Newspapers / The Weekly Star (Wilmington, … / Aug. 5, 1898, edition 1 / Page 1
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pxc WiitUv Max. PUBLISHED Af-: WILMINGTON N. C 51.00 A YEAR. IN ADVANCE. '' - : 88888888888883888 3ggg883gggggggg - " 88888888888888888 - jf" 88888888888888883 ji " ' 8888888888888888 , 4 8888888SS88888888 8888888888888888 J eo,ot-3asSJ;S88a88Sg - 82888888888888888 ' a SSSSSSSS8S888888 a - ntered at the Post Office at Omtgton, N. C, as SUBSCRIPTION P ICE. The subscription price of the Wr ly 8tar it as -Single Cop; 1 year, postage paid " 8 months " " " 3 months " ....tl 00 60 30 DGnOCBATIC TICKET. FOR CONGRESS. Sixth District John D. Bellamy, of ew nanover. FOR SUPERIOR COURT JUDGES. First District Hon. George H Brown, of Beaufort. Second District Hon. Henry R. Bry an, of Graven. Fifth District Hon. Thomas J. Shaw, of Guilford. Sixth District Hon. Oliver H Allen, oi Lienoir. "-seventh District Hon. Thomaa A McNeill, nf Rnhosnn Eleventh District Hon. W. Alexan der Hoke, of Lincoln. FOR SOLICITOR. Sixth District Rodolph Duffy, of Onslow. AFRAID OF TjpE LIGHT. It i ;t notorious fact' that the management of the State peniten tiary, miller tlie superintendence of 'I. R. Smith, removed, became sucha i scandal that Governor Russell found it necessary to remove him, which . lie did. He took him out ofthe penitentiary , which he said SmVth didn't have sense enough and wasn't tit to run. and put hira in place of J. W. -Mewborne, Commissioner of Agriculture, whom he made Super intendent" of the Penitentiary. It was intimated at the time, as a semi-appiogy for installing jn the i Agricultural Department a man whose unfitness was advertised and emphasized by his removal from the penitentiary, that the appointment would be simply temporary, and that the Board of Agriculture would probably eleet a successor to Mew borneAtsits first meeting after the chaus. But Smith still sticks. It is also a fact that the law re quires that the reports of the .officials of the State Depart rhents shall be made aqd given to 'the public by the 31st of December of each year. This is the latter end of July, 1898. If this requirement of the law as to the reports for 1897 has been complied with, that fact is known to very few people. There are so few copies if any of them availablfor obtainable, that. Chair man Simmons, of the Democratic State Committee, who desired Some information, found it necessary to write for it, and therefore addressed several letters respectfully and cour teously phrased to Superintendent Mewborne, of the Penitentiary; to Uaudius D.ockery, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Peniten tiary, and to John R. Smith, Com missioner of Agriculture. -trom the first he asked informa tion as to the management, receipts, expenditures, sale of crops produced on the State farms, and other mat ters in which the public is inter ested in reference to, which there are various renorts. Of Chairman Dockery he requested to be fur nished with a copy of the reports hich should have been ;made by' the :jlst of December last. Of Commissioner Smith he desired in formation as to the number of em ployes in the Department of Ag riculture, their names and duties, and the date when they went into wire, and the receipts and expen ditures of the department for the year 1 817. 2 .This is the sum and substance of ms letters to these respective offi- I cef8, asking for information that py citizen of North Carolina has rght to ask for and a right to know, but instead of answering courteously a8 a nnbliei aarvarft. Pail by the people of the State to rwiorni certain duties, Superinten dent Mewborne replies in a coarse.in wlent, abusive and'eowardly "open letter" addressed to, Mr. Simmons, m which he declined to furnish the formation desired on the ground 'hat hr l i it. nut me ciencai Wee sir U4 -I. . -V uia uummanQ to penorm he extra labor which compliance with he request would require and inaddi- .10n becai,se Mr. Simmons desired the "Jiorrrtation for political purposes. li6 r,(;mailling portion of this "open of v i8,devoted t0 scurjilous abuse . Mr.. Simmons whom it charges "n sundry offences while last .ng as Chairman of the Demo Z ? State committee, which has """l US much fnTlTior.f?nT, urifl, - waauv'WXVAA ITIVU UUU "tter in r.r.na a xi. """cowuuouuo aa tuts 78 on the sun have with the war Spain611 United Stat6S a?d The general impression is that i r m t ri cLAiTr VOL. XXIX. this open letter was net written by Mewborne, but by Governor Russell, for it wears the Russellistic ear marks and bristles with his manner ism, and that Mewborne's name was appended to it simply because he did not have the moral courage to say "no." There was no occasion for Mewborne to feel aggrieved, for there was not even by indirection or inference any reflection on his management, and hence he had no provocation to make the rude and ill-mannered exhibition of himself that he did, or rather permitted others with little sense of propriety or of what is due ?rom a publip servant to the public wnom tie presuniablv serves, to make of him. It was a very unfortunate thing for him that he permitted his name to be appended to that disreputable "open letter," and very unfortunate