt~x-,& %c GOVENORS MESSAGE. EXECUTWE DEPARTMNENT, CoLUXirA, Nov'r 26, 1850. Fcllow-Citizens of the Senate and ofthe House of Representatices: in reassembling to deliberate on the af lairs of the Commonwealth, I am igain enabled to express our deep gratitude to Almighty God, not only for the general health of the people and their complete exemption from the malady which has so grievously afflieted portions of our common country, but for a reasonable sup. ply of the products of the earth. If, in localities, a scarcity of breadstuf's is to be apprehended, yet may we hope that the entire harvest within our limits will lie suf. ficient for the requirements of the conmnu uity. Should the usual quantity for ex portation of the main staple crop of the State be not furnished Ay the planter, there are grounds for the belief that its money value will exceed that of the last season. The following is a statement of the public debt, viz: 5 per cent-, issued for the cp. ital of the Railroad Rink... $46,714 34 Randolph Stock............ 1,250 00 Revolutionary Debt, estimated at....................... 72,810 60 1 per cents, 1839, due in 1850. 3,726 84 6 per cents, 1839, due in 1852. 175,426 55 5 per cents, 1839, Fire Loan, * foreign debt, due in 1858.. 471,111 12 5 per cents, 1839, Fire Loan, foreign debt, due in 1868... 482,222 21 5 per cents, 1839, Fire Loan, ' domestic debt, due in 1860. 482,222 23 5 per cents, 1839, Fire Loan, domestic debt, due in 1870. 325,808 92 $2,061,292 81 It will be perceived that the only debt to be provided for at an early date is the 6 per cents, amounting to $175,42W 55, and payable on the let of January, 1852. Since your adjournment, $173,437 30 of the domestic, and[ 623,250 80 of the foreign, debt has been cancelled by the Bank, besides $8,750 of the Randolph stock, paid by the Treasu y .-_ The income of th year tdrminating on her was Frudi taxes......... All other s'ources.... of October last was The net profits of year, including $95 ved from business ot $364,825 59. From this amount there has been transferred to the Sinking Fund 8243,158 91, and been paid $73,453 11 fIr interest on the debt in Europe, and the balance that the Bank was in advance for interest and expenses-also the inter est on the 6 per cents, (Fire Loan,) amount ing to $48,179 99. The :oggregate funds of the Bank on the 1st of October, were.$.. ....86,353,660 06 From this deduct Bank liabilities, viz: Issues, including $250,000 for bills lost... .1,760,098 00 Due Treasury.....60,428 43 Due Banks......268,691 62 Due Depositors.. 672,716 79--2,770,934 8G Le:iving the sum of...... 3,582,725 20 As the surplus Funds in Bank The present number of Students in the South Carolina College is one hundred and ninety-five, which is as many as can be conveniently accommodated. The re ry flourishing condition of the Institution is high evidence of the confidence which. the public entertain for the capacity and fitness of those to whose special charge it has been committed. Annually there leave this abode of literature and science, young meni, all strengthened and improved in moral and intellectua;l culture, and many destined to fill important stations in society. Its salutary influence on our personal and social relations and the char acter of the Commonwealth, alone fur nishes a conclusive~ reason for enlarging~ the sphere of its usefulness. I regret to acquaint you that, from fee ble health which incapaciated himi from severe bodily or mental labor, Col. Pres ton tendered to the Board of Trustees, at their senmiannual meeting in May', his re signmation as President of the College, which was accepted by that body. Da ring his administrationi, this Inlstitution hazs not only maintained, but greatly increased its well-deserved reputation. 1If, in meni tal training and advancement, its gradu ates and pupils will compare favorably with other colleges in the Union, in all that relate to moral worth and gentlemanly de. mneanor, it undoubtedly has no superior, if ani equal. The Military Academies continue to merit the public support. Although the average number of Cadets, at the Institu tion in Charleston, for the last year, was ninety, and the discipline is known to be rigid, yet, (luring that peiod, order and quiet prevailedl, and to neither expulsioni nior suspension, by way of punishment, wvas it found necessary to resort. At the Academy in. this place there are 28 Ca dets ~the'studies prescribed are faithfully pursued, and the guard and police duties *strictly executed. The health of the Stu de~nts for many years has been uninter ruptedly good. With additional accom mzodations, the number of Cadets might In view of the present and future aspect of our public afiirs, I am warranted in recommending the establishment of depots for military stores and instruments of war at Anderson Court 'House, spartan. burg Court House and Marion Court House; and that each'depot be. placed un der the charge of a limited number of young men, commanded by a graduate of the Citadel Academy, whose business it shall be to instruct the guard in all the practical branches of the art of war. This plan, having a two-Ifold