Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1867-03-01

within the last year and half, and no one has
been prosecuted or punished 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 team
sters have been tied to trees and robbed, the
horses and harnesses taken of, and wagons
burned Yet nc notice has been taken of such
occurrences II has not been possible for US,
with all the industry and energy at our CON-
mand, to arrest the perpetrators. Horses have
been run OF miles and miles and not one person
on the road would give information of any Of
the offenders. We could not recover the horses
nor get any clue of the offenders nor make any
arrests, ror did the civil authorities. If | send
detachment TO arrest anybody the approach of
my detachment Is signsled. by trumpets. flags,
Dc, during the day and by hghts at night ;
mus the approach Of my parties Is Notified to an
accused mau miles away, and so be makes his
escape; the ofenses sic local in a certain sense,
but they cover good deal OF territory no
such occurrence has happened, so far as
can Tecollect, at Charleston or its imme.
date vicinity; but Edgeheld, Newbury,
snd La1rens, Spartenberg, Chester. Anderson.
h'chheld counties embraced in the western mil
ltary district OF South Carolina, have been the
scene OF many such occurrences; there is a belt
Oh the same country that goes through North
carolina; there are not so many outrages re-
ported in North as in South Carolina: good
many irregularities are committed there; but in
North Carolina the most frequent complaints
arse from prosecutions Of Union men for occur
rences during the war; Union men have been
arrAlgned and severely dealt with, while the
men who participated in the Rebellion and sym
pathized with 1t, II prosecuted at all, get of, so
mat the Courts have not INSPIRED confidence; |
think the judges Of the higher Courts desire TO
hoiu the scales Of justice even in the trial Of
cases. l think they have respect for the law,
and viii declare it as they conscientiouslT be-
iieve It TO be; but the men you would have on q
jury in the case Of Union man, or a Union
officer. or 4 Union soldier, would not heed the
court or the law; there is no security thst the
SherItis will hold in custody citizen Of South
carolina charged with shooting Uuion soldier
or Union citizen, especially colOred person:
II the man charged with the offense be not sd-
United to bail, which in l9 cases out Of 20 is
done, he is quite sure TO escape; for instance,
turned over TO the Sheriff, in October OF Nc
ycmber last, the Jail at Chester; it had been IN
der the charge Of the Post Commander. and in
it were coLf1sd ten u a dozen yery bad fellows
Who bad been arrested By the military with very
great officially; | had held them in custody for
trial under General Order No. A, when the
civil authorizes should be ready 10 try them;
the Sheriff hal no; had possession Of the jail a
week before those men all escaped. In cases
where the alleged otiense is committed by a
Union man or a freedman, the officials make
rests; they are yigilant, jealous and successful
in those cases; it Is partlslity which impairs
confidence; if the offender whose arrest is de-
sired is a man Of property, and was on the other
side during the war, they cannot find hint is
impossible 10 get information about him; but if
the alleged offender is a negro, or some man who
has not come up 10 their mark during the war,
every newspaper trumpets the ofense with de-
scription Of the man, every road swarms with
hunters, every forest, and swamp is searched to
secure him; | think that the country demands
the exercise Of martial Law to-day Just as much
as it did year ago; So far as the temper Of the
people is concerned it is more necessary.
This opinion is backed by that of Generals
Schofeld, Wood and Thomas Gen. Wood,
in Mississippi. never heard of bat one white
man being punished for killing negro, and
he only got year in the penitentiarY. Gen.
Thomas, whose department comprises FIVE
States, says
do not think the civil authorities are dis
posed to administer impartial justice, if left TO
their own will; the remark applies to sll the
States in my department pretty equally; in
Georgia good many ofenses been committed
against freedmen i have not taken any note of the
number, but know they are frequent-entirely
too frequent; | cannot say that l know Of
single instance where they have punished any
one for serious offense against a freedman;
they have been punished sometimes, for siight
ofenses, where the punishment was merely
fine, or something slight IN lite nature; but in
case where the penalty extends to imprisonment
or summary punishment, | do not know Of
single instance. | DO not believe there is much
chance Of convicting q resident or citizen Of
Georgia for murder, if the victim was Union
man or a negro; ifthe murderer was a Union man
or a negro, they would convict him very speed
lily, or If the man had moved into Georgia since
the war and was known as a Northern man or a
Union man. The observations make in reference
TO Georgia apply to the other States with equal
force; do not think there is prospect of mat
tiers improving in the course OF time If things
are allowed to 60 on as they are.
These officers are fairminded. unprejudIced
men, stationed in the South, and with the
best means of information. Who will
say, in the light of the facts they mention,
that there is no call for the legislation of
last week?