Letter from Mr. Chamberlain.
To (lie Public:
It is now ucarly two years sinse I
ceased to ho a State officer. During
this interval I have closely followed my
profession, taking no part whatever in
public or political affairs, and seeking
no return to offioial position. No man
living has ever heard me, directly or
indirectly, solicit office; nor can a single
act of mine during the last two years h i
poiutcd out which could reasonably
indicato that I sought any office in this
State. Notwithstanding my constant
and studious avoidauco of politics, many
iriends have, from time to time, ex
pressed their desire that I should be a
candidato for the office of Governor.
TVithiu the last few month? a large
number of prominent gentlemen of the
Ropublicon party hare urged that
candidacy upon me as u matter rdjlflrave
and urgent duty which yflflrtn the
Stt te as veil us to my political party.
I have laid before them nvy reasons for
not wishing to sharp in p litie al affairs
nt the present time, and have carries'* ly
endeavored to show them that others
could serve the public better then I in
the office of Governor.
Their judgement has apparently
remained unchanged, and I have, tip to
the present time, simply maintained
this position: that if the Republican
party should, when.duly assembled in
State Convention, tender me its nomina
tion for Governor, 1 should not dec)ino
it.
In that sense, and to that cutout only,
I nm a candidate now. I have not
sought or desired the office It is a
burden from which I shrink, and which
I shall take up only at the ui solicited
call of the best men of my party as ex
pressed in the coming State Convcu
tion.
Such being my unvarying attitude
towards this question, [ have, as I think
reasonably, felt no solicitu lc to repel
adverse criticisms, or to deny or dts
provo charges made against me for the
purpose of defeating my nomination.' I
have now lived in this State for nine
years, and for the last six years this
community has had full opp >rtu tity to
note my personal character and to csti
mate my worth as a man'and a citir.cn.
I nm ono of those who still believe,
amidst the fiercest 6torm of detract ion,
that an honorable and correct personal
life is the best answer to all such
charges as ure now hurled at me. Of
this I have constant arjd touching
evidence in the numberless assurances
which come to me from those who arc
in strenuous political opposition to me,
that the charges now made against me
and the attempt to drag me down to the
level of othors whom I might name, aro
regarded by all who know me as a
temporary expedient to 'accomplish a
political end. Personally, I um wholly
indifferent to the charges recently made
against inc. Those who care to exttniuc
them will find them to be baseless, and
those who do not care to etamino them
arc not objects of anxiety to me. lam
sufficiently an egotist to firmly bolievo
that no man who kuows me believes
that I am, in public or private affairs, u
dishonest man.
I havo yielded to tho wishes of my
friends in this cuso, however, to tho ex
tent of now setting forth, briefly and
emphatically, my answer to tho charges
which havo rcccutly been put forth
against me as a candidate.
ig The charges, so far ns they luve
'& taken an answerable shnpc, concern my
Sr.-actions us a member of various public
f^' boards or commissions from 18(18 to
h 1872. During that poriod I was, c.r
** officio, a member of the financial board,
of the board known us the commission
crs of the sinking fuud, of tho advisory
board of the hind commission, and of
the board to tako charge of the con
grcssional land scrip for an agricultural
? college.
In connection with the first named
board, one of tho charges most constant
ly repeated is, that I was specially ro
t-ponsible for tho appointment of Mr.
Kimpton as tho financial ngoot of the
State in New York. Boyoud the single
fact that Mr. Kimpton wus a colloge
classmate of mine, there is not the
slightest ground for such a statement.
