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h I .r t !. H?W & CO;, .ftoprietors ANDERSON C. H., S. 0., THURSDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 7, 1871. VOLUME V?.---NO. 23 GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. i .' State of South Carolina, ) .' Executive Department, V ,.( Columbia, November 28, 1871.. J Gentiemen ofthe Senate and Ebute of Eepre-' tentative*! IT- r .7 l! You have assembled for the fourth time since the establishment of a-Bystem of free-'sovern toent in South Carolina. - -PbrsaantH?)4he Con BtiUition, it is the duty of the Governor to "give to the General Assembly information ?f i the cotidition of the State, and recommend: to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary or. expedient." The'present financial condition of the State especially demands a rigid and unshrinking compliance with this constitutional require? ment, in order that the General Assembly: and, every department of the State Government may unite in a common effort to correct/ suck evils as are remediable, and prevent their recurrence. In this, the last Annual Message that I- shal J transmit to the General Assembly, I propose to*] state my views frankly upon the' ehret- matters of nubile interest, and to. give $1 fte.ftcts ? wi?iin.mv knQwJedge, without reserye,.as alike doe to the people, and imposed by my official j obligation. I will thus, I trust, be enabled to correct gross exaggerations that are being-dili gently circulated in reference to our finances' and the entire administration of the State. , . In performing this duty I shall not shrink from charging upon others any just share of their responsibility, for evil cons?!quences of their acts, and will not hesitate fully to admit any own. \' {\ 1 the state debt. fV *The following is the Treasurer's exhibit ml the actual debt of the State.. .Ilcn?w,,frora se? vere personal 'scrutiny, that this exhibit is full and correct. It shows the present debt OfHhd State in, its entirety, suppressing nothing: Z^; VTATSJODfT Or TOTAL AMOCNT OF BONDS AND STOCKS PBSXTJED, BT TUB BANK SOTS COMPANY, A2.D ACCOCXTID FOE. 500 Bonds redemption Bills Receivable, at 81,000...$ 500,000 2,0?BoDas payment interest Public Debt, at$l,000. 2,000,000 l,0?B?nds Belief of the Treasury, at $1,000. 1,000,000 70S Bonds Laad Commission, at 81,000..- 700,000 800 Bonds redemption Bills Bank, of State at ?um?.._.-.- 800,000 1,500 Bonds redemption Bills Bank of State at ?500. 750,000 ' 800 Bonds redemption Bills Bank of State at f<50~ 40,000 tfiOo Bonds Conversion State Securities; at ?1,000.. 3,500,000 4,000 Bonds Conversion State Securi?es^at SlJXXL, 4^000,000 1,200 BondsConversioii State Securities, at S5C0... jjOMOO 1.000 Bonds Conversion State Sectirities, at Sicou.. 'AmjkX) Sterling Loan_._.? 6,000,000 Cettfftcates Conversion Stock:-.-.?'.~~J... 2,850,0?>. . ? . ; $43,540,WO Accounted for as follows: . OS HAND IN STATE TBEASTTBT. Bond.* con version State Securities, not signed.-3 ?73,500 Bonds relief of Treasury. (* per cent.)..? 101,000 Bonds payment interest Public Debt_._ 50,000 Bonds redwnption Bills Bank of Slate. 331,000 Block conversion Stale Securities_2,117,300 $3,072,800 DEPOSITED FOE SAFE* KEEPING WITH AXE] II CAS BANK NOTE COMPAN Y. SterUnj Loan-._6,(00,000 ?VXDS CANCELLED AND DESTKOYF.D. 600 Bonds payment interest on Public Debt. iMirned in State Houss._:_500,000 . .- ? . 500 Bon is Conversion State Securities, ?TTontously printed, returned and can? celled by American Bank Note Coin t?Mf^Li.:_ BOfl.OOS Convers,'on Bonds issued ii effecting oonveibions at fjtato Trea.su ry.-L260,fi60 Conversion Bond, No. 520, cancelled and destroyed at State Treasury_ 1,000 Bonds redemption Bills Bank of State, issued at State Treasury...-..1,259,000 Conversion Stock, issued, cancelled and transit red at State Treasury...^. 432,700 --13,O2?,O?0 $9,514,000' STATEMENT OF DEBT. Old Debt_._._...-$6,665,908.98 Lea old bonds, paid July 1,1871_._ 212,000.00 j $6,453^03.9* Hew Bonds._.._'.....19,514,000.06 Lea hi bands of Financial Agent, to the credit of Sinking Fund Uuun.?iou-.........., 200,000.00 $9,314,000.00 NewJBflnds, Us hand>,of financial Agent,, nov.^. in'-eao as collateral security for loaas..$8,773,000.001 Amount of New Bonds sold...$5,541,000.00 Old De'it, asabove?.?-.,-i-Z. 6^53,908/js . ? . $11,594^08^8 The facts and data upon which the foregoing, statement, which has been examined and ap? proved by the Financial Board, is based, axe' open to the inspection of the public, both at the State Treasury and at the Financial Agency, in- New York. The Financial Board report that,"the bonds have all been issued and' used under the authority of the Act of August'2fp,:| 1868, entitled 'An Act to authorize a loan to re-' deem the obligations known as Bills Receivable of the State of South Carolina;' the Act of Au? gust 25, 1868, entitled 'An Act to authorize a loan to pay the interest on the public debt;' the Act of February 17,1869, entitled 'An Act to authorize a loan for the relief of the Treasu? ry f the Act of March 27, 1869, entitled 'An Apt to provide for the appointment of a Land Commissioner, and to define his powers and duties;' the Act of March 1,1870, entitled "An Act to amend an Act entitled 'An Act to pro? vide for the appointment of afLand.CGmnyitJ, sioner, and to dense his powers and du ties-,'and for other purposes therein mentioned;" the Act'of March 28, L869, entitled 'AnAct to pro- I vlder for the ? conversion' of "State securities*;^ and the Actvt March 26/ 1869,: entitled^An Act to authorize