/^5/^ .^?!^ \ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 498 971 5 P 316 .C75 ^opy 1 TEUSONAL VINDICATION. SPEECH OB' HON. S. B. CONOYEE, AT A Mass Meeting of Citizens, held in the Capitol /Square, in the City of Talla- Jiassee, Florida, on Saturday, Novemher 8, 1873. I'^elloAv-Citizeu^i t I thank you for the kindness ■with which you have received me, and accept your cordial greet- ing as evidence that you at least have not as yet pronounced an Unfavorable judgment on one whose brief career, in what is to him an almost untried position, has wrought little harm, if it has thus far accomplished no good. I am thankful for the opportunity now pre- sented of addressing you. It has been my good fortune, during a residence here of several years, to enjoy the acquaintance of many now present, whose friendship and confidence, if not mine already, I covet, and shall aidentlj" strive to merit. It is not my purpose on this occasion to detain you long or to attempt an elaborate speech. — What I shall have to say will relate chiefly to my own vindication from personal attacks as morti- fying to myself as they were unexpected to my friends. When elected to the high position which it pleased a majority of both parties in the Legis- lature to confer upon me, I was not vain enough to suppose that, pursue what course I might, I should escape criticism if not censure. An avowed Republican and elected with full knowledge, by every one who voted for me, of my political affilia- tions and inclinations, I expected that my con- duct would be closely watched, especially by those of opposite political faith ; but I am proud to say, and I take this opportunity to avow it, that so far at least I have received little elsethau kind forbearance from those from whom I sup- posed I had the most to dread. No, fellow-citi- zens, it is not from political opponents that at- tacks have come. They at least have been wil- ling to give me a fair trial, and if I have nothing else to offer them in return, I tender them my poor thanks and most profound gratitude. The assaults of which I have just cause to complain have come from quite a different source. They have come from my own household — from pro- fessed Republicans — from those who assume to be sentinels on the ramparts of the party, aind as- pire to be the leaders and instructors of its masseSi These have pursued me with a bitterness without a parallel. Crimes of the most damaging charac- ter have been ascribed to me, and they lacked but the ingredient of truth to have accomplished my destruction. While I have been endeavoring in a feeble but earnest way to do my duty at the seat of government, and as a member of a com- mittee charged with a most important work, in which Florida has a great interest, seeking to collect such information as would enable me fitly to represent my State, enemies at home have labored with a zeal worthy of a better cause to block up my path and render me impotent for good. Who these enemies are, is known to those present. In w hat manner they have assailed me ig also known ; but xohy I have been pursued with the most unsparing abuse and villification is not so generally understood. The fact that my ac- counts as Treasurer had not been squared witli r -^ \(a the State was seized upou as a pretext to charge me with embezzlement and dishonesty. I was held up as a swindler and a thief ; my party fealty questioned and denied, and every possible effort made to prejudice the public mind to my injury, and especially to weaken and destroy any influ- ence I might be supposed to possess at Washing- ton. I say the fact of my accounts not being closed was made the pretext for this ungenerous, unjust and cowardlj'^ warfare. The real motive of the attack was kept hidden. Shall I tell you what that motive was ? It was to destroy me po- litically. This was the object, end and aim. And why ? Not because I was personally of any par- ticular importance, but because, from the position in which I was placed, I was supposed to be an obstacle in the way of the political and personal schemes of a clique of restless, ambitious and unscrupulous demagogues, whose power for mis- chief and evil in the Republican party was sup- posed to have been destroyed by my election to the Senate. This faction found that I could not be dragooned and used, and tliey determined to " kill me off;" but they will find, if they have not already made the discovery, that the under- taking is more than they are equal to. The job is too big to be " bossed" by them or such as them. They will learn that the Republican par- ty has ceased to be " their property," never more to be subjected to their domination and control. Four years under their leadership were years of turmoil and strife. To question the wisdom of their course was to provoke their animosity — to oppose them, inspired their deepest resentment. Offices of respectability and profit, both Federal and State, were considered their's bj' divine right ; the only passports to their favor were adulation and subserviency. The rallying ciy of party in their lips was only a cloak to conceal their inor- dinate greed and restless ambition. Pretending a zealous regard for the rights of the colored peo- ple, they elevated themselves to power on their shoulders, and straightway forgot the brawny arms that had lifted them into position, oi; amused and