The daily phoenix. (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, July 11, 1868, Image 2
judgment lo petty ot?os, involving
the liberty of the accused, subject of
oonrae to an appeal. The State will
thereby be saved the cost of sup?
porting many prisoners in the jails,
charged with small offences, bat un?
able to givo bonds for their appear?
ance at the general term of tho court,
while the committing justice has no
authority to poss sentence upon
them. I would also reeommend that
Justices of the Peace should bo
vested with the power to dieoharge
from arrests in any case where there
is not probable cause, or reasonable
grounds for believing the accused
guilty. This would not debar the
grand jury from investigating the
case of a person so discharged, and
finding a bill of indictment against
him, should the facts warrant it,
while it would prevent much hard?
ship to innocent persons, and expense
to the State, by the law's delay.
In this connection, I would urge
that fees of JUBtices of the Peace,
Clerks of Court, Sheriffs, Constables
and other officers who may bo enti?
tled to receive foes, should bo strict?
ly regulated by statute.
REVISION OF CODE AND CHANGE OF
PLEADINGS.
I invito your earnest attention to
section 3, article 5, of tho Constitu?
tion, providing that "the General
Assembly, at its first session, after
the adoption of this Constitution,
shall make provision to revise, digest
and arrange under proper heads tho
body of our laws, civil and criminal,
and form a penal codo, founded upon
principles of reformation." This
section also provides that tho Gene?
ral Assembly, "for that purpose,
shall appoint some suitable person
or persons, whose duty it shall bo to
revise, simplify and abridge tho
rules, pa nc tico, pleadings and forms
of tho courts now in use in this
State." A well digested codo of
public laws, with a full and clear
index, will be of great value to all
classes of our people, professional
or otherwise. Such a code South
Caroliua has never possessed. The
Commission appointed for this pur?
pose, should be composed of men of
the highest legal ability, and should
be empowered to omit from the codo
such statutes as are no longer in
accord with our Constitution, or that
conflict with the changes in our po?
litical and civil systems. Especially
should the plea of "Benefit of
Clergy," which has so long disgraced
tho judicial system of the State, be
no longer recognized, by our courts.
I trust that the General Assembly
will mako an appropriation suf?
ficiently liberal, to give a fair com?
pensation to tho members of that
Commission for their necessarily
arduous labors.
STATUTE OF FRAUDS.
Section 20, article 1, of tho Consti?
tution,* having provided that "no
person shall be imprisoned for debt,
exceptio cases of fraud," I recom?
mend that tho General Assembly
shall, ut an early day, enact a Statute
of Frauds, and also a new Satuto of
Limitations, defining tho rights,
remedies and liabilities of creditors
and debtors.
ELECTIONS.
I invito your attention to section
3, article 8, of the Constitution,
which provides that "it shall bu the
duty of the General Assembly to
provide from time to time for the
registration of all electors."
It is important to tho safety of tho
Statu that tho rights of its electors
and the purity of tho ballot-box
should bo rigidly guarded. I there?
fore recommend that you will pass
stringent laws proscribing the duties
of registrars and judges of elections,
with appropriate penalties; and
providing also for the punishment of
bribery and corruption at public
elections.
KEMOVAL nv POLITICAL DISAMLITIES.
I would earnestly recommend that
your honorable body will, at nu
early period, memorialize Congress
to relieve every citizen of South
Carolina from all political disabili?
ties. I mako this recommendation
the moro readily, from tho fact that
there are believed to bo none of that
class in this Stato who have commit?
ted infamous offences against tho
laws of war.
Tho statute of disfranchisement
was doubtless wise and proper nt tho
earlier stage reconstruction, and
justly marked tho nation's abhor?
rence of those who, having been tho
trusted leaders of tho peoplo, had lcd
them into robelliou against tho
benign Government of their country.
