The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, August 30, 1877, Image 1
DOVOTN TO POLITst10RALITY BDUOATIOX ASD W0 THE GRNERAL ANTER111WT OF T HOUNTh.
VOLe VIo PICKENS, S. C0., THURSDAY AUGUST 30 1877.
' EM the Now Yotk Sun.
I the Aefrm Crucible.
OAR.sON, 8. 0., Aug. 12.-The
Invstipting committee has resumed
its secret labors-even the witnesses
ar sWrn to secrecy. Moses was the
first real informer, and he made a
clean breast of it. He was asked to
aoount for the various sums which
he had received as Speak er and Gov.
ernor. Moses modestly estimated
these at $500,000, while the higher
valuation is $900,000-though figur.
es were no question between Moses
and the committee. After. cahing
over the larger sums which bore
heavy upor, his memory, he acknowl
edged that he "had spent it all "
There was $25,000 in one pile which
be, as Speaker, received from United
States Senator, John J. Patterson.
"What was that forl" It appears
that in 1871 Moses bcgan to tir6 of
the retail perquisites ef his position
through the committees which he
appointed. Besides, being a candi
date for Governor, h1 e was frequently
cheated by his subordinates in mak
ing fair returns of the bribery money
their committees made. Patterion,
too, thought the machinery was loose
and could be made to pay a hand
some advance, as well as aid him in
his candidacy for the sonatorship. He,
therefore, proposed to purchase the
whole privilege from Moses at one
single dash, get control of the com,
mittees as a systematic scheme, and
turn mil:er himself fur his own grist
and that of any Democrat or Repub
lican who had any noal to grind,
throngh the Legislature.
Another large amount which Moo.
as roceerod etuck in Lie memory, be
cause be had been cheated out of a
portion of it.. The Republican
Printing Oompany drew two checks
of $10,000 each in Isis favor, and left
thom with Hardy Solomon's bank.
Solomon paid Moses $15,000 of the
proceeds, and kept $5,000. Moses
has been threatening to sue Solomon
for the latter ever since he found it
out, but the question, "What court
would entertain jusisdictioul" has de
layed the complaint.
During his Speakership Moses
. flooded the market with "pay certifi%
cates," purporting to be for services
-rendered by attachees of the House.
flundreds of thousands of dollars of
these were afloat. Any influential
Republican could get one whether
b~e bad ever. been in Columbia or not.
To do Moses justice, some of these he
6 alleged to be forgeries, Jones, the
clerk's signature, is genuine, but his
* not. From these certificates he
derived a large amount of money.
The snocess of the committee withs
Moses induced thorn to follow up the
"pay certificate" business, by calling
A Moses's successor as Speaker, t. J.
Lee, as the next Witness,
Lee Is a light colored mulatto. He
was formnerly a slave- My first re
membrance qi him was in 1807, as a
* witness in the case of the United
States against Crump, Davis &a Ar.
nim, for running an illicit distillery.
SHe struck me as a man of great self
}possession and shrewdness for his op.
portunities. After reconstruction he
was made a member of the Legisla
ture from Aiken County, and evinced
such tact as a par'lamentarlan that he
was generally called to preide in the
*Speaker's absence. This made him
Speaker when Moses was elected
Governor. He Soon began to drive
the most spanking team throu gh
Aiken and Augusta, Ga. This made
Gen. Elliott, who prided himsei on
his equipage, jealous. Elliott Was
* only a member of Congress at the
time. At the next election Elliott
made Lee take a back seat, and wasS
himself made a member of the Legis
lature, and then Speaker I '- Is.e's
place. Lee contentented hims~elf with
a county office until last election,
when he ran for solicitor of th c:..
abit and was elected. He has been
several times complimented in the
Democratic newspapers for his dig,
nity, ability and fairness as solicitor.
The committee keep Governor
Moses well in hand since their success
in confronting him and his papers
with the distinguished judge. They
have him and his faithful body ser..
vant, Robert, installed in rooms at
the Greenfield building, and provid
ed with meals from Pollack's, not far
from the State House, so that he can
be within calling distance, should any
of the witnesses swerve from the
Pentateuch or five books of Moses.