flattered them with crumbs and sops. Ever boasting their longing desire to see Florida a prosperous State and her people united and hap- py, they were foremost in sowing the seeds of distrust between races, and took a peculiar pleas- ure in representing life and property as unsafe by magnifying every outbreak against law as proof that the spirit of rebellion was as yet un- subdued. Bold, tmscrupnlous and cunning, aiTO- gating to themselves the " brains of the party," they are only at home when reveling in the frauds of a " Yellow Bluff," plotting schemes of impeachment, or defaming the character of those who defy their hatred and scorn their alliance. This little faction, fellow-citizens, whose num- bers are insignificant, will never be satisfied until every Republican who refuses to " crook the preg- nant hinges of the knee" before their assumption and arrogance, is, like myself, " killed ofl"."— They are even now laying the wires and plan- ning schemes for political control, and rathei- than fail they would ally themselves with any and every body, or any political party, who will follow their lead and pander to their selfishness. That they have not succeeded in destroying me is not their fault. With free access to the columns of a venal newspaper, claiming to be Republican, their utmost endeavors to inflict in- jurj^ have recoiled upon themselves. If there is any one trait in American character more marked than another, it is a love of fair play, and my worst enemy nuist admit that this has been de- nied to me. No explanation has satisfied my traducers; it was no part of the conspiracy that I should have a fair hearing and be fairly judged. The consideration accorded to the meanest crimi- nal was withheld from me. I was to be accused, tried and declared guilty without the opportunity of being heard, and the instrument selected for " working up the case" was of all men best fitted for the discreditable undertaking. The Republi- can editor of the Florida Union^ who knows him well, describes him thus : " The sour malignan- " cy, the bilious acidity, the gratuitous personality " of one too cynical to cultivate the decent cour- " tesies of common life and too malicious to avoid " a single opportunity to vent his spleen, are all " too characteristic to allow much doubt" that the traders in traduction knew their man. To this picture of the tool of an infamous com- bination, I will only add that his antecedents equally with his natural disposition, qualified him all the better for doing the bidding of his employers. Originally a bitter reviler of the Re- publican party, his hatred of its leaders and its measures led him to take the stump as a brawling secessionist. " Longing to follow to the field some warlike lord," and fancying that his mighty sword would turn the scale against the armies of the Union, we next find him a subaltern offi- cer in a rebel regiment ; but the smoke of battle not agreeing M-ith his sensitive nerves, and per- ^'ceiving safety and perhaps snuffing plunJev and '^provender in another field, lie thought it uo re- "^^ flection upon his patriotism if he deserted his flag, ^leaving the comrades whom his eloquence and example had duped to bear the shock of battle uncheered by his presence and uuaided by his arm. And this man, fellow-citizens, who fled his flag to become a " camp bummer," thus in- spiring in the same breath admiration for the treason but contempt for the traitor, presumes to sit in judgment on ray Republicanism! Had he not " better tarry at Jericho till his beard is grown ?" It is charged against me that I combined to de- feat the election of Governor Hart by conspiring with others to alter certain returns of the elec- tion. This charge I pronounce false in every feature. It is further alleged in proof of such conspiracy that I wrote a letter to he sheriff of Gadsden, in which I begged that officer to keep the " secret" of the sheriff of Leon County, who, it was also said, had been dispatched to Gadsden to procure the destruction of the records of the election. The charge was very explicit, and it showed that I was either criminally treacherous and base, or the accusation a most foul libel. — Here are the words of the Sentinel : " Just after the election of Conover to the IT. S. Senate, the Sheriff of Gadsden received a letter from S. B. Conover requesting him to keep the accredited agent's secret — that he (the Sheriff of Gadsden) did not know how soon ' a ripe persim- mon would fall in his mouth.' " — Oct. 11. And again, when the charge was denied and another name given as the author of the letter ascribed to me, the accusation was reiterated by the same paper as follows : " The statement was founded on evidence that cannot be so easily set aside. It was not the offspring of a crochett}' brain, or the idle gossip of the street, but the testimony of a reliable man,, and we shall take" occasion hereafter to follow it up that the people may know the infamous con- spirators." — Oct. 18. This whole story, fellow -citizens, is a complete fabrication from beginning to end, so far as it relates to me. It is a manufactured falsehood, in perfect keeping with the multitude of other slanders which have been evolved by the same seething brain. As soon as I was apprised of the accusation, I addressed a letter to the Sheriff of Gadsden, calling his attention to the charge, and