object in view, would, independent of its intellectu al and moral advantages, give security at all times to the largest section of the State, and insure to our entire community politi cal benefits of no ordinary magnitude. As the Military Academics were origi nally designed, among other things, to in struct our youth in the art of var, this ob. ject, perhaps from a want of due atten tion to the subject, has not been fully attained. To demonstrate by practico in the field, the lessons they have received in the recitation room, the students must be furnished with all the necessary means, in some of which the schools are very defi-I cient. To supply these wants, I advise the purchase of a pyrotechnic laboratory, engineering instruments, and a battery of artillerv. I again commend to your notice tile Deaf and Dumb School at Cedar Spring, Spartanburg District, under the superin tendence of Mr. Walker. The number of mntes in the State is supposed to be about seventy, of whom only thirteen are receiving instruction. Impressed with the conviction that the public are not well in formed concerning the advantages of Mr. Walker's Seminary, I have invited that gentleman to attend at the Capitol with a few of his pupils, in order to satisfy the Legislature of their progress and his ca pacity to teach. As the Acts and Resolutions of the Legilature were not published until late in March, I was not informed until that ime, that I had been authorized to ap oint a fit and competent-rezson-n .s'onr ore you. The inferences deducible from these papers are: first, that the present systen succeeds only where, with a dense population, the funds for educational pur poses, enlarged by contributius from other sources, are ample; secondly, that the teachers, mainly from inadequate com pensation, are as a body unqualified for their stations; and thirdly, that in the sections of the State in which the popula tion is sparse, the public bounty is mca gerly provided. A profound solicitude for the moral and intellectual welfare of the people induced me to suggest to the Teachers throughout our limits, the propriety of assembling at Columbia, to consider the subject of Free Schools, the preparation at home of ele mentary and other books for the use of our selools, the best mode of insuring the progress of education, and othe~r kindred matters. A cop)y of the proceedings of the convention, composed, in part, of men distinguished for talent, character and usefulness, I take great pleasure in tranis nitting to you, accompanied by the ex pression of my hearty concurrence in the conclusions at which it arrived. The ascertained truth, that over 20,000 persons of our population are ignorant of their alphabet, is indeed w~ell calculated to excite general and anxious inquiry con cerning the causes of so painful a moral calamity. According to the otlicial re ports of the Boards of Commissioners, in 1848, it appears that there are in the State 949 Free Schools, 915 Teachers, and~ 80i3 Scholars, and the appropriation foir the support of the schools was $37, 500, equivalent to about -939 annually for each Tieacher~, and $4,:30 for every pupil. South Cairolina expends for the purp~o ses of education nearly one-fourth of her income derived from taxe's. It would seem, that if so large a disbursement were. wisely and economically apportioned, it might secure all the benefit which the wvis dom of the Legislature designed ; but so fortunate a result has not been produced. In submitting the whole matter to y-our careful consideration, I consider it my- du ty to recommend the appointment of a general supeiintendent of free schools, and that the several Boards of Commissioners be authorized and instructed,. wvhere the school fund is insufficient, to raise by as sessment on tihe general tax of their re spective Districts and Parishes a sumi of money equal in amount to that alplproprial ted by the Legislature. Th'le probable ef fects of this duplication of means, wvill be the multiplication of scholars, embra cing perhaps all who may be entitled to the puplic bounty; a higher grade of in structors, and the establishment of tihe right ini consequence of his contribution, which every citizen would feel that he possessed of consigning his child to the m meta murdiansi of the State. The expediency of revising our crimi nal code seems to be universally conceded The number of offences punishable capi. tally is unwise, and repugnant to the dic. tates of humanity. Many of the statutes of force in South Carolina in relation tc crimes, are wholly inapplicable to the con. dition of our society, and I may add, form of government. Enacted in Great Bri. tain, at an early period of her history, but subsequently modified, in part with a view to their adaptation to the spirit of the age, and the progress of society, yet, in this State severaTof them are unrepealed, and others are practically inoperative. Undistinguished by large cities, a sparse population, which too is almost exclusive ly devoted to agricultural pursuits; ex emption from the evils of foreign'emigra tion, and the class to which transgressors of the law belong, being