the Financial Agent of the State of South Carolina,1 in the city of New Yo>x, to pledge State bonds as collateral secu? rity, and for other purposes.'" The three first named Acts authorized the borrowing of two million five hundred thousand dollars, on coupon bonds. Owing to the con? stant and increasing depreciation in the value of the bonds, it was found necessary, in order to carry into effect the purposes of these several Acts, to issue a much larger number of bonds. The Act for the conversion of State securities, giving?authority for a more available and uni? form class of bonds than' the one which had, in the first instance, been issued under the sev? eral Acts referred to, the remainder of the bonds required-to raise the amounts of money authorized by the several Acts were prepared, in accordance with the Act for the conversion of State securities, to the amount above named. The indebtedness of the State being as above stated, the State authorities now hope to be. able to retire the bonds iu New York, end' to save the securities now hypothecated from sale. It is also intended to discontinue the Financial Agency in New York, except to designate some banking- institution as the placo forth* pay? ment of the interest on the Public Debt." .- ^ TAX levy, taxes collected, and delin? quent taxes. Many and extravagant statements have been made regarding the assessment and collection of taxes, and those not familiar with the actual facts, when compared with collection of rev? enue for the same purposes in other States, arc doubtless frequently led to believe that taxation is extravagant and unusual. I undertake to say that no State in the Union has collected less tax in the same length of time in propor? tion to its population and resources. The fol? lowing is a correct exhibit of the appropriation of moneys, the levy of tax, collection of reve? nue per annum, and the delinquent list for the years. 1868, 1869 and 1S70: STATEMENT OF AM?tWfOP T?XRS' LEVIED, AWOTOT COL LKCTKP, .CD AI'l'UOl'KIATloNS MADE, DUSCfO THARS t, 188a; 1869 AM) 13?..'.r > ? Total taxation for 1868, rate of taxa? tion, Stall 3H mlOtm~mmmm*?~~Jll&in& - Total amount collected........,...1,163,053.23 . Delinquent_.?.............&175,6S&91 Total appropriation for the year 1868, exclusive ofint*resto?punlic?Ubi, . for which no appropriation was 'iaadeM,.K...r_r..._r....?r~r...u&. 817.968J? Tbfr] tfetatlon:for 166?, rote, -State,. ? ifi. mills.,_..$1,014,901.88 Tblal amount' collected.]...;.;.\L~T-766,736.08 rbelinqiVnt!J.L.I..lV.l.^!il!.".'.U!....l.i,....i._8243,165.73 fTotal-' apprbprtitti6n? -for fte year ?1869, inciudiag interest on public- - * ? dei)t;,.?'..,.#,191,805.09 ; Tbtat'iaxation ^187(>,?tU, State, '' 9 mills._ 1,670,063.66 Total amount collected............. 1,146,037.06 Delinquent._8524.026.60 Total appropriations for the year 1370..i._^_~._.~..81,604,053,54 Total delinquent taxes..............8947,881.26 Twenty percent, penalty._..... 189,576.25 I Ta^al;., m n ? ,.yy.yM.>^....r...t>.^^.V...?....^lt137,4S7.51 {If the taxes, as shown in the foregoing state? ment, gad faaaa paid, as Uiev-ahould have been, if would Jyjv^^a.vQdihe State.at least two mil jus and ft: half .olbojided?. ? i4 I BONDED DEBT. It must not be presumed that the increase in thebonded debt of the State is the creation', in' any considerable degree, of the- existing ad? ministration., This increase represents mostly -ljabilities contracted under previous- adminis? trations, the form of the obligation, in some cases, alone being changed, while a large frac tio'n consists of bonds issued to meet the ma? tured principal and accruing interest of the .ante-war'debt, in order to maintain the faith and credit of the State. ] The seven hundred thousand dollars of bonds issued.for - the Land Commission.form the only 'portion, of the debt actually created by the present Ad mi ui at ration^ and for, this the State has an ample equivalent'in the.landjf purchased. *\?hich 'will ultimately repay both principal and interest.'' By reference fb the various Acts cited in the foregoing statement of the Treasurer, it will be seen that, with the exception of those author? izing the issue of bonds for the Land Com? mission, they severally provide that a specified sum of money shall be raised ou bonds of the State, and not simply that a given amount o|f bonds shall be issued. I Tnfe'ajndunt'of bonds to be issued for this [r/urptwivaariotr specified by law, as our secu? rities were untried, and therefore had no de terminable market value. If the General As? sembly had attempted to approximate the prob? able market value of the new State securities, they, would doubtless have rated them at not more than five or ten cents on the dollar, pro? vided that in this they had been guided by the views of the opposition jpress, which, in its efforts to break down the State credit, fastened upon these securities, in advance, the stigma of a threatened repudiation, and declared that they would be worthless to the holder. ? Bnt it was believed by the Financial Board that our securities might be so made to appre? ciate.as to be negotiated at par, and that a mil? lion in bonds wouh] thus purchase a million of do?axi,.., 'i,., . . . .. ' As the result, of . the. financial policy adopted, these new bonds commanded, in the early part of 1870, f from 80 to 85 per cent, of their par Value, and so well satisfied was I that our secu? rities?bearing, as they did, six per cent inter? est, .payable in gold?would, in the natural order of things, further appreciate, that