The news & observer., 1897-02-11
Trying to Make Swinson the
Scape Goat.
TACTICS ARE REMARKABLE
PURSUED BY THE LIEUTENANT
GOVERNOR AND SPEAKER.
Mr.. swlNsoN is ON THE RACK
The IL. Governor Did Not Want the
Expense of 1895 and Requested the
State Auditor to Bring Out Ex-
penditure Only for 1891.

penditure Only for 1891.
The special Senate committee appoint
ed to investigate the charge Of extra
vagance made by Enrolling Clerk Swim
son met in the State Library yesterday
afternoon. The committee is composed
of Clark, chairman, Mccarthy and Park
er, Of Alamance. A stenographer, Miss
Flora Creech, was employed, and all the
testimony was taken down. There were
present Mr.. Swinson, the Lieutenant
Governor, Speaker of the House, Clerk
King, State Auditor Aver, and clerks in
the Enrolling office and others who were
interested in the proceedings.
The investigation had not proceeded
very far before it was apparent that in
order to cover their own wrong in pro-
viding a soft berth for the Lieutenant
| Governors brother and ]. NJ. Mewborne,
and to hide the truth, to-wit: That Swim
son is being prosecuted BECAUSE HE
REFUSED TO PUT TWO NEGROES
| ON AS ASSISTANTS. Many whisper
ed confabs passed between the two pre-
siding officers and Mr.. Mccarthy, the
Republican member Of the committee,
who were using every effort to prove that
4 SWinSOh WIS guilty VI jill LuE kAlEdNh-
gance, and that they had been greatly
imposed upon by him. 1t was a very
pretty scheme that they had arranged to
make Swinson the scape goat, not only
for their own sins, but likewise for the
| sin OF the Republican and Populist eau
euses.
1t is due to Speaker Hileman to say
that he obtained an admission from Mr.
Swinson that the Speaker had told the
Enrolling Clerk early in the session that
heavy pressure would be brought to
bear upon him to appoint unnecessary
| clerks, for him not to permit them to be
placed upon him by anybody and if it was
attempted he (Hileman) would stand by
him and protect him. But as the Repub-
lican and Populist caucuses each Sc
lected four assistant enrolling clerks, Mr..
Swinson says he thought Mr.. Hileman
| had reference, not to the eight men Sc
lected by the caucus, but to the addition
| al number that might be needed later on.
| the caucus having decided to apportion
the whole number that would be needed.
| fifteen, to both parties 1t was very
| natural for Mr.. Swinson to put on eight
/ men selected by the caucuses that named
him when directed to do so by the Of
icers Of the caucus. If Speaker ulleman
had wanted to save the taxpayers money
| he ought to have seen that the caucus
| did not select the eight men before they
| were needed. The eight men selected
were here, expecting to go to work The
| caucuses told Swinson to put
| them on. Mr.. Swinson says
| he thought (and he had every
| reason for so thinking), that
it had been agreed they should go on by
both caucuses, and as he supposed they
would be needed later on, he put them on
the roll.
1t came out in the evidence that they
! didn't have a thing to do except to sit
| around, flirt with the girls in the gal
! leries, and have a good time generally,
and that for these things they were re-
ceiving So per day-a total, including the
pay to the two laborers and to Mr.. Swim
son, of $50 per day.
1t came out also that although the
Enrolling committees and the presiding
officers must have known that these
men were doing nothing to earn their
salaries, that none of his superiors ever
suggested to Mr.. Swinson that they
ought TO be taken off the pay roll.
1t was developed that Mr.. Swinson
personally did all the work himself until
January 18th, and that even with doing
It all he did not have enough to keep him
busy and that up to February he him
self could have done every particle of the
work in four days at the furthest. Mr..
Swinson cannot be excused by the public
for not raising row early about such
extravaganza, but what man in his DO
sition would refuse to appoint eight men
when he was ordered by the caucus to
do so?
The evidence also established that the
whole of the publication of the row
grows out of "nigger in the woodpile."
II Swinson had consented to appoint the
two negroes, nobody would have ever
heard of this scandal until the bills were
audited. That fact is as clear as the
noon-day sun.
There is another fact quite as clear.
Lieutenant-Go Governor Reynolds was ma
noeuvering to get SIS day job for his
brother who was pining up in Winston
for soft job in Raleigh. James NJ.
Mewborne, a Republican in Populist
garb, who is hanging about to get the
job of Commissioner of Agriculture, is
a close friend of Speaker Hileman. and
he wanted to give Mr. Mewborne SIS a
day wuAe he is waiting for the shoes of
the Commissioners of Agriculture. 1t
was to provide these two men these Jobs
that they were appointed as personal
representatives of the Speaker and
Lieutenant-Governor. This was the last
straw that broke the camel's back. Mr..
Swinson rebelled. He wouldn't appoint
the negroes and he wouldn't submit to
having two men watch him at ten dol
lars per day. But Reynolds and Hile-
man determined he should be under their
brother and favorite. and the Republi-