Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1871-03-24
From the Coiunbm Union, Murch Is
That Conference.

Governor, SoVcral OF the prominent citizens
Of tho State assembled at tho Capitol, on
| Monday event,g to consult upon the present
disturbed conttion of affairs III the upper por-
tion of the E'.atc. Among those present
were Col. Sins ). taiv, of Newberry, General
McGowan, Of N. 9shcvillc, Mr. Menphill, Of
Chester, Genss II .\crshaw Of Camden, Gone
ral Iaslcy, OF Grcenyile, Colonel Wallace,
Colonel ConnJr, of Spartanburg, Messrs
Simmons of the Courier, Pope, Seibcls and
Ezell, of Colunbla, and several others. The
cnt condition Of affairs was freely discussed.
| The principal object Of tho conference was to
arrive at tho cause Of the existing troubles,
and, if possible, suggest remedy. We were
present, and listened to the conversations
throughout, aud confess to being agrecably
surprised at tho general tone of the meeting.
| The principal cause of the trouble, as
urged by nearly all these gentlemen, was the
Organization snd arming OF one class OF race
of citizens rs against the other. 1t was ar
gucd, with considerable force, by every gen
tleman who spoke upon the subject, that pla.
! cling arms in the hands of the colorcd men
! gave feeling Of insecurity to the whites, aud
cnused fcvcrish feeling of alurm to pcrvado
every commur;ty Whether this feeling was
well grounded, or otherwise, made no differ
cncc to the fact that such feeling actually
existed, and so long as that feeling existed
| there was imminent danger of Il collision up
OH the slightest provocation. 1t was further
! urgcd-und not without some show of reason
that the arr.ing of the colorcd militia was
regarded by the whites as dangerous to peace
and good order; and, whereas, before such
armiug was done, men could 90 to bed in
peace and security, without fear of molesta-
| tion, now they were compelled to 20 armed
themselves Us measure OF self protection.
The debate upon tis subject was long aud
exhaustive, but the conclusion reached by ull
was, that the arn.ing OF the colorcd militia
was at least anunwisc measure.
Another fruitful source Of complaint, and
one which we have regarded as lying at tho
very root Of tho whole matter, was the piofli-
gate and irrc ponsiblc manner in which the
Legislature reformed its work during the
4....Si, ss..4.$i!s' -
1t will be rccollccted that we repeatedly
warned the Legislature that the people we're
watching it's operations, and that dissatisfied
constituents would hold dcrelict members to
J an account for their stewardship. !}us one
point in all the argument struck us with more
force than all others. aud that was, that the
proscnt system was one Of "taxation without
representation" This fact cannot be denied,
that, practically, the Legislature is body
that represents but very small portion of
the material wealth of the State.
Many of the gentlemen admitted that tlrc
per ccntum Of taxation was not cxorbtant,
but the assessments were outrageously dispro-
portionatc and unjust, and that taxes were,
in many instances, ten times as high as they
ought to be. This arises from the ncompc
tency of the Assessors, few Of whom actually
know anything about the value of property,
aud many moro being governed more by per-
sonal spite than by desire to do Justice
This is no doubt true, to great cxtcnt.
These were tho two principal points dis
cusscd, although others were incidentally
mentioned We were highly gratificd with
the manly and digniied positions taken by
! General McGowan and Colonel Fair, and,
while we have no particular objections to offer
to the remarks Of any of the gentlemen pres
cnt, we regard the stand taken by the two
gentlemen named as pre-. emincntly just aud
dignificd
The meeting had no political significance
whatever, for politics were not mentioned,
except incidentally, during the entire confer
cncc. That the meeting will result in good,
thc.o is every reason to believe, as tho gen
| tlcmcn can return TO their homes Impressed
with the belief that the Governor really de-
sircs to protect tho interests of all classes Of
citizens, irrespective of party lines.
That there are certain abuses in the Legis.
laturc which must be corrected, there is no
one foolish enough to deny; and, so long as
these abuses exist, there will always hc q
fruitful cause for complaint. Most Of the
gontlcmen, who took part IN the conference,
returned to their homes yesterday.
| Special Dispatch TO the Charleston Courier.
| COLUMBIA, March 14.-At the invitation
of Governor Scott, a delegation Of leading
| citizens from various sections Of the State
met him i'll the State House last evening in
reference 10 the condition of public affairs,
and tho proper mode of restoring harmony
and peace Tho conference was long and
earnest. Among those present were Messrs.
j. B. Kcrshaw, of Camden Gabriel Cannon,
of Spartanburg w. X. Easley, of Green.
villo; Simeon Fair, of Ncwborry James
IIcmphill, of Chester; S. McGowan, Of Ab.
| bnyille. w IT Wallace of IInion. Ios IL