The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-04-20

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captain made them get up and 'buckle OF
their harness" and they got out on the big
road, saw the men, fred at them, and the
battle commenced. They lost two coloreG
men.
a. M. Good, white, next testified that he
lived In York County, was q Ku-Klux and be.
longed 10 Madison Small's Klan. They were
ordered out at the time of the Chester riot
and ordered to 60 down to Chester to 'look
for the milish, and clean out Jim Wilkes's
company" There were nine OF them ordered
out, three of whom had DISCUSSES. They only
went about a mile, and were fred on by the
negroes, and went back. That was on Sunday
night before the fight at New Hope Church.
Mr.. Ficken then addressed the court, claim
ing that Mr.. Mills was perfectly eligible as a
juror. He said that the attempt to show COM
plicity on his part with the Ku.Klux organi.
cation had wholly failed. The whole commu.
nifty OF Chester at the time referred to was in
a state of Intense excitement. Mr.. Mills was
a gentleman of high position in the commu-
nifty, and he and his friends assembled spon.
taneously In defence of law and order. There
had been a fearful dread of this visit OF the
militia company, and the peaceable citizens OF
the place In that time ofconfusion and dis
trust were looking here and there for safety
and self-protection. The most that had been
shown was that the Ku-KluX had been In the
neIghborhood, but there was no jot or little of
evidence to show that the Juror had been in
sympathy with them. He had known that an
armed body of colored men were approach
Ing, and had known of the bitterness be-
tween the races, and what was likely to re-
suit. T!.a citizens of Chester had, doubtless,
reasoned among themselves and found that
there were men In the community who were
Impetuous and rash, and they felt 1t their duty
to come out as a posse and staudibetween the
men on either side, who were ready to commit
excuses, so as to preserve the peace. The
most that could be claimed by the govern
ment was that there was a faint suspicion OF
q latent sympathy on the part of the juror,
but there was no sufficient cause to Induce the
| court to find the gentleman unfit to serve as q
juror.
Mr.. Corbln replied that It was not necessary
for them to show that Mr.. Mills was a member
of the Ku-Klux Klane. He had sworn that he
was not, and the government did not propose
to 90 into that question. The act! only re-
oulred the court to be satisfied that he acted
in completely with them, and he argued that
the evidence went to show that he did CO.
operate with them on the night In question.
Mr.. Mills then asked the permission of the
court to make one statement, andibegged that
In view of the contention that had been caused
and the attention that had been attracted to
his case he be excused from attendance upon
the jury.
Judge Bond said that the object of the law
in It's provisions as to the qualifications of
Jurors was not only that the court might be
satisfied that they were Tree from bias, but that
the public might also see tnat they were free.
The act excludes any one from serving on the
Jury who is an accomplice, or who advised or
aided the conspiracy or combination. One
count of the indictment In the present case
charged a conspiracy to prevent the colored
people from bearing arms, and the juror had
testified that the colored militia In the own
had been disbanded and their arms taken from
them by the party whom he commanded. The
object Of that party was, therefore, the same as
that of the party who attacked the militia
company from Carmel Hill, and they assisted
materially in the same direction. he thought,
therefore, that the juror should be excused
from serving If he wanted to be.
Judge Bryan said that he thought 1t neces-
sary to express his Judgment upon the point.
He would not desire to force the juror to serve,
but he thought from the oath that he had
taken, and from his evident candor and high
character, that 1t had not been proved that be
had in any Just sense had any connection or
sympathy with Ku.Kluxlsm. The oath that
he had taken indicated the meaning of the
statute. The Juror must have known of the
combination and conspiracy In order TO have
acted with it as a confederate, and he had
sworn that he did not know of the organiza-
ton. So far as he could see, the conduct of
the Juror at Chester was In the interest of
peace end not of oppression. He said this
from a sense of duty, and without any desire
to insist upon his serving on the jury. But
If all the intelligent men of the State were to
be excluded on that ground, they would be
uDjustly excluded, and the juries would not
be fair and impartial jurles.
Judge Bond announced that the court would
excuse the juror:
The next name called was that of Ebenezer
M. Wells, white, of Cheraw, Chesterfield Coun.
ty. BE was also examined at'some. length by
the district attorney, and replied that In case
of a defendant charged with murder, if the
evidence was clear to his mind, he would, of
course, bring him in as guilty. He was not
conscientiously opposed to capital punishment;
had expressed no opinion, and had no bias in
regard to the case. He had no completely with
the Ku.Klux, If there we're any. Had never
seen any Ku-Kluxes, and knew nothing about
it. Had not known of any colored men hav.
ing been whipped in Chesterfield County, and
had never heard of such a thing. Never had
declared that the court had no jurisdiction In
these cases. He was accepted and sworn in.
Mr.. Campbell W. Getty, white, of Charles
ton, was next called In reply to questions
by the district attorney he said he had never
denied the jurisdiction of the court. Had
never subscribed to q fund to employ counsel
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