The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-05-18
AN HONEST WITNESS.
THE GRIEVANCES OF OUR TAI-PAT-
ERS rs VIETED BY Il TRIBUNE
MAN.
The Venality of our LaHvmnIsers-The
State too Poor to Afford Good Ptckings
-Upstart OhiciaIs-The Land Conn
mission Frnuds-Feeling Of the People
on National Matters.
correspondence OF the n. Y. Tribune.l
COLUMBIA. S. c.. aay II

| on National Matters.
Correspondence OF the N. Y. Trbune.J
COLUMBIA, S. c.. May II
There can be no doubt that the prop
| erty-owners OF South Carolina haye many
real grievances Of which to complain on
account of the manner In which the
finances of the State havsrbeen administer
ed, and careful inquiry Satisfies me that
| the charges Of corrupt .practlcesTwhlch they
| make against the State Legislature and many
of the State officers are, to some extent, true,
although greatly exaggerated. All people.
from the Governor down to private citizens OF
both parties, white men and negroes, agree
| that with few exceptions the members of the
Legislature were shamsfully Tenai, ana
sold their votes with little pretence Of secrecy.
| This we may pass over as al admitted iact; one
the amount OF really bad legislation OF which
they were guilty is not very great. The State
of South Carolina is too poor 10 afford much
plunder. There are no powerful railway COM
.panies or other rich and grasping corporations
that can afford 10 pay roundly Tor legislation to
promote their interests; and the pctnal amount
| of corruption money used at the last session
would appear ridiculously small to the lobby
| lists who manipulate the Legislatures OF New
York and Pennsylvania. The measures Tor
| the massage of which money was most freely
| used were the phosphate bill (Which gave to
| few persons q monopoly OF the right to take
phosphate deposits, for lertillzing purposes,
| from the rivers of the State) and the Green
Vile Railroad subsidy bill, which passed the
| House after an expenditure OF s60,00o, but
which finally failed to pass the Senate over the
| Governors veto. The chief sin OF the Legisla-
! inre was the extravaganza with which money.
| was spent for clerk hire, furniture ana incl.
dental expenses. The cost of the last session
was nearly ten times as much as the average
| cost of the sessions before the war. as an H.
| lustration of where the money went 10, IL IS
related that one member bought palr OIL
| horses and paid the owner by giving him an
order on the treasury for pay as a commlllee
clerk. and that others furnished themselves
| with gold watches and chains IN ike manner
inexpensive't0 themselves.
BuJ it is against three or four OF the State
officers that the anger Of the taxpayers is espe-
cially directed When the State Government
went into operation In 1868, the only capital
OF It's members we're their influence with the
negro voters, and they CARRIED oil their tanGl-
BILE fortunes upon their backs. Now they live
in ane mansions, drive iast horses, buy rail-
roads, establish banks, and give every sign OF
possessing great wealth. In commercial COM
| munities, where riches are often rapidly ac,
ouired, such sudden rise TO fortune would
not attract so much attention or suspicion;
but to understand the effect It makes upon The
public temper here, 1t must be remembered
that the people OF South Carolina are very
Door that nearly all the fortunes once possessed
oy them were wrecked BY the war, that many
who once lived in luxury are now reducedt to
actualporerty. and that the old proud planters
have nothing left but their barren acres, which
scarcely produce enough to feed them. In these
pinching days OF adversely. throng OF un-
known men come cut of the country Of tlaer
recent enemies to seize upon all the places h
the government by the aid of negro votes. NO
doubt lurge share OF the wealth OF these men
bx,.y yhofr hn
New York as legitimate speculation, but here
few make such distinctions. The South Caro-
I lima planters know little about speculatlng;
their fortunes used to be in lands and slaves.
Wealth was slowly acquired, and was always
an evidence of responsibility and good family
men who made money rapidly were suspected.
and.tl1e speculative instinct was one OF tqe
Yankee traits which they most desplsed.
These planters now ind themselves poor. their
taxes enormously Increased, their state oeot
much augmented, and the State officers sud
denly risen from poverty to atfinence. IheiF
wrath rs naturally great at alLthis
The taypayers do not rest their case, how
ever, on general assertions OF corruption, out
they make specific charges against sOme OF the
Slate officers, and these charges are repealed
anu indorsed by MANY respectable RepuDicans
out of office. Perhaps the most serious OF the
charges refers to the public land. Bonus 10
the amount of 500, 900 were sold, and the pro-
with the purpose of reselling IL on long credit
and in small tracts to colored men. as ehari-
fable undertaking. land commissioner was
appointed, with numerous deputies. 1t turns
ont that the utmost value Of the ff.nd purchased
is not 100000, and that all the rest oil enc.
money went into the pockets OF the commls'
soners and some of the members OF super
visQy board, consisting oil certain state
officers. One man made 500, ,0e0 on
single purchase. He bought. q tract OF
land for $4,000, agreeing with the owner
that the deed should be made for Sl?O ,000, drew
the money from the treasury, paid the owner
and pocketed the difference. IN some cases
land was bought In which there were unsatlsh-
ed mortgages, to Its full value, and the money
drawn TO pay the mortgages has disappeared.
tt Is alleged that'a systematic process mas oeen
carried on bv certain State officers OF "sWeat-
ing" claims against The State-that is, refusing
and delaying payment until claimants, Wearleu
by the delay would sell their claims at a.
heavy discount to brokers, who divided the
profits with the officials, Doubtful claims nave
been bought uT and subsequently made re-
deemable al par by legislative enactmsnts
The same persons also made u large sum oy
purchasing the bills of the old Sale Bank lot
almost nothing, and then getting all act passed
funding them ut par. In other places thls
transaction would be thought legitimate
speculation, but the South Carolina planter Is
not of this opinion, and invariably character
ICES it as "a piece Of id rascality."
do not wish to give the impression that all
the State officers are. bad men; There are
some eminent eXceptions-men whose motives
are pure and whose hands are clean Of orl6esi
but. as o rule, the officers are not OF class
That would be trusted with Official Response.
biGty in any Northern community oulsioe OF
New York City. They came to The surface at
a time when IL was on,! necessary Tor white
man in South Carolina 10 say he was q kepun- pul
| lcan. and wanted an office, 10 get one Such
men we're so scarce then that many were
obliged 10 hold two or three of1ceS at once. ~
the taxpayers movement, which has orousht
about the convention now sitting IN TINS clty,
Ido not belieUe the ,ohtte people are dct9o'eo
in great part by hostility 10 the Replot,cds
| partu. They care little about party names olt
| they are determined TO get the power III lhe
State ont OF the hands Of the negroes. II
| The negroes were Democrats, the whites
would be- Republicans to-day. Indeed, IL is
surprising how little they are interested IN
parlies in a national sense. They are 1ndl-
iereat to all national matters, and do not feel
| that they make part OF the United states.
eXcept in O. sort OF dependent conquered pro-
| vince fashion. What party leaders say ID
Congress they read, il they reatl at all, WIN
about The same Interest they woull take IN
the debutes of the British Parliament; and the
| movements of President Grant are OF llltle
more consequence in their eyes than tnose oi
the Emperor of Brazil. But they are despe,
rately in earnest abont their local AFFAIRS anu
/ / believe they will leave no means nhIleu'
whether OF persuasion or violence, 10 get con-
| Irpl nr hf. Stntp