Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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EVIDENCE IN FELDER CASE CITED IN REPORT SET OUT BY THE STATE DISPEN SARY COMMISSION. "Affidavits, Testimony and Letters" Upon Which Charge Against Fel der Was Based. In its report recently submitted, the State dispensary commission reviews its action in terminating the contract with Anderson, Felder, Rountree & Wilson, of Atlanta; its call upon them to turn over all records and papers, in accordance with their contract, bear ing upon matters connected with the old State dispensary, and their fail ure to do so, and its call upon Felder to appear before the commission and furnish them with all information in his possession, and of his failure and refusal to do so. "Felder," says the report, "failed and r-ised to app-%r aud to ,)mply with the request of the commission. and of course, as he and these rec ords and this information were out side the limits of this State, and be yond" our jurisdiction, we had no pow er to compel his attendance or the production of the said records and evi dence. -^"'he statements made by Felder ir, hiseomunications were entirely un-. satisfaictory to the commission, and in a mE0 carefui investigation to ascer taizt the truth about the statements made by him concerning the litigation contract and matters which he:had in charge, this commission has failed to fnd any evidence which would war rant dteto- come to any other conclu sion than that such statements and represetations: of the said Felder. made to it; were misleading, and were not. made in good -faith and for the purpose of aiding the commission in arriving at the trut:j of the past trans actions- or present condition of the matters put in his. charge under the contract above referred to. "In the course of Lis investigation of the State -dispensary :affairs, the commission came into 'ossession of certain information and1 evidence. which is hereinafter more particularly and completely set out, which caused the commission to conclude that it was its duty, and to the inL:rest of the State, that one Thomas B. Felder; should be indicted for bribery, or at tempted bribery, of one of the former members of the board of dir.ectors of the State dispensary." *The commis sion then recites the swearing out of the warrant, the refusal of Gox ernor Brown, of Georgia, to honor the re quisition, and the handing out of the bill of indictment to the Newberry grand jury. "The charge," says the commission, "was based upon the evidence shown in the affidavits, testimony and letters bereinafter set out. H. H. Evans, John Bell Towill and L. W. Boykin were' sworn as witnesses and appeared be fore the grand jury." The commission then sets out the "affidavits, t-estimony and letters," as follows. in its report: Mr. H. H. Evans was duly summon ed by process of the commission, serv ed by its marsha!, to appear before it and testify as to such matters as* wezre mentioned in the summons. He appeared and testified as follows: Testimiony of H. H. E vans. Mr. H. H. Evans, being duly sworn,; deposed and said: Questio-ns by Mr. Dominick: Q. We are examining you in con nection with this T. B. Felder matter,: -with which you are familiar; these let ters here, which have just been read? A. I have lookEd over them. Q. They were received by you? A. Yes, sir; received by me. Q. You received them at Newberry, 'S. C.? A. Yes, sir. Q. Now, that letter there of 1905, dated October 2, 1905, the letter pro posing that corporation, was that re ceived by you? A. Yes, sir. Q. After you received that letter, did you or not have any conversation with1 Mr. T. B. Felder ? A. Half a dozen of times. Q. Did any of those conversations take place in the State of South Caro lina? *A. Yes, sir. Q. Did any of them take place in the county of Newberry? A. Yes, sir; Mr. Felder. came to Newberry. Q. After this letter of October 2, 1905? A. Yes, sir. Q. Hid he personally conversed with you? A. Yes, sir. Q. Tell us whether or not in that1 conversation, after the receipt of that letter, tise plan was mentioned and urged? A. Yes, sir. He came to New berry and asked why I did not do it.1 He told me that he had the stock al ready written out Q. Did he not, at that time, urge you to carry out the plan? A. Yes, sir; he begged me to do it. Q. And you