The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-12-19
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MIR. Whi,temore In a New Light.


TO give the Governor all the power that,
under any circumstances, can be necessary
for maintaining peace and executing the
laws. of the State When the constabulary
force has failed to lay the monster which it
conjures up, the Executive may call into
service the whole National Guard, or militia,
and may for military purposes, take posses
sion of all the railroad and telegraph lines in
the State. The writ OF habeaS corpus is as a
sheet of waste paper when domestic troubles
rack the Commonwealth. In a word, the
Governor, that peace may be maintained and
the laws obeyed, has an almost unlimited
control over the lives and the property OF
the people. This was thought necessary by
those who, during the past two years, have
done US the favor to regulate the affairs Of
the State. 1t is true that Governor Scott
has not exercised the plenary authority with
which he is endowed. South Carolina has
not been declared to be in a state of rebel
lion 7; the militia have not been ranged in
lime Of battle; the railroads are more intent
upon earning dividends than upon trans
porting troops. We have, then, to choose
between two alternatives either Governor
Scott has neglected his duty, or South Caro-
lima, in general, is in condition OF pro-
found peace The latter alternative is the
only one that can be accepted, in the face OF
the reelection of Governor Scott by $4,000
majority, which might just as well have been
Sc, 1000, 600. This, par parenatese +! The
people, in general, must be quiet and law
abiding or Governor Scott would have
drummed up the militia, suspended the writ
ofAa6eas corpus, and solaced his soul with
what is known as the pomp, pride and cir;
cumstance of war. There may have been
q negro beaten on this side, and white
man beaten on that But South Carolina
has population large enough to account
for these incidental cnnoyances {; and it Is
plain and unmistaksble fact, this day, that
the whole weight Of the intelligence and
wealth OF South Carolina is thrown on the
side Of Tranquility, and against riot and dis
order. and yet one notorious Radical in
sists thai Governor Scott and the whole
State are mistaken, Mr.. Whittemore intro
duces bill i'll ths State Senate, with pre-
amble which declares that "the laws are set
tat defiance" and that the officers OF the
wurc-ruucrvu,- prevented anu ooStructeu
sfn The discharge of their duties, and sets
forth, in nine lengthy. sections, his idea OF
what is necessary sto provide for the protec-
estion of persons, pr. erty, and the public
sspeace, aud to tax real estate Tor the ex-
s'pense OF the same"
The substance Of this extraordinary bill is,
that whoever shall endanger life, or obstrues
any citizen in the enjoyment OF his rights,
for any reason, shall be fined or imprisoned
according to.the gravity of the offence but
the ninth and tenth sections out-Herod
Hsrod as specimen Of partisan legislation.
They read as follows:
SEC. 9. And be 1t further enacted. &C.,
That any citizen who shall be hindered, pre-
vented Or obstructea in the exercise OF MS
vested rights, or Injured in his person or prop
erty, because of Ills exercise OF the same, may
claim and prosecute the county In which the
offence shall be committed for any DANA :es he
shall sustain thereby, and the said county shall
be responsible for the payment OF such dam
ages as the court may award and the real es-
tate in the said county shall be assessed for the
payment of such damages, the assessment to
besmade according to the rules prescribed in
the act to provide for the assessment anu tax
alton of property, approved september 10,
1868.
SEC. 10. And be 1t further enacted, &C.,
That If any citizen who shall be hindercd, pre-
vented or obstructed In the exercise OF his
vested rights, or injured in his person or prop
erty, because of his exercise of the same, shall
desire to remove from the county in which the
offences shall have been committed 10 more
secure and peaceable portion Of the State, the
Governor of the State, on proper presentation
and satisfaction of the facts, and the necessity
of such removal, shall cause such person to be
removed and settled upon the public lands
owned by the State; and all costs Of removal
shah be charged to the county from which
such citizen shall be removed, and assessed
upon the real estate in said county as atore-
said, and all expenses attending the arrest OIL
persons charged with offences against the pro
Yisionsof this act, as well as their prosecution
andconYictio shall be charged to said county,
and assessed upon the real estate In said
county as aforesaid.
IT. evident that one main purpose Of this
bill is to convince the Northern Radicals
that there is solid foundation for the stories
OF murder and violence with which Mr.. Whit
temore Mr.. Crews and their fellow-dena-
gogues stuff the ears of the President and
the Secretary Of War. And, in the second
place, it is intended to thrust upon the body
of the people responsibility which right
fully belongs to the State officials alone We
deny that there is any lawlessness or turbu-
lence in South Carolina which cannot be
promptly quelled by the civil authorities.
And Governor Scott will sustain US in this
declaration. But, admitting. for tue sake
OF argument, that the woeful picture drawn
by Mr.. Whittemore is pre-Rafaelitic in its
accuracy, his bill OF pains and penalties could
only be warranted by an absolute certainty
that the whole military and civil power oil
the State was insufficient for the preserva-
ton of tranquility, which condition OF things
might make it indispensable, as last re-
sort, to hold On entire community response
BILE for the wrong which its members had not
managed to prevent Every candid man
admits that, in the counties most unsettled