for the party that he and his boss represent that it saw the light, for the discriminating public will see the subterfuge in refusing to an swer and understand the cowardly fear that shrinks from the light. Chairman Dockery replied that he believed the reports asked for (which should have been made public by the 31st of last December) would soon be in the hands of the Governor, to whom Mr. Simmons was referred, with the additional information that if he did not get what he wanted, and if a copy was sent to him (Dockery) at Rockingham he "will gladly forward it," and if not he will "be glad to serve" Mr. Simmons when he "returns to Raleigh again." Up to the present time Commis sioner .of Agriculture Smith has maintained a profound silence as to answering the questions asked of him. Elsewhere we publish the reply of Chairman Simmons in reply to the letter of Superintendent Mewborne, which will be interesting reading for him and others concerned. MINOR MENTION According to a cable dispatch pub lished yesterday Spaniards oppose the cession of Porto Rico on the ground that she has "always been loyal." A proof of her loyalty was exhibited when Ponce, a city of 50, 000 inhabitants, capitulated to a few small American war vessels, and where the American troops were re ceived with a warm welcome. That is a striking evidence of "loyalty to Spain." But Cuba was also loyal, so loyal that she was given the pet name of "The Ever Faithful Isle," although they have had periodic re bellions there for the past fifty years or more, and hundreds of thous ands of natives and Spaniards t f . 1 have died in battle xr from wounds received in battle or from starvation or disease. But there is no talk of the "loyalty" of Cuba now. The Philippines are also "loyal" although Spanish authority is at an end in the islands, and the Spanish armies are cooped up with in the walls of Manila. The trouble with Spain has been all along that she wasn't able to distinguish be tween loyalty 'and disloyalty, and foolishly closed her eyes to the man ifestations of discontent that might have been removed if she had shown a reasonable amount of com mon sense and some disposition to listen to complaints and do justice to the oppressed. If Porto Ricans are "loyal to Spain," they take a remarkable way of showing it when they become wild with delight when the Spanish flag comes down and the Stars and Stripes go up. K s m ... : t The colored agitators for more of the official plums are bobbing up all around, and the echoes to Congress man White's Raleigh speech, invit ing the race issue, are coming in right lively! Yesterday we repro duced an extract from the Pittsboro Record showing how the leaven is working and the fermentation pro gressing among the swarthy contin gent in Chatham county, and refer red to the assertiveness of the same contingent in Montgomery county. The following, is clipped from the Rockingham Rocket of last week: "A prominent negro of this town ship said last Saturday, 'We've trot men of our race who can fill any office, from President to Constable, and it Won't be long before we'll fill them." As for ambition this sable citizen is a vaulter from long taw, and doesen't deal in generalities like White, or content himself with some county offices and a Congressman like the Rev. pe7pursuer of Chat ham does, but sweeps the platter and goes for everything from the Presi dent down. It is true that he hails from the little town of Rockingham, abode of Office Hunter Dockery, where the circle of contact is some what limited for a colored states man, and he may therefore have a somewhat exaggerated estimate of the potentialities, politically and offi cially speaking, of his race, but his utterances show that the White (blaek) movemement is being warmly responded to by the colored ballot slingers along tbe line, who agree with White that there ought I I I i m 1 1 1 I 1 T 7T T7 W 1 m a M J n Pa WW hjhiK I it i t We "" i -' ' i : : . 1 I " ' ' mil iissssss to be more of them holding soft snaps. The perplexing factor, and about the only perplexing on in bring ing the wa? with Spain to a close will be the disposition that is to be made of the Philippine islands, and the perplexity m this case hinees on the obligations that we may have assumed as to the insurgents. If we have assumed obligations (and there is little doubt that we have), we must keep faith and discharge them, unless a violation of the con tract by the insurgents relieve us from the obligation. English pub lic sentiment as voiced by the lead ing journals urges this country to take possession of the islands and hold them, but that would practi cally be as much a violation of the agreement that has in all proba bility been made-with the Philip pine leaders as returning the islands to the control of Spain would be, although if it came to that yiese leaders would doubt less prefer to live under ' our flag. But the fact that" the Republic has been declared is pretty good proof that independence was understood to be the reward of co operation with Admiral Dewey. But other factors may enter here. There are a good many of these islands, peopled by different kinds of people, some of whom have not much love for the others. There