Yet thc continuance of such disfran?
chisement would bo an anomaly
under our republican system, based
upon tho doctrine of universal suf?
frage. Let us hopo that such an act
of magnanimity will not bo mistaken
by tho class disfranchised, whilo to
deny it will tend to mako them ob?
jects of sympathy, and will be, as it
were, to keep a knife sticking in au
open wound.
EDUCATION.
Civil liberty and tl?3 education of
the masses aro inseparable
Tho safety of a freo Stato rests upon
tho virtu? and intelligonco of tho
peoplo, and it cannot preserve tho
one without cultivating the othor.
All republics of which history makes
mention, have owed their declino
and fall to tho corruption of tho
pooplo; who. having becomo un?
mindful of thoir rights and duties
through ignorance, became the prey
of demagogues through choice. In
a country such as oars, where the
humblest citizen, ii worthy and well
Sialiflod. may aspire to the station of
o highest, and where tho hard
handed child of poverty and toil may
become the chief magistrate of the
republic, the diffusion of intelligence
among the m oases is not only a mea?
sure of public justice, trot vitally
concerns the public safety.
The Government of the United
States has been so mindful of the
importance of popular education,
that it has already given 70,000,000 of
acres of public lands, worth at least
$90,000,000, for the establishment of
schools and colleges in the States and
Territories of the Union. I would,
therefore, earnestly recommend that
the provision .-of our Constitution
upon this subject, be carried out in
its fullest extent, and that as
thorough a Bystem of free schools
shall be established as is consistent
with the present taxable resources of
the State.
I deem it proper to add, that satis?
factory assurances are given that
Congress will, within a brief period,
make a liberal grant of public lands
to this State, for the creation of a
permanent school fund; thus, in a
great measure, relieving our people
from the burdon of taxation for that
special object. I respectfully suggest
that you will memorialize tho Con?
gress of tho United States upon this
subject, and solicit tho grant referred
to at tho earliest possible day.
Article 10, section 3, of the Con?
stitution, provides that "there shall
bo kept open at least six months in
each year, ouo or moro schools in
each school district."
I respectfully recommend that tho
General Assembly will provide by
law for the establishment of at least,
two schools in each school district
whon necessary, and that one of said
schools shall be set apart and desig?
nated as a school for colored chil?
dren, and the other for white chil?
dren, tho school fund to bc distributed
equally to each class, in propor?
tion to the number of children in
each, between the ages of six and
sixteen years. I doom this separa?
tion of the two races in the public
schools a matter of tho greatest im?
portance to all classes of our people.
While tho moralist and tho philan?
thropist cheerfully recognizes the
fact that "God bu th made of ono
blood all nations of mon," yet tho
statesman, in legislating for a politi?
cal society that embraces two dis?
tinct, and, in some measure, antago?
nistic races, in tho great body of its
electors, must, as far as the law of
equal rights will permit, take cogni?
zance of existing prejudices among
both. In school districts, whoro the
whito children may preponderate in
numbers, tho colored children may
be oppressed, or partially excluded
from the schools, while the same re?
sult may accrue to the whites in those
districts where colored children aro in
tho majority, unless they shall bo
separated by law, as heroin recom?
mended. Moreover, it is tho de?
clared design of tho Constitution,
that ali classes of our people shall be
educated, but not to provide for this
separation of the two races, will bo
to repel the masses of the whites
from the educational training that
they so much need, and virtually to
give to our colored population tho
exclusivo benefit of our public schools.
Let us, therefore, recognize facts as
they aro, and rely upon time, and
the elevating influence of popular
education, to dispel any unjust pre?
judices that may exist among the two
races of our fellow-citizens.
AQRIC ULTU RE.
Tho concentration of labor and
capital upon ono product, and that,
too, extremely liable to tho varying
hazards of the seasons and tho worm,
has retarded the agricultural prospe?
rity of South Carolina, and of tho
entire South. The true safety of tho
farmer lies iu tho cultivation of seve?
ral products, so that, although tho
season may bo unpropitious for ono,
he may preserve tho other. Ho
should not imitate tho uuwiso mer?
chant, who embarks his all, though
uninsured, in a single ship.