requesting an immediate confirmation or dis- proval of the statement. He answered promptly, but the letter did not come to hand. I telegraph- ed him on the 4th inst., and the next day re- ceived the following reply : QuiNCY, Fla., Nov. 4, 1873. Hon. S. B. Conover, Dear Sir : — Your letter of 31st ult., relative to a certain article which appeared in the Tallahas- see Sentinel some two weeks ago, was received by me on Saturday last, the 1st inst, and duly answered on Sunday, the 3d inst., mailed in the Quincy post oflice the same day at 10 A. M., and I have the assurance of the Acting Post Master here that it was forwarded on Monday, and of which I have retained a copy, but not having it before me, give you the substance. As regards the article referred to, I am in no way responsible — it was published without my knowledge or consent. I do not know Avho wrote it, or anything about it. As regards your- self, I can safely say that I have never in my life received a letter from you, (except the one above referred to,) or have I ever had any conversation with you on politics or any other subject, and that to the best of my knowledge, recollection and belief the sum total of all communications that I have ever had the honor of having with or from you is covered by a formal introduction, a shake cf hands, and " good evening." I did once in May, 1873, if I am not mistaken in the date, receive a letter from another M. C, in response to a strictly business letter having no reference to politics, or public affairs, in which the expression " ripe persimmon," etc., occurs. Said letter is now in my possession, and knowing the writer would not object, is subject to the inspection of any person who has more time to devote to the private affairs of others than to at- tend to their owp, I make this statement as in justice due, and would have done so before, but absence from the county and illness has prevented. I have the honor to remain, Your very obedient serv't, John P. Jordan, Sheriff Gadsden Co. I think, fellow-citizens, that this answer effec- tualty disposes of that matter. It is not only a clear vindication of myself, but it shows the despicable character of the man who degrades and disgraces the columns of the newspaper press by making them the medium for venting the spleen and malice of his vindictive nature. Further proof of my political hypocrisy is sought to be found in that I tried to procure the late candidate of the conservatives for Governor, Hon. W. D. Bloxham, to be appointed Surveyor- General. I plead guilty to the fact of trying to have the appointment of that gentleman made, and I am happy to say that the whole delegation, with one exception, agreed with me in recom- mending it as one eminently fit and proper. Tint the President was not deceivecl. He was inform- ed as to who Mr. Bloxham was, and sort his name to the Senate with full knowledge of his political and personal antecedents and c'.iaracter. What the department wanted in the ofiBce was a competent officer, and the question was not as to his politics, but, " Is he honest, is he capable?" No one acquainted with Captain Bloxham will doubt that he fully answered the requirements, and I happen to know that the course of the delegation in the matter met with the approval of the proper authorities. I wish to say here that the recommendation of Mr. B. was made without his knowledge or consent. It was sim- ply a recognition of his fitness lor the position, and I offer it as proof that a Republican Presi- dent and Republican Congressmen can be liberal even to their political opponents. THE ALLEGED BALANCES. And now, fellow-citizens, I come to the more serious charges against me — charges which relate to my integrity as a man, and which it was hoped by my enemies would crush and annihi- late me. You have not forgotten the use which was made of a statement furnished by the State Treasurer of balances appearing on his books as due by me to the School Fund and on general account. That the statement was obtained in the first instance for no good end, is proved by the infamous use finally made of it. I do not complain that the statement Was obtained; but what I do object to is the grossly unjust and scandalously false use to which it was subjected. Herein was the double distilled villainy of the proceeding. It w"as not enough to show that there was an apparent balance against me on the books, which, however, did not exist in fact, but my enemies made the circumstance the occasion for hounding me as though I was the veriest of scoundrels. Epithets of defaulter, embezzler, rob- ber, were hurled at me with venomous vehemence. Even after explanation made by a friend, which ought to have satisfied any reasonable amount of emnity, there was a marvellous persistence in slander and vituperation, until it became appar- ent that the attack in the outset was no mere mistake, resulting from erroneous information, but was a pre-concerted plot to injure and defame me, deliberately planned and attempted to be executed with all the vindictiveuess peculiar to conspirators and assassins. It is hardly neces- sary to repeat the " statement " of which so per- verted a use has been made, and yet it is per- haps proper that I should refer to it. There was represented in it as due by me to the State on general account a balance of $1,- 903.70. Against this I hold