should be lodged in the General Assembly to exercise a salutary control over such public enterprises and works, to the end that the commerce and industry of the State should be adequately fostered and promoted; therefore, We, the People of South Carolina, in Convention met, do ordain, That all acts or pretended acts of legislation purporting to have been passed by the General Assembly of the State since the twentieth day of December, A. D. 1860, pledging the faith and credit of the State for the benefit of any corporate body or private individual, are hereby suspended and declared inoperative until the General Assembly shall assemble and ratify the same. And it shall be the duty of the General Assembly at its first session after the passage of this Ordinance to attend to the same. Done in Convention, at the city of Charleston, this fifteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight. Attest: A. G. MACKEY, President of the Constitutional Convention. C. J. STOLBRAND, Secretary. AN ORDINANCE To provide for the. Organization of the General Assembly at its first session and for the Inauguration of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. We, the People of South Carolina, in Convention met, do ordain: That the members of the General Assembly, elected under the provisions of the Constitution, shall assemble in the Capitol, at the city of Columbia, on Tuesday, the twelfth day of May, 1868, at 12 o'clock, M. SECTION 2. That each House shall be temporarily organized by the election of a presiding officer, to whom the oath of office shall be administered by the President of this Convention, and which presiding officer shall then administer the said oath to the other members. SECTION 3. That as soon as the House of Representatives is permanently organized by the election of a Speaker, and shall have appointed a day for that purpose, the Governor shall be installed into office in the presence of both Houses, and the oath of office shall be administered to him by the President of this Convention, who shall immediately thereafter administer the said oath to the Lieutenant Governor in the Senate Chamber. SECTION 4. That for the purpose of administering these oaths of office, the President of this Convention shall be continued in the prerogatives of his office until that duty shall have been performed. And at all subsequent inaugurations of Governor and Lieutenant Governor, the oath of office shall be administered by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or, in his absence, by one of the Associate Justices; and the General Assembly shall, at its first session, provide by law for its organization in future. Done in Convention, at the city of Charleston, this sixteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight ATTEST: A. G. MACKEY, President Constitutional Convention. C. J. STOLBRAND, Secretary. AN ORDINANCE Instructing the General Assembly to provide for appropriating the Citadel for Educational purposes. We, the People of South Carolina, in Convention met, do ordain, That the General Assembly is hereby instructed to provide, by suitable laws, for the appropriation of the Citadel and grounds, in the city of Charleston, for educational purposes, said buildings and grounds to be devoted to the establishment of an institution of learning, which shall be a body politic and corporate, and shall be managed by a Board of Trustees, and their successors, who shall be chosen by the General Assembly, and shall be subject to visitation by and under its authority. Said institution of learning shall have power to establish schools of law and medicine, and to issue diplomas that shall entitle the holders to practice said professions, as shall be prescribed by law. Done in Convention, at the city of Charleston, this sixteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight. ATTEST: A. G. MACKEY, President Constitutional Convention. C. J. STOLBRAND, Secretary. AN ORDINANCE To create a Board of Land Commissioners. We, the People of South Carolina in Convention met, do ordain, That it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide for the establishment of a Board, to be known and designated as Commissioners of Public Lands, of which Board the ComptrollerGeneral of the State shall be a member, and to define the powers and duties of said Board, and fix the compensation of the members, and to provide for the current expenses thereof. SECTION 2. The Commissioners of Public Lands shall have authority, under regulations provided by law, to purchase at public sales or otherwise, improved and unimproved real estate within this State, which, in the judgment of such Commissioners, shall be suitable for the purpose intended by the fourth Section of this Ordinance: Provided, That the aggregate amount of purchase made in any fiscal year shall not exceed the par value of the public stock of this State, created and appropriated by the General Assembly for the purposes contemplated in the fourth Section of this Ordinance for such fiscal year: And, provided also, That the rate at which any purchase shall be made shall not exceed seventy-five per cent. of the value of the land so purchased, including the improvements thereon, such valuation to be ascertained in the manner hereinafter provided by law. SECTION 3. The General Assembly shall have authority to issue to said Commissioners public stock of this State to such amount as it may deem expedient; which stock, or the proceeds thereof, the Commissioners shall have authority to apply in payment of all purchases made in accordance with the second Section of this Ordinance: Provided, That such public stock shall not be negotiated at a rate less than the par value thereof. SECTION 4. The said Commissioners shall have authority, under such regulations as shall be established by the General Assembly, to cause the said lands to be surveyed and laid off into suitable tracts, to be sold to actual settlers, subject to the condition that one half thereof shall be placed under cultivation within three years from the date of any such purchase; and that the purchaser shall annually pay interest upon the amount of such purchase money remaining unpaid, at the rate of seven per centum per annum; and, also, all taxes imposed thereon, by or under the authority of the United States or of this State; and, in addition thereto, shall, in every year after the third from the date of said purchase, pay such proportion of the principal of said purchase as shall be required by the General Assembly. The titles to said lands shall remain in the State until the amount of said purchase shall be paid, principal and interest; but a certificate of such purchase shall be assignable after three years from the date thereof. SECTION 5. All lands purchased by said Commissioners, or the proceeds of the sales thereof, shall be and remain pledged for the redemption of the public stock issued under Section third of this Ordinance. But the General Assembly shall have authority, subject to such lien and pledge, to make upon the faith and credit of said fund further issues of public stock; but the stock issued as last aforesaid, and the proceeds thereof, shall be used exclusively for the redemption of the public debt of the State outstanding at the date of such issues and which shall not be funded. SECTION 6. The General Assembly shall provide by law for the security of the funds in the hands of the Commissioners of public lands, and for the accountability of such officers, and shall require bonds to be given therefor. Done in Convention, at the City of Charleston, this seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight. A. G. MACKEY, President Constitutional Convention. Attest: C. J. STOLBRAND, Secretary. |