The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1871-06-01
E.uminniion Of Ha KluH In North Ca

0e7ut0f&fRAtA Afo4Ao o&suSuSAfIS Is t
O., under datHof Nay a shows. stha
tedioda psogrdas of ;the se examination ot.
Ku Klux outruges aua the use cs the
revenue service as an electioneering
machine. After giving an instance 9of
assault upon one Biggerstaff. he pro-
Deeds JUS follows with a. second case
brought by the same party H.
It is hut~ fair TO say, that, ,there are
good many PEOPLE here Who disbelieve
altogether this story OF a second Outrage
and who say that it was simply trick
to avoid going to Shelby and disposing
of the case thSh pending there. There
can be no doubt that Biggerstnff, if he
had been really anxious to appear, could
havo done So His health was not good,
but he ecould have boen. carried ona mRt.
tra6s in n hack, md when an offer of the
kind was made to him he refused on the
ground that ''he was afraid of his life on
the roaa"-.a plea Which was absurdly
ness, I cannot too strongly denounce the
action in these cases Of the local agents
OF ,thea Government. This. is' for poor
farmers. such as nre tile greater apart Of
the, men obcuset, ,!.ttb ithpst Important
season Of the year. The three mon now.
arraigned have been already fivu or six
times in court on various .accusatione,
and have several times, when ready; for
trial, been ''adjourned over" at the mo-
tion OF the prosecution. On the part OF
the latter there is, indeed, very little at
tempt made to conceal the fact that the
present proceedings are to o. great extent
instigated by desire to annoy the de-
PENDANTS, or, as it is termed, in the par
lance of the country, ''bedevil them"
Tho prosecution say to their victims,
"You have harassed and oppressed us
by this nights riding. and even if. ns is
very likely, we shall be unable to con-
vict yon of guilty ,oomplicity in these
outrages, we will give you all the trouble
wacan. You have bedeviled us, and
now We are going to bedevil you" This
is scarcely very dignified attitude to be
taken by, the agents Of the United States,
and is far moro icalodlated 10 excite and
infAme the II feeling already, existing
between the parties to the q1atrel than
to bring it to d final termination by. the
melting out OF exact Justice. !, 1t reilnces
the whole proceedings to the level OF
personal malice. IA -
It is also mopstrouely and iniquitonsly
unjust, as it is very doubtful whether
the parties now arrested are in very fact
these terrible Ku Klux who have spread
dismay among tho ranks Of the immoral
and the worthless, whether white or
black, throughout the district.
The more hear of these troubles the
more become convinced that they are
purely social in their nature. This is
one OF the corners OF the country in
which every farmer runs on mis- surplus
peaches and apples into brandy and
very good brandy, indeed. they make out
OF them. It is scarcely necessary to add
that, as in every other district of SINH
lar character. there is an immense
amount OF illicit distilling. There must
be plenty Of it or the bar-rooms could
otnfford to retail at prevailing prices.
Five cents is the tariff for drink, and
Tho bartender does not make wry face
when You take ''three fingers" which,
| from personal observation, can vouch
to be pretty much the general local ons-
tom. Now, it is currently believed out
heHe, rightly qr. wrongly. that so long as
nmen votes the Republican ticket he
notbe fined for illegal ''stilling." While
it is notorious that most of, the men who
':still'' are. ardently ''loyal" it is curl
ous fact that only two or three of them
have been punished for offences of this
character, while Democrats have been
'hunted down" with all the rigor OF the
law. The jealousy and bad blood spring
iog from this may be guessed. OF the
results it has had this Biggorstaf case is
pretty good example. It is notorious
that the old man has himself been an
active transgressor against tho revenue
law, and he carried it so far that on one
occasion he .oame very near being SEN
fenced. This ''stilling" business has
been. beyond nll doubt, the true cause
of the feud between him and the rest of
his family. Their feud dates back some
years. and on tho side Of Biggerstan, tho
complainant. murder Was committed
about q year ago by one of his partners,
McGahy, upon a man named Depriest.
The murder was never avenged by the
lay. probably because its porpetrator was
Radical and the victim Democrat.
while this present "outrage"-a simple
whipping-which probably WIS retalia.
tion for the crime. is at once spread
throughout the Union as Ku Klux out.
rage. Such is the administration of Fe.
deral law in the South by tho scallawags
and carpet-baggers whom the Govern