748 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 



SEC. 2. In every case in which, under the provisions 

 of this act, the townships or parts of townships of any 

 county may not all be in the same congressional dis- 

 trict, it shall be the duty of the proper board of county 

 canvassers of such county in canvassing the votes of 

 said county to report separately the result of the vote 

 of such township or parts of townships for the con- 

 gressional district to which they may respectively 

 belong. 



SEC. 3. In any case in which a voting precinct may 

 form part of more than one congressional district, if 

 no other provision be made bv law, the commission- 

 ers of election for the county in which such precinct 

 is situated shall provide for such precinct separate 

 hoxes for every congressional district within which 

 the said precinct may be, and each voter at such pre- 

 cinct shall deposit his ballot for member of Congress 

 in the box provided for the congressional district 

 within the limits of which said voter may reside. 



SEC. 4. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent 

 herewith are hereby repealed. 



SEC. 5. That this act shall take effect immediately 

 on its approval. 



Approved July 5, A. D. 1882. 



A statement from the Census-Office gives 

 the following summary of white and colored 

 voters in the new congressional districts: 



Acts were passed amending the election law 

 and the law defining the election precincts, and 

 joint resolutions proposing to amend the Con- 

 stitution relating to the time of holding elec- 

 tions, and relating to the formation of new 

 counties were adopted. The former constitu- 

 tional amendment proposes that " the general 

 election for Senators and Representatives shall 

 be held in every second year, in such manner, 

 at such time, and at such places as the Legis- 

 lature may provide"; and the latter, as to new 

 counties, proposes to strike out in section 3, 

 Article II. of the Constitution the words " but 

 no new county shall be hereafter formed of 

 less extent than six hundred and twenty-five 

 square miles, nor shall any existing counties 

 be reduced to a less extent than six hundred 

 and twenty-five square miles," and insert in 

 lieu thereof the following : " Provided that no 

 new county shall be formed which has a pop- 

 ulation of less than one one-hundred and 

 twenty-fourth part of the whole number of 

 inhabitants of the State, and an area less than 

 four hundred square miles, nor shall any exist- 

 ing counties be reduced to a less area than four 

 hundred square miles." The extra session of 

 the Legislature ended on July 5th. Its total 

 expenses were $15,409.40. 



The Democratic Convention met at Colum- 

 bia, on August 1st, to nominate candidates 

 for Governor, Lieu tenant-Govern or, and other 

 State officers. Prior to the meeting it was 

 generally believed that the choice for Gov- 

 ernor would be either General Bratton or 



General J. D. Kennedy; but after the first 

 ballot, the names of both those gentlemen 

 having been withdrawn, Hugh S. Thompson 

 was nominated by acclamation. He was not 

 a candidate, and was not prominent in party 

 politics. His service to the State for several 

 years had been in the cause of education, 

 having served, with great distinction and suc- 

 cess, six years as Superintendent of 'Educa- 

 tion, and it was determined that he should 

 be elected President of the State University, 

 made vacant by the resignation of the Hon. 

 W. Porcher Miles. 



The Greenback - Republican - Independent 

 Convention met at Columbia September 5th, 

 and nominated a full ticket for State officers, 

 J. Hendricks McLane being the candidate for 

 Governor. 



The combined opposition made strenuous ef- 

 forts to defeat the Democratic candidates, and 

 much money was spent, but the campaign re- 

 sulted in the election of the entire Democratic 

 ticket, and of six out of the seven members of 

 Congress. Under a rigid execution of the elec- 

 tion laws peace reigned throughout the State 

 on election-day. 



The General Assembly met again in regu- 

 lar session at Columbia on November 28th. 

 On December 5th Governor Thompson took 

 the oath of office and delivered his inaugural 

 address. The most important measure of the 

 session was the act to regulate railroads, pro- 

 viding for the appointment of three commis- 

 sioners; making it unlawful for any railroad 

 company doing business in South Carolina to 

 charge more than " a reasonable compensation 

 for the transportation of passengers or freight 

 of any description " ; prohibiting any unjust dis- 

 crimination in freight or passenger rates ; for- 

 bidding the charge of greater toll for transporta- 

 tion for a short than is charged for a long dis- 

 tance, and forbidding all rebates or drawbacks, 

 or lesser rates to favored individuals than are 

 charged to the public. An act to amend the 

 usury law was also passed, providing that no 

 greater rate of interest than seven per cent per 

 annum shall be charged upon any contracts 

 arising in the State, except on written con- 

 tracts wherein by express agreement as high a 

 rate as ten per cent may be charged. An act 

 was passed compelling those who are sent to 

 the Lunatic Asylum, and who are able to do 

 so, to pay their own expenses. Another im- 

 portant act was that providing for " the more 

 speedy development of the Columbia Canal," 

 by which $15,000 and the labor of at least two 

 hundred convicts equivalent to $21,900 more 

 were given for the construction of this work. 

 Another measure of public interest was the 

 act to exempt certain counties in the Stato 

 from the operations of the general stock law, 

 which requires owners of stock of all kinds to 

 keep them fenced in. As this act requires the 

 counties seeking exemption to pay for the 

 fences which are to separate them from the 

 counties where the law is in force, by a tax 