legitimate offsets in amount sufficient to' cover it, the chief item of which consists in an order on the Contingent Fund, signed by the late Governor. I paid this money out by the order of the Governor for postage, express charges on revenue collected and sent to the Treasury, &c., and am justly en- titled to a credit therefor. It should have been paid from the Contingent Fund of 1872, so that the warrant of the Comptroller could have gone to my credit on the books of the Treasury before I left the office ; but every dollar of the Contin- gent Fund for that year had been exhausted and the claim could not in consequence be audited. It was afterwards presented to the present Comp- troller, and he declined to audit it for the reason that there was no appropriation out of which it could be paid. Here the matter stands, and I propose to leave it in this condition until the Legislature meets, when I have not the slightest reason to doubt that justice will be done me. — The balance against me in this particular is only in form — it is not an actual balance. I received the money and paid it out legitimately on proper authority, the State thus receiving the full bene- fit of it, and by no principle of justice can I he required or expected to pay it a second time. — The charge is as preposterous as it is false that I am a defaulter because I have not done so, and only shows the extremity to which my ene- mies are driven when they try to make it so ap- pear. There was also represented in the statement referred to as due by me to the School Fund a balance of $3,139.63. I wish to state here that the money received on this account was from the sale of school lands, and was paid into the Treasury, not in currency, as was falsely and ignorantly stated by the Sentinel in its first attack on me, but in scrip. I had no control over the sale of lands or the kind of funds for which they were sold. My business as Treasurer was to re- ceive what was paid me, and to pay it out on the order of the Board of Public Instruction, who alone have control of the moneys belonging to the Fund. The Treasurer is simply a receiv- ing and disbursing officer, and is responsible in no way except for the custody of the funds coming to his hands. The balance appearing i against me on this account was offset by vouch- ers paid by me by order of the Board, and by Comptroller's warrants and other funds, and there was a small sum actually due to me, for the vouchers more than covcnxl the balance by eighty-six cents, so that in lieu of my being in debt to this fund, it was in debt to me. One of these vouchers, amounting to $2,786.00, was a receipt for money paid to Mr. C. H. Walton, of the Sentinel. A singular feature connected willi the war on me is the fiict that while I was be- ing charged with robbing " the poor children " of their money, this man Walton, who permits the columns of his paper to be prostituted to my injury, had drawn and pocketed nearly the ■whole of the money I was charged with steal- ing! Wasn't that cool? It is said that I was " frolicing at Long Branch " with this money. — It is true I went to Long Branch last summer to see the President on business of the State in which you were ail interested, and was there just two days ; but I could not liave done much " frolicing " on " the poor cliildren's mouey," when another person (C. H. Walton) had it. It was simply a mistake in the person of the frolic- er; for if there was any "frolicing" done, it must have been by the man who had the money in his pocket. But why, if I robbed " the poor children" for Walton's benefit, was not the money returned to the Treasury ? If I was a robber, was he not a partake in the theft, and when the discovery was made, ought he not, as an honest man, to have made haste to repair the wrong to "the poor children?" The Sentinel was tearfully pathetic over the sufferings of "the poor children " by my alleged misconduct, but never once did its editors put their hands into their pockets and make restitution. That is not their style ; their motto is, as shown by the outrageous bill presented against the Fund and the tight grip kept on the money, " Get all you can and keep all you get." But, fellow- citizens, there was no robbery in the matter, ex- cept it was in the enormous charge made by the Sentinel for a small amount of work, for which, however, I was not responsible. The bill was first presented to the Comptroller in July, 1873, if am not mistaken, who refused to audit it on the ground that the Comptroller had no control over the School Fund ; that all accounts against that Fund should be presented to the Board of Public Instruction, and that it was upon their order and not on a Comptroller's warrant that moneys belonging to the Fund were to be paid by the Treasurer. To satisfy Mr. Walton, the opinion of the Acting Attorney General, C. P. Cooper, Esq., was taken, and he sustained the Comptroller. The account then went before the Board, who approved and ordered it jiaid, and it was paid by me as Treasurer of the Board — not as Treasurer of the State. I present a copy of the account with the order of its pay- ment endorsed thereon, as follows : WHERE " THE POOU CHILDREN'S MONEY" WENT. Tallahassee, Fla., Oct. 1, 1873. State of Florida, Com'r of Immigration, To the Tallahassee Sentinel, Dr. June 1, 1873. To adv'g " Commissioner's Tax Sale," 199 sqs.