* •
C? ^ / G
MESSAGE
OF
ROBERT K. SCOTT,
GOVERNOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
. / ' '
TO THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
NOVEMBER 24, 1869.
COLUMBIA, S. C. :
JOHN W. DENNY, PRINTER TO THE STATE.
1869.
„• . . i .. v, r."v.,-4
MESSAGE
OF
ROBERT K. SCOTT,
GOVERNOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
TO THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
NOVEMBER, 24, 1869.
COLUMBIA, S. C.:
JOHN W. DENNY, PRINTER TO THE STATE.
1869.
MESSAGE.
Fellow Citizens of the Senate
and of the House of Representatives:
In transmitting my second Annual Message to the General Assembly,
it gives me much pleasure to he able to congratulate you upon your oc-
cupancy of your new halls of legislation, which contrast so favorably in
appearance and adaptation to their purpose, with those you recently cc-
cupied. May their lustrous beauty be typical of the brightening pros-
perity of our beloved State; of her unstained honor and untarnished
credit; and may it witness the purity, the patriotism and the wisdom of
her counsels, until her principles are as firmly established as the founda-
tions of this edifice, and peace and prosperity prevail within her borders.
I am gratified in being able to inform you that much progress has been
made during the past year in securely placing the finances of the State
on a firm and healthy basis. This is owing greatly to the decided stand
taken by you at the close of the last session, in declining to jeopardise the
State credit by yielding to the pressure brought to bear upon you by indi-
viduals and corporations for State aid for the construction of railroads.
The financial reputation of a commonwealth, like that of an individ-
ual, depends upon the care with which it cherishes its resources, and the
promptitude and fidelity with which it meets its obligations; and the
correct and honorable business man who desires success is careful that
his reputation and credit are not sullied by unwisely lending the use of his
name to parties who have neither credit nor reputation to lose themselves.
The following statement exhibits the Indebtedness and the Assets of
the State, October 31, 1869:
Funded Debt of the State $6,183,349.17
The total amount of Assets held by the State, on that
date t 2,754,660.00
Interest falling due during the fiscal year, ending Octo-
ber 31,1870 388,693.86
For a full and detailed statement of the financial condition of the
State, I would respectfully refer you to the reports of the Comptroller
and Treasurer.
4
The State debt is, comparatively, small, amounting in the aggregate to
six millions one hundred and eighty-three thousand three hundred
and forty-nine dollars, (6,183,349); the taxable property, at a low valua-
tion, will amount to one hundred and ninety millions of dollars. During
the past fiscal year, at a season, too, when our capitalists, merchants, far-
mers, mechanics, and others, had all their money invested in their various
branches of business, a million of dollars for taxes was received into the
S^ate Treasury.
To more fully illustrate the ability of our people to meet all necessary
taxes, I may refer also to the payment by our citizens, into the Federal
Treasury, as internal revenue, of a tax amounting to the sum of
$2,622,690.68, making an aggregate of taxes paid into the State and
Federal treasuries the past year of over three and a half millions of dol-
lars. I would here recommend that you memorialize your members of
Congress to use their efforts for a reduction of the internal revenue tax
collected to such an amount as will meet the liabilities of the General
Government, but relieve our people as much as possible of the tax col-
lected to pay the national debt. I believe that the present generation
should not be compelled to pay too much of the debt of a great country
that is to be left by them as a rich inheritance to posterity.
The present tax system was new to our people, and it could not, per-
haps, but be expected that much dissatisfaction would be felt in conse-
quence of the change. But it is gratifying to be able to state that the
taxes have been paid as promptly as those of any State in the Union.
When the present State Government came into power, I found that the
Provisional Government controlling the State from the close of the war,
had contracted many debts for the prompt payment of which, as well as
to meet the current expenses of the State Government, it was necessary to
provide among these liabilities was a floating debt, amounting to
$477,965.30. This debt was due to various County officials, Sheriffs, Magis-
trates, Coroners, and other claims against the State. By authority of law,
there had also been put into circulation Bills Receivable, to the amount
of $222,000. In addition to this was the past-due interest on the State
debt, which had accrued from the first of July, 1867.
All of these various amounts have been paid, and the Bills Receivable
redeemed. At the present time there is but a small floating debt that the
State Treasurer will be compelled to meet. Owing to these payments,
the expenses of the State Government were heavier last year than they
will be for the present fiscal year, and the assessment of taxes may there-
fore be considerably reduced, and the tax burden upon the various
branches of industry made lighter than the taxes of almost any other
State.
5
We have escaped from the disaster of lending the State credit to Rail-
roads, so earnestly pressed and demanded at the last session of the
General Assembly. Whatever the opinions of individuals may be, or how-
ever much they may feel that their interests have suffered from the failure
or refusal of the Legislature to comply with their wishes, all must con-
cede that the examples by which we are surrounded of the liberality of
other States in this direction, and the financial results of their action,
justifies your course in refusing to comply with their demands. It is to
be hoped that the same care, and the same course, will continue to
characterize the action of the General Assembly.
There is in the State Treasury $2,754,000 of railroad bonds and other
securities, which I recommend be held, and ultimately used as a sinking
fund for the liquidation of the State debt, as they are of a class and char-
acter which must increase in value. Iu addition to this, I would suggest
the propriety of taking into consideration the very able plan devised by
Professor J. G. Holmes, of Charleston, to provide for a small sinking fund
by which the entire State debt may be paid off, by the redemption annu-
ally of a small amount of State securities. It is believed that this plan
would enable us to pay our entire debt in a few years, and Avould convince
moneyed men at home and abroad of our determination to provide for the
prompt payment of all our securities as they become due. The State
being sovereign, no action can be brought against it to enforce payment
of claims against it. Its credit, therefore, and the price of its bonds,
depend upon its resources and the honor and good faith of the State gov-
eminent. The credit of the State should be regarded as a sacred trust.
A large part of our debt was incurred before the passage of the Legal-
Tender Act. The creditors of the State loaned their money when gold
was the legal tender of the country. The creditor was promised and ex-
pected to receive the equivalent of his loan both in principal and inter-
est. Were this and the other States of the Union to take this view of
their responsibilities, and decide to pay their obligations in gold, it would
be a great step towards the resumption of specie payments, and assist
very materially the policy of the present able Secretary of the Treasury
in bringing gold and currency on a par. It would also prevent the pos-
sibility of a recurrence in the great moneyed centres of wild and reckless
speculations in the gold of the country. I regard it as a matter of the
highest importance that you should take into consideration the propriety
of authorizing the State Treasnrer to meet in future the interest due on
the State debt in specie, believing that but a short period must elapse be-
fore it will cost no more to pay in specie than in currency. On the other
hand, capitalists seeking permanent investment of their surplus fund will
be assured that it is the intention and determination of this State to make
its bonds equal as an investment to those of any State in the Union, or
6
even of the General Government. By the adoption of this plan, we at
once fix the value of our securities where the resources of the State should
place them. This measure would attract foreign capital, encourage immi-
gration, and as our credit increases, individual property will enhance in
value, and the general prosperity of our citizens be promoted. One im-
portant reason why the interest should be paid in the medium ori-
ginally intended, and one that will strongly commend itself to your
judgment as an act of justice to our creditors, is that some of our liabil-
ities become due during the coming year, (1870,) for which provision
must be made. It is, therefore, for the purpose of arranging these lia-
bilities with the creditors as they become due, that it is important that
we should offer them a security equally as good as the original invest-
ment. Not only is this to our interest, but good faith and justice demand
it. It will be the means of meeting claims falling due, as the original
obligation contemplated. To meet these liabilities at present would in-
volve the necessity of so large an additional taxation that it would im-
pose too heavy a burden upon the tax payers.
