The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-02-25
,.,,rarrs.

- carolina ss"rdsss. ina
rbe south go Carolina - D.''rder M s
The report - submitted to the Ho~-
veS. Tsiday, is accompanied py 'e 4ha south. I
on - to the condition OF anairS III 'ne Of
a~arned by General slckies III ov' Sanoso,d |
9th and South Carolina, usnefa' , aV IN !
~ aonmand OF Virginia, General wv Usas
command of Mississippi, and denol"a AIaba- i
~ command of Kentucky, Ienhe''o s.,ion of
~ "a Georgia. A considerable po laid
.h;s ;rorortant evidence has aireaos s;ad f.
,,of,ro onr readers, 1t was enno
speech Vi 49,. - nrinted lss' ,'' ~ the
TODAY but single e' wal W. n,'
report 'nS' -.fact from the extended
6pd sp'" 90 all for which wa .ra ot,,a a.
GENERAL SIcKLEs' OPINION. O What "a
the probability of justice being done in the
courts of South Carolina, in cases where a elf.
izen kills soldier? A. In my judgement the
bias OF the people is so strong against the pres
diers, that you could not find a inry in the
State that would convict a man ion killing a
Union soldier ~ 9
"; NO matter what the testimony? A. No.
SIR, l do not think garrison can remain in
a
rely upon the civil courts to protect the troops
and property of the United States, nor if we
are to turn over to the civil courts for trial. sol
ulets and officers who may be charged with o.
fences. L do not think they could expect JUS
tlce at the hands of Southern courts ana Ju
ries.
Q. Within your knowledge, has any soldier
suffered at the hands of citizens ana cltizen
doing the wrong been indicted THEREFOR before
the courts and escaped punishment! "A. they
do not even indict them. They 40 not arrest
CrIah
offences: vet soldiers and officers have been in
some instances wounded and in other in
stances killed. They have been fired upon in
reneated instances within the last wear and a
half. and no one has been prosecuted or nun
ished for it by the civil authorities Public
teams and wagons have been seized on the
highways within five miles of Columbia, the
capital Of the State. The teamsters have been
tied to trees and robbed, the horses and har-
ness taken off and the wagons burned vet no
notice has been taken Of such occurrences
II has not been possible for us, with all the in
dustry and energy at our command, to arrest
the perpetrators. Horses have been run off
miles and miles, and no person ON the track
would give information ofany of the offenders.
We could not recover the horses, nor get any
clue to the offenders, nor make any arrests
nor did the civil authorities. Boz
q. 1t is upon facts thus stated that you
predicate your opinion. A. Yes, Sir If
send detachment to arrest anybody, the APP
proach of my detachment is signalled by trurn-
pets, flags, &C., during the day, and by lights
at night. Thus the approach of my force is
notified to an accused man miles away, and
so he makes his escape. do not mean to be
understood saying that in no part of North
South Carolina and in no court could a
fair trial be had. The question is general and
the answer is intended to be general. mean
to say that there would be failure of justice
in so many cases, and in many localities
thai you could not rely upon that sort OF ad-
ministration for the security of the lives and
properly and rights OF the people and the
troops. In North Carolina the most frequent
complaints arose from prosecutions of Union
men for occurrences during the war. Union
men have been wronged and severely dealt
with, while men who participated in the rebel
lion and sympathized with it, if prosecuted at
ALL, got off. l think the judges of the
higher courts desire to hold the scales of Jus.
tiee even; but the men you will have ON the
jury, in the case OF a Union man. or Union
officer, or Union soldier, would not heed the
court or law.