— 140— 200— 219— $2,786.00 Received payment, (Signed) Chas. H. Walton. This bill is approved, and Treasurer Conover is requested to pay the same from Scrip in his hands belonging to the School Fund. (Siiined) J. S. Adams, C'ommissi07ier of Lands and Immigration. Approved. (Signed) Jonathan C. Gibbs, Sea'etary of State. Approved. (Signed) Charles Beecher, Sup^t Public Instruction. There were other vouchers which it is not necessary that I should weary you with reading. They are mentioned in a late letter from Col. Beard, formerly chief clerk in the Comptroller's office, addressed to the editors of the Sentinel in reply to their first attack, in which letter this whole matter was gone over, to the entire satisfaction, I believe, of this communi- ty, as well as the public at large. The letter was as follows : COL. beard's explanatory letter. Tallahassee, Sept. 22, 1873. To the Editors of the TallahoMee Sentinel: Gentlemen — "A reply to John Proctor" — an editorial in your issue of the 20th inst. — does gross injustice to Dr. S. B. Conover as late Treasu- rer of this State, and I avail myself of the cour- tesy tendered me in the use of your columns to show you and the public the errors into which you have been misled. I will ask that the "Floridian" publish this, as I am anxious that the refutal of the grave charges against Dr. Con- over shall go before the public as soon as possible. It is my duty as well as pleasure to make this communication, for the reason that as early as the 17th of January last. Dr. Conover requested me to take charge of the matter of turning over his official papers, funds, &c., to his successor, and hence the facts here treated of are within my own knowledge. % In the article above alluded to appears a .com- munication addressed by Treasurer Ft«(»^r to Gov. Stearns, giving a statement of balauci s due by ex-Treasurer Conover as follows : "Balance due from late Treasurer $1.;imI-'. 7i>" To account for thi^ balance there was an abstract, with vouchers accom- panying each item, of a bill paid by Treasurer Conover by order of Gov. Eeed out of the Contingent Fund, amounting to $I.879.1« One Uncurrent National Currency bill lo.oo Tallahassee Railroad bills ti.oo Two pieces of Jury & witness Scrip, which, upon examination, proved to be County Scrip, (one of a wit- ness in Alachua county $7.3o, and one of Columbia county $1.00) S.35— 1.9u;! M Due by Treasurer 19 "Balance due School Fund August 4 $3.l3ti'i3' This balance was accounted for as follows : An account of the Tnllahassee Sentinel for ad- -t; vCTtifeing Commissioner's Sale of School '. land, which account had been, approved by Board of Public Instruction (the only power undt r the law having authority o\ er this Fund) and by them ordered to be paid by Vonover as Treasurer of said Board or Fund 'J.Tst; UO One Comptroller's Certificate,, $24.80, with ac- crued interest, issued under act of 5th Janua- ry, 1859 41 :a An account approved by the Commissioner of Schools and paid by Treasurer Conover in the distribution of School Money to Clay county -M uo A Draft of J. W. Pearson, paid into the Treasu- ry by the Register of Public Lands I's uO $y.07;! ."i-t For these vouchers, amounting to $8,0T:J.54, L hold for Treasui'er Conover the following " mem orandum receipt " — (the interest is omitted in the receipt on Comptroller's Certificate uienlioued above :) Received of S. B. Conover, by W. K. Beard, Four Papers belonging to School Fund, described as follows : Comptroller's Certificate, dated Oct. 25, 1859, for $24.80. Receipt of Hugh A Corley, Register, to C. H. Austin, for draft, $28. Receipt of D. L. Branning, Treasurer Board of Public Instruction Clay Co., for $218.00 for stumpage of timber, &c. Bdl of Tallahassee Sentinel for advertising- School Lands, amounting to $2786.00, receipted by C. H. Walton. C. H. Foster, Treasurer Fia. Tallahassee, May 17, 1873. Treasurer Foster declined to give a formal re- ceipt for these items, though he admitted that they were valid assets in Treasurer Con(»ver's hands for the balance due this Fund, tLo two material amounts, $2,786.00 and $218.00, having been paid by Conover by the order of the only authority known to the law over the Fund. But these vouchers still left a balance due by Conover of $66.09. For this balance there were two Comptroller's Warrants, one isetied \v Capt. M. Martin, for $48.00, and by bira endovied to J. C. Lee, of Sumter County, and one for $18.95 issued to D. L. Campbell, of Walton county. These Warrants Treasurer Foster refused, (very properly,) to receipt for, because not properly en- dorsed. On the 17tli of May I sent these War- rants by registered letter to the respective par- ties for their endorsement and did not get them back for some time. In fact, the one sent Mr. Campbell was handed me only to-day by Mr. Mcintosh in the Comptroller's office. Tliese War- rants aggregate $66.95, showing a balance of 86 cents due Dr. Conover. As regards the bill paid by Dr. Conover of $1,879.16 out of the Contingent Fund, I will say, I applied to Comptroller Cowgill to audit this account, and he replied that he would do so but that the Legislature had not contemplated this sum in the appropriation for the contingent ex- penses of the State for the current year, and that he did not feel justified in the risk of exhausting the appropriation, not knowing what pressing demands might arise before the Assembly met again.