Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1882-10-21
DrApwoop, Oak, Feb. 81, 1879.

county. ] regard the till as essential to
the adminisir ration of its laws, that cash
may hereafter be paid officers. %jutprs,
Witnesses. Worse evils will be preva-
lent, and to new board of commissioners
and court may be left determination of
legality Of issue to be bonded.
G.. c. MooDY.
This telegram is the bone Of conten-
ton. Moody has said he never ON
municated with Governor Howard
regarding the funding bill, and now this
dispatch, declared to be a true copy of
the one Moody did send TO Howard, Is
brought up TO confront him. Here we
publish in full the letter ofthe governor
in reply to Moody's letter given above /:
WASHINGTON, ID. c., July p. 1881.
Sir: In reply to your disrespectful
and indecent communication of the lst
inst, demanding copies Of certain tele-
grams which are a part Of the executive
files, ! have TO inform you that the
language and tone OF your letter was of
such character that | have hesitated
about noticing it. Upon further con-
sideration, however, | haye decided that
its wanton Measurements require that
the sunlight of truth should be turned
upon them and your full responsibility
for Governor Towards approval of the
Lawrence county bonding scheme,
which has loaded the people with an
enormous, unjust debt, bearing a ruin
ously high rate Of interest, should be
shown up.
First-You say: II Gou) did not
know when Governor Howard had the
bill under consideration, or that he had
hesitated to approve it," The executive
files show that a telegram was received
by Governor Howard, dated February
lS, 1879, signed by Star * Bullock and
other citizens of Deadwood, SAYING that
no funding bill should become Il law at
that time, and hat under instructions
to the grand jury, the debt may be part
ly illegal. The executive files show a
dispatch, addressed to Governor How
ard, dated February 81, 1879, and mark
ed as received at Yankton, at 4 p. m,
signed by G.. c. Moody, in which the
statement in your letter, above referred
to is fatty contradictod in the following
words; 1T is rumored you are urged to
veto funding bill Lawrence county. |
regard the bill as essential to admins
tration OF its laws" 1t will thus be seen
that you did know when the bill was
before Governor Howard, and that he
had been urged to veto it. The concur
rent testimony of his private secretaries
will show that Governor Howard was
about v~ttoing The bill on account of the
telegraphic protest of Star and others,
when the timely dispatch, signed by You
In the interest If parties who had pur-
chased the county warrants at about
one-third of their face, induced Govern
or Howard to sign the bill.
Second-You say in your letter: II
(you) could not have assured him Gov
ernor Howard that he could RELY upon
the commissioners and the court to pre-
vent the funding of fraudulent issues
The dispatch signed by you, to which !
have referred, after urging Governor
Howard to sign the bill, contains the
following, "To new board of commits
sioners and court may be left determine
ton Of legality Of issue TO be bonded
| submit that no stronger assurance
could have been given TO the executive
by a Judge in order to secure his approal
Of doubtful measure.
Third-You further state in vour great
enxiety to escape the consequences of
this urgent dispatch, requesting Gov
ernor Howard to sign this bonding bill,
which has brought ~stagnation TO bust
ness and seriously. depopulated Law
county, that you ,elegraphed the
legislature that the warrants ought not
to be funded at over 80 per cent. of the
amount for which they were issued.
If this statement is true, of which.
however, | have no corrobarative evil
dence, why did you not so state in your
dispatch TO Governor Howard, and
when You found that the bill had been
signed upon your pledge that" the court
would determine legality of issue to be
bonded" could you not as easily have
caused an injunction to issue, and stop
ped the funding of nearly 100000 of
fraudulent warrants as to have issued
the injunction which you did to prevent
the payment of rent upon the Evans
county building?
further submit that the inconsisten-
cies and sophistries with which Your
communication abound might be point
ed ont al infinitum. Yet | forbear until
You nave had a reasonable time to make
the amende honorable, or, at least, To
make an attempt TO extricate yourself
from the palpable contradictions en-
braced in your dispatch to Governor
Howard, and in the ungcntlemanly com
munications addressed to his successor.
l cannot forbpar howevar from cuotin,