I re? fused my consent to sell even at those compar? atively high rates. This apparent confidence of capitalists in the State Government aroused in opponents to a combined effort to depreciate the bonds, and not only ware the most active individual efforts made to discredit our securi? ties,'but even the Chamber of Commerce and ths Board of Trade of Charleston lent iiheir aid to. the scheme of depreciation. The exchange? able value of a State bond depends: First, upon the ability of the State to pay the interest upon it as it accrues, and to redeem it at maturity ; ani?, second, upon the recognized and acknowl? edged disposition and intention of those who administer the affairs of the State, 1 j provide for the punctual liquidation of all its just obli? gations. As the resources of the State were and are unquestionably ample, even ou an ordinary scale of taxation as compared with its indebt? edness; the class of persons especially hostile to the State Government, and the principles upon which it'is 'founded, directed their effort* to make it appear to capitalists that the State ad ministration was corrupt and profligate, and that a-popular reaction had taken place that would soon bear them into power. Founding their claims to consideration upon these false pretences, and pretending, to represent the peo? ple of South Carolina, they boldly proclaimed their purpose to repudiate all debts contracted subsequent to the adoption of our new State Constitution. J ? As, by this course of action on the part of men professing to have the honor and credit of the p t?te peculiarly at heart, the purchasing value of the bonds was seriously diinininished, thereby requiring au increased amount in bonds to raise a given amount in money, it follows that they, and not this administration, are re? sponsible; for any undue increase in our bonded debt, upon the just legal principle that every man is accountable for the natural consequen? ces of his own acts. Added to these causes for the decline in the value of our securities was the manifest want of confidence among capi? talists in the management of our finances by our Financial Agent in New York. In proof that this scheme to discredit the GbverTftne'nt of the State has its origin in polit? ical causes, I cite the following extracts from ihe Charleston Daily News', a widely circulated journal, published at the commercial centre of toe State. The first, of these extracts, taken from the issue of that paper of date of July 17, 186*8, but ten days after the new State Govern? ment; went into orieraf ion, makes it evident that the determination to depreciate- our secu rities-was-formed almost simultaneously with the advent of the present administration, and before it could li?ve rendered itself, by any act of its own,.Obnoxious to the charges of corrup? tion or-improvidence: " 'Bayonet' Bonds:?It would doubtless be a very comfortable thing if the debt of the Sthte. could be paid, or the interest funded, un? til the people, under a legitimate government, are- able to- meet their public obligations. But this cannot beydctneby the motley Legislature how in <fta^rM?-K3blumbia; nor can they, by the issue of 'bayonet' bonds, provide, as pro-, posed, for the deficit in the annual revenue of the State. "The Legislature will, of course, bleed freely every property holder in South Carolina, and, as -long as they usurp the machinery of the law, may compel the payment of taxation.? Negro Legislators, negro Sheriffs and negro Constables may distrain, and there the scheme of fiuaucial whitewashing will come to a pre? mature end. "Beyond this they cannot go. What capi? talist would touch 'bayonet' l>onds issued by our bogus Legislature. Would New York or Boston touch these bonds,,issued by authority of a horde of negroes^and iu face of the pro test of the white people of the State? Would hot pur Northern brethren prefer to wait until after November ? r "The State debt of South Carolina?the debt now existing?will be paid to the* last cent, whatever the General Assembly may dp; but no 'bayonet* bond, for whatever reason Issued, will ever be recognized by the white people of the State," Kefering to the Act of the General Assembly providing, for the payment of the interest on our. State bonds in specie, the same paper says, under date of December 1,1869: "We can pay our debt as it stands. The question, whether one year more of Radical rule will not so largely swell the total that the people will, at the first opportunity, shuffle off the weight of care, and repudiate every dollar of debt contracted after the war. ? * ?* * * * * ? * "Had the Governor advised that the war debt be paid?? debt contracted for the ad? vancement of a cause in which our people em? barked fortune, life and honor?an attentive ear and willing heart would have met the pro? posal, and the whole subject would have been ?considered with kindly and generous care. *??* * * ?# ?