* You dwell upon the fact that " nearly five months" had elapsed before Treasurer Conover made the payments of $3,839.42, General Tax money, and $1,498.37 of School money, &c. I doubt not that Treasurer Foster will unite with me in exculpating ex-Treasurer Conover from all blame for this delay, as the funds thus turned over were in the safe at the time he took posses- sion and there remained, he havii.g one key and I the other of the safe until the f.mds were for- mally receipted for. The delay arose partly from the Treasurer being otherwise necessarily em- ployed, and from the fact of my being also enga- ged on mj^ plantation. At all events, ex-Treas- urer Conover had no h.aud in this delay, as the funds might as well have been turned over the day he employed me to act for him, so far as he was concerned. I presume Mr. Foster, in his communication to >he Governor, simply intended to show what funds he had formally receipted for and was ac- countable as Treasurer for, and not really to «how the actual state of Dr. Conover's account with the Treasury, as I will not believe that he would have permitted so great an injustice to his predecessor as has been done him in the edito- rial alluded to, when a few lines in explanation would have set the whole matter at rest. In fact, Mr. Foster had stated to me in the Comptroller's olDce, as late as the 29th of July, that Treasurer Conover had valid vouchers to account for the balances shown by him to be due, both on gen- eral account and to the School Fund. I am. Gentlemen, Very respectfully, W. K. Beard. I think I have now shown that so far as my alleged indebtedness to the State on general ac- * In a letter since published. Comptroller Cow- gill says that the only reason why he did not audit the account was because there " was no appropriation legally applicable to its payment." (-ouni stlid for moueys bclongiug to the School Fund is coucerued, all attacks made upon me in connection therewith are and were malicious- ly false, and my accusers stand branded before the people of the State as moral perjurers who have lent themselves to the circulation of infa- mous slanders for the sole purpose of doing me personal injury. THE YOUMAN's matter. When I returned to the State last summer, I was for the first time apprised of the fact that a registered letter from a tax-collectoi of Manatee county, containing a thousand dollars in State scrip, had been received and receipted for in my name, but had not been entered on the Treasu- rer's book. This was a matter which I knew nothing about. I never saw the receipt and had no knowledge of the transaction, but my respon- sibility for the money was just the same as if I had known all about it. As soon as informed of it, however, I admitted my liability and my readiness to settle it at any time. I can only account for the irregularity from the press of other engagements. My enemies charge that I intended to " r- " the State, but in this chari- table judgment they only reflect their own im- age. They probably know what they would have done under like circumstances, and readily conclude that others are as thievishly inclined as themselves. THE BANNERMAN DEPOSIT. Another gross attack on me has grown out of a deposit, made in December, 1871, by IMr. J. C. Bannenuan, tax collector for Jackson county, amounting to $1,478. This was a very simple transaction, fellow-citizens, but it has been made the occasion of iterated and reiterated falsehood, uttered with such a degree of confident assur- ance as to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that with some men the art of fabrication has been carefully studied and is fully understood. There are two kinds of falsehood : one is the lie direct, and the other the lie indirect. In this instance there has been no beating about the bush, but we have both kinds in all their native fullness and transcendent nakedness. I have been charged with a design to embezzle this money, but I think I shall show, fellow-citizens, that the allegation is only the emanation of an intellect disordered by " sour malignancy " and "bilious acidity," and, as a natural consequence, incapable of apprehending the truth, much less of ut'eriug it. The Sentinel, after referring to a balance due by me i'or month of January last, adds : " Till- $1,478 received from Collector Banner- man was not included in this amount, or any mentiru made of it, neither does it appear upotji the bcntks of the Treasurer's office, notwithstand- ing th<; fact that the late Treasurer had receipted for tbf same as Treasurer, and stipulated in said receipt to credit the amount on Bannerman's ac- count for tases, as far back as the year 1870." It is evident from what is here said that the person who uttered this language either knew nothing of the character of the receipt given to Mr. Bauuerman, or knowing what was specified therein, he has wilfully and purposely misrepre- sented it. He can impale himself on either horn of the dilemma. The scrip was not a payment by Bannenuan on his account as Tax Collector, but was simply placed on deposit, to be passed to his credit only when he completed arrangements with the (Comptroller to settle his accounts for the year 1870. But to place the matter beyond cavil I htjre give the receipt itself : (COPY.) Tallahassee, Dec. 14, 187L Received ot