The speech of the Governor to the people of Charleston on the occasion of the serenade was everywhere regarded as a notable utterance. The high ideal of public office as a trust to be held and administered for the benefit of all, without regard to race or party, appealed powerfully to a people who had suffered grievously by the absence of that motive in their officials. Some of the comments elicited are here given :

The address of Governor Chamberlain to the citizens of Charleston, last night, is admirable in every respect. Mr. Chamberlain is a Republican, but he asks for the aid of all good citizens, of all men who love South Carolina, in reducing taxation and securing an honest expenditure of the public money. And the aid he asks it is the duty, and the interest, of the Conservative Democracy of the State to extend to him, in his efforts to give the State a faithful and capable as well as an economical government. We have no right to expect Governor Chamberlain to abandon his party, but we have on the record his assurance that fealty to party shall never lead him to do any act which is injurious to the people of the State. To that pledge we hold him, by his fidelity to that pledge will he be judged, and by our conduct in upholding and sustaining him, in the fight that is before him, will our devotion to South Carolina be measured and determined.-Charleston News and Courier.

The views to which the Governor gives expression are very good, and if he will make them deeds instead of words he shall most certainly have the hearty support of all true Carolinians.-Anderson Intelligencer (Dem.).

The Governor strikes the key-note in this speech. It is not only truthful and patriotic, but a bold and manly declaration that he intends to rise above party and do his duty to the State at all hazards, relying upon the good men of both parties and races to sustain him. While the Governor does not abate one jot or tittle of his party fealty, he gives it to be distinctly understood that he is not the slave of party, and will not support any measure or party that does not tend to advance the interest of South Carolina. This is true statesmanship, and is all that we need to redeem the State.— Barnwell Sentinel (Dem.).

The Conservatives of this State have always avowed that an honest administration of public affairs, and not party supremacy, was the object for which they contended. Their record in the past has proven this to be true. If we have any hope then of improving our condition under a Republican Administration (and there is little likelihood of any other for several years to come), the present is the best opportunity we will have to make the effort. Mr. Chamberlain is the strongest man of his party in the State. No other could wield greater influence with it for good purposes.—Greenville Enterprise (Dem.).

Heretofore it has been the custom with our Republican rulers to put the success of party before the good of the State, and from this mistaken policy has flowed all

manner of evils. Now the tide has changed, and we hope for better things.-Abbeville Medium (Dem.).

Gov. Chamberlain, of South Carolina, is a man whose utterances excite our admiration every time. As old John Winthrop said of Roger Williams in good Old Colony times, "he seems to have the root of the matter in him."-Boston Herald (Ind.).

In response to a serenade at Charleston, Thursday evening, Governor Chamberlain made a speech which will do him good, and South Carolina good, and the country good. Springfield Republican (Ind.)

The hearty reception given to Governor Chamberlain by the Chamber of Commerce of Charleston, and the congratulations he received upon the reforms of his Administration and the increasing prosperity of South Carolina, ought to convey a wholesome lesson to the Northern men whom accident has made Chief Executives of Southern States. Governor Chamberlain has apparently fulfilled his pledges in good faith, and the result is that his labors in behalf of the State are fully appreciated by the people. The case of Governor Chamberlain forcibly illustrates the truth of the proverb, "Honesty is the best policy," even in politics.- Washington (D. C.) Star (Ind.).

We publish the chief portion of a recent address delivered at Charleston, S. C., by Governor Chamberlain, which will amply repay the most careful perusal. The address should be framed in gold and hung in the study of every Governor throughout the Union, and in the government offices at Washington. Governor Chamberlain is a notable exception among the Republican rulers of the South, and his address is a manly expression of sentiments truly honest and patriotic. We commend it to the earnest and careful study of Governor Kellogg, with the hope that he will read, mark, and inwardly digest it.-New Orleans Bulletin (Dem.),

On the 8th of November Governor Chamberlain issued a proclamation appointing the 25th day of the same month to be observed as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise, and among other reasons for gratitude to divine Providence he enumerated the blessings "of increasing harmony and good-will among our people, of progress towards good government, of a greater desire for purity and integrity in public and private relations, and of a more intelligent and earnest endeavor to make ourselves worthy of the heritage of civil and religious freedom which we have received from our fathers."

Meeting of the Legislature in its Second Session-Governor Chamberlain's Second Annual Message-Veto of the Tax and Supply Bill Passed at the Former Session -The Veto Unanimously Sustained-Comments on the Message and the Veto by the State Press.

WHI

HEN the Legislature reassembled for the annual session of 1875-76, all the political elements of the State were once more in activity. While it was apparent that the Governor had greatly strengthened himself during the recess by the consistent development of his policy of administration, as well as by many public addresses that had created among the intelligent people of the State a genuine pride in his accomplishments and reputation, it was well known that his opponents in the Legislature had improved the time in devising means to make their opposition more effectual. There had been no sign of submission or conciliation, and the feeling was universal that the meeting of that body was the precursor of a fresh conflict, in which the Governor's resources and courage would be put to severer tests than had yet challenged his metal. In what shape the attack would be made did not clearly appear; although it was surmised.

