5. It pledges the party to reduce the public expenditures within the public revenue, and to secure the enactment of a law requiring officers who disburse moneys to give to the public monthly statements of all receipts and expenditures derivable from a moderate assessment and tax rate.

6. It earnestly entreats Congress to pass the Civil Rights Bill, which is absolutely essential to the enforcement of the constitutional guaranty of equal rights for all American citizens.

7. It pledges the party to maintain the settlement of the public debt as made last winter, and to reject all claims against which there is a suspicion.

8. It holds that all franchises granted by the State should be subservient to the public good; that the charges for travel and freight should be equitable and uniform, and no unjust discrimination should be made between through and local travel and freight.

9. It advocates such modification of the present system of taxation as will prove of the largest advantage to the interests of the people, and promises most earnest endeavors for the enactment of such laws, and the encouragement of such means, as will most speedily develop the resources and build up the manufacturing and industrial prosperity of South Carolina, and the construction of such new railroads as will give the largest and cheapest facilities to all citizens.

10. It pledges protection, in the truest sense, to the property of the State, and to such wise, just, and humane laws as will perfect the education and elevation of the working classes.

II. That with a full faith in the justice of these principles, acknowledging the errors of the past, but feeling confident of the ability and determination to correct them, we appeal to all true Republicans to unite in bearing our candidates to victory, and we pledge our party to carry out, in the practical administration of the government, every principle inscribed on our standard in the interest of the whole people of the State.

The character of the struggle that ensued needs not to be set forth here, because references to it by participants on either side. are so numerous in subsequent chapters that the reader will have no difficulty in understanding its nature. The result of the remarkably earnest and thorough canvass (Mr. Chamberlain himself speaking in nearly every one of the thirty-two counties of the State) was the election of the regular Republican ticket. Mr. Chamberlain received 80,403 votes, and Judge Green 68,814, the vote being the largest since 1868.

At the same time a new Legislature was elected, consisting of eighty-two Republicans and forty-two Democrats in the House of Representatives, and of twenty-two Republicans and eleven Democrats in the Senate, sixty-one of the Representatives and sixteen of the Senators being colored.

CHAPTER II.

Governor Chamberlain's Inaugural Address-An Exhibition of the Condition of South Carolina's Affairs—Specific Radical Reforms Proposed.

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R. CHAMBERLAIN was inaugurated Governor December 1, 1874, and delivered the following Inaugural Address, which not only indicates clearly his own purposes for the future, but presents much information necessary for a just understanding of the character of past administrations and the situation which confronted the new one. It is a statement of facts and conditions fundamental to an intelligent estimate of what was afterwards accomplished.

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:

I have appeared before you to-day to assume the office of Governor, and to state my views of the action and policy on the part of our State Government which will best promote the public welfare.

Our recent political canvass presents one or two aspects which are significant of the will of the people. The two parties which sought supremacy were equally emphatic in their demand for the correction of existing abuses in the administration of our Government, and both presented to the public the same platform of principles and policy for the future conduct of public affairs. The remarkable spectacle was thus presented, among a people hitherto considered most widely divided in their political sympathies and aims, of an absolute identity of sentiment upon all the questions which were presented to the public by either party. It is true that a large minority of our citizens did not take part in either of the political conventions which presented the respective candidates for State officers, yet in the election, wherein the total number of votes cast was more than twelve thousand greater than in any previous election since 1868, only two parties appeared, both of which professed to seek similar ends by similar means. The result is that we who have been elected to office are united in the general objects which we seek and the general methods by which these objects are to be reached.

Without intending to overstate the extent to which our recent party

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combinations have bound us in respect to our future action, I congratulate all our people upon the substantial harmony of purpose which now prevails. I take strength and hope from that fact. If we are honest in our professions, I cannot find myself in antagonism to any member of the executive or legislative departments of our Government, except on matters of detail in our common pursuit of the same ends. Í feel bound to say that, until experience shall correct me, I shall rely for support in the course which I intend to pursue, upon those members of the General Assembly who were opposed to me in the recent political contest as confidently as upon those who favored my election.

The paramount duty before us may be stated to be the practice and enforcement of economy and honesty in the administration of the Government. Fortunately our evils are chiefly evils of administration. Our State Constitution commands the undivided approval of our people. The body of our statute law is believed to be, in general, just and wise. The present demand is for a faithful application and enforcement of the existing Constitution and laws; in a word, good administration.

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Wise statesmanship aims at practical results, and concentrates its strength upon those measures which are of prime importance. must be pardoned if I omit to catalogue all the matters of public interest to which consideration must be given by the General Assembly, and confine my attention to those topics which appear to be most pressing.

Our earliest and most earnest attention should be directed to the subject of the collection, appropriation, and disbursement of the public funds. These matters are fundamental. Our recent experience teaches us that government cannot be strong in popular esteem which adopts unjust modes of taxation, imposes unnecessary taxes, expends the proceeds of taxation upon improper objects or in undue amounts, or permits loose and reckless methods in the disbursement of public funds.

THE TAX SYSTEM.

