Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-01-12
The IkuIsIun ErinIs.

/
ne TO come into court and plead guilty. but none
| of them have as vet been sentenced, because
| their cases present such peculiar aspect as to
| cause the court to hold them under adYiSemeHt.
| Indeed, it would be hard hearted man who
| could listen unmoyed 10 the stories of these
| prisoners. Many of them are similar, yet each
| has some distinguishing episode marking it from
| the other. The number aud length Of these
confessions preclude the giving Of but few OF
them.
The prisoners generally about thirty Of them,
are brought daily from the Jail Y file of Unit
ed States soldiers, and Kept under guard in the
large hall leading off from the court room, in
| the second story of the state house. Without a
| permit from United States Marshal johnson, no
one is allowed TO communicate with them. As
! they are needed, they are taken into the court
room, plead gu lty TO the charge of conspiracy
with readiness indicating Joy TO get beyond
| the influences of the khan, and then, in reply to
interTogatories by the court, they make their
| statements.
With few exceptions, this class of kuklux are
those who, as quick as the United States forces
reached Spartanburg, came in and surrendered
| themselves. They are a class known here as
/ sand hillers;" few of them are able TO read
and write; all have that lean, slab-sided clayey
| appearance and look, so familiar to those old
| soldiers " no were where good haul of 'John-
MES was made during the war, and the most
| of them own nc land, but manage to exc out an
| existence by farming small patches rented from
| Weather and more influential persons in their
various neighborhoodS Even this opportunity
| of getting living will be abridged il the power
| of the government does not interfere for during
these examinations it has frequently been ascer-
| tanned that those of the wealther class, who
| have not fled to save themselves from arrest,
| have threatened to drive from their lands and
| vicinity these poor dupes of their making, who
have surrendered to the authorizes and exposed
| the doingS of the Khan. An Illustration of cases
of this kind is that of Jessie Taite, an elderly
man who pleaded guilty, and told his story in
| open court to-day. The following is an extract
81 joined the Horse creek khan in January,
| last year, but never made any raid on any one;
| | joined the kukluX because thought ii would
| not be safe for me not to; never thought about
| it being q violation Of law; am an unlearned
| man; the principal men of my neighbOrhoOd be-
| lOaged to the order; they all said they would 30
| into it for sctdelense, for they got up report
that the majority in the United States belonged
to il, and they said that every man that did not
go into it would be forced into it; can't read or
write to make much Of it; can just manage to
write my name; we have lawyers and preachers
up there, hut | don't know that they've talked
about this thing; people generally 20 to church
up there; there wasn't much whipping in our
neighborhood, for there are very few negroes
there; | heard of n raid once at Rutherford
where they took the editor out, and heard that
MI. Scruggs was in that; the order came from
the chief"
Here was an old man, uneducated and easily
led by his SuperiOrs as the white masses of the
south have always been; he either obeyed the in.
1uence of those whom he regarded as his guides
in all worldly matters, or else he succum5ed 10
the furious force of that reign of terror which
had unlimited sway in the upper counties and
made its mighty power felt no less in the breast
oil the poor white man than in the mind of the
negro, both victims OF lis crimes; the one by
seeking safety within the organization that gave
II birth, the other by bearing the infections of
the terrorlzng bands. Here stood Jesse Taite
one of these poor dupes, and around him sat
lawyers OF high standing AT the bar of South
carolina, who were more guilty than he, and
but for whom he would have bowed his head
| IN shame before that court, a confessed
criminal; not only this, but men of
most respectable characters who head
ed the organization in its crimes and gave
II activity and power, were at the very moment
TINS victim was awaiting his punishment seat
tered over the country, vagabonds and outlaws
eyadln@ the wrath OF a deeply outraged and
| justly indignant government, whose vengeance
they had eluded, and allowed ii to fall on the
head of this their unfortunate and deluded dupe
The boosted 'chlvalry" Of Carolina proves but
a thin gilt, which, scratched away, discovers an
object for mems cODtempt-her "brave sons"
prove themselves mean towards. The Sympa-
thy of the court, no less than the sympathy of
all men there whose hearts 90 out with pity 10
the unfortunate rather than to the criminal
on his own recognzance for $500 to appear at
the next term of court
Frederick Harris, of Sparanburg, was another
of these victims, and, though more deeply en-
gagged in crime, perhaps not more guilty than
Taite. This man, in common with nearly all
the rest, and with the mass of people in that
section, could neither read nor WRITE rather
severe commentary on the democratic cry here
against the free school system. But as knowl.
edge and power go together, so do ignorance
and democracy; effective power depends upon
knowledge for ITS strength, and spurious de-
mocracy looks for its strength to Ignorance.
Here is part Of the confession of this man:
Inc kukluX were whipping all around, and
II was great deal talked about among the peo-
pie and the only reason had for joining them
was through fear. | have been on two raids,
and five were whipped in all; | cant say that
helped whip five people to keep myself from be.
ing whipped; know was ordered to do it; we
whipped colored man named Humphreys; we
pulled him ont OF bed aud talked TO him. but
not about politics; we gave him about twenty
ticks; there were, believe, ten of us. The next
was a colored man named John Harris We
found him in bed, pulled him out and whipped
him. The next was Mage Harris; the next
Matt Scruggs, and the next James Gaffney;
they were col0red men; can not read or wnte
and am going on twenty years old"
O. Did you not know that this was all wrong?
A. No, sir; didn't know nothing about it,
q Would you not have thought it wrong if
James Galfney had dragged you out Of bed and
whipped you? A. Well, suppose would have
thought hard of it.
q. Don't you suppose he thought the same2
A. didn't know whether it was wrong or not
| was ordered to do it by the committee; Jed
Edwards was one, and Steb Scruggs was another.
Scruggs owns farm; David Collins is a respe l.
able man up there; he didn't advise us against
it,
Here is another William Robbins said: ''Tbe
reason why joined the kukiux order was that
there was more of my slde-the democrats-than
OF republicans. | didn't belong To the kukllX
order, but they sent me word that they believed
was after something, aud so | was. | had said
that thought the thing ought to be put down.
but all seemed afraid TO take hold of it. The best
men and the highest men belonged to the order
aud they advised me to join for my protection.
| can't say that they would have forced me into
it if had resisted; but it would have been a
pretty bad thing, for when they come about You,
they don't give you much time 10 do anything
l know, when they first came into my field to get
men to join, threatened tn fire into them. Next
day they sent man to talk to me, aud he told
me there were two chances for me; one was TO
join the order; the other was to be abused by
them. ! don't think there were many in that
part of the country that did not belong to it,"
No wonder that Judge Bond reared and edu-
Gated IN Christian community, and q civilized
section of the nation, when a prisoner said:
They told me that had TO obey ORDERS or I'd
get INTO trouble; they told me that it would not
be safe for me out of the order; they said
would be whipped or used roughly in some way
or other remarked, 81 think there ought to be
another proclamation of emancipation"
FIRE Proof Buildings.
baa anil, D.,