Legislative.— The State legislature is known as the general assembly. It is composed of a senate of 44 members, elected for four years (half retiring biennially), and a house of rep resentatives of 124 members, elected for two years. Annual sessions are held beginning on the second Tuesday of January.
Judiciary.— The judicial power is vested in a Supreme Court, two Circuit Courts, a Court of Common Pleas with civil jurisdiction and a Court of General Sessions. The Supreme Court has a chief justice and four associates, elected by the general assembly for 10 years. The eight circuit justices are elected by the same body but for a four-year term. Justices of the peace are appointed by the governor.
Local Government.— The county is the unit of local government. It must contain at least one one hundred and twenty-fourth of the population of the State, have property assessed at $1,500,000 or over and be at least 400 miles in extent. The local electors must sanction all civic incorporation by a two-thirds vote.
Miscellaneous Laws and Provisions.— A provision of the constitution is aimed to pre vent lynching, by providing for the removal from office of any officer who permits a prisoner to be seized and lynched, and by making such officer ineligible to hold any office of trust in the State. The county where the lynching occurs is liable in damages of not less than $2,000 to the legal representatives of the person lynched. Divorce is not allowed in any cir cumstances. Hours of labor in cotton and woolen mills are limited to 60 per week, with certain exceptions. No one may hold office under the constitution who denies the existence of the Supreme Being.
The State derives its revenue from the general property tax, fees, licenses, phosphate royalties, etc. On 1 Jan. 1918 the balance on hand in the State treasury amounted to $963,089; the receipts in 1918 totaled $5,760, 234. The expenditures in 1918 amounted to $5,904,786, leaving an unexpended balance on 1 Jan. 1919 of $818,537. On 1 Jan. 1919 the outstanding debt amounted to $5,391,320. The assessed value of real property in 1918 was $208,348,279; of personal property, $113,745,256.
School attendance is not com pulsory, but there are certain restrictions on the employment of illiterate children in fac tories or mines. There are separate schools for white and colored children. There are 14,919 public schools in the State with 407,940 en rolled pupils and 8,680 teachers. The 149 pub lic high schools have 427 teachers and over 8,000 pupils. For the training of teachers there is one public normal school with 67 teachers and 974 students. For higher instruction there is the University of South Carolina, founded at Columbia in 1805, with 43 professors and 385 students. Clemson Agricultural College has 71 professors and 840 students. Allen University (African Methodist Episcopal) for colored students has 17 professors and 631 students. Other higher institutions are Charleston City College, Erskine College (A. R. Presbyt.) and Wofford College (M. E. So.), at Spartanburg. There are several smaller denominational col leges and also eight colleges for women. There is also a college for colored youths, a military academy and a normal and industrial college. The expenditures on public school education in 1917 was $3,::7,295.
The State has a higher percentage of il literates than all other States except Louisiana. Of the total population of 10 years of age or over 25.7 per cent were returned as illiterate at the last census. Among whites of native parentage the percentage of illiteracy was 10.5; among negroes, 38.7. The State educational system is ruled by a State Board of Education, under which are county superintendents, county boards and county supervisors.
On 1July 1918 the population was estimated at 1,660,934. In 1910 there were 679,557 whites, 835,843 negroes, 65 Asiatics and 331 Indians. The foreign-born population was 6,179, of whom 1,744 were German, 786 Rus sian, 767 Irish and 517 English. Large towns are Charleston with an estimated population of 61,041; Columbia, the State capital, 35,165; Spartanburg, 21,985, and Greenville, 18,574. There were 335.046 males of voting age in 1910 and of these 165,769 were whites.