Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE PENITENT Finding of tlie Inves Columbia Stal The report of the Penitentiary In vestigating Committee was tiled at the executive office yesterday. The re-, port makes no recommendation as to what steps shall be taken in the mat ter, and as Governor McSweeney is out of town no action will be taken for" a day or two at least. He will probably submit the testimony, to gether with the report to Attorney General Bellinger for his official opin ion. Mr. Bellinger, too, is out of town. The report, though long, is clear cat and to theL point. It covers a great deal of ground, but there is no unnecessary verbiage. Following is the fall text of the document : , To Hon. M. B. McSw?eney, Governor: The General Assembly of this State at its last session passed a concurrent resolution to appoint a committee of two Senators and three Representa tives "for the purpose of investigating the affairs of the penitentiary" with instructions to report to you. Th? undersigned were appointed as said committee and organized by electing W. F. Stevenson chairman. It select ed John Taylor as expert bookkeeper and Miss M. F. Gibbes as stenograph ;er. Meetings were held from time to time, as it was expedient to do so, as is shown by the record herewith sub mitted. Mach testimony was taken bearing on the condition and manage ment of thc penitentiary. The mat ters examined were embraced under three heads : 1. The treatment of the convicts. ' 2. The condition and man agement of the farms and the disposi tion of farm products. 3. The general financial affairs of the penitentiary proper and the ase and disposition made of the assets of the penitentiary proper, including amounts due to the same. 1. As to the treatment of the con victs: We find that Mr. Neal has always been an advocate of humanity and that wherever the treatment of convicts ? came ander his personal supervision there is no doubt of their kind and humane treatment. One instance of very severe whipping is reported as being given by one subor dinate, Mr. J. J. Cooley, for which Mr. Neal is not responsible. We wish to commend the methods used by Mr. ' Miller, manager of the Lexington farm, in this particular: His man agement has reduced the necessity for whipping ' to a minimum, and yet he gets excellent results. While we know that the convict mast be controlled, we feel that the dictates of humanity require that the unfor tanate who is without character or legal standing and without friends or hope of redress should be treated with all the consid eration which strict discipline will allow. We are glad to be able to report that Mr. Neal has always shown his desire to do his fall daty by the ' convicts froc a humanitarian stand point. 2. We find the farming property in fine condition, well stocked and well cultivated; large crops are made, and valuable improvements in the way of buildings and dykes and ditching and clearing have been made daring his administration. The Superintendent deserve commendation for the ener getic and skillful management of the affairs and improvements made on the property, both on the farms and at the penitentiary itself. The DeSaassure and Heid farms have been paid for ander the administration of Mr. Neal. We are not prepared to say that the farming business, however, is profita ble. There has been, for instance, for the year of 1898, an average of 139 hands nsed on the Reid and DeSaus sure farms. The evidence is that they will pay $50 per year per head when hired out, making $6,950 net from their hire. The total products from these farms for 1898 as reported by the board was $41,013.95. The cash returned from the farm produce of DeSaassure and Reid farms, pages 24 and ll, is $12,735.55; ninety-nine bales of cotton on hand January 1st, 1899; there was possibly on hand at that time under a liberal estimate $7,000 worth of other produce, making a total of $22,210.55 accounted for, and leaving a balance of $18,803.40 which must have been consumed. Now, this crop cost, therefore, the hire of convicts, $6,950; accounts paid for the two farms, $20,069; rent of land, estimating it at one-quarter of the crop, $10,250.40; produce consum ed' in the making, $18,803*40. The crops cost, therefore, $56,076.27; the value of the crop, $41,013.95, leaving a deficit of $15,062.32. From this should be deducted the value of per manent improvements claimed as being made daring the year (see exhibit A.) $1,000, leaving an apparent deficit of -$14,062.32. To this should be added the interest on the equipment, which is valued by the directors at $25,000, on page 21 of the report of 1897, which, at 6 per cent, would be $1,500, making the total deficit of $15,562.32. From this, of course, should be de ducted the corn and oats and bacon furnished to the penitentiary itself. IARY SCANDAL. litigating C ommitte e. e, Augaxt Pili. I which, at a liberal estimate from the testimony before us, could not exceed $5,000 from the crop of 1S98, which would necessarily leave a loss of $10, 562.32 from farming operations on those two farms. 