Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-02-10
amendment iust put in the Summer

be entitled to hold Office ard exercis
the powers of government in thos
States. For instance, it would admi
: three men who were shown by tn
: evidence now in possession of the gov
ernment to be, or to have been unit
lately, an advisory board 10 the ku
kluX khan in South OarOlina-Gener
ais Hampton, Butler and R.ershaW.
: Senator Sawyer said that the state
ment OF Senator Edmunds abou
those three gentlemen might be tru'
or it might not, but if it were true, h'
had yet to learn that keeping meI
J under the disabilities imposed by th'
Fourteenth amendment was wise o.
an adequate punishment for tbs
crimes committed by the ku-kluX
The opponents of the amnesty bill
sought to kill it by amendments anC
he feared that they had already done
so, and evidently there were senators
who wished that the political disabil
ities should never be removed.
Senator Morton said the effect of the
amendment proposed by Senator
sawyer would be to make amnesty
universal, and to declare that in the
opinion of the United States senate
| treason Is no crime.
Senator Wilson protested against
Senator SaWyer's imputatioD upon
the motives of senators who voted to
amend the amnesty bill. He was as
sincerely in favor OF amnesty as any
one. He would vote for the house
bill, and even go further, for he would
| be willing to except none but mem
bers Of the cabinet, of the supreme
court and of congress who took part
In the rebellion.
Senator Robertson said that If Gen
erals Hampton, KershaW and Butler
should be elected to govern South
Carolina, it must be done by the votes
of the cOlored people, who had ma
jOrity of twenty-five thousand in that
State. He did not believe the charges
against these gentlemen. They were
honorable men, who would scOrn to
aid or c0untenance such oUtrages.
Senator Scott said that Generals
Hampton and Butler had, by circular,
solicited subscriptions for the defense
of the kuklux. The disabilities Of
General Butler had already been re-
lieved, so the fears OF Senator Ed.
munds came too late.
Senator Morrill, Vermont thought
it would be as well now to strike out
all relating to amnesty, and press the
supplementary civil-rights bill, and
then pass another amnesty bill.
Senator Blair thought that Senator
Scott had no right to inculpate distin-
guished gentlemen of South Carolina
in kuklux outrages, by reading cir
cnlar.
Senator Scott do not say that
they were members of the organjza-
ton.
Senator Blair-I think the Senator
is disingenOus. Now, consider the
circumstances under which that cir
culsr was issued. Martial law had
been declared in eight or nine cOUn-
ties, and men dragged from their
homes on the accusations of the low
est and vilest citizens of the State.
This was the condition of things when
these gentlemen came forward and
appealed to their fellow citizens to
contribute for the defense of the men
so outraged. Now / state here, and it
cannot be trUthiully Contradieted,
that there was no disturbance in that
part OF South Carolina, and no grounds
which authorized the President to de-
clare martial law. The arrests were
made for crimes alleged to have 3een
committed, one, two, and even three
years before the passage Of the act of
congress; yet the whole cOmmu
nifty was put under martial law
by the President. We know it
vas done for political purposes.
The whole nation knows that
yet, because these gentlemen con.
tributed for the deiense of these men,
many Of them wholly innocent-they
are branded as belonging to the ku-
kIux. do not believe the charge;
and l do not believe that any man
who knows either of those gentlemen
will believe it for q moment / believe
that a man accused of 8 crime Is en-
titled to z fair trial, and TO be consid-
cred innocent until he has been proved
guilty. / do not believe with the
President, that those who took the
means to avoid Arrest under his illegal
declaration of martial law, thereby
confessed themselves guilty. I do not |
believe that all who lg5Te arrested |
were guilty. Hundreds Of them have
already been released SIS not guilty,
and hundreds have been acquitted, and |
none of them have been convicted Of |
anything except conspiracy.
Senator Scott SAID the time would |
come for the discussion Of the question |
whether the President was justified In /
the writ of habeas corpus |
in the counties referred to, and when |
the time comes he would be prepared |
to vindicate the Presidents action, |
but as Senator Blair had raised the |
question of the condition of society |
there, he would mention two or three |
facts: The grand jury at the recent |
terra Of the circuit court had presented /
a great many persons for these ku-
kluX offenses, and the evidence /
showed that within six months a /
large number Of victims had been
whipped or killed in the counties of
York, Union and Spartansburg,
three of the counties in which the ha-
beas corpus had been suspended.
II Senator Blair would read the testi-
mony he would see, for instance, that
a prominent man in York county, |
a leading physician, was the leader Of |
a band of ku-klux who, at night, |
dragged from his house and hanged,
in the presence of his vile, an unof-
Tending citizen. 1t was true that ow-
ing to a technical difficulty, convic-
tions were only for Conspiring. He
also showed that murders had been
committed and that the public senti-
ment was such as to paralyze the off,
GERS of the law.
SanatOr Norwood asked Senator
Edmunds 10 state the proofs of his
charge against Generals Wade Hamp.
ton, Butler and KershaW.
Senator Edmunds said that he had
stated that he was informed
from the best authority, that the ex-
ecutiVe department of the govern
ment of the United States had eVi.
dence showing that the three persons
he had named were at this moment,
or were month ago, the advisers of
of the board OF the kulxlux khan, what
ever that was. Perhaps Senator Nor.
wood, as he lived nearest the locality,
could tell better than he could.
Senator Blair, thinlEing that Sen
ator Edmunds referred to him, said
he did not live near that locality, but
he had been there, and he had heard
the testimony on the subject, and he
would lust as readily believe him Ed
munds capable OF being a kukIux as
Generals Hampton, Butler and Ker-
shaw, He believed that If men like
those charged by Senator Edmunds
had directed the kuklux operations,
they would have begun by kukluxing
the scoundrels sent down there by
congress, under the reconstruction
La US, to rob and plIlnder the people,
and who were disgrace to the coun-
try and to the age.
Senator Edmunds Undoubtedly
we all know that in the honorable SEN
atOr's opinion, reconstruction is a dis.
grace to the age and country, but 1t is