Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1878-02-28

Money An appalling Picture Of an Era
g0hich ,oas Onty Ended by Hampton at the
Head Of the United Democracy ofthc State.
CoLUMBtA, February 19.-The feature
of to days session Of the General Assembly
was the report of tho Committic on Frauds,
which was presented in both houses. The
document is probably unique in the annals
Of legislation. 1t is us follows
THE REPORT.
The committee respectfully Invite atten-
ton to the evidence aud vouchers sub
mittcd with this report under the head of
+Supplies." The abuses have bcon ogreat,
und of such palpablc nature that the most
orcdulous person would hardly believe that
suoh frauds could be pcrpctratcd under the
forms of legislation. History fails to cite
an Instance which can be compared with
such u carnival of fraud and extravaganza
az has been held 10 South Carolina, by aud
through the purchase of supplies for the
members of the General Assembly. In
this connection, VIC submit number of the
accounts against the State; also few iudi-
vidual accounts of
THE AVERAGE "sTATEsMAN"
of South Carolina, under the late regime.
We not only make the assertion, but We
present the proofs, that the whole country
may sec how one of "thc Old Thirteen" has
been robbed and laid PROSTATE through
ignorance on one side, and adventures on
the other. Our report is necessarily elabo-
rate; the charges arc 80 grave that we deem
1t unwisc to make them unless we substan
tatc thcm by evidcnoo which no one can
doubt
If the simple statement vas made that
Senators aud members Of the House wcro
furnished with everything they desired,
FROM swoddlng clothes and
CRADLE TO THE COFFIN
of the undertaken, from brogans to chig-
mons, finest extracts to best wines aud
: liquors, and all paid for By the State, i.
would create smile of doubt and derision;
but when we make the statement and prove
it by several witnesses and vouchers found
in the offices of the clerk of the Senate and
House. all will with sorrow admit the
truthfulncss Of this report For your gui
dance we deem it essential to- place under
appropriate heAds the class Of supf.ies and
the evidence referring thcreto. =,
We first call your attention to the evfT
dence of Mr.. Woodruff, who was Clerk Of
the Senate at that timc,. and necessarily
cognzant of everything concerning the
furnishing supplies. lie says: Under tho
head Of supplies was embraced anything
that Senator chose to order These
orders were generally given through the
Clerk, and the accounts were rendered
against the Clerk Of the Senate. At first
the orders we're moderate, and included only
stationery aud postage stamps, but they
graduallyincreascd until they assumed gigan
tic proportions In tho commencement of
this bus'n 'ss Of furnishing members they
gave orders on the clerks to deduct the
amount from their pay; but very soon the
orders largely exceeded their pay, aud the
accounts wero then included in the report
OF the committee on contingent accounts,
and pay certificates thus issued for almost
every description of merchandise. In
addition 10 this, pay certificates were drawn
md turned over to the chairmun of the
Committcc on Contingent Accounts for
collection and distribution. AS those
matters became common, tho Senators
claimed that
Ali TiEth EXPENSES sIioULD BE PAID
by the State, or i'd the language of Senator
g. p. Leslie, 'thc State had no right to be
u otatc SuC CUuiu pay uuu CaIC
Of her statesmen" Mr.. Woodruff says,
and the vouchers and certificates prove, that
."gratifcation" certificates were frequently
issued for the benefit of the Scnators.
Senator'S Jcrvey and GaiIlard, of Charleston,
and Senator Cain, of Edgcficld, also cor
roborate this testimony and acknowledge
that they received portion Of the fradu-
lent certificates thus issued. A.. 0. Jones,
Clork of the House, testifies that supplies
wero furnished under the head Of "legisla-
two expenses, sundries and stationery" and
Included refreshments for committee rooms,
groceries, clocks, horses, carriages, dry
goods, corpets, furniture Of overy dcscrip-
tion, and miscellaneous articles, Of mcr-
.chandise for tho personal use of tho men,
hers.
Your committee find upon examination
that in
ONE SESSION
there were expended, under the respective
heads of "Supplics," "Sundries" and "In-
cidental Expenses" not less than three hun.
dred and fifty thousand dollars, one hundred
and twenty-five thousand of which were
spent for refreshments, including the finest
wines, liquors and cigars.
We can only prove how universally this
system Of fraud was praoticcd and carried
out by the bills and individual accounts
turned in as vouchers, portion Of which
We submit with the report and tho evidence
Of Clerks Woodruff and Jones and Sergeant
at arms, Williams.
Woodruff tcstifes that "tho PRACTICE be-
~ ,hroo