The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1871-11-28
The Parker Exhibit.

The Parker Exhibit
Parker, several days ago, made state.
mentipf the State debit tos which NE
haSsA Alreadyl referred in riefaterH5. fi
wissatd. ct tho tima thisstatsmenS naSe
its appearance. lhata oo&miltee oonsis5.
ing ofMessas.s Orr, Pope, Bexter and
Breniser had verified Pasker's exhibit.
This, 1t appears. was premature; and,
doubtless, was made for purpose!. me!
| The committee acting, they explain,
at the request OF oertain; citizens, aud
with the consent OF. the State offinials-
make their report in the: Union Of yester-
day. We do not perceive that Parker
and bis cot,fstss can derive muoh CON- coSn.
fort from the report Of the committee.
except the seeming bolstering up which
She committees cotton may imply in the
minds 81 superficial persons. The COM
mittee have concluded their labors, and
however we'll they may have worked with
tie materials furnished, their action.
substantially, amounts to nothing valua-
bic as respects the true financial condi.
ton Of the State, but .is valuable as a
confession by the conspirators OF the un.
authorized and illegal issue of State
bonds As we have already said, Par
ker's statement must be considered side
by side with Kimpton's bond and money
account. n, -
According to Parker's revised state
ment, the State debt foots up $15, ,767,-
9O8.9S. According to the committees
report, the State debt foots up $15, 76e,- :
5O6.27. Thus Parker and the committee
arrive ct pretty much the same result
for the very good reason that the COM
mittee make their statement upon the
same fgures. start out in the same pre-
miaes and arrive very naturally at the
same conclusion. This exception, how
eye1, may besnoted: The committee are
very properly guarded in their language,
and base their figures upon the represen-
tations made 70 them. They have, neces-
sarily, to adopt the style hypothetical.
Whilst we must accord to tho committee
| the spirit and the intention TO do their
duty faithfully and fairly, we must say
that, from the necessities of the case,
their conclusions must be altogether un-
satisfactory. They may have sounded,
and, doubtless. did sound the depths OF
the sea upon which they sailed; but be-
yond are waters altogether closed to
navigation.
Without committing ourselves to the
accuracy OF this statement, we accept it
at present for the purpose OF supple.
menting it with q probable statement of
Kimpton's account. By this statement,
the financial agent in New York appears
to have received in bonds SO, 514, 900. He
reports on hand, So. 778, 900. Bonds ad.
mitted sold,a IS. TAI, 600. At period of
Taxpayers: Convention, the financial
agent reported 81, ,OOO. 900 Of these bonds
sold. and that the State was then in debt
to him $500, 600. That statement was
an Intentional deception, for at that time
ne had advanced 300, 900 on the Land
Commission account. which he chose not
to report. In addition to these sums, he
paid the interest on the public debt
falling due in July and October last,
amounting to about $500, 600. Also, on
July 1st, he paid $203. 900 of past due
bonds. as appears from the committee'a
report. f
We now submit the following con
densed statement of the sums disbursed
by the Financial Agent: Due at time OF
Tax-Payers' Convention, $500. 900; due
Land Commission, $500. 600; due paw.
ments OF interest. $500. 900; due past
due bonds, 1908. 600; aggregate. $2. o0s,
900. We now submit calculation of
the other side of the account: Bonds
sold by Financial Agent, $5,741, 900:
bonds sold previous to Tax-Payers' Con-
vention, $1,000. 900; bonds sold since,
"a. 741, 900. AS the Financial Agent has
not obeyed the law and fled any state
ment OF his account with the Comptrol-
Ter, we can only estimate the amount of
money he may have received from their
sale. Assuming that the average price
was as much as forty, we make the amount
81, 1896, 400. If this calculation be oven
approximately correct. the State does
not owe the Financial Agent moro than
800. 900. instead of 500. 600. which he
claims.
1t appears, further. that part OF the
bonds. sag about 81. zoo. 0oo, which he
reports as hypothecated, are what are
technically known as ''good delivery" at
the stock exchange in New York. Under
the financial pressure to which he has