Not to provide for these liabilities might lead holders to infer by our
silence that we neither feel nor intend to take any interest in their redemp-
tion, and they would necessarily become an undesirable and unsought
investment. Should such an impression become current, these securities
wall be thrown upon the market, and the credit of our State bonds will
suffer from a seeming indifference or carelessness of our credit.
I trust, therefore, that you will take this matter under earnest and
careful consideration, and your favorable action may be the first step in
assisting the financial men of our country in the solution of the gold
problem. No section of country is so well prepared to both pay in gold
and demand gold in return for the products of the soil furnished the mar-
kets of the world. If our business men could adopt the specie basis for
all transactions, they would at all times be prepared for the financial
crash that may come when the General Government determines to return
to specie payment.
With the increase of commerce and intelligence, insurance upon both
life and property has become a favorite security. Much of this business
is carried on in this State by companies in no wise subject to our laws.
Their property cannot be reached by the processes of our Courts, their
solvency cannot be determined, and there is no adequate provision to se-
cure the capital of our own companies to meet large or unexpected losses.
I recommend that a law be passed requiring each company effecting in-
surance in this State, to deposit sufficient security with the Comptroller-
General, indemnifying policy-holders against losses. This deposit should
he graduated in proportion to the capital and business of the company,
making it a misdemeanor, with adequate punishment of every agent at-
7
tempting to effect insurance until the company he represents has made
deposit of ample securities to protect policy holders against fraud or at-
tempted frauds.
In this connection I would further recommend that all banking institu-
tions that are banks of deposit, other than National Banks, also
Savings' Banks, Trust Companies, &c., be required to deposit with the
Comptroller General sufficient securities in bonds and stocks to protect
depositors against loss in case of failure. Some of our banking institu-
tions are now receiving deposits, where neither the stockholders, nor any
of the officers of the banks, are in any way personally responsible ; and if
in the event of fluctuations of the money market, any of these institu-
tions should fail, the depositor would have no security to protect him
against loss. It has been the policy of all the old States to protect the
poor man, the widow and the orphan, for whose benefit these banks are
professedly used, by limiting their investments to certain securities I
would also recommend that in the case of guardians and others having
money of minors and others in trust, investments in State bonds shall
protect the guardian, Courts, or party holding the trust, against the fluctua-
tions of the money market. This will operate as a greater security for a
careful and judicious administration of the investment. There is no
possibility of the security becoming worthless, and it protects the guar,
dian and trustee against the chances of investment in something more
perishable or doubtful.
Under the law for the collection of taxes on the ad valorem system,
there was expected to arise many embarrassments, in consequence of the
difficulty in the selection and appointment of persons sufficiently ac-
quainted with the system, or those who took sufficient interest to tho-
roughly understand it. Many irregularities, and, perhaps, cases of
hardship, may have occurred to individuals from the unequal taxation of
property in the State. For information on this subject, I call your at-
tention to the very full and able report of the State Auditor, who has
charge of that department, and has made himself fully conversant with
all the details of the system, and the necessary changes that should
be made.
BLUE RIDGE RAILROAD.
At the special session of the General Assembly in September, 1868, an
Act was passed authorizing the endorsement and guarantee of four mil-
lions of bonds of the Blue Ridge Railroad Company, which bonds con-
stitute a first mortgage on all the property of said railroad company in
South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. At that time
it was believed that four millions of dollars, with such assistance as could
be procured from other sources, would be sufficient to complete this great
8
thoroughfare, and open communication between the west and the southern
seaboard. Every effort has been made by the President, General J. W.
Harrison, and other gentlemen interested in the result, but without secur-
ing the assistance hoped for. We were, therefore, left to our own
resources. Believing that the interests of the people of the State
demanded the completion of the road at as early a day as practicable,
the Company concluded to advertise for bids for its construction. On the
8th of July last the bids received were opened and the contract awarded
to Messrs. Creswell and Co. A new survey, and an estimate of the cost of
the work, had, previous to that notice, been made by the present Engi-
neer. It was then ascertained that the great increase of the cost of such
work over the original estimates made it apparent that the four millions;
of first mortgage bonds provided for fell far short of the means necessary;
to complete it, and that it would require about eight millions of dollars to
put the road in running order. The Company, impressed with a sense of.
the importance of putting the work under contract, entered into an agree-
ment with Creswell and Co., contingent on the Legislature endorsing ae
further amount of bonds sufficient to complete the work on its own first
mortgage. It must be apparent to every member of the General As; em
bly that the first mortgage, covering the entire property of the Company,
and the work but little more than half completed, the whole investment
must remain as dead capital until the means are provided to finish thei
road. In any failure on the part of the Company to open communica-|
tions with the West, the State must be the sufferer. It would be adding
to a direct investment, already made, of a million and a half of money, a
contingent liability of four millions of dollars, neither of which can be)
made to meet the accruing interest without the expenditure of more capi-
tal for the completion of the road.
One of two plans should be adopted at once. The first is to abandonl
the whole scheme of a direct railroad route to the West, lose the three
millions of money invested by the State, the city of Charleston, and pri-
vate individuals; repeal the Act of September, 1868, whereby four mil-
lion dollars more of bonds guaranteed by the State would be sunk and
made valueless, or assist the Company in their efforts to complete the
work by such means as would be valuable to them, and at the same time
not injure the credit of the State. This the Committee authorized to
make a contract for the prosecution of the work believed could be done
by an endorsement of the first mortgage bonds of the road by the State
to an amount sufficient to complete and put the road in running order.
If their view was incorrect, then the whole project, from its inception,
was a blunder, and conceived without thought as to its cost, or the bene-
fits to be derived by the people of the State by opening a new
avenue to trade and commerce. A railroad that will not pay the interest
9
on its cost should never be constructed in a country were every well-
managed road does pay largely. An arrangement was made, by the Ex-
ecutive Committee that the company should meet the interest on the
bonds put upon the market until the road was completed and put in run-
ning order, after which it was believed that a lease for a term of years
might be given, by which the payment of its first mortgage debt and in-
terest could certainly be guaranteed, thereby leaving the State without a
possible risk of ever having to pay one dollar of her endorsed bonds of
this road. Having hitherto taken strong grounds against any assistance
to railroads, and against any increase of our State debt that would be
liable to burden the people of the State with heavy taxes, I do not feel
at liberty to make any direct recommendations in regard to the Blue
Ridge Railroad, much as I appreciate its importance to the State, and
feeling confident that it is the only railroad enterprise that will develop
our resources, and make other roads leading to our seaboard valuable.
I leave the question with you, to consider whether the credit of the
State at the present time admits of the prosecution of. work on this en-
terprise. I have grave doubts whether the further endorsement of bonds
at this time would not injuriously affect the value of our securities in
the market, as many will not fully understand that the assistance to the
Blue Ridge Railroad would be a contingent liability that the State would
only be compelled to meet on failure of the Company to pay their bonds
at maturity.
THE STATE DEPARTMENT.
The report of the Secretary of State herewith appended, exhibits the
transactions of that office, for the year ending October 31st, 1869. Their
multiplicity will give some idea of the entire amount of work performed
by the various Executive Departments during the past year.
EDUCATION.
The report of the Superintendent of Education is necessarily incom-
plete, as the returns from several Counties have not yet reached him, but
he hopes to be able, in a very short time, to present for your considera-
tion a full and complete report. It is very. desirable that an efficient and
comprehensive law on this important subject should be passed at as early
a period as practicable.
THE LAND COMMISSION.
