The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, March 05, 1850, Image 4
s .1" * *
The Camden Journal.
PVBL19I1RD BV
TIIO. J. WARREN it C. A. PRICE,
EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS.
TERMS.
For the Semt Weekly, Tlirce Dollars and Fifty CenU !
if paid in advance, or Four Dollars if piyuicnt is do- j
luyid tlir.-e months.
For I'm Weekly, Two Dollars and Fifty Cents in j
advance, or Tliree Dollars after tile expiration of llirrc j
months.
SPEECH OF MR. C. G. MEMMINGER,
On the Question of Recliarltring the Bank of i
the State of South Carolina ?Delivered in
the House of Representatives, Dec. 9, 1848.
The following Resolutions, offered by Mr. j
Meniminger, with sundry others offered by oth- j
er members of the House of Representatives, 011 I
the same subject, were under discussion of Com- j
mittee of the Whole, on Saturday, Oth Decent- 1
ber, 1848:
1. Rrsolred. Tliat it is unwise and inexpedi- 1
cut for a State to engage in Banking, or to subject
its resources to the casualties of Banking
operations.
2. Resolved. That the Bank of the State is
founded on this erroneous policy, and exposes
the public Treasury and the public faith to the
hazards incident to Bauks.
3. Resolved, That it is inexpedient to recharter
the Bank of the State, and that measures
ought now to be taken to wind up its concerns
during the period of its present cha ter.
4. Rcsolwd, That a Social Committee of
each House be appointed, to devise and report
at the next session, the proper measures for carrying
into effect the last Resolution.
When Mr. Memminger addressed the Committee
to the nurnort of the Speech which fol
lows:
Mr. Chairman : I intend to discuss the question
before the House, as one altogether of State
Policy; and that I may not be led aside hereafter
by personal issues, I shall dispose at once of
all such considerations here, at the commencement
of my remarks. \
The force of what I may say is sought to be
broken in advance, either by imputing to the opponents
of the Bank motives of interest, or a
desire to injnre those who couduct its affairs.- i
On the first point, 1 have only t ?say, that there [
is no aetion which the State ca.i take in rela* i
tion to any Bank, which can cause me to gain i
or lose to the extent of live hundred dollars.? j
The second imputation can in 110 way apply to ,
me, inasmuch as a lifetime passed near eacli :
other, has been one of continued kindness and j
good feeling between myself and tiie .President
of the Bank. These relations have been pre
served through the shocks of party excitement
and contention; and at this moment, the only
pain which I feel in entering upon this discus- I
sian, is, that it must produce trials and difficulty j
to a friend, whom in his present state of health, I
I would gladly have saved from this addition.? ,
But events over which 1 have no control have i
forced this subject upon us. I have neither j
sought nor desired the unenviable task which is j
upon me. I find myself at a post which the
State requires me to maintain, and I have no
alternative but to discharge my duty.
The great question which has been brought |
up for our consideration by tiie Message of the J
i i .1 n ?* _.!?
uoveriior, aim uy tae various uesoiuuoas suij- 1
mittcd, is, whether it is for the interest of the !
people of South Carolina, that the Hank of tiie j
State should he brought to a close, or whether j
its Charter should be renewed ? Those who j
think with me, are ol opinion that the union ol j
Bank and State is an unsound and injurious *
connection, mutually corrupting ?nd liiuinaily !
productive of evil; and that as we have succeed- I
ed in dissolving this connection in the General
Government, we ought equally to strive to pro- j
cure its separation from the State Government, j
In order to devclope the subject more fully, it j
will be proper in the first place, to explain the :
connection which exists between the Bank of the !
State and the State of South Carolina, and to 1
. show how far the State is involved in the con- j
cerns of the Bank.
