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MESSAGE NO. 1 
 
 OF 
 
 HIS EXCELLENCY, F. W. PICKENS, 
 
 ^ 'to 
 
 THE LEGISLATURE, 
 
 AT THE 
 
 REGULAR SESSION OF NOVEMBEB, 1862. 
 
 COLUMBIA, S. C: 
 CHARLES P. PELHAM STATE, PRINTER. 
 
 1862. 
 
 P 18 3 2" -2. 
 

 
 MESSAGE NO. 1 
 
 Gentlemen of the, Senate and House of Representatives : 
 
 Since the last Legislature met, the country has gone through scenes such 
 as are but seldom witnessed in the destiny of a people. Amid the fierce 
 and bloody conflicts through which we have passed, South Carolina has lost 
 many of her bravest and most talented sons, and whilst we deeply feel and 
 grieve for their loss, we yet are consoled by the proud reflection that the 
 urns which hold their ashes will stand around our household altars as pre- 
 cious mementoes, to be loved and cherished through all time. I trust that 
 you will immediately take steps to provide for the families of our heroic 
 dead in such a manner that none shall feel the sufferings of want. It is 
 our solemn duty to discharge this, our first debt of gratitude. An agent 
 has been appointed to make a roll from the most authentic sources, and this 
 will aid your deliberations in ascertaining where there may be any want 
 amongst the families of such as have fallen in our defence. 
 
 The country is in a far stronger condition for defence than it was a year 
 ago. All the arms and munitions of war are more abundant, and we are 
 now making for ourselves such necessary supplies as last year we were en- 
 tirely without. Pressure and difficulty have forced up productions not 
 thought of before. These stern lessons are necessary to make us, in reality, 
 an independent people. If our nationality had been admitted without a 
 struggle, such compromises, relating to trade and commerce, might have 
 been entered into as would, in the progress of time, have brought us practi- 
 cally back into co'ouial servitude. Whereas our independence, achieved by 
 suffering and blood, will be prized more dearly and become more perma- 
 nent. This is made absolutely necessary by the difference of races, and the 
 radical differences in the internal civilization of the two great sections. 
 
 The old Government had fulfilled its destiny. It was formed to prevent 
 re-conquest by any European Government. We had outgrown that state 
 of things. By the repeated elections of the chief magistrate, the people 
 had been brouglit together to act as one people, instead of preserving the 
 Confederate principle of separate States. All great Kepublics usually split 
 
upon the choice of a chief magistrate. In our system, that provision of 
 the Constitution forming an independent electoral college was, in the pro- 
 gress of events, entirely subverted in its Bpiritj and the election of Presi- 
 dent became the mere action of the people as a whole, thus converting the 
 Government into a simple Democracy of numbers, instead of a Confederacy 
 of States. The fundamental organization of the Government was a Con- 
 federacy of Stat.s, and this election of the chief magistrate became prac- 
 tically at war with this groat principle. The inevitable consequence was, 
 that the Government must necessarily become a consolidated f )emocracy, 
 where the separate power of the States would be absorbed, or there must 
 be a revolution, in order to sustain the great federative features of the 
 compact of union. Although the term of office is lengthened, and there 
 
 ?an be no re-election by our new Confederate Constitution, yet, in the 
 course of time, it will become liable to the objection that the mode of elec- 
 tion or appoiutmeut of the President is, in its practical operation, in con- 
 flict with the leading principles of a Confederacy of States. The Govern- 
 ment must be simple and harmonious in all its main parts. If it be a 
 Confederacy, the appointment or election of President should be by the 
 States alone : if it be a Democracy, then it should be by the people as one 
 people. It is almost certain that a mixture of the two great principles, if 
 not modified, must inevitably lead, in the process of time, to conflict and 
 separation. 
 
 The great weakness in all Republics is a want of fixed forms and estab- 
 
 ished orders in society, by which the conservative interests and wealth of 
 the community may become permanently identified with the Government 
 and its administration. No Government can last unless it commands the 
 regard and support of the virtuous and intelligent portion of society. Any 
 Government whose practical operation drives all this class from any interest 
 in its honors and its action, must necessarily fall into corruption, degrada- 
 tion, and speedy dissolution. In th:se Southern States, our slaves, which 
 occupy the lower strata of society, give us the ranks and classes out of 
 which a conservative government can be formed. And if the action of 
 the separate States can be felt and acknowledged in the habitual adminis- 
 tration of Government, then we shall be able to secure through them a 
 substitute for the great landed interest and hereditary classes in other forms 
 of government, so essential to the stability and conservative firmness of any 
 form of government calculated to command the permanent support of the 
 virtuous and intelligent. 
 
 The Northern States are doomed to great conflict and confusion amongst 
 themselves, from the want of a conservative basis of society in any acknowl- 
 edged ranks or orders in the organization of their political and social sys- 
 
tern, and they must, in all probability, run from absolute Democracy into 
 anarchy or civil war, and thence into a military despotism. Under a mili- 
 tary despotism they will become dangerous to us; and when we emerge from 
 this terrible war, there will be many pretexts to induce us to adopt a more 
 military and absolute form of government also. It will require all the 
 wisdom and firmness of an enlightened public opinion to shape our Govern- 
 ment so as to avoid the calamities of a consolidated military form of gov- 
 ernment. The existence of an army, the largest, in proportion to our white 
 population, that has ever been created by any people, will add greatly to 
 this danger. 
 
 "We were the first State to withdraw from the old Union, under circum- 
 stances of great peril, and the other States nobly came to our side, and they 
 have suffered the greatest ravages of a bitter and malignant war. It is, 
 therefore, the part of magnanimity and patriotism for us to make as few 
 issues or complaints as possible against the action of the Confederate Gov- 
 ernment. Our present duty is to give it a cordial and warm support, with 
 all our resources, for defence against the fanatical and infamous enemies of 
 our common country. "Withhold nothing, and make no complaint calculated 
 to weaken the hands of the Confederate authorities in any particular. This 
 is the reasou I do not think proper to urge any objection to the Confederate 
 Acts of Conscription, although I deem all such Acts against the spirit of the 
 Constitution. It was intended by that instrument that the Confederate 
 Government should usually call upon the State authorities to furnish their 
 quotas for all military service, except when Congress might deem it neces- 
 sary to create a standing or regular army. It might, perhaps, be more ex- 
 pedient, also, to allow each State to organize its quota, according to some 
 plan adapted to its own local interests, particularly if the mode and manner 
 of executing conscript, laws should lower that grade of service in the public 
 estimation. There is a great State necessity, at present, for such laws; but 
 the general spirit of the Constitution intended that in the raising of all 
 military forces, excepting an enlisted regular army, the Government should 
 act through State authority, rather than directly upon the people as a con- 
 solidated whole. It savors strongly of absolute power to absorb all the 
 material, in men, of the States without consulting the local authorities, and 
 to call it out without the agency of the States. Nothing can justify such 
 action but the nature of the implacable war in which we are engaged, in- 
 volving, as it does, not only subjugation, but our total extermination as a 
 people. Congress has passed two Conscription Acts, and our whole force, 
 rrom eighteen to forty-five, is subject to Confederate service at any day. It 
 may be said that the State has now no military system, and I urge your 
 immediate attention to this all-important subject. Some action is absolutely 
 
c 
 
 necessary as soon as possible. I would recommend that the remaining force 
 that we have, which consists in men from forty-five to Bixty, and youths from 
 sixteen to eighteen, be organized under some sytem of military police. Let 
 them be formed into companies in each District, and let there be a regular 
 District guard formed, of some Bixty-four men, with the necessary company 
 officers, and stationed at the Conrt-Houses of each District, to perform State 
 guard duty, each company alternating every four weeks, or for such period 
 of time as the Governor may designate, and in such Districts that he may 
 select as necessary, under whose command, for the time being, the whole 
 police duty of the District shall be performed. To make this effioient, let 
 State arms and fixed ammunition be deposited in the District prisons, for 
 the use of these companies, and the lower story of these buildings be made 
 their barracks. To make this police guard more effioient, a lew horses for 
 couriers should be kept. A system somewhat similar to this has been 
 proposed by the Council, but I recommend it to your revision, so that 
 representatives from the different Districts may suggest any additions or 
 amendments. 
 