is no evi dence yet that there is anything like unanimity amongst them as to the kind of government they would like to have, or as to who shall pre side oyer the government. Aguin aldo has opposition, how formidable is not yet developed, but it is cer tain that his leadership will be dis puted unless he and his rivals can be kept in restraint by this Govern ent, so that the successful estab lishment of a Republic among peo ple differing so much among them selves, and with so little experience in self-government, is not as easy a task as it might seem. Statesman ship may find a way to solve this problem, but at present it is the per plexing one in the situation unless the" insurgents themselves solve it by assuming too much and ignoring the power that put them where they are. This remains to be seen. Aguinaldo may be vain, conceited and inflated by success, but there is no evidence yet that he is a fool, pure and simple. The Kansas City Journal doesn't purpose to let the Biblical heroes be deprived of any of their glory. As sociate Justice Brewer, of the U. S. Supreme Court, recently remarked that if some of the achievements of our soldiers and sailors in this war were recorded ju the Bible they would be read with incredulity, upon which the Journal asks "where is there anything in this war to com pare with the tumbling of Jericho's walls with a ram's horn, or anything to compare with the engineering feat of making a road across the Red Sea, or anything like the slay ing of those 10,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass ?" The Spanish Government has shown its appreciation of the unso phisticated Miss Schley's sympa thetic effort to put an end to the war, by refusing to let her call on the queen and intimating that she had better vacate Spain with as little de lay as possible. And now we sup pose she is mad enough to fight all Spain by her lone self. Porto, Rico had ten years ago a population of 808, 908 people, or over 216 people to the square mile, more than any State in the Union except Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It light little isle, salubrious and fer tile, and without venomous reptiles. The anti-swear ordinance in New York charges a woman $4 a swear and a man only $2. This is consid ered - an invidious discrimination against the women, who can't swear half as hard as the men can. ' The late Republican convention of North Dakota made fourteen nomi- nations in twenty-three minutes. Ran 'em through in job lot fashion, so to speak, as they do private pen sion bills in Congress sometimes. The holdings of the Pullman fam ily in the Pullman company have increased $2,000,000 in value in the past few months, from which it may be inferred that it has a pull on the public or somebody. . ' Clara Barton says the formula for keeping young and doing a good deal of work without fagging is to go along and attend to business and let somebody else do the fretting. A Madrid dispatch says -a vessel has been sunk by the Spaniards in the channel entrance to San J nan harbor. Bottled themselves up, as it were. According to reports the Eastern, Middle and Western States will have the biggest hay crop this year they have had in ten years. ' ' " ' - WILMINGTON, N. C, VETERINARIANS MEET Special Session of the North Carolina Veterinary Medical Association. MANY IMPORTANT MATTERS. The President's Address Papers of (treat Interest on Various Subjects Read by Members of the Association. The Attendance. The North Carolina Veterinary Medical Association met in special ses sion yesterday at 2 o'clock at Hiber nian Hall. The veterinary physicians present were C. R. Ellis, Char lotte, president; T. B. Carroll, Wil mington, vice president; J, W. Petty, Winston, secretary and treasurer; H. Bessent, Durham; Daniel Quihlivan, Wilmington; B. L. Griffin, Concord -, J. W. Rollins and L. G. Lambertb, Asheville; H. F. Banner, Greensboro ; J. B. Ashcraft, Monroe; W. C. Mur ray, Hickory; W. C. MoMocWn, E. E. Tarry, and Frank Harvey, Raleigh ; J. L. Lockwood, R. H. Hatfield, Charles Hatfield and B. E. Harper, Washington City; W. H. Morris, Elizabeth City; J. M. Peden, Winston; R. M. Smith, Salisbury; Dr. Comp ton, Henderson; Mrs. Dr. C. R. Ellis, Charlotte. Mrs. Ellis is an honorary member of the association and was the first lady in the country admitted to membership in a veterinary organiza tion, though after her admission ladies began to be admitted North and South. ; The meeting was called to order by the president, Dr. Ellis, of Charlotte. and Dr. Daniel Quinlivan in a bright little speech extended a cordial wel come, to the visitors. The president's address was then heard with great in terest. He said he felt very muchn couraged at the attendance. He be lieved that all the members would feel proud of the association, and that the State would soon reap the benefits from the association's efforts for the inspection of animal foods. He then read a list of physicians all over the State endorsing the city ownership slaughter houses so as to facilitate the inspection already referred to. He an nounced that at the next meeting of the Legislature the association would make every effort to have proper laws passed. "We may not see the benefits