* * # * I "Every merchant or financier does see, or will see, that the whole scheme is a job and a sivindle. Beyond this, there is the certainty that the law of specie, payments will assuredly f Jbje repealed as soon as; property holders and honest men have a.majority in the councils of the State. This majority we shall have in less than a year." j The cry of repudiation thus raised by a large portion of the press, and continued, with a shameless pertinacity, in the interest of a small and malignant political organization, has done much to produce the recent depreciation of our securities, coming, ae it did, at a time when the money markets were rendered peculiarly sensi? tive and stringent by various causes. i The debt statement made at the meeting of the Tax-payers' Cxmyen?an,.?n May. last, and that furnished by hie tojthe ffinjrressiorial Com? mittee, in September, were correct, to the best of my knowledge, at those dates. My informa? tion as to the sale of bonds was then necessari? ly limited to the amount reported by the Fi? nancial Agent and Treasurer. $2,200,000 of the amount of conversion bonds, issued as above stated, were eigned by me for the express purpose of withdrawing from the market and cancelling an equal amount of those issued and hypothecated under the Acts for relief of the Treasury, the payment of the interest on the public debt, and for the Land Commission. They were signed about the time the Tax-payers' Convention assembled. Sub? sequently, the Financial Agent represented that the rapid decline in the value of our State securities disabled him from getting control of the bonds deposited as collateral, and to relieve which these conversion bonds were signed at that date. The action of that body, and of the Charles? ton Board of Trade, in reference to the proposed sterling fund loan, warning capitalists abroad against its negotiation, and declaring that, if negotiated, it should never be paid, had a most disastrous effect upon our securities, aud there? by compelled a large and rapid increase in the volume of our bonded debt. At the time the sterling fund bill was enacted, I, deemed its policy a wise one, and it was endorsed.as a good financial measure, by many leading financiers, both in this State and iu New York. Its de? sign was to replace our securities, already is? sued, with a uniform class of bonds, many of such securities not being a good delivery at the Stock Exchange in New York. This loan was calculated to commend itself to capitalists, for, while it changed the form of the debt advan? tageously, it was guarded with the irrepealable restriction that its proceeds should be "exclu? sively used in exchange for. or in. payment of, the existing public debt of the State.'' Its very terms thus show how unwarranted was the action of the Convention in stigmati? zing it as an intended increase of the bonded debt of the State. In view of all the facts in the premises, the sterling loan, thus discredited in advance, was not put upon the market. The gentlemen who guided the action of the Convention, on questions of finance, expressed, as a further objection to the loan, their want of confidence in the Financial Agent in New York. In evidence of the real purpose, and the wantonness of these systematic attacks upon the State credit, I would mention that I thereupon proposed that they should designate the syndics, or agents for the negotiation of the loan, both in London and New York. I fur ther proposed, with the unanimous consent of the Financial Board, to guard holders under this loan from loss, through any (possible sub? sequent action of the General Assembly in re? gard to it, by entering into such stipulations on behalf of the State with the syndics, charged with negotiating the loan, that no further Le? gislature could divert its proceeds without at? tempting to "impair the obligation of con? tracts," thereby giving the Courts of the Uni? ted States jurisdiction, should a question of the kind ever arise, involving the rights of the bond-holders and the faith of the State. I in? stanced to them, in this connection, the decision in the case of Minnesota, where, under a simi? lar stipulation, the rights of the bond-holders Were enforced by the Federal Courts, on ex post facto grounds, even against a provision in the Constitution of that State, adopted subsequent to the creation of its debt. Nothing, however, could change their pre-determined purpose.? Had they and their allies displayed the same diligence in co-operating with the Financial Board for the negotiation of the sterling loan that they have shown in their efforts to dis ? credit the securities of the State, our entire bonded debt would not now exceed $10,000,000, and the State would have been saved near $3,000,000, necessarily sacrificed in the negoti? ation of its depreciated bonds. For them now to complain of our immense bonded debt and high taxation, and to claim commiseration for these direct and inevitable consequences of their own acts, is to imitate the criminal who, having murdered his parents, plead orphanage in mitigation of sentence. Ou this question of responsibility between them and the State ad? ministration, I invoke, and fearlessly await, that just judgment which always springs, from the sober second thought of the people. The depreciation in our bonds, therefore, springs from causes purely artificial, and in their na? ture temporary. The State can, aud will re? deem, all her obligations, to the last cent. I might, with propriety, end this branch of my message here, but I deem it both proper and timely to show who these men are that arro? gantly and falsely assume to represent abroad the wealth of the State, and the sentiment of the people of South Carolina. They are a remnant of the class who ruled this State when the many toiled and suffered for the benefit of the few, and its Government subaeTved the largest good of the smallest number*. Asserting and exercising a prescriptive right to govern wrong, in times past, they made the laboring masses, without regard to mce, their pack horses, to bear the burdens of a Government that conferred its benefits only upon a limited