turned down that prop osition? A. Yes, sir; I turned down the proposition. Q. Now, Mr. Evans, about what time did this conversation take place In Newberry? A. Now, Mr. Dominick, that is what has got me; I never thought of it. Q. It was after the date of this let tier? A. Yes, sir; but I do not re member about; how long. Q. You are satisfied that it was af- m ter the date of this letter? A. Yes, I sir; I know it; his visit followed up le this letter, the same year. Ji Q. You went out of office in 1906? w A. Yes, sir; but it was some time dur- tt ing this year, 1905. ti Mr. Dominick: Now, Mr. Chairman, di we have the testimony of Mr. Evans hi identifying this letter, and that he was tl visited by Mr. Felder, in Newberry, a b: short while after the receipt of this ti letter, in which he urged him to go M on and accept the proposition. tE Q. Did you have any other meeting gl or conversation with him? A. Yes, s. sir; I made arrangements with him G to see Towill; Towill did not want to( al go to see him; I told Towill just to w go to see him; and Boykin, too; they le went to the Jerome hotel to see him. fa We had another meeting; he hounded w the life out of me, and he got Watson m in it. In August, 1905, I did go over st to Augusta to meet him. We all went over there to a carnival. He said, in Where is John Bell Towill, and where t is Boykin? I said I did not know, but1 A would see Towill. He said, Come up ei to the hotel just one minute. We went d( up to the hotel, and Towill did, too. He- tried to get Wilsn~ into it, also. ti I do not know what made me bring E those fellows into it, but I am glad E that I turned him down. at Q. Mr. Evans, you remember the G time that the "T. B." letter was pub- I lished? A. No, sir; I do not remem- M er the exact time. te Q. You remember the occasion of the publishing of the letter? A. Yes, e sir. Q. After the publishing of that let- th ter, did you have any communication M with Mr. John Bell Towill? A. He th called me up on the phone, and asked ai me if I had seen anything in 'The State' IM this morning. I said no, as I was at the country place and he seen it be- w fore I seen it. He said, I seen the ju letter that Felder wrote you and I I asked him where is yours. He said, I have just been looking over mine, and ui they are the same. He came on ul as to my trial, and had a letter ' in his re pocket and. showed me one of them to that he had from Felder, at Newbe.,y. Q. What, if anything, did he say about the letter which he had or had had, in his phone message to you? A. He just said that he was looking M over his letters, and said that it was qi about the same thing that he had re- le ceived from Felder. y+ Q. That he had received a similar Iat letter signed by "T. B.?" A. Yes, sir; A. that he had received a similar letter fir to the- one published in The State. (Letter exhibited and marked "Ex- a hibit A.") Said he was going to send fie them to Governor Blease by special- fo delivery, and told me to meet him in e Governor Blease's office. a Q. You stated that he had a similar th letter and had sent them to Governor. Blease? A. Yes, sir; and. then he told in~ me he did not have them. I took the of train soon in the morning 'and he met it me here, and went right straight to T( Duncan Bellinger's office, but he was te: in Charleston. When he left heres he sta promised me and Governor Bleasew that he would go on up the street and th get those letters. A fellow named til Watson was in his office; he camnes N~ down there to the office and they be- M gan talking about it. He said that he had these letters, but he said that he re had given them to Bellinger, and he tiu and I got up to go and get them. But y be said that Bellinger was in Char leston. Governor Blease said, John, where is the letter? He said, I think w Duncan Bellinger's office has them; a being my attorney, he was going toa: bring them up in my case against Fel- th der. But, he said, Bellinger is in te: Charleston. Then Governor Blea.se suB said that if he is in Charleston he fa would get him. Governor Blease then al. went to the phone. Mr. Towill said, at Eold on, governor, maybe he has got m; back home. Mr. Towill said, Let me D he the phone. He took the phone, in and said the house phoned back that hi Mr. Bellinger was not at his house; nm and not at his office. Then I said, cc