The impolicy of concentrating so
large a portion of labor upon cotton,
instead of dividing it among mixed
crops of corn, wheat, potatoes, ?fcc,
and tho products of tho dairy, is best
illustrated by tho following facts,
drawn from tho census of I860, and
tho report of tho United States Com?
missioner of Agriculture for I860.
Tho cotton crop of Georgia, tho Em?
pire Stato of tho South, in 18G0, was
701,810 bales, yielding little more
than 830,000,000; while tho butter of
New York, in 1865-one of soveral
products of tho dairy-was estimated
at $60,000.000. Yet tho census
gives to Now York but 170,911
farmer.1? and farm laborers, and to
Georgia, including whito farmers
and farm laborers, and only tho males
of the slaves, 316,478 persons ou
gaged in agriculture. Should tho
female slaves bo included, Georgia
would have actually had a largor
number of tann laborers than the
State of Now York. Besides tho
other dairy products-milk and
cheese-and tho multitudo of smaller
products of tho farm, tho principal
crops mako ia value an astounding
aggregate. Thus, in 1861, tho corn
crop of Now York was estimated at
838,000,000, the wheat at 825,000,000,
the oats at 830,000,000, potatoes at
819,000,000, and hay at 890,000,000.
Including tho minor cerenls, the
producta o? orchards and gardens,
the production of beef and mutton
from pasturage, and a great variety,
of miscellaneous products, the cur?
rency value of the agricultural pro?
ductions of this one State, ia that
year, was far greater th. i the money
returns of any cotton o*op ever pro?
duced in this country; and the gold
value of suoh products would bo
greater than the gold value of half
the cotton crop of 1860, the largest
ever made in the United States.
The grand results aro not due to
any superiority of soil or climate,
above our own, but to a properly
directed and diversified system of
labor, and to superior agricultural
implements and farm economy. The
aggregate product of varied agricul?
tural labors must always exceed in
value tho yield of any one staple,
however vast and well orgnnized may
be the system of labor applied to it,
for marked success in the produc?
tion of that one will lesson its price,
by an undue increase of the supply
over the demand.
The introduction of improved im?
plements of husbandry, is a matter
of vital importance to the farming
interests of the State. With the aid
of proper machinery, and tho proper
uso of fertilizers, our farmers will bo
enabled to cultivate a larger area of
land, and to cultivate it inoro tho?
roughly, than, under tho former sys?
tem, they cultivated a very limited
amount.
Theso considerations become all
tho moro important, in view of the
fact, that, in South Carolina, there
aro 4,000,000 acres of laud improved,
while there are nearly 12,000,000
acres unimproved. Tho recent dis?
covery of vast beds of phosphates of
lime on the banks of tho Ashley,
near Charleston, will enable us to
eurich our worn-out lauds with that
most valuable fertilizer, at a compar?
atively small cost. Largo shipments
of this fertilizer are now being made
from Charleston to Northern ports,
and which might bo manufactured
hero, and sold cheaply to enrich tho
poor land of our own State.
AC ; KI O ULTURAL COLLEGE.
I invite your attention to section
nine, article ten, of tho Constitution,
which directs the General Assembly
to provide for tho establishment of
an agricultural college, upon tho
basis set forth in an Act of Congress
of July 2, 18G2, providing for tho
endowment of agricultural colleges
in the several States. Tho Act pro?
vides that eaoh Stato and Territory
shall receive 30,000 acres of public
land scrip for each Senator and Rep?
resentativo that it may have in
Congress. Under its provisions,
South Carolina will bo entitled to
1,125 pieces, of 160 acres each, rep?
resenting 180,000 acres of public
land, worth in tho market, at pre?
sent, about one dollar per acre, or
$180,000.
