Sl II! CAROLINA. 



SOUTH CAROLINA, Tho Legidature of 

 Mate closed its session of 1873-74 by final 



adjournment on the 17th of March, having 

 continued sitting fr alioiit fivo months. A! unit 

 ts an. 1 joint resolution.- \\civ passed dur- 

 -.'iat time, more tli:ui two-thirds of which 

 1'i-rial laws. Amoiur tho acts and reso- 

 lutions of a public character arc the following: 

 Tu o joint resolutions proposing ainciidnionts 

 t tho constitution of the State, to be \otcd 

 upon hy tho people at the general election next 

 following; the object of one of them being "to 

 insert a clause in the organic law forbidding 

 the iucr 'a-c of the debts of counties, cities, and 



towns; '' of the other, "to limit to two years 

 the term of the offices of tho Secretary of State, 

 Controller-General, State Treasurer, Attorney- 

 (ienernl, and State Superintendent of Public 

 Instruction." 



"An act to repeal section 4 of an act en- 

 titled 'An act to relieve the State of Sonth 

 Carolina of all liability for its guarantee of the 

 bonds of the Blue Ridge Railroad Company, 

 by providing for the securing and destruction 

 of the same,' " was approved March 2, 1872. 



"An act to reduce the volume of the public 

 debt, and provide for the payment of the 

 same," commonly called u The Funding Bill," 

 seems to be most noteworthy among the laws 

 enacted during the session of 1873-'74, on ac- 

 count of its import as well as its present and 

 prospective consequences. The act enumerates 

 all the outstanding State bonds issued, under 

 the acts of 1838 and afterward till March 1, 

 1870, inclusive, amounting to $8,427,844.51, 

 and the certificates of stock issued under the 

 acts of 1838 and successive years down to 

 March 23, 1869, and one issued under act of 

 1794, amounting in the aggregate to $1,438,- 

 782.84, both classes making a total of $9,866,- 

 627.35 ; recognizes them as valid State obliga- 

 tions for one-half their nominal value ; and 

 provides for the funding of their amount thus 

 reduced, and canceling the old certificates of 

 stocks and bonds by giving new ones upon 

 their being surrendered to the State at that 

 rate. It provides also for the funding of the 

 interest accrued upon the said bonds and stocks 

 for about three years up to January 1, 1874; 

 which, added to the principal, makes the nom- 

 inal debt of the State $11,480,033.91, and the 

 actual, as reduced and funded, $5,740,016.95. 



The act mentions another class of outstand- 

 ing State bonds, called "conversion bonds," 

 amounting to $5,965,000, and these it wholly 

 rejects as not valid State obligations, enacting 

 as follows : " That the bonds known as con- 

 version bonds, amounting to $5,965,000, and 

 which were put upon the market without any 

 authority of law, be, and the same are hereby 

 declared to be, absolutely null and void." 



The act provides that the new certificates 

 of stocks and bonds shall bear upon their 

 face the words " Consolidation Certificates of 

 Stock," or "Consolidation Bonds;" shall also 

 bear upon their faces the declaration that the 

 VOL. xiv. 49 A 



payment of tho interest and the redemption of 



the principal are Hccurcd by t! ,n an- 



nual tax of two mills on tho dollar on all the. 

 I.- property of the State, which declara- 

 tion shall be considered a contract between 

 tin Nate and every hoi- : Miid bonds 



and st. 



It provides also that the principal of the 

 <lehr, as reduced, shall be payable within twenty 

 years, reckoned from the 1st of January, 1874; 

 and in the mean time bear six per cent, in- 

 , payable semi-annually, on tho 1st of 

 January and the 1st of July, at the State 

 Treasury, and at a place in New York to be 

 designated by the Financial Board ; that the 

 new issue of bonds and certificates of stock 

 shall be of convenient denominations, but of 

 uniform design and appearance ; shall be dated 

 January 1, 1874; the first coupon shall be pay- 

 able July 1, 1874, and all coupons shall be re- 

 ceivable for all taxes during the year in which 

 they mature, except the tax for the public 

 schools; and that the said bonds and certifi- 

 cates of stock shall be exchangeable the one 

 for the other. 



The act designates the State officers who 

 shall issue, sign, and countersign the new cer- 

 tificates of stocks and bonds ; pledges the faith, 

 funds, and credit of the State solemnly to the 

 punctual payment of the interest and principal 

 at their stated times, respectively, and that a 

 fund shall be provided for that purpose. 



In the second month of the session the fol- 

 lowing concurrent resolution was adopted by 

 the General Assembly concerning the affairs 

 of the Bank of the State, and acted upon : 



Whereas, It is reported that the assets of the Bank 

 of the State are in an unsatisfactory condition, and 

 that the receiver thereof has not made the report re- 

 quired of him by order of the court ; and whereas 

 the holders of a large portion of the State debt have 

 a first lien upon the assets of said bank, which would 

 be satisfied by a prompt administration of its affairs, 

 now delayed from some unforeseen cause : therefore, 

 be it 



Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Sen- 

 ate concurring, That a committee of five on the part 

 of the House of Representatives, and five on the part 

 of the Senate, be appointed with authority to thor- 

 oughly investigate the condition of the Bank of the 

 State, and to send for persons and papers, and or- 

 dered to report to the General Assembly at the earli- 

 est practicable moment the condition of the said 

 bank. 



The committee appointed to perform the 

 duty specified in the foregoing resolution be- 

 iian their work on the 23d of December, 1873, 

 and attended to it in Columbia and Charleston, 

 where tho bank is located, for two months, 

 with but little success, owing to their inability 

 to obtain tho information required of those 

 who had successively managed the affairs of 

 the bank, or been connected with it in any 

 capacity, and especially of one among the re- 

 ceivers in whose hands the assets of the bank 

 had lately been placed. 



The only fact ascertained through the labors 

 of this committee seems to be the gradual and 