and select class of its people. They are essen? tially non-producer*, and do not contribute five per cent to the $30,000,000 value of the annual exported products of lie State. Claiming to represent a large amount of capital, their names I are chiefly found upon the. arrear list, when found at all in the tax books, and nearly all of them have long since voluntarily recorded themselves npon the roll of bankrupts. Their Eretence that they are the guardians of the onor and credit of South Carolina, would be ! supremely ridiculous, if it were not so supreme? ly shameless. Their present cry of "repudiation" is not sur? prising. Repudiation is their chronic.disease. When they were in power in 1862, they repudi? ated all their debts due the loyal men, both private and public, and have themselves been repudiated by the people of South Carolina, upon the blood, and muscle, and sinews of whose hard-handed laborers these privileged few so long fattened. Professing to be the champions of good government, when they were in power, instead of effecting an equitable distribution of the taxes over all classes of property, they created numerous railway and other corporations, exempting them from all taxation forever. These corporations, although owning millions of property throughout the State, pay not one dollar of taxes into its treasury, and even successfully claim, in the courts, exemption from all municipal taxation for their residences,- and pleasure carriages and horses of their ofneersin our towns and cities, where, iu nearly every street, these wealthy beneficiaries of the State own long rows of houses, cntaxed and untaxable, which they buy and sell on speculation. : Remembering the general private suffering that they have caused, and the great public burdens that they have aided to create by their I treasonable acts, it would-better become these self-styled representatives of South Carolina to walk more humbly, and to show a grateful ap? preciation of the generous magnanimity that they have receivedat the hands of the National ana State Governments, by honestly endeavor? ing, in some measure, to.repair the .ruin that they have made. As these persous, have been pleased to except from their proposed scheme of ''repudiation" the "old bonds* of the State, it niay be well to inform them that should the evil day ever come for South Carolina to pro? claim her perfidy or insolvency,, by repudia? ting any part of her valid debt, she will not first dishonor that class of her obligations in the benefits arising from the creation of which the largest number of her people have shared. On such a financial dooms-day the last would surely not be the first. In dismissing this branch of my message, I would observe that the local combination against our finances was simply Ku Klux ism applied to the State credit, and naturally had, upon the exchangeable value of our secu? rities, the same depressing effect which that in? famous system has had upon the material pros? perity of the State. THE FINANCIAL AGENT OF TEE STATE. "When the present State Government was in? augurated, (July 6, 1868,) there were only $45 in the State Treasury. A large bonded and floating debt, incurred by former administra? tions, had to be provided for. The ancient credit of the State, that had once stood so just? ly high in the money markets of the world, was gone. It had been blown away with the smoke of the first gun fired at Fort Sumter. In order to meet the current expenses, until money sou Id be realized from the tax levy, it was necessary for the State to borrow on its se? curities. To effect this object on the best terms for the State, the General Assembly authorized the Governor, Attorney-General and the Treas? urer, "to appoint, under a commission signed by them, some responsible bank or banker in the city of New York, to act as Financial Agent of the State." To this end, I visited New York, and conferred with leading banks. They all declined the agency, alleging that the du? ties were arduous and the time of payment un? certain ; that we were only borrowers in the market. While thus eudeavoring to secure the services of a responsible and efficient Financial Agent, the name of Mr. H. H. Kimpton was presented. He was highly endorsed oy prom? inent officials in the State, and by leading bankers in New York, among whom were the Presidents of the Broadway Bank and the Bank of the Republic. Although averse to ap? pointing any Individual banker Financial Agent, for reasons which time has since forti? fied, there then appeared to be no other alter? native, and I, therefore, as one of the Financial Board, gave my assent to the appointment of Mr. Kimpton, but on the condition that he would give a bond to the State in the sum of $500,000, conditioned for the faithful discharge of his trust as Financial Agent. Mr. Henry Clews, a prominent banker of New York, was proposed and accepted as bondsman, and I was afterwards informed by the Treasurer that Mr. Kimpton had executed and filed his bond. It IB proper that 1 should here remark, that the law did not require the Financial Agent to give a bond, nor are bunds ever required of their financial agents by other Slates; but 1 in? sisted upon it, out of an abundance of caution in the interest of the State. I mention this fact simply to show that this trust was not care? lessly conferred. In referring to it, 1 do not mean to intimate that the depreciation iu our securities bears any relation to the bond of the Financial Agent, for, even though his bond had exceeded in amount