This scrip may bc located in any
Stato or Territory having public
lands subject to sale, at one dollar
and twenty-five cents per acre. The
Act also provides that tho money
arising from the salo of such scrip
"shall bo invested by tho Stato in
public stocks, at not less than five
per cent, interest, and tho interest
shall be appropriated for the estab?
lishment of at least one college,
where the leading object shall be,
without excluding scientific and
classical studies or military tactics, to
teach such branches ns are related to
agriculture and tho mechanic arts."
I would also invite your attoution
to tho general Act of Congress of
1864, donating 500,000 acres of pub?
lic land to each State, in aid of inter?
nal improvements. Other States
have, under tho authority of Con?
gress, applied that donation to edu?
cational objects, and I suggest that
you momorializo Congress to extend
the same privilege to this Stute.
STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE AND
EMIGRATION.
A eclobrated statesman has ob?
served, that "Agriculture feeds us;
in a groat measure it clothes us; with?
out it wo could not havo manufac?
tures, and wo should not havo com?
merce; thoy will stand together, bul
they will stand together liko pillare,
tho largest in tho centre, and that it
agriculture." Agriculture is, indeed,
tho lifo of a nation, its very existence
depending upon tho annual produc?
tion of its soil. In view of tho vital
importanco of this subject, and ol
the vast amount of arable land in thc
State now lying wild and fallow, oi
at best poorly cultivated, I respect
fully suggest the passage of an Ad
creating a Stato Board of Agriculture
and Emigration, to consist of al
least threo capable persons, ono ol
whom should bo a practical chemist
This board should bo charged witt
thc duty of investigating and making
known to thc ontiro country tboagri
cultural resources of tho State, nuc
should bo required to mako an au
uual report to tho Legislature, em
bodying the rosults of their labors, um
recommend such improvements ai
they may deem necessary in tho sys
tem of cultivation now practiced
among our people, and such im
proved agricultural machinery as ti
them muy seem most proper, togethei
with tho valuo and mode of usiu{
fertilizers. Thoy should, also, se
forth the attractions that our soil an?
climate and mineral resourcos offoi
to tho thrifty agriculturists, mo
dinnies and miners of our Northen
States, and to those of Enrope. Thej
should, also, present tables, showing
the oost of living, the ratee of
wages, the number and class of me?
chanics needed In the several Coun?
ties, and the price of land, and the
terms upon which it can be rented.
Their report should be furnished to
the Trades Unions of this country
sud Europe.
This information, if properly dis?
tributed, will, I feel assured, start a
tide of emigration that will flow into
and greatly enrich tho State. The
German and French grape-growers
will find in our upper tier of Coun?
ties a soil and climate as genial to the
grape as their own vine-clad hills,
being precisely on the ?ame parallel
of latitude as the great wino-making
districts of Spain and Portugal. The
Swede and the Dauo will find ample
scope and verge for their talents for
mining in our gold and iron and lead
regions, while even the Hollander
may exercise his cunning in draining
the marsh lands of our low country,
which ho may get almost for tho ask?
ing. Our rivers, abounding with
noble falls, aro running to waste,
when they should resound with the
hum of thousands of busy spindles.
These invito the manufacturer of the
North, who will find labor among us
abundant and chenp, and may look
from his own door upon fields whito
with the cotton that supplies his mill.
KAI I,HOADS.
Accordiug to the eighth census of
tho Uuited States, there were957 miles
of railroad in South Carolina, at the
closo of the year 1SG0, built at a cost
of 822.385,000.
It may bo interesting to observe
that tho Charleston and Hamburg
Poad was the first passenger railway
constructed iu tho United States.
It was commenced in the spring of
1829, and six miles were completed
in that year. It is a noteworthy fact,
that before tho uso of locomotives
was established in Great Britain, or
they were known in tho United
States, the directors of this road de?
termined, under tho advice of their
engineer, Mr. Horatio Allon, to make
them exclusively the motive power.
The samo gentleman, iu tho winter
of 1829, made the drawings of the
first American steam locomotive,
called tho "Best Friend," which was
planned by Mr. E. Lt. Miller, of
Charleston. Upon the Charleston
aud Hamburg Road was introduced,
in 1831, for tho first time on any
railroad in the world, the important
arrangement of two four-wheeled
trucks for locomotives and long pas?
senger cars.
