Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1872-10-10

officials have received no salary LOT Tile EGSI nle
months, although millions of dollars have been
paid into the Treasury. Large appropriations
were made for the education Of both whites and
blacks but the funds have been stolen and the free
schools are closed. The Lunatic Asylum IS now
dependent upon private charity, ana Dut lor that,
! the poor untOrtunates confined there would DE
| turned loose upon the world or starve. The ap-
preparation made for them was large; but the
money is stolen. Large appropriations were also
made for the Pcnitentiary; but the treasury IS
empty, and the conyicts are being farmed out, in
preference to letting them loose upon the COM
munity.
| Seven hundred thousand dollars of your money
was appropriated to buy lands and homes for the
poor. This money, too, has been squandered and
embezzled The small amount of lands that were
purchased is perfectly worthless. The land COM
| missioner purchased lands near Charleston for
$40 OOO charged it to the State at $l20OOO and HIM
self pocketed 100000 on that transaction. In
| Greenville county, in order to save Northern
creditor purchased at Sheriff. 8 sale, some poor
worthless lands at sixty cents per acre. The lands
were so poor and worthless that the creditor de-
sired met dispose of them. 1 sold them to Mr..
| Cleveland at sixty cents per acre. He sold them
| to the Land Commissioner at $500 per acre; the
deeds to the State were made out at $500 per acre,
and the difference Of $500 per acre was pocketed
| by the Commissioner.
The high officials Of the Radical party are them
selves charging each other with all kinds OF fraud
Cardozo the Secretary Of State says that seven or
eight millions of dollars of bonds have been forged
and put in circulation. These bonds were sold in
! New York at thirty, forty and fifty cents on the
dollar. Our State bank bills were selling at ten
cents on the dollar. Our Ohio Governor, with
others of the ring, purchased and bought up these
bills, and then, as Mr.. Corbin says, bribed the
| Legislature to pass an act funding these bills at
| par. In the same way, an act was passed requir-
ing the interest on these bonds to bo paid in gold
in order to give market to the bonds in New YORK.
1t is said that this ring sold out these bonds at
eighty and ninety cents OH the dollar, and invested
the proceeds in western lands Governor Scott is
said to have invested largely in this way, and to
have built himself palace in Ohio. He is said to
be wortha million dollars now, although, accord
ing to Judge Carpenter, he only paid tax in Ohio
a few years ago on a bob-taled horse and an old
sulky. And although he is now rolling in wealth,
his salary as Governor Of the State is only S5ooe
per year.
The Legislature, too, has made an immense
number Of petty offices in order, to increase the
strength ofthe party In the the olden time the duo
performed gratuitousy by our citizens. Now
they are all paid for. The County School Com
missioner of each county gets 900 for disbursing
school funds in their counties. In Pickens county
the school fund only 81 400; but the School Com
missioner gets 81, 900 of it for disbursing it.
This same Legislature has created an army OF
pages and attaches, and theexpcnses OF that Legs-
lature at it's last session amounted to one mlllon
of dollars. Every committee Of the Legislature
had it's clerk. member Of the Legislature in
| formed me that one ofthe committees had color
ed woman for its clerk and paid her ten dollars
per day. I was a member OF the Legislature 1or
thirty years, and was chairman OF various COM
mttees, and never before heard of clerk being
required for committee. Our employees were
door-keeper; messenger and reading clerk;
For our services during the session we received
from seventy to one hundred dollars l have
never received more than one hundred dollars for
a single session. The Legislature have lately put
the salary of their members at six hundred dol
lars, and although it should not be over two hun
dred dollars, still L am glad they have given
themselves stated salary, rs it will now be to
their interest to have short sessions.
do not know it myself, but have heard OF
widespread bribery in the Legislature, and that
many of the members have received their thou
sands.