Up to the present time, there have been purchased in the several
Counties, for the purpose of the Land Commission, forty-five thousand
acres of land, which is now in process of survey and division into tracts
2
10
of eligible size for purchasers and occupants. I recommend an addi-
tional appropriation to this beneficent object, of securing homes for the
worthy and industrious mechanic and laborer, which will establish many
small farmers in the place of the comparatively few heretofore holding
that relation, and consequently will insure the better cultivation of the
soil, and the expenditure of a greater portion of their earnings at
home, instead of being dissipated in luxury and extravagance in distant
cities.
The bonds issued for the purposes of the Land Commission must be-
come a first class security, as they will not only have the credit of the
State, but the money arising from the sales of the lands with their im-
provements, as an additional guarantee. The annual instalments of the
payments for these lands will be ample to meet the interest on them, as
well as to provide a sinking fund for their redemption at maturity, with-
out the possibility of having to resort to taxation for that purpose;
Their issue, therefore, can have no possible injurious influence on the
credit of the State, but should rather enhance it, as the subdivision of
large bodies of land, much of it uncultivated, into small and productive
farms," would at once treble its value, and afford an increased basis of
taxation to the same extent.
HOMESTEAD RELIEF.
The law securing a homestead, worth one thousand dollars, with the
products thereof, and five hundred dollars' worth of other personal pro-
perty to each head of a family whose property may be levied upon for
debt, continues to fulfill its beneficent design, but there is no sufficient
reasons why its benefits should be restricted to the landholder. The pro-
fessional man, the mechanic, the farmer, and the laborer, are equally en-
titled to its advantages. At present, the proprietor of the Homestead
may rent out portions of it to the farmer, the mechanic, and the laborer;
and if, by sickness or misfortune, they should get behind-hand, their little
property is liable to seizure, even the food provided for the family may
be taken from them, and they expelled from their humble shelter, and
exposed to the severities of winter; and all this while their landlord is
enjoying in comfort the munificent bounty of the State. This is neither
right nor just, nor in accordance with sound public policy. The poor,
the unfortunate, and the helpless, should ever be the special objects of
public regard. I therefore recommend to your favorable consideration
the propriety of so amending the Homestead law, that its principles
should be applied to the laboring classes, and that the personal property
of the professional man, the farmer, the mechanic, and laboring man,
including their books, tools, implements, cattle, clothing, furniture, and
provisions, shall be exempt from seizure and sale for debt, to the amount
11
of five hundred dolls rs. This will only be carrying out in good faith the
principle established by the Homestead law, and extending, to all the
benefits and exemptions now confined to comparatively a few.
THE MILITIA.
The records of enrolment not having been yet completed, and the
quota of arms and accoutrements appropriated to the State not having
been received from the Federal Government until recently, the organiza-
tion of the Militia has been somewhat impeded. It will be hastened,
however, as rapidly as practicable, and I hope soon to be able to report
that the requirements of the law have been fully complied with.
JURIES.
A,change is demanded in the system of selecting juries. As at present
managed, it is liable, and perverted, to great abuse, on account of the
character of the persons placed upon them. Men have been appointed
on Grand and Petit juries who were at the time, and are now, under
heavy bail on charges of complicity with murder; and in one case,
when one of these accused individuals was foreman of the Grand Jury,
bills for murder submitted to them by the Solicitor of the Circuit were ig-
nored and thrown out, notwithstanding the oaths of witnesses who iden-
tified the accused as participants in the murder. Cases are decided, not
by the guilt or innocence of parties, but in accordance with the political
bias of the juries; and, from the intensity of prejudice existing, it is vain
to expect a better condition of things while the present system of drawing
juries continues. This corruption of justice at the fountain head de-
mands a prompt and efficient remedy, which will place the jury box
above the influence of politics, and fill it with our best and most intelli-
gent citizens, whose reputation places them above reproach and above
suspicion.
PARDONS.
The number of pardons granted since my last Message has been un-
usually large, which is in part to be attributed to the fact that many of
them were granted a few days before the expiration of the sentences.
These were pardoned to preserve their civil rights, and were recommended
by the Superintendent on account of their good behavior. Others were
pardoned on the petition of friends and citizens, with the concurrence of
the Judge before whom they were tried. And others, again, from the
fact that their punishment was prompted by political motives and preju-
dices. In all cases of pardons, they were granted for reasons which com-
mended themselves to my sense of justice and humanity.
12
magistrates' courts.
I have heretofore directed your attention to the subject of Magistrates'
Courts, and would urgently renew my recommendations on the subject.
The wide latitude heretofore given to the discretion of Magistrates and
Courts has had the effect to crowd our jails with petty offenders, at a
heavy expense to the State, much of which could be avoided by giving
final jurisdiction to Magistrates' Courts, with right of appeal, of all minor
offences, such as petit larceny, simple assault and battery, and other
misdemeanors of similar grade, with power to determine the question of
guilt, and its extent, and to inflict penalties by fine. This would obviate
the necessity of a good deal of Sessions business, and the cost of wit-
nesses' fees and expenses. A fair and reasonable fee bill should be estab-
lished, as there is much complaint that Magistrates and Constables are
guilty of making?extortionate exactions from the poor and ignorant. Many
cases have been so manipulated as to involve the largest amount of costs, and
others again have been instituted for malicious purposes, frequently from
political motives or political objects. When such cases have been sub-
stantiated, I have promptly removed the offenders, and many of them, in
my opinion, deserved a more rigorous punishment. I have been apprised
of cases where Magistrates have attempted to interfere with the State
Constables while in the discharge of their duty, and recommend that
adequate punishments be provided for such offences. Severe penalties
should also be provided for carrying concealed deadly weapons, a cow-
ardly practice, which has become entirely too prevalent.
the new state house.
In accordance with the Joint Resolution to provide for the fitting up
of certain portions of the New State House, I advertised for proposals
for the execution of the work in the newspapers of this city and Charles-
ton. Mr. James M. Allen, being the lowest bidder, was awarded the
contract. Of the manner in which it has been executed, it is unneces-
sary for me to speak. You are surrounded by his work, which is its own
eulogium.
The necessity of providing for the accommodation of the remaining
officers of the State Government, will require an additional appropriation,
and I respectfully recommend that provision be made for completing such
other portions of the building as may be deemed advantageous and
proper.
the university.
The report of the Faculty of the University of South Carolina has been
transmitted to the Trustees, for their examination and action, and their
report will be submitted, at an early day, for your consideration.
13
THE LUNATIC ASYLUM.
I transmit for your consideration the annual report of the Regents of
the Lunatic Asylum, accompanied by the reports of Dr. J. W. Parker,
the Superintendent and Physician, and of John Waties, Esq , the Trea-
surer of the institution. The report of Dr. Parker shows that at the
commencement of the year the number of patients was 204, to which have
been added during the year 94, making in all 298. From this number
64 have been discharged, leaving 234. Of those discharged, there were
cured, 47; died, 14; eloped, 1; removed, 2. Of those received, 67 were
cases of more than one year's standing and regarded as chronic; 13 were
idiots or imbecile; 14 were epileptic; 65 were white, and 29 were colored:
males, 49; females, 56. Of those who died, 2 were from old age and
inanition; 3 from diarrhoea; 2 from exhaustion; 1 from hypertrophy of
the heart; 1 from cancer.; 1 from paralysis; 2 from convulsions; 1 from
hydrothorax, and 1 from ascites; total, 14. During the year the health
of the institution has been good and exempt from malarial disease. The
product of the farm was 168 bushels of wheat, 18 bushels of rye, a good
crop of oats and peas, about 400 bushels of corn, a good harvest of fodder
and hay: and from 11 acres of ground there have been ginned and
packed 12 bales of cotton, and there are about 4 more to pick. Up to
the close of the war the number of colored patients never exceeded 5;
during the past year the number admitted was 29. This large accession
of patients has rendered additional accommodations necessary. A
separate house is recommended for the accommodation and treatment of
idiotic patients.
