The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-12-14

OF OcOnee, shOt IN undef hls arm, one
other member followed him ard your
humble servant followed next, and att
this time additional members1came up,9
the door keepers were overpowered, the
doors were opened and the entire
body entered. Having been among the
first to enter ! nal good opportunity to
observe the effect O. our coup d'etat upon
the Radicals thus assembled. .Notwith-
standing the seriousness of'the matter, l
could not help but take good hearty
laugh. Blank CONSERVATION was depict
ed OH every face, and if there had been
an outlet honestly believe every soul of
them would have decamped never to re-
turn again. AS soon as we entered the
Hall, Gen. Wallace took the chair, Clerk
Sloan his seat and the members all
crowded the stand.
. The Speaker called the House to order,
and was about to proceed to business,
when E. W. n. Mackey came UP to the
Speakers desk, and asked Gen. Wallace
to vacate, which lie promptly declined
doing. Then Mackey ordered his Ser
geant-at- Arms to remove Wallace, and
although he was backed up by Breastplate
Hubbard, United States Marshal, and
half dozen such, he did not dare attempt
it, for by that time u good number of
Democrats had formed around the
Speakers chair, and they would have
gotten into business on the spot, so
Mackey conteAted himself with standing
by, and ordered his Clerk to call the roll,
during which time the Wallace House
proceeded with the business of the House.
Then Rad. would get up and address
Mackey as "Mr. Speaker" and proceed
to speak. A Democrat would address
Wallace in the same way, and go to
speaking. The consequence was the
most internal hullabalou imaginable,
and the noise of the Tower of, Babel
would have sunk into harmonious ca
dence in comparison with it. This thing
had to have an end, however, and to:
wards nine o'clock the situation remained
the same, but comparative quiet pre-
vailed. Simpson, of Anderson, got the
floor and urged compromise, and to
carry it out, moved committee of three
from each side of the House be appointed
for conference. The motion was carried,
and Speaker Wallace appointed three
Democrats and three RAIDS. The latter
refused to serve, and althoug b every hon.
orable effort was made to effect an ad-
justment by the Democrats, still the
RAIDS. refused, Mackey having told them
that the Democrats would be elected in a
very short time. The question then
came up, what should be done? If the
Democrats went out of the door they
would not be allowed to return, at least
those from Edgefeld and Laurens Coun-
ties, as the Rump House had charge of
the door, and were backed up by the
United States troops. They found them
selves in the condition of the hunter
"who had the bear by the tall he could
not let go, for it vas only "a good holt
while we'll held" so they determined to
hold on.
This thing went on until twelve o'clock,
sometimes a Democrat explaining our
position, and urging all honest men who
cared copper for the State or for law
and justice, to come over and join our
side. Then a Radical who would, ply
the party lash, and urge and implore
them "to stand 10 the party" Zeal aud
prejudice finally tagged out, and the
members of both Houses quietly laid
down for snooze, some on each side
staying up as sentinels.
At day-break all was hustle and excite
ment, and rumors of every conceivable
nature were aaoat-that q Constabulary
force had been formed to force US out of
the hall that large numbers of U. S.
Marshals had been appointed for that
duty; that the troops were all ready to
come up to force US out, &C., &c. These
rumors, as unpleasant as they were, had
but little effect on the Democratic mem
bers for they had captured the State
House with certain purpose in view,
and were going to hold it until that end
was attained. Their position, however,
to be appreciated must be understood.
The troops held possession of the lower
part and entrance to the State House,
and prccluded all Of our friends from en-
tering, but allowing as many negroes and
Radicals as desired to come in. The
Sergeants.at-Arms of the Mackcy House
had control of the door, and ne could
not assume control except by. violence,
which was the last thing We would have
resorted to, as it would have given:the
Radicals the very opportunity they had
sought so hard for, to put the State under
military rule, with Chamberlain as quasi
dictator. So frequently we found our
selves with but thirty or forty men on
our side, and from one to two hundred
on. the other. Speaking went on until
breakfast, and then some of our men
went to get theirs, and others had it
brought to them, and there they sat in
the Hall OF the House of Representatives,
making it dining room, though they
were the representatives of the people of
South Carolina, excluded from their
Hall by Federal bayorets, had they gone
to breakfast.
| Whom ona of tbe Demccrats pot IN to