The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-03-14

CO.. .aisle
of the cold High joint" The Gershon
certificates are in the vaults of the treas
it1rer's ofice, cancelled and paid. 1t also
/; appears that $4,000 certificate was is
sued to Senator B. F. Whittemore forthe
purpose of purchasing the portraits of
Lincoln and Sumner for tho Senate.
| Most of. this amount has been paid him,
but the portraits are not to be found, and
tits presumed that Senator w Whittenore
pocketed them when preparing for flight
from the State. 20 ? . -
In reference to a passed claim certif-
cate, No. IA, for $1,000, payable to the
Columbia Union-HeraId, Mr. Woodruff
says: "It was one of the mistakes and
that he believes J. G. Thompson knew
ho had no right to the money when he
collected it." Woodruff, continuing,
says: Certificates issued to j. N. Dob
son for $642 aud G. N. Smith for $642, as
committee clerks, that no such persons
served; if they had he would have known
it.n These certificates were collected by
Associate Justice Wright, and bear the
following endorsements: "Per @. n.
Smith, for J. J. Wright" and "Per J. N.
Dobson, for J. J. Wright"
JUDGE WRIGHT
when summoned before the committee,
testified as follows: "I know that at one
TIME, several years ago, I.let two young
men, who, as well as l remember, repre-
sented themselves as attaches of the
General. Assembly, have some money,
about twenty-five dollars to one and fifty
to the other, and took as collateral secu-
rity pay certificates from each. Iithink
this was during Parker's term of Office.
T. do not know the name of. parties
have 7 ever seen them since. made In
quiry for them, but could not find them.
[ am not positive about the handwriting
of the endorsement upon these certifi-
Gates. My impression is that it is my
signature on the back Of the Dobson Ger.
tiEcate, and perhaps on the other, but |
do not speak positively. Inow ask leave
to retract what I said in reference to the
endorsement, since upon more careful
inspection J. could not have written the
endorsement, for the English is too bad,
I the language is not mine.''
I ,sYonr committee leave the matter with
you to judge where this man obtained
these certificates, and whether it Is
probable story that young men who were
| strangers to him would give him 81 ,284
worth of State paper for $75 without his
ever hearing of them again. His testi-
tmsny that he did not know them and in
the. next moment saying he made inquiry
| for them, and his confused statemen: in
reference to tho endorsement, together
with the fact that he only objected to the
English" and could see nothing wrong
in law or morals in the act of signing
another mans name, place him in no en-
viable light before the public.
) ieRATIFIcAT1oN CERTIFICATES
Of the certificates presented Mr.. Wood
ruff designated more than 100000 as
"gratifcation certificates" issued for the
Estate officials and senators, and named
ISe1ators Owens Whittemore, Nash, Gail
lard and others Us recipients of portions
of them. By reference to Woodruf's
tevidence it will be seen that afraudulent
certificate vas issued to Senator Robert
Smalls for o large amount Woodruff
testifes that certificates were issued. to
various senators out of the Senate contin-
gent fund and divided between them.
Senator Cain corroborates this statement
lin his evidence, aud duplicates Senators
B. F. Whittemore, Nash, jerry, Gaillard,
JIM. Smith, Dublin s. Walker, j. H.
White and himself. Woodruff says /:
Certificates were issued for supplies,
not only for necessary articles, but fire.
quently as bonus or qualification to SEN
ators." examination of the vouchers,
we fined that this was true and that i'm
mense sums we're thus annually expen-
ded.. A. D. Jones, clerk of the House,
from 1868 to 1876, says :."It was made his
duty to attest the signature of the Speak.
er, that he never questioned the right OF
the Speaker to order his warrant on the
State treasurer; that the issue of 'certfi.
Gates was enormous in number and
amounts, and the pressure upon the pre-
siding officers, by members of the Senate
and House, to have certificates issued
to their friends, political and otherwise,
for sinecures and gratuities increased at
every session. The issue ran to the
highest point at the session 1912, when
the orders on the State treasurer drawn
by the Speaker of TIE House amounted
|, ,to. oyer a half million Of dollars. two.
thirds of which were for sinecures and
gratuitie.. Among, the papers of the
Committee, of;which they desire an ex-
planation, / recognize the following
aud here he named FIVE certificates, pur-
porting to have been given to clerks and
messengers, for $405 each, collected by
DR.. J. L. Neagle, then comptroller.
general. He says "He knows no such
parties, and believes them to begratuities." :"
Jones makes the same statement in re-
gard to eleven Others of similar nature,
calling for $4S6 70 each, collected by j.
L. Watson, treasurer of York county.
Sixty odd other certificates issued by the
Speaker of the House, ranging in
amounts from 1921 to ga each, and ag-
gregating $56, coo, were presented to him
for Inspection, and he pronounced them
all gratuities knew of no such persons
as those named in the certificates, and
that no service was rendered for them.
Your committee only presented to
Jones q very few of the large number of
these certificates in their possession. BY
reference to his evidence hundreds OF
names of fictitious persons will be found
in the body of certificates land described
by him as gratuities,) sixty of the GER
| tifcates referred to we're collected by F.
S. Jacobs, L. J. Coghlan, treasurer Of
Sumter County, J. B. Lowery and G. w.
Waterman, the two last being brothers
in.law of Governor R. K. Scott. The
certificates collected by Waterman and
J.B. Lowery, according to the evidence
of +. J. Moses, were given to Governor
Scott iu cancellation of debt due him
by Moses, and that he (Scott) consenting
to this arrangement allowed Crews to turn
over sum of of $4,000 due Moses on a
bribe promised him by Patterson on the
Greenville and Columbia Railroad Con-
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