The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-03-05
THE ROBBER GOVERNOR.
ais Pftiful Plea in His Own Behalf and
HIS Sentence to imprisonment.

THE ROBBER GOVERNOR.
ais P1tIfu1 Plea in His Own Behalf and
HIS Sentence to imprisonment.
In the Superior Criminal Court al
East Cambridge, Mass. on Tuesday, as
mentioned in our kilograms, ex Governor
Moses, of South Carolina, charged with
obtaining s34 under false pretences, was
up for sentence. The plaintiff having
pleaded guilty, he was sentenced to six
months in the House of Correction. In
addressing the Court, Moses said, for the
sake Of the name he bore-which until
the death of his father in 1877 was an
honored one in the annals of South
Carolina-he craved indulgence for the
utterance of few words in connection
with the crime charged against him. He
claimed that even before his accession to
the Guberpatorial chair of South Carroll
ma, at the early age of thirty years, his
mind was in an unbalanced and unsettled
condition, consequent upon the uni just
and utter alienation of those among
whom, up to that time, his whole life had
been passed. "That alienation" contin.
ued Moses, "caused in the first instance
by my sincere convictions as to my public
duty on the eve of reconstruction in the
South, was so complete and unanimous
as to render me practically stranger in
the State which gave me birth, and mar.
rowed and confined my sphere Of social
existence to those who entertained polit-
ical convictions identical with my Own.
These troubles unnerved and almost
paralyzed my mind. They left their
traces in streakes of living white upon
my head, and, increasing in intensity as
the years sped by, have left me- nothing
but the wreck your Honor sees before
you-mind and intellect almost wholly
gone, and memory freighted only with
blasted hopes and blighted aspirations.
This condition of mind has been dag.
nosed by physicians under whose care I
have been, and it could be shown that l
am in q mental and physical condition
which would warrant my being, if con-
fined at all, consigned, not TO q prison,
among criminals, but to some institution
where they minister to minds diseased. ,"
Moses then gave in detail tho transac-
ton for which he was then arraigned,
and declared in obtaining the S34 from
Col. Higginson it was with the hope of
providing for his almost starving wife
and children, and with the expectation
of being able at an early day to return
the money. 'It was" said Moses, "the
old, old story-temptation presenting
itself in the hour of trial, but in my case
the temptation came to mind already
enfeebled and diseased, and which, under
other circumstances, could and would
firmly resist its approach" After allud. .
ing in touching terms to his wife and
children, whom he said be dearly and
deyotedly loved, and who are left in q
destitute condition, Moses said: "Your
Honor, I have done the State some ser.
sice. But short time after the close Of
the war, under the appointment of the
lamented Gen. Candy, who at the time
represented the Government az command
ing general in South Carolina, / occu.
pied, acceptably to him, the position of
district Judge, aud held the scales of
Justice, both on the civil and criminal
sides of the Court, among the people OF
two Counties in the State, at q time when
the minds of men we're infaIned with
passion and prejudice, the one against
the other. As member of the Consti.
tulional Convention of 1868, l took part
ia framing the new organic law, upon
which ras q condition precedent. my
native State was readmitted to her place
within the Union. served as Speaker
of the House OF Representatives and as
adjutant and inspector-general of the
State from 1868 to 1872, in the fall of
which year / was inaugurated as Cover.
nor, and held that position until the close
of 1874. No amount of sorrow, no
amount of suffering or misfortune, not
even death itself, which, save for the
sake of my wife and children, would be
most welcome, can rob me of the honor
of having left my name as one of those
who bore part in the rehabilitation of
my State under government which
secures to every man within her borders
the rights of freeman and the duties OF
Citizen"
Judge Pitman said: "It seems to me
that your moral sense is more impaired
than your intellectual sense. 1t is very
sad to have to sentence a man of your
ability, but the fact of your being per-
son of such Intelligence should deter you
from the commission of crime. Your
offence against Col. Higginson was 8
mean one, having all the elements OF
treachery and deceit" The Court then
sentenced the prisoner to six months in
the House of Correction, and he was
taken to the prison across the street 10
the custody of Warden Fisk.
The Greenville Nea0s has the following
to say about Moses's plea for mercy: ut
is lust like Frank Moses to endeavor to
shield himself behind his wife and chill
dren, to make them the excuse for his
crimes aud to beg for mercy for their
sake. He is confidence man by nature
and instinct, and his plea was simply a
very fine etf,rt to play the confidence
game on the Court. As q matter of fact.
probably no man in the world ever cared
less for his wife and children than Moses
has. 1t is notorious that he was shame
lessly and constantly false to his mar.
riage VOWS and that be finally deserted
his family for an abandoned woman after
robbing them for her enrichment. Even
in his vices he was more base than other
men. for it is told of them that he con.
sented to be supported by the wretched
creature whose sin he shared until she
cast him off,"