The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-08-02

Carolina Phosphate Company, which
had them digging for phosphate rock.
Instead of collecting the money for
the rent Of the convicts, your crowd
took the notes of the phosphate COM
pany.
The individual stockholders of this
phosphate were reputed rich,
they are so regarded now. o took
the paper of the phosphate company
without ever having obtained the en-
dorsement or sec ,rity OF these rich
stockholders. who we're really getting
the labor of the ,Onvicts for them
selves. When the / Ople dispensed with
your good government" you dump
ID us some sixteen thousands o. dol
lars of the worthless paper Of this in
solvent corporation.
There are three other plantations on
the Cape Fear that have been rented
by the present management for the
cultivation of rice. Two Of these places
were rented from Mr.. Buffers, one Of
them for $500 and the other for $3.50
a year. One Of them was rented from
Mr.. Borden, of the NavaSsa Guano
Company, for some 5000 or $3.50. L am
told that some ~sIanderers have already
circulated the report that Governor
Russell owns these places, or had some
interest in them. In this there is no
truth. The governor had no interest
whatever in the properties. / am re-
liably informed that there are respon-
sible parties who would be glad
enough to take these three plantations
from the state at an advance OIL the
rent which the state is paying. Sup
pose you send out some Of your heel
ers, and find somebody who will give
us One-half or One-third of the rent
which we are paying for the Halifax
farm and the Arson farm.
You want to know about the sales
Of cotton of the crop of 1897. 1t would
give me pleasure to answer this or
any other of your questions to any
man who asked them in good faith and
for an honest purpose, so far as | have
the knowledge or means of acquiring
it. l shall not trouble myself, how
ever, or my bOOkkeeper, to answer
you, but if you want to find out how
much cotton was sold from the crop
of 1897 and what price it brought and
whether or not it brought it's value,
you EAR ask the men who bought it,
and the men who handled it. About
800 baies were sold by my predecessor
to Mr.. Arnold Borden, of GOldsbOrO.
This was from the Roanoke farSlS.
AbOu go bales were sold from the
Arson farm before I came in. The pur-
chasers were Wadesboro cotton buy
ers. I sold about 1,40O bales to Bar
bee & Co., of Raleigh, and 600 bales
~ Dbl Z I" w. diIu III +"
ThGmpson, of Raleigh. The books of
these gentlemen will show what they
paid, and they know o the quality
and the alu They can tell if they
choose. The penitentiary books also
show all these transactions, all of
which you will find embodied in my
printed report at the end Of the pres
ent fiscal year. l am not aware hat
these data have eve been made pub
lie in advance of the printing of the
report of the operations Of the peni-
tertiary.
Now since you have so much love
and affection for the Interrogation
mark, suppose you a a look at a
few of them. AS you are asking QueS-
tons of me-, 1 propose to ask Of you:
What do you know about the Sc, 1000
of Stanly county bonds, and the 5000
of Wilkes county bonds that were
unlOaded on the university of North
Carolina, resulting in a loss of $14, 900
to the university and the tax payers
of the state? All men know that these
bonds were worthless. Who solo them
to Chapel Hill? The Richmond and
Danville Railroad Company, Chat is
the Southern Railway Company, are
supposed to have gotten the bonds.
They were sold to the university at
about SO or 80 cents. Did the money
go to the original holders, the Rich
nlOnd and Danville Railroad COmpa-
ny? If not. who got it? Did anybody
purchase them from the original hold
err? If so, who was it? And what was
| the price paid? This whole thing was
lone by the democratic management
in the days of good government"
Our poor old university must strug-
gle On and stagger under the loss.
Who put the loss upon her? Were they
f~usionists? Now stand up and answer
like a man. Were they fusionists?
You were chairman of the demo-
cratic committee in 1892. How many
votes did your party steal in the cleo
ton of 1892? AS to the negro vote you
need not mention them in your SEIZED
ule, tell us how many white men your
party robbed of their Suffrages that
year?
How many Of your secret circulars
did you circulate among the election
rOgues who held the ballot boxe in
1892? How many of your secret circu-
lars have o got left over? The popu-
list n republican committees are
running short of them. How many of
them will you furnish for use as 20
venirs in the present campaign?
What do you know about the oyster
fraud cases? Were you n of the law
yers who tried to get these claims paid
out of the state treasury? If so, how
much were o to get as your part of
the swag? If you were one Of the law
yers, who were the others, and how
much were they to get?
The democratic convention of 1896
declared for Bryan and free silver.
How many days before the assembling
Of the democratic convention was ii
when you, being a Cleveland office
holder at a o or five thousand dol
lar salary, printed in The Washington
Post that North Carolina would GER
tainly be for Cleveland and gold?
One more question. You are now
clamOring about white mans govern
ment and negro rule. 1t has been time
and time again publicly charged, that
the democrats of Craven county fused
with a faction of the republicans, an
put out a coalition ticket along in the
eighties, on which was the name OF
one or more negroes. How many OF
them were there? What were the
anne of those negroes? How many
times did you vote for them? / should
not have hOugh YOU would have