Southern standard. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1851-1856, 1853-10-22
Ripley, Oct. 1st, 1858.
LOUISVILLE WINSTON Co., Sept. %, So

LOUISVILLE WINSTON Co., Sept %, 53.
GENTLEMEN Il received your letter of the 9th
inst, passing my home in the canvass, on the 22d.,
and have had no time to answer 1t until the pres
ent moment; supposing, moreover, that letter
written from this place would reach you as soon as
one mailed from any point below
You say that can article is going the rounds IN
the papers charging me with having drawn from
the State treasury 900 for the purpose of
clearing out Chickasaha river, and with having APP
p1opriated it to my own use, instead of that for
which the Legislative appropriation was made"
This charge is entirely fales. If it were not,
should be unworthy of the position which occupy,
and of course, never could have attained 1t, nor
any other honorable position which have held
before the people of Mississippi. The facts con-
nected with the appropriation for the Improvement
of the Chickasaha river, are these:
In 1899, [ think, or 1910, an appropriation was
made by the Legislature to tie Rail Road and
Turnpike Co., in The counties of n wton and Laud-
erdale, by way of loan, out of the surplus revenue
for the improvement of the Chickasaha river.
Bonds of the company given as security Tor
the loan payable ten, fifteen and twenty years al
ter date, and so much of the appropriation as was
not expended in three years upon the river. was to
be returned to the State. Gen. 7. P. Faconer,
the most prominent member OF the Wing party at
that time or since, in East Mississippi, and most
highly honorable man, now dead, was president
of the company. He deposited the bonds with the
Auditor and their warrants were issued to him,
upon the treasury, payable out of the surplus reve-
nue., for the sum of S lO, 900 each. There was no
money in the treasury belonging to that fund. ut
was the surplus revenue distributed to the States
by the General Government.) 1t had been lost
to the State by the failure of the banks. There
was no money in the treasury to pay the officers,
or the ordinary expenses OF the State government.
The treasury was bankrupt by the failure OF the
banks. The treasurer informed Gen. Faconer
that the warrants would not be paid out OF the treas
ury generally, even If there was money sufhcent
to do it, as there none belonging to esurplus
revenue. The warrants were in the sums OF . 10
900 each, and were entirely unavailable The
President endeavored to get them exchanged by
the Union Bank for her paper, but the board re-
fused, though she was taking other warrants 1ol
her notes, which were then worth about forty cts
in the dollar The President held the warrants
some months, and finally succeeded IN changing one
! of them by some means, for smaller warrants
norton of which he used in the business OF the
/ company, and others were, of the most respecta
BILE citizens of East Mississippi. was settling a.
the head of the Chickasaha river, where now re-
side, and the company not being able to make the
warrants available, | agreed to take them by con
tract and do the work on the river, thinking that
could, possibly, do something with them, or ex
change them for Union bank money, which
thought, would rise in value, and could be used t.
carry on the work. Through the agency of VIM
P. Graham, cashier of the bank, they were, un
fortunately, as it proved, exchanged for Onlol
bank money, which, instead ofrising in value, con
tinued to depreciate. commenced the WORK
however, on the river, and carried it on for thre
years, during all the season when It could De per
formed with my own hands and by nrelng o'nets
50 as to render it navigabe for steam boats, whlc
have run It ever since, and sustained loss myself
Of several thousand dollars, by the depreciation
the Union Bank money on my hands, with Wh nc
b could not pay the expenses of the work. no
one dollar was ever drawn BY me, or BY any mem