The Capital of the Bank consists of two dis- 1
tinct parts. The first part amounts at present !
to 81,12-3,357 00; and is made up of various !
portions of Bank Stock and other funds which 1
the State owned at the time the Bank was orig- j
inally chartered. To this must he added, what '
is called the Sinking Fund, amounting at pres
ent to 8541,410 00; which is made up oi the
annual profits of the Bank, remaining after paying
the public debt, and also of the sum of 8200,000
received from the Surplus Revenue of the
United States. These sums, amounting to 81,004,773,
are entirely the property of the State,
and constitute the real banking capital of the 1
Bank
But besides this, there is a second part, composed
entirely of Borrowed Capital, which has ;
been placed in the possession of the Bank, and '
is called part of its capital. This consists of
about two millions of dollars, which was borrowed
for the ostensible purpose of rebuilding
the City of Charleston. Only about one million ,
of this was ever needed to be lent out to the citizens
of Charleston, and the remainder has been ,
used by the Bank in its business operations.?
The money was all borrowed on the Bonds of
the State, and consequently the State is answerable
for the whole of it; and any loss which j
the Bank may make, must of course be made
good by the State. The funds therefore which
the Bank is using, and which either belong to ,
the State, or are borrowed on her credit, amount i
in round numbers to three and a hail' millions of 1
dollars. i
There is still a further connection between <
the llank and the State, which it is necessary to '
(level0|>c. By the charter of the Bank the State ! '
lias j;ledged her faith for its support, and in con- 1 I
sequence thereof, the Shite is liable for the is- ,
sues and deposites of the Bank. At present
these amount to $ 1,728,Ut>2, and must be add- I
cd to the previous stun 01 uiree niui a nan 11111- 1
lions, or more accurately, $3,58tl,03'?i; making i
the total sum of ?5,3If),51)4, for which the finances
of the State are involved with the Bank ; <
;md every dollar of which is at the risk of the I
State. An immense machine, involving nearly j<
twenty times the atiuu tl tax income of the State! | j
Such a machine, I will proceed to show, is i
contrary to the spirit of our (.Government, and to
the principles of constitutional liberty.
1. It isso complex in its nature, that few have
time or opportunity to understand it. In a government
like ours, which is to be conducted by
the people, all its arrangements should be made
as simple as possible. All experience proves,
that the more completely any department is re- j
moved from popular scrutiny and inspection, the j
more certainly does it become corrupt. Even j
a mode of collecting taxes which is complex and |
removed from observation, is found tu be oner- ;
ous and repugnant to republican principles. Hut j
Here is an institution vasuy mure e.\ieiis>ne ui.-m
tbe whole State Treasury, which has absorbed
all the funds of the State, and involves her in a
matter of live millions; which has drunk up the
original State Capital, Sinking Fund, Tire Loan
and Surplus Revenue, and must needs be managed
by men expert in a particular science, and ;
which makes out its annual accounts in state- ;
meats which few ever read, because few only i
can spare the time to examine and comprehend J
them. What a contrast to the simple machinery
of the State Treasury, where a couple of
Treasurers receive the taxes of the Fpper and
Lower country, and pay them out as directed by
the Representatives of the people at the annual
meeting of the Legislature.
~ " - - - c* a\ r* ! i...
Z. The Constitution 01 aotun Carolina, vests
the Legislative authority of the State in the Senate
and House of Representatives; but the char
ter of the Bank vests a larger Legislative authority
in a Board of Directors sitting in a Bank
parlor in Charleston, veiled in the mystery created
by an oath of secrecy.
If an appropriation were asked from the Legislature
for any public work, the State Constitution
will not permit a grant to be made until
a bill shall have been read on three sejieratodays
in the Senate, and on three separate days in the
House of Representatives. Of course upon
?i 1!? . n:
eacn roauitig, j.uimiu uistusmuu ui mt hii.-ii.wv I
may bo had; and as each House is required.by
the Constitution to keep a Journal of its proceedings,
and by its rales to record the yeas and
nays when repaired, the people may be kept fully
advised of all that is done by their representatives?and
so jealously does the Constitution
watch over this legislative authority, that itgreat
right arm, the taxing power, is expressly j
retained in the House of Representatives, and i
the Senate is not permitted to originate a bill to
raise taxes. %
Rut the power which is thus so jealously
watched, as to be refused even to the Senate of j
the State, is given at large by the Hank charter j
to the Directors of the Rank. Nay, they even j
have power winch the Legislature itself cannot 1
undo. They have power to contract debts to j
the extent of twice their capital, and can thus at j
pleasure impose upon the State a d"ht of seven |
tvi.ii.li t'm tinntil't \vi?nl?l Im niiliirnd til i
IIIlllllMIf, .....V. rv,.r.v. ......... ..
meet, whether they approved it or not. And ;
that too, not upon open discussion upon a bill j
to be read three times, but upon a mere order of;
a Board made in half an hour, without any discussion,
or if upon discussion, the reasons veiled
by the impenetrable folds of an oath of secrecy.