The facts here stated aro designed
to show that the Stato has never been
wanting in men of mechanical
genius, with tho capacity to achieve
the greatest enterprises, if properly
encouraged. South Carolina, al?
though the first to initiate a railway
system, has prosecuted it to a \ety
limited oxtent; compared with thc
demands of her commerce and thc
resources of her soil. The facility
with which railroads can bo built in
this State, is ovidenced by the fact
that tho railroads of South Carolins
have cost in their construction less
per milo than any of equal length in
the United States. I would recom?
mend tho fostering of these great and
beneficent publio enterprises by thc
Stato, so far as may bo consisteul
with the proper maintenance of othei
important public interests. At thc
samo timo that railroad corporations
should be generously, but judicious
ly, fostered, yet suitable laws shoult
be enacted to regulato their tariff o:
charges for freights and passengers
I or otherwise they may oppress al
classes by their excessive rates, ant
check tho trade and enterprise of th?
people.
Railroads are tho main arteries o
commerce. They stimulate produc
tion by bringing the market withii
easy reach of the producer. The^
give an impetus to every branch o
trade, while they promote unity ant
good will among great populations
by enabling them to circulate freel;
among each other. I would espe
: chilly recommend that the Stat
.should furnish nil the aid that it cai
expediently for tho speedy comple
tion of tho Bluo Ridge Railroad
Tho importance of that road to tin
people of tho State at large canno
well be over-estimated. Starting a
Anderson Court House, as a pro
longation of tho Westerly branch e
the Greenville and Columbia Rail
road, it will traverso portions of th
Counties of Anderson and Picken?
and of the States of Georgia, Norf
Carolina and Tennessee, having it
Western* terminus at Knoxvilh
wheuco it will havo connections wit
Chattanooga, tho great focal point c
South-western railroads. It will als
connect at Knoxville with roads rm
uing direct to Louisville, Kentucky
and Cincinnati, Ohio. Tho entir
leugth of tho road will bo 190 mile!
of which fifty-two miles lie withi
tho limits of South Carolina. Thirty
four miles of this distance havo bee
finished, and are now in running o
der, from Anderson to Walhalla.
"Tho Bluo Ridgo Railroad Con
[?any in South Carolina" was cha
tered by tho Legislature of this Stal
in 1852; but untoward events, arnon
them tho alleged bad faith of tl
first contractors, havo proveuted tl
prosecution of tho work upon it.
Tho total amonat thus far oxponded <
tho road is $3,250,000. Tho addition
amount required to completo it, is statt
hy tho President of tho road at $3,500,00
This iucroa8od OBtimato of cost per mi
ovor that portion* already constructed
due to tho heavy amount of tunnolii
that will bo required in getting throat
the Blue Bidge. The Stat? now owns
stock in this road to tho amount of $1,310,
000.
The present bonded debt of the compa?
ny is stated at $230,000, secured by a mort
Sage on the road and ita running stock.
iv. J. W. Ha' ison, President of the oom*
nany, states, in a recent report, that he
has made of the condition and prospecta
of tho -Blue Ridge Railroad Company, that
"all that is expected of the State is that
abe shall guarantee the bonds of the com?
pany for, say, $3,000.000. to bo issued in
such sums, and at such times, as the pro
greis of the work may require. And that
the Stato shall provide for the payment of
the interest on the bonds whilo tho road is
being built. For example, the company
could perhaps expend $1,000,000 a year for
threo years, in which time the road can
bo comploted. Tho Stato would provide
for interest on $1,000,000:
First year.$70,000
Second year.140,000
Third year.210,000
$420,000
So I hat by an expenditure of $420,000, to
bo raisod by taxation in threo years, this
groat enterprise would bo secured. Tho
Stato would have ampio security for her
guaranty. A tlrst mortgago on the road
thus eligibly located, costing $7,500,000,
with a debt of only $3,000,000."