ofjjur organization," he went on to say, "but the time is not far off when our State shall be benefitted because of our labors. " Dr. H. F. Bauer, of Greensboro, read a paper urging the association to take steps to nave our dumb animals attended to in the proper time, as de lay in some seemingly insignificant trouble frequently causes the animal to undergo suffering that civilized peo ple should not allow. A paper that was listened to with great interest was read by Dr. J. W. Petty, of Winston, the subject being Tuberculosis and its communica- bility to mankind through milk and meat." Dr. T. B. Carroll read a valuable treatise on animal foods. Dr. W. H. Morris, of Elizabeth City, read a paper on the "Practice of Sur gery." After a special vote of thanks to the Hibernian Society for the use of iB pleasant and commodious hall, the as sociation adjourned to meet again at a time and place to be named by a com mittee appointed for that purpose. The veterinarians have been taking in the seaside resorts, and say that they have never attended so enjoyable a meeting as this has been. Most of them will leave fortheir homes to-day. Wilmington Tariff Association. The Raleigh News and Observer of yesterday under the head of "A Long Felt Want," has quite a good deal to say about the Wilmington Tariff As sociation. It prints an interview with Mr. J. A. Taylor, president of the as sociation, who said in commenting upon concessions gained from the Railroad Commission in the rate on molasses and bacon in bags : " We demand equitable treatment the same accorded to other cities in other States nothing more and noth ing less. We ask for nothing except wnai we regaru as iusi. "Appreciating that it reauires an expert traffic manager, the association appointed Mr. James Kyle, and he nas Turmsned statements that no rail road expert could confute. We expect to do a great deal more in behalf of the shippers and con sumers. This is just a beginning. We do not work by agitation, out by presenting just claims, backed by facts and figures. "The rate granted on molasses will average a reduction of about 25 per cent., and the reduction on the bacon rate is 40 per cent. These are State rates that benefit not Wilmington but all places in the State?' ITALY AND COLOMBIA. Serious Trouble Between the Two Coun tries is Likely to Occur. By Cable to the Horning Star. London, July 31. A Rome dispatch to a news agency here says the Italian government does not intend to modify its attitude with regard to the claim against Colombia, and is determined upon exact compliance with the ar bitrator's conditions. According to this dispatch, Admiral Candiani's latest report is to the effect that Co lombia is defiant and serious trouble is possible. The admiral's dispatches are be lieved to have been tampered with and delayed. By direction of the Secretary of War orders have been issued that Miami shall be abandoned as one of the permanent camps of United States forces and directing that the troops now there shall be transferred imme diately to Jacksonville. FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, ' iHlslsi I . PRIZE SHIP AT CHARLESTON. A French Steamer Captured Off Porto Rico Last Sunday. By Telegraph to the MornInK Star. Chaklkston, S. Om July 30. The French steamship Maneaubia, which was captured off Porto Rico Sunday last by the Dixie, was brought in here this morning. The vessel comes from the south and is consequently held at quarantine, no one being allowed on board her. She is in charge of a prize crew under boatswain John Lunn, of me .uixie. xne Maneaubia was cap tured bv thfi T)i Tl A msr. qc aha haH - y ' w J."V SAW UUU UMU. landed a number of men and supplies near Ponce where Gen. Miles now is. A solid shot had to be fired across her bow before she would come about There are irregularities in her papers. uub wj.o case against tne vessel does nui4 seem to te as strong as those against the other prizes here. A libel against her will be filed Monday. UNUSUAL INDUCEMENTS. New Manufacturing Enterprises in Wil mington Exempt from Taxation for a Period of Ten Years. 1 It is not nearly so well known as it should be that Wilmington offers unusual inducements, aside from her natural advantages, to new manu facturing enterprises locating here. By authority of a special act of the State Legislature manufacturing com panies locating here are exempt from taxation for a period of ten years after their establishment. The special act referred to consti tutes Messrs, W. E. Worth, Oscar Pearsall, W. A. French, James Chad bourn, J. H. Watters, Clayton Giles and Col. F. W. Foster a committee to have in charge the promulgation of his inducement. They are inaugurating quite an ac tive campaign just now. A Stab rep resentative was shown yesterday con tracts recently made by Col. Foster, as corresponding secretary of the committee, with several leading peri odicals for the insertion of the fol lowing pointed advertisement: I "Wilmington, N C, exempts all manufacturers from taxation for a period of ten years. Appl y to V- "P. W Foster, ' 'Corresponding Secretary." The contracts referred to provide for the publication of the advertise ment in the Dry Goods Economist, New York American Wool and Cot