The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1874-04-29
Columbia Correspondence. Augusta Cou-
stitutioYulist)

COLUMBIA, s. c., April .lCth, 1874
1t may be of interest to many oI
your readers to be Informed how 9
creature like Gov Moses ever came
to be elected to tho high aud hither,
to respectable. Office which Ge 8,
saqrilegiously degrades. Moses wu.
born at Sumter, in this State, and i.
now ABOUT forty;Rye years of age.
| A. SCHOOL he! ,nsvet enjoyed, Tie con.
fidence or respect Of his ,soh,olmatc 8,
aud subsequently, at tho. Cola nbia
College, he stood very low ID his
c!asses, (uot rising higher than sopho
more), and was reputed ~ bis fel.
lows 70 be a cunning, closo cort Of
character. He was prorc at that
e"rly day to do little, low tricks
and. 1t is said that nearly all of his
col lege debts remain nhpaid. After
being "sent homo," beoauee of tho
inability of the faculty "to. make any
thing out Of him." he entered tho
law uffice Of his father, now Chief
Justice Of the State, and ina short
time was adhittod to the bat.
He pevcr entered upon tho prao.
tioe Of his profession, having married
a woalty .plauto.'s daughter, upon
whose estate he Jared sumptuoa,ly
as long Az it lasted, which was about
the time Hon. L. w. Pickens was
elected GovernoD when by some
eoup de main ho succeeded in getting
the afpointment Of Private Secretary
to hls eSoelienoy. At that tune
there was no man in tho State SO
noisy in his dehuncta,ions of North.
erin men and principles as Moses.
He really rendered valuable services
in organizing the troops preparatory
to the great struggle Of 1861. At
the siege of Sumter lie made him.
selfmost oficiods, aud it was such
al unusual thing, at that. time, to
sec Hebrew in uniform and dong
ing for the fray" that he was allowed
the Ito him very dear) privilege of
hauling down the flag of the "la cd"
garrison, which he did uttering tho
most disgusting baths, But this
was. the last aud only belliGercnt act
Of le petit Moses, for wo hear no m ore
OF h,m III his bomb proof position until
the fecoustr ruction fat weqt abroad
when he was elected delegate from
Sumter district to the State Conyen-
tion in 1868. r.,.-.,.
He was elected Adjutant General
of the militia in April 1868, and in
the fal! Of tho same year was returned
fom Sumter county to the House Of
Repres atives was .eleot5d speaker
Of the House, aud again reelected
speaker in 1870. In the winter of
1871, ho determined te break down
Scott aid his administration; and
for that purpose concocted schemes
us novel rs successful. Muses., as
speaker, at one time drew up over
a hundred thousand dollars worth of
fraudulent 'pay certilicatc<,' and
had t"e~ ~ due time presoh'tcd to
Scott Tor his approval, as tho law
then forbade the drawing. of any
moneys save on the Governors order.
Scott looked with surprise at the im-
puqept, eniisParles, and threatened to
kick them out Of Ills office, AID sent
for Beverly Nash, Trial Justice,
and took out warrant for the UT.
rest of Moses, who becoming fright.
ened, destroyed the certiticates, and
resolved to accomplish his ends in
another why. The next plati was to
pass an act repealipg the cluuGe re.
quirins the Governo.'s signature to
Pay certificates, and all other orc ers
on the Treasury, and c. e: Bowen
Il am sorry to say backed by Demo.
Gratis, and the entire press Of the
Slpte) introduced his impeachment
resolpti,n. Pay certificates were
now issued in immeuse am counts, .and
the memb=rs of tue Legislature wcre
literally supplied. The market was
flooded with paper, which soon foil
from 9Oc OIL the dollar, down to al.
most nothing, not however until hi.
tools j I'd pocketsd over,a half mil.
lion Of dollars, each recipient proniis.
ing upon his knees that he would
stand by little Frank until death, or
make him Governor. Ono million
five hundred thousand dollars were
issued by Moses IN certificates, upon
which tie half million was realiz.
cd.
Scott fought them like man.
aud the impeachment failed. With
the large sums Of money with Which
Moses had supplied his followers,
they preached up nothing but
"Moscs" to tbs ignorant masses dur.
Jog the Spring and Summer Of 1870.
The services Of John J. Patterson,
Elliott and others, were secured,
Moses making promises to each Of
these asPirants that they should have
his SUPPORT for United States Senate.
Patterson thought his SITUATION par.
ticularly fe'citious, rs h'o fad the
promise of Moses TO include tho 10.
famous Blue Ridge scrip 10 tho
LIQUID stion of the public debt. When
tho convention aembled at Colum.
bla iu August, 1872, Patterson be-
came nervous and demanded that