dent, and of the Treasurer of the Institution. The Report of Dr. Ensor shows, that at the commencement of the year the number of patients was two hundred and thirty-two (232), to which was added ninety, (90,) making a total of three hundred and twenty-two (322) under treatment during the year. Of this number, thirty (30) have been discharged, cured; sixteen (16) have been removed; thirty-one (31) have died, and four (4) have escaped, leaving in the Institution at this date two hundred and forty-four (244) patients; of whom, one hundred and twelve (112) are males, and one hundred and thirty-two (132) are females. The Treasurer's statement shows that, during the year, the receipts and disbursements were as follows:

The Board of Regents, in transmitting the Reports of the Superintendent, and of the Treasurer of the Institution, accompany them by two important recommendations, viz:

1. That the beneficiaries should be maintained by the State, instead of the several Counties; and

2. The extension of the present new building, so as to enable us to abandon the inferior quarters used for patients.

With regard to the first recommendation, it has my thorough concurrence. The effect of the present system is to throw the entire expense of supporting the Asylum on a portion of the Counties, while a considerable number is largely in arrear of their payments, as will be seen by the table accompanying the Treasurer's Report. By apportioning the amount of the tax on the respective Counties to the number of beneficiaries accommodated at the Asylum, and collecting it with the general tax, a more equitable system will be reached, and the Asylum saved from several embarrassments to which it is now liable.

With regard to the proposed extension of the Asylum, for which an appropriation of forty thousand dollars is asked, I think its propriety, as well as expediency, are matters of considerable doubt. It will be recollected, that for more than twenty years, the suitableness of the present locality, has been a matter of discussion, while the want of adaptability of the buildings to their present purposes is generally admitted. In consequence of these deficiencies, the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum, which, at its establishment stood at the head of similar institutions in this country, has entirely lost that proud pre-eminence, and now lags lamentably in the rear. Among those who have been most urgent for the abandonment of the present site and buildings, are Dr. D. H. Trezevant, the former, and Dr. J. W. Parker, the recent Superintendent of the institution, who unite in condemning them for want of space in the grounds and of suitableness in the buildings. To these gentlemen, whose long connection with the institution renders their opinion authoritative, may now be added those of Dr. J. F. Ensor, the present Superintendent, who says that on taking charge of it, (the Asylum,) August 5, he found it far behind the times in almost everything that is now considered necessary in a well appointed Asylum; its buildings are not of proper capacity or construction. No greater blunder was ever made in architecture than the plan upon which this gloomy, incongruous pile was erected; the most of the rooms are mere cells or chinks in the walls, dark and illy ventilated, and those on the ground floor damp and unhealthy; that it would be, to say the least, the greatest inhumanity to require the patients to occupy them. In corroboration of his own statement, Dr. Ensor quotes Dr. Wilkins, Commissioner of Insanity for the State of California, who is now making a tour of the United States and Europe, in quest of information touching the subject of insanity, and institutions for the insane, who spoke of our Asylum "as the farthest behind the age, of all that he had visited in this country," with one exception.

With these concurrent remarks of medical men of the highest authority, it may well be inquired whether it is consistent with policy or expe

diency to patch up an old and generally condemned building, by expending a large additional amount of money on it, and thus perpetuate the institution in its present unfit locality, or to make the necessary investigation as to whether a more suitable location could not be selected, where ample grounds could be secured and suitable buildings erected for a moderate sum, in addition to the price obtained for the present premises. I commend the subject to your careful and deliberate investigation.

QUARANTINE.

The Annual Report of Dr. Robert Lebby, Health Officer of the Port of Charleston, will be found highly interesting and satisfactory, as exemplifying, beyond all cavil, the important fact that with an attentive and vigilant quarantine officer, the City of Charleston may be considered perfectly safe from the visits of Tropical Epidemics which have occasionally desolated her streets and paralyzed her commerce. Her exemption from pestilential diseases, her general salubrity, her accessibility at . all seasons, with her other signal advantages and facilities, present a brilliant future to Charleston, which, if properly improved, cannot fail to place her at the head of Southern seaports. Dr. Lebby, in his report, makes a number of suggestions and recommendations, which are deservedly entitled to the highest respect, and are recommended to your favorable consideration.

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS.

The Report of the Commissioner of Agricultural Statistics contains much valuable information in relation to the soil and productions of the State, embracing the various crops and modes of cultivation, the value of the numerous fertilizers, the culture of fruits, and of the grape, and the formation of roads.

