SOUTH CAROLINA. 



pies laid down by the Supreme Court of the 

 St:it.- in tho decision of the oases referred to 

 by tin- in't, and, if any obligations are found 

 partially invalid, to ascertain the exact amount 

 of thoir valid portion, and compute the inter- 

 est accruod on it up to July 1, 1878 ; to report 

 monthly to tho Treasurer the State obligations 

 so investigated and ascertained, specifying their 

 respective denominations and numbers, with 

 tho amounts of tho valid and invalid portions 

 of each, and tho amount of interest accrued on 

 the valid portion to July 1, 1878 ; and so con- 

 tinue until he shall have examined and reported 

 on tho entire consolidated debt. The act gives 

 tho holder of State obligations so investigated 

 and reported upon the right to surrender them 

 to the State Treasurer for cancellation, and 

 authorizes the Treasurer to issue and hand to 

 the holder a new bond or certificate of stock 

 equal in amount to the valid portion of the 

 bond, certificate of stock, coupon, or interest 

 order so surrendered and canceled. The new 

 bond so issued " is to have the same benefits 

 and privileges as those provided for in the act 

 approved December 22, 1873, entitled ' An act 

 to reduce the volume of the public debt of the 

 State, and provide for the payment of tho 

 same.' " The maturity of the first coupon or 

 interest due on these new bonds is fixed by the 

 act on January 1, 1879. 



A bill to redistrict the State, increasing the 

 number of her Congressional districts from four 

 to five, was introduced in the Lower House, 

 and, after debate, indefinitely postponed by a 

 vote of 55 to 40. It is stated that the passage 

 of this bill would have secured a Republican 

 Congressman for Charleston for ever, as the 

 election in that district would have been then 

 controlled by the colored vote. 



A registration bill requiring all voters to be 

 able to write their names, and several bills pro- 

 hibiting the carrying of concealed weapons, 

 were voted down or indefinitely postponed. 



A joint resolution calling for a Constitu- 

 tional Convention was introduced in the Lower 

 H >;i-i>, and, on motion, tabled unanimously 

 without debate. 



The State finances appear to be in a satisfac- 

 tory condition, and tho administration of the 

 government commendably economical. Tho 

 aggregate expenditures for tho legislative, ex- 

 ecutive, and judicial departments during the 

 fiscal year ended October 31, 1879, amounted 

 to $124,895. For the year ending October 

 81, 1880, the State and ordinary county taxes 

 to be levied are as follows : A general State 

 tax of 4J mills on the dollar, with two mills 

 additional for the public schools, and a county 

 tax of 3 mills for ordinary purposes. The 4| 

 mills of State tax, reckoning the aggregate value 

 of taxable property in South Carolina at $135,- 

 000,000, are expected to yield $100,000 each 

 mill, in all $475,000. Of this amount, $344,- 

 372 is appropriated to pay the interest on the 

 consolidated debt for 1880, and $34,000 to pay 

 the deficiency bonds of the St^to. To com- 



plete the payment of the interest due on the 

 consolidated debt for 1879, the sum of $144,- 

 875 was appropriated out of the $175,000 col- 

 lected in the two previous years for that pur- 

 pose, and lying still in the Treasury. The re- 

 maining $117,000 out of tho $475,000 of the 

 State tax, and tho Royalty to be collected on 

 phosphates, are considered sufficient to cover 

 all the ordinary expenditures for the new year. 

 The $200,000 yielded by the two additional 

 mills of State tax, and the entire poll-tax, 

 amounting to $100,000, are applied exclusively 

 to tho public schools. 



The schools were attended in 1879 by 58,- 

 368 white pupils and 64,095 colored in all, 

 122,463, which is the largest number on record 

 for any one year in South Carolina. The average 

 number of colored children in the public schools 

 in 1879 was about 45 per cent, greater than in 

 any preceding year. The newly erected lyceum 

 for colored students in Charleston was dedi- 

 cated on September 2d. 



From the reports made by circuit judges and 

 solicitors, after due inquiries instituted in their 

 respective sections, it appears that crime in 

 South Carolina has decreased at least one third 

 since 1877. The number of convicts commit- 

 ted to the State Prison from November 1, 1878, 

 to the latter part of November, 1879, jvas 

 1,017. Nearly three fourths of that number 

 had been leased out by the Board of Directors 

 of the Penitentiary, as authorized by law, to 

 nine different parties, among them four railway 

 companies, to be kept at the places of their 

 several works, and under their charge. Tho 

 applicant for convict-labor, after his applica- 

 tion has been approved, is required by the 

 Board of Directors to sign a contract embody- 

 ing the terms of the lease, and give a sufficient 

 bond for its faithful execution ; the terms usu- 

 ally being that tho lessee shall feed, clothe, and 

 guard the prisoners intrusted to him, provide 

 them with medical attendance, and in addition 

 pay to the State a stipulated monthly rate for 

 each convict during the time he has worked. 

 The prisoners thus leased out up to the close 

 of November, 1879, numbered 727, of whom 

 157 had died, 77 had escaped, and some had 

 been killed. Among the prisoners remaining 

 in the penitentiary itself, their average monthly 

 number being 290, there were from November 

 1, 1878, to the latter part of November, 1879, 

 83 deaths, 8 pscapes, and 1 killed. Since Jan- 

 nary 1, 1879, ten months, the deaths of the 

 convicts at tho State Prison numbered 18, in- 

 cluding 5 returned thither from the places of 

 their work outside in a dying condition. The 

 Greenwood and Augusta Railway Company, 

 to whom tho largest number of convicts have 

 been leased, is charged with having violated 

 the terms of its contract in all points respect- 

 ing their treatment. Out of the 285 prisoners 

 sent to this company, 128 had died, a rate of 

 mortality exceeding 40 per cent., and 87 had 

 escaped. On complaints made during the sum- 

 mer, tho Board of Directors sent three physi- 



