The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-04-18
Tho Charleston Ku-KIu1 Trials.

THO charleston Ku.KIux Trials.
A visitor at the trials OF the Ku-Klux pris-
oners, now progressing in the United states
Court in this city, will be not a.ittle aston
ishef at certain matters which will at once
attract his attention. He will find a set OF
men being put upon their trial for the novel
~ofence Of interfering with the rights OF their
political opponents, made criminal by two
acts of the United States Congress. II he
does not stop to question the policy OF such
laws nor consider how much OF danger to
civil ubertyihey involve. be will be infinitely
surprised to know that the court itself, the
prooseecnrting officer, the marshal and all his
deputies are members ofithe opposite party.
tfromsthat to which the. accused belong. But
this will seem to .be.a slight matter when
the stranger is informed that thejurors who
Esit as, the grand inquest to pass upon the
finding Of the Indictment and the petit
Jurors who are to- try the cases,are composed
almost exclusively Of their political enemies.
ne will hear this stated, on all hands, IN Inc
:court and out Of doors, and he will be iur-
tber told that those few. jurors who aare;not
OF such political complexion are merely put
upon the panel Of the jury as foils to BET OF
he The, symmetry 81. the whole array. This will
very naturally suggest the inquiry How can
,oln :. charged With a political offence have
fevenythe' approximation to an impartial trial
Under such circumstances?
h.: The establishment OF the visitor at these
trials will become almost onsternation when
be notices another prominent fact; At the.
elbow Of Mr.. Corein,' the District Attorney,
win be, seen an individual dressed in q DARK
blue uudfess military coat. This is oeionel
Lewis. Merrill; of the Seventh United States
Cavalry, commanding the nine insurrection-
airy counties, and chief engineer OF the pros
ecutions. he viii be observed constantly In
consultation with: the District Attorney re-
ierrin1g. to. his books and, papers, suggesting
questions for witnesses and in many cases q
witness himself, against the. persons upon
4rdat.r-one wiHyrporhap0,-.not have time DO
consider how such ain unknown proceeding
has. been brought about, and perhaps the
conclusion will be arrived at, that there iS
some provision Of the law itself which gives
to the niitaryof1cer acoueurrent authority
With the regular prosecuting attorney ap-
pointed BY law ;jbut the lawyer will at once
say that the law under which these pros
ecntions are had c~ontemplates the bare aid
to the United States Marshal by the military
in making the arrests and,that only where
the marshal shall feel himself incompetent
to make such arrests. Then q very natural
INQUIRY will suggest itself, how far. have the
military authorities interiered in the execu'
ton and administration Of these laws. 1t
will be found out that although it was never
10 theory intended to declare martial.
law, vet In the counties under the ban it has
prevailed 10 its most stringent form. In the
hands OF Colonel Merrill, it will be, found,
have been the liberty and even the lives OF
hundreds OF persons. That the information
upon which arrests have been made was his
that witnesses and prjs aers have been
exclusively in his control, and that his nod
will either send q man to trial or discharge
him, accordingly as the accused may be
frowned upon or bask in the smile OF the die
tator of nine counties OF this State.
II our friend, say irGra Massachusetts,, sits
down4in court among the lawyers he will at
once grasp the method and manner OF the
prosecutions. First, the prisoner will be
confronted. with three witnesses, Davis,
Berry and Gunthorpe, who are used to estab-
dish a general conspiracy. The District At
torneY,, when the first named witness takes
the stand, produces a dirty and much-used
roll of paper which is read to Davis, and
which contains most diabolical oaths, rules
and regulations. Davis recognizes it in
moment; tits the record Of the conspiracy
in which he was; he read it by a small IRE
light il o creek bottom at the dead Of night.
Berry, the next fellow, is equally fortunate
in havinga good memory, and sWears will
lingly and positively to the same facts. This,
then, is the Ku-Klux organization, and being
| thus established, it is used by the govern
ment as an India-rubber blanket under which
the entire world can be covered in the fold
Of this dire conspiracy. The prisoners on
trial may never have seen or heard Of Davis
or Berry and their Invisible Brotherhood, or
may not have lived within five hundred miles
OF those two worthless; yet the elastic nature
OF that battered, dirty and ~dog-eared con-
s~titution and bylaws, OF which the District
Attorney makes so much use, will be sufti-
Gent to include under it's cover the entire
South.
But there is another feature in the testi-
mony of these standing witnesses of the gov
eminent quite noticeable. Although they
describe the most diabolical, %unprovoked
murders Of inoffsnding colored men, with the
most intense particularly, by the conspiracy
of which they were part and parcel, these