The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1871-12-06

cult Judges elected Dy tho Gcncral
Assembly were known not to be in
political accord with the majority of
the members, and none of them were
political partisans. Moro than half
of all the officers appointed by the
Executive wero of the opposition,
and the old Magistrates, who had
held their places tor years, wero gen.
orally re-appointcd. That this liberal
course on the part of the new ad
ministration was not due 10 n paucity
of material in its own party, is shown
by the fact that this policy was pur,
sued even in Charleston, where there
were numerous Republics capable
and willing to fill all tho Offices in that
vicinity. All the old Magistrates in
that city were re.appointed, and the
best position in the County of Char
lesion, the County Treasurship, was
bestowed by me upon citizen known
to be politically hostile to the State
Administration.
l recur to these facts to shoW that
the armed violence which has pre-,
vailed in the State, and has success
fully bid defiance TO the civil author
tiles, cannot find a vindication in the
plea, which so justly commonds itself
to the American mind, that it was
tho result Of q reaction against op.
pression-an appeal to force to rem
edy wrongs for which there was no
other remedy.
Indeed, this system of organized
murder began in 1865, Immediately
after the cessation Of hostilitics in
the open field, inaugurating a condi.
tion of affairs that has continued
with varying intensity up to the
period of it's recent elimination, and
which differed in the dcstructiyeness
from actual war was only this, that
the killed and wounded were all on
one side.
In evidence of this, I refer to the
we'll known fact, that my immediate
predecessor, one of the most worthy
and eminent citizens of the State,
Governor James L. Orr, was both
publicly and privately maligned for
his efforts to suppress it and enforce
the laws against the criminals. The
class of men who assailed him fer the
faithful and fearless discharge Of his
duty are the Same who openly de-.
fend the Ku Klux and secretly moved
The springs that put and kept them
IN motion.
A better temper seemed to prevail
this in the early past OF 1868.
This, however, was rapidly changed
lndcr the written teachings and pub
ic speeches of the opposition press
and leaders. By the notorious Broad
head letter Of General Frank P. Blair,
md kindred utterances, announcing
The speedy advent Of q nationa! ad.
that would "trample un-
lcr foot" the whole system of recon-
;truction, the dormant disloyalty of
,ho opposition leaders in this State
vas galvanized into action, as is a pal
led limb Of the human body by the
thrill Of tho electric spark.
Those leaders at once evinccd a re.
,alcitrant spirit. They assumed the
air and speech of o defiant conqueror,
md whcro they did aot vindictively
assail tho principles of tho National
Government, Of whose rare magma.
nimity they were living proofs, they
would declare, as the farthcst limit of
their loyalty, that they "accept the
situation )" an expression which has
now become stereotyped, and which,
on the lips Of such men, conveys boil,
falsehood and an insult, in tho sense
in which they use it, as it implies re-
served right to refuse obedience to the
laws of their country, whose au-
thority they ceased to assail
only when they were deprived of. the
power to resist it.
They mistook tho magnanimity OF
tho Government for weakness, and
prcsuming upon it's forbearanee, bore
as if they had been the
victors in the lato struggle. These
DID party leaders soon famed into
flames tho expiring passions Of their
followers in tho rebellion, doubtless
fearing that the new political system
might if unchecked, induce the white
masses to break tho thraldom that
had so long bound them under the
ancient rulers of the State.
They denounced the State Govern
ment, elected by a majority of forty
three thousand Of tho voters of the
people, as "tyrannical usurpation,'
and "a negro oligarchy," designed to
crush out white mon and they stig
matizcd it's loyal supporters as
"thieves and robbers" and passed O
general sence of outlawry upon every
Republican without regard to char
acter. The seed thus scattered broad
cast from tho rostrum, the pulpit and
press, soon produced o terrible har'
vest. That Republicans were the vic
tins of frequent murders, both open
and secret, could not be accounted
for on any known theory Of mere CO
incidcnccs. 1t soon became evident
that thero was "method" in this
"madness," and that largo mass Of
the whites, obeying the "bloody in
structions" of their political leaders
were engaged in concerted effort
to suppress Republicanism in the
State, by numbering Republicans
white and colored, solely because ol
their political opinions. [ endeavor
ed to check this system of violence
and terrorism by an energetic use ol
the State Constabulary, and other civil
agencies at my disposal. In this ]
moasurably succeeded for a time, al
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