The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1898-08-04

it was therefor, believed you would
al p matter of duty and decency
supply the information.
1t has generally been supposed
that every tax payer of the State
has q right to see the records OF all
public offices and to ask and receive
without being insulted, Information
concerning. the management by the
officer of his Office.
As a representative of great
party which polled in the last election
145, 900 votes. constituting two
thirds of the taxpayers of the State,
L did not think it would be i'm
pudence or effrontery to ask you in
their name and as their representa-
tive for this Information.
1t has been an old time tradition |
in North Carolina that public officers |
are public servants. l did not knew |
that since the advent of you and Gov. |
Russell the time honored rule had |
been reversed aud the people had be-
come the servants of the office hOlders.
l was old-fogish enough to suppose
that in your official capacity you were
the servant of the people and that
both law and custom forbade you
from hiding and concealing from the
public your official acts. and those Of
your IN meQldJ6 predecessor.
Shortly after my several letters were
sent and delivered, the Board of Di-
rectors Of the penitentiaFy met in
Raleigh, and | am informed that at
their several sessions hotly debated
whether | should be given the inform
alton asked. A member who insisted
| that as citizen and taxpayer, L was
| entitled to the information, was, so L
am told. fiercely reproached by you.
| wi Fail Tn
| on this OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES, in open
| meeting, your Board did what was
| never before done in North Carolina,
| to-wit: Convened in what you were
| pleased to call executive session, for
the purpose of further considering
| this subject. When the Board rose
| from this secret meeting, | am in
| formed Lnat newspaper reporters and
| inquirers were told that the meeting
| was an executive session, and it's pro-
| ceedingS, therefore, secret l do not
| know and the people do not know
what transpired!in this secret meeting,
but l am reliably Informed after the
meeting Mr.. Dockery, the chairman.
said the Board would .have preferred
| | had not asked for the information,
but | would get an answer which
| would make me sorry | had requested
it.
| L presume the Board decided in this
secret meeting that your party could
not afford to let the people know the
real facts concerning the management
OF The penitentiary by the present ad-
ministration, and it was determined
to try and he-fog the issue, and that as
a result you refused the information
| requested aud instead of the cOurte-
Gus reply, which | reasonably expect
ed, you decided on the fnfamC Us and
slanderouS personal attack upon me.
which this morning was published in
the Raleigh Post,
Your party shall not, by this low
and dirty device, be-fog the issue or
| escape exposure.
| | shall cOntinne to use every avenue
open to me to lay bare before the peO-
pie Of North Carolina the facts con-
| corning the diSreputable management
of the penitentiary, and all other de-
parJments of the State government
by the present dlScredltable and dis
graceful administration.
| 1t will be observed by reference to
the section of the law quoted in my
letter to Mr.. Dnckery, that two things
are required One, an inventory to be
made oy the superintendent under
oath, and the other report OF the
Board itself. 1t will appear from my
letter to Mr.. Dockery, that ask for
both a copy Of the report and a copy
| y
ed a copy OF the report because 1T is
much more comprehensive.
Mr.. DOckery in his letter TO me, only
promises a copy of the inventory,
which he speaks OF as the report OF
the superintendent.
1t is apparent from Mr.. Dockery's
letter that he is himself doubtful
whether / will ever get this report or
inventory, for he only says he believes
| f,ui1 no in 70 ha is IF a
in short while He does not say he
knO VS. that it will be in the hands OF
the Governor at all.
L. will be remembered that the law
requires that this sworn inventory
must be flied on December 3lst
tits said and generally accepted,
that the Governor wrote or dictated
your cOWardly assault upon me and
the Democratic party Certain it Is,
it was sent out directly from the Elk
ecutive office and is in the coarse and
| vulgar style that characteriZeS all
that emanates from him. Every line
of it shows that IL comes from a
vicious mind. There is not state
ment in it, personal to myself, or
; about my course in politics, which In
any way reflects upon my personal In
tegrity, or the integrity Ofany politi-
cal methods with which | have here
tofore been connected, that is. not a
wilful aud premeditated lie, without
any foundation in fact, and made by
you and your. abettOrs for the purpose
of raising fog behind which you
hope TO retreat from the position in
which you have placed yourself before
the public, by declining to come to an
account with the people for the man
ner in which the affairs of the peni-
|, | Tertiary have been miSmanaged since
the 1st of January, 1897, and they are
indisputable evidence Of your irrita-
tiOn at me for preferring the simple
request.
l denounce the statements made in
| your letter personal to myself as ema-
nations of a vile heart, devoid of any
restraint of conscience and as the
important vaporings of a miserable
| liar.
There has grown up In North Car
DINA during the past two years, a
horde Of which you are one, who seek
by detraction and defamation of bet
tiers, to deceive and mislead the peO-
pie and gain for themselves positions
which they are VIGOROUSLY unfit to
hold.
The time has come when these
miserable slanderers and hypocrites
will not only be exposed, but f1ttingly
denounced and pilloried before an
outraged public.
F. M SIMMONS
/ Appended to Chairman Simmons
reply are the letters referred to by
him, viz three requests addressed to
} M. Mewborne, Superintendent, and
one TO CIaudius Dockery, Chairman
| Board Of Directors, for information
concerniDg the management of the