In view of the great commercial impor?
tance of tho Blue Midge Railroad tu all
sections of the Stato, and of tho large
amount of ita stock that tho Stato already
hobbs, I recommend that your honorable
bodies will take into your earnest consi?
deration tho expediency of tarnishing tho
company such timely aid as will secure its
speedy completion.
Tho Blue Ridge Railroad, when com?
pleted, will give us a direct connection,
upon the ?hortest line, with tho great
West, with all its inexhaustible supplies
of pork, hoof, corn and wheat, and will
thus cheapen many of the necessaries of
life to our people, and, at tho samo time,
furnish a valuable outlet for our own pro?
ducts. Tho city of Charleston is the near?
est of all tho Atlantic ports to the grout
States of the Wi st, and by tho construc?
tion of this road tho wealth of that impe?
rial region will be poured into her lap.
She may then cast off her widow's
weeds, and become again thc "Queen City
of the South."
STATE HOUSE.
I invite ymir attention to tho condition
of tho State House, and as thc State is at
present too poor to completo it in accord?
ance with its original design, I recom?
mend that it shad bo repaired and titted
up so far to make it tenantablo for the
General Assembly and tho Executive I)o
Eartment of the State. Tho work should
o executed in such a substantial and
proper niauner that it may bo made avail?
able on tho final completion of tho build?
ing. For this purpose, I recommend that
tho General Assembly will authorize tho
Executive to advertise for proposals, with
plans and specQcatiions from architects
aud builders, to bo transmitted by him to
tho General Assembly for its action during
tho present session.
PENITENTIARY ANO JAILS.
I invite your attention to tho condition
of tho Penitentiary building, and recom?
mend thc completion of tho same as soon
as tho finances of thc Stato will warrant
the requisite outlay. Under proper regu?
lations and judicious management, this
institution may not only bo rendered self
supporting, but may becomo a source of
revenue to thc State.
I would also recommend that you will
provide by law lor a thorough and regular
inspection of pridons throughout tho
Stato. I am satisfied that a groat sanitary
reform is needed, aa their prosont condi?
tion makes them tho moans of physical
punishment to offenders, who are confined
within their walls for oven a brief period.
Tho truo design of imprisonment should
bo rather to reform than to punish.
ASYLUMS ANO ALMS BOUSES.
Tho calamities of war have added large?
ly fri tho number of those who must de?
pend upon the public for tho support and
assistance that that unfortunate condition
demands. I therefore recommend that
yon will extend your fostering caro to tho
asylums and alms houses of thc State, and
that they may bo founded and adminis?
tered o.i a broad and liberal basi?, worthy
of a Christian people.
TUE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU.
Tho assistance rendered by tho Bureau
of Refugees and Freodmen to tho peoplo
of this Stato, has boen most timely and
valuable. Whilo it has cared for largo
numbers of destitute poor, who, from
physical infirmity or otherwiso, wore
unablo to labor, it has, at tho samo timo,
mado judicious advances of provisions to
our planters, secured by liens upon their
crops, without which advances thousands
of laborers, now usefully employed, would
bo necessarily idle, and thousands of acres
of land, now bearing abundant crops,
would bo lying untitled, lt has not only
been tho chief organizer of labor in tho
Stato, during tho past two years and a
half, by supervising tho execution of oqni
tablo contracts between employer and tho
employed, enforcing tho rights of both,
but it has iuauguratod and sustained a
wido-spread system of schools, that havo
been open to nil, without distinction of
raco or color. AH, howovor, tho civil
functions of tho .-M ute aro hoing rapidly
resumed, I havo informed Major-Genoral
O. O. Howard, Commissioner of tho
Bureau, that it may bo disponscd with as
an institution in this State, immediately
after tho civil officers shall have been
elected in tho Stato, aud shall entor upon
tho duties of their respectivo offices. Tho
several justices of tho peace can discharge
tho duties that aro now performed by
agents of the Bureau. I havo, however,
requested that our people may continuo to
receive tho benefit of the school fund of
tho Bureau, ns long as tho same is dis?
bursal in the several Southern Staten, for
thu benefit of tho poor.
