The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-11-08
Tho South Carolina Ku.Klux.

A correspondent of the Cincinnati CONNER
cial has bsen travelling in the Ku Klux dis.
trct of South Carolina. He visited the Jail
where the Spartsnburg prisoners are confined,
and this is what he says Of them:
''In the cells on the lower floor are some
coma fde Ku-Klux. There are nineteen of them.
and it is the gang that has been committing all
the mischief in that county for the past two
years. They came in, gave up their arms and
surrendered before even one of them was cap
tured. f-.4 tt1fE
Their cells open into narrow hall, and this
nan is fenced in at either end by heavy iron
CRATE. AS we approached this g,ate they all
swarmed out of their cells ana came to it.
There are nineteen of them, and all but three
have made full confession. The remaining
three are mum, doubtless thinking that what
ever may be their fate, nothing can be gained
by confession of crime; SO they are sullen
aud silent. The rest, however, are quite talka-
tive, and give in their experience in rough,
ungramatical language.
| GAS they swarmed out to the CRATE thought
| I never saw more nprepossessing-l looking
set of men, They are all young, below medium
| size, and of the lowest grade of poor whites
| telligence. Their very looks are calculated to
prejudice one against them, and had they not
| confessed to being Ku-Klux, their appearance
and actions would have disclosed it. They are
| the lower type of the lowest class of Southern
| poor whites. You may pick up gang of ne
| grOes at random, and you will have better
| looking set OF men than these Spartanburg
Ku-Klux. Their ignorance will be better I'M
| derstood when state that sixteen of the nine
| teen can neither read nor WRITE -
l efThaV saw that they cama in apd rova up
because they were tired of the bu. mess aud be.
| cause Ihey could not fight the whole United
States army, which they understood had been
sent into South Carolina. They seem to re-
gard the State as having been invaded by a
second General Sherman's army, and that
| death was their portion if they did not sur.
render. They try to shift the responsibility Of
their operations for the past two years upon
prominent Democrats of SpartanSburg county
whom they accused of putting them up to the
dirty work and lriving them along. They &C.
knowledge to an alliance between the DOmo.
cratic party and themselves, but complain thai
all the heavy work fell upon them. They say
that when a campaign was going on they were
kept so busy that they had no time to attend
| to crops. None of them own land, and What
| farming they do is done on the tenant system
i They affirm the object OF the Ku-Klux organ.
Iization to be to either drive the negroes out oil
| pose to go into Wholesale slaughter, but only
killed one now and then, SO as to aid material
| ly in soaring others off. They most positively
| declare that the prominent Democrats of Spar
tansburgH county were at the bottom of the
| diabolcal business, and they propose to blow
on the whole thing, giving names and all
when the proper time comes. This accounts
Jor the stampede of influential citizens from
| that county.
The prisoners who confess to being Ku-Klu,
say they are now sorry that they ever went in
to the thing. They blame what the call lead
ers, but are, as yet, not entirely specific VIII
i they once went into the khan they could no
get OUT and they then had to push forward il
| the dirty work marked out for them or be deal
with themselves. At Lime Spring tho klal
had whipping-post erected, where those VIII
did not come to time we're whipped. This state
ment is DO doubt correct, for one or two of tn
boys bear the marks of the lash upon thei
backs. They say they expect to be punished
by a few years in the penitentiary, but the,
emphatcally insist that the head men shall b.
punished also.
The latest report from Spartansburg is tina
ninety citizens are in Jail; among that humble
are, no doubt, many OF the head men to whom
the poor devils here refer. Ninety citizen
taken from their beds and thrown into jai
without warrant or process OF law may hav
an ugly look, but it is absolutely necessary t.
effectually restore peace and quiet to Spartans
burg. In many instances the innocent ar
suffering with the guilty, but this cannot b
avoided. The war should be made short shar
| and decisive; the innocent turned loose an,
the guilty turned into the penitentary. Th
civil law had been found impotent to check tn
| evil, and the military law had to be resorte
to. That is effective. The days of the Ku
Klux are numbered in South Carolina.