ton Reporter, Boston; Manufacturer Record, Baltimore ; Iron and Steel Record, Chicago, and the Posf , Wash ington, D. C. The Stab reporter was told that similar advertisements are to be placed in a number of other papers very soon, and a vigorous effort is to be made all along the line for the at traction of new enterprises to this the Metropolis of North Carolina, and witbal the most advantageous puint in the State for the conduct of a variety of profitable manufactories. AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE. Sheriff and Treasurer Submit Brief Re ports as to County Finances.. There was a meeting of the Finance and Audit Committee, of the New Hanover Board of County Commis sioners last night. The sheriff and the county treasurer sent reports as requested at the last meeting of the Board. The sheriff's report shows that he has paid out about $900 since July 12th by author ity of the resolution passed by the de funct Board, directing him to pay warrant from Col. Foster, as chair man. The report of the treasurer showed no moneys received or paid out since the last report. No definite action was taken last night upon any mattter. The county records were gone through carefully in order that com missioners might familiarize them selves as much as possible with the affairs of the county. There will be a regular meeting of the Board Monday afternoon at 2.30. o'clock to which the committee will report. All three of the committee men, Col. Moore, Capt Boatwright and Capt. Barry were present last night, also County Attorney W. B. Mc Koy, and Capt. W. P. Oldham. Charged With Murder. Tom Perry, colored, was arrested and lodged in the county jail last night charged with the murder of a man in Laurinburg a short while ago. The arrest was made by Jim McRee and Will Roper, both colored. Neither of them is an officer. They claim that there is a reward of $25 offered for the arrest of Perry. They claim that he shot his victim in the abdomen twice and that he died from the effects of the wounds. Perry was seen by a Stab reporter at the jail last night and said that he knew nothing whatever of the charges made against him. He claims that he has been here the past two months working on a lighter. The matter will be investigated to-day. CRUISER MARIA TERESA. Admiral Sampson Says the Ship Will Soon be Floated. By Telegraph to the Morning star. Washington, July 30. The Navy Department has posted the following cablegram from Admiral Sampson: "Ptoya, July 29, 1898. The Infanta Maria Teresa upon which the wreck ers are now engaged will be floated and brought to Guantanamo aa soon as a small leak is located which is somewhere in the bow of the ship. Whether this leak is due to a small valve being left open or a hole which may have been made in the bow, is not yet known. Her own pumps are being used to remove the water, there being steam in one of her boilers. (Signed) , "Sahpson." ! I - 1898. POLITICS IN ROBESON. Unmistakable Evidence oi a Great Reaction in Favor of Democracy. WHITE MAN'S GOVERNMENT. The Meeting in Howellsville Township, Former Populist Stronghold. They Can Stand Fusion With Negroes No Longer. V Special Star Telegram. Ldmbebton, July 30. The meeting in IlowellsvUle township, Robeson county, was the most -remarkable, in some respects, of any meeting held in the State since the Populist party was organized. It was called "a bas- i pic-nic, vrui was essentially a political gathering. The attendance is estimated at five hundred, of which one-fourth were women and children. A striking feature of the occasion was, that of the voters present more than one-half were men who voted the fusion or Populist tictet in 1896, and all the speakers were Democrats or former Populists. The speakers were J, M. Wilson, John D. Bellamy, Duncan Musslewhite, C. M. McLean, W. S. Norment and Governor Jar vis Jar vis and Bellamy were the promi nent speakers and both acquitted themselves admirably. Wilson has not voted a Democratic ticket in ten years and has been in thorough sym pathy with the Populists. His short talk for Democracy was harmonious and very effective. Musslewhije has been one of the most extreme Popu lists in the county, but he acknowl edged he had made the greatest mis take of his life, and appealed to all Populists to join him in advocating Democratic principles and white su premacy. The color line was stronlgy drawn by the speakers; Jarvis and Bellamy be ing especially vigorous in their appeals to their hearers to stand solidly to gether in favor of a white man's gov ernment. Howellsville Tias been the strongest Populist toWnship in Robeson county, but the evidences of a great reaction in favor of Democracy were unmis takable to-day. I talked with very many Populists myself who said un qualifiedly that they could stand fusion with negroes no longer, and had determined to support the whole Dem ocratic ticket in the coming election. The indication's are strong that the Populist defection in HowellsviUb will work a complete reversal of the fusion majority. Advices from other town ships show that Populists in large numbers are abandoning their former negro allies. The fight in Robeson will be strictly on the color line, and the Democratic outlook is