The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1874-08-29

board OF that commission, but I.deny
that in any instance 1 acted carelessly
or dishonesty. y was as member OF
that board, char eed will. the duty of
conscnting to tlfe purchases Of ani re-
commended by1he land commissioner.
OF course, I ctpld have no personal
knowledge Of tic lands. never in a
single instance had any personal know
ledge Of any trlct of land purchased for
the State. l acted from the necessity
Of the case solely upon the information
and representations Of others. Subse-
Qucntly lcarIied that some of the lands
purchased weySa not worth the price
paid, but no member Of that board can
be charged pith dcrclicton Of duty on
that accountynnlcss it can be- shown
that he had 5ssome knowledge or had
some rcasonIto believe or suspect, that
the Information, presented to him vas
incorrect, or that the purchases were
improper i1r undesirable at the time
they were made. In the case, for in
stance ofithe Schley purchases, so call
cd the board was informed by persons
who were certainly competent to Judge,
and who were directed by the board to
make Inquiries concerning those lands,
that those lands were desirable. In
that caseII acted upon evidence which
was aslwell warranted in trusting as
any evidence for any other purchase.
If thsre be a man anywhere who can
say thasI ever had any personal connec
ton ofhny sort with any purch,s, III ,da
by this beard, or that | communicated
or acted with any party to any sac, or
with aiYiew to promote such sal., or
that / was ever remotely interested in
any site of land to this board, let him
be named. Once for all, l say there is
no shadow of foundation for such char.
ges pr insinuations No man can prove
them, and no mnn will undertake t.
proYe them.
( the chlrgss made against Inc in
hACettsrez 4ssits tue board appointed to
take charge of the agricultural land
scrip, lit,c need be said Every act of
that oard was in ,trict accordance
with law. The sale Of the scrip was
made alta full aud fair price, and after
careful consideration and inquiry by
the board. The proceeds were i'm me-
diatciy invested in State bonds as dircc
ted by law. subsequently, those bonds
while in the hands Of the agent Of the
board, : ere pledged for State loans,
and are still held in New York as col
lateral security for about $4,000 lent
to tic State. or the legality Of this
use q these bon Is it is n)t now ucca,sa
ry II speak. They wvr, pie Sc BY tn
agclit under claim Of authority confer
rcd by an act OF the General Assemble
The board were not consulted in this
matter, and never in any way consented
to the pledying of these bonl..
The thousand other id lie tales born of
the personal and political malice and
mendacity with which this community
is go remarkably oillicted-such rs my
reported partnership with Mr. Kimpton
my present or pas pecuniary interest in
various schemes which wcrJ intended to
draw money from the treasury and the
pccuniary benefit derived by me from
my connection with the State govern
mcnt-do not deserve even denial
They are, each and all, falls. in every
particular and every sense. Not on Y
have not received pocuniary profit
from any transaction in which | have
had au official duty to perform and
not only have | never been into
rested in any scheme which WIS h,s-
tile to public interests, bat [ c.n
say, with honest pride, that no mn
ever yet in South Carolina approached
me with Il bribc in any form, or solicited
my iotlicial or personal consent or co
operation in any dishonest mslslre or
action Such dcsre, of respect his
at least been shown ~. While den,un
cling INC in public asa c,rru,t Ii ;ial ,ny
dclamers have navor venture t. s,lici,
ho nil ,uhinh thnu ,u nj ~. IL :, ,...;