The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1899-02-03

Der Of the leyee board; or, rs you pu,
it, Anse, because you were against
the old leyce board ring. Mr., Shelby,
as you wei knew, had never been a
member OF the old board. His intel
ligence, well known independence OF
thought and action, and high char.
acter IA a man Of unblemish integri-
ty. are. and were alone, sufficient to
refute this implied SANDER, that his
appointment would have been in any
sense, or for any reason an improper
one. You well knew that Mr.. Shelby
had been regularly nominated by a
democratic primary Of this county f0r
the position mentioned, and for that
reason, / submit. when considered in
connection with ms qualifications, he
was entitled to the appointment. /
urged tbat IT. should be made, but
you, At,n, was thea getting ready to
M"L1ariutEc The state, and for that
reason wanted to cooperate with
Dlactjrity amply sufficient for your
selfish ends. For this reason alone
you placed the appointment else
WHERE, giving a slap in the face to
the democracy Of Bolivar county.
which / and they alike resent.
You now pretend, my distinguished
friend, that you were Influenced in
your decision by the fact that Mr..
W, a. Eyerman, secretary aud treas
nrer Of the levee board, held three
notes or checks OF mine in favor OF
Geo. p. Melchior, sheriff AID tax col
lector Of Bolivar county.
with d characteristic display Of
double dealing and want OF fairness, |
you failed to state that every dollar
represented by these checks was
promptly paid at or before maturity,
Intentionally leaving the impression
on your audience that the amounts
were still unsettled.
Those checks had no influence
whatever on your action, and | long
since gave the lie direct to the insin-
uatiun that there was the least thing
improper connected with this trans
acL,Vn IN any way whatever. To ex-
plain, not for your benefit, but for
the general public. 1t has for many
years been the custom here for the
sheriff to keep accounts and ey-
tend time to prominent and reliable
tax payer OF the county. 1t had been
u hard year with me financially, and
the sheriff took these checks, knew
they would be promptly paid at ma
He in turn gave them to the
leyee treasurer, who only gave him
credit for the proceeds after they
were actually collected. Meanwhile,
the treasurer, holding the sheriff and
surieties liable for all collections.
in taking these checks was simply
mending his hold, SO to speak. by
that much additional security.
fail to see that this transaction re-
iects in any way on the leyee board
officials or any n concerned. ;
Exactly similar accommodation, as
'ou well knew, were extended by Mr..
'lelchoir to your leading supporters ]
n Rosedale and vicinity. Why was I
t right in their case and wrong in /
nine? II this was the determent, $
Why did you appoint their man to the c
eyce board under these circum- :
tances and refuse to appoint the /
Iemocratic nominee under similar q
ircumStances-simply because | fav- Q
red him with my support? But l t
ave conclusive evidence-the very
evidence, governor, that a be L
.ad in this case, that your statement t
5 altogether false. l appeal to you, 0
ourself. You stated to Captain Z.
|. Woods, you remember, in the c
overnor's office, during the month of II
'ebruary, 1896, that your only reason a
refusing to appoint Mr.. Shelby 4
because the Scott faction had D
ne member Of the levee board in the z
erson OF Mr.. W. A. Speakes, and you D
bought it only fair to give the other D
to the a%nti-Scotts. a