most en couraging, r Close observers say that Bellamy formed the personal acquaintance of every man, woman and child at the meeting. W. H. B. LAURINBURG MURDER CASE. ine prisoner still in New Hanover Hi Jail Particulars as to the Murder Charged. There have been no developments of special interest in the case of the negro who was arrested here Thursday even ing charged with murder in Richmond county. The sheriff has been notified by telegraph and letter of the arrest. This was done by Squire R. H. Bunt ing, by whom the negro was com mitted. It seems that the fellow's real name is not Tom Perry, but Ephraim Stubbs. The man he is charged with killing was William Zack. It appears that in April last Zack and Stubbs be came involved in a quarrel on the streets of Laurinburg and Zack threw a rock at Stubbs. Xfaat night Stubbs went to Zack's house, threw a stone against it and as Zack came out fired two balls into his body. The wounded man did not live very long after he was shot and Stubbs has since evaded arrest. The above is the story of the crime as told by Will Roper, colored, one of the negroes who caused Stubbs arrest. The prisoner contends that he is not Stubbs but Perry, as the name was published yesterday. Sheriff Smith, of Richmond county, is expected here on every train to take charge of or discharge the man. There are all sorts of reports about the reward offered for the murderer, the amount ranging from $25 to $250. THE BODY OF PRIVATE PEARCE Arrived Yesterday in Charge of Private Frazier Interred at Wbiteville. Private H. E. Frazier, of Company E?,: was here yesterday with the re mains of Private Jay Pearce, who died a few days since at Raleigh. Mr. J. Pi Pearce, the father of the de ceased, was also along and the two left f or Whiteville at 3:45 P. M., with the corpse. The interment was to have been made at that place yester day afternoon. Mr. Frazier had the painful duty of breaking the sad news to Privates Pearce's father who reached Raleigh a few hours after his son passed away. Private Frazier will report back to Raleigh on Monday if he does not re ceive orders to go earlier. He says the boys are all expecting to leave daily. The provost guards were taken off Friday night and ordered to re port at camp at 10 o'clock, and every member of the company is confi dently expecting to get off very soon. " NO. 43 SIMMONS TO MEWBORNE. A Hot Roast lor the Fabricators of Falsehoods. Violators of the Law Who Take Refuge Behind Cowardly Subterfuge, Exposed and Pilloried. . Raleigh, N. C,, July 27, 1898. J. M. Mewborne, Supt. of Peniten tiary, Raleigh, N. C. SlB: On the 14th of July I ad dressed you a letter hereto attached marked "A." On the 16th of July I addressed you a letter hereto attached marked "B." On the 20th of July I addressed you a letter hereto attached marked "C." On the 21st of July J addressed to Claudiua Dockery, Esq. , chairman of the Board of Directors of the Penitentiary, a letter hereto at tached marked "D." On the 14th of July I addressed to John, R. Smith, Esq., Commissioner of Agriculture, a letter hereto attached marked ' 'E. " To the communications addressed to you I have received no answer, but there is published in to-day's Raleigh Post an open letter dated JuJy 25th, addressed to me and sitrnwl Kir The public knows the contents of this letter, and it is not necessary I should reproduce it here. A little after noon to-day I received through the mails a letter signed by Mr. Dockery, dated July 2Eth. and hereto attached, marked ltF". I have received no answer whatever from the letter addressed to Mr. Smith. It is well known in North Carolina that we have just entered, upon a cam paign in which the management of our State affairs by the present admin istration will be largely discussed and that the question will be presented to the people to beecided at the election in November, whether they will con tinue the control of the present fusion government in . North Carolina. Un der these circumstances, I deemed it due to the voters of the State, to whose interest, judgment and patriot ism the party of which I am chairman proposes to appeal, . that they should be put in possession of the full facts concerning the management of their affairs by the present State govern ment, to the end that they may wisely and fairly decide whether the interest and honor of the State required that their public affairs should hereafter be conducted by a" different political party. In order that this work, in which the people are so much interested, should be thoroughly and fairly exe cuted, I secured the services of Hob. T. J. Jarvis, former Governor and United States Senator, and Captain S. A. Ashe, a leading journalist of this State and a man of. high charac ter, to prepare a hand-book giving an accurate statement of all the facts concerning these matters. Early after Governor Russell was indutced into office' he appointed John R. Smith superintendent of the penitentiary and you Commissioner of Agriculture. Soon thereafter rumors of mismanagement and misappropria tion of tihe property of the peniten- oecame rue tnroughout the State. It was stated in the public press, and from mouth to mouth, that the Gov ernor had determined to remove Mr. Smith