.
Here then is a clear surrender to an irresponsible
oligarchy of the great constitutional powers
oi iioveriimeiit ? the power to borrow money
0:1 the faith of the public, and the power to
apply it at pleasure. The only barrier which ^
has ever been yet found against the invasions of (
tyranny?that with which Hampden and Pym, j
.lecw.i Anu tlif> fi v&t '
iliiu liivn iiooyiinivo, mv m ?! < u?ic .
of the tyrant Charles; that shield which John i
Hancock and oar brave Revolutionary fathers j
retained at the expense of a death grapple with !
the mighty power of England ?is surrendered 1
to a small Hoard of Bank Directors, in the hope,
forsooth, that we may make money by the op- \
eratioa; thus bargaining away the liberties of
the people ib a ineas of pottage.
But not only lias the State surrendered to this
Bank the power to borrow money, and thereby
to tax the people at will, but she has actually
allowed them power to patronise sehemcs of enterprise,
which the Legislature itself would
scarcely venture to exercise. The Bank may, ,
without consulting the Legislature, or the pco- '
pie,engage in any scheme- commercial, man-1
ufacturing, or speculative?which it may see lit
to foster. While we are gravely debating here |
whether we cut oil five hundred dollars
from the salary of the Adjutant General, or
whether we shall save for the .State the salary
of a .Superintendent of Pnhlie \Y u.'ks, this ols
Legislature may lie subscribing hundreds of'
thousands to a Georgia Railroad, or embarking
in a Rank speculation of millions, or creating
ii;:y number of Dank oflicers and salaries, to he
paid from thai large treasury which the .State :
lias placed in the keeping ol the Dank. |
Gentlemen may suppose I am indulging in
pictures of the imagination, or drawing upon
far-fetched possibilities. Unfortunately, i speak
the words of sober troth and reason. Take up
the Dank Statement now on your table, and
you will find that near half a million of the public
money in the hands of the Dank, is now invested
in Railroad securities and Dank Stocks.
We have been discussing here in the Legislature
for more than two years, whether we shall
aid the great public Railroads from Columbia
to Greenville and Charlotte, and with a great
effort we have at last agreed to subscribe to
them a half million of dollars. The Dank could
have settled this matter for them in half an hour,
by doing as they have done for two of the Gcorgia
Railroads which figure in their statement.
Very probably it was wise and proper for the
Dank to aid these enterprises. 1 am not now
canvassing that point. Rut I think 1 may veil
lure to say, t.iat many years mu.-t have elapsed,!
before any effort could have suece- ded in per
suadiug this Legislature,so to apply the moneys ;
ui'South Carolina. My design is accomplished ,
when I show the met. That fact proves most
strikingly how much greater is the power, and
how much smaller the responsibility, of our
Hank than of our Legislature.
Hut this is not all. The Representatives of1
the people would hesitate much helbre they von- j
lured to embark the public moneys in subserib- j
ing to a Hank speculation, or in building up j
Manufacturing Companies, lint when the Hank ;
of Charleston was established, this other Legis- ;
Inture did not hesitate to subscribe one million :
eight hundred thousand dollars to its stock, on
a mere speculation; nor has the Hank he/dated
to assist various manutacturing companies dv s
loans, all of which may have been made upon i
just views of expediency; but certainly are .
much bolder measures than could have been car-:
ricd through the Constitutional Legislature of
the State.