 The President of the United States has recently issued an infamous 
 proclamation, with a view to incite insurrection, and although I consider it 
 instigated by base principles of atrocious warfare, contrary to all the usages 
 of a civilized people, yet, with firmness and organization, it will produce 
 none of the objects intended by its vulgar author. If I had the military 
 power, or our State forces actually in service, I would, of course, issue a 
 proclamation, directing all enemies taken acting under that proclamation to 
 be tried and executed as felons, or even more expeditiously. But the forces 
 in the field are nearly all under Confederate command, and from necessity 
 the whole matter is left with Confederate authority. But to protect our- 
 selves from any efforts, instigated by the deluded or the ignorant, I would 
 urge the immediate organization of a largo State Police Guard, under the 
 direct command of the Governor, to be ordered out at such times and in 
 such Districts as he may think proper, and to be kept at least for some months 
 in actual daily duty, to give a feeling of safety to the helpless portions 
 of our communities. "We have arms and ammunition to put into the 
 hands of such a State Guard, and let it be done thoroughly before the first 
 of January. In connection with this, let a cadet, from the graduates of our 
 Military Academy, or one of the senior class, be appointed and assigned for 
 duty as drill-master — one for each of these State companies, ai each Court- 
 House in the State. If any emergency arises, let the captains of the local 
 patrols be ordered to report occurrences to the captains of those central 
 District guards. In those Districts where Provost Marshal courts exist, these 
 guards might be used by the courts to great advantage. 
 
Some more efficient system should be adopted for the protection and sup- 
 port of the families of our soldiers in service. The taxation for that pur- 
 pose should not be on the District alone for the support of the families of 
 soldiers from such District. As the law now is, the soldiers' relief com- 
 mittees, appointed by the last Legislature, are limited to forty per cent, 
 upon the general taxes of such District. The Districts in the upper por- 
 tion of the State furnish far the largest portion of soldiers, because of the 
 preponderance of white population, and these are the very Districts that 
 raise the least general taxes, so that the forty per cent, upon these taxes 
 furnish but a poor supply to their soldiers' families, whereas the fund is 
 more than ample in those Districts where the white population is sparse, and 
 the slaves dense. Tbe soldiers from the former Districts do not go into 
 service to defend their mountain homes only, but they go to defend the 
 State, as a State, and are required precisely where, from the nature of the 
 population, the local defence is weakest and the country is most exposed. 
 
 I urge that the system of property valuation in this State, adopted in 
 eighteen hundred and eight, be changed to a more equal and just system, 
 and that taxes to support the families of our brave soldiers in the field be 
 at least forty per ceut. upon the general State taxation, and be distributed 
 from a common fund, thus raised from the whole State. It is due to justice 
 and fairness that this should be done. I would further recommend that 
 each planter be required by law to contribute bushels of corn 
 
 for each hand liable to road duty, and that the District committees for the 
 relief of soldiers' families be authorized to call for the same, or any part 
 thereof, to be distributed as they may direct. Efficient measures should be 
 taken to secure all that may be necessary for the support of this class of our 
 people. While our poor and patiiotic men are exposed in defence of our 
 homes, we owe it to justice and to every generous and manly feeling to place 
 their helpless families beyond any suffering. The committees for their relief 
 in each District should be selected with great care, and one, at least, should 
 be located in each battalion of the State, and two responsible men at the 
 Court-House of each District. They should be required to hold their meet- 
 ings once a month, through the winter months; and if they know certainly 
 of undue speculation by any individuals in any of the breadstuff's, they 
 might be authorized, upon affidavits made to the facts before any magistrate, 
 to seize all such breadstuffs for the benefit of soldiers' families ; and the 
 same power might be given them to seize any grain to be used by any dis- 
 tillery not authorized by law. These commissions should be required to make 
 their full reports regularly to the Judge, at every meeting of the Court of 
 Common Pleas in the Districts, and the reports should be published as soon 
 as made. 
 
8 
 
 I recommend that the Art pam d the twenty-lirst day of December last, 
 entitled •• An Act to extend relief to debtors, and to prevent the sacrifice 
 of property at public sale.-, - ' be repealed, except so tar as it extends to all 
 persons in actual military service. There is no reason why those at home, 
 and not in military service, should not pay their debts; on the contrary, 
 there is great reason why they should. 
 
 The profits of the Bank of the State, the President informs me, have 
 been, for the past year, three hundred thousand dollars. From this is to be 
 deducted, for interest paid to holders of stocks issued to holders of Blue 
 Ridge Railroad Stocks, forty-seven thousand seven hundred and ninety dol- 
 lars ; also, amount paid to holders of State Bonds, issued in eighteen hundred 
 and sixty-one, to the amount of four hundred thousand dollars — one-fourth 
 due — one hundred thousand dollars, of which the amount presented — seven- 
 ty-seven thousand five hundred dollars — was paid. The balance was passed 
 to the Sinking Fund — one hundred and ninety-one thousand six hundred 
 and fourteen dollars and seventy-one cents — after deducting the other usual 
 items. The Confederate War Tax, advanced by the Bank, is sixteen hun- 
 dred and forty-seven thousand five hundred and ninety-seven dollars and forty- 
 three cents, (81,047,597 43.) There is now in the Treasury twelve hundred 
 and thirty-one thousand five hundred and seventy dollars and thirty cents, 
 ready to be paid over to the Bank for this advancement, and all the returns 
 are not yet made. I transmit with this a letter from the President of the Bank. 
 The amount of capital the State has vested in this Bank, from all sources, 
 may be put down at about four million of dollars. We are, as far as I am 
 informed, the only State that has such an institution, ,and we are deeply 
 interested in preserving it, if possible, from bankruptcy or injury. From 
 the extraordinary emergencies of this revolution, the Confederate Govern- 
 ment has been obliged to issue a very large amount of credit circulation in 
 the shape of Treasury Notes, and by the sale of bonds drawing eight per 
 cent., the Government has absorbed much of the capital of the country in 
 this investment. They have also been authorized to have subscribed, for 
 the use of the Government, a large amount of the produce of the country, 
 upon certain conditions. All these items embrace, in amount, several hun- 
 dred millions. The banks have agreed to take Treasury Notes in adjust- 
 ment of all balances between themselves. To this extent, they are thus 
 made equivalent to gold and silver, and of course it gives them almost ex- 
 clusive circulation. If the war were to close, the Government, for some 
 time, would be the largest exporter of the produce of the country, and by 
 these exports, which are so universally demanded in the commerce and 
 trade of the world; they would command gold and silver, or foreign ex- 
 change, to the amount thus shipped, which would be used as a basis for 
 
9 
 
 sustaining their credit circulation. 'J his would bring them into direct com- 
 petition with all the local banks, and we should, by strengthening its. 
 resources, prepare our State Bank for this issue From the necessity of the 
 case, the Confederate Government will be compelled to have an Exchequer 
 Bank, in some shape or form, and Commissioners, or Government Directors, 
 must be appointed to administer it, for there will be growing up a power 
 too vast to be trusted in the hands of any Secretary of the Treasury. It 
 will be a power deeply affecting not only all the local banks, but the com- 
 merce of the country and the distribution of wealth. As the bills of our 
 State Bank arc in demand, and our people are used to them, I would recom- 
 mend* that th< set aside an amount, in them, which may be deemed 
 necessar}'. and stamp them, by authority, as bills lor which the State i 
 is responsible, and use them instead of borrowing any more from the hanks 
 of the State. Let the President and Directors of our Bank be authorized 
 to use this paper, so stamped, in exchange for the Treasury Notes that now 
 circulate, on such conditions as they think best for the State, and t 
 Treasury Notes could be used in all disbursements of the Slate. The notei 
 of the Bank of the State, thus set aside and I, would be able t<> 
 maintain their circulation, if not excessive* under any circumstances that 
 might arise after peace, and might be fiually used by the State to strengthen 
 the Bank in the conflicts that must arise. There is no reason for our con- 
 tinuing to issue State Bonds, to be taken up by the banks, and our giving 
 them seven per cent, for their paper in exchange. It is. in substance, giv- 
 ing them the credit of the State in exchange for their credit, and seven per 
 cent, difference besides, when, in fact, the credit of the State is better, or 
 ought to be. than that of any of the banks with which it is exchanged. I 
 therefore urge you to take up this subject, and use our own State credit in 
 some such way as I have suggested. True, the Constitution Bays that no 
 State shall " emit bills of credit," but a " bill of credit " has a distinct com- 
 mercial meaning and form. The form in which I propose to use our State 
 credit, on the bills of our own Bank already in circulation, is not strictly 
 making "bills of credit." Certain funds are set aside by the State, and a 
 corporation is created, uudcr the style and title of a bank, in order to bank 
 upon these public funds thus set aside, and this fuud is alone responsible for 
 the bills issued upon it, and not strictly the State. We have the Bank, 
 and there is little business doing on private account now, and, in this great 
 emergency, we can use the bills of our own Bank for the benefit of the 
 State. 
 
 The Legislature wisely legalized the suspension of all our banks. It 
 wor'd be proper that you should inquire into the conduct of these institu- 
 tions, and if a course has been pursued by any of them deemed not patriotic ' 
 8 
 
10 
 
 or proper, then the benefits of the Act should Le suspended, as far as any 
 such banks are concerned. From what I have heard, I believe that all of 
 our hanks have acted with a patriotic and loyal determination to BUbtaio 
 the Government fully, hut I do not profi - to he entirely informed on this 
 point. 
 