3. As to the general financial affairs of the penitentiary proper and the use and disposition made of the assets, etc., we are constrained to report that the investigation has brought forth a state of affairs which is not credita ble. In the first place it will be found by a close examination of the testi mony taken that the directors knew too little of the affairs of the institu 1 tion and were too subservient to the J will of the superintendent. The fact j that there were about $4,600 of Rags dale notes in the bank with the peni ' tentiary endorsement representing convict hire for two years on Mr. Neal's place, while the directors thought the hire had been paid, s'aows that their knowledge of the affairs ci the institution was entirely superfi cial. The fact that they paid him $10 a month stable rent for six years and two months for allowing penitentiary horses to stand in the stables, where they were kept purely for his conven ience, and now profess not to know" they were paying it is another evi dence of the somnolence of their faculties when approving accounts. They either knew that such was the case,. or they did not know it. If they knew ?hey were paying it, they were deliberately yielding to Mr. Neal's desire for money, to which he was not entitled, and were therefore culpable, or, if they didn't know it, they were approving and paying an item monthly for several years which was wrong and never found out. Either supposition is sufficiently hu miliating. We would note here that we know of no law authorizing the directors to keep a lot cf horses and carriages for the use of the superin tendent's family, and we regard it as an unwarranted extravagance. The evidence here is that the bookkeeper had to use his horse on penitentiary business, for which the State fed him in part, while the horses for whose stable rent we were paying handsome ly were being used by the superinten dent's family. The evidence is that there was stable room for these horses at the penitentiary. The custom of entertaining largely at the peniten tiary grew up also under Mr. Neal. Crowds ate there free at the bounty of the State, making the taxpayers their hotel keepers, and exercising a thrifty instinct to get all they could at the public credit. Unfortunately the board of directors set the example by hoarding themselves there, thus add ing to the pay allowed by law the fur ther provision of hotel bills. In jus tice to the board, however, we will say that after this investigation was ? begun . and that matter was brought ! out they deoided to discontinue that practice and pay their own board. This is at it should be. The lavish I entertainment there, though, -was such 1 as should not be tolerated again. I Politicians, contractors, State consta bles, and personal friends all found a welcome and good cheer there. The result has been that the institution came to be considered as a place where any accommodation desired could be had, and as a result we find many things to report as wrong. We find that he has given away many articles ; produced by the penitentiary to promi I nent men, such as a bookcase to Con gressman Latimer, furniture to D. H. Tompkins, Secretary of State, and T. J. Cunningham and S. P. J. Garr?s, directors, and Senator Tillman, who also got a carload of brick, which he says Neal gave him, but which Neal says he sold him. Most of these arti cles Neal professes to be ready to pay for, although he had never charged himself with them up to the institu tion of this investigation. Mr. Garr?s also got a carload of brickbats and some pigs and turnips, for which Mr. Neal does not think he should pay. Garr?s had been anxious to settle the pig bill, but could not get it made out, and the other items were mere presents and they contend were worth less. We do not think it wise, though, for directors to be accepting even valueless presents from the peniten tiary. If Mr. Neal had paid for these things when he gave them away, it is a questionable practice for an officer to be making presents to public men, but when he fails to pay for them and takes the State's property and