Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1872-08-28

militia, and are Otherwise We'll equipped.
Within a few weeks there have been no very
fragrant cases of outrage By these rufians,
but it is well known that their organizations
are more compact than ever, and that sign
of hesitation on the part of The Government
could be signal for a general outbreak.
The author tiles in Washington say that the
proclamation of martial law will not only
stop prevailing violence but prevent general
massacre in the nine counties specified.
In the Tribune of October oath we find this
editorial note
&" The large capture of members of the Ku
Klux which have been made in one of the
South Carolina counties, in which the writ
of habess corpus was lately suspended, will
show the rufi4ns whereabouts that the Gov
eminent is deter mined to deal sharply with
them. There have been sufficient delay and
warning before resorting to this undesirable
means for the suppression of violence, and
/ if this fail the Ku Klux would be masters of
the situation
! At Spartansburg a den, consisting of a
chief and twenty members, surrendered to
the United States Marshal with their arms
and DISCUSSES. Up to Friday, the second day
after, seventy arrests had been made.
From the N. Y. Tri5un, of October 9th,
1871;
:. SPABTANsB BURG, ). g., Oct. %.
The letter your special correspondent from
this place last spring, and the reports of the
Congress committees have prepared your
readers for the shocking disclosures that are
now being made here, OF the Democratic ku
Klux conspiracy against the lives, liberties
and property OF the Republicans of this and
adjacent counties. Senator Scott and his
associates found, by the various statements
of the victims and other credible witnesses,
that in Spartansburg county alone upward OF
FIVE hundred men and women had suffered
some form of violence from the ku klux
several had been killed, others wounded, by
gun and pistol shots, while the greater num-
Der had been whipped IN the most baTbarous
manner. To escape violence, many respect
able persons, male aud female, slept in the
woods through all last winter. without fire.
A fire would have pointed out the places of
c0ncealment to the ruth3ns who sought their
lives.
From the great number Of victims il was
/ inferred that the number of the c0nspIratOrs
| must be great, but how great none but their
own leaders had the means of knowing.
! Terror reIgned for months. The most shock
| ing murders were committed, and no attempt
srsn 10 ferret ont and BRING 10 justtce the
1 perpetrators was made. No one da-ed 10
I more. The courts ireTe all an the hands Of the
/ hu hlur. This state of things went on
until the United States Court IN Raleigh
/ tried and convicted a number of the North
/ Carolina Ku Klux Alarmed By these con
victions, a young man IN this county came
/ forward and confessed his connection with
\ the ku klux and gave the names Of about a
dozen others. Several parties were arrested.
Since then whole dens,' with their officers.
] a.
the names Of their cJntederates. 3 70 this
time about seventy-fye have been arrested 10
/ thi (Spartansburg) county All these are
! white Democrats, but as debased and, tor
the most part, as ignorant and vIllainous a
/ set OF men a. any county can produce. Their
testimony involves many Of the most InHu-
entail men Of the county, embracing lawyers,
doctors, and even protested ministers 81 the
gospel. There are warrants out for about
one hundred who thus far have eluded the
officers. Among these Is one member OF the
Legislature, one member Ut the South Caro-
lima Conference Of the VI. L Church South,
one leading Baptist minister, and other equal
ly prominent persons. Ii j. believed that
one thousand 10 two thousand more i'm this
county are involved directly or indirectly IN
the Outrages committed.
e CoLuMBl,. ;. O.. Oct D
L. ;. Marshal Johnson reached here last
night with nineteen ku klux prisoners, hay-
ing left sixty more al Spartansburg. The
whole gang is made up Of what tlc people
here call low down fellows men ready TO
do any work, however bloody, if u-tiSated
by superior intelligence. IL is perfectly as
tonishing, the ramlfcations of thus internal or
der lteXtends in ali directions and is sand to
embrace some OF the most prominent men of
this State 10 York, Union aud SpaItanshGrg
counties hundreds have fled % escape arrest
Men whom no one suspected have lett theIr
homes with their crops uDglthcrci, and have
fled, no one knows whittier aud vet the
work is only fairly begun. Unless general
stampede is made the jails and prisons viii
not contain these guilty wrotches. Many OF
those arrested confess to being ropod IN by
prominent Democrats in their respective
counties. The developments are Of the most
damning character. The officers are Kept
busy night and day hunting the frightened
villains.
The day Of deliyerance from the terrorism
which has prevailed in portions Of this State
for more than two years, seems t. be dawn
ing upon US.
Such was the nature, extent aud power of
the Ku Klux in South Carolina az described
by the Tribune ten months ago What
changed the condition Of things there And
why Is it now comparatively quiet there
Was it done by the general government pro-
claiming the doctrine that b. local self-gov-
eminent, with impartial suffrage, VIII guard
the rights of all citizens moro securely t1an
any centralized power - There in South
Carolina. as in other sections of the South,
an organization led by men IF high social
influence, had assumed power above both the
civil and military power of the State. in fact
constituted itself a local selEgoyernment
more oppressive than the despotsm Of any
open and known despot on earth.
And all this where the right as well as
duty of the State to protect it's humblest
citizens was ostensibly secured by constitu
tional laws. In that case the theory Of State
rights proved delusive, as it ever Will where
the ruling class Of society is hostile to the
principle Of true equality. 81 long as
major part Of the recent Shareholders Of the
South are accustomed to regard the colored
race a. inferior, though suffrage may be le-
gally impartial, it may fail to secure equal