Owensboro Monitor clipping
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The Negro Senator From Mississippi.
[N. Y. Sun, 9th inst.]
The Hon. B. K. Bruce, the new Senator from Mississippi, we believe, is not a native of that State. He is a negro, and first made his appearance in Jackson some years ago, where, through the influence of J. H. Pierce, who is now a United States Marshal in Mississippi, he was made sergeant-at-arms to the State Senate. Afterward he was appointed by Gov. Alcorn sheriff of Bolivar county, and since he has continued in the possession of the same office of election, to his own great pecuniary advantage, however it may have been for the tax-payers. To the fact that Bruce was a sheriff he probably owes his election to the United States Senate, for he shrewdly availed himself of the facilities his office gave him to capture the necessary votes from members of the Legislature. The story is that when he presented himself as a candidate the patriots who make laws for Mississippi had just received warrants for their mileage, which were worth to them only about sixty-five cents on the dollar. The warrants, if they should come into Sheriff Bruce's hands, he could transfer into the State treasury in settlement of his accounts as sheriff for their full face value. The shrewd candidate immediately began cashing the warrants at par for members of the Legislature who would agree to vote for him, and in about two days he had secured enough to elect him at a less cost, probably, than any white candidate for the Senate ever purchased the honor of the seat. The mannter in which the business was managed was well understood in Jackson at the time of Bruce's election, and it is known that at least one colored legislator - Cato Nathan, of Munroe county - refused to sell out on the terms offered. The new Senator is evidently thoroughly grounded in the principles of Republicanism as understood and practiced by such lights of the administration party as the Hon. J. J. Patterson, of Pennsylvania and South Carolina, and other distinguished patriots of the same class who gave moral tone to Grantism.
[N. Y. Sun, 9th inst.]
The Hon. B. K. Bruce, the new Senator from Mississippi, we believe, is not a native of that State. He is a negro, and first made his appearance in Jackson some years ago, where, through the influence of J. H. Pierce, who is now a United States Marshal in Mississippi, he was made sergeant-at-arms to the State Senate. Afterward he was appointed by Gov. Alcorn sheriff of Bolivar county, and since he has continued in the possession of the same office of election, to his own great pecuniary advantage, however it may have been for the tax-payers. To the fact that Bruce was a sheriff he probably owes his election to the United States Senate, for he shrewdly availed himself of the facilities his office gave him to capture the necessary votes from members of the Legislature. The story is that when he presented himself as a candidate the patriots who make laws for Mississippi had just received warrants for their mileage, which were worth to them only about sixty-five cents on the dollar. The warrants, if they should come into Sheriff Bruce's hands, he could transfer into the State treasury in settlement of his accounts as sheriff for their full face value. The shrewd candidate immediately began cashing the warrants at par for members of the Legislature who would agree to vote for him, and in about two days he had secured enough to elect him at a less cost, probably, than any white candidate for the Senate ever purchased the honor of the seat. The mannter in which the business was managed was well understood in Jackson at the time of Bruce's election, and it is known that at least one colored legislator - Cato Nathan, of Munroe county - refused to sell out on the terms offered. The new Senator is evidently thoroughly grounded in the principles of Republicanism as understood and practiced by such lights of the administration party as the Hon. J. J. Patterson, of Pennsylvania and South Carolina, and other distinguished patriots of the same class who gave moral tone to Grantism.
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Owensboro Monitor, “Owensboro Monitor clipping,” Mississippi State University Libraries, accessed April 26, 2024, https://msstate-exhibits.libraryhost.com/items/show/845.
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