The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-11-02
Il Ora prsaagsalOa % mig y the south.

Tie designs OF the administration
upon the Southern States can no longer
be doubted. The threatened interference
by the bayonet with the freedom of cleo
tion is more than a-5rntaJ .fitimen. Fed
efal troops, acting under Washington
orders, are scouting certain coohtiss of
South Carolina and arrestiug eading
members of the opposition. All .lie men
seized belong to one party. This single
fact sufiices 70 expose and condemn the.
whole proceeding. Re ttakes two 70 make
a q" .,rrel, and if there are disturbances
in South Carolina demanding the inter-
vention of Federal soldiers, f. is incon-
ceivable that the offenders should ail be
OF the same party connection., There
are no such disturbances OF reasonable
pretenses of any. South Carolina is as
quiet in all her parts as New York and
neither Governor Chamberlain, who calls
for the troops, nor Attorney General
Taft, by whose commands the arrests are
made, affects to believe that the peace of
the State is endangered in the slightest
degree. 1t would be very convenient
for both of these men if they could
honestly assert that South Carolina is i'm
need of Federal protection at thi, time.
Such n plea would make t1lerahle px-
cuse for the high-handed measures in
progress. f. the absence OF such, a ius-
tification these I,)litical schcmers and
their Washington friends are driven to
another cxpedient. They profess to be-
llcve that the South Carolina Conserve
tiyes are intinid9ting and coercing vo-
tcrs of the other party-that the E..::.:.c..i-
ty are tyranzing ever the majOrity-that
The few arc bullying tue many / Aside
from the intrinsic absurdity Of this no.
tion, there is no proof Of its foundation
in fact. The evidence Is a!i the other
way. Governor Chamberlain and his
myrmidons at home and his abettors of
the administration hold the State firmly
in their grasp. They, and not the oppo-
sltion, have the absolute control in Sonth
Carolina. Those of the whites and their
colored allies who are seeking to free the
State from this deadly thraldon are, above
all things, anxious to avoid giving any
occasion or excuse for Federal meddling.
They have repeatedly offered their SER
vices as militia, under comrR:.:,d o: the
Governor himself, to enforce the laws
against all violators in the. State. These
tenders have been steadily rejectcd-for
no other reason than because the Gov
crnor wished to make it appear that the
State was in turbulent and desperate
condition, as hollow pretext for invi-
ting the interference Which has now been
made on other grounds equally untenablc.
The arrests now. being made will be
limited in number according to the de-
sires of Governor Chamberlain and his
political counsellors. They could cause
10000 or 10000 active men Of the oppo-
sition to be seized and placed ander bail
or in prison, if they cared to do it, Evil
dence could be as easily manufactured
for thst .,.::Eh. c: cases as iof any Si.iirr,
Bnt they will probably be content 10 ar
rest and annoy, only 100 or 200 Of their
opponents. This would save trouble for
the military and the Federal officials,
and would answer the Same purpose of
overawing the white and black Conserve
tives of the Stato. There are doubtless
some voters in South Carolina who will :
take the alarm from these proceedings
and abandon their design of voting
against Governor Chamberlain and his
party in order to gain their good will
and avoid difficulty. But We mistake the
temper Of the American people-whett-
er tley live in South Carolina or else
where--if these wanton, dictatorinl and
wholly uniustifiahle measures have the
eject of frightening voters out of their
own convictions. Such course must, on
the contrary, contribute to nerve up anu
unite all good citizens TO make one SD
preme effort for the overthrow Of d gov
ernment system which, under the pre-
tense of defending the right of suffrage,
Ntahtonly overrideB it in the boldest man 5
ner. That such nm effect should be most
.ide!y and powerfully felt, the party in
South Carolina for whose injury these ar 8
rests are made should be studiously care-H
tul;to obey the laws and keep the peace,
az it ig now doing. Such q, policy puts /.
the administration wholly in the wrong,
= eTE Uui;T.s.tr ~ LUTiIscTUo. \ 5't5r
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