J. C. Bannerman, Tax Collector of Jackson county, $1,478 in tax-paying scrip, to hold on deposit until he completes arrangements to settle his accounts for the year 1870. (Signed) 8. B. Conover, Treasurer, per Hamilton Jay. The Seivtimi alleges that I had " stipulated ict the said r«;oeipt to credit the amount on Banner- man's account for taxes as far back as 1870;" whereas the receipt is dated in December, 1871^ and the stipulation was that the scrip was to be held on deposit until he had completed certain arrangements with the Comptroller, which ar- rangements, however, were never completed, foir he died soon after. I had no authority what- ever to credit Mr. Bannerman's account until he had settled with the Comptroller and directed' me to do s< >. It was his money and not the State's, and the deposit was liable to be withdrawn at any moment. I did not conceal the fact that I had the srrip. It is not usual for persons to at- tempt to conceal a matter for which they have given a written obligation, and I have not yet sunk so low, although the Sentinel will have it otherwise, as to try to rob an estate, when the very attempt to do so would have brought ruiu and degrudattion upon me. Ihning the lour yeafs and a half I was Treasurer, over a million and a quarter of the State's money passed through my hands, and the most my enemies can say, and they have to perpetrate folsehood to say even that, five or six thousand dollars is the gross sum their inventive malice charges me witli " embez- zling." Three different committees of the Legis- lature examined my accounts, and not one of them whispered a word against my integrity. — The last committee had on it a majority who were not partial to me, and had there been any- thing wrong they would have been very apt to have discovered it. In the face of insinuations covertly bruited by bitter foes, they reported that they found no evidence of fraud. I take no special credit to myself for discharging my duties honestly. I expected to do so when I took charge of the office, and it is a source of self-gratification that neither the State nor anybody connected with the State has been defrauded of one cent through my misconduct. So far from the public moneys having been lost through my want of integrity, I say to you here to-day, that I saved the Treasury from being plundered of thousands of dollars. On one occasion I was importuned to place fifty thousand dollars in the liands of irresponsible partieSj of moneys which had been paid into the Treasury, to be diverted to unai- thorized purposes. In other words, I was asked, without any appropriation having been made and without the slightest autbority of law, to secretly and clandestinely reissue $50,000 in State scrip. This proposal was gravely made, and my compliance as gravely insisted on, in the presence of some of the same men who are assailing me to day with bitter animosity on the ground of a want of personal integrity. Tiiis is but one in stance out of many in which I would not lend myself to schemes of plunder. Had 1 been the base Judean my enemies represent, I might have abused the trust confided to my keeping in the grossest manner, but I preferred to retain tlie approbation of my own conscience rather than be a partaker in the fruits of robbery of a tax- ridden people. As to the Bannerman dept sit, the fact that the money was in my hands Was well known to his bondsmen, who alone wofe interested in its safety. These gentlemen hav^ kindly furnished me a letter which I take pleasure in reading, wherein they not only refute the BentineVs accusations, but take occasion to express their sense of the moral turpitude of my accusers : AVHAT THE BOKUSMEN SAY. Tallahassee, Fla., Nov. 5th, 18t3. Hoisr. S. B. CoNovER : Sir — We have read the attacks on you in the Sentinel ol this city, in connection with the de- posit made by J. C. Bannerman, late Tax Col- lector of Jackson county, amounting to fourteen hundred and seventy-eight dollars, in which that paper charges you with intention to defraud the estate of that amount, and that you had kept the matter concealed Until it was exposed by that paper. "We wish to say in justice to you, that the fact of the deposit being in your hands was never concealed by you from us, and your readiness to pay it over at any time was known to us. Having known you as Treasu- rer for the last four years or more, and con- fiding in your integrity, we have never doubted that the funds would be turned over whenever required, but m fact, so far as we know, no de- maud or request was ever made for them, as we preferred to allow them to remain in your pos- session until needed in settlement of the late Mr. Baunerman's accounts. Permit us to add that we regard these attacks of the Seutiml as unwarranted, unjust and out- rageous — born of malice and fraught with no good intention. C. W. BannermaJt, John Q. Cromartie, Bondsmen for J. C. Bannerman. I might stop with this explicit vindication of myself from the gross wrong sought to be done ine in coiinecliou with this matter, but I cannot refrain *' ^m remarking on the striking fact that none but the Sentiroel SLud its associates in villifi- cation have felt any alarm or concern about the safety of the deposit. Neither the Bannerman lieiis nor the Bannerman bondsmen, as their own siatemeni shows, were under the least uneasiness. It was onlj^ iny enemies