The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1871-04-06
Affairs In south ,CArelina.

EloH5 ofSthe state of. f6inea in tIia STATE:
h The condition OF this Etate sat This
Etide, is Critical in the s5t tfams; oiwing.t6
III sf0u5iG IL sslaA: Tic. s a aiH
Ebr6nght about by the Saeti lon q sthe Go
vernon, in placing arms I'D. the. Hands, iof
the coiored militia. f.NHeS nowS aass the
tgreat mistake committed Id putting Vim
chester rifles into the hands Of men, the
mnjprity of whom nre DEVOID OF the rca-
Boning faculties Of the mind The arms
have 6een recalled, and Capt. Kennedy,
of the Adjutant. Generals Department,
has been sent on the mission by the Go
vernon. to the up-couDtry, to return to
Columbia oil the arms in tho hunds OF
the militia. This gentlemen is an ax-
veteran OF the British army, and also
served in the United States army during
the late war. de is fnlly competent to
carry out any orders entrusted to him.
Some OF the leading citizens of the
State were in consultation with the Go
vernon this last week. and advised the
policy OF disarming the militia. AL
ready its effects have been beneficial, as
the soldiers sent to Chester and York
Counties are on their way back to their
posts III Georgia whancs they
oamo. One-half of the statements pub
iished in reference to the Ku Klux arc
purc fabrications, and the other hnlf are
worry much exaggerated. The Kn Klux,
os an organization, nre simply vigi-
lance committee on q large scale, and
similar 10 those once so effective in Cali
fornin. These same organizations, ns is
well known, exist in Nevada and Arizona
to-day. But there it is only white men
they trouble. Here it is the colored
man, which makes all the difference in
the world. Now and then a cnrpet- bag
ger, and there are plenty of them here,
both white and colored. is ordered to
quit the country; but only in cases where
the law fails to punish them for crimes
committed against the peace of the COM
munity in which they live. The organi-
zation is banded together for mutual
protection, aud not for any aggressive
purposes whatever. 70 say that it is for
political purposes that the organization
wns originated, is not correct The i'm
mense number of gin-houses, barns and
dwellings. with all their property, that
have been destroyed by the torch OF the
lncendiary. is the great cause of the
banding together Of these men. The
poor deluded negro was bounded on by
the carpet-bagger to use the torch to re-
venge himself on the "rebels," who he
was made to believe intended to return
him to slavery. should they ever acquire
power again. The colored nun, whose
peroeptive faculties are very large, is be-
ginning to see that the men who legis-
lated for him these past six years are not
the mon to reduce the taxes for him.
He finds that the taxes OH his little pro-
perty, grow heavier every year. The
poll tax of one dollar a head is some
thing he never calculated on. He was
under tho Impression that voting early
and often was free to him, but now to
have to pay for voting is what he will
not stand. One dollar is the value of n
days labor to him, and since he has been
padding hia own canoe lie has gone
pretty much with tue stream. He is
now against the current, and is going to
husband oil his resources-time and
money No more will he
tramp twenty and thirty miles to vote for
the men who promised him :"forty acres
and n mule" The man that promised
that fortune is dead, and the oolorcd
man is Spnly at this hour Of the day
realizing tho fuct TINT the promise is
dead also.
The laws are powerless to protect the
white man us against tho colored. For
III nearly nine cases out of every twelve,
where the colored man Is on triai for q
crime, he elects majority OF his own
color on the jury, and the consequences
is his acquittal. The prisoners council
has the key to the acqnittal Of his client
by appealing to the sympathies of his
colored jury. instead Of addressing to
their reasoning faculties to Justly ex-
anime The evidence. The efforts Of the
prosecution with such jury is futile,
for they cannot comprehend tho points
OF any argument that appeals to the
higher faculties. They must have some
thing that they can see or feel. Under
such m existing state OF affnirs are mon
wholly III the wrong who will band to-
gether to protect themselves? The man
that will not make an effort to defend his
home and property must hnve blood in
him thinner than water.
| The discrepancies in the accounts Of
tho principal State officers at this time
are so great that no one actually knows
whether tho State is bankrupt or not.
People pay double the taxes this year
that they did last year, and tho consc-
qucnce is that the Industries of the State
are paralyzed. This State, ono OF the
finest in the Union. owing to corrupt lc-
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