Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1871-12-14

civil authorities should first exhaus
their powers through the posse conf
/ tatals. In the following letter. ad.
dressed to the sheriff of Fairfield
County, and published. for the infor.
nation and guidance Of peace officers
in other counties, / enjoined upon the
local magistrates and peace officers o.
that county to act with yigor, and,
at all hazards, to bring these crimi-
j nails to justice, at least such Of. them
as were known, and where there was
proper evidence on which a warrant
could issue: 10 ~ y;il:de
Estate OF South CAROLINA, OFT !.
h79 EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. :.
COLUMBIA. May I'd, 1871.
sfTo the Sheriff Of fairfield County:
"SIR-I have been oredibly'9in,
formed by a number Of citizens of
Fairfield County, as well as By your
Town official commnnication,G that on
| the night Of the 29th ultimo q body
Of armed men, in disguise, rode into
the Town of Winnsboro' and left at
the houses of several county officers a
written paper, in which they were
commanded to resign, and threatened
with violence if they filled to obey.
| as you are the chief executive officer
of the county, it is your duty to take
measures to ascertain and bring to
justice these masked violatorssof the
public peace, and; for this purpose,
you shall promptly invoke all the re-
sources which the law places at your
disposal. In tee last resort, should
the ordinary service of1procsss siprove
inadequate to-make the necessary ar
rests. by reason of anysarned comb;
nation, you will call out, the posse
comitatus; which call, i Ahave no
doubt, will bs.sespondedS to by all
good citizens. SIN all cases .of this
character, where citizens are put in
terror by armed bands Of lawless
men, it is expected that the local au-
thorities should exhaust all legal re-
sources to give adequate projection TO-
lite and property .beiore the State
Executive can properly intervene by
extraordinary; exhibitions of force,
hitherto unknown to the administra-
tiop of the laws in civilized commu-
mites. The failure of the proper
county officers to exert their utmost
vigilance to detect, and their most
vigorous efforts to bring to punish
ment, all disturbers of the peace, will
be deemed evidence OF. their. fragrant
neglect Of duty or gross inefhciency.
1t is n grave reproaeh to the people
of Winnsboro', that q band of fifty
disguised :horsemen should have been
permitted to enter their town, and
occupy it for several hours, with the
declared purpose ofputting in terror,
or inAicting violence upon. the sworn
public officers of the county.
ain this Connection it's proper
that 1 should call your attention to
the recent act Of Congress- which
makes all citizens who are privy to
any acts Of organized violence, and
fail to give any mf6rniati@ kAhatReir
possession that may 'leid TO 1the arrest
OF the perpetrators, i3ngticaps GRIM
anis in their guilt. : T.. f-ys,.S.,.:s
-reAt7a asFers7Tss ,tfufIys 81. 3
+ (Signed) R. K. SCOTT, Governor. :
The officers did notact, being either
pa,alyzed by fear Or in sympathy
with the criminals. IN common with
many others,i the loyal men among
them seemedi to regard this asa pure
ly personal government; and To- ex-
pect that. the Executive. should dis
charge the duties of alt the depart
ments of the State. ~ l-sii q II
At this juncture determined 10
make final effort to restore public
order without military force, and |
therefore invited prominent citizens
of the disatfected section to a confer
ence with me at the capital.' They
were all recognized leaders Of the op-
position, and of acknowledged inau-
ence in their respective counties. /
had hoped much from their co-opera-
ton in the interest of law and order
which they professed to advocate,
knowing, as / did, that the masses Of
the whites in this State would, from
the mere force oil former discipline,
heed their admonitions. The confer
ence was held. All Of these gentle
men deprecated acts Of violence. but
denied the existence of the Ku-Klux
organization in South Carolina, While
some of them indirectly sought to ex-
tenuate acts Of violence that they
could not we'll deny, by reterringthem
to what they were falsely pleased to
term negro rule. ("
They alleged numerous acts Of in
cendiarism by negroes, which allega-
tions, derived from he opposition
press, and often repeated. have been
proved base fabrications, IN the uiain,
designed to offset or palliate the bBpprrn bBpprn-
ing Of school houses erected for the
instruction of colored children.
These gentlemen, however, prom
ised me their cooperation to the end
in view, and believed them. Fam
not advised that any effort was made
to fulfil. those promises. Certainly
they effected nothing. Having ex-
hausted all the civil power under my
control to suppress this insurrection
against tue constituted authorities, |
made application, in accordance with
the Constitution of the United States,
to: the National Government topro-
feet the State against domestic cvio-
lence.
sThe magnitude sof; this organized
system of crime was made apparent
to Congress, the evidence in the pos
session of the government showing
that the Ku-Klux bands, in South
Carolina, were "but parts Of stu
pendous WHOLE having "a broader
econe than the redreesSo of 8 mere To-