The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-12-21
INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
Gov. EIamptOn's 1'oaition Ia shls crl,

II is with feelings of the profoundesi
solicitude that assume the arduous du-
ties and grave responsibilities of the high
posltioL to which the people Of South
Carolina have called me. It is amid
eventc unprecedented In this republic
that take the chair M Chief Magistrate
of this State. After years of misrnle
corruption and anarchy, brought upon us
By venal and unprincipled political nd.
venturefs, the bonest people of the State,
%'ithent regard tn rarty ns ~ 20. With one
voice demanded reform, aid with one
purpose devoted themselves co rp estly and
sOlemnly to the attainment of t,,:s end
With lofty patriotism never surpassed :
With q patience never equalled; with q
courage never excelled, and with n sub.
lime sense Of duty, which finds scarce n
parallel in the history of the world, they
sutordihated every personal feeling to
the public veal and cnnoecrated them.
selves to the sacred work of redceminp
their pEostrate State. To the accomplish,
ment of this task, they dedicated Them.
selves with unfaltering confidence and
with unshaken faith, trusting alone 70
the justice of their cause, aud commend
ing that cause rcvercntly to the prosec-
ton of the Almighty. When the corrupt
party which, for eight years has held sway
in this State, bringing it's civilization into
disgrace and making its government a
public scandal, saw that the demand for
reform found responsive echo in the
popular heart, and that the verdict Of the
people would be pronounced against those
who have degraded the State, they an.
pealed to Federal Intervention, anu by n
libel OH our whole people US false as It was
base called in the soldiery of the United
States army to act Us supervisors of our
election. II time of profound peace
when no legal officer had been resisted
in the proper discharge Of his functions.
we have witnessed spectacle abhorrent
to every patriotic heart and fatal to re.
publican nstitutions--Fe Federal troops used
TO promote the SUCCESS of political par
~. Undismayed though shocked by this
gross violation of the constitution of the
country, Our people with determination
that no force could subdue, no fraud could
defeat, kept steadily and peacefully in
the path OF duty, resolved TO assert their
rights ms American freemen ut the ballot
box-that great court of final resort. be.
fore which must be tried the grave cues
tions of the supremacy Of the coustitu-
tion and the stability of our institutions.
What the verdict of the people of South
Carolina has been, you need not be told.
1t has reverberated throughout the State.
and its echoes come back to uu from every
land where liberty is venerated, declaring
In tones that cannot be mistaken that.
standing on the constitution of cur coun.
try, we propose TO obey its laws, to pre-
serve, as far as in Us lies, its pe ace and
hon0r, and I'd carry out in good faith
every pledge made by us for reform and
honest government. We intend to prove
to the world the sincerity Of our declara-
tion that the sole motive which inspired
the grand contest VIC have so successfully
made "as net the pa!try ambition for
paltry supremacy, but the sacred hope of
redeeming our State. It was this hope
tint lei 0iif p sspis &c victory w!:ich
was grander in its proportions, greater in
its success, nobler in its achievement aud
brighter in its promise Of prosperity shan
any other ever waged on this continent.
But it was sought to vrest the fruits of
this magnificent victory from the hands
that won it by gigantic fraud and n
base conspiracy. When the members
elect to tho General Assembly repaired
10 the Capitol to take the seats to which
the people of South Carolina had as.
signed them, armed soldiers of the Fed
eral government confronted Thorn, and
their certificates of election were exam
ined and passed upon by corporal of
the guard. A spectacle 80 bumiliating
to free people, and 80 fatal to republi.
can instits:tinns; has never heen presen.
ted ia America. 1t could not have beca
witnessed even here, where civil liberty
has for years been but o mockery. had
not the ruthless hand of military power
struck down the most sacred guarantees
OF the constitution; for the tread of tho
armed soldier, as he made his rounds
through the halls cf legislation, was over
the prostrate from of liberty herself It
was amid these ominous, these appalling
scenes, that the members of the General
Assembly were called on to assume their
duties rs the representatives of o free
State, and that State one of The original
thirteen who won our Independence and
framed our constitution. That the natu-
raj, patriotic indignation of our people
did not find expression in violence, is
creditable in the highest degree to them,
and this was due in large measure to
the statesmanlike and dignified conduct
of those members Of the General Assem-
bly, who had been made the victims of
TINS gross Outrage on their persons and
this daring conspiracy against their con-
stitutional rights. Declared the free ex-
ercise of their rights by the presence OF
an armed force, legal quorum of the
lower House, after placing on record o
noble protest, quietly withdrew from the
Capitol and proceeded to organize that
branch of the General Assembly. Not
one form OF law nor one requirement of
the constitution was wanting to give force
and legality to this organization, and t,iet
its authority has not been fully recognized
is due solely to the same armed TA,rt,a-
ton which has suborslinated the civil 70
tue military power throughout this whoia
contest. or the disgraceful, dangerous
snd revolutionary proceedings resorted
TO 6y the defeated party after the organi-
zatinn OF the lower House, it is needless
for me to speak. You have been the
witnesses and the victims of these, and
the civilized world has looked on with
amazement, disgust and horror; you have
seen a minority of that House usurp the
powers of the whole body; you have
seen the majority expelled r+om their
hall by threats Of force; you have seen
persons iiuving i,o silndoT d a ..!!ss;Ta,
members admitted to seats as Representa-
tives by the votes of men who themselves
were acting In direct violation of the
constitution; and you have seen the last
crowning act Of infamy by which q can
didate for the Office of Governor. defeated
by the popular vote, had him,elf declared
elected by his o-conspiraass.. I ihake
no continent on these 'fiaerant outrapeg
and wrongs; it pertains TO the General
Assembly TO take such action in regard
tn them aS fhaf t,kirne,kta A. a, - -.