The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1877-12-12
By What AuthorItys
In the Coiumb'n Register Of Friday,

It'll instant. we fluid the following:
"MIlIrARY .ArIaNNTMeNTs.-The Niovcr-
nor his appointed me followin" officers. who
Will he oh.vci and respected accordingly:
Payrnastcr General, Il. W. simpson, Of AZ
deron.
Commissary General, j. r.. Robcrtso,,, of
Fairfield.
. Surgeon General, DR.. John Lynch, of Rich
land.
Judge Advocate General, Louis Lecontc, o,
Rich:ani.
Quartcrmastcr General, T. &. Darga \, Of
All the above named gentlemen r ouk az
co!onels of cavalry. ~
Brisadier Generals-Guignard Ri .,hardson,
OF Sumter cavalry; Wm; Stokes. o / Beaufort
Il. r. Hemphill, OF Abbcville,i in .mntry."
The above honors were conferred OH
gentlemen who no dou' ot are in every
way worthy Of then and we offer
them our sincere congratulations.
Nothing has be en- published, how
ever showing e lactly the sphere O!
me" commands above named, and peo-
ple'Sre przzle d to know what troops
are referred to. Let us throw what
|ehe we can on the subject, and this
we can est do by examining the Stat
utesof our State referringthereto. tits
gener lily known that there are in
Soutial Carolina two distinct organiza-
ton 3 of, citizen soldieryt to wit, the
Ma tinnal Guard, and the Volunteer
- ale Troops, the latter organized this
! ear "ln addition to the body Of mill
ia known as the National Guard
With reference to which Of those
bodies were the above appointments
made? So far as we can make out,
they have to do with the first named.
Speaking of appointments in the Ma
tional Guards, the words of the Stat
ute are:
"That in oase of invasion, insurrec-
ton, or rebellion, or imminent danger
thereof, the Governor shall appoint
by and with the advice and consent OF
the Senate, a Quartermaster-Generai,
Commissary-General, and Surgeon
General"
"That all officers of the militia lex
cept As herein provided) shall be APP
pointed and commissioned by the
Governor"
Rev. Stat. Title 4, chap. Ia, Sec. Ii
and IS.
The National Guard as we all know
is defunct D.; and when it existed it was
composed entirely of negroes from
whom very cautiously and wisely the
Radical Government withheld the
power of eleotirg officers. Can it be
that Colonel Simpson, Colonel Le-
Conte, General Richardson, General
Stokes, General Pope and General
Hemphill, have been appointed by
the Governor to command the Ne
gro National Guard? AS for the 9TH
er gentlemen their appointment q
only he made by the Governor Gin
case of invasion, iusui rection or Ne
bellion or imminent danger thereof"
and then only with the advice and
consent of the Senate )" whereas at
present, the Governors message be-
ing our witness. peace reigus within
our borders.
AS to the volunteer State Troops, Of
which there are three companies in
Abbeville County the Governor was
"authorizyd to receive all such bodies
of citizen soldiery;" he is &c c3scio
heir commander-in-ehief; and under
him as such they are "to be subject to
all such regulations;;as may be prescrib-
ed by the Commandcr-in-chief, and
issued from the Adjutant and Inspect
or General and published" But be-
youd this, his authority ceases, and
power of appointment he has none,
The words of the Statute are clear and
unmistakable.
"AH field officers of battallons. regi-
ments, brigades or divisions shall be
elected by the commissioned and nom
commissioned officers and privateS OF
the same respectively
Acts, &c. of 1877, page 2S6, SEQ. 5.
Nothing "a be more certain than
that the Governor has no authority to
appoint field officers over the Nolun-
teer State Troops. And this is a wise
provision. 1t is right that the gallan t
citizens who compose our volunteer
soldiery should have vested in them
elves the electing Of commanding
officers: and surely Hampton would
not willingly infringe on this right.
It is not like him to exceed the gu
b%ernatorial authority, to confer hon
ors which are hollow.
Unless we are mistaken, the inn
preston prevails that the military ap-
pointments published above convey
commands over the volunteers. The
ipsissima uerba of the Statute will cor
rect this false impression. We IAN
not imagine our Governor so ignor-
ant Of the law as to make appoint
ments of field officers over the. Volun-
teer State Troops, or so autocrutic and
~sultanic as knowingly to override the
express provisions of the law, and be
q law unto himself. Our volunteers
must have been surprised at what
seemed to be executive interference.
They need not fear: such assumption
of authority would never he exercised
by Governor Hampton. The appoint
ments in question must relate to COM
mands in the National Guards, or prob
ably. to some third organization of
citizen soldiery not yet in in csse. We
await information on thesubject, which
ought to be voucbsafed for the sake of
the country. for the sake of the volun-
teers, and for the sake of the gentle
men named above about the validity
of whose titles, we are as solicitous
as we are curious about the sphsre OF
their commands.
A Bloody Penni Code.
Our criminal code and its statutory
punishiaents are engaging the attention
Of our people and our press moro earnest
ly nov than ever before. The prevalence