All these transactions were made by the Hoard
of Directors ; and as far as that is a check, had
the benefit of it. But there are other transactions
nftho li;nilr in ivliii'li tln> St-iti' ni.1V 1)0 iil
volved to the extent of thousands, without even j
the intervention of the Board of Directors. The |
whole issues of the Bank are under the control'
of the President and Cashier, and by any com- i
bination between them, or even at the will of:
the Cashier alone, the circulation of the Bank ;
may be increased to any extent he may please. |
It is unfortunately too true, that hoth Presidents ,
and Cashiers have been found who have betray-1
ed their trust; and although I have no doubt j
but that the present officers of the Hank are per- !
feetlv honest, yet in establishing a great national
institution, we must take it for granted that
it wili be managed by men of like imperfection
witli those who have managed other institutions.
It is within the knowledge of many who hear
- ? .1 i? i i ... i
me, max iwo 01 me private i>amis nave suuereu i
considerably by notes surreptitiously issued j
through the fault or ncgligolice of the Cashier.
The same thing may happen with the? Hank of
the State to any extent, and the people are thus !
exnosed to a danwr which few rx'Oiile are !
i - ?. o Ml j
aware of, and which unfortunately cannot he j
discovered until many years afterwards?possi- j
biv not until the Bank shall have been woundup. I
3. In the third place, it will appear that the !
Rank of the State is the real Treasury of the
State, ai.d as such, it violates the spiiit of all
those guards which the Constitution in its wisdom
places around the people's Treasury.
From what has been already said, it is apparent
that much the larger portion of the funds of
the State is i:i the keeping of the Bank. The
Capital of the Bank, the Sinking Fund, the Sur1
" ' ' ? ? rt II M 1
jiius Kcvenue, tup Lnviuenus irum me uauroaa
?oven the general taxes themselves, all fall into
the hands of the Bank, and arc administered
by men who hold office indefinitely, frequently
for life. When we consider the jealousy which
the Constitution exhibits on this score, it renders
~ l
the Bank still more anomalous. By the 1st j
Section, t?th Article of Constitution, the Treasurers
of the State are to hold their offices only
for four years, and then they are ineligible for a
term. The Constitution evidently thought it
unsafe to place the public moneys i:t any hands
for more than four years. But in the Bauk,:
where ten times as much public money passes, I
the officers remain for life. The President and
Cashier are re-elected as a matter of course;
and when a Director is changed, it is merely
because either some more urgent competitor has
jostled him from his place, or because he is tired 1
of the continued struggle to keep himself before
a nominating Committee.
fc'o too the State Constitution, Article 1, Seo
tiojj 17, enacts that no mono}' shall he drawn
from the Treasury, but by the authority of the
Legislature. Hut from this other Treasury,
money is drawn at the will of the Directors, to
buy houses and stocks, and to pay salaries at j
their pleasure. And whalis infinitely more dan- j
gerous, money is borrowed on the public faith, j
to be loaned out to themselves or their friends,!
at their own absolute discretion, without check j
or accountability.
I cannot exhibit this extraordinary feature in ;
our State Institutions in a more striking liirht !
" O O 1
than at- it is depicted by one of tlio warmest sup- j
porters of the Dank, the late Comptroller General
Elmore, the brother, of the present President.
" The State (he says) presents the anomaly
in finance of placing not only a large Hanking
Capital, but the whole of its Treasury, in
the hands of a few individuals, with no other security
for tlu-ir faithful and honest management
than their individual character. Character is
certain!} one of the best securities which can
be obtained for the discharge of public duties,
but 1 can see no reason why others should not
be added. It is in vain to say, until the human
?1 4 ... o ? Ituftcrn tiftsit
I'llillill'll'I UliUl"! jjUVO 44 lijwiuu^ti viiuhqV) ? ??? |
you can till the direction of your Hunk with individuals
who will serve the State from disinterested
motives alone; and it is a question yet to
he settled, whether you are not paying your Directors
the highest price for their services, without
possessing a corresponding security for their
fidelity and honesty. It is known to be the pr^c
tice of the Hank, to extend to eaeli uirector n
credit to a considerable amount. As tlie State
gives no compensation lor the discharge of this
very important trust, this cannot be considered
unreasonable. Uut it is to be feared that many
bad debts may be contracted thereby, and the
State become a laser-loan ainount which would
have exceeded a proper direct compensation to 1
the Directors," &e,
4. Should then an Institution having such
powers, and governed in tiii3 manner, he connected
with the State ? Surely it must be obvious
to every one, that if the Hank of the United
States was dangerous to the whole Union,
a Hank of the State must be doubly dangerous
to the jtcoplc of a single State. The whole public
Treasury is equally involved in all the casualties
ol Banking. The provision made for paving
the public debt, exists in what is called the
Sinking fund, and the whole of this fund is
lent out by the Bank Directors in common with
the general funds of the Bank. Of course with
a view to make more money, this fund is lent
out to the very latest hour, and if in that last
hour any commercial revulsion should take
place, it would be impossible to call in the fund,
and so the public faith would have to stand upon
the chance of a Banking operation. I think it
may be demonstrated, that such a state of tilings
had actually occurred when the public debt be1**1
min ii*iv*ilili> in 1810: and that most disastrous
consequences might luive ensuetl, il* the Bank
had not received aid .from the new public debt
which was then created.