Tili: LATE ASSASSINATIONS IN KEKSHAW
COUNTY.
I have learned, with profound sorrow,
nf tho recent murder, at his residence, in
Kershaw County, of the Hon. S. G. W.
Dill, a member of tho Constitutional Con?
vention, and a member elect of the Stato
Senate. Air. Dill was assassinated while
surrounded by his family, by an armed
hand of lawless person?. Mr. Fraser, a
private citizen, was slain by them at tho
same time, and Mrs. Dill was seriously
wounded. Tho causo for this infamous
deed is unknown, but it is generally be?
lieved to havo been political. The mili?
tary Authorities have been actively inves
gating thc matter, and havo arreste! and
now hold in custody several persons
charged with -n???s- in, or having a guilty
knowledge of, this great crime. I trust
that a rigid investigation will bo mado,
and thal tho guilty parties may soon bo
brought to justice. It should bo clearly
understood by all, that no man in this
Stato shall bo subject to violence because
of his political faith or utterances. Tho
cu ?zen is amenablo only to tho law, and I
intond to enforco tho laws of tho Stato for
tho protection of every person within its
limits, peaceably if I can, forcibly if I
must.
SUSPENSION OF THE WRIT OP HABEAS COR
rrs.
I invite your attention to seotion twenty
four, artiole ooa, of the Constitution,
which declaren that the power of suspend?
ing the lawa, or the ex?cution of the laws,
shall never be exercised bat by tho Gene?
ral Assembly, or by authority derived
therefrom-to bo exercised in such parti*
cnlar cases only tis the General Assembly
shall cxpreosly pr?vido for. While I am
satisfied that th6te is no organization in
the Stato having for its object resistance
to the laws and constituted authorities,
yet prudonco would suggest that the Gen
oral Assembly should authorize the Go?
vernor to suspend the writ of habeas cor?
pus, "when, in cases of rebellion or inva?
sion, the public safety may require it," or
when, from serious local disturbance, the
due course of law mav bo obstructed. I
would also recommend tho passage of an
Act, providing that, when a party is
charged with crime in any County, and it
should appear, upon proper sworn testi?
mony, that justice will not be done the
State upon the trial of said party in the
County wherein tho crime was alleged to
have been committed, that then the St ato
shall be entitled to a chango of venae to
tho nearest adjacent County, wherein jus?
tice can bo done, both to tho State and
the accused. It should also bo provided
that tho County from which such change
of venue is had on behalf of the State,
shall be required to pay the whole costs
of tho same.
ORGANIZATION OF THE MILITIA.
I invite your attention to article thirteen,
of tho Constitution, providing for tho
organization of tho militia of this State. I
am a-ssurcd that the qnota of arms to
which the Stato may bo entitled, according
to the number of her organized militia,
will be promptly furnished by the War De
paitracnt, upon thc transmission of the
proper requisition.
As soon as the militia shall be organ?
ized and equipped, the military forces of
tho United States, now in this State, pur?
suant to tho reconstruction Acts of Con?
gress, may with propriety be dispensed
with. Although that force has beon of great
value in extending needed protection to
the people, yet tho continued presence of
thc military is a roproach to a Republican
??tate. Our Government must rest upon
obedience! to law, and upon that willing
support that the citizen should give to tho
institutions that protect him.
MILITARY OROEU9.
