The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1894-08-08

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tell his people that he also permits
these roads to charge one-haif cent per
mile more passenger tariff shaa tie
same lines exact in other States; and
while the rates on third class freight
from Baltimore to Spartanburg are 4S
cents, goods are hauled through our
city and $50 miles further on to Ath-
ems, Ca, for only % cents! Mr.. Dun
can says this is attributable to the fact
that those Georgia cities have water
transportation. Thls is not true so far
as Athens is concerned, for it is fifteen
miles further from water navigation
than SpartanbuTg.
Now it was far from our desire to
misrepresent Manager Duncan, and it
Is also our earnest desire to have this
business investigated to the very bot
tom by the State Alliance. We stated
both through our paper and on the
stand that if full aud rigid lnvestiga-
ton of our charges were made, and 1t
was shown that we had done the Alll-
ance Exchange Or its manager the
slightest Injustice, that we would
cheerfully aud freely make the correc-
tion. So with this end in view, we
transmitted to the State Alliance by
DR.. Nj. o, Rowland, delegate from
Spartanburg county, the following
communication:
"To the State Alliance:
II have called attention in the Pied
mont Headlight to the reports which
had come to me as its editor, concern
ing the management of the State ALI
ance Exchange, whereby the Alliance.
men were charged excessive prices
! for fertilizers, sewing machlIes and
other articles; anG the manager OF the
Exchange having entered into con
troVersy with my paper. in which he
denies the reports; and Alliancemen In
different parts Of the State having
manifested considerable interest in
having the correctness of those reports
established or refute0; and inasmuch
as the manager of the Exchange has
constituted me the prosecutor in the
matter and the representative of the
complainant; it is a matter of vital in
terest to the future usefulness OF the AL
lance Exchange that these reports be
inquired into.
II respectfully petition that a com.
mittee of five Alliancemen be appoint.
ed by your honorable body, who shall
! be authorized and empo Wered to make
a full, complete and thorough tnVesst.
CATION of the business management of
| the Exchange during the past three
years, aud that they have power to
take testimony o. witnesses, to receive
testimony of witnesses, to receive and
collect letters, papers and documents,
to appoint booEkeeper If necessary,
and to make their report to the presl-
dent of the State Alliance; and in order
that 1t may be fairly, impartlally and
satisfactorily done, that the manager
of the State Exch spge be permitted to
select two of the committee, your petit
toner two, and these four to select the
fifth, which last shall be chairman of
the committee, that said committee be
required to accompany their report
with all the testimony which they shall
take, and all the letters, papers and
other documents which they shall col
lect. T. l.. CAN'T"
Now, We ask every reasoning Alll-
man in South Cardinals not the above
proposition entirely fair to both Mana
ger Euncan and ouTself, and whom he
had made the prosecutor? We pre-
sumed that the honor Of the order, and
consistency to the professions and plat
form, would demand of the State Alli-
ance that the very bottom facts be got
ten at in this Exchange business, for
as an honorable body they could not
afford to endorse anything that smacks
of whitewashing or a cut-and-dried
report. All we asked, and what alone
will satisfy the people, too, will he that
the business transactions of this State
Exchange for the past three years be
thoroughly ventilated and laid before
Alliancemen. That there is wrong
somewhere, and some one is to blame,
We are thoroughly convinced. We are
prepared to establish every charge that
we have made, and defy Manager Dun.
can or his friends and hackers to &C
cept the perfectly fair proposition that
we have made above, and let the ALI
ancemen read the testimony taken by
an impartial committee, chosen jointly
by the accused and the prosecutor.
And again the proposition that we
made was the fairest and best that
could be made, for to have the conven-
ton investigate the Exchange business
would require at Least week, and ne
cessitate an expenditure of a large
sum of money, in sum mmoning Witaess-
es and examining bills.
Manager Duncan publicly stated
both at Inman and West Springs that
he would bring our charges before the
meeting Of the State Alliance at Aiken,
and where we would be summoned to
appear. We cheerfully accept this
proposition, and made all of our ar
rangements to attend that convention,
were our presence asked. But to our
surprise we had 30 notification to at
tend said meeting, and the first lntima.
tion received by us that these charges
had come up and we're disposed Of was
telegram in the Greenville News,
bitter anti paper, and which was du-
pllcated in the other ring-rule sheets
over our State; and so elated were
these papers over what they thought
defeat for man who had fought them
and their faction 50 long and uEtl!nch-
ingly, that they gave the proceedings
that referred to us under ilamiog head
lines; and some Of these same papers
actually penned editorials favorable to
the action Of the Alliance-an organi-
zation that they naye fought 80 long
and slandered so villalnOusly. Now,
it seems to us Very strange that intor-
nation touching the loyalty of a
brother member, who is IN good stand
ing, should be given TO the public be-
fore even the members of our order
were made acquainted with the same.
Here is the report 'eXoneratiD2"
Manager Duncan:
The committee, after repeated ef
forts, due notice having been
given, failed to get Mr.. Can't before
them in person or with testimony, Gnds
the charges alleged are grcundess and
the committee fully exonerate5 Man
ager Duncan of said charges.
w. n. Elder, Chairman.
Now. bear 10 mind that the above
report was made without summoning
us before the State Alliaacp, or hearing
our charges or giving us an opportuni-