The weekly clarion., 1874-02-26

why mot Kmve@af%mtes
The Pil5t has peFaisnsnflB called ON eeIe
Legislature to appoint . COMMITTEES 70 ex-
anime into the mattaf Of the Settlement
made by the late Governor, Of tAe M
debsedness of the New Orleans. jackson,
and Great Northern Railroad Company,
by Messrs. Murdoek. Humphreys d Co..
giving the members OF the committee
power to send for persons and papers 1t
has charged that at the time Of the pas
sage of the bill authorizing the arrange
ment alluded to, it was generally under
stood that the amount to be paid TO the
State on settlement vas about three hun
dren and seventy thousand dollars, and,
az near as it could learn, it has only re-
ceived about two hundred and ninety-five
thousand dollars in full of the demand.
This, it says, S'should be looked into
Also other Irregularities, and the commits
tee should ascertain, among other things,
how Gov. Powers came in possession of
the eighty-one thousand dollars of the
Ripley railroad subsidy warrants, and If
he did not purchase them with the col
lege land scrip fund, and afterwsrd turn
them over TO the State as having been re-
eeived from Messrs. Humphreys, MUIR
dock, and Smith, in settlement of the
New Orleans railroad Indebtedness. Per
haps there is matter Of interest to the
State in these things We concur with
the Pilot that these grave matters ought
to be investigated, and, in truth, must
confess to surprise that Gov. Powers has
not courted and insisted upon an investiga-
ton In order to vindicate his own con
duct if unjustly aspersed. Nevertheless
the duty devolves upon the Legislature
to institute an enquiry; and while the sub
iect is in hand, it would be we'll to look
to another matter which is very distinct
" set forth in the following letter over as
responsible name as can be found in all
the land
SELMA, Ala, November 8. 1873.
lMelancthOn Smith, Esq:
DEAR SIR-Y our favor Of the 2nd is re-
ceived All that you have said is correct
and true French 4 Gibbs stated to me
that a man by the name OF Kellogg had
bought and paid so, 600 for am interest
in the repudiated Mississippi Bonds and
was then at Jackson for the purpose OF
procuring legislation looking to the pay
ment Of the Bonds, and that they were
in favor of paying the same, but thought
it best to let the matter rest until after
the November election.
They and others did receiUe 10000 dol
lars for certni,. bills passed through the Leg
isIatttre Of Mississippi.
! would prefer that my name be not
used, but if you make the charge again,
and state for certain reasons the party
giving you the information does not wish
bis name used, and they deny as before.
then YOU are at liberty TO use this letter,
or so much of it as YOU may think proper.
Yours Respectfully,
n B. FORREST.
And there is still another matter about
which the Pilot, though so fierce on the
track ol Ex-Gov. Powers, is as silent as
the grave. 1t is the Pearl River Navi- |
cation business. 1t is charged that |
patents have been issued for large
quantity of the lands; that they have
been disposed of by the patentees at Ugh |
prices; that nothing has been done to- |
wards cleaning out the river, and not
dime paid into the Treasury. The mat
ter is thus mentioned by the Vicksburg
Times:
We have in our possession | tier from |
a gentleman who resides in Michigan. |
which contains the Information, that he, |
with other parties, purchased from the |
notorious Pearl River Improvement(?) and |
Navigation Company, in the aggregate,
about one hundred and thirty thousand
acres of land, to which that Company, We
believe, managed to secure title from the
State without the slightest consideration.
That this matter may not be passed
lightly over by the people Of Mississippi,
Ipon the supposition that these lands
ire of little or no value, we will here
tate that we also have in our possession
telegraphic dispatch dated Ann .Arbor,
Michigan, Oct 4th, 1873, from Mr.. Is
ael Hall, stating that purchases from
his company, made by himself and par
les in his vicinity, amounted to about
)NE HUNDRED AND sEvENTY-FIvE
THOUSAND DOLLARS.
BY the provisions of an act of the Leg
stature, this company was required to
,ay into the State Treasury, on or be-
ore the first day of October last, the sum
# twenty-five cents per acre tor lands
patented to the said company, but re
ent investigation developed the fact that
lot one dollar had been received by the
State Treasurer upon this account.
The matter, therefore, if Mr. Halls
tatement il correct, and we have every
eason TO believe that it Is, stands thus:
The State has lost about l39, 900 acres
f her lands, for which private individu-
Is have received about Sl75, 900, while {
he paltry sum of twenty-five cents per
ere, amounting in the aggregate to over
10000. which they agreed to pay by
he first of last October, still remains due
nd unpaid.