substituted by the slave, who is rarely guilty of a heinous offence, are the causes of the paucity of crime in our limits, and which have ren-. dered unnecessary, until now, any materi al changes in a code that, in other com munities, the public safety would have imperatively demanded. Twenty-two crimes, of which seven are clergyable, are punishable with death; still, hanging is an uncommon spectacle in South Carolina. The pullic whipping of a white man I believe to be in opposi tion to the popular sentiment. In may judgment, it is inhuman, degrading, and a violation of the rules of sound policy in a southern community. Unlawful trading and traflicking with slaves, by which a white person knowingly inflicts upon so ciety, and especially his vicinage, wide spread and prolific evils, is perhaps one of the very few offences deserving of corpo ral punishment. Imprisonment, unaccompanied by labor of any kind, experience has demonstra ted to be of little efficacy as a means of reformation. The period for which cul prits are confined, seldom as long as two years for the most aggravated transgres sions, is too short for the mind to be awa Iwned to thasxapna' -, ,.l, - -..or for a certain class of offlences mi advantageously be added- -or substituted for that of whipping. I recommend that the matter of revi sing the criminal law be referred to a com mission of three competent jurists, who shall receive a salary fully adequate to the important service to be performed. Soon after your adjournment, I opened a correspondence with Indian Department at Washington, in relation to the admis sion of the Catawba Indians into the Chickasaw tribe. The answer to my ap plication, which was not received until May, showed tie existence of adverse in fluences, the precise character of which can not now be (letermined. The Chicka saws and Choctaws, it ~ seems, own the same district of country; while the form er have expressed their willingness to grant the request which has been made, the lat ter, for unassigned reasons, interpose ob jections. Since August, no further infer mntion on the subject has reached this Department, although eff'orts have been used to elicit it. It may therefore be mn ferred that the objections of the Choctaws still exist. Early in the winter, a considerable num her of tb'e Catawba indians returned to this State from Haywood county, North Carolina, and very recently, the remaim der, except four adults and six children, have followed their example. The head men or chiefs, according to the report of the Indiani agent, now express great re pugnance to the removal of the tribe to thre wvest, andl prefer that a far'm be bought for their fiuturec home in the northern part of Greenville District--a region of' coun try which they have examined, and of wvhich they highly approve- Good land might there be obtained for from 81,50 to $2pracre. An appropriationl of about .j1,000, which I recommend, will probably be sullicient'for the purchase of a farm of suitable size, and implements of industry, and for the construction of board houses. To l'urnishr them wvith food and clothing for the next year, and an addi:ional appro priation of $1,200 will be necessary. If the proposed project met the approbation of the Legislature, it would be advisable to make provision for the sale of the pre sent nominal residence of' the Indians in York District. The dictates of humanity, and an abid ing sense of the devotedness and services of their ancestors to South Carolina, de mand that another eff'ort be made to bring together in this State these sons of the forest, and by mental eulture and in struction in farming, to. meliorate their condition morally and physically. I again invite your serious attention to the anomalous condition of the proprie tors of the Indian Lanids, having paid in almost every instance a full equivalent for their property, thre Legislature, in 1840 diroeted that an annual rent, now reduced to a half i ild be le vied -on tl reimburse the State it had en gaged to - se of. a tract of k Indians, and for tribe of $2500 ea. the space of nine 3 ent they are madc inferior to that it zens are placed. that the appropri: ) accom plish a p purpose, and tha- ting the. "agreen ey were not, in Party. I tierefort ation in my first -, in the firm cor id argu ments t, sarefully and imp In th a of our federal lie con sideratit uted au thorities best and speedies improv ing the been so #bntift . Caroli lina. A ., iral.and -commer - ment of manufat s,-isemi nently v a. Con trary to had en gendere rivileged bodies ipassio ate exat in con nection t of pas sing ev, e - favora-* bly imr >f adopt ing a I ssociated capital other on terprisi inting -oft chartei prudent and sa found a powert ce-of that object Thc id States, but es i,'and the recen' Nvintr seeK. Eve lving the wan)ts >rt of the people. ers, and, perhaps, in every district there is a l:Lr'e portion of the whito population, whose energies, if aroused by an influence stron ger than that which profitless fiarming im parts, would tend materially to augment the public wealth. It-is an error to sup pose that we are deficient in the pecunia- i