The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-01-24
THE CASE OF coRB1N.
What he says about South; Carolina Phos-
phates.a a.

-. THE CASE OF CORBIN::
What he says about South; Caroline Phos
e pnases' ~
From, ths Washington Post. sis.
Hon. D. T. Corbin, of South Carolina
contestant for the seat in the United
States Senate now occupied BY the Hon
NJ. G. Butler, has arrived in Washington
and is now staying with his friend, Col
Lowe, at No. 1886 CorcoranS Street. Mr.
Corbin says he is here to stay until his
case is settled, and expresses every hope
of ultimate victory. . ~ .s7 Ii..i
A reporter of the Post last night called
upon the distinguished gentleman fol
the purpose of interrogating him con.
cerning certain points contained in re.
cent articles in this paper touching his
alleged connection with corrupt. legisla.
ton concerning the famous phosphate
beds of South Carolina. Theiifeportel
having been courteously received made
known the object of his ,,caal, and pro-
ceeded to business by handing Mr. Cor.
bin a copy ofthe paper containing the
charges, and asking him what he had to
say about it.
Mr. Corbin replied: AS to the allega.
ton in this paper that Fam procuring
! proof to exonerate myself from the
charge of having. championed the phos-
ipbate swindle; in. the South Carolina
Senate, there is mo foundation for the
statement. 4. I. have never, known Of q
charge of that kind before. I know OF
no phosphate swindle passed by the
South Carolina Legislature, OF any Law
pertaining to phosphates that, has ever
been or is now regarded as q. swindle by
the people of the State. ,'st3 Ut ~ -. 7, I
The Interview then pfocseded as fol-
lows: .sitsS. .H .:E .t4a
Reporter-Well, what was the nature
of the bill passed? ;is4iea4 a:i !
Mr.; Corbin--In 1870 there vas bill
passed by the Legislature, authorizing
certain persons named in the; bill, and
such other persons as they might asso-
ciate, with them, to mine and remove
from the beds Of the I,avigable streams
of the State the phosphate rock and
phosphate deposits. These persons
were required to pay the State forFthis
privilege of mining $1tper ton for every
ton of phosphate rock mined and .fe-
moved. / favored this bill as q member
of the Senate at that time. / believed it
to bea wise measure and for the einterests
of. the State, and it has so .pfovedsi The
State has made more money out ofa the
measure than any of the grantees or
stockholders! I'know nothing sof. any
money being used ato' secure the passage
of this act. I have hesfd itcharged that
money was FUSED, but if st, was done, 1t
was done by the parties interested, and
wholly without my knuwledge. The
PARTIES interested, by the way, were the
mostrespected business men of Charles
ton, and their names appear in the act.
R.-Were the names of the gentlemen
named i'd the Post article, Williams and
Adger, in the act? 5;stff . .::fstdtitft
+ Mr.. Civilians name appearsin the
act, but I don't remember whether sAd-
gers does or not. & ,He,l however, }subse-
:quentlya became interested in the associa-
.tion. 'sai,,5 Il; 8 ,fsi.aGn.' es!ta9aa.d.
R.-You we're not then an agent Of
these parties as charged in'this- article7
Mr.. C.4No, sir. T never sustained
such relation to that Of any other bill.
All I know about the origin of this bill is
that Mr., Jos. H. Taylor, then Of the
firm of Geo. W. Williams & Co., came
to Columbia during the; session Of the
Legislature and explained to me- the ma
ture of the phosphate beds lin the nayi-
gable streams, and suggested that they
could be made available as ameans Of
revenue to the State. After full discus
sion with him Of the subject, J. drew the
bill in his presence, which subsequently,
became law. Mr.. Taylor IS now dead,
but was, at that time, considered one Of
the most honorable and high minded
men Of Charleston, and I believe he was.
R.-Were there any charges of cor
!ruption made at the time? ~
Mi. CT think that soon after the
bill passed there were such charges made.
R.-Was there any foundation for
any?.
Mr."C.-I do not know. ':i!.;
R.-Had you any reason to suspect
that money was being used to secure the
passage Of the bill !? : = -, 1%....,
MI. C.-When the bill first passed 4
was present, and it passed without much !
difficulty, and I had no reason to sns-
pect that any money was. used to secure
It's passage. The Governor vetoed it, 4
was called home by a death in my family,
and the bill during my absence. was
passed over the Governors veto. The
newspapers charged at the time4some Of
them-that money was used in the hnai
passage Of the bill, but I know nothing
about it, and was il no position to knoE
anything about it; : T have been told
since in 8 general way that money YVES
used, but I don't know that. | could even
name the persons who told me. i...., 49,,
. R.-Did you subsequently, Or at any
time, become interested in these grants
MI. Gil did,, T became q stockhold-
er in the company formed TO work The
phosphate beds under the provisions o.
this act. ~ .....,;..,i,,,g
,R.-How long subsequently? :gr .g'
T. Mr.. .C.-Oh, / don't know. Not very
long. I purchased my stock and paid pa
up my assessment just like the rest re q
them. 81 ..,,tp a,..r, /.
Rid it prove a profitable invest. i've +
Mr.. C.--Not at all. 1 paid SIC, 900 70,
my stock, and paid all the assessments
upon it, amounting to about $40, ,6O0; was
connected with. the company about siz
years, and finally sold my interest afQl
about $4,000. All this time the State
was receiving its royalty, amounting te
from $50, 900 to $4,000 per year. The
company to which ] belonged: has re-
Gently suspended operations and is in
solvent. ~
,R.-You do not then stand in fear ol
the threatened investigation of the phos'
phate business 2? :5t. q
Mr.. C,-Not in the slightest; ON the
contrary, I court the fullest investiga
sion that the ingenuity of my most bittesl