v/ho have been borrow- ing ti-ouble. But their anxiety, fellow citizens, was simulated. It was all sham. There was nothing real about it, except in the bitterness with which they assailed me. In this their mal- ice has shone with vindictive conspicuousness. — Had I been the wretch their animosity repre- sents me to he, they would have rejoiced at my disgrace. As it is, with the fact of their dis- comfiture and of my vindication so clearly es- tablished, they can reflect upon the folly and wickedness of engaging in a personal warfare on iusufBcent grounds. Falsehood may travel in " seven league boots," but Truth, though it halt b^ the way, is sure to win the race in the end. I will not advise my traducers to follow the exam- ple of Judas and go hang themselves, and thus rid the party and the State of a set of noisome pfests as voracious as the locusts of Egypt, but I 9 will suggest that they can improve their manners by showing less of their vices and more of their virtues, it indeed they have any virtues. I Inive thus, fellow-citizens, gone over the ac- cusations against nie, and at greater length than I intended in the outset. Some may perhaps think tiiat I have been unnecessarily harsh in many of the expressions employed; but I pray them to consider the provocation. For weeks I have been the object of the most unsparing per- sonal abuse, in which the vocabulary of billings- gate has been exliausted. 1 did not begin this war. By no act of mine has a wound been in- flicted or a feeling ruffled. Knowing well the character of these would-be leaders of the Re- publican party, and appreciating the importance of harmony in its ranks, I have carefully avoided every act likely to excite discord and strife. But the enemies of Peace would have it otherwise^ and what I have this day felt constrained to say has been in self defence raiher tiian from a desire to foment ill feeling. A little must be pardoned to the infirmities of human nature, and I should consider myself unworthy of respect if I did not give back l)low for blow. " Beware of entrance to a quarrel," was the advice of a father to his son ; " but, being in, bear'l, thai the opposer m^iy beware of thee." CONCLUSION. And now, fellow-citizens, let me dismiss this unpleasant subject and pass to others more agree able. I congratulate the people of the State on the improved feeling existmg in all sections. My information from intelligent gentlemen of all par- ties is that prejudices are giving way before a more enlarged view of the situation. Florida has many elements for a bright and prosjierous future, and this future will be all the lietier and sooner secured if there is real, hearty good wdl among all classes of the people. Prejudice, jeal- ousy and distrust are enemies to progress, and where interests are identical, as they are with as, the absence of mutual confidence and sympathy retards rather than promotes advancement. — The " logic of events" has forever fixed the riii^hts of the colored people, and he is a most unwise man who frets himself away in a vain endeavor to undo what is beyond recall. These rights are not only established by irrepealable law, but are daily being recognized in appointments to responsible positions under the government. Thus we have at last become " one people," with equal privileges, and each for himself, how- ever humble and whatever his color, is at liberty to strive for the rewards denied to none. Politi- cally on the same level, our mutual welfare de- mands cordial co-operation as the only certain ineans of securing the general good. In my jiosition as Senator, it shall be my earnest en- deavor to encourage harmonious feeling among the people. There has been enough of bitterness and strife. We may differ in politics and religion, but what a world this would be if every differ- ence in opinion were to be visited with acrimony and distrust! As for myself, I had rather labor for conciliation than be the means, by word or ileed, of introducing strife and confusion where there sliouM be mutual forliearance and good will. Situated as Florida is, I feel morally convin- ced that her highest interests will be consulted by all her people, no matter what may have been theirpoliiical views, giving to the AdminiS' tration a united support. President Grant has no wish except for the prosperity of the State. — If that Govermnent is best which is fill least, I am sure if would ai-atify the lietd of the Ameri- can People if such a state of public sentiment could be brouirht about as that the existence of irovernment would onlv be known from the pfoteciion it gives and the blessings it secures to all. At the conclusion of the Senator's speech, liie chairman of the meetiuL-, f'le Rev. C. H. Pearce, State Senator from the Eighlli District, ofxered the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted : — Whereas, Senator Conover has been grossly assailed, and his character defamed by a certain newspaper in this city ; Therefore Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that he has thorough- ly vindicated himself, and that we pledge him our hearty co-operation and support. Resolved further, That we respicttully request the Senator to furnish us with a copy of his speech for publication, an>l that we publish fifteen hundred copies in pamphlet form. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 498 971 5 #