Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1872-08-13
GREELEY AS 4 BUSINESS MAN.
How He Encouraged Workingmenintoa
Colony swindle.
The warm Springs Colony sWinuie as
Told by one or the victims.

Mr.. Phillip May. came into the CHRoNI-
Gle Office yesterday morning and in earn
EST tones narrated the following story,
which we give in his own words
[ want to tell the people of this country
something about the way Horace Greeley
has treated me and some of my friends, in
the Warm Springs Colony transaction. 1
once had great confidence in him, but the
way he has treated me makes ME feel
he is not an honest man and I want the
people of this country to know it before
they vote for him for President of the Uni
| ted States. s.
In the spring of 1871 came to this coun-
| try with some friends bound for the
Rocky Mountains to see if we could find a
home in that region. We went to the de-
pot in New York to buy our tickets, but
finding the price higher than we expected,
we agreed to wait a day and inquire about
it. Soon after we learned that Horace Gree
ley was to lecture that night at No. 240
.BOwery on the subject of a Colony in
North Carolina. I.had read great deal in
Europe during and after the war about Mr..
Greeley, and was always taught to look
upon him as an honest man. We went to
hear him that night. There were several
speakers present. The hall was full of in
| telligent working men, The speakers told us
about the great value of the Warm Springs
property. How the springs and hotel could
be made great summer resort for South
erners and winter resort for Northern ers.
How the water power and timber could be
used for furniture and wooden manufac-
tories, and how the colony could raise
enough from the tillable land to live from,
They told us that saw mills were already
built on the place that everything was
ready to 60 right to work. The plan was
for the colonists to buy the whole proper
ty for 0,OOO on a cooperative plan. Then
each man was to buy shares of the stock
and get lot for home and so much stock
for what he paid in. The men were to be
paid $50 per month and board for
putting up shops, fixing the hotel,
making furniture, &C., until the
factories were built. Then each ma
chinist was to work in the shop upon the
cooperative plan, each one to have a
share of the profits. The speakers who
told US this on the night referred to were
all New York men, personal friends of
Mr. Greeley. The president of the colony
was to be Mr. Lyman, the agricultural
editor of the Tribune. After all these
men told us what they+knew,
GREELEY ENDORSED THE COLONY
project in a speech of some length. Ev-
erybody present knew Horace Greeley and
had confidence in him. | listened to ev-
cry word he said. | remember as we'll as
though heard it yesterday, what he said
" don't know of better investment for
" workingman than to invest in this colo
"ny." When he said that it was enough for
me. / would have invested ten thousand
dollars if had had it. On the strength of
Oh 4
instead of going West went to Warm
Springs.
The property was bought for $4,000. |
We paid down $4,000 We had regular
officers and a business organization. Most
of the mechanics went to Warm Springs
in the spring of 1871. When we got there
we found things quite different from what
it was represented, but we still thought the
property was good and that we could sue
coed. We picked out our lots and COM
menced building houses. bought lumber
and had my house partly built when the
colony was turned out of possession. We
all worked hard but the business affairs |
were not well managed. Our officers were |
dishonest or incompetent. Mr.. Greeley |
told us he would come to see us. We all |
supposed from what he said that he had |
stock in the colony and was personally in |
terested in its supervision.
THE COLONY A FAILURE.
The workingmen did their part faith |
fully. We worked hard and trusted the |
officers. But soon the property was adver-
tised for sale for failure to make the Sec
ond payment Then we workingmen got |
alarmed. We wrote to New York to Mr.. |
Lyman and the officers, but they paid no |
attention to us. We wrote to Mr. Greeley |
himself told him that we had invested in |
the colony OH his recommendation and |
now we wanted him to see us out. He |
never a1ls,Oered our letters. Mr.. Henry |
Wilhelm who was in Knoxville a |
while at the Lamar House, aUrOte to 1fy. |
Greeley several times. He wrote and 9TH |
ers wrote urging him to look into the case,
as we were about to lose all we had, but |
that if he would interest himself in the |
had published long articles about the COL |
ony, the valuable property, &C., and on |
the faith of Mr.. Greeley's word we left our |
homes with our families to go to strange |
State. But to all our letters he neUer paid |
any attention. When he was making his |
trip South we thought he would come to
see us as he promised, but, although he |
was as once near us, he didn't come. =
we mere asked Mr.. May if all the Colon
the project and whether thew held him re.
sp0nslble for their losses.
he saio they certainly did. He said
they, one and all felt bitterly towards hin,
for not writing to them at least when he
found out it was swindle. They wrote to
him that they went into it on his recon-
mendation, and he ought to have explain
ed his innocence If he was innocent. The
speakers misrepresented the property in
his presence at the Bowery. After thew
got through Greeley endorsed the whole
plan and for that reason we went into it,
There are several of these Colonists in
Knoxville now. Mr.. Cummings who
has charge of the improvements on the
University grounds invested all he had,
and he and his family almost starved be-
fore he got work here,
Mr.. Fisher, an employee on the Custom
House, is another. 4U these men hare
lost their money, time and labor, and they
will tell you just what have-that they
blame Mr.. Greeley for getting them into it,