Lee was in jail, with no hope of
giving bail. He saw the fate of the
"dist inguished judge," and he knew
he mnst swear like an Israelite ac
cordinag tothe Pen tateuch. According.
ly, when he was brought forward, ho,
too, made a clean breast of it. His
testimony wae mainly as to the
pay certificates issued by hitself ab
Speaker, and those issued in connec
tion with Lientenant-Governor Gleav
es, who presided over the Senate. Ile
was not as lavish with theee papers
ae Moses, but told enough to keep
Governor Gleaves, who is hiding out
from ever returning to ctand his trial.
The committee were so well satisfied
with the completenee of Lee's story
that they lot him out of jail upon his
individual recognizance, upon condi,
tion that he*would resign his solicitor
ship. Leo i6 now reported to ba one
of the leaders in the Liberian exodus.
Tho next, witness belforo the com
inittee was Gen. J. B. Donnis, ex.
keoper of the Poniten)tiary, sergeant
at arms of the 1ackoy Houso, the
funituro man and a member of the
high joint Committee to investigate
the bonds in 1870. The principal por
tion of his testimony related to the
action of the bond committee in 1870,
and the connection of Hardy Solo,%
mon's Bank with the State govern..
mont. His ovidence was only a pre
lude to that of Sheriff Bowen, of
Charleston, on the samo subject.
Bowen has never concealed his
knowledge of those matters from those
who askod him for it in good f aith,
and It was given before the commit,
tee in such a way as to draw forth the
commendation of the Domocrats who
wore present.
In 1870, while Bowen was playing
Congressman from Charleston, ho
found himself unseated, and witho4
the means of support. The High
Joint Investigating Committee from
the Legislature of South Carolina,
composed of Whittemoro, Swails, Den
nis, and Tim ilurloy, were thon in
session in New York, overhaubing
Kim pton's books, and enjoying 0ood
time at the expense of the Stat.
Bowon saw his opportunity. HEe bad
never studied law, but he had been
admitted to the South Carolina bar.
Accordingly he applied to the come.
mittoo to provide for his 'immediate
necessities. They gave hime an ap
pointment as legal advisor to the com,
mitteo, with a fee of one thousand
dollars, to be paid down by Kimnpton,
who was providing bountifully the
ready cash for everything tho comn
mittoe required. From day to day
the invoatigation was deferred, the
books were not ready, Kimpton was
"out of town," andl the committee
grow tired of waiting-there was nto
mnoney in it adequate to the cecas'on.
Biowen had brought with him fromt
Washington a young man who had
aoted as his privat.o secretary whilo
Congressman. lie was a abr'owd foi~
low, and, as luck would have it, had a
father in the employ of the American
Bank Noto Company of Now York.
Throughi this agency Bowoen discov,
ered that the South Carolina bon)ds
were printed by that company. After
considerable trouble, he obtained fromx
the Company the amount of the bonde
they had printed and turned over to be
signed by the State authorities. They
had printed $20,040,000, and turned
them~ over, wihilo they had on hand
subjet to order' $2,500,000 moro. O
these 86 n0O n ,mm wore " _eln fnd.
debt" bonds, which were never issue
by the authorities, The balanoe o
$14,040,000 was what- the authoritie
issued, and what the High Joint Com
mitteo endeavored to investigate.
Six million dollars of these, the con
version bonds, were afterwards repu
diated by the Legislature, and the re
mainder, with some small deduction
funded at 50 cents on the dollar ir
the consolidation bonds.
Bowen revealed this omission at th(
time in the Charleston Courior, anc
roturning to Charleston, became a
candidate for the Legislature, was
elected, and at the next session prefer.
red charges for the impeachment of
Governor Scott touching the bonds.
The impeachment was defeated by
money taken from the State by TreasN
uror Parker. All of these details wero
given in his testimony.
Hardy Solomon's $125,000 bill was
ordored paid at that session, and Bow
on told how this was done thrico over.