Mr. Kimpton camo to this State with
out my knowledge, and without any
reference- to me or any employment by
tho State. 1 had not seen him nor
communicated with Iii in ainco leaving
college. He brought his own recom
mendations, inudo his'own impressions,
and was never urged by mo upon the
other members of the board. Acting
upon what T regarded as good evidence
of his capacity .and character, I voted
for him, in common with the other
members of the board, and that is the
lull extent of my responsibility for his
appointment. That the Guuuciul board
actod reasonably in this matter can new
bo shown by numerous commendations
of Mr. Kimpton's management during
the first three years of his agency, by
tho highest tin ineial authorities in Now
York, us well as by the very great sue
cess which ho co*, tu inly achieved in
many respects during those years. 1 am
not called upon, in this conn :ctin-i, t>>
defend the entire transactions of the
financial agent, but 1 do aUirm that the
(iuaucial board wore warranted, by go ?d
and sufficient evidence, in the appoint
incut of Mr. Kimpton, and that I hid
no larger share, of influence in his ap
pointment than each of the other
members of that board.
Another charge made against me is.
that, as ti member of the financial board,
and as Attorney General, [ am specially
responsible for the issue '.of what arc
known as the "conversion" bonds. This
charge seems to test chiefly on the fact
that I was a member of that board, and
it is, therelore, needful to refer to the
constitution and powers of that board.
Tho. financial board were never
charged with any duty in c innectio:i
with the issue of bonds of any kin d.
By the act of the Gehsrul Assembly
to issue bonds to redeem the "bills
rcee'vable," t' e Governor was author
ized to borrow a certain sum of money.
The bonds wero to be signed by the
Governor and countersigned by the
Treasurer, and s >al.:d with tut? so il of''
the State. Tho only duty pi tea 1 by
this act upon the Attorney General was
to fix, together with tho Governor au J
Treasurer, the price at which the b indi
should be sold, and the time for the
redemption of the ''bills receivable."
ICvory bond issue I under this act was
signed by the Governor and tho
Treasurer, and scale! by the Sjcrotary
of State, and the Attorney-General had
no part, or duty in the issue or execution
of a single bond.
The same is true of the bonds issu >d
under the act to authorize a loan to pay
interest on the public debt. 15y this
net the sole duty of the financial board
in connection with the bonds was to fix
the price at which they should bo sol 1.
The next act which authorized the
issue of bonds was the ''Act tor the
relief of th e treasury." Under this act
tho sulo duty of the Attorney-General
was in conjunction with the Governor,
Comptroller-General and Treasurer, t>
give directions for the me of the bonds
issued under this act as collateral secur
ity j and to fix the price at which they
should be sold.
The "Act for the conversi >n of State
securities" imposed u i d ity au I u ill
furred no power on any officer except
tho Treasurer, who was charged with
the work of conversion, and the Cover
nor, who was to sign ami the Treasur
er to countersign the conversion hoods.
The four acts now specified are ill] the
acts under which it is pretended that
the financial board had any powers, or
has exercised any functious.
The Attorney-General had no duty
or power in the issuing of bonds;
neither hud the financial b wird.
But it has boon said that I gave an
opinion, as Attorney General, to Mr.
Cardozo, then Secretary of State, in
whi.'h I claimed authority for tho finan
cial board to issue bonds without limit
As this alleged opinion has recently
been made tho ground for fixing upon
mc the "sole responsibility for tho issue"
of the conversion bon Is, it is neoj.sviry
for me to state precisely what that opin
ion contained.
Mr. Cardoso applied to mc to know
whether his action in scaling bonds w.is
merely ministerial or not, nud whotlur
by sealing bunds he incurred any lega 1
responsibility for the uso made of such
bonds by tho Treasurer or the financial
agent. To thoso inquiries I replied
that I thought his duty in the matter
of sealing bonds was merely ministerial,
und that hu WtlS riot in any way re
sponsible for the issue of bonds to the
financial agent, or th3 use he might
make of thetn. In that opinion I
asserted no authority in the financial
board to issue bonds at all, nor did I
say a word which oould bo construe 1
into a claim, as has been recently
charged, that it was Mr. Cardoso's
' duty to seal as many bonds as the
Treasurer, instrtictc I by the financial
boa rd, requested."
