Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1878-06-08
Communicated.

S''"''o ri'iy !" my article published IN the
iEAc"N oi the 18th OF May regret tina,
WI Snnnis reply was not actua,ed by the
same spun. and an explanation given 10 the
p"bIic ot his tran>ac, ion with George Farmer.
l ms has been evaded and the charge denied;
hence, the proof dcvolved upon me, which |
! am now prepared TO make by the sworn atTi-
davi, of George Farmer. have no apology
10 offer Mr. Simms for the first commmnica-
ton; II speaks for Itself. | meant Just What |
saii; that the report was public, and publicly
circulated, and should be publicly explained
or corrected. ] will state here that meant
no personal reflection on Mr. Si:nns The
article was not wrote or published from the
least i'll will tor ward Mr. Simms nor any
! other member of the school board II was
Mr. Smms' official &C, that wanted ex-
planned, and aud tie pubic have a right TO
demand Il.
Mr.. Simms refused an explanation. but
comes ont and pronounces j, 1.-The slanderous
letter Of John A. Hemlcr' Mr.. Slmms
further says: Il wish to say to The pubic as |
have said to Mr.. HcmIer, that the charge that
have discounted or speculated in the school
warrant of George Farmer or any one else,
or tia, in my official capacity | have specu,
II ted tor private purposes is a lie" call the
attention Of the public To this declaration and
then point them to George farmers sworn
affidavit before passing judgment. Mr..
Smms goes on to say: THAT the propagation
Of the falsehood on Mr. Hemiers part. is ma
Iicious.' THIS di-clam; had no personal
Consideration IN the matter, ard see no cause
for MIR. Slnns 10 make 81 unjust a fling, ex-
cept tina, of a qrickened conscience 10 do by
trying TO bully what he could not do by fair
proof.
Again, Mr.. Simms says: "Mr Hemler tells
me since The publication that he did not he,
llcve the charge when he heard it, pro-
nonnce this statement Of Simms untrue and
without toundatihn in anything said or uttered
! ty me to him. ! have more selfrespcct. and
/ hope more love of truth and regard for my
fellow man, than TO publish anything that
believed false. though it affected an enemy.
which | never considered Mr.. SimnS; never
had any cause TO consider him as such. Mr..
Simms memory is treacherous or else he
wiiuily perverted what | said to him. lie
says: "and that he only published it as
friend Of mine This is not a fact. Smms
said during the interview, that | was an ene-
my of his or would not have made the pub
LEGATION, or words to that effect. | replied in
about these words, as near as can recollect:
u
the act Of friend, because it is a public re.
port and if you are not guilty, you have now
chance To clear yourself before the public.
You have my authors; they are re-
sponsible for the report al ! am responsible
for its publication" Mr. Sirnms goes on to
say: This is disproved by the fact tina, he at.
tempted TO have the publication made without
his name being attached This is true; |
spoke TO Mr.. Bell about the report in the alb
sence Of Mr.. Vaughan, befre the article
was written. When handed the article to
the editor, I asked him to read il; that be.
lieved they were facts and should be pub
iished; but would rather he would do il;
ina; knew Mr.. Bryan, and womb be re.
sponsibi". ] disremeinber his reply, but
he minated that it had better 90 in as il was
! told him all right ] will say to Mr. Sinms
here that ii was not to shirk the responsibility
place it on anybody else, although j, was
IN unpleasant duty; bu; it WAS not my paper,
and in communications of this kind, where
correspondents sometimes become personal,
editors sometimes become worried and close
the paper before the parties think they have
had fair showing.
Hence. if Mr.. Mangham came on, in an
editorial he would know when to stop. ]
look npon him as fearless editor. | look
upon an honest, bold and fearless press as the
palladium Of the peoples rights. See what
the press has done in the last few years 10
uncover fraud in high places.
Mr.. Simms proposes, AT the proper time, to
have full investigation Of the charge, and
10 use every effort to have Mr. George Farmer
present TO testify; George has sen, his afida-
Wit, which will be published below, and
writes me that he is in Bastrop teaching school
where he can be found at any time. The
affidavit needs no comment; it speaks for
itself H
When the school board settles with its
irea surer. in my opinion, the same oath should
be administered that the law requires the
Police Jury TO administer to the parish treas
nrer. Mr.. Simmss explanation why he had
TO give Mr. Bryan check instead OF cash on
his warrant may be satisfactory to himself Jut
when analysed by the public it looks thin
Mr.. Simms no doubt gets paid back every dol
lar lie pays out for having the school money |
brought up; he had about two weeks from the
time Bryan first applied for the warrant; he
could have got it in that time. Bryan should
have had at least what it cost him to get
500 hom the city.
Mr. EIitor. learn from friends that Mr. |
p. II Toler excerpts TO my article in the BEA-
coz of june The lst, on the ground that it is |
an assault, upon his personal character In |
this he is laboring under great mistake, and
am sorry that lie has thus msconstrued the |
spirit of the article. intended nothing per-
sonal by anything wrote. ] have always
had great respect for Mr.. Toler, ard had |
never thought of ai,ribu,ing to him any i'm.
proper motive in any Of his official acts. II |
was, and is my impression that his cons,ruc>
ton OF the school law was erroneous, and /
this is the issue ] attempted to make. Bn,
while ! disagree with him in his views OF the !
school law, NJ one would be farther from i'm |
reaching his integrity than myself
also wish to apologize tc you and your |
readers for the severe criticism have made |
on Mr.. Simms and his article. had TO use |
language unfit for newspaper article to re- /,
pei his foul aspersions. Very respectfully,
JOHN A. HEML~R. |