Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-04-09
THIEVES AND IDIOTS.
A Picture Of Affairs ia soaIh Carolina
Radical Thieves and IdIsis,
How the State ls Bslag Driven to DsspeFa-
tlon and Rlddsat s Death BY SCALA.
waas and S~oaanafsIs.

/ horrible feast which IS set before tue
people Of South Carolina by the SCALA
Wags who are destroying the gallant
old State:
The Legislature Of South Carolina
is a den of thieves. BY nature and
practice they are better qualified to
Ill positions in the several jail houses
and penitentiaries of the land than as
lawmakers for this ancient State.
South Carolina has been wicked, l
admit. She nullified under Jackson,
seeded under Buchanan, fired on the
star-spangled banner, fought the Gov
eminent, and conducted herself in a
highly improper manner, but her
punishment has been great. Other
States as guilty as she has been got OF
with far less punishment. Her
negroes have been freed, her capital
well nigh destroyed, her old families
broken up, and now comes a greater
| calamity than all in the shape OF an
imbecile and corrupt Legislature.
The expense OF the last Ohio Legis-
lature, 1 believe, vas a tritie less than
$1,000 0 Ohio has five times the
wealth and population Of South Caro-
lima. Just before Christmas the Legis-
lature of their State appropriated
SI35, 600 for Legislative expenses ~
Governor Scott approved the bill, al
though he SAYS it struck him at the
| time as being unnecessarily heavy.
But he thought it would put them
through and they would 90 home.
/ But no 20 home for them; they were
working too rich a mine. The re-
mainder Of the session consumed
$l2j, 900 more; but when the aDprO-
/ priatiOn came to be made Sl40,OOO got
tackled on, making in all the out
rageOus sum of 100000 for a single
session. The appropriation bill for
that amount was passed, OF course;
and had it been 500, 900, 600 it would
have been just the same, for a major
ity Of the dOnkeys composing the
| Legislature don't know the difference
between the two sums. But Governor
! Scott vetoed the whole thing, and sent
a strong message to the dOnkeys tell
ing them that such monster expenses
were atrOciOus and unparalleled in
the history of legislation. This
made the Legislative dOnkeys, dead
beats and hangers-On mad, and
they event for the heather Chi
neen who stood between them
and the treasury, threatening to mob
/ him, and swearing that he had sold
Out TO the rebels. That is the way
with your truly loyal South Carroll.
MAN. The moment he is deprived of
an opportunity to steal from the
/ treasury, he wells rebel. The morning
after the veto the Governor was in
formed that it WoHld not be safe for
him to come TO the Capitol, as a mob
had assembled there for the purpose of
! taking vengeance. But he drove right
in among them, got out Of his car
rage, and walked into the apart
ments, none of the royal dead-beats
interrupting him, although they
looked as though they would enjoy
the process OF chewing him up.
A list of items that went to makeup
/ this four hundred thousand dollars
Legislative expenses" would st8rtle
| the civilized world, If it could be cor
rectly got at. About a hundred thou
sand dollars was wanted to pay for
about twenty thousand dollars worth
of furniture. Another big item was
for money lost at horse racing. A
few days before adjournment, some
enterpIising chaps got up a big horse
race, aud, true to their education and
instincts, the Legislature adjourned
to attend il. A good many Of them,
not having sense enough to bet with
discretion, lost heavily, and, to make
themselves whole in the business,
they managed to get their several
losses included in the mammoth ap-
preparation bill.
Although a good portion Of the
members could not fill a sheet OF
fOolscap with intelligent English sen
fences in a week, if they had q fair
trial, yet for stationery furnished this
half civilized body of lawmakers a
bill of nine thousand dollars was
brought in. Nine thousand dollars
worth of stationery for a single ses
sion of the South Carolina Legisla-
ture! Comment on this is -unnecessa-
~. With the exception of aspelling-
book and first reader to each member,
they do not stand in need of any
great amount of stationery.
Every Senator has his page, mes
senger and clerk, all drawing full pay,
to say nothing Ofstealage. Then, be-
sides all this, there is an army of
black and white male and female
= .OAa m4AO AAdACAG W AANG AAOLA
the pickings and stealings. IF Ohio
had such a Legislature, they would
all be kicked out of the capitol across
the State and into the Ohio river in a
time so short as to be incompatible
with prayers.
Governor Scott is assured from all
parts of the State, by leading citizens
and honest men, that if the present
members Of the Legislature will re-
sign, and let q new set be elected, all
Outrages shall cease. A leading man
from York county was down [ see
him a few days ago, and assured him
that with an honest Legislature there
would be no more talk about refusing
to pay taxes. He said that If the
present Legislature could be induced
20 resign, the whole people will unite
upon the most honest and capable
men, irrespective of party or color,
and elect them. This is the cry from
all parts of the State. ''Give US an
honest Legislature" say the people,
land We will pay our taxes and put
down the ku-KluX."
OF Niles II. Parker, the Treasurer
Of State, the correspondent says:
The first known of Parker. the pres
ent Treasurer of the State, he was a
salOOn-keeper in Haverhill, Massa-
chusetts. When the war broke out,
a good many of his best customers en-
listed, which cut down his business 50
that he enlisted himself. Captain
Collins, now of Beaufort, in this State.
but formerly Of Massachusetts, says
that Parker was not good for his debts
before he became Treasurer, and that
he had a claim against him, and was
glad to take thirty cents on the dol
lar for 1t.
During the war Parker was a private
and, after the war settled in Charles
ton, and went into his old and con-
genial business Of keeping a grocery.
-Four years ago he was not considered
good for his debts, and it is stated by
those who knew him at that time that
he was as poor as a church mouse.
But how now ? Witness the
magic effect Of being Treasurer of
South Carolina. To-day he is cOnsid-
cred the wealthiest Office holder in
Columbia. He lives in elegant style, .
keeps six or eight horses, and enter
tains his copper OlOred and carpet
bag friends ike a prince. His wife
displays herself in a magnificent
equipage, the finest in the city, and
her hands are bedecked and heavy .
with diamonds. Meanwhile, every
body accuses Parker of being a rascal,
and he takes no particular pains to
deny 1t, There Is a discrepancy be
tween his books and those of the
States financial agent in New York
OF S8O,SO8 W. Parker says this is
caused by a difference in dates" but