That is all right,. John; we will just ce go up -there and jet him. St Q. Did you and Towill and Boykin, as a body, or as individuals, or a B portion of you as individuals, ever w. have any conference with Felder, be- bc sides the conference you say you had sa in Newberry with Felder, at any place? or A. Yes; Towill and Boykin, at the I Jerome hotel.p Q. Were you in that conference? A. Jr Yes, sir..G Q. It was along the same frameup? s A. Yes, sir.T Q. Was there any conference ever he 'held out of the State? A. Not after B that; and Boykin turned him down Ile right then and there, in the room. igE Q. Was any conference ever held by er any member of the board with Felder Ith in Augusta? A. John Bell Towill and th myself were over there. There was a a carnival there that week and we wentI over to it, and Felder was there, and bc he got Watson'to ask us to come up'M to te hotel. I told him TroWill was F there, but I had not seen him.a Testimony of G. Duncan Bellinger. M Mr. G. Duncan Bellinger was duly mn smmoned to appear and testify be- Bi fore the commission, being duly serv- rc ed by 'the marshal,' James S. Wilson. fo He appeared and testified as follows: g Mr. G. Duncan Bellinger, being duly hi sworn, deposed and said: u Questions by Mr. Dominick: d Q. Mr. Bellinger, you are the san w f Mr. G. Duncan Bellinger, weic was tU one of the attorneys for Mr. Joh,n Bell'n Towill? A. Yes, sir- hi Q. Please state to the commnission "1 what connection, if any, or what corn- c mmunications, i'! a.y, you have had with tl Mr. Towill, with reference to certain tr correspondence o-r letters from T. B. d' Felder? A. Well, sir, a short while Ii after my father's death, Mr. Towill bi came to me and stated that he had s in his (my father's) possession a cer- rr tan letter from Mr. Felder. p Q. Mr. Thomas B. Felder? A. Yes, $0 sir; and asked that I make a search ~w of the files to obtain that letter for o: im. You understand, that was not afel direct communication, but a verbal jmi .. mDkUli&tOf fwo Mr. Towill to t e. I went through the files, and, as recollect, I turned over to him one tter; that was in May, or probably me, or July, 1910. It was a letter hich Mr. Towill identified as one of e letters desired by him. Now, gen emen, the contents of that letter I > not know, but I turned it over to im, at his request. He also stated at there was another letter written r Mr. Felder. I made a search for at letter, but I did not find it then. r. Asbill made a request for the let r. I made a search. Also had a re iest for the letter from Colonel Nel n, and made another search. And oviernor Blease also spoke to me )out it, and I stated to him that I as not able at that time to find that tter. Now, if that letter was in .ther's possession, I do not know here it was. I was then clerk' in y father's office, at the same time udying law. Q. Did you not make a search dur g some time in March, or April, of! is year, at the request of Mr. Towill? Yes, sir, I did; I have made sev al searches, but just at what time I not know. Q. Do you recall just about what ne the alleged Felder letter to Mr. vans was published in the papers at is, did you make a search along lout that time-about the time Judge iston died? A. Just about that time, made a search for it, at request of r. Asbill, and it was a short time af r that that I made a search for the vernor, and I stated to him that I uld not find it. They were not in e possession of Mr. Bellinger. Q. Mr. Asbill was the attorney for r. Towill? A. Yes, sir. That was e only reason that I would have said Lything about it, for I knew he was r. T'owi ll's a tto rnaey. Q. The letters which you found, ere those found in 1910? A. Yes, sir; st a short while after fathpr's death. could not recall them to save my e. Of course, you gentlemen must iderstand that my idea is as to this, it has been some time since I have ferred to those files, and, in regard those letters, it was in 1910. Q. The principal thing I - want td t at, and the line of my examina )n, Mr. Bellinger, was that some ne in March or April, of this year, r. Towill, or his attorney, had re tested a search for letters, general' tters, which were turned over to ,ur father; and you made that search, bd no additional letters were found? No, sir; I have not been able to d them. Q. He requested, as I understand it, general search for letters, but speci d one in particular? A. When I und one letter, he said there was other which was of greater import ee; and, at the same time, I made e search, but was unable to find it. Q. And that which was of greater tportance, was along about the time. Judge Gaston's death? A. No, sir; was in May or June, 1910, when Mr. swill made a request for these let rs, and I found one of them, and he ted that there was another letter 'tich was of greater importance than is; and I have made search from ne to time for any. letters that might s there.