The Treasurer's statement shows that the receipts during the year have
been $48,244.65, and the expenditures $48,399.56, being an excess of
expenditure of $154.81. The outstanding indebtedness of the Asylum is
about $5,000, which is not of a pressing nature, and should be met by
collections. The County Commissioners are still largely in arrears,
although a circular was addressed to each Board last February, indicat-
ing the amount required by the several Counties to meet their past
indebtedness and future advances. About half the Counties have paid,
and a list of those still owing will be furnished to the Comptroller Gene-
ral. Of the amount appropriated by the Legislature, ($19,000,)
$14,984.55 has been drawn and expended, and an order on the State
Treasurer is held for $2,000, payable November 1st and December 1st,
making $16,984.55, and leaving an undrawn balance of $2,015.45. It is
estimated that the provision required to be made by the State for the
maintenance of its beneficiaries, from January, 1870, to January, 1871,
will be $15,000.
The report of the condition of the Asylum is very satisfactory, and
will compare favorably with that of any similar institution in the coun-
14
try. The recommendations contained in it are deserving of your consi-
deration. The Asylum is not a suitable place for idiots and imbeciles,
whose condition requires an entirely different treatment from that of luna-
tics; and they can only be properly attended to in a building specially
appropriated to themselves. I trust that the appropriation for that, and
the increased accommodation necessary for the patients in the Asylum,
will be made. Dr. Parker, the Superintendent, has efficiently dis-
charged the duties of his office for upwards of thirty-three years, and as
there is some misapprehension on the subject, it is but justice to say, that
while he has administered the duties of many offices connected with the
Asylum, he has only received the compensation pertaining to his own,
that of Superintendent and Physician.
DEAF, DUMB, AND BLIND.
The Asylum for the education of the Deaf, Dumb and Blind, at Cedar
Springs, Spartanburg County, has been recently reorganized, by the ap-
pointment of Prof. J. M. Hughston as Superintendent, Mrs. W. B. North
as Principal of the School for Mutes, and Miss Jane J. Rogers as Assis-
tant; Mr. W. B. North Assistant Teacher of the Blind, and Professor of
Music; and Mrs. Ann R. Neagle as Matron. The buildings, which are
somewhat dilapidated, are in course of repair, and I have reason to
hope the institution will soon be in successful operation. I earnestly re-
commend it to your fostering care and attention.
THE PENITENTIARY.
The report of the Commissioners of the Penitentiary, and the accom-
panying report of the Superintendent of the Institution, will be found
full and highly satisfactory. The Superintendent states that on taking
charge of the institution on the 23d of January last, he receipted for 201
prisoners. There have been received since 301; recaptured, 4 ; making
an aggregate of 506. There have been discharged on expiration of sen-
tence, 51; died from disease, 7 ; died from iniuries received in attempt-
ing to escape, 1 ; pardoned, 136; escaped, 16; total, 211; leaving in
confinement, 295. A great number of those pardoned were nearly at the
expiration of their several sentences, and the Superintendent is of the
opinion that this policy has greatly aided in enforcing discipline and di-
minishing the number of punishable offences during the year. The total
amount expended was $61,522 50 ; and the amount of work executed, as
estimated at contract price, and of materials and stores on hand, amounts
to $93,675.69, leaving a balance to the credit of the institution of
$32,153.19.
10
The Superintendent recommends, and the Commissioners warmly con-
cur in the recommendation, that there should be a guard of enlisted men
for the Penitentiary; that a small farm of one hundred acres or more
should be attached to the institution for the employment in agriculture
of convicts sentenced to short terms of imprisonment; that permanent
workshops should be constructed; and in consideration of the increased
duties devolved upon the Superintendent, by abolishing the office of
Draughtsman, his salary be increased from $2,000 to $3,000, and that he
have power given him of shortening the term of imprisonment of con-
victs who have uniformly conducted themselves properly, say one-
twelfth, which recommendations are respectfully submitted for your con-
sideration and decision.
LIBRARY AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
The report of the State Librarian, and Keeper of the State House, is
appended, and will show that he has been sedulous in the discharge of
his duties. I recommend his suggestions to your favorable consideration.
THE CENSUS.
I transmit the report of the Commissioner of the Agricultural Bureau,
containing a tabular statement of the results of the enumeration of the
inhabitants of this State so far as they have been ascertained from the
returns made to his office. The statement embraces the returns of twenty
Counties, and there are still eleven to be accounted for. As it is expected
that the missing returns will be received in a few days, any further re-
marks are deferred until the completion of the report.
QUARANTINE.
The report of Dr. Robert Lebby, Health Officer for the Port of
Charleston, is a highly interesting document, and satisfactorily demon-
strates that, with proper vigilance and activity, exotic diseases and epi-
demies may be excluded from that port by an efficient quarantine.
This is of great importance to the City of Charleston as a commercial
seaport, and also to its citizens, whose lives have been frequently placed
in jeopardy by negligence and incapacity. The necessary quarantine
buildings, including a new hospital, and Steward's house, on Morris
Island, with eight hundred feet of causeway from the creek, and a resi-
dence for the Health Officer on the State lands at Fort Johnson, have
been completed, at an expenditure of $7,000, leaving a balance of the
appropriation made for that purpose, of $1,000, which will be expended
for bedding, furniture and stores for the hospital. Dr. Lebby's sugges-
tions and recommendations are entitled to much weight, and are respect-
fully recommended to your earnest consideration.
16
ARSENAL.
The number and value of arms and accoutrements now in possession
of the State involves the necessity of providing a building for their pre-
servation and safety, and I recommend for your consideration the pro-
priety of making an appropriation for that purpose.
SHERIFFS.
Some legislation is desirable in reference to Sheriffs. The careless
management of jails, and the frequent escapes of prisoners in their cus-
tody, and other irregularities, require a more rigid responsibility. Com-
plaints have been made of the food furnished to prisoners, and the Grand
Juries should be required to make periodical examinations and present-
ments of the condition of the prisoners and jails. I would recommend
that a ration of good quality be established by law, and that it should be
furnished by contract, as it is but too evident, from the fact of their fre-
quent detention of prisoners in jail, that the ration is a matter of specu-
lation to the jailer. The ration at the Penitentiary costs but eighteen
-cents, while fifty cents each is allowed to the Sheriffs for prisoners in the
jails. There are other abuses connected with the office of Sheriff which
require investigation and reform.
THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.
The duties of the Board of County Commissioners are of an arduous
and comprehensive character, and in the honest and faithful discharge
of them are involved much of the reputation and efficiency of the State
Government. Their attention should be especially directed to the con-
dition of the roads and bridges in their respective Counties. All per-
sons liable to road service should be made to perform it to the full extent
of keeping them in good repair, or to contribute an equivalent in money for
their exemption. Bridges and other structures should be let by contract,
of which due notice should be given. The County Auditor should
always be present at the meetings of the Board, and act as Secretary,
keeping the journal of their proceedings, and all orders on the County
Treasurer, authorised by the Board, should be signed by him, and made
a matter of record.
THE STATE CONSTABULARY.