 I have heretofore recommended that a more just and i qua! valuation of 
 properly be made in the Slate for taxation, and that the two treasuries be 
 united in one. 1 would most respectfully again arge the Bame recommend- 
 ations. The last would require an alteration of the Constitution. 
 present Legislature should, at least, enlarge the objects of taxation, and tax 
 the evidences of luxury and accumulated capital more, while, at the same 
 time, the taxation rn productive or active labor should be reduced. 3T< a 
 will be able to see, from the Comptroller's Report, how the collection of 
 the Confederate War Tax operated, and I recommend it to your attention. 
 The State taxes collected for the fiscal year have amounted to seven hundred 
 and ninety-three thousand three hundred and fifty-three dollars and ninety- 
 seven cents, ($793,853 97;) and the common civil expenditures have amount- 
 ed to eight hundred and thirteen thousand five hundred and thirty-five dollars 
 and seventy-three ceuts, (SSlS^SSo 73.) The extraordinary expenditures, 
 under the Ordinance of the Convention for the " removal of negroes and other 
 property," and so forth, have been sixty-seven thousand four hundred and 
 seventy-six dollars, ($67,476;) and for the relief of the sufferers by fire in 
 Charleston, thirty thousand, ($30,000.) The collection of the Stale "War 
 Tax, up to the thirty-first of July last, amounts to one million two hundred 
 and thirty-one thousand five hundred and seventy dollars and thirty cents, 
 ($1,231,570 SO ) The balance of this War Tax, under the second collection 
 directed by law, ending the fifteenth day of November, has not yet been 
 returned; and in several of the Parishes the collectors have been directed to 
 suspend the collection of the same in those portions of the Parishes in pos- 
 session by the enemy. Copies of these orders are herewith transmitted. 
 
 The total amount expended by the State, both civil and military, up to 
 the thirtieth of September last, is two million five hundred and fifty-two 
 thousand one hundred and ninety-five dollars and forty cents. 
 
 Congress has passed an Act exempting certain districts that might be in 
 possession by the enemy, or in such a disturbed condition as to prevent col- 
 lection, from the collection of the War Tax. I have notified the Secretary 
 of the Treasury as to what Parishes or parts of Parishes I think come 
 under the provisions of this Act. A copy of the correspondence on this 
 subject is herewith transmitted. There is yet a small balance to come in, 
 and the exact amount allowed us, for the Parishes we have claimed to be 
 exempt, has not yet been entirely settled. 
 
11 
 
 The last Legislature, in every thing relating to the military expenditures, 
 made but one item of appropriation, which was for " military contingencies/' 
 and amounted to eighteen hundred thousand dollars, (81,800,000,) but three 
 hundred thousand of it was estimated as already due the Bank for advances. 
 This would leave fifteen hundred thousand dollars, (§1,500,000,) strictly for 
 military contingencies. This sum was directed to be raised by the Bank of 
 the State, selling bonds of the State drawing seven per cent, interest. The 
 different banks of the Stale then took these bonds in proportion to their 
 respective capi'als, the proceeds of which were deposited iu th£ Bank of the 
 S ate. The amount of the bonds thus negotiated for, is one million two 
 hundred and eighteen thousand three hundred and seventy-seven dollars and 
 seventy-two cents, (■ L,218,377 72.) 
 
 On the ninth of January last, the Executive Council held its first 
 informal meeting, and on the sixteenth it was efficiently organized. Two 
 Chiefs of the Treasury were at first appointed, and had charge of all the 
 disbursements and accounts. I refer to the Report of the present Chief of 
 the Treasury for a statement of its administration, and of all details con- 
 nected with his department. It will be seen that, of the sum above named, 
 there has been expended one million one hundred and sixty thousand four 
 hundred and thirty-nine dollars and forty-seven cents. 
 
 A clear abstract of the same, made by James Tupper, Esq., is herewith 
 transmitted and referred to. 
 
 Of the amount above named, there was three hundred thousand dollars 
 appropriated by the Council fur a State gun-boat, which has been accepted 
 by the Confederate authorities, and that Government is now bound for it by 
 agreement. 
 
 I refer to the very clear Report of General DeSaussure, Secretary of the 
 Treasury, for the amount of all funds used from June, eighteen hundred 
 and sixty-one, up to the ninth of January last. There is with this an im- 
 portant book, giving the aggregate amouuts under different heads and de- 
 partments. The items are all set forth fully, and the report accompanies this. 
 
 Congress passed an Act appropriating two million one hundred and 
 eighty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-five dollars and seventeen 
 cents, dated March the eleventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, expressly 
 to pay us for expenditures for and on account of all troops in and around 
 Charleston, from the eighth of February, eighteen hundred and sixfy-one, 
 and we have received payment, through General DeSaussure, on account 
 and vouchers presented, of two hundred and ninety-four thousand four 
 hundred and seventy-five dollars and ninety-three cents. This, added to the 
 amount received through Judge Frost, makes six hundred and fifty-four 
 thousand seven hundred and forty-four dollars and thirty-four cents. Add 
 to this the thirty-two thousand dollars (832,000) paid for the Lady Davis? 
 
L2 
 
 and • hundred dollars received fi L Confederate 
 
 Quartermaster, for horses purchased from thia State, and it make- an aggre- 
 ofsiz hundred and eighty-nine thousand and four-four dollars. There 
 till a large balance due us under that A.ct — about $1,31 1,162 9 
 
 The amount the State expended from the twentieth of December up to 
 the ninth of February, the period wo were alone, is a Bubjecl of just claim 
 against the Confedi eminent. We turned over the forts and public 
 
 arms an 1 stores' which we acquired during this period, and. of course, we 
 should be refunded the expenses incurred, particularly as the Confederate 
 Government gained a lull equival 
 
 I recommend that an Agent he appointed, whoso duly it will he to attend 
 in all these claims, and have them acknowledged, as soon as the Government 
 may he in a condition to adjust them, i sent on General DeSaussure to 
 settle our accounts under the Aet of Congress above referred to, and he, 
 by his energy, had made great progress, hut the difficulties of the 
 ernment and the great pressure in the country, made it proper 
 to suspend any very urgent demands under the then existing circum- 
 stances. Judge Frost, the former head of the Treasury, als • showed much 
 assiduity at Montgomery in adjusting many of our claims, and he did obtain 
 three hundred and sixty thousand two hundred and forty eight dollars and 
 fort3'-one cents. His report conies up to the eleventh of May, eighteen 
 hundred and sixty-one. It will he seen by the report from General Dedans- 
 sure, herewith transmitted, that not a cent from public funds was lost in any 
 quarter, and that all accounts, from the heads of every department, were 
 fully and correctly rendered up to the ninth, of January, eighteen hundri d 
 and sixty-two. The §250,000 advanced for claims, stands on a different 
 footing. I recommend that just compensation be made to General DeSaus- 
 sure. 
 
 I refer to the Adjutant General's Report, which is herewith transmitted. 
 It will be seen that we had actually mustered into Confederate service, up 
 to the ninth of January lust, the period when the Council was inaugurated 
 and remodelled the Executive, thirty-two thousand one hundred and forty- 
 six men, all armed by the State. All estimates made alter that time are 
 necessarily conjectural, as, under the Conscription Act passed by the Council, 
 and the Conscription Act of the Confederate Government, many men went 
 into service as individuals, and joined such companies and regiments as were 
 already in service, and no authentic reports have been officially made from 
 the officers commanding such companies or regiments as to the number thus 
 received. This increase in our forces resulted from no particular organiza- 
 tion, but from the choice of the men, who preferred to join such regiments 
 rather than wait for particular commands. It has been merely conjectured 
 that the number heretofore mustered in from this State was about forty two 
 
13 
 
 thousand. Recently, eight regiments of State Reserves, which may be 
 estimated at six hundred each, have been received, by special arrangement 
 with the Secretary of "War, for ninety days' service in the State. 
 
 I transmit herewith the Quartermaster General's Report, which gives a 
 full statement in detail of supplies on hand up to the ninth of January, 
 from which it will appear that in large amounts the material for our sol- 
 diers — blankets, shoes, wolicn clothes, and all the essentials — the purchases 
 of the same were ordered by myself, and made previous to the formation of 
 the Council, and that since that period but little has born added to the 
 stores then on hand. The funds which have been collected in this depart- 
 ment from the Confederate Government have been principally acquired by 
 our being refunded for the cost of this material, in advancing it to our 
 soldiers. Recently large supplies of clothing and blankets have been sent 
 from the Quartermaster's department to our Boldiera in Virginia, and of 
 course you will immediately appropriate a sufficient sum to provide all 
 necessary clothing for our men who may be Buffering in Virginia or 
 elsewhere. 
 