- that were turned over by c.Towill to my father. Q. I suppose this same request was t newed this year? A. Yes, sir; from S ne to time during the spring of thisE ar. s A ffidavit of J'ohn Bell Towill. By resolution of the commission, it s ~ordered that a summons issue ainst John Bell Towill, to be and a rpear before the commission, and en and there testify as to the mat b rs and transactions specified in the i mmons. The marshal, however, . iled to serve this summons person- b ly, and, subsequently, Mr. Towill not pearing, a mandatory order was de that the marshal do serve him rsonally. He was so served, and, stead of appearing, sent, through 3 counsel, Mr. George Bell Tiinmer- N in, the following affidavit, which the mminssion, for the time being, ac pted in lieu of his testimony: ate of South Carolina. Personally appeared before me John 11 Towill, who says on oath: That lile he was a member of the State t ard of control of the State dispen ry he received several letters from e e T. B. Felder, Jr., of Atlanta, Ga. t was called over the telephone by a ti ,rty who said he was T. B. Felder, t .and requested to come to Atlanta, ., to Felder's office. The voice unded like said' T. B. Felder, Jr.'s. o of the letters received by me are* 'reto attached. I gave Gen. G. D.I ~llinger, my attorney, three other ~ters from Felder. I have tried to t these letters from the son of Gen al Bellinger, but have failed to get tc em, as he 'has been unable to find em. These letters were seeking an, pointment with me. On onae occasion while on the State 'ard of control, while in Columbia, I r. H. H. Evans told me that T. B. F lder, Jr., was at the Jeromie hotel Ir Ld desired to hav'e a conference with| r. L. W. Boykin, Mr. Evans and n~ yself, in his, Felder's, room. Mr. n1 ykin and I went to Mr. Felder's' C om, in the Jerome hotel, and there o~ und Felder and Mr. Evans. After E ~tting in the room, Mr Felder said II was very glad to be able to get with !rT , that he had a plan he wanted to e scuss with us. He asked each C iether he would stand for re-ciec- el to the board. I told himnI didjl t think I would. Mr. Boykin told c m the same. Mr. Evans told him ti ie was born running," and he would r4 rtainly run. Felder. talked aboutt te liquor business. Said he con- I olled or could control several large a stilleries. That the money in the 11 guor business was not in dealing in ilk, but in selling bottled liquor. He '1 id he had a plan whereby we could 'C ake big money. That the State dis- 'a msary was now buying yearly about b ,000,000 worth of goods, that there 11i as no good reason why we could notj n ganize a company and get the prin- I pal part of this,i business, and be- b des providing offices In this company n -r eah af us wite galary that hand-, r~t t plcdi ourjsc Theitherwllr r thdvienscudb mil. Thtf aig(ee buies aoudbeprmnn a n dr an M , furnen n Sh Caroli gotseei pl utta e d l in othr rha nihtb, wille rpsd htMr .H gri. will e. u* MrpLe.royi cent myslfidr styn Teadhisasces N eul wbra Iier's therdvde could e madetageof .hang receog e iness ouing beottrne and eldee and hMh liquors,en Onithe heaouaro a a tohich. i ra, Ill. the cnto tel iorAfer tai, intess iHe rooedthay. H. H.lan Mr.e Towif we a, Mr. aL. of Byich depndn mlfiweestayingno anud then left controloe-halfon he run a stokein oh prpoell comila-n, adith me utC wor he befor mthis asscite huda on er atersonerwh decontro the othe 1911-hal i I midn't kr heroTh cman wavr,.s. to doth uwnto wiho nsoftryig Pbtling and sel- wmeti te gfiuos, ith fL.W.aoykin atie wh.r isie. in the Bonty was xplyammn- cakddates. I andi pansonal uservd talke anod food tebrs v eartl befr whhepionnto liten- tellng Imul n as and the leftterond grnatoingn did rn ae (iged) in h mnsBl oe, and hiIa fep to cd uSworsne tobeoem this commissiof or persn wh fol owing afid vr, and Sor the rihus, ornd SeNtary Puicior SaC.cept ioed the eal,i affidait iseof requiroyingr tie wt: ersai r.kin's Boyine: ul suaryn canddts. Io tiand perounlysrdt-bn pood termat ar beorvteiomigio to thebsfm es-ita Ishould in tion,sall thattrsanpd rasatwencmy andntde ,ecidudin the yemrm904-, andi hrd gods attht to rnellpestein dto l thatomccurred coulan hcrh ,efollowingsaffidvit,randlfortthe,ths, mand atpase beite omss.o accrye the couald,i earidavt inted of 19-Ireqiriv-r otof it HeMyi )yer.'