On November 23d, the day of the meeting of the Legislature, Governor Chamberlain transmitted the Annual Message, setting forth the condition of the State's affairs, and making recommendations regarding the business that would come before the body, and he also communicated a Special Message vetoing the annual tax, or supply, bill, passed at the close of the preceding session. Both these messages are of peculiar importance in the formation of a judgment of the motives and measures of his Administration. They demonstrate, as certainly as official documents of this character may, the absolute and unyielding sincerity of Governor Chamberlain's reform policy. There is no suggestion of resting

satisfied, no compromise of purpose, no slackening of devotion, no weariness in well doing. His policy of reform was aspiring and progressive,

Built of futherance and pursuing,

Not of spent deed but of doing.

It will be noted, also, that while the tone of both these messages is constant and firm, they contain no word of defiance or provocation. The assumption throughout is that all who are responsible for the State's welfare will, with a willing purpose, strive to accomplish it, and to that end will act upon the best obtainable information and counsel. His recommendations with regard to the contingent fund and the property designed for the Governor's residence, show how he exemplified in his own conduct the ideal of public responsibility he urged upon others. But these documents require no anticipatory reinforcement of their merit. They are plain instructions.

The Annual Message follows.

EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,

COLUMBIA, S. C., November 23, 1875.

Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives:

I welcome you on your return to the scenes of your public duties. The period since your separation has witnessed the death of but two of your number; peace and health have prevailed throughout the State; the labor of all classes of our citizens has been rewarded by a large degree of material prosperity; the causes of discontent and hostility among our people have been greatly diminished; and the feeling of respect and attachment to the Union,. of which our State is a part, has been sensibly strengthened. For these blessings we owe our sincere gratitude to the great Ruler of the world.

In presenting to you such information and views respecting public affairs as I deem important, I express the hope that we shall bring to the discharge of our present duties a deep and constant feeling that we are simply the servants and representatives of the whole people of the State. The honors and emoluments of public office are merely incidental to its duties and responsibilities. To seek the former and disregard the latter is an offence against the first principles of moral and official obligation. Those to whom we owe our present positions will justly measure us by the standard of our fidelity to the trusts confided to us. I invoke, therefore, upon our deliberations and labors at this session the spirit of fidelity, of patriotism, of earnest co-operation in

the measures best suited to advance the great interests of the State. I shall endeavor, for myself, to lend all my powers to the work of assisting the General Assembly in the proper discharge of its high duties. I shall be best content to follow you in the path of reform, economy, and good administration. That path I shall surely follow, whether with few or many, but I trust I shall hereafter find it made broad and clear before me by those who alone have the power to enact into laws the demands of the people

The amount of taxes levied and collected, the methods of their levy and collection, and the objects upon which they are expended, are the most important subjects with which the State Government has to deal. By the present assessment of real property, which was made in 1874, the total value of real property in the State is $90,095,407. While there are, no doubt, individual instances of error and hardship in the present valuation, yet, so far as my information extends, the general result is as fair as can reasonably be expected. If the individual taxpayer will avail himself of the means afforded by the present laws for his protection against unequal or excessive assessments, I think the instances will be very rare in which injustice will be finally done. At the last session of the General Assembly, the "taxation and assessment" Acts were carefully revised, and an additional Act relating to "forfeited" lands was passed. The tax laws of the State are now, in my judgment, well adapted to secure, in the language of the Constitution, "equality and uniformity" in the assessment of property for taxation. The total valuation of personal property under the assessment of 1875 is $46,791,006, in which is included a considerable amount of personal property which has hitherto escaped taxation.

I am happy to express my belief that the tax laws of the State are now administered with fairness and ability, and no instances are known to me in which complaints duly presented have not received due consideration. The results are highly creditable to the people, as well as to our tax officers. In an aggregate tax for the past year of $1,555,201.68, only $12,519.47 have been returned as nulla bona, being less than four fifths of one per cent. In 1872 the returns of nulla bona amounted to $48,392.77, and in 1873 to $51,363.90.

During the past year, under the decision of the United States Supreme Court, the entire property of the Northeastern Railroad Company, and a large part of the property of the South Carolina Railroad Company, has been subjected to taxation. The question of the liability of the property of the Savannah and Charleston Railroad Company, and the Air Line Railroad Company, is still pending in the United States Courts; and in the meantime the State authorities are enjoined from enforcing the collection of any taxes on their property. It is believed that during the present year final decisions favorable to the State will be reached in these cases, and thus several millions be added to the taxable property of the State.

I have no specific recommendation to make upon the subject of our tax laws, but I shall warmly favor any changes which may promise