742 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 



the institutions. The society at its meeting 

 recommended that the English language and 

 literature should hold a more prominent place 

 in both preparatory and higher courses of in- 

 struction. The American Sabbath Tract Soci- 

 ety had received $6,543. Three journals in the 

 English language, one in Dutch (in Holland), 

 one in Swedish (in Sweden), and one Hebrew 

 journal are published under its care. The re- 

 ceipts of the Missionary Society had been, from 

 all sources, $12,039. The society had support- 

 ed a mission in China, with three American 

 missionaries, two native preachers, and eight 

 other native laborers, with which a dispensary 

 was connected ; a mission in Holland ; a mis- 

 sion to the Jews, home missions, and a Scan- 

 dinavian mission, in the United States, in which 

 twenty -six laborers were employed. The 

 whole number of additions by baptism during 

 the year in all the missions was ninety-one. 



The Seventh -Day Baptist General Confer- 

 ence met at Leonardsville. N. Y., August 22. 

 The Rev. L. A. Platts presided. A record was 

 entered of the organization of a new associa- 

 tion the South Western of eight churches at 

 Texarkana, Ark. Four other churches in the 

 South were admitted to the Conference. The 

 Memorial Board reported that the amount of 

 the memorial fund, excluding original notes for 

 $14,148 and certain real estate not estimated, 

 was $111,924. Provision was made for the 

 more complete collection of materials for the 

 history of the denomination and its churches 

 through the action of individual churches, pas- 

 tors, and families. In view of the movement of 

 the Women's Christian Temperance Union for 

 promoting the observance of Sunday as the 

 Sabbath, the Woman's Executive Board was 

 authorized to present a memorial to that body 

 explaining the reasons why the women of this 

 Church could not join in its effort ; and a reso- 

 lution adopted by the Conference declared all 

 legislation "against rightful business on Sunday" 

 unwarrantable from a religious point of view, 

 and protested, " in the name of religious liberty, 

 against all infringement upon the rights and 

 duties of Sabbath-keepers by such legislation." 

 Another resolution declared that "total absti- 

 nence from the use of all intoxicating bever- 

 ages is the imperative duty of every individual, 

 and the suppression of the manufacture and 

 sale of such beverages, by law, is the duty of 

 the state." A committee was appointed to con- 

 sider and develop a proper method for bring- 

 ing about united action by the young people of 

 the denomination in denominational work. 



SOUTH CAROLINA. State Government. The fol- 

 lowing were the State officers during the year: 

 Governor, John P. Richardson, Democrat ; 

 Lieutenant-Governor, William L. Mauldin ; 

 Secretary of State, William Z. Leitner, who 

 died early in the year and was succeeded by 

 J. F. Marshall by appointment of the Gov- 

 ernor; Treasurer, Isaac S. Bamberg; Comp- 

 troller-General, J. S. Verner, elected by the 

 Legislature in December, 1887, to fill out the 



unexpired term of William E. Stoney, who re 

 signed ; Attorney-General, Joseph H. Earle ; 

 Superintendent of Education, James H. Rice; 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, A. P. Butler; 

 Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court, W. D. 

 Simpson ; Associate Justices, Henry Mclver 

 and Samuel McGowan. 



Finance. The revenues for the year ending 

 Oct. 31, 1888, amounted to $1,163,218.21, not 

 including the balance from the previous year 

 of $104,385.05, and were derived from the 

 following sources: Direct taxes, $582,611.78; 

 phosphate royalty, $187,064.12 ; deficiency 

 bonds and stock, $322,367.46: Department 

 of Agriculture, $31,562.14 ; railroad assess- 

 ment, $8,139.62. The annual interest charge 

 on the State debt was $356,126.81. For all pur- 

 poses the total expenditures were $1.190,482.63, 

 leaving a balance in the treasury, Nov. 1, 1888, 

 of $77,120.63. The personal property in the 

 State was assessed for the year at $41,407,412, 

 the real estate at $84,261,348, and railroad 

 property at $16,317,394, aggregating $141,- 

 986,154. The State tax of five mills on this 

 valuation yielded $709,734.91. The poll-tax is 

 not uniformly collected, as the returns show 

 only 1,576 polls in Charleston, while there 

 were 6,089 in Spartansburg. 



State Debt. The deficiency bonds and stocks, 

 which became due and payable on July 1 and 

 amounted to $420,692.26, have been settled as 

 follow: $20,962.26 were bought up and can- 

 celed by the Sinking-Fund Commission ; $177, 

 913.79 were exchanged for 4^-per-cent. bonds, 

 under the act of the last General Assembly; 

 and $216,898.48 was redeemed for cash realized 

 from the sale of the 4^-per-cent. bonds, as au- 

 thorized by the act, leaving a balance of $5,- 

 187.73 of bonds and stock yet to be redeemed 

 in cash. The remaining portion of the State 

 debt, which has been funded under the con- 

 solidation acts of 1873, 1878, and 1879, consists 

 of consol. stocks, $2,161,140.26 : consol. bonds, 

 $3,841,000; and the Agricultural College stock, 

 a permanent fund of $191,800. These amounts 

 added to the 4$-per-cent. stock of $183,000 

 and 4-per-cent. bonds of $217,000, together 

 with the $5.187.73 deficiency bonds and stocks 

 to be redeemed, makes the total funded debt 

 $6,599,127.99. The 4^-per-cent. bonds, known 

 in the State as " blue bonds," were advertised 

 for sale in New York and London, but no bid 

 having been received, the entire issue was pur- 

 chased, in some cases at a premium, by citizens 

 of South Carolina. The bonds redeemable in 

 1893 are selling at a premium. 



Legislative Session. The Legislature elected 

 in November met on the 27th of that month. 

 On Dec. 12 it re-elected United States Senator 

 Matthew C. Butler. The pension act of 1887, 

 which had proved so expensive to the State, 

 was revised and amended, the annual sum 

 available for pensions was limited to $50,000, 

 and each pensioner allowed only $3 a month. 

 An act to establish a home for disabled sol- 

 diers was defeated. 



