The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-12-20
)" ed nesday, Dec. 20, 1876.
ie Fog Which Surrounds Us,

CS Duf Gost koSuc III Sicat Ctto
as Nspe ever the political sky. and
'e 0xaad mist'which blinded our Wis
" sssen IS to the future or as to the
sS4Ht real political situation of the
'artry still ret = upon us. All have
esfs anxiously awaiting some ray o1
.ignt tr gfeard or hope "which"m;gl'
Saiet the troubled waters, but 30 FIR Is
We know the country is still in q con-
Aitiop Of unrest, and we know but lit
tle more as tn who Is elected President
than We did five weeks ago. The &C.
Aion of the Govsrnor of Oregon in Civ
ing g certificate to a Democratic elcc.
tor Instead of the Republican (Watts)
Postmaster who was ineligible, has, il
possible received more attention from
the Northern papers than all three of
tle swindling C~anvassing or Return
lug Boards OF. South Carolina, Florida
and Louisiana. The Congressional
GanSnitiee In Louisiana. has met with
trouble in consequence of MI unwill'
ingpess on the part Of the State. Can.
Nasserssto allow them to inspect their
Fascaiity. In Florida the committee
have nnearthed various frauds, aud 1T
Is bestowed that 1t will be shown that
both Florida and Louisiana are ;enti-
tied to Democratic officers from the
highest to the lowest, In Columbia
the. Congressional committee have
been laboriously at work making a
careful examination Of the proceed.
ings of our Board of Canvnsssrs. and
up TO tho present time have found va
rious irregularities. On last Friday,
before the COMMITTEES, tt was ascer-
tanned that two boxes from Green
vile County are missing which
were properly d elivered to the Secre-
.tary Of State. The boxes were Yeat-
gan's, In Duncan township. aud Sulli-
vau's Factory, In CAN'T township,
both polling q heavy Democratic vote.
The Radicals, we learn. have since be-
come frightened ut the exposure of
their trick and have produced Sulli-
vans factory box, alleging as q reason
for the delay that there was 4. mistake
in the title Of the precinct. No ex-
PLANTATION Of the absence Of the Year
gan box has been made.
On Thursday last General Hampton
WAS, by the Dtmocrs.e House or
Representatives and u minority of the
Senate, inaugurated Governor OF the
State Of South Carolina, aud his ad-
Iuirabie address appears elsewhere.
As to the effect and result of this in
.auguratian We are at, present unable
to speak with Confidence. Both
Characteristic aud Hampton. have been
inaugurated and neither have strictly
.conforme1 to the letter of the law in
regard to such acts. Tile presence Of
both houses IL necessary n . lawful
inauguration, and the ordinance of the
Convention of the people In 1868 d.
reefs that the Chief Justice or one of
the Associate Justices shall admins
ter the oath OF Office. but In neither
case were both lawfully constituted
branches Of the General Assembly
present. Sor was the oath Of office in
either case administered by the. officer
whom the law directs shall perform
this duty. Chamberlain. although he
was not elected, has the advantage OF
Hampton in that he is Supported by
Grant, and the Federal army. Hamp-
ion, az everybody knows, was fairly
elected to the Office OF Governor. but
through the fundamentally Of the
Government at Washington. tn the
use of the troops, he has up to the
present. time been kept out Of the
office and prevented from exercising
his duties and privileges rs the Chief
Executive Of the State. How long
Federal bayouets will be used to sup
port in Office q usurper and against
the lawfully elected Governor of the
Commonwealth ia more than We can
foresee; although for the last day or
two the papers seem to furnish a
slight hope that the powers In Wash
ington are becoming sohered and that
the policy Of Mr.. Fish may yet he the
policy Of the Cabinet. Mr. Robeson,
Secretary of the Navy, 1t Is said, has
Joined Mr.. Fish in his effort to induce
Toe Cabinet TO adopt the course OF
'hands of" In regard to the situation
in South Carolina, '