Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1871-12-08
lowing language on the subject of political

Toulu earnestly FCcomn.SHd t!ltt your
honorable body will, at an early period, nc.
South Carolina from all political disabilities.
l make this recommendation the more reaG:-
ly from the fact that there are believed to DC
none Of that class in this State who have
committed Infamous offences against the laws
Of war"
"Fhe statute of disfranchiscment was,
doubtless, wise and proper at the earlier stage
OF reconstruction, aud justly marked the ma
tons adherence Of those who, having been
the trusted leaders of the people, had led
them into rebellion against the benign gov
ernment of their country. Yet the continu
ance of such disfranchisemcnt would be an
anomaly under our Republican system based
upon the doctrine of universal suffrage. Let
us hope that such an act of magnanimity will
not be mistaken by the class of disfranchscd,
while to deny it will tend to make them %.
jects of sympathy, and will be, as it were, to
keep knife sticking in an open wound"
would add, that have neither abandon
cd the hope or the sentiment that impelled
that recommendation, so far as the industrial
class of the whites arc concerned Although
they contributed, largely to the wealth and
strength of the State, yet, in former times,
they were not permitted to take any part in
the administration of its affairs. There is
no natural antagonism between them and our
present system .of free government, which,
in its paternal care for the welfare of its cit
izcns. has, for the first time in the history of
South Carolina, enacted homestead law,
which guards the threshold OF the poor mans
| dwelling, so that remorseess creditors may
not enter and sell the roof that shelters his
wife and children, or seize the products of
the few acres that supply his table with food
Whatever feeling Of hostility any of these
may entertain against the government Of their
country, is the result, in great measure, of
the wilful misrepresentation of their for
mer privileged rulers, to advance their own
political ends.
The General Assembly promptly seconded
this effort to restore universal good will among
our people, by dcvising an equitable system
Of taxation, and by the enactment of laws for
the development of all the industrial inter.
ests of the State.
| AS an evidence of tue benefcent policy Of
the new State Government, cite the facts
that most of the circuit judges elected By the
General Assembly were known not to be in
political accord with the majority of its mem
bers, and mono of them were political parti-
sans. More than half of all the officers ap-
pointed by the Executive were of the opppo
siton and the old magistrates, who had held
their places for years, were generally reap
pointed. That this liberal course on the part
Of the new administration was not due to u
pauciy of material in its own party, is shown
by the fact that this policy was pursued even
in Charleston, where there were numerous
Offices in that vicinity. All the old mugis.
frat l,of tal = tl,n
best position in the county Of Charleston, the
county trcasuryship, was bestowed by me
upon citizen known to be politically hostile
t. the State administration.
l recur to these facts to show that the
armed violence which has prevailed in this
State, and has successfully bid defiance to the
civil authorities, cannot find vindicaticn in
the plea, which SO justly commcnds itself in
tho American mind, that it was the result or
a reaction against oppression-an appeal to
force to remedy wrongs for which there was
Lo other remedy
Indeed, this system of organized murder
began in 1865, Immediately after the ccssa
ton of hostilties in the open field, inaugu
{ rating u condition of affairs that has contin.
ued with varying intensity up to the period of
its recent culminaton, ,aud which differed in its
, dcstructiveness in actual war only in this,
that the titled and ,ooun0c0 accrc all on one
stde.
, In evidence Of this, refer to the well
known fact, that my immediate predecessor,
one of the most worthy and eminent citizens
of the State, Governor James l.. Orr, was
f both publicly and privately maigned for his
efforts to suppress it and enforce the laws
, against the criminals The class Of men who
| assailed him for the faithful and fearless dis
charge Of his duty are the same who openly
defend the Ku Klux and secretly moved the
, springs that put and kept them in motion.
, A better temper seemed to prevail among
\ this class in the early part of 1868. This
however,, was rapidly changed under the writ
ten teachings and public speeches of the op.
position press and leaders. BY the notorious
y Broadhcad letter of General Frank p. Blair,
D and kindred uttcrances, announcing the
f speedy advent Of national administration
| that would "t'ampe under foot" the whole
4 system of reconstruction, the dormant dis
l loyalty of tic opposition leaders in this State
8 was galvanized into action, as is a palsied
(. limb of the human body by the electric spark
c These leaders at once envied a reoalcitrant
!. spirit. They assumed tho air and speech of
= defiant conqueror, and where they did not
! vindictivey assail the principles of the nation
J, al government of whose rare magnanimity
q .hcy were living proofs, they would declare
as the farthest limit of their loyalty, that they
''acccpt tho situation;" an expression which
, has now become stcrcotypcd, and which, or