Passing now to the second section of the Act, the appropriations can readily be reduced to such an amount as to require the levy of not more than one and one fourth (14) mills, a reduction of one fourth (1) of a mill.

In section 4 a large reduction is demanded. The estimate above made, of one and one fourth (1) mills, will raise $156,000. The salaries of the members of the General Assembly, being fixed at $600 per annum, will require, together with mileage, an appropriation of $103,000. The other expenses of the General Assembly depend upon the length of the session. I have already shown that the cost of a session of one hundred days will not exceed $137,500. All expenses not otherwise provided for necessary to a session of reasonable length, say of fifty days, can readily be brought within such an amount as not to exceed, in connection with the salaries of members, the sum of $125,000, which will require a levy of but one (1) mill, a reduction of one tenth () of a mill.

In section 5 the levy for public printing should be reduced to one. third (3) of a mill, which would raise about forty-two thousand dollars, a sufficient amount to provide for all necessary printing if the same should be fairly offered to competition. The result of these changes will be as follows:

I confidently assert that this estimate can be adopted without the smallest sacrifice of the public welfare. If so, no duty can be more imperative than to adopt it. At the present time the people of this State of all conditions of life demand the lowest possible taxes. It is our unquestionable duty to enforce the demand. It should be borne in mind that this estimate covers the entire deficiencies which require to be provided for, and provides for the payment in full of all appropriations necessary to be made. The entire item of deficiencies will, therefore, disappear from the next Supply Act, and thus reduce the entire levy for the next year to seven and five sixths (7) mills, a result of more value to the people of the State, and to the political party which shall produce it, than any other result which it is now within our power to accomplish.

If, however, the General Assembly does not reduce the expenditures, I unhesitatingly recommend that the levies be made equal to the appropriations. There is no economy in raising less than is to be appropriated. The habit has already wrought the greatest mischiefs in this State, and should no longer be tolerated.

The remaining sections of the Act, from the seventh to the twelfth inclusive, make levies for objects which may be properly denominated the "floating indebtedness "of the State. With respect to these items generally, I think many of them are of questionable validity, and nearly all of them are the results of great extravagance in the past administration of the State. To press them to payment in one mass and in one year is a hardship which ought not to be imposed upon the State at this time. Without entering at this time into details, I recommend that all these claims now provided for in the sections of the present Act, from the seventh to the twelfth inclusive, be made the suject of a separate Act, and that the payment of these claims be distributed over a term of years, under such other precautions and regulations as may be best adapted to secure justice to the claimants and to the State. This will greatly simplify the Supply Act, as well as reduce the burden of immediate taxation.

In the fifteenth section of the Act I recommend that such changes be made as will impose all requisite duties upon the State Treasurer, without giving to any bank the power to withhold payment of checks drawn in due form by the State officers. The present provisions of this section are utterly unreasonable and impracticable.

The prompt passage of a just, moderate, and well considered Supply Act is demanded by the public interests, and I trust your honorable body will readily and wisely discharge this duty.

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN,

Governor.

By a remarkable conjuncture of influences this veto was unanimously sustained in the Legislature.

The following are examples of the general tone of the comments on these Messages by the newspapers of the State:

The Governor is resolute to carry on the good work of retrenchment and reform which began with his Administration, and his words will be hailed with satisfaction by every lover of honest and equal government, in and out of the State. Nor does the Governor content himself with glittering generalities. Already he is pressing upon the attention of the Legislature facts and figures by which it is shown that the reforms upon which he is bent are as practicable as they are necessary. The public opinion of the whole State, and the whole country, sustains Governor Chamberlain in the noble task to which he has devoted his Administration. And now the men who were chosen as legislators upon the same platform upon which the Governor stands so firmly, will do well to have a care how they break their solemn pledges to stand by him!-Charleston News and Courier (Dem.).

