818 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 



quo warranto. On the other side, it is stated 

 that at the time of his election in 1877 "the 

 understanding and intention of those who elect- 

 ed him was to elect him for only the three un- 

 expired years of the term of Chief Justice Mo- 

 ses, ending August 1, 1880," and that he ac- 

 cepted the position on that understanding. 



The Legislature of 1879 closed its session on 

 December 24th, having passed about two hun- 

 dred acts and joint resolutions, among which 

 are the following: 



" An act to extend the time for the redemp- 

 tion of forfeited lands." 



" A joint resolution proposing an amendment 

 to the Constitution of the State relating to the 

 homestead, and providing for the benefits there- 

 of to be shared equally by all classes of citi- 

 zens." It provides for a homestead not ex- 

 ceeding one thousand dollars in value to every 

 citizen in possession of land ; and for an ex- 

 emption of five hundred dollars' worth of per- 

 sonal property, and the crops and products of 

 the said land ; with an amendment extending 

 the exemption of the said amendment to any 

 married woman who is not the head of a family 

 and owns a separate estate, while the head of 

 the family does not. 



"An act requiring railroads to furnish con- 

 signees an itemized statement of freight charges, 

 and to settle according to the bills of lading." 



" An act to prohibit the running of freight 

 trains, and to regulate the running of passenger 

 and mail trains, on Sundays." 



" An act to prevent and punish the inter- 

 marrying of races." 



"An act to enforce the use of a uniform se- 

 ries of text-books in the free public schools of 

 this State." 



" An act to provide artificial limbs for all 

 soldiers of the State who lost their legs or arms 

 during military service in the years 1861, 1862, 

 1863, 1864, and 1865." 



"An act to raise supplies and make appro- 

 priations for the fiscal year commencing No- 

 vember 1, 1879." In the engrossment of this 

 act two grave mistakes occurred, both in the 

 second section, which were discovered when it 

 was too late to correct them. As passed by 

 the two Houses, the act orders the levy of a 

 State tax of four and a half mills on the dollar ; 

 as ratified and published, it orders the levy of a 

 tax of four and three quarters mills. It also 

 makes provision for the Charleston military 

 organization, which had not been agreed to by 

 the House of Representatives. 



" An act to continue in force an act extend- 

 ing the time for funding the unquestioned debt 

 of the State." 



The settlement of her questioned debt has 

 been provided for by another act, which is con- 

 sidered the most important of the session of 

 1879, as it finally and for ever determines a mat- 

 ter which has long kept the creditors and citi- 

 zens of South Carolina in great anxiety. In 1873 

 the State sifted all her outstanding obligations 

 of every denomination, amounting in the aggre- 



gate to about eighteen million dollars, threw out 

 six millions of them altogether, and proposed as 

 a compromise to recognize one half of the re- 

 maining twelve millions, or fifty cents in the 

 dollar, as valid, to be funded and bear interest 

 payable at stated times thereafter, thus redu- 

 cing her entire debt to about six millions. This 

 was sanctioned on her part by a law enacted 

 at that year's session, known as the funding or 

 consolidation act, entitled "An act to reduce 

 the public debt of the State, and to provide for 

 the payment of the same. Approved Decem- 

 ber 22, 1873." This compromise was accepted 

 by the State's creditors, was for the most part 

 executed during the subsequent years, and was 

 regarded generally as a final settlement. In 

 1877 the Legislature appointed a special com- 

 mittee " to investigate the public debt of the 

 State." This committee presented to the Legis- 

 lature of 1878 a detailed report of its labors, 

 declaring about $1,800,000 of the said consoli- 

 dated debt not valid, either totally or partially, 

 as tainted with fraud, or resting on vouchers 

 not issued in accordance with the law. This 

 report was decidedly opposed by a large num- 

 ber of the members, who insisted on the inviola- 

 bility of the consolidation act, and as decidedly 

 favored by a larger number, who stood for re- 

 jecting the fraudulent or illegal portion of the 

 funded debt. To prevent a split in the Demo- 

 cratic party, which seemed imminent, a com- 

 promise was finally agreed to by referring the 

 whole matter to the decision of a special court 

 consisting of three Circuit Judges, with the 

 right of appeal from it to the Supreme Court 

 of the State, and to the Supreme Court of the 

 United States. This special court, commonly 

 styled "the Bond Court," waa then created, 

 and its members designated by a law enacted 

 for that purpose. Cases embracing all classes 

 of State bonds were made up and duly argued 

 before this Court, which decided some of them, 

 as did also the State Supreme Court on appeal 

 on September 27th, establishing rules for de- 

 termining whether, how far, and for what 

 reason any State obligation is null and void, 

 according to the State Constitution. At the 

 meeting of the Legislature in November, 1879, 

 the previous year's disagreement concerning 

 the rejection of a portion of the consolidated 

 debt was renewed among its members, so that 

 a proposition to abolish the Bond Court was 

 introduced and barely defeated, the vote being 

 52 to 57 in the House of Representatives and 

 16 to 16 in the Senate. All contention was at 

 last ended apparently for ever by the passage 

 of the law before mentioned, entitled " An act 

 to provide for the settlement of the public debt 

 of the State in accordance with the decision of 

 the Supreme Court of South Carolina." It 

 creates the office of a Special Commissioner, 

 and appoints James 0. Colt as such. His du- 

 ties are to examine the outstanding obligations 

 of the State under denominations pointed out 

 in the act, and ascertain the validity, total or 

 partial, of each, in accordance with the princi- 