Neither does it need a labored argument to
prove, that borrowing money upon the public
* - - : o--: 1? -I. _
fiiitli, to lend the same out 10 uiuiviuniua, is <-i
most unsound and vicious system. The Hank
of the State now holds a million of dollars in
this way. Can anything be more obvious, than
that every dollar of this money is at the risk of
the people; and that the people arc in fact the;
endorsers of those to whom the money is loaned?
Take for instance a single transaction.?
One thousaud dollars are borrowed in the name
of the State, and the Bank lends the money to
a Bank Director, it" the Director should fail,
the people must be taxed to pay the money to
the public creditor from whom it was borrowed,
and tiie people thus become virtually endorser
of this Bank Director. Can anything be more
unsound in principle, or corrupting in practice ?
And yet this is the legitimate result of the union
of Bank and State.
I think, then, I may fairly take it as demonstrated,
that the Bank of the State is an institution
at variance with the spirit of our Constitu
mm ? iounueu on erroneous principles,nuu contrary
to those Republican maxims wbiAi lie at
the basis-of all constitutional liberty.
i). The next proposition which I will endeavor
to establish, is that the Rank of the State, from
its very nature, operates to mislead and influence
in a wrong direction, President, Directors,
and the Legislature itself; and that, if the President
of the Rank be a politician, the Bank virtually
gives a master to the State.
Let it be obscured in the first place, that the
Directors are appointed by the Legislature; and
when once in oilice, there is nothing to check
them in making returns to those who have helped
them into place. In a private Rank, the interest
of the Director in the Stock, or the interout
of the Stnekluililors tliomsolvos, would fur
tiish souk* check. But on neither side do these
influences operate in the Hank of the State.?
The member of the Legislature is tempted to
favor as a Director the man who is likely to favor
him with accommodation ; and 011 the other
hand, the Director is much more likely to favor
a man of political influence i:i the Legislature,
than one of mere pecuniary credit. The tendency
of such a system 011 both parlies must be
most unfortunate; and the experience of our
Bank lias most thoroughly verified it. For everv
one admits that the scramble for a seat at
the Board of Directors, and the scenes of electioneering
which are exhibited about this Hall,
are anything but edifying to the friends of morals
and good order, and must eiicn shock the sensibilities
of the friends of the Bank itself.
But the most baneful influence is tlilt which
is produced upon the councils of the country, by
tiie secrecy which is wrapped around the concerns
of the Bank. .Members of the Legislature
become the subject of its influence through both
hope and fear. A man may have procured a
1 1 1 A. Zl. 1 _ it. 11 1
large loan wiucu u uiny ruin nun to ut* caueu
on to pay. A measure vitally interesting to tlie
Bank may come up for discussion, and tliis very
man may be a member of the Legislature which
is to act. Were it known that lie was in the
power of the Bank, his influence would be lost,
and his words would be unheeded. But shrouded
in darkness, he is allowed to stand up here,
and commend himself to his Bank supporters,
or he may even lie constrained or urged by
them to take their part, and assist iu sustaining
their power.
Again. The natural tendency of all power
and influence is to seek its own increase. The
President and Directors are ever on the alert to
increase the funds of the Bank, and ihus to extend
their own power andinflucuce. , Every occasion
is seized to stave off the payment of public
debt, or other demands which may diminish
their resources; and the result is that Government
Banks are ever the active fosterers of all
schemes of extravagance and wasteful expenditure.
