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

J.. w. B~iley's Letter Of Resignation az
uem be- Of the Board Of Agriculture
The secret workings Of the Govcrno
and Els ia ug.

mem he Of the Board Of Agriculture
The secret Workings Of the Governo
, and His ia ug.
Following Is the letter OF J. w. Bal
lsy to Governor Russell. rendering his
resignation as a member OF the board
Of agriculture, Mr.. Bailey Is editor Of
The Biblical Recorder:
Raleigh, n. c. July IS.
To His E~xcellency, Governor ID. l..
Russell. Raleigh. ". c.:
My Dear Sir: I hereby resign my
OF commissioners Of agriculture Of
North Carolina
II is due you. our people and myself
that make known my reA sons for
this action
When YOU rendered me the position
accepted IL against my personal de-
sire and interests with the single mo-
tive OF serving our commonwealth. Ex-
perience has ~relentlessly impressed IL
upon me that this is impossible on
the present board under the present
administration
BY your will Mr. John X. Smith was
made commissioner OF agriculture in
lily abSSlAAG Eh'EA AAAs 49,
return / went 10 see you and inqGir-
ed why you had had this done. and
you informed me that you had to do *
in order to get Mr.. Smith out OF the
office OF superintendent OF the states
prison. as under his Administrations or
that office our state was suffering the
disgrace OF personal scandal and finan-
cial loss by corruption. and that you,
having failed To get him out OF that
Office by direct measures, had rcsnrted
TO the plan of exchanging the office or
commissioners for that Of supertntend-
ent, because in the department OF ag-
riculture there was little opportunity
to do anything. good or evil.
then inquired IL you We're under
obligation To keep Mr.. Smith in M
office Of commissioner for the fun
term. and If you would help me 10
have him removed at the next meet
ing of the board. You declared that
| you were under no obligation what
ever to Mr.. Smith and you gave me
TO believe that you would be glad
TO lend me your influence in opposi-
ton to him. With this understanding
] kept silent, enduring the reproarh
| of being "A member of a board which
| had become party to a bargain where
by the department OF agriculture was
put into the hands of "A man publicly
charged with being unfit for the pub
| lie trust of superintendent or the
| state $ DflSDEf. unlll the bbatu me- III
| the month of June. 1898. Then ! nov
ed against Commissioner Smith. But
| | failed to realize the weight of your
| influence, with which | would have
been easily successful in my effort to
remove the reproach from the depart
ment of agriculture.
This is my first reason for resigninG.
p, and my conclusive reason for making
! this resignation public.
/ have been Informed. and / give you
| the information for what Is may he
worth since / will no longer be In 20
| sition TO watch, that while the salary
Of Mr.. Smith as superintendent OF the
| states prison was 81, 500, whereas X Is
| now as commissioner only 81 500, there
exists an understanding that he snail
| illegally and immorally get $500 per
annum from the BOARD Of agriculture.
! that Mr.. Smith would not agree upon
the exchange until this understand
ing was reached. The padding of some
items Of the budget at the June meet
ing Of the board-to which ! called
the attention OF the board at the time
may throw some light upon the rnat-
ter. Gas, water and telephOn"a'
I cost $99 the last six months, for the
next six months 5000 is appropriated.
Printing and paper cost 1857, $1,000 is
/ appropriated. There is a special dp-
preparation of so, 900; Of this amount
IS, 900 is for the experiment staEOn
work and $500 for the museum. the
balance of 81, 700 is for labor, fuel, re-
pairs and such special appropriations
as may be ordered. You see it VIII be
very easy to carry out this under.ak-
ing if it exists.
Again. | would not fail to merriOn
that the disposition OF some of the
Of tire board to hold SEES
sions Of three or four days duration
paid by the day-several times "A year
to perform duties which would reeuire
! scarcely four hours-has disgustea me
: time and again.
Finally it is my opinion tina the
! department of agriculture is the sheer
est example that we have of pater-
nalism run to seed-that liz to say that,
~paternalism in conception, il has
grown into an institution for tta re-
! ward Of political workers, Will. little
purpose OF public good.
accepted the office with good viii
toward you, reasoning that without re-
aArd to ~prejuiices it was my iGty to
help you as the chief servant of our
people. | nave done the best / could,
only TO d~iscove that my efforts are
defeated and right largely by your in
fuence. The best service | can now
| render all concerned is to resign and
make known my reasons the necessity
for which I regret more than | would
! 4Tleavor to have you believe.
Sincerely