. ~Tresencetr saryrite werasl. nw mlanta, South Caolin thmieoe-cntr dolrs the Rictd meCounk pitety. rtoedo tatk et hm giigothe bugsta orm Savan.. shroudgo Inl 1 and ToasB eier Atlanta, pay *tshe ar,lduring.C th yas 190-ceItised ods;-ef thet ho reoltlers in tich that occured colde conre to seen yemas cainlce, but stalrg itlhem, g,nt temeberotwee btd of mreolcinthim untilnI meato eetwhimen us. lstn,satry enul uIn hee wetinte of 1904 no rec,eith- outtersi.M thror for letters rorms Mr. if B (Statgned)t ldr. heplts lto were writte PeSorn Illo an itdno met hmke dppintmnoet nhi tayk ettersmorithen Augugram orSaa-icuh I eoBl ahy were alsoeith inAlnt,o anyc- c Th efloin tlstoa, s I alo receiveserve w~ et befoe roo to tmycorremspoindenchept as EdernsnceT e to ma ee m etai .B.Flcesr.tl writh hims )urllingoe the telerams othe yarkta of Thad Be. )I was to methim ciy ofColumbia, S. Iatorthem, gne I fee crtranti th Jroey eh-el maile. ugto me letter oro r.Fde, bF(inedrof which re iasdnme to meeahi that IEuSwrnopan htl nt himt h Jeromeote. thill V.aZ1 ivd rom r. Felye, but suosteC.JO y owelre estroe wtha my awoud Th<flow ryo m ors +4m encr. L to Etans DEasand Tob: -1T OM noeysen. cm furnsh ris fo yusar it t ERRY, . . - -gL - 5,000 ventisnoey spentMr. .fEansadvsedm grstoo .Iwentlto cthethotel wihme. miilldand terrYan either Jwie,M. Fle.r OD,Csir v cotrol, nt from Mr.foyera lL Ihv rmdu hEan aviede ho as cmpn nsuhawy htw uld Iconto the helrson al omkealte oe u do nwereallt e ther tofld b h tm ortema o owt who mle re owiandg isoe xie a ewl esn namte olcertainotl p a ntyutrhn-eiosyo epa spokeynot ave pronablyedadyucnte eie todywtay were tohnhc umtadmk napit atcroo a ny hofteadm en sso sps~ ,ere ie impression nort worhre Li ?cnd~c~'wt othso. Mr. Esaiher yoadfP ids .sa~~~ii. whie, I don now recall bet utf u aigyu so ciate inbouth grondfooor.Itsi ta he r Sta eder- s h aia soko h opn buyingcabt t wo mgil-tpeeti 10,0-we yy~ Evaontr, Toiand n IadI ti l adfradIhv e askld e who wsteata utd ftesok ul biges part w of eee the gnrlmna ro lak rs ,uFlde controled ror o,wnsa ntrs,adw a thwe outputd of ldev eeral btnt2 rsnt fw ow, who tal wer foingca gefo Otbr,Nvm ran maken a p oale of tmoneyredadthnd oeo rihe selec ti s, btcndvd th predsrothe sale orevsMentimeand whel haveoi while I canl not goa 'an d neandin ao't tme-Hb atyutogv hsmt or. of good andoou seriuscosdeatMrad.o with hiad fhn or e yuafotn adthtvr swe oul thel hespae- ucl. Wiemshn n hr big,etae tofss the o ilme eupnrcito hs teotu ofseral "pul the schmepogthe.aray s,nd thatcrbed bformin me'iiWrkgonte pa svrl ofNmak er pieo1onyhv911.hrinlw i Idaa ese gadt ury,ri esasrs. gotte ln,adwil sitm vil Perifyingao the a nd- ligtepeere tc sso gnaturey asbins.H tasecnmk go hwn.H ud, and' we e knotn ,a l te vr ihma him Ibcuy Unt i State s tdhsftueb th map - en and Ailn. h ttieto ofsck. Ter'ienu i nmermanm, orMaanyfrger.s hnan n esa ndhead nthig m rom ora, yo ll percve. Thaedau saw b~or may in o, Cak Brs.h a war th we ~n etanedto ~sfStwhe lrge diler man l the oned ute ofhit byare ordes.u Whter is done L. . Byki. mtbeedly doned and you cag etI d~~~ ~hc submcie eoe eyusoit and mae un hereo-r ~IoaryPulicfo S.C.monthas oon lao, )asp ssble, eit r e g ae he eterwhchan eswer an i 'an ~ierwit youan ur,Mess mo r L u'rads.S T'.i. he vill berifyingstheyhand tn our asd-05 gnatres s beng ctatDear Hub on ith e on efr Itof E'ede, ad ellknwnthis: when ctal stockr ofh co&mants whicletershey had tucase upistod of the ifo.mul,d himbyUniedStaesthe gneral metnge or onarhe 1ros. Ca o wantsan anteetin wit ma oted him, butmetm btpeseinow ~Iw nmeran,Manaer. a thent foreOtin.Ober Novembetand wens Ass. Mg. tieembe orig order from. Cls~arina, of Piedmfrrenan this we. Wl evo onext we to I hv ustratrn e alreaNUdy agee to F prhse,)w