The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1891-12-11

EX-CLERK BArEMAN RsrUTEs Tus CHARGE
OF BEING A ADEFAULTER.-To the Editor of the
News and Courier: Under the head of De-
faulters" the Governors Message TO the
General Assembly now in session contains a
reference to an alleged deficit in the
accounts of "the clerk Of the Penitentiary,"
and as was the "olerk of lhe Peniteutiary,"
10 whom reference is made, feel it due to
myself and my friends to make an explana-
ton Of the matter, which would not have
been necessary this late day, but for the
unwarranted reference to it above referred
t.. was the ccrk of the Penitentiary for
about twelve years, being charged among
other thugs with the receipt aud disburse-
ment OF ali the money OF tue institution, tne
PURCHASE Of oil supplies and the general
care of the books.
From 1885, and for some years after that
time, the institution although self-sustaining
aud received no aid from the State, except
the loan Of about one>half of the amount
previously paid into the treasury, was c,n-
stantly in debt, frequen ly to,a large amount,
and IL became impossible to pay the accounts
in ths regular way rs they fell due. was
therefore, compelled to pay the creditors of
the institution whenever l could, and in
such amounts as were available for the pur-
pose, taking receipts for such payments on
account.
In this the result proves that was not a.
careful as i should have been, anil although
felt quite c,nfi1ent of my ability to pro-
duce the necessary vouchers when called
upon to settle. l could not do so, aud there
was . 9 c,nsiderable apparent deficit.
After au exhaustive examination into the
matter found that there was aSeicit of
some fifteen huudred dollars for which had
failed to secure the necessary vouchers, or
had in some way mislaid them.
Ofmy own motion / reported the matter
to Col. Lipscomb, who was then the superin-
tendent, and made good every cent of the
money out of my own pocket, taking his
receipt for the money paid in. And i am
pleased to be able to add that, rs result of
my continued examination into the matter
since this settlement, / have recovered n
considerable portion Of this amount from
the party to whom / had mad dvertently male
a duplici ite payment, AMI who promptly re-
funded the money as soon as the proofs
were presented.
The $3.50 80 referred to in the Executive
message is really 1896 ~, and is one of the
items in the statement ma lie by me TO Col.
Lipscomb, which was afterwards verifie by
the expert employed by the Governor him
sell, and never was and is not now deficit.
The amount was paid on account to q
reputable business firm 10 this city for goods
actually furnished to the Penitentiary, aud
the only deficit there is about it is that the
itemized bills for the articles were not
properly filed at TIE time. although the re-
ceip's for every dollar of the money were
left by me on file at the Penitentiary, and
the books Of the firm in question will show
the payments as claimed.
The expert who male thorough exami-
nation OF acc0unfa aud who M ofa faI
above, was employed by the Governor him
self, gave cheerful testimony to my integrity
and could make no grayer charge than care
lcssness.
twill thus be seen that I, intimate that
this case is dofacation Is totally unwar-
ranted aud unjust. Respectfully,
W. G.. Bateman.
p. ST. respectfully request that newspa-
pers which have given cnrrepey 10 the
charge, will in justice TO me, give the same
currency t, this explanation.