The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1871-11-01
The Ku KlnX and Suspension OF the
Writ Of uabeas Corpus.

VIII oI HuDfhS COrpuS'
u sns ;cnsi n OF the writ "t h#b n
corpus 10 tue fed. raj eo.etn.ucnt II
nny OF tn: S,.tcs in ii - # ..'enr
raj pe,cc world ha>r "c"" -ss"' i"f
former iy as i yer; .,'",.o. '......-.
Bo;h Nm.r ,us an e .'..". 80. ;."..
pie OF tle An2!u.H,2n: rH": - ...
ever c,r:.nny Aaer':r.; !-at, - -
riyh'S as pr, cc'",; ~ 81 ~r': ~ ~
be.s corpus, uuI h>v" '.>,H., ,i"cA g
the first step 90 Hci1t"> ,'Iu,.. II t',e &,
nights. The wri' II nahtas go. pa
han been regarded Il: ,bc nuiwal..
of Iibclty, AID It is :h;s which rsorc
than anything csc led t. tk"
te,dcm that We cujoy. b.: tin.r.
have changed. Out civil war a.:.,
the d"muraliz .tion which resullc,i
from it have destroyed in measure
that watchfulnes, OF tho American peo
pie over their liberties aud jealousy OF
the encroach hn,cnt Of ub.traIy lower.
Now the President If the Uuited
States >uspeuds the writ of habeas
corpus in section Of our com.
mon country and little notice Of it is
taken, as if 1T were n matter Of odi.
nrJ occurrence or n importance-as
if IN fact, TO great principle were iu-
volved. The proclaim .tiou OF tho
President da cd Washington, Octo.
Der II, 1871, which Was published in
our issue las; Wednesday. places the
counties of Spartanburg, York, Ma
rion, Chester, LAurcns, Newbury
Fairfield, Lancaster aud Chesterfield, ,
South Carolina, uudcr martial law, Oh
the ground that combinations and
conspiracles exist to obtruct and hin.
der the execution of the civil law,
undthat the federal government is call i.
ed upon to suspend the writ of hubeas
corpus and to govern by military au-
thority, in accordance with the aot
of Congress passed last April. If
the public mind we're not 50 dcmor-
ulized and so indifferent to thi>e exercise
of military authority in time Of gen
eral peace there would be a more
searching inquiry us to the causes for
or necessity Of this extraordinary ac-
tion Of the government.
For tuuately. tho Independent press
of this country is FREQ to discuss the
conduct Of the government and to C III
public attention to this important
matter. The independent p.ess, as
Junius said, is the palladium Of our
civil aud religious liberties. List Us
see, thea, what foundation there wa~
fr pro :lamiIg martial law aud creating
such " d"ngci"u: precedent for excr
cis'ng arb'tr"ry p'w"r in this ff,, sc.
pablo. The =. esideut tells ns in LIS
p,oclaunn,inu thus combinations au,}
cnnsr'racics EXIT IN the conn,icS rla,-
cd under martial "bi'h cunnu. IT,,
reach. I'd hy the civil law, and th,.. h.,
ellis reheitlods and insurrc:',ou.ty
BY this he means what is goreiaily
kuown a~ the Ku K!ux The cha.r,s
are rung on >uch expressions as Goa.
spirarico, o'g.rizcd aud armed vom-
binati."s. vi0leice, defiance of t.c
constituted authorities, and g, o..
but there is no evidence of rebellion
or insurrectiuu oithor in the s.ust
generally understood Of tho corstitu-
tion Of the Tn ted Statcs Trc law
of Congress -" "hIon nc base, his &C.
tion my hav" gi!en Il NV .ntc p:r.
tati,n to rcrel.inn az i,Snrr c,.ot
which was ,",L; me- IN 80 g. y.
,uti Ii. nj 80 my b a .....i.: !
in conf atty 81. 'hn,. ':na -.
lawles>ue-s of i tSw 'n,i>t t,r... , -!
at III 81 "niy cAt'.a -: 3. '.,. - 90. ..
law in tuni,hng n."u&i,"a ;'ur" ., %
those who arc gn,i.y ., crimes. 1.,4,
not be cunsl,uston intr &c *ltor
against the government. L. ia #,
there has been no such reb~lliol ni
insurrcction. Nor havc tho pyurrl
constituted local autho,i,lcs called
upon the federal government t. sus,
pend the civil law, as is repaired by
the constitution.
Governor Scott, of South Caro,ins
when asked less than three weeks age
if he were opposed to martial Inv,
replied, "Most nnequivocalIy I am
aid those men who are so clamorou.
for martial law are pursuing mista
ken policy" He said, moreoves
that he had no idea General Grant
would declare martial law, that be
(ths Governor) was not in favor Of it
and that he thought the civil law wal
more efficient. What better au,hori
ty does the administration want thar
the Governor of the State, who is ont
of its partisans I Then the State i.
under radical government, and most
of the authorities in it are opposed t
martial law. The clamor for such ar
arbitrary measure comes from only {
fcw reckless and corrupt disorganizer
and aspirants for office from men
who have little interest at stake il
the State beyond what they can max,
out of the Offices or the disruption
ofcivil government. No doubt there
have been deplorable outsages upo'