rv means so essential to the fulfilment of our highest aspirations. Strictly speak ing there are no capitalists among us. Men whose profession it is to deal in mo nied securities, are rarely found in an ag ricultural community. Still, in our Me tropolis and Towns, %here the mercan tile interest predominates, and among the planters and fiarmers throughout the State, there is unappropriated wealth always ready to abandon its hiding places, and by3 its sagacious application, to fertilize the soil from which it wias originally La ken. If South Carolina cannot recover the many millions of dollars which the want of legislation, or the .improvidence of her rulers has driven from her shores, let no-expedient be unessayed, i fiure, to erect on the ruins of mistakeni policy, a structure that will enure to the bienefit of posterity-. The absence of large capi talists, or the general diffusion of wealth in the States, constitutes a valid reason for employing associated manufactures on a scale commensurate with the exigency of the times, but especiailly, to guard against the evils of dependence on comn munities, whose friendship and social sup) port, we shall, perhaps never again en joy. By encouraging men of slender means and of all pursuits, to unite with their more fortunate brethren in the laudable task of physical amelior-ation, anspicious moral results will ensue between the par ties, pre-eminently condneive to private andl public prosperity. Experience has disproved the opinion, that to the community greater injur-y was to be apprehended from Companies than individuals engaged in mianfacturing pur suits. The death of the head and owner of a mill is very certain to be the precur sor of its destruction. The property in volved experiences a sudden depreciation, owing to the skill and practical knowl edge that rendered it profitable.-These consequences seldom follow in the case of joint stock companies, where the ordi nary safeguards have been provided. The deprivation of a single mind may be keen ly felt, but is rarely irreparable. If this, however, wvere an undetermined point, the high and patriotic end .in view cannot succeed but~by the power of concentrated means. In these clays of progress and reform, supposing the w~ill and ability to exist, isolated exertions are too tardy and uncertain. The establishment, on a scale sufficient to ensure success, of various branmese of industry, will require a verv large outlay. This the people are pre pardd to furnish, unless the Legislature compel them to encounter risks beyond the ordinary chancesf toewhich all* Under takings are subject. I recommend the passage of a general law concerning charters of incorporation for agricultural, commercial, manufactu riig and mechanical purposes, and the inpr~pvement of navigation, containing the following, among other fundamental provisions, viz:-first, that the capital of each company shall be limited to a desig nated sum, to be subsequently increased if necessary by a special act of the Leg. islature-secondly, that the members of the corporation shall be liable, jointly and severally, in payment of all debts and contracts made by such corportion, -to be compelled to make good the amount of capital stock subscribed; but that af-' terwards, they shall be liable only as a company, formed for any 'one of the ob jects named, to the Secretary of State for incoiporation, a charter shall be granted, if, in his opinion, and.tbat of the Attorney General, the requirements of the laghave been complied with. Had such a law existed one year ago, two mills, one for the manufacture of"cotton goods, and the other for paper, would have been added to -the number so profitable-worked in tha-State. - Both :projmts, it, ia imid; have gince been alandoned, and the funds set apart for their piosecution -have been otherwise appropriated. It may here be appropriately remarked,. that .a charter providing for payment by the stockholders of. the amount of capital to be raised at. specified times, .saysin one, two, and .three years, would not bring the individual corporations under obligations to pay- creditors in a shorter time. Substantially,'th6 principle settled in the case of the Executors of Haslett. vs. Wotherspoon was, that whatever, by the terms of the charter, .the corporation had undertaken to do, the Courts.would, ..--,, lsur tile re unetton of the interest on moneys lent, from 10 to 8 per cent, in the former year, was the "abatement of the value of the farmer's property, produced by the war-11 then raging between France and Spain,"! and in the latter year, from 8 to 7 per cent, that the foreign trade had been much neglected, in consequence "of the great interest and profit which had been inade I of money at home," and that it would render " the attainment of money easy to the poor and industrious." - The average rate of interest on capital in South Carolina for the last ten years has scarcely equalled six per cent. It is 1 nearly certain that, in reference to agri culture, it has been below that estimate. In probably no State in the Union, where the pursuit of husbandry is so general and engrossing, is