The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-01-04

of Charleston -.
atks Editor of Esant;ner dsid Chronicle.
Il MY DEAR BRorHER-The admission Of th'
reporters, the lawyers, the Judges, the whole
community, that in the Ku Klux cases, nov
Dur population furnishes the informers, ough
20 awaken grave doubts in regard to the trutf
Of the charges now urged against the most re
spectacle, wealthy and influential citizens O.
-theState.a The people who have made these
astounding revelations in regard to the socIa
state of the up-country, are familiarly known
as Crackers" "Ciay-eaters' and natives oi
ossDark Corners" q Most of them can neithe1
read nor write. Many of them are the off;
spring of illicit conn ections. Some OF them
affirm that they have been led to expect better
remuneration in theic present line of business
than they ever had before comfortable lodg-
iDgs in the Jail, and three dollars day during
sthe time Of their Incarceration. Now, just
snnnn,e that such nm inducement had been
tnsfed to the citizens of Five Points, to testify
aeainst the most respectable citizens of New
York: suppose that the informers had been
backed by the ward politicians, and the wealth
and power of the National Government, and
then Judge for yourself what, after all, may be
The real condition of South Carolina!
i''''' go. cRDlE AND CORRUPTION.
7 am not in sympathy with the Ku Klux
Khan. I do not know any of lbs members ;
there are none in the section of theState where
I reside. Yet must confess that I have long
felt the need of some sort of legislation, and
esorae Justice, such as We have not had in our
State for many years Just look at "the situa-
sfisn1si The best citizens of the State are con-
.stantlg despoiled. Their cotton is plundered
at night, and sold in the seed to corner shops."
Their stock is butchered in the woods. Their
property is assessed above its market value,
and Is sometimes taxed beyond what it produ-
-ces, or would sell for. Many persons have
evaded taxation by Offering their plantations 70
the tax-gathe-er! This has been frequently
done in Barnwell County. And crime goes
unpunished. 1t is not easy to arrest erlml-
nal; it is harder to keep him in Jail; harder
still to secure his conviction, and impossible to
keep the Governor from pardoning HIM. A
voter Is rarely allowed to serve out his time In
The penitentiary. It matters not what he has
3done-whether. he has broken into house or
burnt it down-whe!her he has committed
rape or q murder-ia any event his right to
vote at the next election must be secured by
the exercise of Executive clemency. Nay
mose-as all Wall street knows by this time
our State is largely under the control Of crimi-
mails. Many of our highest Offices are filled by
men once of broken fortunes and broken char
acters, but now invested with authority, cloth
ed In purple and inc linen, and fariug sump-
tuousfy every day. Our Governor is seedy
doctor from Ohi0-now become millionaire
!ORr. leading lobbyist is a jockey-rider from
Jerome Park. The leader Of the Senate Is
convicted bribe-taker. The leader of the House
is q pardoned bigalnist On my way to the
late St. Louis Convention /, with other dele
T,,Ir ,,f fho Sfato a
prostitute in the public cars, and near him was
. legislator engaged in like obscene and
shameless dallianct. We were all thankful
when these wretched creatures left the cars,
.vVith. their women, at Graniteville. During
the last wear our corrupt State Government has
robbed an impoverished people of more than
$4,000 per day; and the estimate must be too
low, for it is founded on Gov. SCOTS message
tothe Legislature.
HEAR BOTH SIDES.
You will, / hope, pardon me for suggesting
that such a state of society requires some relief
quite different from that afforded by the penal
laws az Congress-. When a vigilance commit
tee Aas inficted summary justice, the Court
otphs, to consider the whole case. 1t should
number not only the scars, but the crimes of
the victim. n.sD It should be invested with GER
tain supreme power. 1t should be armed with
craftsmanship. In . state of society where
there is no Law, and where men must form tenn
porary organizations for the redress OF into!e-
rable grievances, and the maintenance OF social
order, Justice itself is perverted by an attack
upon these organizations. Here, for example,
isEJohn Doe,n whose daughter has been ruin
ed by Richard Roe; :" whose crop has been
stolen or purchased in the seed by Orchard
Roe;n whose ginhouse has been burned down
with the whole crop of the year by Orchard
Ros;" whose life has. been ambuscaded by
stRichard Roe;" tut who has at last turned
upon his enemy, as even a worm will turn
against q crushing foot, and who has scourged
his oppressor with forty lashes save one. Does
it become great government in such an IN
atance, to chastise HJohn Doe," who looked to
it in vain for protection, and to let Richard
Roe" 90 free? Yet this is precisely what the
United States Government are now doing In
South Carolina! The national officials are
hunting down and imprisoning the best cltl-
zens of the northern counties at the instance OF
malefactors and "sand-hillers," whose lives de-
fy the law, and who would not be believed, on
their oaths, in any other case. =,
], We, who have had no connection with ku
Kluxam. look with wonder and CONSERVATION
Snon sharp dragonnade, such as once deci-
mated France for the enrichment OF South
Carolina. and is now wasting South Carolina
tor the enrichment of neighboring and even
foreign States. We encounter among the UNI
ted States soldiers SCARED, triumphant vete-
rams of war, who feel as keenly as we do that
they have now been assigned to service pam,
fal and degrading when the clash Of OF
arms has ceased, and they feel their hearts
melting with fraternity They are required 70
deal with an association of neighbors who are
pledged to mutual protection against the burn
ers Of their houses and the plunderers OF their
crops az If these were an armed and foreign
foe. These soldiers, under whatever pretext
sent, do actually drive from fields ripe for the
harvest young and old, planter and laborer; DO
do immure the proprietors of the soil and the
taxpayers of the country in crowded and filthy
iails. In time of profound peace, they are