The report of the Chief Constable gives a full and satisfactory exhibit
of the operations of his office. The amount of labor performed has been
considerable, and, in many instances, has been of a delicate and hazard-
ous character. There have been some cases where complaints have been
made of their conduct, but upon investigation, it has been found that the
dissatisfaction was with the law itself, rather than with the manner in
17
which it has been executed. They have had much to contend with in
the opposition of portions of the community to the arrest of criminals,
and aiding them in their efforts at concealment and escape. The press
has greatly assisted in thrusting impediments in their way while engaged
in their duties, by their perversion of facts and abuse of the officers. It
is to be sincerely hoped that the folly and injustice of this course will be
apparent, and those interested in the peace and prosperity of the State,
in the protection of life and property, and in the supremacy of the law,
will feel it their duty to aid and encourage the State officers in the en-
forcement of it. In a recent instance, where an organized band of incen-
diaries had commenced their work of destruction, by the burning of sev-
eral stores, and threatening further proceedings of the same character, I
felt it my duty to issue my proclamation, warning the incendiaries of the
atrocious character of their crime, and the consequences to which it might
lead, and this was perversely and mischievously tortured into an invitation
to commit the crime denounced, and its justification. I am glad to state
that this falsehood was so base and malignant as to be repeated but by few,
and the effect of the proclamation has been most salutary, in having ac-
complished the arrest of ten of the alleged incendiaries, and the disper-
sion of the remainder. While there have been some atrocious crimes
committed recently, the authors of which are still at large, I am glad to
say there has been an improvement in the general tone of the community,
and a disinclination manifested by responsible persons to lend them-
selves to the schemes of the factious and designing, and of being compro-
mised by countenancing the turbulence and lawlessness of their ignorant
and misguided partisans.
PUBLIC PROPERTY.
There is a considerable amount of public property in this city, Charles-
ton, and other portions of the State, which has been for a long time ex-
empt from taxation, and productive of no revenue. I recommend that
an investigation be made of the location, extent, and probable value of
this property with a view to the sale of such portions of it as may be
deemed advisable, so that it may be placed on the tax list, and contrib-
ute its share to the public revenue.
LABOR AXD CAPITAL.
Among the evils of civilization may be deemed the antagonism of
capital and labor, and the strifes and conflicts which generally accom-
pany it. Perhaps in no portion of our Republic has this antagonism
been more imperiously enforced, and more distinctly recognized, than in
South Carolina, where, among the large landed proprietors, who owned,
to a great extent, the soil, and controlled its legislation, the free laborer
18
was considered on a level with the slave; and if there was any
discrimination it was in favor of the slave, who had an owner,
and therefore a protector, in the controlling class; while the free
laborer owned himself and had to care for himself, and no so-
licitude was felt for him except upon the eve of an election, when his
vote was wanted. If tainted with the blight of labor, it was of no Con-
sequence how intelligent or worthy, in other respects, the individual
might be, an interdict like that which expelled our first parents from
Eden rested on him, and the remark of some supercilious maiden, " he
is only a mechanic," has been the fiat of ostracism to many a promising
and aspiring young man from the charmed circle of " good society," and
frequently of exile from friends and home, to a community where labor
was not a disgrace, nor being a mechanic disreputable. Of the extent of
this vital loss to the South some estimate may be made from the fact that
in addition to the many thousands scattered throughout the West, there
are upwards of seventeen thousand Southerners, a goodly portion of
whom are from South Carolina, at the present moment devoting their
talents and energies to the building up and extending the already enor-
mous business of the city of New York. And yet many of the class
whose former dominance was so baleful to the general interest and pros-
perity of the State, insensible to the afflictive lessons of the ordeal
through which they have so recently passed—learning nothing, forget-
ting nothing—not realizing that they are only the shadows of the power
they once exercised, still " assume the god, affect to nod," while not only
their sceptre, but their dominion is rapidly passing from them into the
hands of the speculator and the money lender, and of those who feed and
fatten upon the vices, the weaknesses, and the misfortunes of mankind.
But, notwithstanding the decrepitude and decay of so large a portion of
our former property holders, the moneyed influence still wages its strength
in opposition to the rights of labor; and availing itself of the resources
at its command, has assumed not only to determine the wages of the la-
borer, but to fix his social status, and to treat him as a subordinate and
as an inferior and dependant, to be coerced into submission by the dread
that resistance would result in the loss of employment to himself and of
bread to his family. And the workingman, like the bridled horse un-
conscious of his strength, has been content to occupy the abject position
assigned to him, of toil and drudgery, of penury and degradation, for the
scanty means of subsistence doled out to him, while his children have
grown up uneducated aud unrefined, without the means of improving
their condition, reckless of the past, hopeless of the future. But although
in these struggles, hitherto the advantage has generally been with the
capitalist, the workingmen, by realizing the importance of concentrated
effort, and of proper organization, are meeting their employers on more
19
equal ground, insisting that they shall have a voice in determining the
value of their labor; and in many instances these demands have been
complied with. Success has encouraged others who are pressing toward
the same goal, and I am cheered in the hope that the day is not distant
when the employer and employed will realize that they are mutually de-
pendent upon each other; that the rights of the one, and the interests of
the other, are perfectly compatible, and equally deserving of recognition
and respect, and that all will acquiesce in the sentiment that a fair day's
work is entitled to a fair day's wages.
In communities where the system of compulsory labor existed, the an-
tagonism of labor and capital was greatly aggravated, the capitalist be-
ing the master and the laborer his slave, whose labor and person alike were
under his control, and who regarded him but too frequently only in his
legal relation of " chattel," in whom he had no other interest, and felt no
other sympathy, than the amount of labor he could exact from him, or
what he could sell him for in the market. But this system of coercion
and degradation, which defied the cMms of humanity and the restraints
of law, and which, in debasing labor, injuriously affected all, both white
and colored, who lived by it, was, in the order of a wise and beneficent
Providence, suddenly stricken—mortally and irretrievably—to the earth;
the relations of master and slave were instantaneously abolished, and the
workingman was made free to dispose of his person and his labor in
whatever direction or manner he might deem most advantageous.
While in many cases a remnant of the old habits remains—the recollec-
tions of kindnesses received on the one hand, and of faithful service, on
the other,—a large majority are yet loth to recognize the full equality
before the law of their former slaves, and grudgingly dole out to them
their scanty earnings, as though it was a gratuity and not a right; and
their deferential courtesy is but too frequently repaid with arrogance,
exaction and abuse. These exhibitions of bitterness and injustice are
greatly to be deplored, and require the prompt and effectual interposition
of law to protect the workingman in his rights, and to enable him to fully
realize that he is the owner of his own labor, and entitled to a fair com-
pcnsation for it; that he is the protector of his wife and children ; that
his home is his sanctuary, where none can molest him or make him afraid ;
and that he is secure in his right of life, liberty'and the pursuit of hap-
pienss.
I earnestly recommend, therefore, the passage of such laws as will pro-
tect the workingman from the rapacity and dishonesty of his employer.
Men who have been faithful and diligent in fulfiling their contracts, by
putting in and laying by the crops, as was universally admitted at the
time by the public journals, when the necessity for their labor has some-
20
what relaxed, have been driven from the plantation upon some frivolous
pretext, and all compensation for their labor refused them; and these
outrages are palliated and excused by some of the very journals who were
previously loudest in praise of the laborers. Thus at the close of the sea-
son, without money and without employment, the laborer is thrown upon
society to beg of starve; to become depredators on the community, and
candidates for our jails, and penitentiary. Others, in the division of the
crops, have been defrauded by their employers, giving rise to quarrels,
and bloodshed, and more than once, murder has been added to robbery.