there a larger invest ment in bonds, stocks and other monied secrities. h'ie result of this state of things is, that money, instead of being actively invested in new undertakings for the reproduction and increase of capital, reminsi almost entirely a burden upon the laud. The temptations to live with out active exertions are also improperly multiplied. It may indeed be safely as serted, that the capital in these ways em ployed is greater than the interest on the capital derived from the cotton husban dry. The amount invested in b~ank stock alone is equal to it. May it not, then, be asked, whether we ourselves have not been warring against our peculiar institu tions ? The prosp)erity of the Southern community depends on the strength of thme tie which unites the master and slave, and that again depends chiefly on the profits of agriculture. Every dlollar not actively empjloyed, directly or indirectly, in the main business of our people, or some other industrial occupation, is of little wvorth in estimating the reliable wealth of the State. The moral effet, however, is much more serious. By diminishing the sources of direct production which enrich the streams of industry and progress, you multiply the number of that class among us, whose bond to the community might be cancelled in a day. As long as the interest of money is legally forced beyond the point which, if unrestrained, it would usually reach, an equality between it and the profits of capi tal can scarcely ensue, especially, as the latter require skill, labor and management, while the former is acquired without exer tion of body or mind. 'The widow and the orphan who are incapacitated for the business of Southern agricilture, have generally their entire property in bonds and stocks. A portion of our male population, likewise, from many causes--the high rate of interest for the use of money being the prominent one-in changing their avocations, have given thn same direction to their capital. They find it easier and more profitable to .elin pnner securities, than to encounter the hazards of cultivating the ground/or of manufacturing or .commercial enter prise. This is a natural feeling, but for our public rulers to encourage it by law, is opposed to sound policy, and-at this juncture, obviously detrimental to the in terests of society. If the larger portion of the capital, so selfishly and unpatrioti cally appropriated, were employed in 4d vancing.a judicious system of internal improvements, in draining-and - embank ing the swamp lands, in iron and plank roads, in commerce and the mechanic. arts, in mills to convert our various -and abundant raw products into fabrics, and the diversified materials, which the. pro. gress of civilization and refiniment has rendered so essential to human dnjofment, and in the establishment of a direct trade between South Carolina and the commer cial nations of Europe, we should soon, not only be enabled to enlarge the do main of our people over the physical ob stacles that so injuriously cirdumscribe it, but,results of a political character would follow, of incalculable magnitue to ,D'e State. In, nineteen Stat* ofithe e authorized rates of interest for money is 6 per .cent; in- siN, p cent; in four, 8-pr cent.-an in que, '5 percen.;.What ti reguEitisonisia tali fornia, I am uninformed.. Of the ola thir teen States, ahigheri-ate than 6.per cet is allowed, besides our oivpon onlyju New York, -Gorgia nd Nei Jersey. Nw York being the commerefiemponrum of. our country, and the r.eemt mttleent'.of i large portion o A,4a es wilch fave ina i is ~i a dematd.for moiieyu h fidue whici'does not exist iii uh Aroiina. As 'sgermano to thegon 'el der consideration, Ltrustbthat- be excuseds.forriepeating my 'm.e: menda tion conerning a drainagelw, and the establishient of a Boaid to ;emove b structioiisin streams. J , encouraging all classes to possess it, and insure to the untortu nate, especially the widow and the or plian, a perpetual dwelling place, accom panied by the means of making lifo sup portable if not comfortable. In order that it may not operate prejudiciously upon creditors, the law shouldbe prospective in its operation. The public safety demanding the prompt exceution of the resolution of the Legis lature, passed in 1848, to increase the number of small arms to twelve thousand, I have purchased largely of muskets and rilles, and caused several thousand musket accoutrements to be manufactured princi pally in this town. The actual number of small arms and other implements of war on hand at the time I entered into office, and since put into the Arsenals by my order, you will find in Exhibit A. At an early period of the present year, I visited the most vulnerable situations in the State, in order to provide for them the means of safety. Thme result has been the erection of Magazines for fixed am munition and depots for arms at George towvn and Beaufort. As Charleston is not in the condition of defence which her ex posed position and commercial importance entitle her to lbe placed, I suggest the ex pediency of furnising her artillery com panies with two additional batteries, and again