The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-04-03
General ker.haw to Senator Robertson

| u 1CAROtSu thS"N SkN
Genera Kershaw to Senator Robertson
We print, in another column, the reply Of
General Kershaw to the letter addressed to
him, and other leading citizens, by the Hon.
T. J. Robertson, one Of the Radical senators
from South Carolina. This reply is written
without consultation with the gentlemen as.
soclated with General Kershaw by Senator
Robertson, but the weight. and influence Of
the writer entitle les statements to conside,
ration and respect, abroad as well as at
home.
There cannot be a better proof of the de-
sire Of the people of the State to live in
amity with the negroes than the nearly
unanimous support given by the whites to
the Reform movement. Sacrificing time,
labor and sentiment, the native leaders OF
the Reform party accorded to the freedmen
the amplest practical recognition OF their
civil and political rights. The white Demo
| Gratis and black Republicans stood together
on the stump. safe in the same committee
| rooms, were voted for on the same tickets.
So anxious were the whites to prove that
theirs was not a party movement, that a
prominent Republican was put before the
people as the Reform candidate for Cover
nor. So anxious we're the whites to prove
that they were dealing honestly with their
| former slaves, that In more than one in
stance, it is to be feared, candidates were
nominated, and voted for, only because they
we're negroes. A hearty and vigorous effort
was made to bring together the good men
of both parties and both colors, with the
single object OF securing a fair and equal
uaua-amantiartha uhnlo ~e~rL~-"ho~ Ia
form movement failed. Excited by the
speeches OF their trusted leaders, the negroes
rejected the argent. banner OF Peace and
raised the bloody standard OF Passion and
Wrong. Nor was this enough. AS Gene
raj Kershaw, with exact truth, says 'The
Commissioners, Managers and Boards Of
ELECTION were so selected, aud the election
claws 80 cuuningly devised, as to secure the
ssresult OF the ballot irrespective OF the will
sof the people," Armed negro militiamen,
d~emagoguical appeals and unjust laws, de-
feated the movement for Reform.
There are two other points in the letter OF
General Kershaw to which we desire to di-
rect particular attention.. They are /. That
the collisions in Chester and Laurens were,
on the part of the whites, necessary and JUS
ti6able acts OF self-defence. 2. That where
the negroes have not been armed to the
teeth, so as To threaten the lives and prop
erty of the whites, there has been no ku-
Klux-Klan or other unlawful association.
These statements are sustained by the un-
vanished facts. And they tell a tale which
Governor Scott and Senator Robertson will do
we'll to ponder without delay. The negro mill
tia, by their outrageous conduct, have caused
every act of violence which the State has
known. 1t was so in Union, where they
killed an inoffensive white man it was so in
Laurens and Chester, where they fired upon
the whites, who then had to choose between
self:deience and meekly holding out their
necks to the butcher. In Kershaw County,
where the negroes have made no threaten
ing demonstration. there is unbroken quiet,
and there has not been, and is not, in The
county 'any organization corresponding 10
sthe Ku-KluX- KIan." For this statement
we have the unimpeachable authority OF
General Kershaw. But General Kershaw
says, and here is the gist Of the matter, ''like
s.causes produce like results, and therefore
"any demonstration on the part OF the ne
'groes, and especially the armed militia,
(which would render our people apprehensive
"of IN attack, Woula gerry probably induce
congratulations for defensive or prerenttoe
Operations, and possibly lead to similar
disastrous conflicts as ensued at Chester
'and Luurens."
The people, however, desire peace to-day
as heartily as they desired it before the
humiliating breakdown of the Reform Party.
And General Kershaw with %propriety de-
clares that, in common with others Similar
" situated, he "has done more to promote
.peace and order in South Carolina than all
''the so-called loyal people within her
"borders." General Kershaw is ready to
cooperate with Senator Robertson in ANY
sfeasible PLAN for harmonizlnS society
here; but he entertaius 'the settled con-
eviction" that ''there can never be that
security which will ever preserve the peace
s'of society, untll some of the errors OF the
s'past be corrected and some OF our grleV-
canoes be removed. Class legislation
must be repealed. Taxpayers ought to be
secured an adequate representation in the
Legislature. Honest and capable men must
be put in office. This is the programme for
the future. And, Us regards the past, there
must be L plain. statement OF all The out
standing liabilities of the state, so that the