 I also refer to the Commissary General's Report, to show that, up to the 
 same period, the supplies of bacon, flour, salt beef and salt were almost 
 entirely purchased and procured previous to the same period, and the de- 
 partment has been reimbursed in the same way. 
 
 I would suggest that you take the first steps necessary to amend our 
 Constitution so that the Governor shall be subject to re-election. There is 
 no reason why so important an office should lie filled every two year- by a new 
 man, if the duties have beeu performed faithfully. Just as soon as he becomes 
 thoroughly acquainted with the duties of his office, and informed as to the 
 wants of the State, he has to leave his office, and another is selected to go 
 the same round. Resides, if the office is important, the Governor should 
 be held responsible by being subject to re-election, and by being brought 
 directly under the censure or approbation of those who have the power to 
 continue or dismiss him. There is still a higher consideration why the 
 Governor should be subject to re election, or his term of office be length- 
 ened, and that is because it is all-important to add to the power and influence 
 of the State amongst a Confederacy of States. Make the chief magistracy 
 an office of high responsibility and dignity, and thus, too, you make it au 
 object worthy the highest ambition, to be sought by men of talent and 
 character as their ultimate aim. This will tend to prevent that class from 
 too eagerly seeking honor and distinction alone in the offices of the Confed- 
 erate Government. The reason why the framers of our wise Constitution 
 limited the office of Governor to two years, and gave such small powers to 
 the incumbent, arose from the extreme sensitiveness that was engendered in 
 our early colonial struggles with the mother country. The colony was, 
 
14 
 
 more all the time in conflict with the Governors of the Crown, sent 
 
 out to govern the province, and our ancestors b sgan to think that the great 
 oulv from the Executive branch i vernmenk 
 
 re, carried out this jealuusj a Governor's power by 
 
 giving but little power, in times of peace, to the Executive office. This 
 wad < mincntly wise, when the appointing power was in th Crown, and that 
 
 ,.,1 interest antagonistic to the people or the interests of the State. 
 Under 01 i . the people occupy the same positiou, as far as govern- 
 
 . is concerned, that the Crown h. ■ - under moru arbitrary f< 
 
 iverumeut. The power of th 3 no more than the power uf 
 
 the people, as he is their agent, and responsible to them. As we are to 
 c immence a new career, under a new Confederacy of equal States, I think 
 there could be no more lit occasion to reorganize the Executive branch of 
 1 ar State Government, which might be made to add greatly to the di_ 
 and real power ofthe State. 1 would recommend, in connection with this 
 subject, that the appointment of ordinary, sheriff, and tax collector lor the 
 
 ricts be made by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the 
 Senate. These are uot properly mere District officers, but officers for the 
 1 in the administration of general State laws, and the appoint- 
 ment thus made would generally secure the most energetic and impartial 
 administration of those laws. It is the election of salaried officers that 
 tends to corrupt the people, and to lower the tone of public opinion, and 
 involves them in a constant round of low electioneering and combinations 
 for the pos.^essiou of monied offices, all unfavorable to elevated feeling. The 
 true principle of a Republican Government is to make all legislative offices 
 subject to election by the people, so that the law-making power may ema- 
 nate directly from them, and to confine this representation, thus elected, to 
 small localities or divisions, and let all those who administer the gent ral 
 laws of the State be appointed by State authority. By confining the elec- 
 tions of the people principally to those who make the laws, you elevate the 
 elective franchise, and make its exercise a high and sacred duty, deeply 
 valued ; but enlarge it to offices of profit, and exactly the reverse is pro- 
 duced. We have esteemed this high and noble privilege of the people too 
 lightly. The experience of popular elections, and of extending the extreme 
 principle of democracy to all offices of all kinds, has been full of bitter 
 fruits. We see it in the universal profligacy and vulgar brutality that is 
 exhibited in all the Northern States, corrupting the very fountains that 
 spring up around the temple of liberty, where the people gather to worship 
 the new idols of their daily creation. If we are wise, we will have the 
 manly independence to avoid these extremes, and to realize the great truth, 
 that liberty dees not consist in unbridled privileges to the people, but in a 
 system of wise laws, virtuously and firmly administered. Considering my 
 
15 
 
 position, I would be unfaithful to my trusts if I should use the measured 
 language of flattery, and disguise the truth. 
 
 This bloody revolution has taught us many solemn truths, as to the un- 
 limited elective franchise, and the extremes of democracy, and the people 
 ■will perceive them, if public men and politicians will do their whole duty, 
 and not use the smooth language of flattery, intended but to deceive and 
 betray. 
 
 Perhaps this may not yet be the proper time, but I cannot forbear from 
 calling your attention to the duty you may owe your State, to incorporate 
 into our Constitution a principle refusing to allow any man t'> vol 
 those who were citizens at the time of out adoption i f tie present Confed- 
 erate Constitution, or unless hereafter born in some one of the Confederate 
 l would make it the highest privilege el' a freeman to vote, and a 
 mark of rank, and therefore allow mine this privilege hereafter unless horu 
 in this country. Let it be made, by all the safeguards of fixed law. as high 
 a mark of pride and sank to be called a citizen of this S lUfhern Repu 
 as in former times it was, in Rome t*> he called a "Roman citizen." This 
 can never he done with indiscriminate elections, and granting the privil 
 of voting indiscriminately to strangers and foreigners, who make only a 
 short sojourn, without interest in our country, and without knowledge of our 
 peculiar institutions. To exercise a Bound discretion in thi i higB privilege, 
 upon which the liberty and purity of the country depends, can only he 
 acquired by that kind of education which is al »ne obtained by being born 
 and raised here. To make this privilege common is to throw away a pearl, 
 around which glitter.; every thing that is bright and pure in Republican 
 government. 
 
 It is a source of deep regret that the war has suspended our literary and 
 theological institutions, and more especially our State institution. 1 was 
 ised to it, and endeavored to procure the adoption of a measure which, 
 I was in hopes, might have saved them from the necessity of being brought 
 under influences that have drawn off the students into military service in 
 the field. I desired that they might be organized into so; arate and distinct 
 corps, and kept under officers appointed or selected from their profc— 
 and held under military organization, and thus kept from being absorbed 
 by general service in the army. If the State should have been in a pressing 
 emergency, they could have been ordered out, and all institutions of that 
 kind in the State could have been kept together under an independent, 
 united command. But it was decided otherwise by those who had the 
 authority, and, as they thought, from necessity. The consequence is, that all 
 are now suspended, aud it is to be feared that the injurious effects will be 
 seriously felt in the progress of events. I hope, however, that no consider- 
 ations will ever induce the State to take any steps that may lead to a with- 
 
16 
 
 drawal of its patronage, heretofore bestowed, upon this noble institution. 
 J i ie too deeply consecrated in the heart- of our people, by the blessings it 
 has Bhed over the State, ever t i be abandoned. Under existing circum- 
 b1 rao< 3, however, it cannot be expected that the appropriations should I 
 large as heretofore. I therefore recommend that the salaries of the Pro- 
 feasors be reduced, Ibr the present, one-hall', so that we may he at least able 
 to secure and retain the services of the very able Profi SB ir», who are now 
 temporarily thrown out of employment. As the Library is still regularly 
 opein' I. and is very useful, it ought to be Btriotly kept in order, the Bame as 
 ever. Perhaps, therefore, the Librarian should receive his usual salary, 
 which is but small. 
 
 In these distressing times of great pressure and derangement in supplies. 
 •nestly recommend to your most charitable protection the Lunatic Asy- 
 lum, and also the Christian and benevolent Institution for the Deaf, !>umb 
 and Blind. The great increase of prices in breadstuff will require some 
 addition to the usual allowances for the support of the unfortunate who may 
 b too poor to pay for their own support. The reports from these institutions 
 are referred to your attention. I also call your attention to the Report of the 
 Trustees of the Marine School at Charleston. It deserves your patronage. 
 
 The report of the Superintendent of the State House, herewith trans- 
 mitted, is referred to your special attention. 
 
