The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-01-17
THE CROOKEDNEss OF CORBIN.
True Inwardness Of BIS Great Phosphate
Steal.
Special Dispasca 10 he Mep. and Courier.
COLUMBIA, Tuesday; Jan. 8.

}, Special Dispa.ca 10 Ge Ne,rs and Courier.
COLUMBIA, Tuesday, Jan. 8.
The Corbin committee is engaged sey
eral hours daily in prosecuting the in
vestigation entrusted to it by the Senate
7 Its sessions are conducted in private, ant
the bond of secrecy is imposed upol
members, clerks and witnesses alike, t,
remain in force until the report has beer
submitted to the Senate. 1t is, therefore
difficult to ascertain what has been don,
in the committee-room, but from various
outside sources the following facts hav,
been obtained, which will be found il
time to correspond pretty much with tn.
results arrived at by the committee:
4 Mr.. Corbin was member of the Gen
eral Assembly at the time the phosphate
monopoly act was passed, and largely
assisted, both within and without the
General Assembly, in securing its pass:
age. He was the largest stockholder in
the company organized under the act
! and managed its interests in the triple
capacity Of president, counsel and legis.
lator and it was in its interest, and his
| own, that he applied to the Attorney
| General to bring suit against rival COM
pany, and to let him (Corbin) conduct
the suit in the courts.
| In his "Card" recently published he
states that novel and important ques-
tions" were involved in this suit. These,
however, may be summed up in the one
question Whether North Wimbee Greek
was or was not navigable stream, q
question which, under Corbin's manipu:
lation, may indeed have "run through
about three years" but which might
have been readily determined by one less
interested in protracting the suit within
as many weeks.
Having, in course of time, obtained a
decree for S., 800, (not for $4,000 as he
alleges, Corbin next applied to the court
to appoint a referee to ascertain what fee
should be paid to him for the, dis
| tingdished and disinterested services
which he had rendered the State in con-
Quoting the suit. The referee was ac-
cordinglys appointed, and soon reported
that Mr.. Corbin was entitled to 623 per
cent. on the $500 for which decree
had been obtained, and the court con-
firmed the referees report. It should be
remarked just here that at the time the
referee made his report there was no
other amount before the court. besides
the So, 900 above referred to, and the
enormous per cent. by; him recommended
Ito bepaidrwa awarded solely upon the
ground, that although the $5 800 was the
whole amount for which the decree had
been obtained, and on which he could
be allowed a fee, yet the State would
eventually receive many times that sum
in royalty obtainedtby virtue of the find
ing of the court. !, 1t chanced, however,
| that the phosphate company, the defen-
dant in this case, had been compelled, to
give a bond to the State; pending the
suit, conditioned for the payment lof a
royalty to the State on all the ephosphates
they should take from Wimbee Greek,
after the commencement of the suit-if
| it should finally be decided against them.
After it, had been so decided q referee
was appointed to find the amount Of
their liabilities on their bonds /; and after
the Court had allowed Corbin 623 per
cent on the S., 800 as his fee in the case,
the referee reported that the. company
should pay $4,000 on their bond to the
State. ..i.. ..ss.-.;l..5 ~.
This amount, in regular course, would
hays been paid directly to the State
Treasurer. Corbin certainly had no
claim to the custody; of it or to any per
cent. upon it, but he coolly asked leave
of the Court to allow him to receipt to
| the company for the $4,000 on behalf of
the State. The Court granted the re-
quest, and Corbin got possession of the
$22, 900 and claimed 624 per cent. on it.
This was too much for even Corbin's
official friends to stand. The claim was
tso preposterous that the Attorney Cen
eral, who was both his personal and po.
litiAl FRIEND and who had employed
him to conduct the case, advised the
Comptroller General not to allow it.
The Comptroller General, who was also
his political and personal friend, at once
made formal demand on him for the
| whole of the $4,000, as well as for the
l:37} per cent. remaining of the $780,
and filed in the Comptroller Generals
Office copies lofhis official letters to Cor.
bin, setting forth with painful perspicui-
| ty the sWindling character of that greedy
tiindividuals proceedings. .
The Comptrollers pointed darts
glanced from the brazen surface of: Cor.
bins cheek without inficting visible
scratch, and Corbin kept the S27, 800
By his own showing, which is merely &C
.cepted here for purposes of argument
Corbin should have turned over to the
State at least S74 per cent. of the S27,'
| 800 ;Ybut he turned over nothing. He
'complacently claimed to have rendered
the Comptroller General certain othel
services, not specified, in another case
and kept the S74 per cent. on the Who'll.
amount as his self-awarded fee, vel
knowing. that, if he had rendered any
such service, the Comptroller Genera
had no power to fix his fee, which coule
oaly be paid through an appropriation
by the General Assembly.
| What he did with his plunder is tot
well known to need re-telling. One o.
two points only may be indicated here
Corbin, in his card, says that Judge Car
penter had granted an injunction agains
the banks from paying out State money
the wheels of government were thereb.
stopped, and that he (Corbin) lent Car
dozo, State Treasurer, $4,000 to carr!
on the State Government. The reply t.
these statements is very simple ant
brief one:
9. Carpenters Injunction did not stol
the wheels of government, for the reason
that the moneys then in the banks wer
not moneys that could be used "to keel
the wheels of government in motion,
nor yet the wheels of the misgovernmen
with which Corbin was more nearly con
cerned. Every dollar in the banks be
longed to specific funds already appro
priated, except the amount of abou
] 1913, the unexpended balance appro
priated for Legislative expenses" for tn
previous fiscal year. Not knowing tn
exact amount in bank, it is possible tha
Corbin NAV have been misled by tn