It was composed of pay certificatcs.
The members of the Logislaturo had
roccived them and receipted the
treasurer for them; they had boon sold
to Solomon, who rocipted for thorn
also, and,thon ho aggregated them in
hI& bill, out of which ho paid 08:,000
to have it passed, and it was paich
This haul of Parker, tho treasurer,
was equivalent to that which gave
him another voucher for $90,000 in
his official accounts, as appears from
the testimoney before the comwittco.
The Republican Printing Company's
bill for that amount was ordered paid
by tbe Logi,3laturo. They sold the
bill to Comptroller General Neaglo for
2,0O0 cash. Neaglo took it, rec
ed by the company for 9,00 , to i.1:o
tre.urer, who gavo Lim. 20,000 o
Vlu3 Ridge Railroad scrip, rataining
'40,000 for himself. Upon tho trea.
srer's bboks the receipt of the com
pany represents $80,000 cash. The
Blue Ridge scrip is worthless.
The committee have a sure thing
against Scott, Parker, Cardozo, and
Chamberlain. The latter has an in
dividual account to answer; and tho
list of charges against tho firm of
Kimpton & Chamberlain is the larg
est of the whole array. There will
be reg uiisitions for these gentry upon
the (Governors of Ohio and New York
before very long, and it will go bard
with them.
Senator Lamar's Speech.
What the Memphis A&ppeal says
of the Mississippi Convention:
Calls were then made for Senator
L. Q. Lamar, who in response ad
dressed the Convention. As he as
cended the clerk's desk he was greet.
ed with the most dleafening and long
continued applause. Hie congratu
lated thiem, as Mississippians and as
A merican citizens, upon the fact that
the South was again free. [Applause]
For the first time in twelve years
they bad met together in their capi
tal to look upon a country rescued
in all its parts from the shackles ol
tyranny and ready for a new career
of freedom, progress and prosperity,
After dwelling upon this point with
great force, he said: "I congratulatt
you that this grand deliverance is iii
a large measure the work of the De
mocratic party. It is a stango re
sult that one party, in the very flusl~
of victory, should soo its policy per'
ish; and that the other, in the very
moment of defeat, should bedold itt
princi ples enthroned in triu~mph..
Recent events had domnonstrated tt
the North tbat the South was nt
element of disturbance to the tran.
quility of the American ~Ropublic
nor of subtract ion from its security
of sti engthi; that thousands upot
thousands of boncat and p)atrioti<
Republicanis were no0w conivinced o.
this, and were ready to make bei
people full sharers in the benefits ani
blessings and the greatness anid glory
of that republic. A t tihe head of these
to his everlasting honor be it spoken
stands the presencit President of the
United States, who, in the dlischargt
of his higb duty as the President ci
"Newton, said my companion, so
riously, "I wish I could pursuade
you to never drink another glass of
liquor. Do not regard my retusal to
drink with you as an unfriendly aa4
tion. You know little of my former
life and habits; if you did you would
not tempt ie."
"We have all been b-ys in our
time, I said with an exhibition of
considerable levity. The indiscre
tions of youth are many, and it is
but natural to suppose that you have
been one of us."
My laughter seemed to pain him.
ie turned partly about in his chair,
fixed his dark, piercing eyes upon
me and said:
"Newton, I am a reformed drunk
ard."
It was now my turn to look aeton
ished.
"Yee, he continued, I ran through
ft brief and brilliant carer of pleasure
and profligacy, and but for one night
of terror, that changed the whole
current of my life, I might, like many
of my formor companions, be lying in
a drunkard's grave to day."
I looked again at his prematurely
white hair.
"I understand your thoughts, he
2ontinued, I dislike to talk of the
past, but for your own good let me
give you a little of my experience."
Resting his elbows upon the table
between us and supporting his head
upon the open palms of his hands, lie
told me the following story:
"4 hA tu misfortune to lose my
parentS at an early age. Upon leave,
ing college I found myvelf the undia..
puted master of a largo fortune, and
like most college graduates I fancied
myself only about second to the pope
in infalilibility. My parents while
living had I een indulgunt and liberal
with me. I had never learned the
value of a dollar. I had acquired no
practical ideas f business. My on
ly thought was of ease and pleasure.
