The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-08-09
M.IN:NSBORO. S. C..
The Revenue Troubles,

recent kllllng OF BrnNtOn, the revenue
officer. by Mellow, an alleged "moon
sinner. TIE press Of the State has
.g'nr'a'!v .dcnounccd the net as til.
.soa!est alnrder. The Radical paper a
Arec,tylAes tue Neio ,SoNtt, hrs gone
80 far as to charge ;the entire commu-
nifty ofpeople living near the scene Vi
the murder with such q degree OF
'sympathy with Mellow as 10 make
Ahem totally Indifferent in tho matter
sofbringing him to punishment. Sena-
tor Hampton has written q letter to
commissioner :Rauln, very vehement
.expAsSsing his condemnation of the
act. Altogether, the general govern
ment must bo by this time puet1y we'll
assured that the decent people of
South Carolina ,haye no patience at all
for '.A act such as McDow's. From all
accounts 1t does seem to have boeu q
cruel murder. For this, Mellow
ahould be punished as the aaw pro-
yidcs. If lie is what the newspapers
represent him to be, he is hardly ell
titled to consileration-much less to
sympathy. But It's not barely possible
that, laying aside McDew,s general
bad character, the papers have spoken
just little too fast.
There are two sides to every ques-
ton. That the "moonstincrs" fire
.quently violate the law ia nowhere de-
MED, and it is quite as generally con-
coded that they should be punished as
the law directs. Illicit distillcrs, as q
class, are pretty rough specimens.
But 1t so happens that the men sent by
the government to look after them are,
considering the surroundings of both,
no whit better.
Speaking Of the conduct Of revenue
officials in Pickens county, tho Senti-
mel says:
AS rule, the very worst set of men
IN the revenue service have been sent
to operate in this county. First came
one Maloney and his crowd, who were
not much, If any, better than frccboot-
crs. lie rode over the country from
one end to the other, arrcsling inno-
cont citizens when and where lie pleas
ed, ilsulted women and thccatcned to
stick fire to dwelling houses when his
outrageous demands were not COM
plicC '7ith. Then followed one Ilotl.
man, who, if anything, was worse
than Maloncy. lie carried II portable
United States commissioner with him
who, 1t is said, @onId issue n warrant
against Il citizen they nligi.t chance 70
meet In the road as soon us they asccr-
tanned his name, whether they had
ever heard OF him Or not. They would
terrify, curse and abuse women, ran.
sack chests, bureau drawers uud other
private places in houses. The United
states Commissioner ut this place was
too much OF gentleman to issue war
rents outside Of the regularly prcscrib-
ed law, hence it WAS necessary for
them to have a portable commissioner
who did not possess this quality. Fol
lowing Hoffman came one HHbburi,
who w.s-not Il whit better than the
men who preceded him. Then came
TIC notorious Springs, who was worse.
IL anything. than amy Of The rest. All
cE"rt was made to punish both Hub
PAID "hd Springs iI our State Courts,
Dui 1t rrc' wi;h the usual results.
li"y %c,l projected by the United
>'''t'$ livll''cs :ltd il.rltd loose TO
coai.li'il o.ncr offences ON the citizens
,pf The cru!ar,.
%c believe ,hc above made state
m%ntS to be strictly true. They are
rendered highly probable by the very
character OF the revenue officials.
Kead tic liSt of the extra force select.
ea III ,obcdicrcc to Commissioner
4Annrs order. as "men Of good stand.
Ing and good habits". Three Of them
ore charged, on what many consider
conclusive evidence, with the murder
OF Amos Ladd. Stolbrand is one OF
the filthy eEcw of carpct-bag politicians
who stole from the Stutc for eight
years. Fine is also i.adical politi.
clan and n notorious blucklcy. Ladf
IS MI itinerant commissioner of 1T
United States Court, and figured
largely 1hst fall in taking the tcstimo
ny of pcrjured negro witnesses to i'm
plicate gentlemen III crimes against tn,
election laws. These arc specimens O
the "men OF good standing and goot
habits" chosen by the government, i,
serious emergency, to bring law
breakers to justice. These arc tn,
men who are, by their personal charac
ter, TO Induce the cooperation Of tn,
good people Of the State in enforcing
ths excise laws Of Congress. These are
the chosen few. The party that wen
to McDow's house seem to have be
!onged but to the common herd. Wht
is to say that they acted strictly With,
the law, and honestly within the lin,
OF their duty? Who dare say tha
they had the right to arrest Mellow
and destroy his property? VIII,
knows but that they unlawfully in
vaded his house, insulted the womcl
and pilfercd his effects2 Who ca,
assert that MoDow, bad man as he i
represented to be. was not goadcd t,
bis act by the outrageous conduct O
tho undcrlings that went upon hi