Beaufort Republican. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1871-1873, 1872-09-05
WHAT FRANKLIN J. HAS TO Say.

charges Of fraud and corruption which
lave been made against him. We
should rather say, in answer to the
charges made in the manifesto of
Judge Orr, as President of the "truc
Republican Convention" !" and publish
ed by US yesterday. For answer, the
leader Of the "regular" rogu@s con-
tents himself with denouncing the
charges, in part and in whole, false"
Though rumors have been rife, as he
says, for some time past, and though,
as he might have added, the specific
charges have been made by numbers
of Republican speakers. and by nearly
every newspaper in the State, implicat-
ing him in heiuous acts Of fraud and
bribery, he has not felt called upon
heretofore to reply. This retlcence he
claims to be sin accordance with the
rule Of conduct observed by mel iu
public position. -
Ifthe "people of South Carolina"
can eulp that down, they can surely
lie trusted to swallow almost anything
that modest mcndacity might suggest.
Aside from this slight misstatement," {"
which may perhaps be somewhat eX-
cusable when one considers the urgent
necessity the writer vas under to make
some sort Of explanation Of his long
silence, We do not see how Mr.. Moses
has bettered his cause any. A simple
denial is no IefutatiOn. A criminal is
expected as matter ofcourse, to deny
his guilt Neither does the challenge
/. for Investigation amount 10 anything.
The theory that a man must be pre-
suncd to be Innocent until he is prov
en- to be guilty, is very correct aud
wholesome one when applied when and
whore only it properly belongs to
. criminals on trial in a court OF Justice.
Il does not hold-th0ugh most Of the
Radical fraternity would have it So
to candidates for public Office. The
reason of the difference is quite appar-
/ cut. In the one case, it is the accused
party who is 10 suffer if a mist axe is
made, and, therefore. to him is allowed
! the benefit Of all reasonable doubts as
to his guilt. In the other, the people
are the party who will suffer by mis-
take. and all doubts must be decided in
their favor. AIRY reasonable suspicion,
! therefore. which attaches to any indi-
! vidual Offering himself before the peo-
pie as a candidate for an Office ofpow-
er and trust, should and does, in every
/ intelligent community the world over,
| turn the scales against him.
In the case OF I. J. Noses, we are
not left even to reasonable suspicious
! alone, which, in fact, attach to every
I individual connected with the EYecu-
| tive and Legislative departments Ofthe
present State government; but We
! have, in several nstauc'S as TO him,
. documentary and other evidence Of Ike
/ strongest character Of his mis1ec3s and
cfyieial intidelity. In the first place.
his name appears upoc the books Of the
treasury as the recipient Of $li eos
upon the order Of r. K Scott, drawn
about the time Of Sc1tt's threatened
! impcachment. last winter, and charged
- the armed force fund, which ncv-
cr haG q lc.!al existence.
A Is Of ihn names Of parti' who,
with T. J. IOScs, Jr., have dra"'n
money during the present fiscal year
7 from this bogus fund, amounting to
uuwards Of $50 0D0, has b en- publish
Cd several times IN the Phmnir, and
also in 0'htr journals Of the State
Several prrs ,ns whose names appeared
in The back list, have published cXpla-
nalions more or less satisfactory. But
niuoncy and Moses have not, nor have
nauI others who seem to have received
the iargtst sums CT mcn-y. No sane
mgn could ht expected 10 vote for
Mooney; and, ifnot, why for Moses?
The Que is not, the other had better
never been. OF the two. surely Noon
cy IS the better man.
.Again. we have the most reliable cvl-
fcn>c that +. J. Moses. Jr., cilSelcd the
State cut Of large amounts OF money IN
the transaction with the Roberts Arms
C9msauy and the American Metallic
Ammunition Company. In the case OF
the Roberts Arms Company, for instance,
it appears chat though the company re-
ceived but s.. 800, the account was made
out against he State for $44. 80. The
contract, which was for the alteration Of
5000 Springfield rifles to breech-loaders,
was l.%&e on the part Of the State ot
South Carolina by i. j. Moses, Jr., as
Aliutant and in:pcctor-Gencral. Thou
sands upon thousands Of dollars more
were spirited from the State III these arms
transactions, al Of which appear clearly