The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1874-07-19
lADM1ssIoNs OF Mr.. OHAMDER1A1N.-

t.WeHsy mr. OhamOerIaln, said the
correspondent OF the Louisville Cou.
rfsr- Journal, ''yon see from my card
representa- Western newspaper, the
Courier. journal, and came to you to
talk frankly about the affsirs Of South
Carolina"
O.-"CertaiDly.- sir. I recoguiz. in
the Courier Journal one OF the ablest
papers in the United States, and it will
afford me pleasure to give you any lu-
formation can"
"What is the preseut debt of South
Carolina?'
1.-The funded debt il $1,000, 900.
The floating debt is so fuatlng that
nobody knows. I suppose, however,
81, 500. COO. When Gov. Scott came
into office. iu 1868, the funded deb,
"as 80. oao, GGG ond little upward =
"Wha! have yce go! to sh.w !..r
this. debt? Any canc.ilution of old
obligaticus. Any railroads, any canals,
stooks or hondh?"
well, SIR, to be candid with yon,
next to nothing. We did pay the III.
terest on the old debt for three years,
about $500. QUO. aud we bought S7OO,.
0OO 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 100000 to.
day?"
II am afraid not. 1t was bad
bad speculation"
"Are the reports OF the wholesale
speoulutions Of public moneys by State
ofticias all true?"
"Not all Of them, I think. But,
whilst there are exaggerations IL some
particulars. hundreds of thefts which
have taken place have never been men
toned by the newspapers. reckon
they about average the truth"
How about the Legislature rrpnIli-
ating So. 1000. 900 Of tue ,l.l,,?"
$50 1t did, OF the ground tha, that
amount of Uouls were frautiuieutlv
issued. The Legislature, yon know,
may declare them frauds, aud still they
may not be.
1.-The trouble is, F" he continued. '.not
III the amount Of taxation the people
have TO pay, for that is ouly Is mills,
or one cent and half on one dollar,
but III the ~asteful way in which it is
expended. 1t all goes to defray tue
expenses Of the State Government.
The cost of the Government for The
last hscal year was no less thun 81 740,-
OOO-thnt ls, it took that amount to
cover all salaries aud Legislative and
judiciary expenses. MT o cent of
Interest has been paid since 1871 upon
the public debt. Some six or $780,
UOO OF new bonds have been exchanged
for old at the rate of 80 per cent. dis
count on the old, or two tor one.
''ls there any real disposition in
your party to referm?"
Eyes, 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 Whittenore, a
few years since. who sold a cadetship
and was turned out of Congress. they
all voted for him to go back, not
thinking that be had committed any
crime whatever.
"Fhe people of The United States,
AIR. Chamberlain, look upon the Of
iiclals of South Carolina IN nothing
but band OF rognes I, this true?"
Il think the reports to some extent
exaggerated. Pike, of the New York
Tribune, in his book, The Prostra,e
State, made great many misrepre.
sentations. But when Il people get to
stealing it is natural TO e1nggerate their
crimes. They hive stolen great deal,
and 1t may be after nll more than they
are accused Of instead of less. The
great bulk of this BIO, 600, 900 increase
OF debt was stoleu, besides all, or
nearly all, the money which in the
meantime came in from taxation. 1t
went out, Of course. under tho head
OF appropriations for State expenses. "
An atrocious murder was committed
near the banks of the South Edisto
River, in this County. on the I'd of
this month. II 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 he accomplished by inducing his
victim to follow him in the direction
OF Aiken County, under the promise
that he wonld ''fi1 her all right. "
Having got her near the river where
his colored men had been stationed to
assist him in his hellish design, he got
out OF his buggy, directing the girl to
do likewise, and shot her. She fell
h l.. ~