The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1871-05-04
THE SoUTn.-TuE TR1BUNE's Cox

. The SouTn.-TuE TR1BUNE's Cor
>REspoNDENTs.-A correspondent 4of
the New York; Tribune has straycd;
down in our State, and after investiga>
ting, things about Chester, reports as
follows: -:
CHESTER, S. C.,:April %.
"It is impossible to doubt the. cxis.:
;tenee and constant activity Of Ku ktux
bands>in all the Northcrn counties Of
South Carolina. 1t was 10 Chester that
the battle between the whites. aud The
black militia took place in February
last. Itshould have been called rather
a massacre ofthe blacks, for the tinid,
ignorant negroes, after firing one voliey
threw away their guns and ran, the
whites pursuing them and killing all
they could CATCH" ,-'E}.c,.r& :
Then follows an account of the Ches-
ter!troubles, which is in the main COZ
rect, save in trife of color:for Repub-
lican effect. He next interviews what
he calls some of the natiSes.t File re-
suit of his interview is given as follows:
any acquaintances had. taken drink
on starting for the plantation, and when
We returned to the hotel they took
another, nothing being begun, OR ended
at the Southiwithout drinking. They
became quite talkative, and the absorb
ing political question soon came up
81 tell YOU stranger, z saidgone, Itswe
can't stand bein' ruled by nigeefs any
longer; there just ruiuin' the ;skass.---
There taxin' US and pluudcrin' us in a
way that no white man would stand
They don't pay dollay of taxes them.
selves. No, not even the poll tax; for
the niger Legislature was mighty
careful to put it in the1aw that they
needn't pay the ,taxstol get to vote
Look here, stranger, whereabouts do you
come from u replied that my native
State was Ohio "WalE, do you think
folks 10 your State would stand to have
a lot of ignorant, degraded higgcrs, net
worth dollar, making laws and hold
ing all the offices, and taxin' thoir pro-
perty, and they not hav a word to say?''
! 1 replied that I was confident the
people of Ohio would not like such a
state of affairs. "No, I reckon they
wouldn't, and they wouldn't stand it
neither, not for q single day. And I
tell you, Sir, that we've borne it as long
as We can, and now its got to stop. The
niggers have got TO let mcn of property
and intelligence hold the offices, or
they've got to leave this part Of the
country" =,
This l find to be the unanimous SEN
timent of the white men here with
whom have talked. A one armed law
yer, who had been colonelin in the rebel
army, told me this morning that he be-
lieYcd the negroes would soon abandon
this part of the State and go to the
sections where they are largely in the
majority. l asked him what he thought
of an intelligent qualification for suf"
frage as rcmed y for the present evil.
"That would suit u.s." he replied, "but
how arc We going to get it. The ne
groes will never pass law disfranchi-
sing themselves. The only way is to
force them to give up the power. they
have got, and we mean to do it." 49,
It is perfectly evident that tho
whites mean to try to get control of'the
State government, and that they have
a thorough organization for this pur-
pose. 1t matters not whether it is
called the White Brotherhood, the In
visible Empire, the Ku klux KIan, or
the Council Of Safety-the last being
the name which they give it here in
Chester-its purpose is the same, and
that is so to intimidate the blacks that
at the next election they will not dare
to vote for any of their own race for
Office or for any white radical.