The several Military Commandera have
issued general and special orders during
tho existenco of the provisional Govern?
ment of tho Stato, which I recommend
that you will declaro of binding force until
repealed or rendered inoperative by Acts
of tho General Assembly. Tho orders re?
ferred to, relate to tho collection of debts,
tho stay of proceedings in the Courts in
certain cases, and the relations ot land*
lords and tenants, Ac. It will prevent
great disturbance and inconvenience to
many of our citizens if the operation of
those orders is continued until they can
bo substituted by tho necessary laws. In?
deed, tho Supreme Court of the United
States has decided, moro than once, that
military orders, issued pursuant to an Act
of Congress, for the government of any
domain acquired by conquest, continue in
force per se as law until formally repealed
by tho regularly organized civil govern?
ment. The decisions to which I refer are
found in 20th Howard, page 276, case of
Eugene Loitcnsdorfer and Joab Houghton.
plaintiffs in error, rs. James J. Wcbh;|and
tho case of Cross vs. Harrison, 21st How?
ard, page G6. The former of these two
cases was brought up by writ of error
from tho Supreme Conrt of tho Territory
of Now Mexico, tho latter came up by
writ of error from tbe Circuit Court of tho
United States for tho Southern District of
New York, and action was brought to re?
cover back dues paid at the port of San
Francisco, California, upon tho demand
of an officer of the army, who was acting
as Collector of that port under a military
order. In both cases, tho Supreme Court
of the United States hold that the Execu?
tive authority of tho United States proper?
ly established a provisional Government,
which ordained laws and instituted a judi?
cial system; all of which continued in
force after the toimination of the war, and
until modified by tho direct legislation of
Congress, or by the Territorial Govern?
ment established by its authority.
Although the caso of South Carolina is
not identical witb that of New Mexico or
tho Territory of California, yot the same
principle of expediency, would appear to
he involved in all, and the same wise
policy requires the maintenance af many
existing military orders to bridge over tho
transition period that mnst intervene be?
tween tho cessation of tho military go?
vernment and the enactment by the Gen?
eral Assembly of the statutes neceesary
for the regular administration of the State
in its various departments.
SALARIES OF STATE OFFICERS.
In view of the impoverished condition
of tho Treasury, and the necessity for the
most rigid economy, in order to maintain
the credit of tho State, I recommend that
tho salaries of all State officers shall be
placed at such a figure as will secure to
them only a reasonable compensation for
tho discharge of their several duties. In
fixing theso salaries, due allowance may
properly bo made for the difference be?
tween the gold rate at which they were
formerly paid, and tho present market
valuo of tho currency; and as tho offices
wcro created for tho bonefit of the public,
and not for the emolument of particular
individuals, those who hold them may well
be content with a fair compensation for
tho service that they may ronder to the
Stato.
I further recommend that yon pr?vido
by law for tho appointment by tho Gover?
nor of a Private Secretary, at such asalarv
as will Becure tho necessary clerical skill
arid intelligence for tho proper discharge
of all the duties of such office.
CONCLUSION. ,
Our gratitude is duo to tho Giver of all
good for tho bright promises of an abun?
dant harvest now visible throughout the
State. Permit mo to express tho hope
that in all your deliberations, tho spirit of
harmony and mutual forbearance, so
cessary to tho dignity of a legislative^
body, "may be carefully preserved, and
that our new Stato, through your wisdom
and prudence, may inscribo upon the
opening pages of its history, a record un?
sullied by tho petty v arfare of local inter?
ests, and that ovory member of your body
will bear In mind that ho owes not merely
a duty to tho particular locality that he
represents, but that tho whole State of
South Carolina now calls upon him for the
unselfish service of his head and heart.
Let us hopo that the era of good feeling
may soon roturn to tho entire people of
tho"State, and that they " ill nunn regard
themselves not simply as tho inhabitants
of an isolated soction, but as citizens of a
great nation, whose Bhips may float in
safety upon ovory sea, and whoso flag is
tho respected symbol of power and liberty
in every land.
I trust, gentlemen, that thc omniscient
Ruler of tho Uuiverso may sustain and
direct you in the arduous duties that lie
before you, that all your acts may iuuro to
the common good of our whole people.
ROBERT K. SCOTT,
Governor of South Carolina.
sc roitil ii, or King1? F. vii, in cured by
using Heinitah's Queen's Delight.