I can further say that T believe from
all the knowledge which I possess that
the action of the other members of the
financial board, both as members of
that board and as in lividual State
officers, in connection with the bonds of
the State, was dictated by honest mo
tives, and was intended to avoid the
very results which finally took placo.
Another charge is that, as a niomber
of the financial board, I joined in direct
ing the financial agent to make fieti
tiotl.s entries in his books so as to dis
guise the affairs of tho agency. I take
it upon myself to say that the financial
board never pivu such instructions, nor
any instructions which wore intended
to deceive or mislead the public in rn
gnrd to the affairs oTtho ngjncy. So
far as T am aware, the bo.>ks of tin fin
ancial a cut have at all tunas bien
truly and faithfully kept. If -h^-'y <verc
not. it did not arise from any instruc
tions to which I was a party, or of
which I had any kn lwlodgo.
In connection with the sinking fund
board, it has bee > charged that I was a
patty to a fraudulent sale of tho State
stock in the Or envillo and Columbia
Railroad Company. This charge 1 de
ny in every particular. In the first
place, there was no fraudulent sale of
t hat stock, so far as my know lodge or
belief extends. The sale was m i le, at
a price fully equal to the value of the
stock at that time, and was nude to a
party wholly without' conuojt'i/.i with
ine, or, so far as I know, with any mem
ber of the s'uki^g fund board. The |
statement, by whomsoever made, th it I j
joined in a sale of that stock to any per
son who acted for me, or under any ur
rangement or agreement with mo, tacit
or expressed, that 1 was to have any in
I crest in the stock when purchased by
him, is wholly false, and utterly incapa
ble of being sustained by any evi leuco
Another charge is that I engaged in
a disastrous sale of tho State in a 151ue
Kidge 1'ailroad Company. The truth
is that I was not present when the sale
was mad.i, and never in any manner
took part in it. My views as t.? th.:
i proper terms and conditions of a sale
of that stork were laid before the board
in writing but they were uot ad iptedby
the b.'ar I
The purchases of bonds made by or
der of the sinking fund board were
made in good faith, and the funds in
the hands of the board wero applied in
p lymciit of such purchase?. It i? tin*,
i think, that the second pun base of
? 100,000 of State bonds was ordered
before the funds were in the hands of
the board; but this was done in the ex
pectation, on the part of the board, that,
sufficient funds would come into the
hands of the board to pay I'm- tho pur
chases as rapidly os payment shoul 1 be
necessary. This may have b ieu an i n
prudentact, but it coitainly his no ele
ment of'dishoucsty or fraud in it.
'Jo all other statements which impute
to inc any improper action in connection
with this board, I give an unqualified
denial. I was never a party to any one
veil for purchases made from tins
board; I never received a Ice "for any
service done in connection with this
board or as a member of it; and 1 have
never been a party to any disp isition of
the proceeds of sales, either in money
or bonds, made by this board, which
was not strictly in accord nice with law.
If any illegal disposition lists boon in i lo
of any property in the hands of this
board, it was not done with my consent
us the present Attorney (rcneral, who
was directed to institute legal proceed
ings to recover property illegally dispos
cd of by the sinking fund, commissioners
can testify.
I am charged with rosponsipility for
the losses arising to the State from tho
transactions of the land commission.
Upon this point I frankly say that I
have always regrettod exceedingly the
action which I was led to take, in soiu-j
ins lances, ns a member of (ho advisory
board of that commission, but I.deny
that in an}* instance I acted carelessly
or dishonestly. ? was as n member of
that hoard, charged with the duty of
consenting to tile purchases of lau 1 re
commended by Jhe land commissioner.
