Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1871-11-29
Desolation in South Carolina.

which that unhappy Commonwealth
is the victim spring from the uncbas.
tened love of arbitrary power which
fills the breast of Grant and his up-
scrupulous advisers. The plague of
fire which has desolated the far west
is scarcely moro terrible than tho af.
flictions of that State. From all the
accounts that reach the north, the ef-
fects of Grants imperial ,ukase In
several peaceful districts of South
Carolina have equallod the most san
guinc expectations ofits authors. At
torney General Akerman has perform.
cd the task allotted him with an en-.
trgy and military skill that do justice
to his training, As judge advocate
on,the staff of General Toombs, while
holding courts martial, be learned the
terrible effect Of the system which he
is executing. A panic fear has been
created 10 South Carolina over which
radicalsm may wcll exult. Whole
districts have become depopulated.
Thousands have fed in dread of the
consequences Of the tales of peUured
spies, and Of night attack and arrest
by the sodiery In many cases poor
persons who have been falsely accused
have been compelled to fly and leave
their families at the mercy of their
prosecutors. The county jails are
choked with innocent victims who
are subject to every species Of NAL.
treatment in order TO extort from
them confessions Of crimes Of which
they have no knowledge. The woods
and swamps are filed with fugitives,
many of whom are driven by despair
to the commission of offcnses far
worse than those charged against
them. All trade is suspended and
labor in the fields has ceased, while
John Scott's spies and informers, un-
der the protection Of the military, are
enjoying carnival Of license and crime.
Such disorder and dissolution of social
ties did not exist in the midst of the
var when that district was scourged
by an invading army.
The search for that great Ku-Klux
Conspiracy which formed the pretext
for this invasion has led TO some re-
suits which the radical leaders did
not anticipate. The most OF those
who have been arrested are poor and
simple minded countrymen from the
mountainous and less fertile regions
of the State. Many ofthem are hardly
mountaineers who have had dis
putes with revenue officers for scizing
their little stills in the hollows and
Businesses of the Blue Ridge, or have
punished the negroes and mean whites
who have tracked them TO their
haunts and have given them the in
formation that has led TO their detec-
tion and capture. Out of such ma.
terials arc not created the pvlitirul
conspiracies which haunt the diseased
imagination of Senator Scott and his
negro witnesses. They are not the
MAzzIHIs, KINKELs, ORsIHIs and CARL
BALDIs who revolulionize political so.
ciety, aud make despotism tremble.
In tho midst of the terrorism that
has been created by the reelection
war some grimIy ludicrous features
are not wanting. One of the loyal
informcrs in Camden, South Carolina,
is assessor of internal revenues, who
also combines with his public duties
the care of Il beer shop. The assessor
recently fell into u quarrel with .
customer about a glass Of beer, and
received few blows from a light
walking stick The ku.klux who
perpetratcd this outrage against the
sacred person of a minister OF the ied'
era laws, was arrested along with an
innocent bystandor, and sent to Col
umbia, charged with a conspiracy
against tho government, and held to
bail in two thousand dollars. 1t was
at once telegraphed to the north that
another Ku,Klux had been discovered,
In Sumter county a.whitc republican
who received a severe but deserved fog
ring il entered in John SCOTS list as
another martyr to the sacred cause OF
the Union. But il turned out on in,
yestigation that the pious martyr had
been detected in stealing cotton from
an Industrious negro, and mat tht
punishment had been inflicted by cii
zens without distinction OF color ol
pnrty. Another terrible ku klux case
= that of two women who had quar-
rolod ahont some article of female ap
pare, and had engaged in duel win
broomsticks. Tho woman who wa'
armed with the shorter broomsllck
came OF second best, and prosecuted
her antagonist. On the trial fifteen
witnesses sworo that she was not
worthy ofbclof on oath But hap
pening to be blessed with darlSo'
skin than her rival, sho made com
plaint before n federal commissioner
who ordered tho arrest OF the hiieer
witnesses on the ground that they
had sought TO deprive her OF hel
rights under the civil rights law, ano
that they bad interfered with tho au
thority Of the United States. John
Scott's Ku klux report will be found
full of such trivial instances OF hu
Ikluxism, which he has treated with
ludicrous gravity, and has turned tc
deadly purpose. trrT r.l.r7
Instances of the terrible and tragic
are not waniing. In Newberry eoun
ty, one of the districts under marital
law, colored preacher was reported
to have been ku.kluxed. IL appeared
however, that three colored members
of his congregation had murdered and
mutilated him on suspicion OF living
on too intimate relations with some OF
the ewes of the black flock. Some
what milder was the fate OF another
negro evangelist named Thomson,
who gave oflonse to his congregation
beeauso he did not mnglc enough
Voudooism and witchcrait with the
teachings of the Word, He was sim
ply drowned In the same county a
man was murdered by his brother'in
law and this crime was put down TO
the account of tho Ku.Klux until tho
perpetrator was arrested for other
offences, and made full confession. In
Fairfield county u colored women was
od ond roaslcd to death and this