SOUTH CAROLINA. 



633 



Coroner's Court," in which, he traced the his- 

 tory of this ancient institution. For eight 

 years he conducted The Parliamentary Re- 

 membrancer, a periodical which was not mere- 

 ly a record of Parliamentary proceedings, a 

 hand-book of "hills" in progress and of votes 

 recorded, but, by its learned annotations, illus- 

 trated practically present legislation by past 

 Parliamentary action. Its essays and notes 

 were singularly able treatises on Parliamentary 

 practice and English law, the growth of pub- 

 lic opinion on great questions of public interest, 

 etc. He was also a very learned antiquarian, 

 and from childhood strongly attached to his 

 native town of Birmingham. He had pub- 

 lished, in 1863, "The Traditions of the Old 

 Crown House in Der-Yat-End, in the Lord- 

 ship of Birmingham" (a famous building which 

 had been in possession of the family for 500 

 years), and had nearly completed, at the time 

 of his death, a "History of English Guilds," a 

 work of immense labor, for the Early English 

 Text Society. He had also gathered and largely 

 annotated the materials for a History of Bir- 

 mingham. He had found time, in his busy 

 life, for the cultivation of physical science, and 

 was a skilful geologist and mineralogist. 



SOUTH CAROLINA. ^ Since the adoption 

 of the new State constitution, in the year 

 1868, the efforts of the citizens of South Caro- 

 lina have been directed toward securing 

 order and prosperity in the public affairs of the 

 State, and rapid progress has been made, 

 through well-directed legislation, in improving 

 and perfecting the State government. The 

 condition of public affairs, consequent upon 

 the recent reorganization of the State govern- 

 ment, suggested subjects of an important 

 nature requiring the attention of the Legisla- 

 ture. Pursuant to the provisions of the new 

 constitution, fixing the 4th Monday of Novem- 

 ber, in each year, as the time for the assembling 

 of the Legislature, that body was convened at 

 Columbia on the 22d of November, and con- 

 tinued in session until the 24th of March, 1869, 

 when it adjourned to meet again in Novem- 

 ber. The previous election had given to the 

 colored members a majority in the General 

 Assembly, since they held V6 of the 124 seats 

 in the House, and 9 of the 33 in the Sen- 

 ate. Of the white members there were 14 

 Democrats in the House and V in the Senate. 

 "With this balance of power in the Legislature, 

 the interests of the colored citizens of the 

 State were not overlooked. The ratification 

 of the fifteenth amendment of the Constitution 

 of the United States was carried by a vote of 

 18 to 1 in the Senate, and 88 to 3 in the 

 House; the law regulating the manner of 

 drawing jurors was so amended that, on the 

 completed list of jurors, " the number of names 

 of white voters shall bear to the number of 

 names of colored voters, as near as may be, the 

 same proportion as the whole number of white 

 voters bears to the whole number of colored 

 voters in the township, city, or county, as the 



case may be ; " and, to insure the enforcement 

 of the Civil Rights Bill of Congress, a bill was 

 passed providing as follows : 



SECTION 1. That from and after the passage of this 

 bill it shall not be lawful for common carriers or any 



otherwise, to discriminate between persons on ac- 

 count of race, color, or previous condition, who shall 

 make lawful application for the benefit of such busi- 

 ness, calling, or pursuit. 

 SEC. 2. A n 7 paxty so discriminating shall be con- 



sidered as having violated this act, and, up'on con- 

 viction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than 

 two hundred dollars, or imprisonment for not less 

 than six months. 



SEC. 3. No act of incorporation shall be conferred 

 upon any organization, the rules and regulations of 

 winch contain features not compatible with the pro- 

 visions of this act. 



SEC. 4. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with 

 this act are hereby repealed. 



During the session the criminal law of the 

 State was amended by abolishing capital pun- 

 ishment, except in cases of wilful murder, 

 and providing for the punishment of rape and 

 arson, by imprisonment in the penitentiary for 

 life, or for a period not less than ten years, and 

 making the penalty of manslaughter and bur- 

 glary imprisonment for a period not exceeding 

 thirty years. The bill passed for the reor- 

 ganization and government of the militia pro- 

 vides for the enrolment of " all able-bodied 

 male citizens, between the ages of eighteen and 

 forty-five years, residing in this State, and not 

 exempted by the laws of the United States." 

 The power to appoint officers is held by the 

 Governor and by the commander-in-chief of 

 the Militia. The organized militia is to be 

 known as the " National Guard of the State of 

 South Carolina," and the formation of any 

 other military organization in the State is pro- 

 hibited. By another bill, intended to "remain in 

 full force and effect until the militia of the State 

 is organized and ready for service," the Execu- 

 tive was authorized to enlist, arm, and equip 

 a company of one hundred men, or more if 

 necessary, to enable him to quell any disturb- 

 ance, and arrest the guilty parties, " when in 

 any county in this State it shall become im- 

 possible, from any cause, to enforce the laws 

 and keep the peace by the ordinary civil pro- 

 cess." 



Many contracts between citizens were made 

 in South Carolina during the late war, in which 

 notes issued by the Confederate States were 

 used as a basis of value. As there were great 

 fluctuations in the value of these notes dur- 

 ing the war and after its close, payments of 

 debts and obligations were sought to be en- 

 forced in the lawful money of the United 

 States ; much confusion existed as to the prop- 

 per equivalent in lawful money for such Con- 

 federate notes. It therefore became necessary 

 for the Legislature to settle this question by 

 some specific enactment. By the act passed 

 for this purpose, the value of these notes was 

 fixed for each month, from January, 1861, 



