Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1899-06-21
rILLMAN TELLS HIS TALE.
All About His Transactions With
the Penitentlary.


the only members present.
There were no interesting
developments.
Mr.. Stevenson had written
during the recess to Senator Till
man, Ex-Governor Evans and others
about the charges made against
them. Evans had ignored the
communication and Senator Till.
mans lette. was read and it WAS
not insisted that he be summoned.
Senator Tillman's letter is as fol-
lows:
TRENTON, May 26, 1899.
Hon. w. T. Stevenson, Kershaw
S..
Dear Sir: I have your letter of
May goth. I hardly think it worth
my while to appear before your
committee to answer the trivial
matters brought out in the Neal
investigation. I do not see in
what way Col. Meals dereliction
or misconduct or his transaction
in regard TO the bricks and book
case etc, can affect me. I am In
the dark as to the exact nature OF
one of these matters to wit: The
account OF the commissary book
and would be glad to know the
nature of that account, items and
dates. I will state for your in
formation that I have no recollec-
ton whatever of ever having
obtained any groceries or anything
else that could be charged on q
book of that kind from the
peuitentiary except an occasional
mess of vegetables which were sent
to me by Colonel Neal as COM
pliment, 1 suppose, and I am sure
I paid for anything else. In regard
to my running q farm with con-
victs, I will state that l never ran
a farm while in Columbia at all
in the common sense of the term.
I rented five or six acres of land
which I sowed in oats i'll the fall
and worked with my carriage
horses and then sowed in peas
after the oats were cut: for pea
hay. There was little patch at
the executive mansion which was
similarly treated and the convicts
who kept the yards and grounds
clean helped to gather in the hay
as we'll as that on the rented land
the Last year I was at the man
sion and Colonel Neal would never
take any pay. The labor of cutting
FIVE acres of oats and pea hay one
year, you can estimate 80 as to see
about the extent of the account if
it is still open. The matter was
so trivial I attached no importance
to it then or now. You may con-
s,der it in q different light. In re.
gard to the brick, will say that
Colonel Neal at his own suggestion
once, while at Rock Hill, offered
to ship me q car load of brick if l
would pay the freight, saying that
they would cost him very little
and he would make me present
of them. Iaccepted the offer, and
when Colonel Lipscomb sent it
to Colonel Neal with q letter inquir-
ing whether Lipscomt had any
tights in the matter. He replied
"no," that it was q mistake and
there the matter dropped. Neal
also presented me with a plain
book case with glass doors worth
five dollars. Twill say that shortly
after I retired from the executive
Office, I let Colonel Neal have a
cane mill and copper evaporation
which cost 800, leaving it to him
to determine the price. BE paid
me $500 and I therefore did not
feel that in accepting the small
gifts that I did, that it was an
imposition on him. I never
dreamed that the articles were not
charged to his account and settled
for. Since ! have discovered that
the State is the loser I, of course,
am willing to pay for each and
all of these things. There is one
other item of which no mention
has yet been made that I have
seen, though I have not followed
the testimony closely. He shipped
me 9 small lot of oats one time
from somewhere and would never
send me any bill although I wrote
for it twice. / make these state
ments for your information and
satisfaction and leave it to your
discretion as to what use you will
make of them. I am yours
roopocffnIlv