Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-10-21

tam Mis-, II ne mas ulHue aucu q report rs u
IS aid be nas, has been guilty OF convey ing
10 the war department false idea Of the true
state OF affairs here by the suppression OF inn
poriaut facts, I believe Captain Mills 70 be
/ an honorable man, and must think, there
I lore, that be has been misre ported.
TWO POLITICAL MURDERS. INSTEAD OF
SIx7A.
The report "from other sources" that the life
| of captain Nils and the destruction OF his
| command has been threatsd. Is almost too
/ absurd 70 be noticed. The fact is, that United
states deputy marshal. with an escort OF two
soldiers, goes all over this county searching
I for men for whose arrest he has warrants.
They travel through the swamps in The night
where they might be ambushec and muir
performance Of his duty al the same hour on
Bro adway. Of the same character Is the as
/ ser ion that there have been sixty political
murders IN this county since the last kuklux
report. There have been no political mur.
deTs here since the visit OF the kukiux COM
mittee until t1is summer, and the essassina-
uOn OF Billings and ivey are the only politi-
| cal murders that have occurred here this year.
| To make up the sixty, every murder Of every
kind that has occurred hereof negroes by
one another, women by their husbands, and
men by their wives-has 10 be counted. and
then TO these are added the nineteen OF War
rem DeW's followers said TO have been killed
near Gainesville. and those said to have been
killed near Belmont, all OF whom are now
alive. see by the same dispatch that 1 ew
eral Williams, were ''seiSed" al Gainesville.
Only few days ago the report was that nine
teen Of them mad been "shot-" Tney were ar
rested, as told you IN a former letter, by ttIs
authority OF warrants regularly Issued, after
the advice OF the Republican solicitor OF the
county had been obtained.
Again, the people are told that there is a
white league organization here numbering
one thousand men, regularly srmed, equipped
aud drilled, and that IL eould be called into
the field at tWenty-four hours notice. Now, If
there is such an organization Is this here, IL
would not be very easy FOR q stranger 10 get
any Information about II. According to the
.Nx-
about seventeen hunared white voters in the
coUnty, 10 that If Attorney General WI
liams's report is true, this armed and organ
ized body Of men comprises more than one
half Of al the white voters. II tais report was
true, l should not expect TO learn anything
about it from the Democrats. But there are
now in this place two men who would proba-
BILE know IL II such league existed, and they
would not hesitate TO tell what they know;
For ten days they were travelling over the
county in Disguise, and they gaineO the conf
dence OF all the rough, desperate fellows they
met.
The correspondent here says he had
an interview with the infamous villain
and unconseionable scoundrel, Hester,
as to the existence Of the sO-called white
league, which ended in the dirty tool OF.
set Of dirty wretehes-includiDg the
present attorney-general Of the United
StsteS- S-confessing that he did no" t"know
of any such organization in active ope-
ration here now, holding regular or spe-
cial meetings for the purpose Of plotting
murder and other crimes; but couldn't
swear that there is not one.n And the
correspondent further continues that in
3 searching conversation with the ne
groes he found them cOntented and un-
molested; that he could not discover
any signs of fear or intimidation, and
the universal testimony was that there
is at present no such state Of affairs as
existed there in 1868, $50 and 30. zone
old negro told me that he had no gun or
pistol in his house; he was too blind TO
shoot squirrels, and had no other use for
firearms. He was afraid Of nobody"
And the correspondent sums up:
"But," some one may ask, "as the result Of
all your observations, what do you think of
the condition Of sumter cOuntyf" think
this county, like others il this state and else
where, is cursed with mum Der of lawless, |
desperate fellows, who go about with their
pantaloOns IN their boots, aud wear low
crowned, brOad-brimmed hats, chew large
quantities OF plug-tobacco, and consume in
ordinate amounts OF "forty-rod' whisky.
They are always armed, and begin shooting
Al tue slightest plovOc suon. They hate the
negroes, and maltreat them on the same prin- |
ciple, and for about as much reason, as the |
great, cowardiy bully whom we all renem Der |
al school kicked about and cuffed the little |
boys who could not defend themselves. The |
most Of them would not hesitate 10 shoot |
negro II he was unarmed, or II they were III |
company with several Others of |
Their own class who would stand by |
them, but they rarely fight unless |
they have greatly the advantage. These men
have been tine authors Of all the troubles here |
three or four years ago they were the active |
men oil the KukluX. l don't believe they |
number a great many men in this county, and |
I know they do not have the eOuntenance OF |
or get nd OF them Is a most serious question |
for the people OF sumter, and one in whlCh |
they are more interested than strangers are or |
can be- ] see no evidence here that the fear /
OF these despeTadOes Is so great that the peo- |
ple dare not denOuuce Them or their acts, or /
that they have the tacit approval OF the COM /
mUnity in committing their acts OF lawless- 1
ness Two atrOclOus aSSaSSin8tiOnS have
been committed here during the past /
summer, one or both by this class Of L
men The exciting cause may have been L
was in the case CT Iyey.
There have been two or three gatherings of |
armed negroes and expeditions OF white men
20 arrest or dispeIse them which have caused
lem pOrary excitement in the vicinity OF their
desperddOes may have been seen riding in
different parts Of the country. But do not
believe that there has heen here any con-
certCd plan 10 tntimidate the negroes rom
voting, that they have been 50 inttmidated.
or that there has been any time when the
state and local authorities could not have
preserved the peace and protected the eiti-
zens OF this county nom violence. II an at
tempt had been made and IL had failed, there
would have been some excuse for calling
upon the United States.