Of course, T cduld have no personal
knowledge of tlln lands. I never in a
single instance had any personal know
ledge oT any tr^ctof land purchased for
the State. I i^ctcd from the uecosity
of the case solely upon the information
and represents ions of others. Subse
quently I learned that some uT the lands
purchased wc*?c" not worth the price
paid, hut no member ofthat board can
he charged with dereliction of duly on
that accountjuutalcss it can bo shown
that he hadJaonio knowledge or had
some reason, to believe or suspect, that
the iuformation presented to him was
incorrect, or that the purchases were
improper or undesirable at the lime
they were made. Iu the case, for in
stance, of,the Sehley purchases, so call
ed the borrd was informed by persons
who wcre certuinly competent to judge,
and who Were directed by the board to
make inquiries concerning those lauds,
that those lands were desirable. In
that casrijl acted upon evidence which
I was asiwcll warranted iu trusting as
any evidence for any other purchase
If thcYe be a man anywhere who can
say tha^ I ever had any pers mal cornice
tiou of jtuy sort with any pure!) isj iu ido
by this]beard, or that I commuuic.ucd
or acted with ^ny party to uuy si'.c,or
with a view to promote suuh sab, or
that I was ever remotely interested iu
any Kile of land to this bo.ird, let hi.n
be named. Once for all, I say there is
no Kladow of foundation for sucli char
ges \>r insinuations. No man can pr^ve
them, and no man will undertake t?
prow them.
("jff-ilio ehyrgas made against me iu
"ti.<ffiLLtfi\.-a-?iti. the board appointed to
take oh arge of the agricultuaal land i
scrip, little need be said. livery act of
that board was in Atriet accordance
with law. The sale of the scrip was
niuuu at a full and fair price, and after
careful ^consideration and inquiry by
the board, 'flic proceeds were iut me
diately invested iu State bon Is as dine
ted by law. Subsequently, those bonds
while in the hands of the agent of the
board, v.ere pledged for State loans,
and are slill held iu Now York as col
lateral security for about 807,000 lent
to trie State. Of the legality of this
use of these bon Is it is n )i n >w necessa
ry t'/ speak. They wcrj p!o l^o I by th i
iigciit under a claim uf auth >rity coaler
red by an act of the General Assemble .
The board were mit consulted in this
matter, and never iu any way consente 1
to the pledging of these b >n Is.
The thousand other idle tales born of
the personal and political malice and
mendacity with which this community
is so remarkably ofllictcd?such as my
reported partnership with Mr. Kimpton
my nrescnt or past pecuniary interest in
various schemes which word intended to
draw money from the treisury, and the
pecuniary benefit derived by me from
my connection with the Sfato govern
ment.?do not deserve even a denial
They arc, each and all, falsj in every
particular and every sense. Not on y
ha\c I not received pecuniary profit
from any transaction in which I have
had an official duty to perform and
not only have I never be^n into
rested in any soH.muo which w is h >s ?
tile tn public interests, but [ cm
say, with honest pride, that no mm
ever yet iu South Carolina approach ? I
me with a bribe in any form, or solicited
my [official or personal consent or co
operation in any dishonest nieisttre or
action Such a degree uf res'peet his
at least been shown nr. While denm:i
cing me in public as a c trr i >t o Ii )ial,.ny
detainers h ive nevor venture I to s dieit
he aid which they wjuld n ?.v omvin >.'
Lite public l have been swift to extend
to all corrupt and fraudilloit inj.Hur.is .
Tbo little property which I now possess
I have acquired ucither by eorauptiou
nor speculation; but I h ive earned it by
lionost and honorable lib >r, an l I d ify
the world to pro luce evidence sullioijot
to excite, a shadow of a prosumptio i to
the contrary. I acknowledge mistakes
and I regret the eonscqucuoes of some
acts in my affieial career. I do?ire lo
see those consequences repaired; au l L
desire it ?II the uioro because they have
resulted hi part iroui ray acts; but to
?every specific and every general charge
involving moral delinquency or con
scious wrong in toy official action in this
Stato, T give my absolute and solemn
denial'. ' * '*? ' * 'li
D. II. CIIA SFB Bit T.-A IN.
Columbia, August 19, 1871.
