The Manning times. (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, January 09, 1901, SUPPLEMENT TO Manning Times, Image 1
SUPPLEMENT TO
Manning Times
MANNING. S. ('.. WEDNESDAY. JANI'ARY 9. 19i1.
GOYERNOR IcSWEENEY'S
SECOND ANNIIAL MESSAGE.
Reviews Conditions in South Carolina
and Recommends Legislation
Deemed Desirable.
THE STATE'S INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS
IS MOST NOTABLE FEATURE OF YEAR.
All the State Institutions Are Reported in Excellent Con
dition'and-the Treasury Department Has Borrowed No
Money---The Cause of the Common Schools
is Strongly Urged Upon the Peo
ple's Representatives.
Gentlemen of the General Assembly:
It is gratifying to me to welcome you as the representatives of the
people under such favorable conditions. You come as the first Leg
islature to assemble in South Carolina in the new century. The
Nineteenth century has been one of marked progress and develop
ment in all the arts and sciences, and it contains lessons which we
may learn with profit to ourselves and which may be of use to us in
legislating for the future: Those who constituted the first Legisla
ture one hundred years ago little dreamed of the advance in all lines
of industry and of the discoveries and inventions which have signal
ized the century just passed into history. We cannot realize or even
conceive the advances that will be made during this century upon
which we are entering. There seems to be almost no limit to the
achievements of the human mind. it is for us to contribute our
part to make the world better and happier by our having lived in it
and to leave to our children a goodly heritage and a name untar
nished. It is your privilege to meet and to counsel with one another
and to consider and enact such laws as will be of benefit not only to
the present but to the future growth and development of this grand
old commonwealth.
The march of material progress and the development of the State.
to which- I had the pleasure to refer one year ago in greeting the
members of the Legislature. has kept up with steady and sure step.
The business depression through which the people had passed and
which was almost unprecedented seems to have been followed by a
revival which is touching all branches of industry. The increased
price which our farmers have received for their staple crop makes
large amend for the falimg off in the yield. Our farmers are learn
- ing the importance of diversified farming and in consequence are be
coming mor e independent.
You need no better evidence of the progress and prosperity of the
State than that presented in the figures contained in the annual
report of the Secretary of State. From this report it will be seen
that approximately fifteen million dollars were invested the past year
in South Carolina companies; and while a large proportion of it ;
-in cotton mill building. vet many smaller manufacturing enterprises
and industries have been organized.
New manufactories continue to go up and we are no longer simply
an agricultural people but are fast becoming as well a manufacturing
State. We now lead all Southern States in the manufacture of cot
ton goods and are second only to Massachusetts in the number of
spindles, and at the present rate of progress will soon lead all the
States in the Union in this important branch of industry. It is well
to keep this fact in mind as you deliberate.
-Taxable values have increased $4,243,695 during the past year, as
will be seen from the Comptroller General's report, but the increase
is not near as large as it should be or would be if our system of as
sessment and taxation were so revised and amended as to have
placed on the tax books all the property of the State now escaping
taxation and if that which is assessed were equitably assessed.
Peace and good order have characterized our people during the
past year. WVe have not been visited by plague or pestilence and no
resort to mob violence has marred the record or stained the fair name
of the State. though in one or two cases the strong arm of the miii
tary had to be called into requisition. but the majesty of the law was
maintained and no blood was shed. In one case there was strong
provocation for summary justice. but with the assistance of the mil
itary the culprits were protected. lawlessness was prevented, and
through the ordinary channels of the Courts stern justice will be ad-~
ministered and the penalty paid.
You as the chosen representatives of the peolie should guardI with
jealous eye their interests and welfare which have been committed
to your keeping, remembering alway.s the responsibility which rests
upon you.
FINANCES.
I take pleasure in calling attention to the very creditable showing
which the Treasury Department will be able to make as to the finan
cial transactions of that department for the fiscal year closing De
cember 31, 1900, as will appear from the statement of receipts and
dlisbursements below. The Treasurer. by his strict attention to duty.
and the uniform courtesy w.ith which he has treated all parties hav
in bu.;n.s reatons with his departmewnt, de'serves high commen
lation and I reel quite sure that he will receive in retiring from the
cftice. which he has so worthily filled, the hearty well-done of all the
people of the State.
Cash Receipts for year ending December 31st. 1900.
