492 



CAROLINA. 



South 



< iroliua. 



Military 

 institu- 

 tions. 



same time. The same body nominates the judges, 

 commissioners of the revenue, the secretary of state, 

 the commander in chief, and the sheriffs, all of whom, 

 except the judges, hold their offices for the term of 

 four years. Bills cannot be passed into laws till they 

 have been read three times on three different days in 

 each house, and have been agreed to by both, deli- 

 berating apart. To expound these laws, and apply 

 them to particular cases, is the duty of the judges, 

 who, though commissioned by the legislature during 

 good behaviour, are, immediately after their appoint- 

 ment, rendered independent, both of the legislature 

 and the people. The law of England is adopted, 

 with a few variations, as the common law of South 

 Carolina. 



For ninety-nine years after the colonization of 

 South Carolina, no courts were held beyond the li- 

 mits of Charlestown, and no officer but the provost- 

 marshal could serve a process in any part of the pro- 

 vince. For two-thirds of that time the courts of 

 common pleas, and of king's bench, were held by the 

 same judge, from whose decision there lay no appeal, 

 but to himself on a new trial. 



There are now twenty-five districts, in each of 

 which there is a circuit court, invested with com- 

 plete powers, both of original and final jurisdiction. 

 These districts are, I.Abbeville. 2. Edgefield. 3. 

 Newbury. 4. Laurens. 5. Pendleton. 6. Green- 

 ville. 7. Spartanburg. 8. Union. 9. York. 10. 

 Chester. 11. Lancaster. 12. Fairfield. IS. Ker- 

 shaw. 14. Chesterfield. 15. Marlborough. 16. 

 Darlington. 17. Sumpter. 18. Marion. 19. Hor- 

 ry. 20. Georgetown. 21. Charlestown. 22. Col- 

 letown. 23. Beaufort. 24. Barnwell. 25. Orange- 

 burgh. For these twenty-five districts, six judges 

 are appointed, to each of whom is granted an annual 

 salary of L. 600 sterling, to enable them to devote 

 themselves to the duties of their office. In addition 

 to the courts of common pleas and of sessions, South 

 Carolina has always had its courts of ordinary, of 

 admiralty, and of chancery. The two first of these 

 courts have been held by governors or judges ap- 

 pointed by the proprietors, the sovereign, or the 

 state ; but since the establishment of the national 

 government in 1789, causes in the court of admiral- 

 ty, and the appointment of judges for that court, 

 have been transferred to the United States, as apper- 

 taining to the general government. The court of 

 chancery was likewise held by the council of the 

 proprietors, the king, and the state, in succession, 

 till the year 1784, when it was new-modelled, and 

 three judges were appointed to preside over it. Since 

 the year 1791, when it received some new modifica- 

 tions for the more speedy advancement of justice, it 

 has been called the court of equity. Before the re- 

 volution, there was but one ordinary for the whole 

 state ; but since the peace of 1783, an ordinary has 

 been appointed to each of the districts. 



Under all the governments to which South Caro- 

 lina has been successively subject, it was a received 

 principle, that every subject or citizen should also 

 be a soldier. Till lately, however, their military re- 

 gulations were extremely incomplete. By some new 

 arrangements which took place in the year 1794, the 

 whole state is now divided into two parts, one of 

 which comprehends five brigades, and the other four. 

 Each brigade is divided by the commanding officer 



South 

 Carolina. 



into as many regiments as the population will admit. 

 The two majors -general who command the two di- 

 visions, the nine brigadiers under whom are placed N *"Y""" 

 the different brigades, and the adjutant-general, are 

 all appointed by the legislature. The other officers 

 are nominated by the regiments, battalions, and com- 

 panies, to which they belong ; but they are promot- 

 ed in the order of their service. 



Since the termination of the revolutionary war, n- Revenue, 

 nual taxes have been imposed on the inhabitants to 

 defray the current expences of th* state. Till the 

 year 1790, the state had the income of the impost 

 duty, and from that fund paid its civil list ; but the 

 general government of the United States has now 

 the command of that fruitful source of revenue. The 

 state now depends for the support of its government 

 on taxes imposed on lands, negroes, money at inte- 

 rest, stock in trade, factorage, employments, facul- 

 ties, and professions ; and a few incidental sources of 

 revenue, such as duties upon sales at public auction, 

 on licenses granted to hawkers, pedlars, and theatri- 

 cal performers, the interest of the paper medium loan, 

 the interest and instalments of the debt due to the 

 state from the United States, the dividends from its 

 shares in the state bank, fines, forfeitures, &c. The 

 average amount of taxes annually collected, is about 

 135,000 dollars j and the state receives from other 

 sources about 175,000 dollars. The appropriations 

 of revenue are, first, for paying the expences of the 

 civil list, and other incidental expences of govern- 

 ment, both of which amount, in common, to a sum 

 between 70,000 and 80,000 dollars ; and, secondly, 

 for pay extraordinary, expences, and contingent ac- 

 counts. These are so variable, that they cannot be 

 stated with precision : on an average, they amount 

 to about 145,000 dollars per annum. From the last 

 report of Mr Hamilton, the comptroller of revenue, 

 made in 1804, it appeared, that there is a balance 

 due to the state of 754,755 dollars. 



The internal resources of South Carolina are so Commerce, 

 great, and its population is so rapidly increasing, that 

 it ranks among the first commercial states in America. 

 Of the amount of its exports for the first fifty years 

 after its settlement, nothing is known with certainty. 

 There is reason to believe, that it began to export 

 rice about the beginning of the 18th century ; for An- 

 derson states, that between the years 1720 and 1729, 

 264,488 barrels were exported to England, and that 

 429,525 barrels were exported in the course of the 

 ten following years. About the year 1740, the trade 

 of the province began to be considerable. It then 

 contained about 4000 negroes ; for whom, and for 

 all other articles of importation, payment must have 

 been in rice, naval stores, lumber, peltry, and furs. 

 To these articles of export was added, indigo from 

 1747, tobacco from 1782, and cotton from 1792. 

 The minor articles of export are, Indian corn, coco- 

 pease, beef, pork, leather, shingles, staves, rosin, tur- 

 pentine, &c. The aggregate value of exports was 

 in a course of such rapid increase, that in the last year 

 of the 18th century, it amounted to 10,554,842 dollars, 

 and in the first year of the 19th century, to 14,304,045 

 dollars. Previous to the revolution, all the trade of 

 South Carolina centered in Great Britain and her de- 

 pendencies ; with the exception of as much rice as, 

 under a special act of parliament, was exported to the 

 southward of Cape Finisterre. During that period 

 3 