The unanimous vote to sustain the Governor's veto of the tax bill of the last session is a gratifying evidence of the influence for good he has with his party, and a singular vindication of the wisdom of those conservative journals of the State which have sustained the Governor in the interest of good government in the face of fierce

denunciations heaped upon them by their less conservative and more indiscreet contemporaries. O, that the State had more Chamberlains in this her hour of need— men who, though loyal to party, could rise above its trammels for the good of the whole people; who could comprehend the situation and elevate the State Government to its requirements! Let others say what they may, and seek to impress the popular judgment as they can, as for the intelligent, popular sentiment of Abbeville County, without reference to party, the endorsement of Governor Chamberlain is hearty and emphatic. This is our " declaration and testimony," without fear, favor, or affection (unless it be something of the latter), and so we pronounce for our readers.—Abbeville Medium (Dem.).

CHAPTER XIII.

Election of Eight Judges by the Legislature-W. J. Whipper and F. J. Moses, Jr., Chosen for the Charleston and the Sumter Circuits, Respectively—The Election Held during a Temporary Absence of the Governor-He Characterizes the Election of Whipper and Moses as "a Horrible Disaster "-He Refuses to Sign Their Commissions-Alarm and Indignation of Intelligent Citizens and PropertyOwners-Their Hearty Approval of the Governor's Action-Comment of the News and Courier-Despatch of the Charleston Bankers and Merchants-An Immense Meeting in Charleston Condemns the Action of the Legislature, and Upholds the Governor-Similar Meetings throughout the State-Address of the Bar of Charleston and Orangeburg to Judge Reed-His Response—The Governor Issues New Commissions to Judges Reed and Shaw-Threats that Whipper and Moses will Secure Their Seats on the Bench by Violence-Proclamation of Warning by the Governor.

TH

HIS session of the Legislature is chiefly memorable for an offence against public honor and safety on the part of the legislative body more flagrant than any other which stained the era of Reconstruction in South Carolina, and perhaps the most alarming legislative action in any Southern State. It was the election of two infamous men as judges, W. J. Whipper for the First (Charleston) Circuit, and ex-Governor F. J. Moses, Jr., for the Third (Sumter) Circuit. Both of these men had been unsuccessful candidates for judicial office at the previous session, Governor Chamberlain actively opposing their pretensions.'

There had been much uneasiness and dread respecting the action of the Legislature in this matter, and in his Annual Message the Governor referred to the duty to be performed in these pointed words:

"At the present session elections of Judges of the Court of Common Pleas and of the Supreme Court will take place. It cannot be deemed improper for me to present to the General Assembly the paramount importance of a wise discharge of this duty. The ancient fame

1 Chapter IV., pp. 38 et seq.

of South Carolina in this respect should be kept strictly in mind. The standard of character and attainments once universally observed in this State should never be lowered. Legal learning, a judicial spirit, and a high, and unblemished personal character should mark every man who shall be elected to sit in the seats of Harper and Dunkin, of O'Neall and Wardlaw. If all these qualities are not attainable, let the one quality of personal integrity never be lost sight of. That community may well be pitied which is doomed to submit its great interests to the decision of one whose judgments will reflect his own passions and interests."

On the 16th of December, 1875, as already recorded, the Governor went to Greenville to deliver an address upon the occasion of the awarding of the Whitsitt Prizes for excellence in Greek. His engagement for this day had been publicly known for several weeks. During this absence from Columbia of but one day, a conspiracy, secretly matured among the members of the Legislature, was developed in the election of the Circuit Judges, including Whipper and Moses. Whipper was chosen by 83 votes to 58 for all others; and Moses by 75 votes to 63 for all others. There can be no doubt that this date was selected in order that the Governor might not be at hand to interfere with the success of the plot. His immediate presence and influence might have thwarted the conspirators, as signally as during the previous session. By this action of the Legislature the whole State was stunned. Seldom has any community in modern times received such a shock. It was a moral earthquake by which the citadel of justice was violently shaken and left tottering. Demoralization appeared triumphant. But their was one man who did not quail or despair. Upon his firmness and courage all good citizens depended for their rescue. He promptly girded himself for the desperate struggle thus suddenly forced upon him, and the record shows with what spirit, tact, and might he opposed the consummation of the wrong and saved the altars of justice from profanation.

The evil deed was accomplished on a Thursday, which was straightway designated "Black Thursday," and is so known in South Carolina to this day. Governor Chamberlain's first public utterance regarding the situation was made on the Sunday following and published the next morning. It was in the form of an interview with the editor of the News and Courier, and is thus reported: