696 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 



bly." It fixes their compensation for the fu- 

 ture at $5 a day, and 20 cents mileage each 

 way, instead of paying them $600 and mileage 

 for each regular and extra session, as it was 

 before provided by statute and the constitution. 

 "An act to raise supplies and make appro- 

 priations for the fiscal year commencing No- 

 vember 1, 1876." It levies a tax of 7 mills 

 on the dollar for the State, and of 2 to 5 mills, 

 respectively, for the counties, specifying the 

 rates for the several counties in detail. The 

 chief objects to which the 7-mill tax for State 

 purposes is to be applied are distinctly enu- 

 merated in the first section of the act, as fol- 

 lows: 



SECTION 1. That a tax of 7 mills upon every dol- 

 lar of the value of all taxable property of this State 

 be, and the same is hereby, levied for the following 

 purposes, to wit : to meet appropriations : 1. To de- 

 fray the current expenses ol the government for tho 

 fiscal year ending October 31, 1877 ; 2. To pay the 

 interest due the 1st of January, 1877, and the 1st of 

 July, 1877, upon the consolidated bonds and certifi- 

 cates of stock which have been issued under the act 

 to reduce the volume of the public debt and provide 

 for the payment of the same, approved December 

 22, 1873, which shall be found to be valid and lona 

 fide by the commission to investigate the same and 

 be approved by the General Assembly at the next 

 regular session thereof ; and 3. To pay such other in- 

 debtedness of the State as may be reported to be 

 valid by the said commission, and to which it may 

 be applied by the General Assembly at its next reg- 

 ular session. Should the proceeds of said tax be in- 

 sufficient to meet all the payments provided for in 

 this act, the Governor is hereby authorized to bor- 

 row, on the credit of the State, such sum, not ex- 

 ceeding $100,000, as may be necessary to meet such 

 deficiency. 



"A joint resolution to raise a commission to 

 investigate the indebtedness of the State." The 

 important parts of the resolution were as fol- 

 lows: 



In view of the great uncertainty that exists in the 

 im'nds of the property-owners and tax-paying por- 

 tion of our people, as' to the real and definite amount 

 of the true and valid indebtedness of the State, and 

 the character of the obligations out of which the in- 

 debtedness has grown, and of the equally unsatis- 

 factory condition of the credit of the State as long as 

 any doubt or suspicion attaches to claims held against 

 her: and in order to give reasonable assurance to 

 the honest creditor, on the one hand ? that the State 

 intends to faithfully meet her obligations at as early 

 a date as practicable, and, on the other hand, to sat- 

 isfy the tax-payer that tlie General Assembly will 

 have proceeded intelligently in whatever steps may 

 be taken to adjust and provide for the public debt : 

 therefore, 



Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Repre- 

 sentatives of the State of South Carolina, now met 

 and sitting in General Assembly, and by the au- 

 thority of the same : 



SECTION 1. That, in accordance with that portion 

 of his Excellency's message touching this subject, a 

 commission, to consist of 3 members of the Senate 

 and 4 members of the House of Eepresentatives, 

 shall be elected by each House respectively. 



SEO. 2. It shall be the duty of said commission to 

 make a complete and thorough investigation of the 

 following and kindred matters, and to report the re- 

 sults to the next session of this General Assembly, 

 to wit : 1. The entire amount of consolidated bonds 

 und certificates of stock that have been issued under 



the act to reduce the volume of the public debt, and 

 provide for the payment of the same, approved De- 

 cember 22, 1873, so as to show, under proper heads 

 and classifications, the number in the series, the let- 

 ter, date of issue, date of redemption, denomination, 

 rate of interest, by whom signed and countersigned, 

 and to whom issued. 2. W hether there are in the 

 State Treasurer's office on file, as vouchers, can- 

 celed bonds, coupons, and certificates of stocks 

 of the issues described, issued in accordance with 

 law, and authorized to be consolidated by the act 

 above recited, to the amount required by said act. 



SEC. 3. Should it appear to the commission, in the 

 course of the investigation, that any of said bonds, 

 certificates of stock, or coupons, have been illegally 

 or otherwise improperly issued, it shall report the 

 same, together with the evidence upon which the 

 illegality or nonconformity to law rests. 



SEC. 4. The commission is hereby authorized to 

 require the holders of said bonds, coupons, and stock 

 to produce the same for inspection before the com- 

 mission in Columbia. Such as shall be found to 

 have been issued according to law, and that are valid 

 bonafide bonds, coupons, and stocks, shall be regis- 

 tered by their number, letter, denomination, and 

 Buch other distinctive titles as may be best suited to 

 the object in view, and shall be certified as correct, 

 in such form as the commission may deem proper. 



SEC. 5. The commission shall have full power and 

 authority to send for persons and papers, and to ad- 

 minister oaths ; and false swearing by or before said 

 commission shall be indictable and punishable as 

 perjury. 



SEC. 6. The Controller-General and Treasurer nre 

 hereby authorized and required to cooperate with 

 said commission whtn called upon. 



SEC. 7. The commission shall be authorized to sit 

 during the recess of the General Assembly. 



SEC. 8. The compensation of the commission shall 

 be a per diem of $5 each. 



SEC. 9. It shall also be the duty of said commis- 

 sion to investigate the amount and character of the 

 floating indebtedness of the State, andmnke a report 

 thereon in detail. 



SEC 10. That said commission shall have power 

 to report any special matter. 



The Legislature met again at Columbia, for 

 the regular session, on the 27th of November, 

 1877. 



In pursuance of concurrent resolutions pre- 

 viously adopted, the two Houses met in joint 

 convention on December 5th, for the purpose 

 of electing an Attorney-General as well as an 

 Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and a 

 Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, to fill 

 the vacancies created by the resignations. The 

 following were duly elected: For Associate 

 Justice of the Supreme Court, J. C. Haskell ; 

 for Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, W. 

 H. Wallace; for Attorney-General, Leroy F. 

 Youmans. Messrs. Wallace and Youmans were 

 elected unanimously. 



At the sitting of December 7th, William H. 

 Wallace, Judge-elect of the Seventh Judicial 

 Circuit, resigned his office as Speaker, and J. 

 C. Sheppard was elected to the vacancy. 



On December 20th, the General Assembly 

 adjourned for the holidays, to meet again on 

 January 16, 1878. 



The condition of affairs in South Carolina, 

 during the year 1877, appears to have been 

 satisfactory. In his annual message to the 

 Legislature, Governor Hampton states : " Our 

 State is rehabilitated ; peace prevails through- 



