The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-06-17
DIR, Bates STATEMENT.
WHY HE RECEIVED TWO THOUSAND
DOLLARS FROM THE SYNDICATE.
It was Long After the Contract Had Been
Made and it Was tpr Extra Services
Which He, Performed-All the Facts

Which He Performed-Ah LILO H@o~
Given. q
COLUMBIA, June 11.-Dr. Bates,
State Treasurer has come out witha
clear and convincing statement Of his
connection with the bond matter,
showing that the insinuation that he
had made money out of it officially 10
untrue. He admits receiving 81, ,03L26i
from the syndicate, but shows that he'
got it for extra services, long after thes
contract had been made, services re-s
auested of him which in no way were
connected with his duties as State
Treasurer. He asked that enotherl
man be selected in his place to do the
required work, but the syndicate
DR.. Bates yesterday gave out the!
following statement:
"Yes it is true that received from
the syndicate the sum of $2i03L26.i
This was for acting as their representa-.
tive in making settlements with their,
subscribers, collecting and remlthng
their premiums and attending toTtheirs
express account.
For instance: There were sub.
scribers in Charleston for 81, 600. 900 of
the new issue which the the syndicate
had contracted to deliver in Charles
ton. These were to be paid for mostly
in Brown Consols. but the holders Of
the Consols naturally would require
the syndicate to deliver to them the new
issue of bonds before they would part
with the possession of their Consols.
1.-TWO courses were therefore OPP
en- to the syndicate. One was TO.
pay the State Treasurer $4,000, 900 ini
cash, receive the new bonds and then
exchange them with the Charleston
subscribers. The other was to secure
some representative here in Columbia
whom the Charleston bondholdels
were willing to entrust with their
bonds, and exchange them for bonds
OF the new issue. I suggested to the
syndicate the employment ofa Colum-;
bia banker as their representative, but
they preferred that I should do the
work and, at the urgent request OF the
Baltimore Trust and Guarantee Coma
pany, the agent of the syndicate, on
or about the 21st of March 1893, / con-
sented to act for them as the, bond,
holders in Charleston and elsewhere
were willing TO place their bonds in my
hands for exchange. i
The public will understand that
there is Q vast difference between,
first my accepting money as a consid,
eration for making contract for the,
sale Of State bonds, and, second myacr
cepting compensation tendered by the
syndicate for extra services e. than
representative long after the consra
had been made. 81 ~, ..s
1.-THE first would have been o6eleds
of course, and accepted prior to the
contract and would have deserved se:
we're criticism. The second was ten
dered long after the contract had been
made and wasfor extra services that 1
could not have been expected or 10
quired to render as State Treasurer.
The work necessitated the keeping of
a special, difficult and extensive &C:
count and involved much responsible.
| ty and trouble. A good portion of the
amount received went to pay for exla,
and special clerical work.
"I am sure reasonable public will
agree that the work did I was unofficial
and did not conflict with my duties as
State Treasurer. Nor will I be ex-
pected to render responsible and valu;
able services for syndicate of wealthy
capitalists without some reasonable,
compensation, especially as the COM
pensation was not paid by the State.
"Outside of the 81, ,031 25, I didn't re-
ceive one cent from the syndicate or
any one else, on account of my con-
nection with the refunding of the
bonds. "W. T. Q. BATES,
State Treasurer"