the total value of our se? curities in his hands, that depreciation and the consequent lots to the State could not have been thereby prevented, as it would have in? demnified the State only in the event of dam? age received through neglect or fraud on the part of the Agent, neither of which is alleged against him. Subsequent events have made it manifest that it was a grave mistake to appoint an individual instead of a chartered company as our Financial Agent. An individual bank? er, whatever may be his capacity as a financier, cannot, in the management of large money transactions, command the same high degree of confidence, on the part of capitalists, that a corporation can. Especially is this the case when'the basis of the proposed negotiation consists of a class of securities new to the market, at a time, too, when there was an ac? tive speculative movement in the stocks and bonds of all the Southern States, and the value of the curreucy to holders was constantly made to fluctuate by operations of speculators in gold market. Hence, I again visited New York, a year ago, for the purpose of effecting a change in the Financial Agency. I found this im? practicable, as the State was indebted to the Agent, and could not then arrange to liquidate that indebtedness. The Financial Agent has probably done the best he could, under the circumstances, embar? rassed and checked as he was by constant "bear" movements, originating in the State, as a part of an organized scheme to discredit its existing administration. Nearly every leading man of the opposition?those who had capital and those who had none, but pretended to have it? joined in this scheme. 1 am ready to take my share of the responsibility for our present finan? cial embarrassment; but those citizens who combined against the credit of the State, at home and abroad, and systematically deprecia? ted the market value of its securities, cannot evade theirs. 1 am, in public estimation, hold responsible for the action of the Financial Board, when, in law and in fact, the Governor has no more power in the Board than any pri? vate citizen who might be a member of it. I vwould add, in reference to the Financial Agent, that he has been greatly embarrassed by the practice, on the part of the Treasurer, of draw? ing upon the agency for funds to meet the cur? rent expenses of the State, in the interim be? tween the periods fixed for the payment of taxes, thus creating a floating debt constantly in advance of the revenue. I do not mean to censure the Treasurer for this course, as he doubtless thought it warranted by the exigen? cies of the Treasury; but the practice is a bad one, apd I would recommend that it should be prohibited by proper legislation, which should at the same time provide that hereafter no money shall be borrowed or debt contracted to defray the current expenses of the State Gov? ernment, but let all those to whom money is due from the State await the collection of the taxes. This course, coupled with a system of rigid entrenchment, will soon lift the State above all present financial embarrassments, and prevent their recurrence in the future. For a detailed statement of the transactions of the Financial Agent, I refer you to his re? port to the Comptroller XJeneral, for the quar? ter ending SeptemberUO, 1871; EXPENDITURES OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT. White holding the political opponents of the State Government responsible for the great de? preciation in the market value of our securities ?a depreciation directly due. to the conspiracy against the credit of the State??I am bound by my Bcnse of public duty to expose to the repro? bation of the people the improvident expendi? tures incurred by the General Assembly, and the extravagant and improper disbursement of the State moneys, to which the legislative de? partment; has given either its express or im? plied sanction. In so doing, I do not wish to be considered as wanting in a due and proper respect to a corordinate branch of the State Government, but I desire to appeal, in plain and earnest language, to the sober judgment, the decent self-respect and the public spirit of each member of the General Assembly, to give his active aid in effecting an instant reform in thiB direction; for the whole people, with uni? ted voice, demand it, and the condition of our finances, and every instinct of Belf-preservation, require it at your bands. It would scarcely have been possible for the men who combined to destroy the credit of the State, to have executed their purpose so suc? cessfully, had not the General Assembly lent them its practical co-operation, by exhausting, through its extravagance, the funds in the Treasury, thus leaving the State without any reserve balance to meet the financial exigency. I instance the following, among many other items of extravagant expenditures: The money drawn upon the orders of the presiding officers of the two Houses during the last session for curreut printing amounts to $68j904.90. In ad? dition to this large sum, $30,000 were appropri? ated for current printing for the same session, making a total of $98,904.90 expended on this item alone. There was further drawn from the Treasury aud disbursed by the Clerks of the Senate and House, for printing the laws, &c, the sum of $103,651.44? These figures show the enormous aggregate of $202,556.34 ex? pended on printing alone during and' incident to the last session of the General Assembly; while large claims for public printing are still outstanding. In addition to these expendi? tures, the sum of $29,814.05 was drawn upon the orders of the President, of the Senate aud the Speaker of the House, for purposes not very well defined/but designated as "contingent expenses and repairs," making an aggregate, for the above specified objects, of $232,370.39? a sum startling in its magnitude for one session of the General Assembly, and which may well bid the legislative department pause in the path that it has been pursuing. The appropriations, including those vetoed by the Executive, aggregate a total of $480,000. To this, is to be added the amount of $103,651. 