Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1871-03-02

.sssE . ME [-E1-n Anvil I'd 4, .lOll..
believed, of men in active sympathy
! with the murderers,, was thought to be
.itantamount to release. 1t was unfor'
i tuna8e that Judge Thomas did not or.
i jideTthe return sfo. The writ of habeas
coapsts to be made before him at Union,
or at his home, whicAiSit is presumed
| is within the limits of his circuit. The
letter of the Judge indicates that he
would sacrifice the peace ofsociety here
and turn the prisoners loose, to save
/ his. office. The .Ku Klux thought the
escape of the prisoners would be an
evil compared to which the loss of
Judge Thomas TO the, bench of the
/ Sixth Circuit would be Insignificant.
/ Such escape would be, a wrong to their
race, and one of h those wrongs which
coulaofndlredress only from their5band.
They were-under another nameAa
vigilance committee, with this differ
enceAwgilance committees generally
have the tacitapproval Of their govern
ment3S the Ku Kiux operate upon crimes
committed by class of citizens spe-
Iciallg protected, ,befriended and honor
ed sby: our State. The vigilance, com
mittse is, however, D an unlawful organi-
Ization-so. is the Ku .Klux..9ilThe acts
ioflthe one find an exact counterpart in
the epthec; for, so farsas known, the
Ivictsmsfof the Ku Kluxthave. been bad
men-dangerous citizens and well-known
Imurderers.
1--WE are no apologist for the Ku Kinx,
Nothing here written is an apology.
The siTreaderr who SO eonstrues this letter
finds excuse sufficient in what we have
einlaiimiiesrated simply as causes: We can
NOT excuse these, 'self-constituted, ayen-
gers ya Of white. mems wrongs, Crime
i6egets crime, but does not excuse it. To
|kill.a murderer is murder. To be prose
icpter, Judge, jury and, sheriff, is fear.
ffnl sin-a sin legally and morally, and
q sin in. His eyes to whom ,belongeth
vengeance. We may have no justice,
but better to suffer and to wait. A bad
government is better.than no govern
lnenttatFall. Injustice is better than
anarchy. Negroinilitia can never stop
the evil, mo matter how ,strongin num-
bers. 'e'@i.'--.- 77'.-' '.''''
The Columbia tmioa, advises that
they be SENT and the County taxed to
pay for them. We advise the Union,
to make a calculation of the cost OF
maintaining a thousand soldiers for a
year. and compare it with the assessed
value Of property in this County. The
proposition is ridiculous Negro mill
tia are powerless against them. They
may be stopped, but only in one way
remove the causes which made them
fancy their organization a necessity !;
restore good government; give the State
upright and able judges and honest Off
Gals. stop the frightful expenditure of
pubic ,ll5ifff rs,orar -Gnlnnbias:-p prosecute,
indict and bring to trial such men as
Neagle, Parker and Crews; disband the
negro militia; give the people intelli-
gent jurors, and let convicts be punish
ed, and then will the Ku Klux be a
thing of the past. But let the Legisla-
ture and the State oficialsgo on as they
have gone on, and the time will soon be
when raids into Columbia, and around
that capitol building, will cause our
highly virtuous and in elligent Legisla-
ture to forget Union and Union muir
derers.
One more word. Wcare all suspect
ed of active sympathy with the Ku
Klux, because we do not bring them to
trial: The thing is impossible. They
ahroud themselves in mystery which
no one can unravel. Whence they come,
and whittier they go, no one knows.
Their voices are not recognized; their
horses are not known. They are never
seen i'll daylight; only in night, 1t
would seem that negroes would know
when their masters lett home, and took
their horses ont of the stable; would
sometimes see their disguises, notice
the jaded appearance Of man and horse
after a night Of wakefulness and hard
riding. But it is not so. No .nesro
knows single member Of the band; il so
they would tell it, if not here for fear,
at any rate in Columbia. The whole
negro race desire the suppression OF the
Kn Klux; but they can make no dis
covcrics. Is it singular, then, that the
whit. man, who spends his evening at
home-whose opportunities tor detec-
tion are so much less-should fail to
find out names? We do not say that
all condemn the IIu Klux. Many see
the Immediate good, and think not Of
the consequent evil. But many, very
many, oppose. and abhor these deeds,
committed without any legal sanction,
and they express their adherence IN
unmeasured terms.
This letter has been made too long,
We wrote, however, to show that the
Ku Klux wore combating evils as dan
gerous to the peace Of society as the
counter evils they perpetrate and
that these fearful counter evils were
not approved of by all the people of
upper South Carolina.
BRUTUS.
- >--------
A YOUNG LADY oFSAvANNAH BURNT
TO DEATH.-Information was received