request that instructions be given to remove the magazine from its present site to the Citadel square. Full information on the later subject accompanies this commuiclationl. Trhe State being much in need of field pieces, I recommend that the Governor be authorized to purchase, with a viewv to be deposited in the Arsels, six brass 12 pounders, six 6 pounders, and six 4 lbs. Having been subjected, during my offi ial term, to the mortifying necessity of procuring military supplies from abroad, I trust that this stigma on the enterprise and sagacity of the State may shortly be blotted from its history. The establish ment, in our limits, of factories for small arms and munitions, and foundaries for iron ordnance and bronize field pieces, is dictated by sound policy and an enlighten ed forecast. I have to inform you, that I hav-e re eived from Mr. A. Hyde, the agent for the State, the sum of $2,596 46, being nearly the entire amount due by the Fed. eral Government for expenses incurred by the State, in mustering the Palmetto Regi mnt into service. In relation to our claim for horses lost during the Florida war, a bill was introduced into the Senate by Judge Butler, but as this occurred only a short time before the adjourniment of Congress, it was not disposed of. The liquidation of this claim, though undoubt edly a just one, cannot be relied upon. The want of vouchers, and an existing arbitrary rule of the War Department, which is rigidly enforced, are serious ob sacles in our way. The correspondence between Mr. Hide ind msl s with.transmittea L Shortly-after the capture o a large quantity of cl0 di the use f. the Palnetto burnt at4'e National 1jo; a United States officer Thisild in the conftision of a sudden6co6fi&e tlas enemY. TIte State s,thi-e e tied to receive from the ment the full valueof accompanying letters contain ihv formation on thecsbjet in Myposeioon There were approprial4 sessior, $2,500 for thi& ehappC' 622,500 for themilia ~con and $10,~0'fdr th 6 'ii The larger jitkin e f the s 02,436 84,received from'thinih the balance of the C6btingeit the credit of the State, it the te of Gov. MoDffie's adiniri amountare eti.ohe put into mMr ing in. thela e tI been exiO _orame' @ Statein a 'Tidlefray p e 4 ' $9,000, inkurreo quiesof: our late eAto' the Fund?oitie i by wiich nfycos rtwi andn due' a%,Iru~ pn-hajs thi e quet tg yhr p dea longress; ps sctdied t to al re UUlite io eyl.Ith. of the Clerks of the Senate and Housee.. Representatives, See'tary of State, TIrea-. surer, and Comptroller General. The ac companying report from Mr. Green will acquaint you with the progress made in the service assigned him, the manner which it has been performed, and the pro le time that will be required to corn pletatives, ainations of the records. in the sron A-fr v. Thomas Curtis, of the Limestone Springs. tendered to mec a rough and massy body of granite from a quarry owned by him, with a request that it should repr-esent South Carolina in the Monument, in the - course of erection at the Federal Capital, to the "Father of his Country." I sub sequently caused it to be conveyed to Co lunbia, where, under the skilful hands of Messrs. Boyne & Sprowls, it was conver-. ted into a block of the necessary size, adorned with the arms of the State, and* otherwise fnished in a style that has con- ~ manded universal commendation. Your Resolution of 1848, requesting "the Governor to cause suitable medals to be prepared, with proper devices, to b presented to all' the commissioned officers of the Palmetto Regiment, and all the non-commissioned officers and privates," has been carried into effect. The names and rank of the members of the regiment who have received these memorials of the gratitude of the State, comprising 52 commissioned, and 121 non-commissioned officers, and 289 privates, you will find ii the paper marked P. Of this document, I have caused a copy to be entered in one of the books in the Executive Department, in which the papers of that gallant corps have been recorded. As Castle Pinckney, with the thiree acres around it, is deemed by the General Government essential to the safety of Charleston in the event of foreign war, my application for its retrocession to the, State has been unsuccessful. The reports of Capt. Parker and Pro fessor Williams, concerning the variations, of the Magnetic Needle, I herewith submit. I suggest the propriety of an annual ap propriation to remunerate the personswho may he employed in taking the necessa~ry observations ; also that it be made obliga tory on every surveyor, to record on. his plot the variations of the needle, as offici ally registered in- the book prepared by ) Capt. Parker, copies of wvhich I have put into the possession of the Legislature. I herewith communicate a copy of a dig-est of the road laws, prepared, at my solicitation, as President of the State Ag ricultural Society, by the Hon. Josiah y. Evans, one of our Associate Judges in the ~ Courts of Law. The great importane of the subject, and the very able and judi cious manner in which it has been treated, will doubtless induce the Legislature to print it for the use of the peole.