44, as shown above, drawn upon the certificates of the Clerks of the two Housee of the General Assembly, on account of printing the laws, and the grand total of expenditures, on account of "legislative expenses," amounts to $583,651.44. As an evidence of the pernicious consequen? ces of permitting this "money order" system on the part of the presiding officers of the Senate and House, I refer to the facts, well known to the members of the General Assem? bly, that during the past year, upon the order of (he Speaker of the House, an alleged liabil? ity against the State was eontracted, to the amount of $91,500, for furniture for the State House. This was entirely without warrant of law, and if the principle is admitted that mon? eys can be thus drawn from the Treasury, or debts contracted without "appropriationsmade by law," then all proper safe-guards of the Treasury are broken down, and a few ministe? rial officers in the State may mortgage its rev? enue in advance, or deprive it at Will of the means of meeting its legal liabilities. TF1E PAY OF MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL AS^ BEMBLYi The first Mipbi'tont measure of retrenchment demanded by our financial condition, is a great reduction in the amount received by members of the General Assembly for their services. The Constitution provides, (Article II, Sec* tion 23,) that "each member of the first Gener? al Assembly, under this Constitution, shall re? ceive six dollars per diem, while ill session*, and the further sum of tweuty cent? for every mile of the ordinary route of travel in going to and returning from the place where such session is held, after which they shall receive such com? pensation as shall be fixed by law; but no General Assembly shall have the power to in? crease the compensation of its own members." I would recommend that, in 'irt'i of a per diem, each member shall receive a .nual salary, to be fixed at such a rate as will greatly diminish the cost to the State of the sessions of the General Assembly, as compared with the amount now paid under the system of ])or diem com? pensation. It will also enable the General As? sembly to provide an assessment for the amount required for the pay of its members, and will enable them to obtain their pay with certainty. I am satisfied that a moderate, yet adequate, salary could be provided by law, and a great saving be thereby effected to tbe State Treas? rv. You would thereby also greatly diminish the incidental expenses of the General Assem? bly, by destroying what miglit offer a great in? ducement to many members to prolong the ses? sions. I cannot refrain from expressing the hope that the present session of tne Legislature will be a short and economical one,- as the financial condition of the State will not admit of an un? necessary expenditure of money. All the in i Alienee of the Executive of the State will be j exerted in accomplishing this end, find he trusts j that he will have the active sympathy and ! co-operation of each and every member of the j legislative department. The large amount of money paid to the at? taches, such as clerks,- messengers, porters, &c., is without a parallel in the history of legisla? tive bodies, ft was claimed at the time by the members, that most of these were men who had been driven from their homes on account of their political opinions, and it became the duty of the General Assembly to provide means for their support. While this may be true, and . that it may have devolved upon the State Gov* ernment.to provide some means for their pre* tection arid support, yet averyunUBUalande** pensive mode of extending that support vra* adopted. It might have been but justice to have made a regular appropriation, and levied it upon the Counties from which these men were driven: thus the victims of political pre* judice would have been provided for and the actual perpetrators of-thcse outrages made to feel that it was an expensive way of controlling political opinions. The commission to codify the laws have been in existence for nearly three years, and has cost the State about $50,000, and "its work is not yet completed. It is the opinion of some of the best legal minds of the State that this work could have been done thoroughly at a cost of not more than $5,000. I would, therefore, re* commend that this standing reproach to the State Government, and unnecessary drain upon the Treasury, be removed without delay, by abolishing the Code Commission and employ* ing a competent jurist to complete the codifica? tion of our laws. I recommend that the office of Land Commis* ??oner be abolished, and that the duties of the office be devolved upon the Secretary of State? ?' GENKRAL REDUCTION OF SALARIES. The thirty-one School Commissioners, at their present salaries, which are exceedingly large for the amount of service that they ren* der, cost the State $31,500 per annum, I, there? fore, recommend a material reduction in the salaries of School Commissioners, so as to re* duce the expenditures on this account to a sunt not exceeding $10,000.