The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1874-07-19
ADMISSIONS OF Mr.. Chamberlain.

I"Weu, MIR. chamberlain, said the
correspondent OF the Louisville Cou.
rier-J journal, lyon see from my card I
representa- Western newspaper, the
Courier Journal, and I came to you to
talk frankly about the affairs of South
Oarolina." !.
O.-"Certainly.. sir. ! recognize in
the Courier Journal one OF the abIest
papers in the United States, aud it will
afford me pleasure to give you any ln-
formation can"
"What is the present. debt Of Suu,h
Carolina?'
1.-The funded debt il $1,000, 900.
The floating debt is SO huu,lng that
nobody knows. I suppose. however,
81 500. 900. When Gov. Scott came
into Office. in 1868, tine funded deb,
"as Sc. ONO, 900 end little upward "
| "Wtat have you got to show far
this. debt? Any CANCELLATION of old
obIigatious, any railroads, auy canals,
stocks or honds?''
| "WeIl, sir, to be candid with You,
next to nothing. We did pay the IT,.
terest on the old debt for three years,
about S900.0U0, and we bought S7O0.-
QUO worth OF land in the State for the
use Of the poor. With the exception
Of this land, we have not thing in
the world"
"Is that land worth 500, 600 TO-.
day?"
II am afraid not. II was bad,
/ bad speculation"
"Are the reports OF the wholesaIs
speoulations of public moneys by State
officials all true?"
"Not all Of them, I think. But,
whilst there are exaggerations III some
particulars. hundreds Of thefts which
have taken place have never been men.
toned by the newspapers. reckon
they aijo.: average the truth"
How about tue Legislature rtpn,li-
ating So. O00. 900 "f the .l,M?'
so 1t did, Oh the grnnnd tha, that
amount Of bonds wer. fraudnleutly
issued. The Legislature, you know,
m"y declare them frauds, aud still they
may not be-"
The trouble is, he continued. ''not
IN the amount Of taxation the people
have TO pny, for that is ouiy is mills,
or one cent aud half on one dollar.
but III the ~asteful way in which it is
expended. 1t all goes to defray the
expenses of the State Government.
Ihe cost of the Government for The
last hscsl year WAS no less thun 81, 740,-
OO0-thns Is. it took that amount to
cover all salaries uud Legislative aud
judiciary expenses. Nut cent of
interest hns been paid since 1871 upon
the public debt. Some six or $780,
0OO Of new bonds have been exchanged
pf th r,.t. of
count on the old, or two Tor one"
rs there any real disposition in
your party to referm?"
Eyes, u little; but whether the ra.
form party is strong enough to amount
to anything in the coming election
this year, cannot tell. The great
body of the negroes scarcely know
right from wrong. or at least their
morality is quite different from our
own. In the case Of Whittelpore, a
few years since, who sold cadetship
and was turned out of Congress. they
| all voted for him to go back, not
thinking that be had committed any
crime whatever.
'The people of The United States,
AIR. Chamberlain. look upon the Of
licials Of South Carolina al nothing
but band Of rogues. I, this true?"
II think the reports to some extent
exaggerated. Pike, of the New York
Tribune. 10 his book, The PROSTATE
State. made great many misrepre.
sentatious. But when people get to
stealing it is natural to exaggerate their
crimes. They hive stolen great deal,
and 1t may be after all more than they
are accused of instead of less. The
great bulk Of this $40. 900, 600 increase
OF debt was stolen, besides all, or
nearly all, the money which in the
meantime came in from taxation. II
went out, of course. under the head
of appropriations for State expenses. y
An atrocious murder was committed
near the banks of the South Eiistu
River, in this County. on the I'd oI
this month. 1t seems that white
man, named Phillips, had bcen living
with mulatto girl about fifteen years
OF age, and being threatened with ex
posure. determined upon murder.
This be accomplished by inducing his
victim to follow him in the direction
Of Aiken County. under the promise
that he wonld ''fiI her all right. "
Having got her near the river where
his coiored men had been stationed to
assist him in his hellish design, he go
out OF his buggy, directing the girl to
do likewise, aud shot her. She fei