These evils should be remedied promptly, and I earnestly recommend for
your consideration the establishment of a special tribunal in each County,
to have cognizance of all cases between the laborer and his employer,
with simple rules for their adjudication and settlement. Labor and capi-
tal should be both protected in such manner as to prevent either from en-
croaching on the other. Contracts should be made in writing, and rigid-
ly enforced. The laborer should be required to perform his contract with
fidelity, and no opportunity should be afforded to the contractor or em-
ployer to evade payment when the contract has been fulfiled. The re-
medy should be plain, simple, and cheap. Every inducement should be
held out for the encouragement of industrious, economical, and temper-
ate habits in our laboring population, and premiums for thfese excellen-
cies might be advantageously bestowed by industrial organizations. A
man who eats but will not work, is a bad member of society, and should
be made to accept some honest means of making his living. Idlers should
not be countenanced, and habitual loafers are legitimate objects of suspi-
cion, who if not criminal, are in a fair way to become so. It is from such
sources our jails and penitentiary receive their largest contributions.
It should be the earnest effort of every man to secure a home, how-
ever humble, for himself and family, and add to its comforts gradually
from his earnings. It is to be hoped that facilities for acquiring
such homes will be greatly augmented, and that an increased number qf
industrious and deserving persons may soon be settled on their little
farms, with the pleasant conviction that their labor is for their own ben-
efit and that of their families. By settling in neighborhoods, in conti-
guity to each other, they can avail themselves of the benefits of associa-
tion for educational and industrial objects, and also for the purposes of
protection.
APPRENTICES.
A law for binding out apprentices is greatly needed. An investigation
would show that at present there are but comparatively few apprentices,
either white or colored, and the great mass of our youth are growing up
in habits of idleness and ignorance, which promise badly for their future
21
career, and which but too frequently lead to vice and degradation. An
apprentice has the opportunity of acquiring some useful trade or indus-
trial pursuit, which will be advantageous to him or her in after life, in
securing employment and good wages, and, with the schooling, which
should always be provided for, enable them to enter upon a career, which,
if industriously pursued, will lead to respectability and wealth. This
will be much better, both for themselves and the community, than to
grow up in idleness and ignorance, dependent on chance for a day's
work, and frequently on charity for their daily food—living a life of
penury, degradation and crime, compared with which their former condi-
tion of slavery was a blessing. In framing a law, it should require that
the contract must take care that the bodily comforts and condition of
the apprentice should be amply provided for, as also a sufficient amount
of schooling. They should be permitted to select a guardian, who would
represent them in cases of difference with their employer, and, if necessary,
have the case referred to the decision of the tribunal to be established for
the adjudication of contracts. Youths loitering about the streets, without
home or parents, should be taken care of by the proper authorities, who
should bind them to responsible and respectable persons, and thus secure
their present comfort and future welfare.
AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL SCIENCE.
The great necessity of the present time, and especially in the South
is the want of practical men and women., Our habits of thought and
practice have, unfortunately, been adverse to the production of them.
The noxious influence of slavery was nowhere more apparent than in the
pernicious sway it exercised upon society in dishonoring labor. Hence,
the eagerness to avoid it as an unclean thing, and the avidity for what
are,called professions—clergymen, physicians and lawyers—not for any
peculiar aptitude or fitness of the candidates for these positions, but from
the conviction that to be connected with them was a passport to good so-
ciety, while " gentleman " and " mechanic" were distinctively antago-
nistic terms. And to avoid this taint, aspiring young men, who could not
attain to the coveted " profession," were content to accept a " situation,"
as clerk, as keeper of books, as messenger, or any other subordinate po-
sition that would enable them to avoid the stigma of labor. Many a fond
and foolish parent, acquiescing in his son's repugnance to his father's vo-
cation on the farm, in which he had acquired competence and respecta-
bility, has yielded to his desire for a profession; has sent him to a college
or university, where, but too frequently, he acquired the vices and not
the advantages of city life; and in attempting to rival the extravagances
of wealthier associates, has plunged himself into debt, resulting but too
frequently in dishonesty and disgrace. Others who have passed this
22
ordeal successfully, having received their diploma and license, have com-
menced the practice of their profession, and their subsequent career has
been a continuous struggle between pride and poverty, to keep up ap-
pearances, which were at best but the shabby genteel, and, despite the
many false pretences, were mainly sustained by the subsidies from the
paternal home, where the pride felt in the favorite's position in society was
but a poor equivalent for the frequent drafts on their limited resources,
and their accompanying deprivations. Such is, unfortunately, but too
truthful an outline of the career of many of the aspirants for professional
honors, which appear so dazzling and attractive to the uninitiated.
Contrast his position with that which he might have occupied in the
home which he had abandoned, and which his energies might have con-
tributed to elevate and adorn, and his presence not only give happiness
to the household, but dignity to his employment. The satisfaction of
having a home of his own, with ample room for all connected with it,
with its resources of useful employments and attractive amusements,
wealth giving and health giving, in dispensing fertility to the soil and
beauty to the dwelling, which can hardly be appreciated until real-
ized. What folly then to place agriculture under the ban of vulgar pre-
judice! that art which was divinely instituted, and which is the most an-
cient, the most useful, the^ most healthful, and the most noble employ-
ment of man.
'But agriculture has not been a progressive art, and will not be unless
it calls science to its aid. Our farmers want suitable teaching to improve
themselves in their calling, and to give it its proper standing among the
learned professions. An agricultural college, with its professors, com-
mencements and diplomas, might not only satisfy this essential want, but,
perhaps, propitiate even the goddess of fashion, whose devotees are so
apt to be dazzled by the tinsel and glare of empty baubles, but which, ill
this case, would be the " substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen." And in view of all the benefits to be derived from
such an institution, I earnestly and respectfully renew my former recom-
mendations that provision be made for the establishment of a college
devoted to instruction in such sciences as are related to agriculture and
the mechanic arts.
MANUFACTURES.
In view of the importance of attracting manufacturing capital to the
State, I respectfully submit for your consideration, the propriety of ex-
empting from taxation, for five years, all capital hereafter invested in
it. This policy has been adopted in the adjoining State of Georgia,
and has had the effect in some cases of diverting capital to that State,
which would otherwise have been invested within our own.
23
DRAINAGE OF SWAMPS.
The swamp lands of the State comprise more than one million of acres
of almost inexhaustible fertility. In their present condition, these lands
are not only worthless, but mischievous, from their pestilential exhalations,
affecting the health and deteriorating the value of a large extent of adja-
cent territory, rendering it uninhabitable for a considerable portion of the
year. This is the more inexcusable from the comparative ease and econo-
my with which the swamps may be drained and brought under cultiva-
tion. What is mainly wanted is an accurate survey of the swamp terri-
tory, and next a plan for accomplishing its reclamation. To be effective
this must be generally conformed to How or by whom the expenses of
the improvement should be defrayed—whether wholly by those directly
interested in making them, or jointly with those more remotely affected
by them. A means of ascertaining the amount of benefit derived by the
respective parties from the improvement, can only be found by taking the
recent State assessment as the present value of the lands, and compare
it with an assessment of their value after the improvement is completed,
and the lands to be taxed accordingly.
The importance and value of such an improvement can hardly be esti-
mated. It would change the features and character of the most valuable
and productive section of the State, and add many millions to the annual
value of its products. The execution of it would make available large quan-
tities of most valuable timber land, besides unveiling the extent and rich-
ness of that immense sedimentary deposit of phosphates which underlies
the Low Country from the Santee to the Savannah. And it would also
make healthy and habitable a region of country, which for its balmy
atmosphere, the richness of its soil, its delicious fruits, and its abundance
of fish, oysters, and game, is not surpassed on the face of the globe To
transform such a country from a wilderness to an elysium would be a
work of beneficence as well as sound policy; and would redound to the
credit of all who participated in its accomplishment.