I recommend that a liberal appropriation be made to be distributed in premiums as prizes for excellence in agriculture and the mechanic arts among the several Counties and the State Fair at Columbia, with the understanding that an equal amount from private sources be raised for the same purposes by the State Fair, and County Fairs respectively.

PHOSPHATES.

Attention is called to the elaborate and suggestive report of Prof. Charles U. Shepard, Jr., Inspector of Guano and Fertilizers. It presents in a most forcible aspect the magnitude and importance of this new field of enterprise and industry, its rapid growth and probable extension. In this connection, your attention may be usefully given to the law of last session, granting to certain parties therein named, the right to dig and

mine in the navigable streams of the State for Phosphate. The receipts. thus far to the State from that Company, have been nineteen hundred and eighty-nine ($1,989) dollars. In my judgment, further legislation is imperatively required to protect the interests of the State in this matter. It is believed, that with a moderately efficient administration of the affairs of this valuable property, a sum may be realized to the Treasury suflicient to pay the interest on the debt of the State, or its equivalent. The Constitution provides for a uniform and equal rate of assessment and taxation, and that only the proceeds of mines and mining claims shall be assessed. The inquiry may be suggested, whether the present mode of assessing the Phosphate Lands is the most advantageous to the State, and equitable to the tax-payer, and whether some charge is not demanded.

THE LAND COMMISSION

Was, undoubtedly, one of the wisest and most beneficent projects of the State; but, from the odium which has been brought upon it by charges, freely made, of peculation and personal purposes in its administration, the results have not been commensurate with the sagacity and philanthropy of its objects. About $600,000 have been expended, and thousands of acres of land have been purchased, but up to this time only a comparatively small portion of the land has been sold to actual settlers; and the tardiness of the Commission should be a subject of investigation by the Legislature. This investigation should be thorough and searching, by intelligent and honest men, who should examine fairly and fearlessly into alleged abuses, which have excited widespread comment and denunciation. Desiring to investigate these alleged abuses myself, I applied to an eminent law firm, in this city, but was informed that, owing to the imperfect legislation which characterized the Act, my power over the matter was very limited and questionable. Whatever abuses have characterized this agency and paralyzed its usefulness, are mainly traceable to its organization, by which its authority was delegated to five Commissioners, and by its divided responsibility, in constituting any three of them, whose assent, obtained either individually or in the aggregate, a quorum to decide all questions brought before them. I will make no recommendation upon the subject of modifying these provisions, but would respectfully ask that the Executive be relieved from his share of the control and responsibility of the management of its affairs, of which he is entitled, under the law, to one-fifth, while, in public estimation, he is held responsible for all the faults and abuses connected with its entire supervision. He would take the liberty, however, of suggesting the entire separation of the Commissioner from politics, and restricting him to the direction of its legitimate operations. Your attention is called to the

fact that from the money already received for the land sold, as well as those which are to be sold hereafter, there is no provision made for its safe-keeping, other than the personal responsibility of the Commissioner, who has them under his exclusive charge. Provision should also be made for their deposit in some safe and responsible institution, or they should be used for the purpose of the redemption of the bonds issued for the purchase of lands.

STATE LIBRARY.

The report of the Librarian witnesses his indefatigable zeal and industry in the discharge of his duties, and the preservation of the property entrusted to him.

AUDITOR OF STATE.

For information in his Department, I will respectfully refer you to his very full and complete report, and call your attention to the importance of his recommendations.

EDUCATION.

For the operations of the State Superintendent of Education during the year, I refer you to the report of that officer.

MILITIA.

The report of the Adjutant and Inspector General is referred to for the operations and proceedings of the Military Department of the State during the year.

THE STATE CONSTABULARY.

The report of the Chief Constable presents a full and satisfactory account of the proceedings and expenditures of the body under his control during the past year. Captain Hubbard, in the discharge of his responsible and unpleasant duties, has acquitted himself creditably and efficiently. Strong hopes were entertained that, after the expiration of the late heated political contest, it would have been deemed advisable to dispense entirely with the services of this force, and orders had been given looking to that result on the first of November, but the unfortunate and disgraceful occurrences recently in the Counties of Laurens, Union, Spartanburg and Newberry, in which outrages were perpetrated, and valuable lives sacrificed, have compelled the postponement of that desirable result. Recent indications, however, encourage the hope that the postponement will be but temporary, and that the police duties of the State will soon revert to the local authorities. Up to this time no arrests have been made of the authors and participators in the recent murders