The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-06-21
From the Charleston Me,Us and Courier
A Personal Matter.

From the Charleston Ne,us and Courier.
A Personal Matter.
The public, we take it, care very little
to know in what way our business is con-
Quoted, so long as we make the Ne1cs and
Courier at once a good newspaper and
the faithful exponent of Conservative
opinion and purpose. Nor do the epublic,
we Judge, pay much heed to attacks upon
us which come from notorious criminals,
whose enmity we have incurred by our
exposures Of their rapacious villany, and
whose support we might have, at any
moment, if we could be induced to accord
them the mercy of our silence. Never
theless it is right, for the sake of the
friends who have never faltered in their
confidence in the Nescs and Courier, that
we should take some public notice of the
letters of Capt. Dawson to Woodruff,
published in this city yesterday, not be-
cause of what the letters say and mean,
but because cf the construction sought to
be put upon them by the malice and
envy of the sham Democrats, who see no
future for themselves unless they can
cripple or lessen the influence of this
newspaper. We therefore print the let
ters in question, with the sworn statement
submitted by Capt. Dawson, to the Sen
ate COMMITTEES, on Saturday morning.
This statement, although hurriedly pre-
pared and with no opportunity to refer to
books or papers, is sufficiently complete.
The only addition necessary is in expla-
nation of the position of the Democracy
at the time VIXEN the first letter was writ
ten. Governor Scott had been elected !;
the Special Scl4ion of the Legislature had
been held; there was an intensely bitter
feeling in the State. Early in October a
prominent negro Radical, named Ran
dolph, was killed at Cokesbury, and other
acts of violence were committed. Gov
ernor Scott issued a proclamation, under
date of October 90, offering rewards for
the arrest of the perpetrators of the crime,
and appealing to the people to aid him
in his efforts to maintain the supremacy
of the law. On October "a an address
by the State Democratic Committee was
published, signed by Wade Hampton,
]. D. Pope, I. G.. Barker, W. D. Porter,
J. P. Thomas, W. B. Stanley and W. M.
Shannon. In this address these gentle
men repudiated the recent acts of .yio-.
lence, declared that emo cause can pros
per which calls murder to its assistance,
or which looks to assassination for sue
cess" and appealed to the people. to
observe the laws, "to be peaceable and
quiet, to lend their efforts to promote.
harmony and to quell dissension." Sawyer
Corbin, Chamberlain and other leading
Republicans, On October 29, in g apublish-,
ed address, "hail with satisfaction the
address of the Democratic Central Com
mittee as the harbinger of better and
more quiet times" and the next day
Gov. Scott, warmly thanking the Demo
cratic Committee, entreated the people to
let "bear and forbear" be their maxim.
In saying then that he would 60 as far as
he could, in supporting Scott and the
Government, Capt. Dawson was in COM
plete accord with the Democratic policy
of promoting harmony and quelling dis
sension. Governor Scott, however, soon
threw off the mask, and instantly the
Charleston Mews displayed him to the
public in the old familiar guise. AS
early as March, 1869, Governor Scott was
branded by The Charleston Neaos as "the
Great Calumniator," who spent his time
Gin abusing che white race and pandering
to the passions of the deluded and igno-
rant freedmen" There was, therefore,
as the record shows, nothing in the busi-
ness dealings of Capt. Dawson with
Woodruff that prevented the Charleston
Ne,us from Gondemning Scott when his
conduct deserved condemnation; or that
caused it to be silent when the public in
terest demanded. that it should speak
plainly and ',oldly in defence of the peo-
Die. The letters to Woodruff are as
follows:
CHARLESTON, S. c., Nov. "a, 1868. .
My Dear Woodruff: The enclosed sin
reply to yours received this evening.
You may show it when necessary, but do
not let it be copied or kept. We think
it will do all you want. :.
The fact is that we want to make all
we can, and will 60 as far as we can to
support Scott and the Government if we
are treated we'll. We cannot be blind qd7
yocates That would be to ruin our in
fuence, If s0e could permit ourselves to
adopt such a course. We mast be indepen-
dent, but we will always be more than
| just to our friends, and never personally
abusive, because it is contrary to our
views of propriety. t5 -
Send us all bills, &C., that are printed,
and post us about any scheme that wants
putting or crushing. All this con6den-
tial. Yours.