 In my Message to the Extra Session of November, eighteen hundred and 
 sixty-one, I called the attention of the Legislature to the state of our Mili- 
 tary Academies. I now take this occasion earnestly to suggest again that 
 their capacity for usefulness be enlarged. As all other institutions are now 
 suspended by the young men going into the war, our State Military Acade- 
 my is the only public institution practically open to education, and surely, 
 at this period, no system of education can be more essential to our success 
 and defence. As we are now involved in an entirely new state of things, I 
 would recommend that you increase the number of Visitors, and that they 
 be filled by election, exactly as the Board of College Trustees is now filled, 
 or, as it is a military institution entirely, perhaps the appointment might be 
 by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. It is worthy 
 of your immediate consideration how far this institution, in all its branches, 
 should be enlarged, and arrangements also made to receive cadets from other 
 Southern States. A portion of the college buildings might be, for the pres- 
 ent, assigned for the use of cadets, if more than usual are admitted. 
 There are more applicants this year than common. I transmit with this a 
 letter from General Jones, Chairman of the Board of Visitors, and recom- 
 mend that an appropriation be made to enlarge permanently the buildings 
 at the arsenal. The State should select the sons of meritorious officers who 
 have fallen in battle, leaving no means, and assign a son of each for educa- 
 
17 
 
 iion in this institution, and the sons of our heroic naval officers ought also 
 to be included. It is due to many who have loft their children penniless, 
 and we owe it to ourselves, that they should not be neglected. Our State 
 is comparatively small, and cannot rival, in physi r material 
 
 development, the larger : ; ' :t* -. but by a high grade of military education, 
 as well as every other system of culture and education, we con enlarge our 
 influence and usefulness. We can only hope to enter the r iwer 
 
 and ascendency by the high moral and intellectual endoi . our peo- 
 
 ple. Large territory and natural resources, with a large j . will 
 
 make any State powerful, but to make a small State a great one, with power 
 and influence, requires profound wisdom in measures calculated to develops 
 intellectual and moral culture, as well as devoted m and heroic valor. 
 
 While other States expend millions in aid of material advancement, 
 ■mist spend millions in thorough education. 
 
 Our principal arsenal and depot for small arm- ought to he permanently 
 in Columbia. The olim er, and more .- jrder and 
 
 arms, than Charleston. 
 
 Im previous communications to the Legislature, I called attention to the 
 irtance of establish! mufaotorv for small arms, and indicated 
 
 •Greenville as having had such a factory in the war of eighteen hundred 
 and twelve, and I also drew attention to the iron of Spartanburg as being 
 eminently suitable, from its great adhesive qualities, foi non, and 
 
 so forth. The Executive Council have made such an establishment at 
 Greenville, together with a foundry. The place is well selected, and the 
 practical judgment of tl ruction, aided by tl v and 
 
 mechanical talent aud knon the Superintendent, has forced the 
 
 sstablishment into rapid maturity. I refer to the reports of both these officers, 
 and also to the report of Major Eason, State ( Ordnance Officer, for all details, 
 and most cordially recommend the whole matter to your immediate atten- 
 tion. The Legislature, by the Act of eighteen hundred and sixty, created 
 a Board of Ordnance, with an ordnance officer, ranking as colonel of artil- 
 lery, with a salary of three thousand dollars. The law required this Board 
 of Ordnance to be appointed by the Governor, and the ordnance officer to 
 be appointed by the Board. Since the resignation of Colonel Mauigault, 
 an officer was appointed by the Council, with the rank of major, and a salary 
 of eighteen hundred dollars. I recommend that the original rank and pay 
 of the officer be restored, and that the foundry, together with the factory 
 for small arms, be placed directly under the supervision of the State Ord- 
 nance Officer, as part of the duties of his office. The whole military re- 
 sources of the State, with all our men up to forty-five, are now, by law, 
 placed under the immediate control and absolute command of Confederate 
 authority, and if, under these circumstances, it should be thought more ex- 
 3 
 
1- 
 
 pedient to transfer this establishment over to the Confederate Government, 
 it could now be done without the Blight* to the State j but if this 
 
 course should lie pursued, a condition ahould he made that, at the close of 
 this war. it should then be ti I back fo this State It ought to be 
 
 our policy to keep up ;'. State Armory, in o.-der to place the supply of arms 
 for the State beyond all contingency in any future emergency. We have 
 seen the danger of our posit bm recently, and I trust the day will never 
 come again that will find the State without an ample supply of arms. 
 
 The Council established a saltpetre plantation near this place. I believe 
 it is the first of the kind ever established in our country. The expenses 
 have been moderate, and I refer you to a report from Dr. Ford, the Super- 
 intendent, for all details. There was great danger of scarcity in the mate- 
 rial for gun-powder, and it was deemed essentia! to put ourselves beyond 
 difficulty as to this matter. It is hoped that it will soon begin to yield re- 
 turns. As an experiment, it was eminently useful, in calling public atten- 
 tion to the enterprise. If it is thought proper, I have no doubt the whole 
 matter could be turned over to the Confederate Government without loss. 
 In several countries in the north of Europe, taxes are partly paid in salt- 
 petre, so essential is it to a country's independence. Perhaps it might be 
 proper to place it also directly under the supervision of the State Ordnance 
 Officer, if the State retains it. 
 
 The Executive Council have repealed all their laws, or resolutions having 
 the effect of laws, relating to distillation of spirits, to take effect at the 
 close of your present session. I call your attention to this, because I deem 
 it, of the highest importance to the welfare of the people, and particularly 
 to our soldiers, and their families at home, that you should pass the most 
 stringent laws against all distillation of spirits from grain, except for medi- 
 cal purposes alone, and I trust a wise and energetic system will certainly be 
 adopted by which your law, in relation to this matter, shall be strictly en- 
 forced. The reasons for this are so obvious that it is not necessary to urge 
 them. 
 
 The Executive Council have endeavored to stimulate the manufacture of 
 salt, and fifty thousand dollars were set aside for this purpose. Much has 
 been done, but much more is required to be done to satisfy the wants of the 
 people as to this great necessary of life. I refer you to the report of the Chief 
 of Justice for details on this subject. I endeavored to make a contract with 
 the owners of the salt works near Abingdon, Va., but they accompanied 
 their proposals with such conditions, bearing upon the private rights of one 
 of our distinguished citizens, who holds a mortgage on the works, that I 
 could not, with justice, think of accepting them. I appointed a gentleman 
 to try and make arrangements for transportation over the railroads for one 
 hundred thousand bushels, but he found it impossible to get it. Besides, I 
 
19 
 
 do not believe any large amount of salt could be procured, within the time 
 we required it, from the works, even if I could have obtained transporta- 
 tion. I hope, by the production now being furnished from our own coast, 
 which ia increasing, that by the last of January enough may be procured to 
 sufiic-e, upou the most limited economy in its use. Three hundred sacks of 
 Liverpool salt, a part of that which I took in our different towns last year, 
 .for the State, have been recently directed by the Council to be sold, in 
 small amounts, by the committees for the relief of the soldiers' families iti 
 the different Districts. True, the wants of the poor are very serious, but it 
 is incident to our situation in this great struggle for our homes and exist- 
 ence, and I trust that those who have the supply and the means will use 
 all their best exertions, in every neighborhood, to see that there shall be no 
 actual suffering. 
 
 The last Legislature created by law Provost Marshals, with their Asso- 
 ciates, in the sea-coast Districts of the State, and allowed their establishment 
 in any other District, not already provided for, whose representatives desired 
 it. These Marshals established courts, under instructions which I sent 
 them — a copy of which ia herewith transmitted. I sugg<-<t that the books 
 and records of these courts be examine 1, and that the whole matter be re- 
 vised by your body — suggesting such amendments as may appear proper, 
 or discontinuing them, if you think it best. My impression is, that under 
 proper accountability, they might be made of great use in our present 
 situation. 
 
 One great cause of the unanimity and deep enthusiasm of the whole 
 people in this war for our independence, arises from the fervor and religious 
 zeal in the cause which our clergy and laity, of all denominations, have 
 manifested. They have made it almost a holy war. Added to this has been 
 the patriotic and intense feeling our women have universally exhibited. 
 No men who have such mothers, such wives, and such sisters, were ever 
 born to be enslaved. We, of this State, owe a debt of lasting gratitude to 
 the women of Virginia, in particular. There is scarcely a mother, a wife, 
 or a sister ii> South Carolina, (and there are thousands,) mourning for the 
 loss of their loved ones that have perished on the bloody fields of Virginia, 
 whose grieving heart has not received comfort from the thought that the 
 sinking soldier and hero had his dying moments soothed by the kind atten- 
 tions of some tender female of Virginia. Xo people of any age or country 
 have ever suffered more than they have in the noble State of Virginia, and 
 no people, with the same amount of population, have ever, in the annals of 
 history, presented to the world more captains of higher qualities to lead 
 and to command, or soldiers of more heroic valor, than has Virginia, amid 
 her terrible sufferings; and hereafter, when asked for her jewels, Virginia 
 
20 
 
 "Will not be confined alone to her sons, but .be can turn and prondly poim' to 
 her daugl: earls that will throw a more royal lustre from her diadem 
 
 of honor. 
 