- ? .mm i 0y . . . ?.HI ? -
A Now and Wonderful Kind of
Cotton.
Gustave Adolph us, a corrcsponden t
of the Chronicle and Sontlnel, who has
been ruminating down in Southern
Georg 1.4 and a few miles beyond the
Florida line, tells a wonderful story
about a new kind of cotton, which ho
thinks is destined to put all others to
flight and revolutionize the entire
cotton culture :
I rode several miles over the Hue, to
sec a new specimen of cotton, and I
assure you of my astonishment when I
predict an entire revolution in the pre
sent growth of that article, growing out
of this Asiatic species, now being raised
upon a small scale by Mr. Ilyack
Hcllymingcr, at Soap Floating Springs,
six miles from the Georgia Hue. Two
yea's since, Mr. Ilyack received in a
letter ftom his brother-in-law, Mr.
.Michael Grigic six scd. They were
obtained i^ the far fame I Ctshtiuro
Valley, in Central Asia; two years
since?this being the thirl year of
cultivation, resulting in tcnacristhe
present season. I at ones suggested a
ii line, which was prompted by its
similarity to c ur orange tree, aad the
owner, Mr. Ilyack llclliningcr, being
pleased with the same, it will her jafcor
lie known as the Asiatic orange cotton.
This cotton tree, having no v its full
growth, is about eight feet high, and
will about match its size at the butt
end with the leg of an old-fashioned
split-bottom chair, tapering gradually
to tin: top, and is of very enormous
strengtli and elasticity, and which en
ables it to sustain the heavy weight of
fiuitagc to which it is subjected. It is
plant d in hills, fifteen leet equidistant,
to give ionic for its spreading branches,
which run out on all sides six or seven
lect. The leaf is the only feature close
ly resembling our common plant. I
must reserve, however, for another
letter, much that 1 desire to say, and
speak only of the grown bolls. They
resemble very much in size and color a
large green orange, only much larger,
and arc attached to tho limbs by a
strong stem, from otic to two inches in
length. When open, it contains at the
base of the boll, in small cells, four or
live seed ; which might be mistaken for
small buckshot. The lint, in picking,
leaves the seed in the bur, which, of
course, avoids the necessity of ginning,
and is thrown, as picked, iuto packiug
machines, so that each day's gathering
is compressed into bales the same even
ing. When within 100 or 200 yards of
this field, I asked Mr. M., for a shot gun
to kill one or two white cranes, as it
seemed to me there *vas an uiicotntnm
number of them perched about on small
trees. "You will not have any uso for
a gun," he replied. ''What you see is
the few open bolls of cotton, and you arc
not alone in supposing them to be our
beautiful eo: st birds ; and, sure CQOUgll,
nearer Observation proved him correct.
The cotton hung pendent from the boll,
three to four inches in rolls, as large as
a full-grown Uologna sausnge, five rolls
to the boll. 1 looked in atn izemcnt,
at.d could .scarcely believe in the reality
of what I saw
1 asked how much cotton will those
ten acres produce. I was answered
promptly, 100 bales, or a bale to each
row of fourteen stalks. This, he con
tinued, was the average production last
year. I continued by desiring to know
how much to the hand could bo picked
in one day, and was informed far grown
men 450 pounds of lint, (there being no
(?cd,) or one bale, was rogardud an
easy daily task. Now, gentlaincn, if
what 1 havo said is true, arc we not
rapidly approaching a new epoch in cot
ton culture ? Five years will suffice to
spread universally over the cotton area
of the South this wonderfully pro lirjtivo
species, and if it should provo lasting
u.id not subject (as many now kinds haVe
proven) to deterioration, it would not bo
unreason; blc to estimate the American
- - a , ,?rr-t+a
crop of 1880 at 12,000,000 bales ffiueii
could bo tuore easily raised an^rtHrfW1"*
than' a crop* of 3,6u?,006 at tift
time.,, WmS(mig^yydTaug?s will. neej^P*
sarily iollow, I leave for solution to
more fertile imaginations fta?^my owe.
joice over nil the earth, when a nil
of cotton clothes can- be ? haiat fifty
CC"t<'' -?:
Reported Earthquake In New York
State*
The Uuds.n Star relates the follow
ing which is certainly remarkable .i?
true : ...
