SOUTH CAROLINA. 



703 



SOUTH CAROLINA. The Legislature of 

 this State, in accordance with the adjournment 

 taken in December, 1874, for a recess, resumed 

 their session on the 12th of January, 1875, when 

 Governor Chamberlain sent to that body his 

 special message concerning the affairs and 

 wants of the State. 



He takes notice that the heads of public 

 offices and institutions have generally failed to 

 furnish him at the proper time with the annual 

 reports which the law requires of them, stating, 

 " Even at this late day, nearly two months and 

 a half after the close of the last fiscal year, and 

 seven weeks after the annual meeting of the 

 General Assembly, I have barely been able to 

 obtain several of the most important reports in 

 time to make a brief and imperfect examination 

 of them." As the delay of such reports can- 

 not but be hurtful to the public service, the 

 Governor urges the Legislature to remedy the 

 evil by removing its cause, from whatever 

 source it may proceed. 



On January 12th, the first day of the re- 

 opened session, the following resolution was 

 introduced, subsequently adopted and acted 

 upon in the Senate concerning one of its mem- 

 bers : " That a special commission of three be 

 appointed to investigate and report within ten 

 days on the charges made against T. C. An- 

 drews, Senator from Orangeburg, in the alleged 

 confession of one John L. Humbert, late Treas- 

 urer of Orangeburg County, and published in 

 the Daily News and Courier of the city of 

 Charleston." 



The committee proceeded to Orangeburg, 

 where they took the testimony of the County 

 Treasurer. He confirmed his statement impli- 

 cating Senator Andrews ; and would have 

 placed in their hands the written proofs of the 

 Senator's pecuniary transactions with him by 

 using the County Treasury's money, but was 

 not allowed to go to his house, even escorted, 

 to obtain the papers. He was then in prison 

 awaiting his trial on the charge of having mis- 

 applied the county funds intrusted to him. He 

 was afterward convicted on his own confes- 

 sion as well as other evidence, and sentenced to 

 the State-prison. The committee heard also 

 the testimony of Senator Andrews, besides that 

 of some other witnesses. In order to facilitate 

 the collection of evidence, the number of its 

 members was subsequntly increased from three 

 to five. 



On February 5, 1875, they made their report, 

 submitting also the evidence which they had 

 collected. In this report they unanimously 

 express their conviction that " the conduct and 

 transactions of Senator T. C. Andrews with 

 John L. Humbert, County Treasurer, of Orange- 

 burg, in his office and official character, have 

 been highly improper and unbecoming a Sena- 

 tor." Only in the punishment to be inflicted 

 they disagree : three of them recommending 

 that Senator Andrews should be expelled from 

 the Senate; two, that a resolution of censure 

 be passed by the Senate upon his conduct. 



The matter was taken up for action on the 

 llth of February, when, in accordance with 

 the two different recommendations made by 

 the majority and minority of the committee in 

 their united report, two different resolutions 

 were offered for adoption. 



An animated debate then took place on the 

 resolution for expulsion, in which all the Sena- 

 tors participated, except Mr. Andrews, who 

 was present, with the final result that, on the 

 resolution for expulsion being put to vote, two- 

 thirds of the votes being necessary for its adop- 

 tion, it was rejected by a very large majority 

 yeas 12, nays 19. 



The question of taking a vote on the resolu- 

 tion for censure being then in order, some 

 Senators successively moved to lay it on the 

 table, and to indefinitely postpone ; several 

 among them regarding it inconsistent, useless, 

 and unjust to proceed to censure a man for 

 what he had just been declared not guilty of, 

 and acquitted. The resolution for censure was 

 then withdrawn by its author, and Mr. An- 

 drews continued to occupy his seat in the Sen- 

 ate unreproached. 



Under a joint resolution, introduced and 

 adopted in the Senate on February 3, 1875, 

 and concurred in by the House, a special joint 

 committee of seven was appointed " to ascer- 

 tain what bonds of the State have been funded 

 under the act to reduce the volume of the pub- 

 lic debt, and provide for the payment of the 

 same ; what interest coupons have been funded 

 under the said act ; also whether the funds for 

 the payment of interest, raised under the said 

 act, have been kept separate and apart from 

 all other funds, as provided for in the said act 

 and as otherwise provided by law." 



In execution of the duty assigned them, the 

 committee examined the books of the Treas- 

 urer's office, heard his sworn testimony and 

 that of others connected with his and the 

 Controller-General's department, and, on Feb- 

 ruary 24th, submitted to the General Assembly 

 a full report of their investigations. The sub- 

 stance of their findings, in reference to the 

 three points specified in the resolution, is as 

 follows: That, of the $2,473,384.93 of bonds 

 funded by the State Treasurer up to the time 

 of the investigation, $978,500 belong to a class 

 which, in the united judgment of the Senate, 

 as expressed by a unanimous vote on February 

 4, 1875, should not have been funded at all; 

 that, of the amount of interest coupons funded 

 by the State Treasurer, $454,021 should not 

 have been funded, and that the funding of them 

 was a fraud upon the State," and that the 

 funds provided for the payment of interest 

 raised under the funding act " have not been 

 kept by the State Treasurer separate and 

 apart, as provided for in the said act, and as 

 otherwise provided by law." 



By a written communication, dated Februa- 

 ry 25, 1875, the State Treasurer requested the 

 General Assembly to suspend all discussion on 

 the report of the special joint committee on 



