The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-02-20
THE KU-KLUX- KHAN.
ORIGIN IND AIMS OF THE NFSTE-
RIoUs ORGANIZATION
The Real Feeling Among the People Of
Upper South Caronna-a AisnaS Az
). terestfng Letter from Union

.teresttnS Letter from Union.
UNION, 8. c., February is, 1871.
THE EDITOR OF THE NEWS.
The mystery which surrounds the move
ments OF the Ku-Kl1x-Klan,. has led the
supersttious to regard them SPIRITS Of the dis
embodied, while the educated, beyond the field OF
operation, have believed the whole story to be q
m7th But OF their existence, as an organized
body Of living men, We who have. seea them, en-
tertain no Doubt OF their numbers and extent, 1t
is impossibIe to speak. There must be one tNpus-
and IN days march OF Union. You have them,
no doubt, In Charleston, and they certainly can
be found throughout Georgia, North Carolina and
Tenness. e. They occasi onaly leave behind them
letters explanatory OF their purposes. Those OF
them who operate In South Carolina, say that
they want peace, but must. have justice; that the
courts are guided by weak judges; and .jurles
composed OF ignorant negroes; that thief
convicted with much ccst Of time, money, and
labor to the prosecutor, remains at the peniten-
tIary scarcely week, and then returns home
with a pardon, prepared to steal again. They
sayAhat when their race have justice, and are no
!longer robbed by public thieves, their mission
will end.
There are some erroneous opinions entertained
as to the feelings Of the people OF Upper South
Carolina towards the Ku-klux. They are not
baud Of cutthroass and despsradoes, as some
suppose; nor, on the other hand, are they univer-
sally approved Of by the white people here. They
are men OF irmness and nerve, who strike be-
cause they believe 1t necessary for the protection
of Their life, property and liberty; they strike at
night, because circumstances render it impeya-
tive But very many citizens d1sapprove {ahd
condemn the acts Of violence committed by the
Klan. We feel The oppression Of the present State
government, but ne would not have It overturned
with violence. We might indulge In hard words
against the Ka-KlaX, but ewe ARa tina. they despise
our stlictures and the State officials believe all Of
MS to be members Of the band, no matter. how
much we abuse It.
Eow, sir; before we, can successfully oppose and
end this evil, We mus appreciate the causes. It
Is bad practice to administer remedy before we
make. q diagnosis. five went back to. first
causes, we would indicate the Reconstruction
acts the greatest political blunder Of the century,
astne inciter orthe Ku-Klux. Ia our State, how
ever, the organization aWould never have taken
roos if we had been spared the late iniqui;ous
ana cartridges, tthe latter being unnecessary for
purposes Of dri) the gross frauds Of the election
in October the numerous pardons issued by the
Governor, aud the wholesale robbery by State
officials o1money wrong from our people BY enor-
NOUS taxation. And again. It Is well known that
Joseph Crews prominently connected With the
State government, honored by the speaker ofthe
House, and the travelling companion OF oar Gov
efnori IN eject encouraged murder, arson ana ra-
pine astsummer, In Laurens. What might have
been the consequences Of that advice, 1t Is fearful
to contemplate. He may be more successful next
summer. -.sf
In September or October last, June Mehley,
member OF the Legislature, Informed his negro
friends that ten white men should be killed for
every negro murdered. Little did June then
think that his threat against our race would so
literally be fulfilled against. .hls own. The anins,s
of the black race and their advisers towards the
white people may be also gathered from the muir
derous plans or Crews and Others tthen and NOW
State o6fcials towards citizens Of Union and
Laurens, so recently exposed through your
columns by Kerrlgan and his men. ltwas only
a further proof OF what we already felt, thar the
white race woad be taxed out driven out or Killed
Here were the causes which operated to.plant
the Ku.KluX IN South Carolina. The murder Of
Mat Stevens gave them great strength. It was
foul murter-the foullest ever known In this
State. A one-armetk inoffcnslve white man, OF
good character who toiled honestly for his daily
bread and did harm to no one: he was waylaid
and cruelty murdered because he had "whlte
skn., The murderers we're body Of! negro
militia, at leas, twenty. nye, and moro probably
forty In number; instigated, the white people OF
union@beiieye,> and may in time be able to prove,
by Ellick Walker captain Of militia, and June 8.
Mobley, legislator. Bad as this murder was, II
wasM sign Of worse things to see the entire negro
race OF Union in active sympathy with the muir
derers. Had 1t been leftwlth the negroes, not
one eof them would have been arrested, although
they proclaimed their guilt wherever they went
among their own people. It b within bou2ds to
assert that two hundred negroes In Union 0h9nty
were accessories after the fact to the murder OF
Stevens, and that there are not two dozsnof that
class who would have refused to shield the crimi
nals Ten prisoners have been taken out OF the
jail by the Ku.Klux and killed, nine OF whom
were murderers Of Stevens; the tenth was the ne.
gro who shot the constable Smith, On the first
II
rul and criminal, but for the victims we have uo
sympathy. The negroes, on the contrary, regard
with indifference the deed In the abstract; their
only feeling issympashy for the murdered pris-
opers.
The manifesto left here blythe Ku KuS suriclent-
ly explains the immediate cause OF the last raid
on our Jail. To take these pr!soners-two Of them
red to the elbow. with the blood OF Stsvans-to
Columbia, where the legislature was IN session,
composed, it was believed, Of men-in active SYM;
pathy with the murderers, was, thought to oe tan
.amount to release. It was unfortunate that
Judge Thomas did not order the return to the writ
OF habeas corpus to be made before him at Union,
OF at his home, which, it Is presumed. Is within
the llmits OF his circuit. The letter to the judge
indicates that hewould sacrifice the peace Of So
ciety here, AMI snrn the prisoners loIae, to save
his office. The Ku.Klux thought the escape OF the
prisoners would be an evil, compared to which
the loss Of Judge Thomas to the bench Of the
SIKH Circuit would be Insignificant Such escape
would be wrong to their race, and one OF those
wrongs which could nnd redress only from their
baad. They were-undsr another nams--a vigi-
lance committee, with this diference-vigilanc
committees generally have the tacit approval OF