''Residents iu the vieiuity of Good
rich Mol low, Columbia County, have^
been startled since Monday by a QUAC
ing of the earth at intervals. The wV
tcr in a brock near by has doubled^ lU
flow, and the temperature has been in
creased to 118 degrees. A man living
on the cast end of the hollow says that
he hud discovered the same sudden rbi
in the stream as it rushed down the
side of the mouutaiu, and had also ob
served that 'it was smoking hot.' 1 This?
streun is the outlet of a natural lake?
of about twenty Ovo acres extent, situai
ted on the very top of the mountain
cast of the hollow. The lake is in the
town of Hancock, Berkshire County
Mass., and is about thcee miles', distant
from Lcdanon Spriugs, and has always
been considered a natural curiosity by
visitors. It is nearly circular and very
deep. Many persons have taken, lines
there and made attempts to reach the
bottom, but without success. Being
upon the highest point of the mountain,
without any visible brook or stream to
feed it, the wonder has booh from whit
source a supply of water has been ,Con
stantly furnished to keep this lake al
ways overflowing without any visible
inlet. A gentleman who visited the
locality several years ago, and had been
a great traveler in foreign lands, gave
it as his opinion that' *the lako was
now occupying the crater of an extinct
volcano.
A party often on nrriving at the
lake, found the surroundings almost con
ccaled by a thick miat arising from the
rut face of tho water, and on ap; rooeh
ing the shore were wrapped in S am,
which on first ontering was oppressive
ly hot; but they iu a short time accu*
tinned themselves to the surrounnings.
Mr. Oltrander ventured down the bank
to the turfacc of the lake, and fjr a mo
incut placed his hand into the v/a'or,
but finding it almost in a boiling condi
liou, he quickly withdrew it. Tho ex
plorcrs, therefore, retired a short die
tauco and scoted themselves with a de
termination to see if some change would
follow; They had remained about' an
hour hero, when it was discovered* tfiat
the body of water flowing from thodut
let of the lake was evidently diminish
ing, and shortly afterwards the water
an 1 the mist disappeared leaving where
was a short time before the surfaoi of
the lake, nothing but an immense ear
cm of unfatho nable depth.
"In the sp ice of fifteen minutes alar,
the party felt a shock beneath them, and
all were startled by a trembling of the
earth bene th their feet. The shook
was foil, w-'d by a dense column of steam
und directly afterwards tho rushing |in
and filling of the chasm with boiling
water. The party remained upon the
mountain several hours and saw several
ebbs and flows of this remarkable valley
below. All the fish in tho lake have
been killed, and the timber in the vioini
ty injured."
Maki.no a Fool ok Himself.?
There was an old couple at the Central
depot ycstcrd.iy, waiting to go to the
West, and they seemed loving enough
until ho went out and returned smoking
a five cent cigar and with his hat slant
ing over his left ear. The wife looked
at him twice before she could recognize
him and then openod her mouth and
said; "What'd 1 tell ye, Philetus
llemiogton, before we left Now Jorsey ?
Didn't. I say you'd go and make a fool of
yourself tho first chance you got?" Ho
tried to pacify her by saying that the
cigar only cost five cents, but she
shouted : "You teasel and teasod until
1 lot you git your boots blaoked ; and
then you wanted some soda water j and
then you bought sotuo apples on the
train; and here's auother five cents
thrown away ! It till counts ap, and it*
you don't die in tho poor house, then my
uamo haiu't Sary !"?Detroit Free
I'rais.