My fortune seemed ample, and I saw
no necessity for exertion, and I enter
ed at once upon a reckless and ex
travagant career.
My liberality made me hosts of
apparent friends. I bad no lack of
boon companions WLLIo mly muoy
lasted. I kept fast horses, and like
'Jehu' I drove furiously. I gambled
extensively, I drank deeply and my
inheritance,rapidly melted away.
Wheni one gets fairly started in a
downward career, every earthly cir
cumstance seems to help him along,
even his professed friends regard him
as their lawful prey and justify
themselves while they plunder him,
upon the ground that they might ai
wvell have what he squanders as any
body else. The road to ruin for a
time is very p)leasant and easy to fol
low, but it ever leads us to a frightful
end, where we may pause in grief
and horror to contemplate the insta
bility of human friendship, the fleot
inig character of riches, the follies of
extravagance and the selfishness of
our fellowmoni. We often learn when
it is too late what glorious opportu
nities we have wasted for accomplish
ing good to others and of acquiring
profit to ourselves.
At the early age of twenty five
yearns I was pronounced a moral and
physical wrck. I was poor in purse
feeble in minimd and weak in body. I
had neunited tastos and habits that I
had no strength to overcome. My
property was sold to pay the debts
incurred by my various dissipations.
I was sick anmd weary of life, and I
endeavored to drown my cares and
the memory of my misfortunes by
constant scenes of. drunkenness and
debanchery.'
A muong my college classmates
there was one very dear friend whom
I bad dragged with mo thr'ugh my
downward career. The only son of
a wido wed mother who had at hrst
dlied of a broken heart, occasioned by
the pirofligaevy of her son. 1Uc ha
I the whole people has struck a blow
' for the restoration of the South to her
position of equality which bad vi.
brated to the extremities of the Union
and had carried consternation in the
ranks of his party. This act of pa..
triotism, justice and political intre
pidity on his part merits the appro
bation and support of Southern men,
and this may be bestowed by Dem
ocrats of the South standing solidly
upon a platform of Democratic prini
ciples and without breaking our al
liance with that great national party
which has so long stood, with un
shaken constancy and fidelity, by the
rights of the South." He did not
believe the American people are
prepared to accept the disbandment
of the Democratic party. Ho here
spoke of the principles of that party,
which, be said, were imperishable
and were the essential elements of
overy free government; of the nun
ber of its voters constituting a ma
jority of the people of the nation, and
the extent of its organization in every
section of the country. Nor did he
believe th"& tho political events of
the day would justify the South in
breaking up her unity. Questions of
conGtitutional law; the relations of
the States to the Aederal Govern
ment, and of the relations of the peo
pie to their State government, would
soon cease play any very conspicu
ons part in the issues of American
politics. Questions of tariff, trade,
comIMIrcO, currency and transportaL,
tion would soon take their p1acs;
were beginning to engross the atten
tion ct the people and will tax the
intkelect of Amprican statewmen. To
the discussion and settlement of these
question8 the Southern statesman
murt contribute their due share of
study and thought, or the South will
never regain her intellectual and
moral prestage in political affairs.
She has. already demonstrated her
cap%city to raise above the passions
and prejudices of party whn its
commanda conflict with the safety of
theiiation or the safety and peace of
the country. If the time should over
como-"may God forbid," he said,
"tha4it OVer shall"-when she shall
be eilled upon to choose between her
own local interests and the welfare
of the nation at large, he believed
that, she would sustain her public
men in subordinating the former to
the latter. This is a fair outline of
his remarks, which were greeted with
applause_throughont.
A Leap in The Dark.
Thongh George Maxwell was corn
par atively a young man, his hair was
white as snow. T often wondered at
his strange appearance, and one daj,
in a playful humor, 1 said to him:
"George, why is it that you look
so prematurely old?"
