The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1878-03-20


measures-extraordin as they may
SOMEONE from the well estabiishe ed
doctrine that in life and death strug-
gle yoIl may fight the devil with fire. l
= find in the ZKIeraE9> and Nda of last
week the following:
. "a w IN Col. GolyaFs explain his eonnee-
tion with the 'penitentiary ring which
his friend AMI adnIirer of the BduRsr SO
bitterly .denoancesg" hokA
This is the game of the high tax par
ty. This is but a renewal of it. De-
fend, by charging that the prosecutor
is rascal. This is a plea of set off that
will not stand in court minute, l am
not on trial.
81 But, if IiteH the HerageI and Matt the
whole story Of my connection with the
peniteHtiary ring, will it publish it? 1t
ought, after calling fer it,
j, Upon looking into the history of our
State prison l found that it had cost the
tax-payerslof the Statesa great deal of
money. Thirty-nine. out of forty-0ne
years-the penitentiary being then for
ty-ones years old-thea Legislature had
appropriated money to run the prison
the question before every Legislature
was how can we make the peHitentiary
self-sustaining? / prevailed on the Leg
islature to let me try the labor in coal
mines which | was working. The argu-
ment which made was that the penis
Tertiary had not only cost the tax-pay-
ers large sum of money, but that the
.penitentiary, as work shop and place
to learn felons trades, was great wrong
to the mechanic, and that the conflict
between the Legislature and the me-
chanics mines, and by showing the Leg
aislature that there were not three hun
dred men in the whole State who want
ed to dig coal, the convict, if put in that
/ business, would be in conflict with no.
body Six years of trial proved the sue
cess of the labor in mines, and when /
sold the mines to Cherry, zOfConner,
Morrow 80 Shook, l advised the continu-
ance of this labor, by hiring the labor
as I had done, and not leasing. When
the question of renewing the lease, came
up in 1876, and the Governor was offered
about $50,000 year for it, by Cherry,
rO'Cenner s. Co, / advised against it;
and at the session of the Legislature one
year ago, was summoned before the
,Penitentiary Committee to give my
views, and for one hour l urged the
committee not to release it. / showed
! the committee, as thought, thata lease
was not best-mainly for the reason
that it would be regarded as a monopoly
and that the penitentiarY, as y work
shop, ought to be broken up root and
branch; but that the State ought to hire
out the labor to the different gceal com
lfpanies in the State, giving all the same
I chance, whereby those who used coal
would get the benefit of that ceompeti-
ton which such distribution of the la
Dor would produce.
IalsI utltfsrtook to show the committee
that by hiring the labor to the different
| coal mines about $75, 900 annually cou1d
be realized. have since understood
that one-half the present lessees Were
against the lease, and preferred hiring.
I The eommmitte decided, however, to
lease. and the Legislature so directed
| the Governor, and the present lessees
Maid SO, 800 and transportation from the
liails, making about So, 900 a year.
This is paid in actual clean cash, and if
Sherman's policy is continued, the bar
gain is an exceedingly hard one on the
| lessees-indeed, is so hard that the
Nashville Banner few weeks ago pub
lished lengthy letter, to show that the
lessees would break down and ask the
State to rescind the contract. Il am the
| attorney of these lessces, and the only
| thing I have had to do with the Ring
question, was few days ago, when the
banner repubhshed an article from a
Jonesboro paper charging in substance
that the lesseeS were ring, aud had
corrupted the Legislature to get in the
lease, l interfered to prevent ii personal
rencounter The editor and all tho
stockholders agreed that they had nc
nroof of the Legislature being corrupted
and the editor assured me that he die
mot believe there was any corruption in
obtaining the lease. John Overton
was chairman of the committee, and the
whole was committee OF tirst-claSs
men, and the Governor left it to the
highest bidder. This is all have had
to do with the penitentiary ring. IL
NY credit side is about this. that after
having the State in cash over 500, 0Ot
for the labor-something over 100 men
while 1 was trying the experiment,
bought about n state of things by which
the State gets GnStead of heavy outlay
for convict labor, after paying all ex
penses of every kind for the six years Of
this lease, about $492, 600 and the peo
ple's taxes are just that much less thar
they would be but for my connection
with the Ring ?"
A word about rings. Some years ago
when the peoples hands were tied and
they were in great distress, a real ring
existed in the city of Nashville-it wal
attacked and broken, and when | look
| round at the men who arc now max inS
cheap capital by crying ring, l do no
see a single man that opened his mouth
/ or took up his pen to say word or write
line in the'fight, ..5...fs
What the Herald and Nal calls a peni
! Tertiary ring, so far as 1 can see, and 50
for as know or believe, is simply -four
| State, which in my opinion, as things
have turned out, it is greatly to the in
terest of the taxpayers Of the State, they
shall not be allowed to surrender, as the
Baaner's letter predicted they would
have to do.
If anybody believes there was corrup
ton in getting the lease, have never
heard of hint is simply a lame at
tempt to make capftalby crying "ring
And if the lesSeeS are to be held up
in the Banner one day before their cred
itors as having hard bargain which
will surely break them, having a con
tract which they will be obliged to sur
render; and the next day neldup to the
public as having Il ring contract which
they bribed the Legislature to get-it
seems to me they viii be forced to make
a new ring, taking newspapers in. as
| am not the apologist or defender oil
those who combine against the people
4 and have never hesitated to attack
| rings and to war on organized power fol
i evil purposes, but [ am frank to say
bh1b Al Ihy opAuion tue AolE tieh, calico
a ring, who pay 1892, 900 cash for the
present lease or the penitentiary, should
he regarded as friends to the tax payers
II is s'.igh. to support the entire State
Government, economically administer
ed one year andsis that much made
f.any one making this charge will
! firing pcoof that the Iessees-Cherry,
! O'Conaer, Morrow s. Shook, or either
! Of tn n brihed any member of the
LegisiaF ire, L viii agree t. prosecute
thenss a1ut 4 do not believe il, and there
fore | speak plainly I...
Geo. S. Crouch, ESD announces him
self iulthis weeks paper candidate for
Circuit Court Clerk. Mr.. C.. is a gen