We shall see in another part of this a:?
...i. .ii. _ n i. i j 4.1
gumeni wueuier our uauiv uns vscapeu uuo i'ui
tendency.
The last consideration which I shall urge on
this head, is that a State Hank, which ought in
fact to regulate the currency and keep it sound,
operates t'.ic direct contrary, and furnishes an
unfortunate and evil example to other hanks.?
Tins consequence results from the impunity attending
their dc-linqnonces. They know that
the Slate will exact no punishment from the
Hank for trying to make money. Instead therefore
of keeping on hand a large supply of specie
to redeem their paper, they increase their issues
on tiie one hand, because that is profitable, and
diminish their specie on the other because they
lose interest by keeping a large amount ofcoin;
and having thus increased the disproportion to
the greatest degree, they furnish aii example,
behind which the private banks gladly shelter
themselves. The Legislature ilsclfis prevented
from doing its duty, because of the influence of
the hank itself upon their deliberations; and because
of the just application of the adage, that
the nhvsician should first heal hinisef. The
I V
State is obliged to sit down, and sec the best
interests of its people endangered by an unsound
and Huctualing'eurreney
0. Having thus established the radical unsoundness
of principle upon which the llank of
the .State is founded, 1 proceed in the next place
to show, that the experience of other States
unites in condemning all similar institutions, as
baneful to the welfare of society.
The Hank of the United States has furnished
a striking history on this subject, that our poo
pie (who lost three millions in its catastrophe)
need not he reminded of its details. Its condemnation
is written in those deeply traced
characters of national suffering and abhorrence,
which I trust will never be erased from the memory
of our people.
The Pet Hanks (as they were familiarly termed)
furnish another example of the disastrous
union between Hank and State. Our State
from the earliest moment, wro.'e her condemnation
of that system; and as far hack as 18315,
her Legislature solemnly recorded her judgment
that the public moneys should not he subjected
to the casualties of Hanking operations. In this
oninion South Carolina has persevered up to the
present time, repeating her solemn declaration
at various periods, and satisfied that truth is on
her side, Since the connection between Bank
and State has been severed, we have the testimony
of the President of the United States, that
the (iovernment experienced not the slightest
embarrassment throughout all the money trials
of the Mexican war; and that not a single dol
> i? i...? ?i... T
laroi puuuc money iuis uecn iuai iu mv m-.isuit.
Concluded on second page.
Col. Robert Howard, nu old and highly respected
citizen, and for many years Naval Olli.
i- a.. _! < >!?
cor ui mo i on 01 vimm-oum,
. liter ii protracted illness. In respect to his
memory, the llags on the Custom House, and
on many of the vessels in the harbor, were
placed at half mast. ? Cfur. Mercury '..MM ull.
. . - - - x r<wtfr ' ^r* v-> v . ^?r.v -rr^. r
ME jioraKA^o
CAMDEN, S. C.
FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 1, 1850.
??f We call the attention of the community at
lanre, and especially of our representatives, to the
communication from the Lancaster Senator and
Representatives. Lancaster is now, as she ever
has been, " close by" when called upon to defend
her lights.
ABANDONMENT OF THE WILMOT PROVISO.
It is now given out from all quarters that tho
North will abandon the Wihnot Proviso?that she ,
will, rather than push a dissolution, content hersjlf
with the admission of California as a State,
with her present Constitution, and provide Territorial
Governments for the Territories. She may
well be content, when she has all she lias ever
asked. She will have California a free State I?y
the vote of its own citizens, it is true; but its citizens
are made uo from the Abolition ranks, for the
very reason that the eternal agitation of the slavery
question by the North, prevented Southern men
from emigrating there, and made the voting complexion
what it now is. They wiil make tcundetful
concessions, no doubt, until they can get us by the
Nashville Convention, and then, when all help is
gone, laughing at our folly, will finish the work
our degradation.
U*Our weekly readers will perceive that we
have changed the uider of th.n^s. and are gluing
t ictn a page n.ore of reading matter than they
have ever h d before, which we intend to pursue
for the future. The Camden Journal will aflord
as late intelligence and as much general information
as any country paper. Our Iriends need not
fear to lend us their aid Wc intend to do our
part to merit their patronage.
