The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1873-03-06

CHARLES1
body that mad elected Patterson, was on The
bench; nearly the whole number of the grant
and petit Jurors were in attendance, and At
torney.General Melton and Solicitor Runkls
were present to represent the people In the
prosecution of John J. Patterson and the othel
alleged criminals. Before any business could
be commenced, however, the late Attorney
General D. Il. Chamberlain arose, and. with 8
perfectly serious face, announced thai
he appeared as the counsel of Robert
Cooper, and that he desired to make
a motion. The case OF Robert Cooper proved
to be one In which the defendant, bright
mulatto, who runs we'll known gambling
saloon 10 Columbia, had feeced soldier OF
the Eighteenth Infantry out o. some thirty
dollars, and had been held to ball therefor. II
was as trivial case perhaps as could have
been found upon the docket, but sIill 1t was q
case, and the distinguished ex.attorney-gen-
eral, as counsel for "Robert Cooper" had q
right to make his motion. This proved to be
q motion to Quash the whole array Of jurors,
on the ground that the law requires Jury to
be drawn not less than seven nor more than
fifteen days before the opening of the court,
while these jurors were drawn on the 10th OF
January, twenty-three days before the open
Ing. This caused an adjournment of the
court for one day, and, on the next day, the
arguments for and against the motion were
heard. 1t was strange, then, to see the array
OF eminent counsel who had been retained
by ''Robert Cooper" to argue this motion.
An exhaustive address was first made by
Mr.. Chamberlain. he was followed by Mr.. G..
Davis Melton, and half dozen other distin.
guished lawyers followed on behalf OF Robert
Cooper" The motion was opposed by Attor-
ney-General Melton and Mr. Leroy F. You.
mans, and after an all-day argument the court
was adjourned until the next mornlng,at which
time Judge Carpenter decided, the jury was
Illegally drawn, and that there was no Court
of General Sessions. The effect of this decis-
ion Ia to prevent the possibility of any Court
OF General Sessions being held In Rlchland
County until February, 1874, as the law de-
clares that the grand jury shall be drawn but
once year, and during certain specified
period In tie month of January. Thus the
whole course of criminal justice in one Of the
most important counties of the State Is to be
obstructed for year In order to stave off the
prosecution of Honest John Patterson.
This Is a record Of this case 30 far as 1t has
progressed here. The question of the admis.
sblllty of Patterson to seat In the United
States Senate after these conclusive evidences
of the lntrigues by which he secured his elec-
ton thereto, remains with that body to
answer.
The record of this would-be senator before
his inauspIclous advent In this State should
be best known by the people of that section
of Pennsylvania whence ne came, and as
sample OF their appreciation of that record We
append two articles from recent Pennsylvania
exchanges upon this eubject.
The first Is from the Bellefonte (Pa.) Watch
man, and is as follows:
John j. Patterson, Esq., formerly of Juniala
County, Pennsylvania, but for the last three
or four years one of gang OF earpet-baggers
who have been robbing The State CT South
Carolina, has been elected United States
Senator IRON that State by the mongre Legis-
lature. While figuring In politics here, PaLter-
eon was one OF the most unscrupulou5 rascals
In the Slate, and, II the truth were known, 1t
would be seen that he "left bis country for mis-
couulry's good"
Having been a resident OF this senatorial
district, our people can appreciate and UNDER
stand the deep disgrace that has fallen upon
the State of South Carolina 10 his election TO
| the Senate OF the United States. In the bor-
| ough In which Patterson lived while In this
| State, he could not have been elected 10 the
most menial office, nor conld he have succeed
ed In securing any position from the prople
either in his county, or bis congressional.
senatorial ey representative districts. In 1862
by the most vilIanous frauds ln conference
meeting he obtained nomination for Con-
gress In q district that usually gives about two
thousand Radical majority, and such was The
petitor, General William q. Miller, was elect.
ed by an overwhelming majority. His next
effort to secure position was little more
| successful, and by some means or other be
| had himself appointed provost marshal Of the
Fourteenth District. In this position he
proved the estimate the people OF his district
had placed upon him when a candidate for
Congress. corrupt beyond any question, for a
more corrupt Incompetent, bare-faeed, villain
ous official never disgraced any position. How
often be and members of hls board were locked
M In private room In the State Capitol Hotel,
at Harrisburg, to keep from being arrested
1 for fraudulent transactions Ia office, 1t wouln
| be hard to say. For weeks at time we have
known them to be hid away, while other
members OF their ring were in Washington
| fixing 'snatters u2." How much he swindled
the government. how much he robbed those
unlucky enough to fall into his clutches, is
| known only to himself and bis associates
| This, however, is known, that Patterson was
| Door when he became provost marshal, and
when he was Kicked out OF that office, after
having squandered thousands upon thousands
Of dollars on lewd women, at gambling sa-
tIoons, and In riotous living, he was compare
lively wealthy.
1t was this same John ]. Patterson, now
Uuted States Senator from South Carolina,
who acknowledged to prominent citizen OF
| this State, shortly after the investigation OF
of the charges against Cameron, by Mr.. Boyer,
of Cearheld, that he had attempted to orioe
members of the Legislature to vote for him
| for United States senator-that had he (Pat-
terson) sworn the truth, Cameron would have
gone TO the penitentiary. II was this same
| Patterson who laid about harrisburg during
/ the winter OF 1868, hiring witnesses to per-
juro themselves, when giving testimony In
The contested election case of Shugert vs.
Robinson, and who, when he succeeded In
this-the most Infamous OF all political tricks
In giving the seat to man who had been re.
jecled by the people, admitted openly that II
The Democrats had paid him ten thousand
dollars, he would have Robinson withdraw
| from the contest and acknowledge he was
| fairly beaten at the election.