 I would recommend that an energetic, responsible Agent be appointed by 
 the State, to be stationed, for the present, at or near Richmond, whose duty 
 it will be to aid and assist our siek and wounded soldiers in obtaining 
 their furloughs in proper form, and transportation also, both on their coming 
 home and returning, so that none shall suffer from ignorance or neglect. 
 This Agenl could be charged with seeing that all aid and assistance, i'i 
 supplies of all kinds for our soldiers, should be properly attended to and 
 forwarded. It might be, perhaps, of great relief to the helpless and unin- 
 formed of our men, who may be exposed to imposition or neglect. I would 
 respectfully suggest that this Agent may have the rank and pay of a captain 
 in service, and a limited sum of money might be placed in his charge to 
 relieve all the pressing and immediate wants of the needy, who are sick, 
 wounded, or honorably discharged. This appointment might be made by 
 the Governor, by aud with the advice and consent of the Senate. Although 
 I agreed to the mode, because it was the best J could do under the circum- 
 stances by which I was surrounded, yet I do not think that any Executive 
 Council is a fit and suitable body to make appointments in the military, as 
 a general rule. I still think, however, as I have heretofore urged, that, 
 during revolution and war, the most suitable way to Mil all field offices for 
 active service, is for the appointment to be made by the Governor, with the 
 advice and consent of the Senate. The representation in this body of 
 every Parish and District in the State, would enable it to judge of any unfit 
 nomination made by the Governor, and to refuse it. 
 
 It is necessary that the Legislature should agree upon some permanent 
 plan by which negro labor shall be furnished, for work to be done along our 
 sea-coast, and particularly for the defences of Charleston. The manner in 
 which the impressment of this labor has been executed, has produced an 
 unpleasant state of feeling, and much complaint. Then the extremely care- 
 less government that has been instituted over them, after they are placed 
 under Confederate officers, together with the poor attention paid to them, 
 has also increased this dissatisfaction. Perhaps all this is naturally incident 
 to any corps not regularly under strict army regulations. 
 
 Just at the close of the last Legislature a joint resolution was passed, 
 directing the Governor to furnish labor under requisitions from Confederate 
 Generals, and to exercise, if necessary, the power of impressment for that 
 purpose. In April last I proposed to the Council to adopt a plan by which 
 a corps of negroes should be organized aud attached to each regiment or 
 brigade, as axemen and spadesmen, to be placed under military government 
 
21 
 
 and orders in service. I desired this organization, upon the basis that < i 
 owner of negroes should furnish as many men as he might select, and put 
 them regularly into the army, to draw regular rations, and the owners to 
 receive their pay. One per cent, on the four hundred thousand slaves in 
 the State would give four thousand for such an organization, and tins would 
 he more than ample* fo- all purposes. Let these corps be formed into :;xl- 
 men, ditchers and laborers generally, and under regular orders and discipline 
 suited to them. Let this be a permanent arrangement, which would relieve 
 all the agricultural negroes of tlie country from arbitrary and irregular calls 
 at seasons not at all suitable. Bi sidi s, this would enable every man to send 
 off, to be put under the military regulations of the army, all negro men who 
 might be difficult to manage at home, where women and children are, for 
 the most part, left alone. It would have the further effect of identify 
 our slave population, to a certain extent, .with cur armies, Which would pro- 
 duce a wholesome feeling of allegiance, and thus aid in the police govern- 
 ment of that class. All (hi^ Bystem could be organized readily, and, I think 
 upon a far more certain fooling as t<> labor, and with far less expense and 
 inconvenience to owners. Many small owners of slaves would volunteer 
 none, but large owners would, and in many sections, particularly where they 
 are exposed to the enemy, they would select perhaps live per cent, on all 
 they own, because the} could thu< those most unruly and uncertain, 
 
 and secure them in the army. If lost or killed, then let the Government 
 be responsible for their value, exactly as it is to those who furnish cavalry 
 horses. My impression is that it would bo a good police arrangement, that 
 would strengthen the interior peace of the State. 
 
 This was the substance of the proposition I made in April last, bul 
 was overruled, I was compelled to give my assent to the other system pro- 
 posed, because, like in many other cases, where I was called on to do any- 
 thing, I had to do the best I could in relation to secondary measures. I 
 think, if what I had then proposed had been adopted, it would have saved 
 much unpleasant feeling in the State, and also large losses from the irregular 
 mode of calling for labor when it is engaged in agricultural pursuits. I 
 therefore recommend that you take this subject up as soon as possible, and 
 adopt some efficient system, in concert with and by assent of Confederate 
 authorities, such as I have presented. I wrote to General Beauregard, and 
 suggested to him my plan, and in a letter, dated the eighth of November, 
 instant, he highly approves of it, and recommends that " each brigade of 
 four regiments shall have two hundred negro pioneers or laborers." A copy 
 of all that portion of the letter is herewith transmitted. 
 
 The works around Charleston arc extensive, and it is of the last import- 
 ance they should be completed on the most scientific and solid scale. Now 
 
that we Inve witnessed the desperate and malignant hostility of our exas- 
 perated enemies, we may certainly expect that, even after peace, they may 
 threaten us at any moment hereafter, and it becomes us to be permanently 
 and thoroughly prepared. The works around Charleston are, therefore, not 
 to be viewed as temporary, but in the course of events they must be looked 
 to as part of our permanent defence, and necessary to our future safety. 
 The whole State is deep y and directly interested for our independence and 
 protection against these our worst and most bitter enemies, and wo canuot 
 be secure without the largest and niosl substantial system of defences around 
 and near Charleston. Let, no man. in a remote part of the State, imagine 
 that the work done there is not necessary to the protection of his own home 
 and fireside. 
 
 The Convention, at their last meeting, have referred the proceeding 
 the Executive Council to your supervision aud jurisdiction, and have expressly 
 submitted to you the power to continue it or not. This Executive Council 
 was established early in January last, and as soon as the Ordinance creating 
 it was sent to me, I addressed a communication to the Convention, dated 
 January the eighth, a copy of which is herewith transmitted. I thus most 
 respectfully filed my objections and protest. 
 
 The first section of this Ordinance declares, that the " Executive Council 
 shail co isist of the Lieutenant Governor, aud three other citizens of the 
 State, to be chosen by the Convention by ballot." 
 
 The second section then speaks of the " Governor and Executive Council 
 acting together," and confers unlimited power " to declare martial law," " to 
 arrest and detain all disloyal aud disaffected persons," and " to order and 
 enforce such disposition of private property for public use as the public 
 o-ood shall appear to them to require." It also confers absolute power over 
 the organ izatfon of all military forces, from " the whole or any part of the 
 population of the State," to draw money from the public Treasury without 
 appropriation by law, and to make all " nominations and appointments here- 
 tofore made by the Governor." As to "disloyal or disaffected persons," it 
 uspeuds habeas corpus. This, together with the power to declare martial 
 law, to seize private property, to make any absolute orders of a military 
 nature, embracing the whole population, and to draw money from the Treas- 
 ury without appropriation by law, makes a complete concentration of all 
 power in the hands of the Council. True, the Governor is spoken of as 
 separate, but whether it was intended that his concurrence and consent 
 should be necessary to consummate any or all of these powers, does not dis- 
 tinctly i ppear. At first the inference would seem to be, that it was neces- 
 sary thai the Governor and the Council should " act together." However, 
 the mode adopted by those best informed of the intention of the Conven- 
 
23 
 
 tion was, in fact, a total absorption of the Governor, for every proposition 
 and order was taken by vote, each vote counting one, and a majority making 
 the order. This, of course, is a direct violation of all the constitutional 
 attributes that necessarily attach to the clause which declares that the 
 u Governor shall be the Commander-in-Chief." It will be seen, by the re- 
 ports from members of this Council, made to the Convention at its recent 
 session, and more particularly from the Report of the Chief of the Military, 
 that all the rules for the administration of the separate departments were 
 made by the members themselves, aud by the fifth rule for the Military 
 Department, even the nominations to all offices, "heretofore vested by law 
 in the Governor," were expressly vested in the head of that Department. 
 The Council partitioned out the powers of the Executive, and assigned 
 themselves as the heads of the Departments thus created. According to 
 the second clause of the Ordinance, I could not even appoint an Aid. Of 
 course, under all these circumstances, 1 Bhould certainly have called the 
 Legislature together, and resigned my office, but for the extraordinary po- 
 sition the State was in ;it that time. It will not require a close analysis of 
 this Ordinance to show that, under the pretext of "strengthening the Ex- 
 ecutive," the Constitution was grossly and needlessly violated, and the result, 
 as exhibited in the confusion and opposition created in the State, heretofore 
 so united, shows that men. however learned and able as exponents of law, 
 may yet be eutirely ignorant of all the practical workings and actual needs 
 of the governing power for a free people. 
 