Z&f Willi pleasure we notice that Richard
31. Dvson. Eso., has taken chance of the editorial *
department of the jSuinter Banner.
TWO ROBBERIES.
Some weeks since, a man calling himself Zachary
Washington, robbed the United States of ilr.
Hannegan as Minister to Berlin,, and the latter
was, on his arrival in Washington, robbed of $80.
23T" 3J>". Hudson, the true delineator of Irish
Character, we are pleased to stale, is.now in our
I town, and will eive an entertainment to-inorrow
------ ^ <
Evening. From the roputatinn which he bears
this gentleman is well worth hearing. We bespeak
for him a crowded House. The Columbia Telegraph
of the 2dth, says:
Mr. Hudson's entertainment last evening
was even superior to his former effort. The
" Random Shots from Rory's Riile" were eviidenlly
aimed hv 110 random hand, and the loud
and enthusiastic applause with which lie was
greeted testified the appreciation of the intelligent
audience.
Mr. Hudson on the boards is certainly a trne
representative of the Irish character, and his
merits go beyond this?for, if We are not mistaken,
lie displays the best points of that character
wherever lie goes?oti the stage or oft*.
Mrs. Hudson presided at tiie Piano with much
skill and taste, and her accompaniment was a
....l.i.il.l.. nrlililinii t,i llin mitm-hi iiinmnt
TO TIIE CITIZENS OF LANCASTER
DISTRICT.
At ;i meeting informally held by the ineml>ers
of loth branches of the Legislature, of South
Carolina, in the Chamber of the House of Representatives,
on the night of the lOih ofDecember
last, for the purpose of responding to the proposition
of tie people of Mississippi, to hold a
Southern Convention at Nashville, Tennessee,
on the first Monday in June next, the following
Resolutions were unanimously adopted:
1. Resolved, That we regard with feelings of
lively satisfaction the late movement in Mississippi
in defence of the rights and interests of the
South, and hail it with joy as the first step towards
that firm, united, and concerted action
among the Southern States, whitfh a sense of
their common danger im{>etiously demands.
Resolved, That the recommendation of
the State of Mississippi ofa Southern Convention
to be held at Nashville, Tennessee, on the first
Monday in June next, should be cordially cmbraced
by tiie whole South, that by common
counsels we may avert the common calamities
impending over us through the action of tin,
O'eneral (jiovernment, driven on by the lust o
power and the fell spirit of fanaticism.
d. Resolved, That for the purpose of carry,
ing out the recommendations of the people t
Mississippi it is expedient that in Legislative can
cus, we should nominate four Delegates to repleseat
the State at large in the Convention pro1
osed to be bed at Nashville.
A. Rcsolvc.l, That still further to carry off
the recommendations of the people of Mississipp.
we respectfully recommend to the people ofth'
State, to meet together, on the first Monday i
April next, in the various Parishes and District*
of the State, to nominate as mauy Delegates at
tlioy have members of the Legislature, to meet
011 the lirst Monday in May succeeding at som
central and convenient point in their respectiv
Congressional Districts, then and thereto nominate
two Delegates to reprcseut such Congressional
District in the State in the proposed Con*
vention.
f>. Resolved, That entertaining a sincere desire
to eo-operate with our sister States of t!u
South i:i any movements which they may de.'-t
flm AAtttMiAii rviw\/l nhH linri 1
Iivtvootiij i vj l UIV? IUIIIIII\'II gwuiij uiiu 11UI i
entire confidence in the wisdom, integrity, n . .
firmness of the Southern people, whenassemhl
in said Convention, we feel and express an u
doubting confidence that the people of the Sta
of South Carolina, will yield a faithful and u
flinching support to any measure which s.i:
Convention may recommend.
You are therefore requested to meet at Lancaster
Court House on the first Monday in Ap'i.
next, for the nurnoseof carrvimr out the reco.n
7 1 " I # */ " O (
mcmhtions set forth in tho fourth resolution.
DIXON HAKNES,
(?EO. McC.WITHEIISPOON,
L\ B. MASSEV.