gives it to public men he does two wrongs, he misappropriates public property and attempts, apparently, to control the influence of public men by the use of it. Further than that, he has allowed the governors of the State during his administration all to get such things as they desired from the penitentiary, and has neither present ed the bills for them nor placed them in the assets and on the regular books. A list of their accounts which he should have presented and collected or published in the list of accounts due is hereto attached. He has hi self, also, taken supplies to a lar amount at a very low price and h never paid for them, an account them being also set forth in this i port. We find also that there h been a rule that the superintende shall be furnished with wood and cc free. This is not warranted by la and is merely another device to i crease the salary of the superinte dent contrary to law. Again, t governors have been allowed the u of convicts, tools and stock to cull vate land near the city, and this h not been charged to them. This excused by Mr. Neal on the plea th the governor is ex-officio chairman > the board of directors and has in co sequence always gotten what he ask< for. If that is correct, it is time th; the governor should be taken off tl board. We do not refer in speakii of the cultivating of land to the pat? around the governor's mansion, Whi( is public property and properly cull vated by convicts, but to independei farms outside. Again, the board hi a steam laundry established in tl penitentiary and operated by the coi victs. Mr. Neal and Governor Ellerl have both had their family washir done there ever since free, until tl termination of Mr. Neal's term < office. Now, while it is disagreeab to refer to these matters, we deem our duty to call them to the attentio of the General Assembly. If tl governor's salary is too small it shod be increased by the General Assen bly, not supplemented by the penitei tiary. If not too small the governc should be satisfied therewith. Th same remarks apply to the other off cers mentioned. It should be a plea.1 ure to those gentlemen who have n ceived these things from the State t make reparation, and the lesson sh oui be learned once for all that a publi officer, because he is a public officei has no more right to the property o the State than the humblest citizen and when he attempts to give it awa; to prominent men the inference prop erly deducible is that he is bartering it for their influence and they shoult be above suspicion, and keep them selves so by declining such presenta Any other course breeds distrust ii the people of their rulers, and whei that thoroughly permeates the masse: respect for law and order perishes, an( it becomes a question of who can ge the most out of the Government ant high office is sought not from motive! of patriotism, but of plunder. We think the Penitentiary author! ties should proceed at once to ascer tain the value of the assets thus giver away and present bills for them to thc parties who received them, many ol whom have professed willingness anc desire to pay for them, and if possible save all such items. This should by no means prevent their holding the bond of the superintendent liable foi such things as are not settled for. He has misappropriated the assets and should account for them. t There is another matter which de serves attention in our general re marks. The management, it seems, has been receiving favors and granting them in return. It should pay for all assistance it gets and then charge for all matters rendered. The case of the Hon. J. W. Ashley is in point. He furnished transportation for the offi cials, making no charge; in return his horse was boarded at the Penitentiary daring the session of 1898 of the Leg islature. While this may be very convenient, it is not business. If Mr. Ashley's favors were worth receiving they should be worth paying for, and likewise the board of the horse is worth paying for. This free and easy method of balancing one against the other will render it impossible to as certain at any given time the liabili ties of the penitentiary. No one will be able to ascertain what the unre turned favors received at the hands of the friends of the superintendent are worth, nor when the institution will be called upon to board man or horse in return. It amounts to a reciprocity treaty between the superintendent and his friends, which may involve the institution in endless liability aud expense. It should be stopped. Another unbusinesslike feature of the management is the contract of the institution with