 I had been elected, by the regularly constituted Legislature of the State. 
 to take charge of her destiny and direct her movements, when she was 
 rousing herself to step forward and form the nucleus around which a new 
 Confederacy might gather — thus standing like a shining larg< I before her 
 powerful foes, with doubt, danger and uncertainty on every side. The very 
 day after I was inaugurated, I sent a trusty Agent and located him in 
 Fortress Monroe, with orders to give me the most authentic information 
 constantly of what was doing there, because I knew it was the nearest post 
 from which military reinforcements could be sent to Charleston harbor. I 
 could thus tell what we were to expect by what I heard from that fort: 
 for I knew we would have war. It was my order, on the twenty-seventh of 
 December, eighteen hundred and sixty, by which, in the face of a powerful 
 fortress and an armed foe, the two first Federal forts were taken, from whose 
 parapets the proud flag of the old Union was lowered, and the defiant flag 
 of our independent State run up in its stead. This was done while the 
 Convention was yet discussing the propriety of doing it. So, too, on the 
 ninth of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, it was by my order, 
 against solemn entreaties to the contrary, that the first cannon was fired 
 
.:! 
 
 into the Star of the Y\ ig armed men and succor to Port Sumter. 
 
 These are the acts which practically inaugurated this war, the effects of 
 which will be deeply felt for ages to c ime. 1 well knew the danger then, 
 and fully understood my deep res] nsibility. At that time there w. 
 certainty as to any other State moving. I mention this, not in ere. lit to 
 myself, for 1 was but Lb at of the will and spirit of the State, but 
 
 I mention it to remind you, that !>\ your appointment, I then stood on the 
 quarter-deck, when the s ia was 'lark and the Bhip alone. I saw the breakers 
 through which she was to be driven, and no man can Bay that the helm 
 ever trembled in my hand, or that the vessel ever veered, for one moment, 
 from her direct an'! onward path. My record 'was before the Convention, 
 bul I have yet to learn on what, act or acts of mine they predicated their 
 remarkable experiment in government. 
 
 A sense of injustice, and tint influence of ardent friends, might have im- 
 pelled me to a different course from that which i pursued at this juncture, 
 but my high sense of duty towards the State, and my sincere desire to secure 
 her ultimate good, induced rac to bear all with such patience as I could, and 
 to pursue that path which I deemed wisest, in her behalf. The loss 0T 
 change of power to me, personally, was nothing, but to the Constitution and 
 the State it was every thing. The presence of a malignant and ravaging 
 foe upon our coast, with a powerful army threatening Charleston, and the 
 .absence of a large portion of our men in the army of Virginia, rendered 
 unity of feeling and purpose in our domestic government absolutely necessary 
 for the time being, and weighed deeply in my determination to await events, 
 and to submit to what had beci^doue. I also knew that dissatisfaction and 
 confusion would arise when the immediate danger and pressure had passed, 
 and I desired that the responsibility should rest wdicre it properly belonged. 
 I preferred that the issue should be made between the people of the State 
 and the body which had assumed all power over them ; for 1 well knew that 
 -a people, born and educated to freedom, would rebuke the attempt which in 
 this case had been made to create an arbitrary and illegal Government. 
 
 The Convention, at its last meeting, seemed to desire to shift the respon- 
 sibility of terminating the existence of a tribunal which they had, at a pre- 
 vious meeting, ordained should continue for and during the war, and to 
 throw that responsibility upon the Legislature, coming fresh from the 
 people. Instead of protecting it against accountability to another body, 
 they have made its acts open to full inspection and investigation, and that, 
 too, under peculiar circumstances, where they themselves ought to have 
 assumed the responsibility of restoring the regular and ordinary Govern- 
 ment. This might have saved any further discussion or division. 
 
25 
 
 The second section of an Ordinance passed at their last session, expressly 
 makes it my duty to open up all its proceedings to you — at least back to 
 the commencement of that session — and, by inference, to an examination 
 of all before; because you could not have a full understanding of the 
 duties they required you to discharge in relation to the policy of continuing 
 the Council or not, without knowing all the facts and all its proceedings. 
 With that view, I believe, they declared all their proceedings open to the 
 public, with the books of record kept by their Council. 
 
 By an Ordinance passed the second of January last, eutitled " An Or- 
 dinance for the removal of negroes and other property," a commission of 
 three from each of the sea-board Districts was elected, and, by the tenth 
 section of the said Ordinance, this commission was expressly authorized to 
 draw up©n the Treasury for any sums they might deem necessary to remove 
 and support negroes. Each separate commission of three had this power, 
 limited only by what they might think " necessary." They were not di- 
 rected to let the Governor, or even the Council, know what amounts they 
 might at any time draw, nor do I see any provision for their accounting, 
 except to the first meeting of the Convention, if that should take place 
 before the meeting of the Legislature. The tenth section concludes in 
 these words : " And that the Legislature be directed to provide ways and 
 means to reimburse the Treasury." It will be seen that this Ordinance 
 directly violates that great principle of the Constitution which declares 
 that " no money shall be drawn out of the public Treasury, but by the 
 legislative authority of the State." This has given to a tribunal created 
 separate from the Convention itself, this direct power. The whole Ordi- 
 nance sets a dangerous and impolitic precedent in our State, and I recom- 
 mend that steps be taken to cause proper accounts for all moneys drawn 
 under it to be rendered, and that the records kept by those commissions 
 be examined. The eighth section seems to contemplate this, if the Con- 
 vention itself had not, in the meantime, held a meeting. 
 
 I can appreciate the circumstances under which the Convention acted. 
 But they acted under the excitement produced by the fall of Port Royal, 
 and I knew the time would come for the State to right itself. That time 
 has come, and I most respectfully recommend that, as the guardians of the 
 Constitution and Law, you do now restore to the State the regular and ordi- 
 nary Government. 
 
 To vest power to make, construe and execute law, in the same hands, is 
 of the very essence of despotism, and the exercise of any such power, even 
 in the hands of the wisest and purest of men, would necessarily produce 
 the deepest dissatisfaction in any community trained up as freemen, and 
 who had lived under the regular administration of fixed law. The dissat- 
 4 
 
26 
 
 isfaction and restivencss under this new and unauthorized system, exhibited 
 in certain portions of the State, has not arisen from any disloyalty or indis- 
 position to discharge all their duties faithfully, bat from a feeling of sensi- 
 tiveness under what they deemed an unnecessary and arbitrary establish- 
 ment of an unusual and irregular Government. . 
 
 The example quoted from the early history of this State, when one of 
 our most illustrious citizens was vested with a Dictatorship, is not at all ap- 
 plicable to the State in her present situation. We were then in our infancy, 
 and had never been accustomed to independent self-government. We had, 
 comparatively speaking, a wild country, with sparse population. We were 
 simply a Colony, and in fact with no Government. Wo have now had eighty 
 years of self-government, when our forms and laws have become fixed and 
 settled, with a dense population of sensitive and educated freemen. No 
 people upon earth arc more restive under arbitrary power than we are. 
 Besides, our whole form of Government is conservative, aud full of checks 
 and restraints — more so than that of any other State in the Confederacy. 
 Our Senate represents mere territorial divisions, and is so formed as to check 
 the more dominating influence of other branches. We have representation 
 of property in both Houses. For every sixty-second part that the taxation 
 of a Parish or District bears to the taxation of the whole State, it is en- 
 titled to one Representative ; and for every sixty-second part that the white 
 population of a Parish or District bears to the white population of the 
 whole State, it is entitled to another Representative ; and we take a Stato 
 census every ten years, and estimate the taxes that have been collected 
 during that period, and according to this we readjust our representation 
 every ten years, so that it shall follow this combined principle wherever 
 any changes in population or in property have been made. It is, in fact, a 
 representation of taxation and population combined, and is the wisest and 
 most philosophical principle that has been adopted by any State in the 
 Confederacy. Prom this, population has all the strength necessary to give 
 it power and contentment, and property has all that is necessary to protect 
 itself. This it is that makes us so eminently a conservative State and a 
 united people. Under our wise, but complicated system, we do not, in any 
 great measure, take the sense of the people of South Carolina, as a people» 
 but we take the sense of the interests or estates of the State, which 
 is equivalent to consulting the estates of the Reajm — a process so 
 deeply identified with all our ideas drawn from the great common-law 
 laud of English liberty. Any single Assembly, without the checks that 
 come from the action of separate bodies, that assumes to exercise, of itself, 
 legislative powers, must necessarily amalgamate these estates, and produce 
 confusion and discontent, by deranging the order of our whole system. 
 
27 
 
 The clause in our Constitution giving power to call a Convention, is pecu- 
 liar. It does not pay the Legislature may or can call a Convention, but it 
 declares that "no Convention of the people shall be called," except on 
 
 certain conditions. No Convention can be called, except by a concurrent 
 vote of both branches of our Legislature, aud then by a vote of two-thirds 
 in each House. The Constitution of the State is itself a compact between 
 the people, in which the sense of the State is taken by a full representation 
 of estates which form the State. The angry controversy between the 
 upper and lower country, previous to eighteen hundred and eight, need 
 barely be alluded to for lull illustration of this. The Constitution itself 
 can be altered by two successive Legislatures, and there is no necessity for 
 a Convention to alter it, which shows that under our system, so far as or- 
 ganic law is concerned, sovereignty is expressed through two successive 
 Legislatures, or the Legislature is supposed to express the sense of the 
 State, taken, not by population, or the people alone, but by the different 
 estates represented. 
 
