SOUTH CAROLINA. 



095 



be chosen in the same manner, and hold office 

 four years. A Court of Probate is to be es- 

 tablished in each county, the judge of which 

 shall be chosen by a vote of the people for a 

 term of two years. Justices of the peace are 

 elected by the people, and have jurisdiction of 

 all cases where the amount involved does not 

 exceed one hundred dollars. The General As- 

 sembly is required, at its first session after the 

 adoption of the constitution, to make provision 

 " to revise, digest, and arrange, under proper 

 heads, the body of our laws, civil and criminal, 

 and form a penal code founded upon principles 

 of reformation, and have the same promulgated 

 in such manner as they may direct ; aud a like 

 revision, digest, and promulgation shall be 

 made within every subsequent period of ten 

 years. That justice shall be administered in a 

 uniform mode of pleading, without distinction 

 between law and equity, they shall provide for 

 abolishing the distinct forms of action, and for 

 that purpose shall appoint some suitable per- 

 son or persons, whose duty it shall be to re- 

 vise, simplify, and abridge the rules, practice, 

 S leadings, and forms of the courts now in use 

 i this State." 



The qualifications of electors are laid down 

 in the following section : 



SEC. 2. Every male citizen of the United States, 

 of the age of twenty-one years and upward, not la- 

 boring under the disabilities named in this constitu- 

 tion, without distinction of race, color, or former 

 condition, who shall be a resident of this State at the 

 tune of the adoption of this constitution, or who shall 

 thereafter reside in this State one year, and in the 

 county in which he offers to vote, sixty days next 

 preceding any election, shall be entitled to vote for 

 all officers that are now, or hereafter may be, elected 

 by the people, and upon all questions submitted to 

 the electors at any election : Provided, That no per- 

 son shall be allowed to vote or hold office, who is 

 now, or hereafter may be disqualified therefor by the 

 Constitution of the United States, until such dis- 

 qualification shall be remedied by the Congress of 

 the^ United States : Provided further, That no person, 

 while kept in any almshouse or asylum, or of unsound 

 mind, or confined in any public prison, shall be al- 

 lowed to vote or hold office. 



Any person, entitled to vote, is declared eligi- 

 ble to office " except as otherwise provided in 

 this constitution or the Constitution and laws 

 of the United States ; " and the Legislature is 

 prohibited from depriving any of the citizens 

 of the State of the right of suffrage " except 

 for treason, murder, robbery, or duelling, 

 whereof the persons shall have been duly tried 

 and convicted." 



The supervision of public instruction is given 

 to a State Superintendent and to County Com- 

 missiorers, and it is made the duty of the 

 General Assembly, " as soon as practicable," 

 to provide for a " liberal and uniform system 

 of free public schools, " and to cause the 

 State to be divided into suitable school dis- 

 tricts, in each of which one or more schools 

 are to be kept open at least six months in the 

 year. Compulsory attendance, at either pub- 

 lic or private schools, of all children between 

 the ages of six and sixteen, not physically or 



mentally disabled, for a term equivalent to 

 twenty-four months at least, is to bo provided 

 for as soon as " a system of public schools has 

 been thoroughly and completely organized and 

 facilities afforded to all the inhabitants of the 

 State for the free education of their children." 

 The Legislature is also required to provide for 

 the establishment of a State Normal School; 

 educational institutions for the Blind, and Deaf, 

 and Dumb ; a Reform School ; State Universi- 

 ty ; and Agricultural College. A poll-tax of 

 one dollar is to be exacted solely for the sup- 

 port of schools, and an annual tax on all taxa- 

 ble property is to be levied for the same object. 

 The following is section 10 of the article on 

 education : 



All the public schools, colleges, and universities 

 of this State, supported by the public funds, shall be 

 free, and open to all the children and youths of the 

 State, without regard to race or color. 



"When the work of the Constitutional Con- 

 vention was completed, the following resolu- 

 tions were unanimously adopted : 



That the thanks of the convention are 

 due to Brevet Major-General E. E. S. Canby, com- 

 manding Second Military District, and all officers in 

 this department who have cooperated with this body 

 in the framing of the constitution, under the provi- 

 sions of the reconstruction acts of Congress, for the 

 future government of South Carolina. 



Resolved, That this convention will ever remember 

 with gratitude the harmonious relatir ns which have 

 existed between the military authorities, under the 

 command of General Canby, and its members, and 

 that, in this expression of the appreciation of such a 

 pleasant fact, we recognize how feeble words are to 

 convey the true sentiment of the heart. 



Resolved, That a certified copy of these resolutions 

 be furnished bv the President of this convention to 

 Brevet Major-General E. E. S. Canhy, commanding 

 Second Military District. 



The convention had adopted an ordinance 

 on the 9th of March providing that the consti- 

 tution should be submitted "for ratification to 

 the persons registered under the provisions of 

 this act (March 23, 1867, section 4), at an elec- 

 tion to be conducted by the officers appointed 

 or to be appointed by the commanding general 

 as hereinbefore provided, and to be held after 

 the expiration of thirty days after the notice 

 thereof, to be given to the said convention ; " 

 and on the 13th, General Canby issued the ne- 

 cessary orders appointing the 14th, 15th, and 

 16th of April for holding the election, at which 

 the vote was to be taken on the constitution, 

 and all the State officers were to be chosen. 

 Full directions were given with regard to the 

 registration of voters, the revision of the lists, 

 and the taking of the ballots, which did not 

 differ materially from those for the election of 

 1867. 



For the preservation of good order on election 

 days, the following regulations were laid down : 



9; The sheriff and other peace officers of each 

 county are required to be present during the whole 

 time that the polls are kept open, and until the elec- 

 tion is completed ; and will be made responsible that 

 there shall be no interference with judges of elec- 

 tions, or other interruption of good order. If there 

 should be more than one polling-place in any county, 