from the office of superintendent because of incompetence, mismanage ment and corruption. Some time last winter the public was startled by the information that for the reasons above stated the Governor acting through the Board of Directors, had removed Mr. Smith as superin tendent and caused him to be nut in charge of the Agricultural Department, inus transferring- a man round unnt by reason of moral and mental delin quencies to manage the convicts, to the control of that institution which most closely touches the interests of the predominant element of the nonula- tion, the farmer. It was also stated in the newspapers, and not denied, that the Governor had stated to a member of the Board of Directors of the Affri- t cultural Department, in a personal in terview- with him, as a reason for the rempval of Smith from the position of superintendent of the penitentiary, that under him the penitentiary man agement was not only squandering, but actually stealing the- property of the State. It was likewise charged that this director stated in a meeting of the Board of Agriculture that the Gov ernor had stated to him as his reason for transferring Mr. Smith from the penitentiary to the Agricultural De partment, that under his management of the penitentiary the property of the State was being squandered and stolen. me law requires the superintendent of the penitentiary annually, on the 31st of December of each yeaiy to file, under oath, an inventory of the assets of that institution, and requires the Board of Directors to make an annual report of the affairs of the penitentiary to tne ijovernor. It was ascertained upon inquiry that no report or inventory, for the year 1897, such as the law requires should be made, was accessible to the public. In view of these facts, and the sum mary removal of Mr. Smith, under the imputations aforesaid, I thought and still think that the public would be interested in knowing, and has the right to know, the facts concerning the management of this institution during that year, of which no report could be obtained. Therefore, as it was intended that the hand-book which Governor Jarvis and Captain Ashe were preparing should discuss these matters, as well as the facts connected with the man agement of the penitentiary by your self, in the interest of fairness in giv ing the people information upon these subjects, these distinguished and hon orable gentlemen did not wish to act upon rumors and newspaper state ments, and requested me to address the communications hereto attached, asking for the information and facts therein requested, as a basis of their discussion of these subjects. ; I did not think for a minute that the information asked would not be promptly given, and in a way that gentlemen usually conduct their cor respondence. It was not thought by them or my self that if the information was given it would show a state of affairs to the advantage of the present administra tion, but no estate officer nas ever be- j fore concealed from the public the re ! ports and records of his office, because : they might militate against the party j to which he belonged, and it was there fore believed you Would, as a matter I of duty and decency, supply the infor- i mation. It has generally been supposed that every tax-payer of the State has a ! right to see the records of all public i offices and to ask and receive, without 1 insulted, information concern- 9 management Dy -tne omcer of tee. As a representative of a great par ty which polled in the last election 145,000 votes, constituting two-thirds of the tax payers of theSfete, I did not think it would be impudence or effrontery to ask you in their name and as their representative for this information. It has been an old-time tradition in North Carolina that public officers are public servants. I did not know that since the advent of you; and Governor Russell this time-honored rule had been reversed, and the people had be come the servants of the officers. I did not address you as a servant, because, being one of the people, and representing a party of 145,000 tax-paying voters, I was Old fogyish enough to suppose that in your official capacity you were the servant of the people, and that both law and custom forbade you from hiding and concealing from the : public your official acts and those of your immediate predecessor. Shortly after my letters were sent and delivered, the Board of Directors of the penitentiary met in Raleigh,and I am informed that at their several sessions hotly debated whether I should be given the information asked A member who insisted that as a citizen and tax-payer I was entitled to the in formation was, so lam fold, fiercely re proached by you. Having failed to reach any agreement on -this all-absorbing question in open meeting,your board did what was never oefore done in North Carolina; to-wit: Met in. what you were pleased to call ex ecutive session, for the purpose of con sidering this subject. When the board rose froih this snr.mt mMtlnn- T formed that newspaper reporters and enquirers were told that the meeting was an executive session, and its pro ceedings therefore secret. I do not know, and the people do not know, what transpired in that secret