The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-12-20
and his son-in-law had been obliged to keep
alternate watch every night.
HOW TT "a IN CHARLESTON.

to,7s experiences. l have buried peacrable
Young man who had been beaten 10 DEAN oy
a mob organized for the purpose oil clearing
the whites out of the streets OF Charleston.
have seen our citizens, black and white, gong
armed 10 the polls, that they might not be
prevented from casting their ballots for mu.
ucipal officers; and The bayones OF the
United States army invoked and arrayed to
ruard the sacred right OF suffrage. have
Seen a tremendous rabble traversing our
streets, with fariDg torches and bar6aro9s
wells and eXecratlons, and as they went oreak-
ing windows, plunderlng shops anu sionlng
by-slanders, along their line OF march. nave
seen an official of the State discharge Blk OF
seven shots at a press reporter; an altnougn
the crime was committed just by the Guard
house. the criminal was not arrested until MS
revolver was empty, nor mas ne up ~ Ihis
moment been dismissed from the ONCE OF Try
lug offenders against the laws OF tne otate.
But let me add, that have never seen the
white people interfere with negro at the
ballot box, or endeavor to forbid or trammel,
in any way his lawful right to vote. On the
contrary, 1t Is weu-establlshed TACT, unlVer-
sally conceded, that the negroes nave inter-
aered with such of their own race as were not
in favor OF our OppresSOrs. some tney kept
away by menaces, and some they drove away
by violence from the polls. Never, until our
late city election, were the blacks of Charles
ton at liberty 10 vote as they pleased-a priVl'
leee then, for The first time, secured 10 then
nv the prtsence of United States soldiers, VINO
had been summoned there at the request Oh
the white citizens. -
give you these particulars for what they
are worth. I do not pretend TO say that there
NAV not have been outrages on the other SIDE,
which have not come to my knowledge; lor
when mems blood is up, they are prone to ex-
coed the bounds of wisdom and Justice. But
IL does seem TO me that great government,
possessed of unresisted and unquestloned
power, ought not to take one side-and tnat
The part oI the aggressor-in case IKE tnls.
Nav. more, I cannot but express my amaze
ment that the use of the United States forces,
marshals und courts, by the VIGOROUSLY cor
rupt officials of the State Governments; That
The extension of the ligOrs of martial law
solely to the counties opposed to their ad-
ministration; that midnight intruslons Into
chambers inhabited by trembling women,
and Sabbath Investments of churches
common custom in Spartanburg; that cap.
lures of youths scarce in their teens, and
of old men far advanced into decrepltude,
az midnight maranders; that the despair OIL
whole counties who see their lawyers, doctors,
ministers-their best and purest men, swept
Into iails upon the most preposterous charges,
ami these urged oy Tue most venai anu ue-
praved uf the people, am amazed, l say,
that all this should not awaken the grief and
indignation of every generous heart of the
NorIn. Oh We that dwell in ceiled houses, Is
II nothing To YOU that our homes are desoate;
that criminals make laws for your brethren
here; that character, culture ana p'ety are
suffering here; that one of The old, immortal
.ThiIteen," embazoned upon your starry
flag. is sucked 10 death by vampires! Surely
this ought not to be, In a land OF liberty and
Justice, under the egis of that great Republic
with whose fortunes the Providence of God
has linked us heretofore, and henceforth and
forever
Irit be urged that many of these prisoners
sympathiZed with the klan, and some oil them
confessedly belonged 10 it, l reply. that such
specification ought only TO increase the
douots and misgi Wings of all thoughtful men,
For they know very we'll that character and
properly are conservative; no slight cause
would lead these vested interests to fivor any
movement inclining 10 anarchy.
VIGILANCE COMMITTEES.
The persons VINO are now In bonds are not
conspIrators against the National Govern
ment; on the contrary, they have always,
heretofore, welcomed the United States sold
ier as the cOnservator OF the public order.
Nor are they organized 10 prevent the colored
citizen from exercising his political franchise;
on the contrary, his political equally Is con-
ceded, and they have even offered 70 divide
with him the offices of the State. But they
contend that, under the present system OF
misrule aud lawlessness, "life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness Were left In certain parts
of the country without any protection; and
that the communities thus imperilled were
thrown back upon the ina!ienable right OF
sei-proteclion.
The facts, which they appeal TO, are notorl,
Gus. Nobody can deny tnat their cattle aud
hogs were shot down in the fields; that their
opening cotton bolls were picked by nightly
depredators; that their gin-houses were
burned; that the ''corner Shops" Where cot
ton iu the seed (stolen cOttOn) Was bought,
grew rich, while The heavily taxed ana pluad-
cred planter scarcely knew where TO get MS
bread; II know one OF THIS class VINO eHpenaea
ten thousand dollars on his plantation, and at
the end of the season harvested Just three
bales of cotton, and just corn enough to feed
his horses lor half year;) that laborers were
inflamed by incendiary speeches, and we're
also encouraged to break their contracts; that
colored men were armed by the GOverner
in larger and larger numbers, until at
length Iney undertook to raid certain parts OF
the State; That the public debt was increasing,
until at length II has been Increased by $780,
600 in O single year; that there has been no
money to repair the L, .s, or even TO pay the
meritOrOus teachers OF the public schools,
although enormous taxes had been collected,
and the public officials were revelling In Ill
gotten riches; in short, that the good people OF
this State had found themselves well nigh en-.
quilted in O whirling, bottomless vortex OF
ruin. The sufferers insist that, under these
circumstances, o vigilance commlltee-and
such the Ku-KluX prOiessed to be-had been
the usual American resort, and that sympathy
with it was not wholly unnatural.
THE KHAN NOT JUSTIFIED.
Notwithstanding these powerful pleas,
must confess thai, for my part, am opposed
TO the Ku-Klux organization, and that for
various reasons. In the first place, 1 do not
believe that secret, oath-bound society of
any sort corresponds to the spirit Of our
American institutions. We have freedom of
speech and freedom of the press. In this
country d Just cause can appear without dis
gulse, and can make its direct appeal to pub
lie opinion. In the long run, that is enough.
In particular, do not believe in vigilance
committees of any sort. They may, at times,
do good by the infliction OF summary Justice.
But they do even more evil. For they
encourage the redress of wrongs by vlo-
lepce aud not by law; they give scope TO
reckless men, who are apt to pervert them
to their own partisan and re'e0gelul uses;
and they tend 10 depress the moral tone OF
community in which their stern work ls done.
But when strive to apply my principles 10
the case before me, / am at loss what 10
conclude. The Ku-klux OF the northern
counties punished crimes which were subver-
siye of society,". and which, but for their un-
dertaking the Office, would have remained un-
punished-would have passed, so to speak,
Scott free. Their victims ought to have been
punished-but, think, In some other way.
And now the case stands thus. Their prose-
cutor ia Governor Scotia man notorious for