IIis fate became suddenly clouded,
and for thme moment he lost his ac
custom3ed cheerfulness.
?bThere is one episode in my life,"
he said gravely, "that I never' like to
talk about."
"Pardon me, I exclaimed, if I have
ictroduced a subject that is displeass
ing to yd6, anid let us proceed to talk
about something else."
A few-days later, while we were
passing a pleasant hour together, I
ordered a bottle of wino, and poured
out a couple of glasses. I carelessly
pusheod one of them toward him and
called out:
"Your health."
To my 4Tstonishmment ho firrmly de
clined to driink with me.
" t,said 1, it is only a little light
wine. It.won't affet your head in
the leat.~"
"iNevertheloes, ho responded, the
slightest indulgence in thme cup that
intoxicates is contrary to my settled
principles."
"Vrmy well thun, I rejoinecd gruffly,
here's luck to mnyself," and swallowed
the contets of both _ ases.
boon a youth of bright promise, I
made him a worthiess anI reckless
vagabond, but I never paused to re
fleet upon my responsibility.
No man eRn follow this road to
ruin without becoming a false guide
to dthers.
One black November nigLt I was
returning with four dissolute compaw.
ione, my classmate among them, froM
the county seat wherm we had been
holding a wild caronsal, to the town
where I lived. We had taken the
midnight train, and were all in vs
State of partial intoxication. Just
before arriving at our station, the
train crossed a high bridge that apat
ned a dark rushing river. Owing
to a slight accident to- the engine, the
car in which we were eated stopped
in the center of the bridge. 9uppo..
ing that we had arrived at our desti-W
nation, and being too 'much under
the influence of liquor to thoroughly
understand our situation, we stopped
from the train to the parapet of tli
bridge mistaking it for the plattorril
of the station; then after a moment of
confusion and wildly clitching at
each other, we stepped off ibto- the
darknoss and plunged downward iuto,
tho abyss beneath.
We struck the water almost simu-..
taneously.
"The sudden shock almost instantly
sobered mne. By a violent effort I
succeeded in disengaging myself from
my companions. The icy water gur.
I1-e caisa smgua? nout me. I heard
their drowning criee. At last I
clutched the jutting point of an over
hanging rock that projected a few
feet above the water, and formed a
miniature island in the eentre of the
river. I managed to draw mysell
out of the water, and seating myself'
astride of the cold, slippery stone, I
shouted loudly for assistance.
Nobody seemed to hear me. The
whistle of the locomotive shrieked
wildly, and after a few moments of
delay the train rolled on and passed
out of hearing. I ezerted myself to
the utmost to keep from freezing,
but my feet and hands soon become
numb and helpless, and I began to
kElw time T wn ang
I can not ezpress to you the honrro
of death that I fel% at that moment.
They who talk lightly of death when
out of danger, find life inexpressibly
dear when presented faice to face with
'the grim monster.' I felt how little
prepared I was to die. Every mean
action I had ever committed was pro.
sented to me. Not only the excesses
I had committed upon myself but the
evils I had done tg others.
The terrible experience of that
night completely changed my whole
character. My hair, that had been as
dark as the plumage of a raven, sooa
became as white as snow. I reoo
ced my former dissolute habits and
companions, and from that night I
havo tried to be~ a respootable* and,
useful man."
'lBut how did you escape frona
your frightful situation?"
"I was discovered by the station
master at an early hour on the fol-..
lowing morning, anid though my feet
and hands wore badly frozen, I soon
was about again. My comnpanions
were all lost and their bodies were
niot recover'ed notil tsoveral moutba
afterward. Now do you wonder that
I refused to drink with you? Do you
wonder t hat 1 a mn grieved to see you
slowly drifting into the same channel
that carried me so nearly to destruos
tion? I implore you to put away
from you the cup that intoxicates.---.
Come now, givo me your haud, and
promise mea to drink from that no
I gave him my hand and my word,
and from t hat moment I have been a
temperate man.
Summner hotels are open, and fly a
fishing has co-unenced--in the but
ter dishes and milk jugs.