meeting, but I am reliably informed after the meeting Mr. Dockery, the1 chairman, and the board would have preferred , ; I had not asked for the information, " but that I would get an answer which would make me sorry that I had re quested it. I presume the board decided in this secret meeting mat your party could not afford to let the people know the real facts concerning the management iof the penitentiary by the present ad ministration, and it was determined to try and befog the issue, and that as a result you refused the information requested, and instead of the courteous reply, which I reasonably expected, and, as a further result, you decided npon the -infamous and slanderous personal attack upon me, which this morning was published in the) Raleigh Posh- . Your party shall not, by this low; andj dirty device, befog the issue or escape exposure. I shall continue to use every avenue open to me to lay bfere before the peo ple of North Carolina the facts con cerning the disreputable mismanage ment of the penitentiary, and all other departments of the State government, by the present discredited and dis graceful administration. It will be observed by reference to the section of tiie law quoted in my letter to Mr. Dockery that two things are required. One, an inventory to be made by the superintendent, under oath, and the other a report by the board itself, j It will appear from my letter to Mr. Dockery that I asked for both a copy of the report and a copy of the inventory. I especially re quested a copy of the report because it is much more comprehensive. Mr. Dockery, in his -letter to me, only promises a copy of the inventory, Which he speaks of as the report of the superintendent. It is apparent from Mr. Dockory's letter that lie is himself doubtful whether 1 will ever get this report or inventory, for lie. only says he BE LIEVES !it will be in the hands of the Governor in a short while. -He does not say that he KNOWS it will be in the hands of the" Governor at all. . f . It will be remembered that the law,' requires thatthis sworn inventory must benled on December 31st. It is said, and currently accepted, that the Governor wrote or dictated your cowardly assault upon me and the Democratic party. Certain it is, it was sent out directly from the Execu tive office, and is in the coarse and vulgar style that characterizes all that emanates from him. Every line in shows that it came from- a vicious mind. There is not a statement in it personal to myself or about my course in politics, which anyway re flects upon my personal integrity, or the integrity ot any political methods with, which I have heretofore been connected, that is not a WILFUL and premeditated LIE, witbout foundation in fact, and made by you and your abettors for the purpose' of raising a fog behind which you hope to retreat from the position in which you have S laced yourself before the public, by eclining to come to an account with 4-1 . 1 T il 1 4 . , me injopie lur me manner in wnicn tne affairs of the penitiary have been mis managed since the 1st of January, ' 1897, and it is indisputable evidence of your irritation at me for preferring the simple request. I denounce the statements made in your letter personal to myself emanations of a vile heart,'levoid anv restraint or eonse ipnpp nnrl as of as the impotent vaponngs of a miserable liar. There has grown up in North Caro lina during the last few years a horde, of which you are one, who seek by de traction and defamation of their bet ters to deceive and mislead the people and gain for themselves positions which they are notoriously unfit to hold. The time has come when such mis erable slanderers and hypocrites will not only be exposed, but fittingly de nounced and pilloried before an out raged public. F. 11. Simmons. DUPLIN DEMOCRACY. Puts a Strong Ticket in the Field Early Which WiU Win. Special Star Correspondence.) Kenansvillbt July 28. During the last ten vears such Democratic convention as was held here yesterday has not been seen in Duplin. There was a large attend ance from all over the county and every delegate had his head set for a good ticket, which is as follows: En dorsed for Senate, I. F. Hill ; nominated for House, James O. Carrfor Sheriff, Leonidas Middleton ; for Clerk, Her bert Smith; for Register of Deeds, B. F. Pearsall; for County Commis sioners, Jacob O. Carr, Jno. L. James and P. H. Kornegay. Captain L. T. Hicks, of Faison, was made permanent chairman, and Messrs. L. A. Beasley, Jno. A. Gavin, Jf- and J. A. Ferrell (representation of Sampson Democrat) were elected permanent secretaries. The conven tion was a very enthusiastic one and perfect harmony prevailed. En couraging reports came in from all over the county and Duplin will be swung back in the Democratic column . -r There is a formidable gath ering of European and Asiatic fleets at Manila, but as the Japanese and British are instructed to co-operate with Admiral ,Dewey, if necessary, there is no occasion, at present at least, for anxiety in regard to Amer ican operations m the East Indies. Chicago News. v '33 -f I
The Weekly Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 5, 1898, edition 1
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