The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1873-01-15

orcd men, as you know: are IN
large majority in the Legislature !;
and then for them to deliberately
sell out by wholesale is = blow
that We can't get over for years.
1t is 4 blow at our integrity, our
honesty, our manhood. The re-
port has gone to the world that
the coIored legislators, making
laws for South Carolina, have
been bribed by wholesale, and the
report is, unfortunately, true
What will the world think Of it ?"
I told him the world would
think it
PRETTY HARD CASE.
YES" he continued, lit was
Patterson's money that elected
him. His strength was in his
purse. He had no claim upon
the party; he had no party status
in fact. lie was 4 mere trades
man, q spectator, a iobber. 9th
ers before the Legislature had
claims; Scott had claims; l had
claims. The party owed US some
thing; it owed Patterson nothing.
Take my case ! am a man Of
color. The coorci people Of this
State are greatly in the majority.
| carried this district at the last
election by over twenty thousand
majority. If this senatorial cleo
tion had been before the people |
would have beaten Patterson ten
votes to one. The legislators arc
tho representatives Of the people,
so We must conclude that there is
something wrong"
"Supposc Mr.. Patterson is not
allowed to take his seat?"
SWELL. then, there will have to
be another election. Then if he
can be elected without money, all
right; nobody should complain.
But this thing Of buying up 1
whole Legislature is disgracetul.
1t ought not to be encouraged"
Perhaps not; but it will never
be stopped in South Carolina.-
The last Legislature could be
bought, and was bought time and
again. This one is still more
disgraceful gang Of political pros
titutes, and the next one will like
ly be worse. There is no improve
ment, but year after year the rot
ton decentralization in this unhap-
py State continues. Elliott knows
this to be true; Scott knows it; !;
they all know it, and in con6den-
tial moments they will say as
much.
HOW THELEGISLATCRE WAS BOUGHT.
BY the law OF the State the
first ballot for senator is taken in
the Senate. The result is then
announced to the House, and the
House ballots. Patterson wanted
the moral effect Of a large vote in
! the Senate, and there he shelled
out freely. 1t is said that on the
first ballot there, sixteen votes
cost him not less than twenty-five
thousand dollars. At all events,
he had been sufficiently liberal to
got a majority. When the result
was known in the House there
was a stampede to the standard Of
the golden Patterson. The dar-
keys were told that his election
was sure, and that if they did not
come up to the work they would
not get "anything." The hope o!
something more, in addition to
what they already had, was Of
healthy effect, for the one ballot
taken resulted in the ovcrwhelm-
ing election OF honest JONI Fat'
tcrson. He got more votes than
all the rest put together.
The bribing business was at first
pretty we'll covered up, but on the
home stretch, when matters got
warmed up the thing was carried
on in open daylight, Twenty
minutes before the vote was ia
!son II member. Fortune Giles BY
name, was called to one side BY
W. H. Worthington, Patterson:
agent, and
AAoLL OF GREENBACKS
handed him. His colleague wa
then called, and a roll given him
after which they voted for Pat
tcrson. Four credible witnesses
saw this transaction, as it occur
rod rirht in the HOuse.