the knitting mill company in the Penitentiary. They give the mill a 25-horse power moter and pay the electrical company for 25 horse power, and to charge the mill only what power it uses. They have not settled in five years and haven't even put in a meter to be able to tell how much power has been used. Now, the mill company wants to settle at 10-horse power. The directors don't know what was used and have paid for 25-horse power. This is unbusiness like and uegligent, in our opinion. Now as to Mr. Neal's financial trans actions and his moral obliquity in the matter : In the first place, in the face of the plain spirit of the law, he arranged as soon as he became super intendent to have his kinsman and creditor, J. Belton Watson, take charge of his plantation in Anderson County, and procured for him convicts to work it, and agreed that the net proceeds, after paying for the convict labor and the farm expenses, should be applied to his debt to Watson, and he was thus to get the advantage of all profits made by the convict labor indirectly hiring them to himself The law enjoins upon him the duty o watching those who hire convicts preventing oppression and enforcing the rule that they shall be humanely treated, carefully attended by physi cians aud not required to labor mon than ten hours a day, nor on Sunday: and holidays. Sections 566 and 569 Vol. 2, Kev. Stats, of 1893. The plain intent of the law is tba he shall not hire them himself, direct ly or indirectly, or be personally in terested in the amount of work done The net proceeds being his the ten dency would be to give Watson tin best labor, work it over time and re port aii much lost time as possible Having run under this contract for tin years 1893, 1894, 1895, he had hi? debt reduced as a result from $17,00( to $14,000. (See Exhibit H.) Ther he took a contract from Watson (Ex H) whereby exclusive control was re turned to him, but the convicts wen hired to Mr. Watson, (see Ex. Cr,) anc no bond was taken from Watson, This was plainly done to mislead tilt board of directors, as he frankly ad mits that they would not have hired them to him. Thus he became thc master, the contractor, in fact, with Watson as a stalking horse. All thc profits inured to his benefit. Instead of paying the State for thc convict hire for 1S96 he took a worth less note of his foreman, one Rags dale, and endorsed it as superinten dent of the penitentiary, borrowed the money on it and returned it as cash received. The note has never been paid, and the bank threatens the penitentiary with suit for it. The same thing occurred in 1897, with another Ragsdale note, and in 1898 no pretence of payment has been made. The net proceeds of the farming oper ations for 1896 and 1897 were paid to Mr. Watson on Mr. Neal's debt to him, except $1,465.85, for which Mr. Neal gave Watson a receipt as super intendent, and which was not turned in to the treasury, but which is cover ed by one of the Ragsdale notes- The State has been left oat for the entire three years, and in 1898 neither Wat son nor the State has been paid any thing. In November, 1895, Mr. Neal col lected of W. Q. Hammond $500 on convict hire, which he kept and used. In December, 1895, he collected from Cooley & Fowler $500 convict hire, which he also used. In February, 1897, he collected from those two firms over $1,300, and deposited to his own credit and used $539.95 of the same. He collected from J. J. Fret well $387.17 for oats (Ex. M) and fail ed to pay it in. He gave a check to the bookkeeper for $172 to balance his account for cash in hand, and there was nothing in bank to pay it, and it has not been pain. He took a note of W. W. Russell for $600 for his own accommodation, and endorsed it as superintendent of the peniten tiary, and placed it in bank, and it has never been paid. The bank is after the penitentiary for the money, and Mr. Neal admits that he is liable therefor. He collected $740 stable rent, which was unauthorized, but which, he claims, was allowed by the board of directors, which they deny, and which appears to have been ap proved in the prison pay roll. He has gotten supplies from the peniten tiary, for which he has not paid, amounting to $638.29. His family washing has not been paid for and he got a carload of cotton seed to plant, which he should pay for. All these matters, taken with his presents of State property to his friends, and his having his superin tendent. Ragsdale, to furnish the cows to the penitentiary at a big profit, which profits Mr. Neal got, his keep ing open house for his friends at the penitentiary at the State's