The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-03-20

Charlotte Corday, but the impersonation
of the genius of my own Palmetto State,
persecute1, insulted and incarcerated by
the mercenary and heartless stranger and
the false and traitorous renegade; thus
she stood, peeriug through her prison
bars. during all those dark days of which
I have Just spoken, pure and unde6led,
without the "crime" which "makes the
shame" waiting with calm endurance
her hour of crucifxion, while still hop
ing, almost against hope, for the hour OF
her deliverence. With a grateful and
joyful heart I turned away, remembering
that the prison bars had already been
broken and the sceptre of pure and hon
est government. .!already restored to her
hands.
Abiding to Chamberlain's proclsma-
ton declaring the State to be in condi-
ton of lawlessness, Mr.. Evins cites testi-
mony at length to show the peaceful
condition of the State and the unblush-
ing falsehoods contained il the procla-
nation, and to show that the conduct of
Grant was
BOLD VIOLATION OF THE LAW.
He said: The evidence is abundant and
overwhelming to convince any unpreju-
diced mind that in these three counties
none but the boldest and most fearless
negroes, or those who had the immediate
and strong protection of the whites,
dared to vote a Democratic ticket.
Hundreds in each of these counties were
forced to vote the Republican ticket or
to refrain from voting through fear of
bodily harm or injury to the small prop
erty they possessed. And in the County
of Georgetown, where the colored popu-
lation SO largely preponderates, the negro
leaders bad during the campaign, by the
denial of free speech to Democrats OF
both colors, by their own incendiary and
inhammatory harangues, by threats and
violence of the most savage character in
flicted upon those of their own race who
even dared to advocate Republican
ticket with a single Democratic name
upon it, SO maddened and infuriated their
followers that they acted more like fero-
cious wild beasts in their fierce opposl-
ton to the whites >than like free voters
in free country. By such means was
the voice of the people sti6ed and large
maiorities rolled. up for the contestee.
And yet the report of the minority de-
clares that ''there is nothing in the re-
cord to show social ostracism or that fear
was preventing the colored voters from
supporting Hampton"
After all the flourish of trumpets in
the proclamations of the Governor and
the PresideR about innumerable "rife
clubs" in hostile array against Chamber
lain and his government, and with the
fullest opportunity in seven hundred and
fifty pages of printed testimony to show
their existence, only four are shown to
have been formed, two only were armed,
and all were disbanded upon the publica-
ton of the Governors proclamation.
Democratic clubs were organized in every
neiphborhocd in the State, and many of
them were uniformed with red shirts ;
but they were unarmed, and in no sense
of the word were they military organiza-
tions. In a very few instances, in local
titles where the colored militia, with arms
and fixed ammunition furnished them by
the State, were so violent in their demon
strations as to menace the lives and prop
erty of the whites, the members of these
clubs did drill without guns in order that
they might be the better prepared for an
emergency in which they would be forced
to contend with an armed mob, embitter.
ed and infuriated BY the vile teachings OF
their leaders, who publicly declared to-
them that they would be justified in using
the incendiary torch against their former
masters. And in no instance did these
clubs ever parade as an armed military
,.L
But not so with the negro militia;
they appeared time aud again at their
political meetings, with loaded guns and
cartridge-boxes, and sometimes with
fixed bayonet. At number of the pre-
cincts on the day of the election they
marched to the polls with guns in their
hands, and stacked them or deposited
them close by before depositing their
ballots. I have not time now to cite the
evidence on this point, but the record
shows abundsntly the illegal and i'm
proper use they made of the arms and
with which the State had
supplied them, both before and at the
election.
Can any one, therefore, longer doubt
that the orders disbanding their political
clubs while the negro. militia was allowed
to retain its arms and organization, and
the sending ofarmed soldiers to the vot-
ing precincts, constituted q bold viola
ton of the Constitution and the rights of
the citizen, with definite purpose of
carrying the elections, both Federal and
State, at the point of the bayonet? This
purpose is further made manifest in the
order of the secretary of war to Gen.
Sherman, dated the 18th day of October,
the very day the proclamation of the
President was issued, and before it was
even known in South Carolina, COM
manding him to send forward "immedi-
ately all the available force in the mill
tary division of the Atlantic to report to
Gen. Ruger, commanding at Columbia,
South Carolina" and to "instruct that
officer to station his troops in such local
tiles that they may be most speedily and
efectually used in case of any resistance
to the authority of the United States" )"
These instructions were given, too, not
withstanding the fact that Gen. Ruger
had telegraphed the President only tho
day before from Columbia, saying all was
quiet: "If need more troops will send
You a dispatch telling you that need
them" The evident design was to get,
under the pretext of the charges made in
the proclamation, as many troops as pos
sible into the State, in order that they
might be used at the polls to bolster up
the falling fortunes of party which, in
South Carolina at least, was fast falling
to pieces under the weight of its own rot
tenness and corruption.
REHABILITATION OF FEDERAL OUT
RACES.
Thus we have seen the unlawful and
partisan agencies employed by the Re-
publicans to avert political defeat
which seemed inevitable. A Republican