^ There is a great and instant need for the fe* duction of the salaries of State officers, and for a decided diminution of the clerical force em* i vloyed in many offices of the Executive De* partment. In some cases the State is paying clerks'to perform duties that should be, andean be, discharged by'the officers themselvesi In my opinion, the salaries of all officers, except the Judges, should be reduced one-third. - The office of Assistant Adjutant-General should be abolished, and the Adjutant-General should be required to perform the duties of his office. The office of State Auditor should be abol* ished, and its duties performed by the Comp? troller-General. The office of County Auditor can be diss pensed with without injury to the public service) and the duties of that office devolved upon the County Treasurer, thus effecting a saving to the State of not less than $50,000 per annum) and securing even increased efficiency in the collection of taxes? TRi?L JUSTICES. I invite your early attention to the reodhU mendations of my last Message in regard to Trial Justices. The aggregate cost of this class of officers is very near one ""hundred and twenty thousand (120,000) dollars annually. The Tri? al Justices in the city of Charleston alone en? tail upon the County an expenditure of about thirty-five thousand (85,000) dollars a year. I would therefore urge, in addition to my former recommendations on this subject, that the office of Trial Justice be abolished in the City of Charleston, and that, in lieu thereof, three Po? lice Judges be created for that city, who shall receive adequate salaries, aud shall exercise the jurisdiction vested in Trial Justices; I would further recommend the appointment of one Police Judge in each of our principal towns; dispensing with Trial Justices therein, and Yes ting in such Judges the judicial powers now exercised by the Mayors' Courts, as, under ex? isting Acts, the Mayors and Intendants of our cities and towns may crowd our jails with prim oners sentenced for trifling offences, thus increasing the expenses of the several Coun? ties; RECORDER OF THE CITY OF CHARLESTON; I recommend that the office of Recorder of the city of Charleston be abolished forthwith; This is a State office created by Act of the Gen? eral Assembly many years ago, but it has for a long period fallen into utter disuse. Although the Recorder receives a salary of twenty-five hundred (2,500) dollars per annum, and has a clerk at six hundred (600) dollars per annum; payable by the city, I am credibly informed that he has not held more than .two sessions of the City Court, for the trial of criminal and civil causes, during the past ten or twel ve yean; It is a mere excrescence on our judicial system^ and the people of Charleston should no longer be taxed to sustain it> CLERKS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE; I Would especially direct your attention, itt this connection) to the propriety of reducing salaries of the Clerks of the Senate and House; Taking the number of days on which these of* ficers are presumed to be employed, their com pensati'm per diem, respectively, is more thart live t[uics greater than that received by a mem? ber of the oody in which they are subordinates^ while the annual salaries of each equals the highest received by any officer in the State, ex? cept the Chief Justice. This is an anomaly without precedent in any other State, and un? warranted by the present condition of the State Treasury. ADDITIONAL LEGISLATION REQUIRED T? REG? ULATE PUBLIC PRINTING. I recommend that the present system for the public printing be changed without delay, and the great draiu upon the Treasury, caused there1 by, checked at once. The authority vested id the Clerks of the Senate and House,, in regard to the printing, should be rescinded, and a proper safeguard, and a rigid system of ao couutability instituted, to insure the strictest economy iu this very considerable branch of the public expenditures. It should not be left to the discretion of subordinate officers of the General Assembly, however honest and judi* cious they may be in the discharge of such a trust. The existing system has involved art expenditure for printing so great as to hav? proved a real calamity to the State; It hSs certainly eventuated in a contract for the pub* lie printing which is a flagrant fraud tip?? the Treasury, and should be instantly annu lied. I have ascertained that the company with which the printing contract has been made, to wit: the Republican Printing Company, neith? er owns nor controls any journal or printing establishment; and is even without legal exis tencey but has the Work executed in this city at the regular market rates, and thus derives am inimease profit from the Treasury of the State, without any outlay on their part. STATE REVENUES. Under existing laws for the assessment and collection of taxes, real estate is made to bear an Undue proportion of the burdens of taxa? tion. For the purpose, therefore, of raising at sufficient revenue to defray the current expen? ses of an economical administration of the State, and meet its obligations to its creditors, while at the samo time lessening its tax on re? alty, 1 make the following recommendations* These recommendations, if judiciously carried out, will secure the payment of taxes on clas j ses of property hitherto practically exempt fron? \ " [Omeludctl on Fourth P.'jr.)