expense, stamp him as being utterly deficient in the faculty of distinguishing be tween what is his aod what is the State's, accompanied with a remarka ble faculty of being generous with the State's assets and especially to him self. We hold that both W. A. Neal and J. B. Watson are liable for thc con vict hire for convicts to be worked on Neal's plantation for the years 1896, 1897 and 1898, for the reason that Watson contracted to pay for them and Neal got the benefit of the labor, and violated his duty in procuring them to be worked for his benefit and deceiving the board of directors. Their labor was an asset of the peni tentiary as much as the products of the labor on the State farm, and he cannot take either and refuse to pay for it. A conversion of one is the same as a conversion of the other. We also condemn the practice of the superintendent's endorsing paper as superintendent, and thereby pledg ing the credit of the penitentiary without express authority from thc board of directors in each instance. We especially condemn Mr. Neal's action for endorsing an $850 note for J. B. Watson and thus making the penitentiary borrow that amount of money merely for Watson's accommo dation. We also condemn its use in the Kagsdale notes and W. \V. Russell note. The following are the amounts now admitted by Mr. Neal to be due from him to thc penitentiary, it being ac knowledged that there is a .shortage to that extent. Amount collected of J. S. Fowler, Dec, 189.").$ :>00 00 Amount collected of W. Cj. Hammond, Nov., 1S95_ 500 00 Amount collected. Fowler & Hammond & Kept, Feb., 1897. 5311 95 W. W. ttussell note. (?00 00 Amount collected of W. T. McGill, brick sold at De Saussure Farm. 40 00 Five bookcases at$12each.. GO 00 One hat rack. 10 00 Six small tables at S2 each.. 12 00 One bedstead. 10 00 Painting furniture at house. 10 00 Seven hundred bushels cot ton seed at 15 cents per bushel. 105 00 Commissary account for six years. 638 20 Check unpaid and carried by Burriss. 172 00 Collected of J. J. Fretwell for oats, April, 189S. :-5S7 17 Total admitted.$3,584 41 We find that he is liable in addition for the following amounts, which arc contested by him : Convict hire on thc Watson contract for the years 1806, 1897 and 1S9S.$ 7.400 00 We think he should refund stable rent, which should never have been paid.. .. 740 00 Previously admitted.. 3,584 41 Total.$11,724 41 There appears to be due thc peni tentiary the following items, which have not been properly charged on the books or collected, being found on an old brick yard book and commissary book, and which the parties are no doubt ready to settle on presentation of bills: The Hon. W. H. Ellerbe, commissary account, $154.11; the Hon. John Gary Evans, commissary account, $181.14; the Hon. B. E. Tillman, commissary account, $57.06; the Hon B. R. Tillman, carload of brick, $72; the Hon. B. R. Tillman, oats, no amount given; he simply informs us that he owes for them and we do not find any record of it. We append as Exhibit A a state ment of the property purchased, improvements made and labor furnish ed to public institutions by the peni tentiary during Mr. Neal's adminis tration, aggregating, in all, $175, 845.16, being the value placed upon the same in the reports of the board for the six years. The evidence taken is herewith sub mitted. The proper steps to be taken as a result of this report and the evi dence will be determined no doubt by yourself and the Attorney General. Respectfully submitted: W. F. Ste venson, H. C. Patton. T. V. McDow, J. F. Hay, Knox lavington. - Rare presence of mind probably saved the life Mrs. Flora dennison, Clear Greek, Idaho. She was out in a huckleberry patch, when she ran across a bear with oubs. The mother bear, with a vicious snarl, made for her. Like a flash Mrs. Jenuison tore off ber skirt and slung it over the bear's head. While the enraged bear was tearing the garment to pieces in an effort to extricate itself the woman fled down the hill to the camp. Some of the men, hearing her screams, started out with their guns and met her. They killed the bear and captured the cubs, which Mrs. Jennison is now raising on a bottle. - The Mennonites, a religious col ony in Pennsylvania, whose religious conference recently interdicted the use of tobacco, in any form, do not propose to let this prohibition inter fere with their worldly affairs. The farmers of the colony keep right on planting tobacco, getting around it by saying that if their industry is so displeasing to the Lord the tobacco will not grow. The outlook at present is for a bountiful crop. A GREAT