The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-02-27


| enough is shown by the bills rendered
and the pay certificates issued to demon
strate that to have used all that was pur:
: chased, every member OF the House ano
Senate must have consumed
ONE G.ALLoN Z DAY,
with a few extra bottles of ale and WING
thrown in, and smoked not less than one
dozen cigars within the same time.
During this era of "~clevation,' while tho
average "statcsnian'' was deprived of the
endowment OF his accustomed luxury,
the succulcnt watermelon, it IS not
strange to find him seeking the luscious
fruits of tropical c~limcs-hence the blils
Of AIcssrS. Brookbanks ~ Go. Brook
banks SAYS in his evidence "tlat he was
connected with Il confectionery anu fruIt
store, that he furnished such articles as
were usually kept in such establishments
and that he rendered bills made out M,
der the head Of 'SundricS,' and received
in legislative pay certificates"
We submit a portion of these accounts,
and refer to those designated as Nos. 81,
81, 60, 6S 60 and n, aggregating Sl,0sO.
Woodruff says these accounts were for
"rIu1r AND cIGAKs
furnished the Senate" We also refer to
the evidence Of \. q. Jones and John
Williams, concerning other accounts Of q
similar nature.
We cannot better illustrate the elfron-
terry OF Cardinals
LEADING "sTATESMEN"
at that time than by referring to account
designated as No. 2l!, in evidence of A.
q. Jones, when it appears that Gen. Will
liam Quincy, treasurer OF Charleston
County, claimed TO have furnished re-
f.eshmentS to the amount OF Sl,3OO, but
strange to say, the itcmizcd account Of
Hardy solomon proves that Gen. Cur
ncy was the recipient Of supplies from
Soiomon's store, and that the State paid
for the same.
observation-disclosures Williams says Of this
bill: 81 know OF no supplies being fur
nlslled by Gen. Quincy, nor do l know
anything of No. 2l4, referred to i'll A.. o..
Jones evidence"
Wcnow proceed to show the enormous
expenditures for other purposes. The
first We shall consider is that of
FURNITURE.
We find that there has been paid out
within -four years for furniture alone
over two hundred thousand dollars, and
of this amount Mr.. Berry and MI. Fla gan,
furniture dealers, testify that ut the pre-
sent time there is at the State House only
seventeen thousand seven hundred and
fifteen dollars worth, appraised at the
prices paid for it,; 4 list of which was
Iswornto by them and is attached to their
evidence. This includes three hundred
and twenty-five dollars worth of turni-
turc purchased by Acknowledgement Mel
ton, and paid for by him out of his cOn-
tinwent fund, and ut this time is in the
acknowledgements Office.
Mr.. Berry says he furnished a large
number of committee rooms outside Of
the State House, as well as bedrooms.
He remembers furnishing the rooms oc-
cupicd by w. j. Whipper, I. Hurley, II.
Il. JoEnSonston, ]. J.. Green and others,
and som OF the ROBINS he furnished as
often as three times! lie also furnished
rooms ut Mrs. Raldalls for Speaker Mo-
scs, traded furniture to members for pay
certificates, and furnished almost all the
Offices in the State House,
EVERY SESSION!
In continuation, he states that he fur
! nishcd at least forty bedrooms, but does
not know who occupied them all, or what
became Of the furniture. He was paid
for it in Legislative pay certificates.
We ask reference TO the evidence Of
Sergcant-at-arins Williams on the sub
ject Of furniture. lie says he purchased
a lot of furniture from Mr.. Berry, con-
sistillg OF chairs, tables, wasllstands and
bedroom sets. Some Of the rooms thus
furnished were occupied by Gen. w. j.
| Whippcr, W. II. Jones and James ~.
Bowlcy. He does notknow what became
of the furniture, but endeav0rcd to col
lcct it, and was told by j.. b. Dcnuis, j.
\. Bowley, Benjamin Byas and Charles
! Minort that he had nothing to do with it;
consequently he troubled himself no
more about it. He says the rooms over
the South Carolina Bank and Trust Coln-
pany were furnished also, and were 0ccu-
pied by Senator y. j. p. Owens, II. lIur-
ley and W. II. Gardiner, and that he also
furnished Speaker Lees rooms and
OTHER PRIVATE ROOMS
ut the boarding houses Of members with
fine carpets, stoves and other furniture,
and that they werc claimed ~ committee
rooms. He SAYS: 81 cannot undertake
to explain the accounts Of Mr.. Berry. l
know that large quantities of furniture
were furnished by him every session,
and that as soOn as the General Assembly
adjourned it disappeared, and l was COM
PEELED, under the order of the Speaker or
some committee chairman, to rcturniSh
all the rooms as soon rs the Legislature
met" These rooms, he adds, ''wcrc
OUT SIDE OF II CAPITOL
building, and he believes the furniture
was stolen by those who has charge OF
it,"
W. II. Greenfield testified that the roms
he rented were newly, thoroughly and,
in some instances, most e~Ntravagantly
furnished every fall, about the time the
Gcncrel Assembly convened, and that
the furniture was removed by different
persons, and not by regular dealers, and
looked rs if it was being divided up
among them; that he rented the rooms
with the understanding that they were
for public business, but they may have
been used otherwise, and that he was
generally paid for them with Legislative
pay certificates.
JOHN T.. DENNIS
t~cStifics that he.purchaScd furniture for
forty ROOMS, including the offices of the
governor, encouragement, comptroller
! general and the hall of the House of Re-
representatives.. His evidence proves most
conclusircly that Il majority of the men,
bcrs Of tho House combined against the
persons who furnished these goods and
demanded to be paid for voting for the
claim. The bills were more than doubled
and certificates issued for them. The
New York firms and Mr.. Berry received
only the amounts due On their accounts.
Benz. Byas, chairman of the committee,
who reported tavorably on the raised
claim, received a pay certificate to the
amount of sl2,3l9 5O-the remainder was
divided between
FIFTY OTHER MEMBERS
as follows: w. r. Jervey had 50, 100,
which'hc was to divide between himself,
II. \, Davis, w. c. Glover, J.. j. Hardy,
z. p. Hedges Abram Smith, j. w. Lloyd,
j. n. Bowlcy and Orlando Levy, all
members from Charleston County, except
Bowley, who represented Georgetown
County.
Humbert, of Darlington, received a
certificate Of all even
ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS,
which he was to divide between himself,
Alfred Hart, S. J. Keith, $. Sanders, J.
son, Tasting Can't, r. Tarleton and For
! tune Giles.
Asbury /. Singleton, of Sumter, re-
ceivcd Il certificate for 81, 150, to divide be-
tween himself, L. Cain, il. G. Corwin, l..
Holmes, Barney llumphrics, S. Melton,
VIM. Littlciield, j. p. Singleton, Alfred
Moore, f. NJ: Sumter and Jared War
ley.
II. II. HUNTER, FROM CHARLESTON,