Cash balance, Dec. 31. 1899............ $ 508,875 65
Back Taxes.......................... 1,071 63
General Taxes 1899................... 606,510 91
(eneral Taxes. 1900.................... 292,476 69
Railroad Assessments for R. R. Commis
sioners ................. ........ 10,381 64
Income Tax ......................... I,660 07
Annual Insurance License Fee.......... 13,100 00
Graduated Insurance License Fees....... 11,877 99
Fees. Office Secretary State............ 9,450 22
State Penitentiary .................... 10,000 00
Privilege Fertilizer Tax................ 75,214 34
Commissioners Sinking Fund........... 44.029 00
Sinking Fund for Reduction Brown 4;,
per cents:
Loans returned .............S91,241 50
Interest on loans and deposits. 17,995 84
Phosphate royalty .......... 23,475 01
132,712 5
Permanent State School Fund:
Interest account ............ 2,225 99
Principal (escheats) ........ 277 32
2,503 31
Special State School Fund (Dispensary) 100,000 00
Morrill Fund from U. S. Government.... 25,000 00
Insurance Sinking Fund (public build
ings) ................ .......... 73 75
Incorporation Fees ................... 60 oo
Dispensary, S. C..................... ...... 1,913,o69 76
Refunds-sundry accounts ............. 2,384 70
$3,76o,452 01
Cash Payments for Year Ending December 31, 1900.
Salaries .............. ... ........... $ 148,731 50
Legislative Expenses .................. .40,895 77
Education, Charitable and Penal Institu
tions .................... ....... 274,606 23
Pensions ................. .......... 100,815 71
State Special School Fund.............. 100,684 51
Interest on Bonds and Stock............ 273,456 59
Sinking Fund for Reduction Brown 4/
per cents:-Loans ..............-- 70,600 00
Commissioners Sinking Fund........... 42,o48 iS
Clemson College:
Privilege Fertilizer Tax..... -$70,114 51
Interest Land Scrip and Per
manent Fund .......... 9,266 36
Morrill Fund .............. 12,500 00
91,880 87
State Col. Nor., Ind., Agr. and Mech. Col
lege:
Morrill Fund .............. 12,866 23
Interest Land Scrip......... 5,754 00
18,620 23
Public Printing ...................... 11,258 62
Election Expenses .................... 19,248 88
Quarantining State ................... - .-.-10,234 I t
Erecting Monument at Chickamauga..... 5,392 15
Permanent State School Fund.......... 2,320 00
Direct Tax Proceeds-Act of 1884...... i,i16 9o
Miscellaneous Accounts ............... 43,470 82
Dispensary, S. C..
Account proper.........$1,779,631 98
Transferred to School Fund 100,000 00
1,879,63 I 98
Cash Balance, December 31, 1900 --------625,438 96
$3,760,452 01
The claims of the United States Government against the State of
South Carolina for the payment of which at one time the State was
seriously pressed and notice of suit given, are now in abeyance for
want of authority to prosecute said claims in the Courts. And it is
hoped that an equitable adjustment and settlement of the counter
claims between this State and the United States will be effected by
appropriate Congressional legislation which will be final, without the
p)ayment of any moneys by the State.
The State of South Carolina holds United States 4 per cent. bonds
with interest payable quarterly to the amount of seventeen hundred
dollars, which mature on July Ist, 1907. The State Treasurer re
ceied a circular letter from the Treasury Department at Washing
u~n, D. C.. calling attention to Section I I of an Act of Congress
passed and approved March 14th, 1900, proposing to exchange these
andl similar bonds for two per cent. gold bonds. The Treasurer does
not think that he has authority of law to surrender and exchange the
bonds now held by the State. If the General Asseiby should deem
it advisable to make such exchange it would be necessary for special
legislative authority to be given him.
At the close of each fiscal year, it is always a matter of anxiety and
doubt to the Treasurer as to whether he will have at command funds
to meet the January interest on the public debt and the current ex
p~enses of the State government. This state of affairs arises from the
dlelav in collecting the State taxes under existing law. If the tax
books were made to close on the Isth of December instead of the 3Ist
of December, as is and has been the case for the last few years, this
doubt and uncertainty wvould be removed and no one be oppressed
thereby. It is wvell known that those most able to pay their taxes are
generally tihe last to do so. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, we
have been able to meet all demands against the Treasury without re
course to borrowing or over-drafts upon banks.
In my' Annual :Message to tile last General Assembly I asked their
attention to thle condition oi certain bonds to which mine had been
called by the Treasurer, to wit: thirty--seven (37) bonds of $1,000
each. issued by the State in 1859 in aid of the Blue Ridge Railroad,
and which have heretofore been carried on the Treasurer's books as
--Old Bonds Fundabie." but which can now no longer be so carried.
Thlese bonds among others, it has been established in tihe Courts,
........,imlrelam~ mided fr~oml one of the old banks of this State
known as the State Bank-by Sherman's army in its march through
the State in 1865. Notice was immediately given of the losts of Gie
bonds to the Treasurer, and that officer was cautioned not to recog
nize any one presenting them as the owner.
Under the Act of 1869 requiring the old banks to resume business
or go into liquidation, the Attorney General of the State had this
bank put into the hands of a receiver, and so the winding up of its
affairs has been from that time under the direction of the Attorney
General. Upon his motion in 1870 an injunction was issued enjoin
ing the Treasurer from paying any of these bonds without the sanc
tion of the Courts. All but the said thirty-seven bonds, or thirty
eight, for there seems to be some question as to one, have been from
time to time recovered and funded, and the proceeds distributed
under the direction of the Courts.
