The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-07-30

Governor Scott and his .Finaneial
Agent"
It seems that The News, in its comments
upon the recent prepos;erous puff in the New
York Times Of "the financial agent Of the
State "of South Carolina" has trodden
rather heavily upon somebody's toes. A
writer who enjoyed the privilege Of associa-
ting as q college olassmste with this financial
prodigy has taken up the oudgel in his
behalf, with singular, and, We hope, with
disintsrested warmth, and is wroth that our
people should show any disposition to gram
ble at the price they may have to pay for
the collegiate brillianoy Of their wonder
working representative in Wall,strest.
Let us see who this young man Kimpton
is, and what he has accomplished. To give
tho devil his due, Governor Scott is only
partly responsible for 90 miserable custo-
diam Of its credit having been foisted upon
thd State in the first instance. 1t will be
remembered that when the Governor vetoed
the iniquitous bill passed by the Legisla-
ture reducing the amount Of the bonds e1-
acted from persons filing Offices Of trust,
howl Of rage and disappointment went up
from the whole beggarly crew, who had
been waiting, eager to lay hands on the
peoples money, and dire were the threats
| Of vengeance uttered by the brethren Of
! the carpet-bag against their recalcitrant
Executive. At this junoture the Attorney
General stepped forward and offered to
allsy the storm for the privilege Of naming
the States financial agent. Governor Scott
was too much alarmed to hsggle or hesitate
about terms. The bargain was concluded,
calm Was restored, and young Kimpton
arose from the bulrushes Of Yale, our inan-
cial Moses.
The first occasion on which recourse wss
had to the peculiar abilities Of the new
agsnt was, We believe, when Governor
Scott Was called upon to refund to the
North Carolina Ring the cash that had been
advanced to the oarpet-bag treasury as o
oenside deration for the Executive approval of
the Chatham Railroad charter. Money
happened to be very tight in Wall-strest at
the time, and Kimpton's most earnest ef-
forts to raise the wind were unsvailing.
Nobody knew him, (though, after all, it is
doubtful whether that circumstance was q
disadvantage to him or the reverse, and he
was blandly informed by the respectable
institutions to which he applied for loan,
that in such matters they must deal, not
with the agents Of States, but with the
States themselves. His Excellency the Gov
ernor was sorely disappointed and dis
mayed at this 6ssco Of the agent, at the
very threshold of his official career, and,
in his distress, applied to one Of our United
States senators, then in New York, who, in
turn, called upon some old citizens Of
Charleston, who were induced to lend their
assistance, and who, with the help Of some
Of their Wall street friends, managed to
obtain the desired loan. Governor Scott
Was in high spirits at being relieved from
his awkward dilemma, and promised the
senator asd others that he would at once,
like the other Governors OF Southern States,
place the financial interests Of South Caro-
lima in the keeping Of some New York
banking house Of acknowledged responsi
bility and standing. This pledge, we need
not say, has never been kept. Probably
the Governor hiss been forced to succumb
to the influence Of the clique that sustains
Kimpton The achievements Of that worthy
have since been limited to raising few
hundred thousand dollars at exorbitant
rates ot interest upon million and a bali
Of the bonds Of the State, which were
placed in his possession, and for the safe
keeping Of which, we understand, he had
not given dollar of security. Fer having
hswked these bonds successfully about
Wall-street, Kimpton and his friends have
the impudenoe to claim display Of extra
ordinary financial tact. For our part, We
think that the most remarkable instance oil
sdroitness on the part Of the fnancia
agent has been his success in 80 far hood
winking leading New York journal as te
induce it to lend the aid of its columnt
in bolstering up his ridiculous preteasions
But it may be that we wrong Mr.. Kimp'
ton. AS yet we are, in great measure, in
the dark as to the details of his operation
in behalf Of South Carolina. Some day
We hope the people Of our State will cal
him aud his masters to strict account ol
these transactions We shall tnen know
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