Mr.. Edward, of Virginia, told me that he for
merly owned a colored woman to whom his fam
lily was much attached, and that when she was
emancipated she moved to Columbia. Four or
five years after the war, he met her in store there
and she invited him to visit her house. He did
so and she showed him her magniicently fur
nished rooms, her silver plate-more in quantity
than he had ever before seen in private family
and her 5000 casket, with its contents of diamonds,
Watches &C. She told him, "Mr Edward, all this
never cost me cent They were presented to my
husband for passing bills in the Legislature
Her husband was Elliott; then member OF the
| Legislature, and now member OF Congress from
this State.
This same Legislature made an appropriation OF
so, 900 or SS0 900 for what called the ARMED
Force" When the Governor was about to DC
with this fund. Exhibits lately made go to show
that S10 900 of this went to Noses SO to Elliott
and various amounts to other parties. You nave
here the disgusting scene of the Governor briDlng
with the peoples money, the Legislature to drop
the proceedings against him.
In regard to the Congressional election, desire
to say few words. For four years you have not
been represented in Congress. The Radical party
have at present all the members from this State
Your property and your interests are not repre-
sented. With sixty thousand voters, representing
almost wholly the wealth and intelligence OF the
State, you are without representation in Congress
You have no one to correct Misrepresentation
that may be made to the President and to Con-
press. The consequence ofthis has been that these
Misrepresentation have induced suspension o.
the writ Of ha6eas corpus and practical govern
ment of this section by the military. Under the
Constitution, Congress alone could suspend the
writ but they, nevertheless, delegated that power
to the President. 1t is true that there have been
disturbances, riots and tumults in the nine coun-
ties in which the writ has been suspended; but al
the time the Presidcntissued his proclamation the
disturbances had ceased and the country was IN 9
state of profound peace. defy any one to point
out an instance where any officer was ever resisted
in executing his warrants and making arrests
At any time, any person charged with crime cou!o
he brought before the State tribunals without dlf:
culty and tried for his offense. But this did not
suit the authorities in Washington. Nine counties
were proclaimed in rebellion, the insurgents were
ordered to disperse and 60 to their homes, as
though
truth we were at our homes workingin our fields
and our shops. On the heels Of that proclamation
came the suspension Of the writ OF hd6e1s co'pMS'
The military made arrests of innocent anu guilt
less men, they were thrown into prison, carried
to Columbia, tried by packed juries with perjured
witnesses, convicted and sent to distant prison.
If Victoria had attempted such acts as these her her
throne would have toppled from under her. Ihe
Anglo-Saxon is devoted to civil law; he especially
holds inviolate the great writ of hd6edS corpus.
But by this act Of Congress, the prisoner is denied
the opportunity Of showing his innocence. lie
must lie in Jail until the authorities see proper to
release or try>hm. But have the satisfaction OF
telling you that the Hon. Reverdy Johnson mas
said to Governor Vance, of North Carolina, that
the Supreme Court of the United States has decl-
ded that this act is unconstitutional; and that as
soon as that Court assembles-whlch VIII ne IN
| December-that decision will be announced. mat
will be an end ofthesc prosecutions, and those VINO
have been imprisoned will be released. In addi-
ton to this-but not with any reference to tins
statement-the Attornev-Gencral OF the United
States tolda gentleman that no further proceedings
| would be had in the United States Courts against
parties charged with violating this act of Congress,
but that these parties would be turned over to the
State Courts for trial. ,
| And here amidst ones peers, is where trial
should be had. Mr.. Jefferson stated as one OF the
reasons for the declaration of independence, that
citizens were taken from their homes ana carried
to a distance fortrial Parties arrested under this
act have been carried to Columbia, or Charleston,
or ireenville, and tried by jurors who knew
neither them nor tho witnesses who testified
against them. The beauty of trial by jury is that
the jurors are supposed to be from the vicinage,
and to know the character of the witnesses. In
Columbia or Charleston the jury do not know the
witnesses from here, and any one who tells them
a glib story is credited. The trial for crime
should be in the county where it is alleged to be
committed.
At this election this State will elect five repre-
scntativcs to Congress-one from each of the four
| Congressional District and one from the State at
large. The white people of this State have right
| to elect one of these to represent them. Ihe Rad-
| ilnI ,nrt1 tl,nmSores shonld be willing to allow