TRUTH. All organized living things, whether be longing to thc animal or vegetable king dom contain within themselves the germs of death and decay. Germs of disease are often generated within the human system through imper fect digestion of food, producing various poisons which scientists have denominated ptomaines. A stomach weakened by abuse, gorged with over eating or over burdened with hot bread, too rich or greasy foods or those too highly seasoned, becomes weak ened and fails to thoroughly digest thc food. A heavy, sodden mass is accumu lated in the stomach to ferment as the first step in its decay, giving off foul gasses to distend the stomach, and poison the blood, until it becomes thin, weak and lacking in thc red corpuscles so necessary to perfect health. Thc over distended stomach presses upoti thc heart, and the latter organ is also dis turbed through sympathy, the same system of nerves being distributed to both organs. Thus palpitation and irregular action of the heart with its attendant shortness of breath, result, and in time, disease of the heart itself is established. The gases and other poisons generated from undigested, fermenting and decay ing food in thc stomach becloud thc brain, causing headaches, and pain in thc eyes. Being absorbed into the blood these poi sons reach every part and organ of the sys tem. The kidneys are thereby poisoned, causing Bright's disease and diabetes. Fil tering through the skin, troublesome skin diseases often show themselves. Every organ and every nerve, depending as they do for their nourishment 3nd renewal upon the stomach, weak digestion shows itself not alone in loss of appetite and flesh, but also in nervousness, debility, bad complexion and many other derange ments. 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It is Harmless and Pleasant. It contains neither Opium, Morphine nor other "Narcotic substance. Its agc is its guarantee. It destroys Worms and allays Feverishness. It cures Diarrhoea and "Wind Colic. It relieves Teething- Troubles, cures Constipation and Flatulency. It assimilates the Food, regulates tho Stomach and Bowels, giving healthy and natural 3leep. The Children's Panacea-The Mottler's Friend. GENUINE CASTORIA ALWAYS Bears the Signature of The M You Have Always Bought In Use For Over 30 Years. THE CCNTAU3 COMPANY, 7T MURMY tTRCCT, NEW YORK CITY. PORTO RICO ! _ YOU can get the GENUINE PORTO RICO MOLASSES FROM US. *LSO, La^kfbrd Horse Collar, Guaranteed to prevent or cure galls or sore shoulders. SHOES, HATS) DRY GOODS, NOTIONS, ETC-, At CUT PRICES for the next thirty days in order to clean up and make room for New Goods. Big Line of Groceries of all Kinds AT LOWEST PRICES. Try us one time. ' MOORE, ACKER ?5 CO., 13A.ST SIDE PUBLIC SQUARE-CORNER STO.RS. AT A BARGAIN ! Ole 50-Saw Ii Coil Oil, Mer qi Condenser. BRAND NEtf. ALSO, a few Second-hand Gins, The Hall Gin is given up to be the best Gin now built. Nothing cheap about it hut the price. I still handle the BRENNAN CANE MILL-the only Self-Oiling Mill now sold. EVAPORATORS and FURNACES,. SMOKE STACKS for Engines, &c, at bottom pric?s, manufactured of Galvanized Iron. CORNICE aud FUNNELS, TIN ROOFING, GUTTERING and PLUMBING of all kinds. Also, GRAVEL ROOFING and STOVES of the best makes. CROCKERY, GLASSWARE, FRUIT JARS-WHITE RUBBERS thc best. TINWARE at any price to suit the wants of our customers. For any of the above will make you pri:es that you will buy of me, and ask your inspection of Goods and prices. Thanking all my friends and cus tomers for their liberal patronage, Respectfully, P. S.~Bring your RAGS. JOHN T. BURRISS. FOB_ Fancy and Staple Grroceries, Flour, Sugar, Cof?ee, Molasses, Tobacco, A.nd Cigars, COME TO J. C. OSBORNE. 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We have in stock at Anderson in our Warehouse six Car Loads of GINS, FEEDERS, CONDENSERS and PRESSES. Also, all kinda of REPAIRS Call on write to F. E. WATKINS, Anderson, S.C. SU\ & BRO. FLOUR FLOUR ! ??SOO BARRELS. GOT every grade you are looking for. We know what you want, and we've got the prices right. Can'c give it to you, but we will sell you high *rade Flour 25 to o5c cheaper than any competition. Low srade Flout 53.00 per barrel. Car EAR CORN and stacks of Shelled Corn. Buy while it is cheap ulvancing rapidly. "We know where to buv and get good, sound Corn cheap, O \TS, HAY and BRAN. Special prices by the ton. We want your trade, and if honest dealings and low pi ices count we will get it. Yours for Business, O. D. ANDERSON & BRO. 8gU Now is your chance to get Tobacco cheap. Closing out odds aud ;uds in Caddies.