The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1867-10-23

ton in this State.
There ere white majorities in but
six districts In two districts the mum.
bcrs arc about equal. In each of the
| remaining twcnly-thrco districts of The
S,atc-thcrc being altogether thirty.onc
the registration shows a coloured ma
jority. In Charleston the colourcd ma
jority is 1912, the registered whites
being 328G, and the blacks 5008. OF
| the whites ! Is were unable TO sign their
names; Of the colourcd, 2SGG. In
Charleston and Columbia larger num-
Der Of the latter class Of persons can read
and write, than in any other portion Of
| the State, very much larger number,
because they have had facilities before
and since emancipation Of obtaining
! some education not enjoyed by their
class in all the rural region Of the State,
to which [ shall advert more particularly
hereafter. In organizing a Jury in
Charleston, therefore, assuming that all
have paid their taxes this proportion
would give nearly eight colourcJ Jurors
to four whites, and five Of these csght
would not be able to sign their names.
In Beaufort, Georgetown, Colletin,
Berkeley, and other districts, the show
ing IS even worse. Partial returns from
Beaufort indicate that there are 225O
colourcd, and but sixty-Gvc white votes
registered This proportion would fur.
nish but one white man to every fourth
lnry. OF the colourcd voters registered
in The rural districts | estimate that not
more than five per cent OF the whole
are able to read or wri!c and very many
of them have not intelligence enough 10
count one hundred In Georgetown
district there arc 4lS whites and 3Il3
colonrcd voters registered. Ono white
man might pcrchancc be drawn upon
each jury, and in all probability not one
of the remaining eleven colourcd men
would be able tn read or write
TO sum mp, there will be in twenty.
three districts in this Statea majority Of
colonrcd Jurors for the trial Of all classes
OF cases, civil and criminal, and only
i've per cent. of their number able to
read or write. Does any country which
has established the right OF trial by jury,
fail by its legislation, to sccnre proper
degree OF intelligence among the jurors
These rules, il applied TO the State
Conrts. will. T presume, be likewise ap.
piled to the Federal Court and the pro.
portion upon such Federal vurics will be
in Charleston eight colourcd TO four
whites; in Columbia, nine colourcd TO
three whites, and in Grccnviilc, eight
whites to four cnlourcd Jurors. These are
the three points where the United
Stotcs Court sits in South Carcli-
| ma.
Can these colourcd people discharge
I the duties Of jurors either to The United
States or to the States to tho iliganis
or to public Justice? With such ns,ru
mcnts, will not The effort to administer
justice be 4 mockcry? Now, if the or
der had provided that no person shall be
allowed TO sit upon jury who is unable
TO read or write, or il property quail.
iica,ion had been annexed, or fin case,
civil or criminal, in which colourcG per.
sons may be interested, certain pro-
portion Of the jury should consist Of their
own colour, it might not have been OBJ
jectcd to seriously; bnt in Its present
bearing, the order is calculated to ex-
cite the gravest apprehensons, and to
lead to results which must be universal.
ly dcplored by those who desire to see
even and exact justice mcted out to
all mor Nearly all Of the litigation,
on the civil side Of the court is between
white citizens, and involves intricate
issues Of law and fact, as we'll as sums
great and small. What protection can
The white or even tho colurcd man him.
sclc have, if his case is to bo decided by
aJnry made up OF persons possessing so
little intelligence that they arc liable to
read, write, or cipher? With what sat
is!action would a Northern claimant re
gard an adverse decision made by q iury
a majority of whom wcro colorcd. when
the same case measured by intelligence
and submitted to the Judgement of men
Of experience and education, would per.
haps have been decided in his favor 2
Suppose he is patcntcc whose rights
have been inIringed, and whose interests
involved to the amount Of half mil.
lion Of dollars--src dependent upon the
keen discrimination Of on intelligent ia.
ry called upon TO determine some ma
tcral difference between machinery or
processes of manufacture is it not pre-
pos'crons 10 suppose that q colored jury,
constituted as | have described, possess
the requisite qualifications to render a
just and intelligent verdict7 Yet this
is but one Of The many classes of cases
which tho Northern as we'll as the
Southern man will be compelled to sub
nit to the Judgment Of the ignorant
md nnwisc jurors created by Order No.
7 50.
| Under the rrescntjnry organization in
! South Carolina Ihave no reason to he.
| lieve that since coore6 persons have
been admitted to give evidence in all
our courts any injustice has been done
to the coloured people by white Jurors
On the contrary | think it will bo estah
l!slcd by The concurrent testimony o.
tho yarIons prosecuting officers in The