AGRICULTURE-
The agriculture of the State is the fundamental basis of its prosperity,
and yet not one-fourth of its soil has been brought under cultivation,
and so little of labor and skill have been devoted to it, that were it
not among the most favored regions of the earth, the heedless and care-
less system of tillage to which it has been subjected, would long since
have exhausted it. And yet in no department" of human industry can
skilled labor be made more available, or a larger or more varied circle
of scientific acquirements be more thoroughly and profitably utilized,
than in agriculture; and in no locality is there a more extensive or a
24
more inviting field for their exercise than in South Carolina. The loss
resulting annually to the State from the practice of an unskilled and
careless system of husbandry, instead of one that is intelligent and ener-
getic, is hardly to be estimated. Of the nineteen or twenty millions of
acres comprised within our limits, about one-fourth are devoted to culti-
vation, the rest is in woods of valuable timber, and in unreclaimed swamp,
easily drained, and of inexhaustible fertility.
In 1867 there were devoted to farm products 116,041 acres of corn,
245,654 acres to wheat, 70,900 acres to oats, 77,000 acres to hay,
9,835 to rye, 1,166 to barley, 1,890 to Irish potatoes, and 200 to tobacco.
Of the balance, the greater portion was devoted to the great com-
mercial staples of cotton and rice, The average yield per acre was
officially reported as nine and six-tenths bushels of corn; wheat, six
bushels and four-tenths ; oats, eleven bushels and one-tenth ; rye, five
bushels and seven-tenths ; barley, eleven bushels and one-tenth ; Irish
potatoes, eighty bushels and four-tenths; tobacco, five hundred
pounds; and of hay, one ton.
When it is recollected that it has been demonstrated by actual experi-
ment and measurement, in the vicinity of the city of Columbia, that with
high culture, and uader favorable circumstances, it is practicable to pro-
duce two hundred bushels and twelve quarts of corn from a single acre
of land; and that with ordinary intelligence and industry, twenty bushels
of wheat, rye, or oats; thirty-five of barley, and one hundred bushels of
Irish potatoes, are readily produced to the acre, the contrast between
what is, and what ought to be, the agricultural products of this State, is
alike surprising and mortifying, and demonstrates emphatically the
necessity of a radical change; and to this we are still further im-
pelled by the inexorable logic of events,—in the changed condition of
circumstances by which we are surrounded; in the thorough and sweep-
ing revolution in our system of labor, enforcing the Divine edict, as bene-
ficent as it is just, that man shall eat bread by the sweat of his own face,
and not by that of his fellow-man, and by the resistless tide of intel-
lectual activity and effort every where surrounding us, to take
our place in the march of material progress, and by calling science
to the aid of labor, blending brain and muscle in harmonious
co-operation, build up the fallen fortunes of our beloved State,
make her waste places to bloom and blossom as the rose, and
facilitate and hasten her attainment of a prosperity and happiness
more exalted, more general, and more permanent, than has ever been
witnessed within her borders. That the Legislature will cheerfully co-
operate in all legitimate efforts to bring about this desirable result—the
improvement of our agriculture—I cannot permit myself to doubt. The
formation of societies of practical farmers, meeting together periodically,
25
to communicate and contrast the results of their experience and experi-
ments, adds the additional stimulus of emulation to efforts of improve-
ment and excellence. I would suggest that an appropriation be made,
to be apportioned among the different Counties which may raise an equiva-
lent sum, to be distributed as premiums to those who may excel in the
different branches of their profession, but particularly in the deep and
thorough breaking up and pulverization of the soil, which is of primary
importance, and to the neglect of which much of our waste of labor and
of land may be attributed. The substitution of thorough tillage
for the superficial scraping and scratching of the soil now so
generally practiced, is the first step to improvement and success,
and this truth cannot be too forcibly impressed upon the minds
of the farmers, and especially of those who have but recently
become proprietors or occupants of land on their own account. This
will make many an acre now thrown out as " old fields" productive
and valuable, and enable the thrifty and industrious farmer to procure
homes at a comparatively small expense, the products of which will
contribute materially to the support of their families. Some legisla-
tion seems to be necessary for the prevention of the burning of the
woods, a practice not only dangerous in itself, and injurious to timber,
fencing and the soil, but largely responsible for noticeable changes in
our climate, for the increased lateness and severity of our seasons, and
for the long and exhausting droughts, which are yearly becoming
more disastrous. History, both ancient and modern, contains many
examples of the pernicious results of denuding a country of its tim-
ber ; and by men of intelligence it has been deemed that the too gen-
eral felling of the woods is the most destructive among the many
causes of the physical deterioration of the earth. Its mischievous
effects in our own section are already observable, not only in our pro-
tracted droughts and late spring frosts, and in the washing out of the
soluble portion of our soil, but in the drying up of springs and rivu-
lets, and the destruction of our upland pastures, many of which du-
ring the summer months afford neither water nor herbage for cattle.
In the State of Iowa the planting of trees is encouraged by a law by
which the farmer is released from taxation for ten years on one hun-
died dollars valuation for every acre of forest trees planted ; and for
each acre of fruit trees planted from a taxation of fifty dollars valua-
tiqn for five years ; and a similar provision for fruit trees and hedges
along the highways.
Sheep husbandry is an important source of wealth to the farmer, for
which we have many facilities and advantages. The principal obstacle
to its sucessful pursuit is the multitude of dogs by which many neighbor-
4
26
hoods are infested. It may be well to inquire whether the numbers of
these pestilent curs may not be advantageously diminished by holding
their owners to a strict accountability for the offences and depredations ,
committed by them ; and, as there is seldom necessity for more than one,
about a dwelling, a salutary influence may be exercised by imposing $
discriminating tax on all above that number, increasing the ratio of tax-
ation with each additional animal; thus, for a second dog in a family,
two dollars; for a third, three dollars; and so proportionately. This
would have a tendency to reduce the number of dogs, and to economise
the amount of food now wasted on them, while it would enable t|ie
breeders of sheep to increase the numbers of that valuable animal, and
thus to substitute producers of food and clothing for consumers and de?.
stroyers of both.
THE RIVER FISHERIES.
As a valuable adjunct to agriculture in the production of food, I deem
it my duty to call your attention to the importance of adopting measures,
for the restoration of our river fisheries. It is within the recollection of
many when the Savannah, the Santee and the Pee Dee, and their
numerous tributaries, yielded annually a generous tribute of savory and
nutritious food from the swarming fisheries along their shores, and when
shad were sold in the Columbia market at twenty for a dollar. Now
they are seldom seen unless brought from a distance, and are sold at ten,
times the former prices, placing them beyond the means of the poor, to
whom they were an every day article of cheap and wholesome food, and
limiting them, as a luxury, to the rich. From the greater number of our
rivers they are completely banished. Of the truth of this statement, and
of the cause of it, I quote the following testimony of a highly intelli
gent and influential gentleman, who has creditably served the country
both in our State and National Councils. In reply to a circular
which I had caused to be issued, he remarks:
"I cannot say when the shad were stopped from coming up the
Saluda, but I think it may be dated when the factory dam was
built acrosss the river, near its mouth. Previous to that time, and
as far back as my memory goes, shad were caught in great numbers
in that river. I remember well when I was a lad, my father, who
lived in Laurens district, some ten miles distant from Island Ford,
was yearly in the habit of sending a wagon to that place for shad,
and always returned with a full supply to last the family until
even the children no longer considered them a rarity. Many other
families did the same from both sides of the river; and this was only one-
of many such shad fisheries on that river. Now, for thirty-one years
back, which I can particularly remember, not a single shad has been,
caught from the Saluda; they have been_totally shut out by that selfish
dam."
