Des Arc citizen., 1860-08-01
To che Citizens of Prairie County.

E. w. Douglas, in his long tirade of false- 1 hood and abuse of me in the Prairie Demo- i crat, of the 2Sth ult.. starts out by saying personalities are something that I (he) dis approves of, both in public and private life i and not only do they meet with my disappro- bation, but to have to stoop so low as to deal { in such is truly unpleasant. If MT. Douglass had been the high minded and honorable man he would wish you to believe he is, he would not have stopped so low as to have become the plant and willing tool of my worst enemy, Wm. J. Rogers; to circulate false charges through the county against me when l was confined to my home by sickness, and before I had ever said augbt against him. If Mir Douglass had any knowledge of what consti- tuted honor and honesty, he would have ceased those islanders and have made amends for the same after had proven by the Rev A. Will Hams and George Hallum, in his presence and in the presence of large audience of the citizens of Prairie county, in the court house, on the 11th ut., that his statements in relation to me were false. But notwithstanding the emphatical and unequivocal testimony of Messrs. Williams and Hallum, that his state- ments were false, he continues, through the Prairie Democrat and by other means, to cir culate the same falsehoods. His attempt to prove the same, by Dismukes, Hicks and Bro- naugh, is lame effort, for they state nothing of their own knowledge, but only state what they heard some other person say.
 Fellow Citizens, this statement about my closing the court house against preaching was started by Wm. J. Rogers in 1858, and is now harped upon by his pliant and willing tool, E. W. Douglass, to prejudice the religious portion of the community against me. It is an electioneering falsehood, and nothing else. His (DouglassO assertions that 1 never re- quired w. Harris to make reports, as Com mission,r of Public Buildings, and to certify to accounts for work done on the court house, are utterly false, for not one dollar was paid on account of the court house only upon the report of the Comm ssioners, w. Harris and Dr. J. Wright. Those reports were filed in the Clerks Office, and are yet there if they have not been purloined by some designing person. His (DouglassO filings about the land of my nativity, negro stealing, John Brown, &c., I pass by, for they show for themselves at what small straws small minds will catch. J. l.. HUNT.
 Wm. J. Rogers statement, in the Prairie Democrat of the 18th ut., so far as it relates to the financial condition of the county, from October, 1856, to October, 1858, the two years that was County and Probate Judge, is mys- tified and false.
 Rogers says that when came into office, October, 1856, there was $500 59 in the treas ury; the records show there was S1316 85 out standing script unredeemed when l came into office, and the record further shows that there was owing M. D. Cheek, A.. B. Hope and H. P. Vaughan, for work done on the Court House, contracted for before l came into of- flee, the sum of S5532 TO, which, added to the outstanding script, makes S6S49 55. Now, de- ducting the snm of $391 03 which was the amount of cash in the hands of the treasurer of Joht toJ b, fore went into office, and which amount was paid off while I was in office.
 MT. Rogers says, in his recent statement, that in October, 1858, the county was in debt S549 03, and in his statement, published in the Des Arc Citizen of Nov. 27 1858, dated Brownsville Nov. 15, 1858, that there was a balance in the treasury on the 18th October, 1858 of $347 TT.
 The amount of script issued during my term of office was $7924 75; $5532 70 of this script was issued to Messrs. Cheek, Hope and Waugh an, and $500 for fire-proof safe, and the bal ance, S1892 05, for ordinary expenses of the county for the two years was in office.
 Rogers shows, according to his own state- ment that he expended, during the two years he has been in office, $7603 95. Now, Mir. Rogers, what have you done with the money? Did you not make proposition to Mir. Nc Bride, contractor to build the county jail, to take you in as partner, urging, as reason, that he { Me Brde) could get better price for building the jail by taking you as partner?
 J. l.. HUNT.