The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1871-05-11

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the county seat. The commissioners
may, in turn, keep them five days. The
boxes are then opened in private, with no
one present but the commissioners and
their clerk. The votes arc counted and
report made to the board of State can
yassers. If the ballot-boxes have not
been sufficiently stuffed by the managers,
the commissioners have every facility.
given them to take turn at the business.
It is no wonder that the HReformers" be-
lieved they had been cheated through the
workings of this unjust law.
Another source of irritation was the
organization of negro militia companies
ali over the State, and the refusal Of the
Governor to permit the whites to organ
ize in a similar way. These companies
were powerful rs electioneering agencies
but entirely weak and inefficient as mill
tary bodies. They exasperated the whites
by marching to the polls, stacking arms
and voting, and then parading the streets
with their guns. The arming of the ne
groes, as might have been predicted,
proved TO be mischievous and disastrous.
The riots and murders ir the upper coun-
try must, in great part, be attributed to
this cause The poor negroes suffered ter
ribly. They were whipped, tortured and
murdered by scores. 1t is estimated that
100 have been killed since the election.
After their. defeat at the fall election,
the white men. abandoned all attempt at
persuasion, and declared that, as their Of
fers of conciliation had been spurned,
they would resort.to force. The Ku Klux
societies became active in, all the districts
where the negroes are not largely in the
majority. Their greatest animosity is
now directed against the few white men
who accepted Office from the Republicans.
1t seems to be their settled purpose to
murder these men ifthey refuse to resign
their Offices As to tho negroes. the Re-
formers are satisfied with whipping until
they promise never to vote another
ssRadicaln ticket. ~ -
/ have spoken of white men and ne
groes, instead of using the names OF po-
'litical parties, because, practically, party
lines are race lines in South Carolina; the
whito men make one party and the ne
groes another; the number of white men
who have Joined the latter being too small
to be worth considering. There arc
scarcely dozen native white men who
are Republicans from any other motive
than greed for Office, and with a few
highly honorable exceptions the North
ern men, who have come hore, are un.
scrupulons adventurers. Tho feeling of
the white men was bitter enough after
the election, but it has boon growing
worse ever since. Itwas found that the
new Legislature, which met in the winter,
was more corrupt than its predecessor.
Leading Republicans here tell me that it
was VIGOROUSLY incompetent and profit
gate. Eighty of the one hundred and
twenty-fodr members of the House and
eleven of the thirty-ono senators wero no
groes. Many could not read or write.
These negroes, ignorant OF all the forms
of Legislation, could have done but little
harm had it nos been for few white
mem bers, who eoncocted mischief and in
itiated them into their schemes, telling
those who had some scrupules that it was
the custom of members of all legislatures
to make money outside of their s:laries.
A final cause of irritation was the collec.
ton of taxes, which began in March.
The rate of taxation was largely increas-
ed over that of previous years, and the
.property-owners honestly believed that
they were robbed to support the extrava-
gance of the "anigger government" which
they so cordially hated, and whose acts OF
corruption had been exaggerated tentold
h1, the Democratic DaDers
1T will be seen that the condition OF at-
fairs here could not we'll be worse with.
out actual civil war. Nothing but fear OF
the power of the Government Of the Uni
ted States keeps the Ku Klux Klan,
which numbers amongst it's active men,
bers or sympathizers almost every white
man IN the State, from overtbr0wing by
force the present government Of South
Carolina, and killing or driving away all
it's officers. 1t would be done in q weeks
time if it were known, that the Federal
power would not crush such movement;
this prominent citizens do not hesitate to
say. What makes tho danger greater is
the fact that the white people are thor
oughly convinced that they are in the
right, and. would be justified in using vio-
lence to accomplish their purpose. Mean
while, the killing of civil officers, who will
not resign when wanted to do SO. and the
scourging of negroes, continues. The
only hopeful sign in the situation is the
disposition recently manifested by few
leaders of both parties to seeka dompro-
mise that will give some representation in
the Government to the white men, and
stop tho persecution of the negroes. A
Convention of Taxpayers from all parts
of tho State is to meet in this city on
Tuesday week, and much is hoped from
this assembly, which will bring together
all the leading mon in the State. have
heard three plans discussed for harmonic
ing the conflicting elements. One con-.
templates an educational test for suffrage,