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Many similar communications have been received from other
sources, demonstrating, conclusively, that the banishment of the shad and
other migratory fisheS from the upper waters of the State, and the conse-
quent deprivation of the people of a large amount of nutritious and pala-
table food, is altogether attributable to the numerous dams that have been
constructed in the rivers and streams, by which they are completely barri-
caded against the passage offish, and this in violation of law, which requires
that all dams shall be furnished with fish wrays at least sixty feet wide to
enable fish to pass up to their spawning grounds. Below the dams, an
unceasing warfare is waged against them by the owners of weirs,
traps, nets and seines, during the breeding season, as if their extirpation
had been a matter of solicitude, and was determined on. The cause sug-
gests the remedy, which can be'secured by the appointment of Comrnis-
sioners, with ample powers to enforce existing laws in relation to the
dams in rivers and streams, and other illegal obstructions to the passage
of fish; and the regulation of seines, nets and fish traps, by which their
destructive operations will be restrained and limited; and to recommend
such other measures as they may deem necessary for the accomplishment
of the object of their appointment.
From the well established fact that shad and other migratory
fishes always return to their breeding places, and that they have
been excluded for so many years from the upper portions of our
rivers, it may be necessary to restock them by artificial means. This
can be effected with great facility and at a comparatively trifling ex-
pense. The process of restocking the rivers of New England, New York and
Pennsylvania is now in the full tide of successful operation, and millions of
eggs of the salmon, white-fish, trout and shad are being hatched and set
loose every season, gradually to find their way to the ocean, whence, after
many days, with unerring instinct, they will return to their breeding
places for purposes of reproduction. Between thirty and forty millions
of shad have been hatched and set loose in Connecticut River; and dur-
ing the past breeding season, they were hatched at the rate of one million
per day in the upper waters of the Hudson River. The roe of a full
grown shad contains one hundred thousand eggs, and these being readily
fecundated by the milt of the male fish, are placed in properly prepared
boxes, and deposited in running water, to ,be hatched in from three to
four days; and so successful have experts become in the process, that
ninety-eight thousand live fish have been produced from one hundred
thousand eggs. The young fish are then set loose, and immediately seek
the middle of the stream, to avoid their numerous enemies who infest its
margin, and gradually float with the current to the ocean. The boxes are
then ready for another batch. The cost of the boxes is about two dollars
each. Two hundred boxes will hatch seven million of shad daily, or ui
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twenty-five days about fifteen millions, and would require tbe attention of
about twenty-five men for less than one month. Thus it wilbbe seen that bin
comparatively short period our rivers may be restocked not only wi0l
shad, but with other valuable species that may be deemed desirable, and
our people in a few years will gather full harvests of rich subsistence
from our rivers, and " suck an abundance from the waters of the sea."
By those who have attentively studied the subject, it is estimated that an
acre of water will produce, with more certainty and less labor, as much
food as an acre of land, and when diligently and intelligently attended
to, in well conducted fish-ponds, it has been ascertained that it wiU
realize five times as much. If this be so, the absurdity of our past policy
in permitting the fish to be excluded from our rivers, may be illustrated by
supposing that our lands now raising corn, and cotton, should be allowed
to be neglected so as to fail in giving their yearly supply of food and
comfort. But is this more absurd than in having permitted for so many
years our rivers and smaller streams, that once teemed with an annual
supply of grateful and generous sustenance to the community, to become
barren and unproductive ?
COAST FISHERIES.
In connection with this subject your attention may be appropriately
directed to the importance of utilizing our coast fisheries. The entire
sea-front of our State, from Cape Fear to the Savannah River, with its
numerous marshes, estuaries and indentations, for a width of ten miles on
an average, may be asserted to be almost literally paved with oysters.
These beds are most favorably located, being generally just above or be-
low the low water line, and can be gathered as readily as potatoes. The
heats of summer do not destroy them, and only twice within half a cen-
tury have they been affected by frost, and they can be increased so as to
supply every possible demand, either for home consumption, or exporta-
tion. It is estimated that oysters each produce annually from one, to
two millions of young, but so minute in size that the spawn floats about
in the water like a cloud, until it is destroyed by the numerous animals
that prey upon it, or smothered in the mud. The remedy for this im-
mense waste is to place solid bodies in the way of these wandering ani-
maculae, to which they readily attach themselves, and are rapidly develop-
ed; and on being transferred to suitable beds, in about three years are
edible,and ready for the market, Any arrangement that will intercept the
floating spawn of the oyster, such as the placing of hurdles orpine faggots
near their beds, and their subsequent removal to convenient and suitable
localities until they are matured and ready for market, will furnish all the
requirements of successful oyster culture.
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But, in addition to their permanent inhabitants, the oyster beds
of our Coast are frequented by immense numbers of scale and shell
fish throughout the season, that greatly increase their value. The sea
crab and shrimp, not excelled in flavor and delicacy by any of their
species, visit them in untold numbers, and can be taken in any quantity
with the net or seine. The Drum, a fine fish for the table, weighing
upon an average 35 pounds, the roe of which is celebrated for its deli-
cacy, is abundant in the month of April; the bass, weighing about 30
pounds, visits us in large numbers in September and October ; while at
at all seasons, the sheephead, the whiting, the black bass, and numerous
other varieties, are found in great profusion. The lands occupied by the
oyster beds and fisheries belong to the State, and by judicious allotments
of portions of them to industrious and responsible persons, they may be
made the seat of an extensive and profitable industry to individuals, and
of revenue to the State. From the Chesapeake Bay millions of dollars'
worth of oysters are annually distributed throughout the Union, and
there is no, reason why our Southern coast, with its superior advantages
of climate, may not soon equal, and even excel it in the quantity and
value of its exports. Establishments may be located in eligible positions
for the preservation and canning of oysters, crabs, and shrimps, where the
catch of the fishermen will find a ready market, whence they can be dis-
tributed throughout the Union, and, from their superior flavor and cheap-
ness, to foreign countries; while the numerous fish would form an im-
portant contribution to the profits of the enterprise, and the sustenance
of the community. The number of persons to which this new business
would give employment, not only to those engaged in the catching and
preservation of its products, but in the manufacture of cans and boxes
for their transportation, would make many localities, which are now
waste and profitless, scenes of animated and profitable industry, and add
greatly to the enjoyments and resources of our people.
CONCLUSION.
It is related of the Emperor Severus, (once a colored freedman in the
Roman army, but whose energy, talents and valor, had placed him
at its head,) that during an invasion of Britain, he was arrested in his
march by an attack of illness, which it was soon known would terminate
fatally. In his dying moments, surrounded by his Generals, who were
passionately attached to him, he was approached by a Centurion of his
army, who applied to him for the password of the day. The dying
monarch, in that supreme moment, on the verge of eternity, gave utter-
ance to a sentiment, which had probably been the inspiration of his life
and the cynosure of his fame. Rallying his dying energies, in response to
30
the application of the Centurion for the password, he exclaimed:
" Laboremus !"—let us work—and falling backwards, expired. Gentle-
men of the General Assembly, in view of our duties, and responsibili-
ties to those who' have entrusted their interests to our charge, and in
the name and by the help of the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, in
whose hands are the destinies of Nations, "Let us work!"
ROBERT K. SCOTT, Governor.
Columbia, S. C., Nov. 24,1869.