There have been several applications to the Legislature for leave
to fund the said thirty-seven or thirty-eight bonds, and proceedings
in the Courts were had for mandamus to require the Treasurer to do
so without further action of the Legislature. In all of these the mer
its of the case have been thoroughly investigated, and the Courts
have declared the bank the owner of the bonds, and its receiver the
only person entitled to fund them. In the mandamus proceedings, in
which all the judges in the State were called to sit en banc, (though
all but two ultimately decided that the Treasurer was not authorized
to fund without special action of the Legislature, two holding that he
was and that the receiver was entitled to have the lost bonds funded
without such action) the judges were unanimous as to the merits of
the claim. Previous Legislatures have hesitated to allow the bonds to
be funded, fearing that some one might possibly turn up with the
bonds. and claim to own and fund them as an innocent holder. But
as I pointed out last year this danger is now removed, as in this case
the twenty years from maturity, during which these bonds might
have been funded by the Treasurer upon their presentation and deliv
ery to him by any such holder, expired on the 1st of July, 1899, and
any such holder is now barred under the Act of 1896.
Under these circumstances, the claim of the bank to be allowed to
renew and fund these bonds in my judgment is valid and just, and
should be allowed. It is not denied that the State owes the bonds to
some one-they are carried as part of the old debt of the State on the
books of the Treasurer as owing to some one-the Courts have de
creed the bank to be the owner-no one else can now claim them, as
all persons but the bank are barred under the Act of 1896 from doing
so. It seems to me that in the face of these .facts it will be a little
short of repudiation if we continue to refuse to allow the receiver
of the bank to fund these bonds.
In some States, provision is made for the renewing of lost or de
stroyed bonds, without requiring action of the Legislature in specific
cases; it might be wise in this State to make a similar provision, as
the renewing of such lost evidence of indebtedness should be a matter
of judicial rather than legislative inquisition and remedy; and for the
further reason that everything which adds assurance to the creditor
that he will be paid even though he loses the paper evidence of his
debt adds to the credit of the State.
I have gone somewhat into the merits of this matter as~I cannot but
feel that the credit and honor of the State are now to some extent in
volved. I earnestly recommend it to the attention of the General As
sembly as one upon which some action should be taken, for the bonds
can no longer be carried on the Treasurer's books as "Old Bonds
Fundable."
EDUCATION.
Not the least gratifying evidence of our progress is the remark
able awakening in all departments of education. At the beginning
of the century just closed the civilized world knew no such thing as
a State system of education; and in many quarters, until a compara
tivelv recent date, the position of those who advocated free public
education as a legitimate function of State government was stub
bornlv contested, the opposition in our State being largely due to
peculiar racial and social conditions. State education is now the
settled policy of our, country, being recognized as both a function
and. a duty of the government; and it may well be questioned
whether the nineteenth century has made a more important contri
bution to the cause of democracy and civilization. Since 1870 the
public expenditure for common schools in the United States hlas
nearly trebled, being now $2.67 per capita of population, or an ag
gregate of $200,0o0,000 annually. It is a principle now well recog
nized. that the safety of the government itself requires that it give
its citizens the opportunity to fit themselves for an intelligent dis
charge of their duties to the State.
Encouraging reports come from the schools and colleges of our
own State, indicating t'at they have entered upon an era of unex
ampled prosperity. And yet much remains to be done to increase
the efficiency of our public schools. Tile first essential is teachers of
high moral character and adequate professional equipment. Our
teachers have better opportunities for professional training than
ever before, and they show a higher average of intelligence and pro -
fessional fitness ; but they are too often poorly paid for their ser
vices, and the best results cannot be expected until the schools, in
steadl of advertising for bids from teachers, offer adequate pay and
demand good qualifications.
The complaint is made, and not unjustly, that our school system
is not~ well articulated ; that no provision has been made to fill the
gap between the common school and the college, and that the col
lege must therefore maintain a preparatory department. While it
is true that very few of those who enter the common school ever
reach the highl school, and fewer still the college, yet those who de
sire to fit themselves for college should have tile opportunity to do
so in their own schools. This deficiency has been met in nmany of.
the towns, and in some of tile country districts, by the erection of
raded schools: but in most of the country schools inadequate pre
aratory training is offered. The result is that many of the country
pupils who dlesire to compete for scholarships inl the State colleges,
or who desire to enter college. are at a mnanifest disadvantage, anai
must either employ some one to coach them, or must attend a pre
paratory school or graded school in town, at a considerable outlay
for board and tuition.
The importance of levying an additional tax for the support ot the
countrv schools cannot be too strongly urged upon our people.
This will enab~le them to employ competent teachers for longer
terms : it will enable them to give their children elementar-y and p~re
paratorv training at home : and it wvill tend to check tile abnormal
flow of population fronm thme country to the town ; it will be bene
fia :..~ - -..,. po..t vA-w. While it is pcossible for the graded