648 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 



SOUTH CABOLINA, a Southern State, one 

 of the original thirteen, ratified the Constitution 

 May 23, 1788; area, 30,570 square miles. The 

 population, according to each decennial census, 

 \sas 249,073 in 1790; 345,591 in 1800; 415,115 in 

 1810; 502.741 in 1820; 581,185 in 1830; 594,398 in 

 1840; 008,507 in 1850; 703,708 in 1860; 705,606 in 

 1870; 995,577 in 1880; 1,151,149 in 1890; and 

 1.340,316 in 1900. Capital, Columbia. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers in 1900: Governor, Miles 13. McSweeney; 

 Lieutenant Governor, R. B. Scarborough; Secre- 

 tary of State, Marion R. Cooper; Treasurer, W. 

 H. Timmerman; Comptroller, John P. Derham; 

 Attorney-General, G. D. Bellinger; Superintendent 

 of Education, John J. McMahan; Adjutant Gen- 

 eral, J. W. Floyd; Railroad Commissioners, 

 Messrs. W. D. Evans, Wiborn, and Garris; Phos- 

 phate Inspector, S. W. Vance; Dispensary Com- 

 missioner, H. H. Crum; Directors of the Dispen- 

 sary, Leon J. Williams, H. H. Evans, and A. F. 

 II. Dukes; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 

 Henry Mclver; Associate Justices, Eugene B. 

 Gary, Ira B. Jones, and Y. J. Pope; Clerk, U. R. 

 Brooks. All are Democrats. 



The State officers are elected in November of 

 the even-numbered years, for terms of two years. 

 The Legislature meets annually in January. It 

 consists of 41 Senators and 124 Representatives. 



Population. The Federal census gives the fol- 

 lowing returns by counties: Abbeville, 33,400; 

 Aiken, 39,032; Anderson, 55,728; Bamberg, 17,- 

 296; Barnwell, 35,504; Beaufort, 35,495; Berkeley, 

 30,454; Charleston, 88,006; Cherokee, 21,359; 

 Chester, 28,616; Chesterfield, 20,401; Clarendon, 

 28,184; Colleton, 33,452; Darlington, 32,388; Dor- 

 chester, 16,294; Edgefield, 25,478; Fairfield, 29,- 

 425; Florence, 28,474; Georgetown, 22,846; Green- 

 ville, 53,490; Greenwood, 28,343; Hampton, 23,- 

 738; Horry, 23,364; Kershaw, 24,696; Lancaster, 

 24,311; Laurens, 37,382; Lexington, 27,264; Mari- 

 on, 35,181; Marlboro, 27,639; Newberry, 30,182; 

 Oconae, 23,634; Orangeburg, 59,663; Pickens, 19,- 

 375; Richland, 45,589; Saluda, 18,966; Spartan- 

 burg, 65,650; Sumter, 51,237; Union, 25,501 ; Wil- 

 liamsburg, 31,685; York, 41,684. 



The population of Charleston is 55,807; in 1890 

 it was 54,955. 



Finances. The report of the Comptroller, sub- 

 mitted in January, gave the following state- 

 ments: Cash balance in the treasury, available 

 for expenses of the State government in 1900, 

 $1-29,574.96; to this amount add uncollected taxes 

 of 1899, $625,000; insurance license fees, Comp- 

 troller General's Office, $12,000; additional insur- 

 ance licenses, $13,000; fees of Secretary of State's 

 .Hire, $5,000: total, $784,524.96. The estimated 

 expenses of the State government for 1900 were 

 $900.5 18.90, leaving $121,943.94, which must be- 

 paid from the taxes of 1900. From insurance com- 

 panies $12,025 was collected in annual license fees, 

 and paid into the State treasury. The sum of 

 $13,635.14 was realized from additional license fees. 



The Legislature appropriated $283,832.51 for in- 

 terest on the State debt. 



The report of the dispensary for 1899 showed 

 the total net profits to be $414,181, of which the 

 towns and cities received $220,492, and the State 

 $193,689. The school fund received $100,000 of 

 this sum. The effect of the new law, it is said, 

 will he to give the cities and towns more of the 

 profits, and reduce the share of the school fund to 

 about $75,000. An act of the Legislature pro- 

 vides that each school district in the State, where 

 the sum reali/od from the 3-mill tax and the poll 

 tax is not sufficient to give $75 to each school in 

 the district, sha.l have the deficiency made up 



to it by the Comptroller from the dispensary 

 profits. 



The State has 4 classes of claims against the 

 Government, arising from the several wars. The 

 Revolutionary War claims aggregate far the 

 largest sum, amounting, with interest, to $316,- 

 947.75. The United States holds bonds of the 

 State issued in 1856 to complete the Statehouse 

 $125,000 principal and $123,750 interest. They 

 matured in 1881. Suit was brought in the United 

 States Supreme Court in June to recover the 

 amount, but it was afterward found that the act 

 requiring the suit to be instituted had been re- 

 pealed nineteen days before the suit began, and 

 notice was given that on the opening of the court 

 in October a motion would be made by the At- 

 torney-General to have the case dismissed. The 

 United States holds a claim against the State for 

 $340,479.89, for the value of ordnance stores be- 

 longing to the Government, which were seized by 

 order of Gov. Pickens in December, 1860, after the 

 adoption of the ordinance of secession, recently de- 

 scribed in a Charleston paper as " the obsolete 

 cannon, round cannon balls, and muzzle-loading 

 muskets, and paper cartridges of one ball and 

 four buckshot that were stored away in the 

 United States arsenal in Charleston, or pictur- 

 esquely arranged about the grounds of that fa- 

 mous armory." 



The legality of the act of the Legislature appro- 

 priating $175,000 from the sinking fund to com- 

 plete the Statehouse was questioned, but the At- 

 torney-General decided that the commissioner.-; 

 had no responsibility but to obey the Legislature, 

 and the contract for the ^-ork was let in August. 



Valuations. From the returns of assessments 

 in October it appears that the valuation placed 

 upon real property amounts to $102,137,777, and 

 that upon personal property to $53,120,8C3. Kail- 

 road property is valued at $27,771,973. The total, 

 $183,030,613, shows a considerable increase over 

 the total of 1899, which was $176,432,288. 

 . Education. The Superintendent's report has 

 the following general information regarding the 

 schools, together with recommendations for man- 

 ual training, especially in negro schools: 



" The best proof of interest in education is the 

 willingness to bear an extra local burden. The 

 number of extra levies made this year, although 

 not available for publication in this report, is 

 known to be remarkable. Many districts have 

 tried to make this levy and failed by only a few 

 votes. That town is an exception that has not 

 for some years borne an extra tax and maintained 

 an efficient system of graded schools, and this 

 year's record has considerably reduced the num- 

 ber of exceptions. We have 3.000 white teachers 

 and 2,000 negro teachers in this State, many nt" 

 them poorly fitted for their work. The normal 

 colleges in the State can not in this generation 

 supply even a considerable proportion of teachers 

 to take the places of those now in the schools. 



"The statute now secures too great a privM 'J>- 

 to the holder of a nominal college diploma. This 

 has encouraged high schools to charter them- 

 selves as colleges and secure an advantage over 

 academies that are more efficient and more honest. 

 But from good colleges come graduates that arc 

 no credit to thorn. 



" Many districts and some entire counties are 

 behind in their school funds a year or more. The 

 teachers are paid with warrants that are cashed 

 by banks at a discount, in some cases, of 1 per cent, 

 a month. A few county superintendents have 

 li'tely brought their schools to a cash basis hy care- 

 ful management, setting aside a part of the funds 

 each year so as to accumulate a sinking fund." 





