Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1915-06-25

80
been less seed than cotton in a bale.
Suppose you should turn over to your
manager a bale of cotton weighing
about fifteen hundred pounds, and he
returned with a FIVE hundred pound
bale OF cotton and six hundred pounds
of seed. You would ask him what
became Of the balance Of the seed. |
asked this question. where is the
balance of the seed They said,
''There is no balance" knew better
than that. My common sense | got in
Carroll county. on the sand hills
taught me better than that. | said,
''Where are the gin books They
sent the gin books off down to Jack
son. They sent them by express, they
stated. | could not find them there.
They said they just wanted to inyesti'
gate them. We could not find a sign
OF them having gone by express. |
don't think they went by the express
route. they went by the fire route.
We found one behind a box In the
commissary. | asked the oil mills
that had bought seed in FIVE years to
let me have statements and send me
the return vouchers for the payments
for the seed. And | found that the
IN had not been paid into the
treasury. This fellow and the other
touo, % pInad uuiItv NJ II
said, we will look into the cotton
business. set down and wrote a
letter to every cotton buyer that had
bought a bale OF State cotton In hve
years and asked them to give me the
amount of 1t, and furnish me the re-
turn vouchers, and every single man
did so. except one certain concern
And | don't think there was ever a
higher or cleaner set OF cotton men
anywhere than these, with one excep-
ton. There was one concern only.
They said we will appoint one man,
you another, and the people another
at the polls. Then | decided to get
them into court. anyway. | called the
attr~aeygeneral's attention and the
dist attorney Of Kinds county;
n Hubpoena duces tecum was Is
SUED Tor them at Clarksdale, They
tcl. he books out Of the state, II
they nave been away since. ! brought
ihesc matters to the attention OF the
.attornoy-general, and he said that Is
the way II looks to me, as a fraud
But he said, Governor, this Is a case
thai involves a tremendous amount OF
money He said, 81 think you should
10 and employ some lawyer who can
devote a lot OF time to this matter
The laws provide that the governor
shall employ legal assistance when
over necessary, and the legislature
shall provide the compensation there
for. so | employed the firm OF Mayes
n Mayes OF Jackson, Mississippi.
They decided that the State had been
beaten out oil three hundred thousand
dollars. They set out each transac-
ton; that in this transaction they de-
frauded the State in weights so much
and staples so much, when. where
and how they got 1t. This was IN
great detail. This firm said, I'VE must
have your books here" They have
~resorted to every subterfuge known
TO humanity to keep the facts out OF
the courts. They want to hold up un
til they get Brewer out of office, and
get Bilbo In office, whose campaign
funds they are putting up now. When
they get him in Office this suit will
be nolle pressed. Take a man who
Il convicted Of a felony on his owl
testimony, and he will tear the books
ND and rob the penitentiary OF hun
dreds of thousands a year, and tn
people be burned! And they ain
going to do It until the people know
It from one end OF this State to tn
other II | have my health and strength
and retain my speech, with which tn
Lord has so nobly endowed me, w
attached s%eventy-ive thousand dollar
worth of their property. There woul
have to be a showdown. In the se'
sion Of 1914 there was a combinatio
there. referred the question OF tn
payment of Mayes 4 Mayes lawyer
fee to the legislature, The other sid
knew It looked ugly, and they coul
not explain It. They employed Ca
ruthers Ewing, a fine lawyer OF Men
phis. Tennessee; Dan Scott, OF clark
dale. a firm of lawyers In Liverpoc
and a firm Of lawyers in Manchester
and they were not doing that witho'
knowing they had a lawsuit in han
l understand that they have pa
about ten thousand dollars in retail
ing lawyers.
But the lieutenant-governor OF Nj
sissippi decided he would get son
campaign funds and go after me. II
bill for payment of this bill W
passed overwhelmingly by the hou
and went TO the senate. A maJori
of the senate wanted to pass it, b
the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, taking d V
tage OF his high office, and using IN
high office in the interest Of the &C
Germ against whom this suit W
brought, put this bill in to the tnan
.ocnjttoo IF tho sonata hut they {