The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-09-05

CHARLESTON, j
| statements will not no. What the people
want is proof, and not proof from questionable
sources. 49,
He said he agreed with the editor OF the
paper that what the people wanted waa PROOF
and proof from unquestlonable sources, but IL
was the first time he had ever heard OF a per
son arraigned upon any charge being asked
to make an affidavit that he was not guilty. i
was not his duty to prove a negative, one Wna'
the people wanted and what he demanded was
the a6idaylts of those who brought Ing
charges.
The second question, which he also read to
the audience. was az follows:
Secondly. Will the gentleman explain: AND
| furnish by proof, hls innocence OF Inc lolloW'
| ING. in reference to the Roberts Arms Compa-
| nv and the American Metallic Ammunition
Company !? 1t is charged that, "ln the case OF
the Roberts Arms Company, though inc com
nany received but $500, The account was made
ont against the State for $44, $50. The con.
| tract. which was for the alteration OF i've
| Thousand Springfield rifles to breech-loaders,
was made on the part OF the State oil South
Carolina by F. J. Moses, Jr., as ~adjutant and
inspectorgeneral. Thousands upon thousands
of dollars more were spirited from the State In
clearly chargeable to F. J. Moses, and, per.
haps, R. K. Scott" % ~ /
In reply to this charge he said that when 1t
was first made In The report of The Joint special
financial investigating committee he had risen
In his place in the Assembly and made his de;
fence. he had then demanded that the AS
sembly should, If they believed him guilty,
take immediate steps to Investigate his con-
duct. That defence had been at the time
published In the Charleston daily papers, and
even they had done him the justice to say that
the charge 80 far as be was concerned had
been cleared away. The writer of the COM
mltsee's report had. aflerward admitted the
same thing in the General Assembly. He
then proceeded with q repetition OF the e2pla-
nations which he made last winter, which were
to the effect that he had been ordered BY The
Governor to make contracts for the alteration
of 10, 900 guns; that he had absolutely nothing
to do with the transaction except to make
the contracts, the financial agent being direct
ed to pay the bills; that he contracted for the
alteration of 5000 at So Sc each, and for 5000 at
nine dollars each that the sum total of all che
contracts which he made for the State was
s123, 900; that the amount charged on Inc
financial agents books on those accounts was
$2O6, 900, but that he had no more connec-
lion with or responsibility for those payments
than any private citizen, and that the Vouch-
ers, contracts and proofs of those assertions
were on file both in the treasurer's office and
the adIutant generals office, where any citi-
Zen of the State had o right to go and examine
them, and test the truth of'his assertions.
The next question was as follows:
Thirdly. We want to know something abont
that ali. 600 on the armed force question.
win Mr.. Moses explain this =? Will he tell the
people thut it was a draft cashed by certain
parties, 1--WE know who,) Tor certain services
rendered ? No lodging OF this. Let 1t bring
into dlsrepute whom It may, give US the facts
backed by incontroverlible proof. The peo-
pie demand IL They have a right to KNOW.
In reply to this he said that the opinion
seemed to be Gu rent that the armed force
fund had something to do with the adjutant-
generals Office because 1t was for military
purposes, but the fact was that nobody bad
ANYTHING to do with the drafts upon that fund
but the Governor. As to the eleven thousand
dsllars of the armed force fund which were
charged to him between November, 1871, and
June, 1872, 1t had nothing to do with any
transactions during that period, and was. not
paid out at that time. That money was paid
to him for legitimate military expenses and
for the use of the adJutanl-geRerals depart
ment in the summer of 1871, fully one
year ago. The Governor at that time
rave him two warrants upon the
State treasury, one for !fve thousand
dollars, and tho other for ak thousand dollars,
but there was no money in the treasury to pay
the warrants and they had to be discounted.
They were accordingly discounted, and. last
winter, when there was money In the treasury,
the parties who held them brought them for
ward, and they were paid, 80 that they weIe
charged on the treasury books as though they
had been paid out at that time and 10 him.
For all those facts the proofs were on file In the
treasurer's aud acknowledgements office, and
they were such proofs as a public officer had q
right to offer. If those proofs were not suft'
Gent, he could only cay that no citizen Of the
State was safe from the charges OF malicious or
envlous persons.
In reply to the charge of Issuing fraudulent
nav certificates, he fell back upon the report
of Treasurer Parker, and declared that that
document would prove conclusively that the
charge was untrue, and he took occasion pub
lIcly to brand the men who made 1t as lnla-
nous liars. He also demanded them to pro-
duce the evidence upon which their assertions
were based, aud show TO the people OF South
Carolina whether he had been Issuing traudu-
lent pay certificates, or whether his accusers
had been lying. He stood before the people con-
scious of the immense responsibility devolvlng
upon the position he occupied. he n
lodged that the party he represented had been
guilty of errors in the past, but hoped hat IL
would redeem them In the future. He
solemnly affirmed the earnestness of bis party
in saying that the government of South Caro-
lima must and should be purified. There Was
an opportunity afforded all men for repen-
lance, and there never had been a grander
opportunity for the repentance of his party
over past errors. He invited the white peo-
pie Of the State to come forward and lend
their aid In restoring general prosperity, ard
nromised that should he he elected. he would