 The clause giving power to the Legislature to alter the Cuii>titution, fol- 
 lows immediately after the clause giving power to call a Convention, aud is 
 also very peculiar in its language and guards. It does not say the Legisla- 
 ture may alter the Constitution upon certain conditions, but. directly follow- 
 ing upon the other clause, it declares that " no part of this Constitution 
 shall be altered," except by the forms prescribed in the clause itself. There 
 is no other State, that I kuow of, which allows the Legislature the high 
 power of altering its Constitution. It is granted here because those who 
 made it intended to guard peculiar interests aud privileges in the State. 
 
 No Convention, under our system, need ever be called, except for one 
 purpose only, and that is to withdraw our State from any compact with other 
 independent States, and this merely because it was through such a body 
 that the compact itself was origin illy made binding upon the State. Under 
 this view of the question, it must be clear that it is against the whole 
 spirit and genius of our system that a Convention should alter or amend 
 the Constitution on local points; and if so, how much more true must it be 
 that they cannot, on points affecting our internal relations, legislate on any 
 matter. And if this be so, by what right can it delegate to another body, of its 
 own creation, the power to legislate. It has no right to legislate; and even 
 if it had, it could not delegate the right to another body, emanating alone 
 from itself. It can only legitimately act upon the specific matter or question 
 which it was called to act on, and this is upon the presumption that the 
 very question has been decided by the people, through the legitimate repre- 
 sentation and forms that express the sense of the estates of the State. 
 Upon that subject-uiatcer, thus decided, they are tovercign, but upon no 
 
28 
 
 other. They are not necessary to alter the Constitution, for I have shown 
 that tliis expr is gives, by the Constitution itself, to two ordinary 
 
 Legislatures. Any nu re formal portion of the Constitution that it may be 
 necessary to alter, in order to adapt it to a new compact with other sove- 
 is, and to the new Government, can he made, but no other. It can 
 make a compact of fundamental law with other States Any change of the 
 Constitution, by a general Convention, called exclusively to withdraw from 
 an old compact, and to form a new one. in those provisions acting solely 
 upon the people of the State, within themselves, is not only beyond their 
 timate power, hut deeply dangerous to our conservative system, and a 
 precedent which, once established, might overthrow all the guarantees of 
 the instrument touching our local interests, without giving u^ the protec- 
 tion from the safeguards made by the compromise of eighteen hundred 
 and eight, and incorporated into our organic law. The Ordinance creating 
 the Executive Council did change the Constitution, as far as the executive 
 power of the Governor is concerned. The second clause utterly annihi- 
 lated his oiTiee as " Commander-in-Chief." There is not a single attribute 
 attached to "Commander-in-Chief," as derived from the very nature of the 
 office, and defined in the Constitution, which is not destroyed. True, the 
 Governor, in times of peace has but little power, but in revolution and 
 war, that single power of" Commander-in-Chief" is of the highest and last 
 importance, so loDg as the State acts for heiself, or has forces in the field. 
 In fact, during a revolution, it may embrace all power. A division of it 
 into four heads destroys all that may be essential in dispatch, energy and 
 decision. If it had been in existence on the twenty-seventh of December, 
 eighteen hundred and sixty, and during that period, it would have been 
 contemptible, from its imbecility and division. To say that the Constitution, 
 in its vital parts, is not altered, because it has not been done by a specific 
 clause, is to chop logic on words. In everything relating to the military 
 and military orders, from the least to the most important, it made an abso- 
 lute change — no military order, of any kind whatever, could be given 
 without first receiving a majority of the votes of the Council. It was 
 most fortunate for us that every company in the State had been mustered 
 into service under the command of Confederate Generals, and all the mili- 
 tary resources of the State were being transferred under the absolute orders 
 of Confederate authority. If we had been in actual command of forces, 
 we would have had great confusion and weakness. In times of revolution 
 and danger, to vest all the powers of the " Commander-iu-Chicf" in the 
 hands of.four men, is simply a pragmatical experiment, that has failed, 
 whenever tried, in every age and in every Government. 
 
 In relation to what may be urged as to the necessity for such action, I 
 have only to say that State necessity has ever been the patent plea for do- 
 
29 
 
 spotic power wherever assumed. Amongst an enlightened people the true 
 strength of an Executive does not depend so much on specific grants of 
 power, as on doing with firmness whatever is right, and in patriotic devotion 
 to the country, and nothing hut the country. 
 
 The Convention have turned over to you the responsibility of deciding 
 upon the propriety of continuing the Council. According to the Ordinance, 
 its existence terminates on the second Monday in December next. By thus 
 ordaining, there are now established in the State two conflicting powers of 
 legislative or law-making authorities, sitting at the same time. It is an 
 anomaly in government. I would recommend that you do discontinue the 
 Council, and that no other of that kind be created. The duties of the Chief 
 of the Military ought to be discharged by your Adjutant General, and the 
 duties of the Chief of Construction should be discharged by your Ordnance 
 officer; the duties of Chief of the Treasury should be discharged by your 
 Treasurers, and the duties of Chief of Justice and Police can be discharged 
 by your Governor, together with the Attorney General. The ordinary 
 forms of government should be forthwith restored. It is due to the Con- 
 stitution and the country, that you should put your disagreement to the 
 precedent that has been set, in such a shape that it shall be distinctly under- 
 stood, hereafter, that all the ordinary branches of the regular Government 
 were opposed to the creation of this extraordinary and unnecessary Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 In the meantime it might be proper, during the continuance of the war, 
 that you should pass a special Act, well guarded, giving the Governor ex- 
 traordinary powers in certain emergencies. The Convention at first pat 
 a Resolution, giving me the power to appoint a Council for consultation, 
 which was done on the thirtieth day of December, eighteen hundred and 
 sixty, and the Council was organized a few days after. They made it the 
 duty of this Council, " when required by the Governor, to advise with him 
 on all matters which may be submitted by him," but expressly made the 
 Governor, "in all cases," still responsible, "and to decide upon his own 
 action." In conformity with this I appointed four distinguished gentlemen, 
 and, for convenience as to business, 1 made a division of labor, and assigned 
 to each a Department. This was a very wise and proper conception of Gov- 
 ernment, on the part of the Convention, and did not, in substance and re- 
 sponsibility, alter the office, as established by the Constitution. It is with 
 great pride and pleasure that I now say I was much aided and strengthened 
 by the able men whom I then called around me, at that trying and critical 
 period of our history. They served without compensation, and for their 
 patriotic and'firm cischargc of duties, the country owes them a debt of 
 lasting gratitude. If it should be thought necessary, iu any great euier- 
 
30 
 
 gency, such a Council might again be authorized, which the Governor could 
 call around him whenever he might deem it proper to do so. But do 
 nothing to divide the responsibility <>t' your Chief Magistrate; always nuke 
 him directly responsible. A division of responsibility but weakens the 
 whole, and takes away that direct accountability which is so essential to all 
 energy and decision. Any other form makes hesitation and division, which, 
 in the midst of a progressive revolution, is of deep injury to the public 
 service, particularly in all military matters. 
 
 As I am soon to retire from office, I may be permitted to say. that when 
 appointed to preside as Chief Magistrate of the State, I had just returned 
 from abroad. I had comparatively but little personal acquaintance with 
 those who had been of late years on the public stage. My difficulties were 
 embarrassing. We had been habituated to indulgence by long years of 
 peace, and were utterly unprepared for this gigantic struggle. I never, for 
 a moment, doubted wc would have war, as will be seen from the first steps 
 taken the day after I was sworn into office. 
 
 The State acted alone, rose erect and defied power. I determined that 
 she should lose her existence rather than lose her honor. As the storm 
 "•rew dark around her banner, and many were in doubt, I watched the star 
 of her destiny as it twinkled and flashed above the horizon, and I looked 
 with Eastern devotion to that star alone. Many supposed themselves 
 wronged, and their counsels neglected, but it was because I had no other 
 Kght to guide my path, save the rays that ever fell from that star before me. 
 
 We have passed the worst. If we are true to ourselves, and if our 
 forces are directed with judgment, we cannot be conquered. But instead 
 of relaxation, we must rely solely upon our own strong arms, and redouble 
 all our energies to meet any and every event. 
 
 Wc have suffered much, and may suffer more, but if we humbly rely 
 upon a superintending Providence, we will go through in triumph. Let us 
 remember that no people ever yet reached a high destiny without an abiding 
 faith in the dispensation of justice from a Supreme Being. 
 
 F. W. PICKENS. 
 
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