The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-07-26
Gen. Butler Strikes Back.
A SEARCHING REVIEW OF THE
"HAMBURG HORROR"
How the Hamburg Record has been
Falsified -IptOlerable Outrages
by the Negro Outlaws who
Infest the Town,
No Law for White Men in Hamburg

No Law for White Men in Hamburg,
EDaEF1ELD, S. c., July l6, 1875.
To the Editor of the Journal Of Com
Daerce: The high joint commission,
consisting of VIM. Stone, Carpet Bag
Attorney-General, and the Mulatto
Acknowledgement of the State, Pur-
Wis, have lately visited Hamburg to
Investigate the Horror" and the
former has made his report" Why
Governor Chamberlain should have
subjected the State to the expense,
und these two dignitaaries to the
trouble, of going to Hamburg, is some
what surprising. When we read the
"report," and consider the data from
which it is made, the eX-parte state
ments of lying negroes and the par.
tial, partisan and false conclusions OF
its facile author, the suggestion arises,
why the affidavits were not written
out in Columbia, made to order there,
and sent by express to be executed
without limit by the dusky atlantis OF
that renowned rendezvous, Hamburg.
This plan would have answered the
purpose of the outrage manufacturers,
and their hireling newspaper cham
pions, just as well.
If this so-called Acknowledgement
had been in pursuit of the truth, why
did he contine his inquiries to the be.
sotted negroes, and a few perurcd
white men who had instigated them
into an armed insurrectiOn against the
laws of the country, the rights and
property of its citizens, and the safety
1f MI
acting within the perview of the du-
ties incident to the high position in
the State, to which the accidents OF
war have elevated him, why did he SO
hastily conclude his investigation be-
fore getting at the real facts of this
unfortunate emeute, and rush into
print with report pregnant with par
tizanship, and fragrant with the odor
of Radical falsehood? If his hireling
champions of the press had desired to
present to the public a..t,'utlyut account
and fair representation of the
Hamburg Horror" why did their
accommodating reporters seek for pub
lication the statements of such wor-
thies as "Dock" Adams, Prince Riv-
ers, Gardner, and other negroes OF
that ilk, and avoid sources of in
formation which could have thrown
light, at least, upon the subject Of in
quiry.
Why should these champions of
Radical outlaws, these bolsterers of
the waning fortunes of one Of the
most infamous, imbecile governments
that the world has ever known, so
swiftly denounce" the white men
engaged in the merited chastisement
of this body of armed outlaws, ban
dts and robbers, as "iends," 'cow-
ards" etc., and have not one word of
condemnation for the outlaws, ban
dts and robbers themselves. Why
have the editors and reporters of these
malignant sheets lashed themselves
into spasms of horror and shame and
modification at the death of these
armed outlaws, and find In their
hearts not feeling of regret or sorrow
at the death of that splendid, fearless
and honorable young man, McKie
Merriwether, who was murdered in
cold blood by these same outlaws.
I can point out just twenty mis-
statements Of facts in this "Report," I"
which could have been easily avoided
if the doughty Attorney-General had
taken the trouble to arrive at the
truth. AS he recommends judicial
investigation, and sundry threats of
arrests have been made by certain val
liant knights. Of the quill, who I pre-
sumo will volunteer to play constable
for that purpose, will reserve my ex-
posure of these falsehoods for that in
teresting occasion.
Upon the heads of those charged
with the execution of the laws, rests
the responsibility for this collision.
If it is true that Governor Scott placed
these arms and this ammunition in the
hands of these ignorant people it was
a crime against them aud the white
people that he did so. It was crime
in Governor Moses to have allowed
them to remain in their hands. And
it was more than crime in Governor
Chamberlain, in the light of his expe-
rienee upon that subject. 1t was a
cruel and ineXcusable wrong, an un"
pardonable sin against the peace of
the country and the lives of the peo-
ple, that he should have allowed these
SuuS dllu dluuultlOh W ACu1Aiu III thSAA
hands.
The jurisdiction and powers of a
Trial Justice are large and the respon-
sibility proportionately increased, at
an important point on our border, like
Hamburg; and a man of the greatest
fidelity and firmness, could
and should have been procured to fill
the office; hut instead of that, this
man, Prince Rivers, wholly unfit for
so important station, Is the only act
ing Trial Justice in Hamburg, and I
believe the next nearest in Aiken
County is about twelve miles distant.
Now, if there had been Trial JUS
tice accessible, who would have given
Mr.. Robert Butler justice, when, like
a law abiding man, as he Is, he appeal
ed to him to protect members of his
family against this so-called militia,
this Horror" would never have
been chronicled.
Not only does he not afford him pro-
lection, but the rutfianly constable of
this Trial Justice, one Bill Nelson, a
copper colered negro, insults me as his
attorney when approached him in a.
perfectly respectful manner, to in
quire about the whereabouts of the
Trial Justice, in order to begin the in
I was moreover baffled
and trif1ed with for hours by this Trial
Justice and his negro associates, until