The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1904-02-26

It's IIt llIlpllGs5, is w lI1NeSIlR0te and
bring to light every side and bearing
of question. and. ,iot2to prosecute.
This is the first tIIfe In the annals
of South Carolina where an investI-
eating committee only heard and re-
ported one side OF an important mat
hind closed doors, fionl which mem
bers of the press We're excluded.
EVEN THE V1LESf CRIMINAL. IS
GIVEN 4 HEAR1NG.
In his message to your body our
chief executive askesl you to devise
in our State. Now what Gov. Hey
ward demanded for the vilest class OF
criminals has been denied some of our
fellow-citizens who have been recog-
nized.snnd shonored by their people
the right OF making Il defense, and a
fair, .t9faTtial hearing. Before this
report is ended we propose to prove to
the SaltsltEtion of every fair-ninded
personfn South Carolina that our COM
mission wFs tried behind closed DOORS
only one Witness at the time being ad-
mitted. and what is u most unheard
of proceeding, the reporters of our
State papers excluded. (See affidavit
of a. II. Seats, Exhibit c, and Lewis
G. Wooa, Jr., Exhibit d.. Not only
this. but apparently 10 keep the lnem-
what was going on in that meeting
some of the witness We're bound net
to divulge the questions that had been
asked them (See affidavit of d. II.
Means, Exhibit E).' To show further
what onc-sided affair this vas. the
son of one of this committee wins ": dc
clerk. and the only outsider admitted
Ia that room was Senator Marshall,
the minority member and the Drosecu- :
tor. (See aflidnvids Ell. b. Ciarfumlsel,
Is the life. liberty. property or good
name OF any citizen Of South Carolina
safe when he can c,tried by any such
secret, one-sided tribunal of socalled
Justice?
The palladium oc2liberty in every
country is a free press. but we find In
the proud old State OF South Carolina
throttlcd press When an inVestiga-
ton was in progress in which every
taxpayer OF the state is personally in
terested.
HUNTING FOR HUNT.
We are convinced, gentlemen, from
such evidence as we ARE able to secure.
that the sole witness against us was
falsely represented 10 the people Of
South Carolina, as an expert arcli-
tect in charge of the work OF the
United states government, when his
name does not appear in the list OF
government employees and he il to-
tal!y unknown to the experts OF the
United states government who are
clnrHed With the construction OF it's
pear in the blue book" which contains
the names OF all government employees
wherever located; While the directory
OF congress which cPntnins the names;
OF THO attaches of the national capitol,
does not show any sgch officer as ..s,, .
perinf ndent of con tr'icting." lp-
An we NOV have to ask OF you is thar
TINS protest be spread upon your jour-
nails Nnd be given the fullest publicity,
rs yoq have promised, and we further
beg the press of South Carolina and
of every other State that has given
publicity to that report, to reproduce
our defense.
AN APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE.
Let us say that we have nothing
more to ask of your body. We now
appear to the highest tribunal known
to q sovereign State--an honorable.
lust and fair-minded people.
PERFECT BUILDING HAS NOT
BEEN ERECTED SINCE THE
DAYS OF SOLOMON.
we assert that we have given to
.ne completion OF the capitol the same
Watchlui care that we would have done
mad this building been our personal
property The members of this com
mission are not architects. and the
legislature was aware of this fact
when they appointed us to this duty.
we 90 assert. however, that we gave
careful thought and study To the de-
tails and science OF the work. and left
no effort unturned to fully acuuaint
ourselves With the minutiae OF the
problem presented. We DO not suppose
that anyone ever constructed n build
ing, however humble it might be, but
after completion he discovered that he
might have made desirable changes
ana improvements. II is easy to criti-
else the builder after his work is done
"A building erected by human l,lnds is
never perfect. and this. of course is true
OF the work on the State house but we
DO assert that the general result was to
the satisfaction of the commission, and
we further believe that 1t would sat
isiy the taxpayers Of the State who
are paying for this work We're they
familiar with all the facts surround
ing the task assigned us and appreci-
atcd the difficulties which we cncoun-
tered ana the problems presented in
The construction of this building Since
the completion OF our State house
thousands have listed Columbia and
inspected this work, and expressions as
To the beauty and magnificcncc OF this
building have been heard on every
side.
The State House commission alleges
that II there are some defects in the
South Carolina capitol, that the respon-
SiDillty rests not upon the commission,
but is due To the fact that SIZE. 900 was
totally inadequate 10 complete the
building in conformity with the origi-
nal work on this structure. The state
House commission endeavorcd 10 COM
picte the building so that it would
present an imposing appearance. II
did not attempt to do the work accord
ing I" the methods Of 30 years ago.
btt took advantage Of improvements
IN methods of construction, and for
MS II has no apology TO offer
rms duty, gentlemen, WAS not So
licited. ana there is not member OF
this commission but sacrificed his per-
sonal interests and affairs in the dis
charge of the duty imposed upon him.
II was not ours Ia fix the sum neces-
NarN TO do the work. That was the
province of the legislature. We did
what we were directed to do, complet-
ed the work Your predecessors contcm-
plated within the appropriation they
made. We did not deem il your wish
or desire that we should apply to you
Tor additional appropriation when we
tOun1 the funds nynNi1aI i,,c,,u;,;-nt