770 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 



remarkably great diminution of the bank's as- 

 sets through those in whose hands they were 

 successively placed since the late war. The 

 bank was incorporated in 1812, under an act 

 " to establish a bank on behalf and for the 

 benefit of the State." On September 30, 

 1860, it had a working capital of $7,260,- 

 612.29, its assets being regarded then as un- 

 questionably good. By its operations and in- 

 vestments during the war, the bank lost above 

 $3,700,000, the statement of its president, dated 

 October 1, 1866, showing its assets on Sep- 

 tember 30th of that year to have been $3,500,- 

 000, which he considered as good. In April, 

 1869, the assets of the bank were taken out of 

 the hands of its former officers and placed in 

 the hands of a receiver. From his report it 

 appears that the assets of the bank at this 

 time were less than $800,000, or less than one- 

 fourth of their amount in October, 1866. 



The State and county taxes levied on prop- 

 erty in South Carolina seem to have been so 

 large of late years that a great number of 

 property-owners could not pay them. It is 

 stated, on the authority of official records, that 

 during the year 1874, in the county of Charles- 

 ton alone, more than 2,900 pieces of real estate 

 were forfeited to the State because of the ina- 

 bility of their owners to pay the taxes imposed 

 on them ; and that in nineteen counties, taken 

 together, 93,293 acres of land, equal to 146 

 square miles, have been sold for unpaid taxes 

 during the current year, and 343,971 acres, 

 equal to 547 square miles more, have been for- 

 feited to the State, and are now held by her, for 

 the same reason. 



A large number of tax-payers, several years 

 ago, organized themselves into a body for the 

 purpose of protecting their common interests. 

 At a meeting of the president and the Ex- 

 ecutive Committee of this Tax-payers' Union 

 at Charleston, on January 13, 1874, the follow- 

 ing preamble and resolutions were unanimous- 

 ly adopted : 



Whereis, The Convention of the Tax-payers of the 

 State of South Carolina held in May, 1871, with a 

 view to the protection of the rights 01 the citizens, 

 adjourned, subject to be reassembled on the call of 

 its' president and Executive Committee ; and 



Whereas, The necessities of the times, and a due 

 regard for the common welfare of all interests and 

 classes, require that the tax-payers of the State 

 should again meet for counsel : therefore, 



Resolved, That the Tax-payers' Convention of this 

 State be summoned and requested to reassemble in 

 the city of Columbia, on Tuesday, the 17th day of 

 February ensuing, at twelve o'clock, meridian. 



Resolved, That for the purpose of enlarging the 

 said convention, the tax-payers of the State of South 

 Carolina who are opposed to the frauds and corrup- 

 tions which prevail, and who are in favor of honest 

 government, with exact and equal justice to all, are 

 requested to meet at the county-seats of their re- 

 spective counties, on the first Monday of February, 

 ensuing, and then and there elect or appoint addi- 

 tional delegates, equal to the representation of each 

 county in the House of Kepresentatives of the Gen- 

 eral Assembly, to represent them in the Tax-payers' 

 Convention of 'the State, with a view to the security 

 of right and the prevention of wrong. 



The convention met and was largely at- 

 tended, delegates being present from all sec- 

 tions of the State ; among them some white 

 and black Republicans. 



The Committee on Increased Taxation re- 

 ported the following resolutions, as an appeal 

 to the State Legislature for a remedy to the 

 evil complained of: 



Resolved, That in this State taxation has reached 

 the last point of endurance, and that the tax-payers 

 cannot continue to bear the excessive burdens im- 

 posed upon them. 



Resolved, That the most efficient steps be taken 

 for organizing in every county, township, and pre- 

 cinct in the State a Tax-payers' Union, to member- 

 ship in which each tax-payer shall be eligible, the 

 object of which shall be the reduction of taxation to 

 the legitimate amount necessary for the administra- 

 tion of the government and the honest expenditure 

 of the money raised thereby. 



Resolved. That, among its duties, the Tax-payers' 

 Union shall keep watch upon the acts of the State 

 and county officers, and shall promote all proper 

 legal measures for repressing and punishing fraud, 

 extravagance, and malpractice. 



Resolved, That this convention hereby request 

 the General Assembly that they will amend, sim- 

 plify, and abridge the tax laws of the State, espe- 

 cially that they will so amend the law as to secure 

 a fair and equal assessment of property, and to ena- 

 ble any citizen who has been over -assessed to apply 

 to the courts for redress before he is forced to pay 

 the tax. 



The Legislature so far acted upon this ap- 

 peal in regard to taxation as to pass an act to 

 amend and reduce all the previously enacted 

 laws concerning taxation into one act, and to 

 provide for a reassessment of the real property 

 of the State. 



An unexampled criminal suit was instituted 

 in 1874 before one of the courts of South 

 Carolina by the State against her Governor ; 

 the indictment making no mention of his offi- 

 cial capacity as Governor, but designating him 

 only by his name, Franklin J. Moses, Jr., yet 

 arraigning him for offenses which he commit- 

 ted while he was Governor, because he was 

 Governor, and which he could not have com- 

 mitted if he had not been the Governor. The 

 matter was argued by coimsel on both sides 

 before Judge R. F. Graham, of the First Ju- 

 dicial Circuit, who decided it on June 8, 1874. 

 The decision, beginning with a statement of 

 the case, is as follows : " The question which 

 the court is now called on to decide arises 

 upon a motion made by the solicitor for a bench- 

 warrant for the arrest of Franklin J. Moses, 

 Jr., and upon a m'otion made by the counsel for 

 Franklin J. Moses, Jr., one of the above-named 

 defendants, to strike the case, as to said de- 

 fendant, from the docket, on the general ground 

 that this court has no jurisdiction at the 

 present time to try the said defendant." From 

 the constitution of the State, and reasoning 

 from analogy, there being no legal authorities 

 directly bearing on the case in hand, which is 

 unprecedented, Judge Graham holds "that 

 until after impeachment the Governor is not 

 liable to indictment and trial in the courts 

 of the State." He reviews and answers the 