Our present tax system grows out of the provisions of the Constitution which are contained in Article I, Section 36, and Article IX, Section 1. The leading features of the system are an ad valorem valuation and a uniform and equal rate of assessment and taxation of all property, real, personal, and possessory, with certain specified exceptions. Under existing laws the taxpayer is required to make a statement, under oath, annually, to the County Auditor, of all his property subject to taxation, and to value the same "at its true value in money," or "usual selling price." It is the duty of the County Auditor to state opposite each taxpayer's name, in the return made by him, any amount which he believes ought to be added to the valuation to be made by the taxpayer, and to give notice of such recommendations to the taxpayer.

The returns are then submitted to a County Board of Equalization, composed of the County Auditor, County Treasurer, and "three in

telligent taxpaying citizens," to be appointed by the Circuit Judge. This Board are required to equalize the valuation made by the taxpayer by raising the valuation of such property as, in their judgment, has been returned below its true value, and by reducing the valuation of such as, in their judgment, has been returned above its true value; but they are forbidden to reduce the aggregate value of the real and personal property of the county below the aggregate value as returned by the County Auditor. Under the construction placed upon the law by the present Comptroller General, in which I concur, the aggregate valuation of personal property in any county is absolutely fixed by the taxpayers themselves. The County Board of Equalization merely equalize the valuation of any specific personal property as compared with the average valuation of the other property of the county. A special Board of Equalization for the city of Charleston is provided for, with similar powers and duties.

The returns thus equalized stand, as to the valuations of personal property, as the basis of taxation; but the valuations of real property in the several counties are submitted to a State Board of Equalization, composed of one member from each congressional district of the State, the Governor, Secretary of State, and Comptroller General, whose duty it is to add to, or deduct from, the aggregate valuation of the real property of each county, or of each town, city, or village in any county, such an amount as in their judgment will make the valuations represent the true value in money of the property. The returns thus equalized stand, as to valuations of real property, as the basis for taxation.

A special Board of Equalization is provided for, composed of the State Treasurer, Secretary of State, Comptroller General, and Attorney General, to equalize the value of the property of railroad companies, in a manner similar to that prescribed for the other Boards of Equalization.

A right of appeal is also given from the County Board of Equalization to the Comptroller General, who is authorized to make abatements in taxes in cases of erroneous or illegal assessments.

The leading purpose of a tax system which rests upon an ad valorem basis should be, in the language of our Constitution, to secure a just valuation for taxation of all property," and to provide safe, convenient, and inexpensive methods for the collection of taxes. The ad valorem system being fixed by the Constitution, our attention must be directed to the practical means of carrying out this system.

Grave dissatisfaction with our tax laws has existed during the past six years. The most general and urgent complaint has been that the valuations placed upon the property of the State have been, to a large degree, capricious and excessive. It has also been believed that excessive valuations have been made in order to conceal the real extent of the burden of taxation. Without attempting to discuss the motives which prompted those who enforce the law, I express the opinion that the valuations made previous to the present year have been, to a great extent, unjust and oppressive. Whatever the causes, the result has

been that property has born a valuation almost wholly arbitrary when different localities or separate pieces of similar property are compared, and excessive in amount when tested by any reasonable standard of value.

I see no reason to regard this injustice as a legitimate result of our present tax system. On the contrary, my most careful examination convinces me that the system will work out a just result if it can be placed in the hands of honest and competent officers. Undoubtedly the machinery for making valuations is somewhat complicated, if not intricate; but the system will be seen, I think, upon a fair examination, to be adapted, in all its features to guarding the rights of the taxpayer in respect to assessments, whenever it is administered by those who regard the interest of the taxpayers.

During the past year a new assessment of real property, the fourth since 1868, has been made. It is not yet possible for me to judge of its correctness, but I am assured by those who have been familiar with the work during its progress that it approaches very nearly to the true value of the property. I am further informed that the aggregate valuation of all the property of the State under this assessment will fall from thirty to forty millions of dollars below the aggregate of the previous assessment. I have confidence that much has been done in this assessment to relieve the injustice of former assessments, but I call your attention to the subject as one of fundamental importance to the whole people. The people demand, and they have a right to demand, that property shall be valued for taxation at its true money value, as nearly as the imperfection of the human judgment will permit. If the present assessment does not reach this standard, then it is our duty to adopt such measures as will remove the remaining defects. I shall co-operate with the General Assembly in any measures calculated to attain the end contemplated by our Constitution and laws,-a just valuation for taxation of all property according to its true money value.

In this connection I may remark that so far as the working of our tax system depends upon faithful officers appointed by the Governor, I intend to see to it that no county shall have just cause of complaint. The appointment of County Auditors and County Treasurers now rests with the Governor, subject to the confirmation of the Senate. I commend to your careful consideration the question of making these officers elective by the people of the several counties. There are some arguments which might be urged in favor of either mode of selection. The only test which should be applied in determining the question is, which mode will with most certainty secure good officers and a faithful enforcement of the laws?

My examination of the Act of the General Assembly of March 17, 1874, commonly called the "Taxation and Assessment Act," leads me to recommend that a full revision of that Act be made by some appropriate means by the General Assembly at this session, in conjunction with the Comptroller General, in order to remove inconsistencies and supply defects now apparent in the law.