Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1882-04-06
THF FAMOUS BREWSTER LET
TER
The Attorney General Playing the
Partisan to Perfection and Making
( After the "Big" Fellowship
- Spirit In Which the South
Carolinat Election Cases
Are TO he Pushed.

hEO " hC
WASHINGTON, March 25.-A long
letter from Attorney General Brews.
ter to Dallas Saunders, Assistant
United States District Attorney at.
Charleston, is published with Mr.
Saunders reply. The first paragraph
commends Saunders for the part be
has so far taken in the cases on which
he was sent from Philadelphia. The
remaining portion is as follows: "Ry
the by, was upon the point of writ
ing you letter this very day upon a
subject that concerns me very much;
and desire you to convey what L
now write to Mr.. Melton and read
every word do write. If I were
not about to wiite to you | would
write to Mr.. Melton. An rnvestiga
tion has been recently had here in
Washiogton.onsthe contest between
Srnalls and Tillman in the House.
send you now by this mail a printed
copy of the proceedings and testi-
mony, and the argument that was
sent to me only yesterday. l desire
your attention to it and Mr.. Melton 8
attention to it; and I expressly re,
quest you to say to Mr.. Melton that
it ia my determination to have these
matters thoroughly investigated al d
closely pursued. The right Of suH.
rage must be protected, no matter
| who suffers. wish Mr.. Melton to
be told by you that I expect ne will
proceed forthwith against the most
| important persons who have been
| concerned in these attempts to defeat
honest elections by fraud or forcible
means. I say the highest and most
responsible people are those whom l
desire to be the fret prosecuted al d
first pursued. There will be no ex-
ample if merely insignificant person g
| are taken hold Of. Those who stand
high in the community and have thus
| ventured to violate the law and en-.
courage others to do it ere the very
persons to be first prosecuted, and, II
convicted, punished in a signal way.
Then things will begin to change and
voters will be encouraged to vote
lascoraing their convictions and
lose no do vote VIII feel satisfied
1saat their votes have been duly
i counted and surrepde er cheerfally 70
an honest resu.t am very Ilpsssk y
What I cannot dredit7SsEat
rently y said in South Carolina that
-4lAa.aa!4-pArsnns-mho will be prose-
cuted will be few Insignificant and
obscure persons. Such prosecutions
l will not consider being those that
justice requires to be instituted and
pursued. The criminal court house
should not be the poor mans court
house. All who violate law, and es
pecially the fundamental law, such
as the right Of suffrage, must be
made to feel the terror uf that law.
The abuse of the right OF suffrage
such as is charged to have been per
petrated in South Carolina is praeti-
cal treason against the dignity OF the
people and the fundamental princi-
pie OF their power, aud it must be
signally punished.
AT tins point | have paused and
re-read my letter. I was abont to
send it of to you, and as I read it
oyer | saw that through it ran a
pretty sharp tone Of reprobation Of
this supposed attempt to pursue the
poor and obscure and to permit the
prosperous and important to escape
the prosecution that they merit-a
prosecution for offences they were
charged with having committed. |
see nothing in my letter that ought to
be modified ior am deeply in earn
est about all this. You are Demo-
crat and very properly synpathize
with your party, and talk to you
with little more vigor because yen
are Democratic, and alno because we
enjoy such close personal and friendly
relations. l wish to express my Re
publican convictions upon this sub
ject. But, irrespective OF my Re.
publican convictions, l intend more
emphatically to indicate how imror.
tsut al! this is to both eides--that
there should be fair play--fair play
all around. There is no just judg-
ment of the popular will in any elec,
tion that is controlled or biased by
force or fraud, and do insist that
both Democrats and Republicans
should have their faces set as flint
sgainst any abuses against free and
/ fair ballot.
Colonel Melton ! desire shall read
this, and | would write directly tc
him upon this subject fit were moi
that it might look like an official ad
monition that to a certain extent wal
prompted by belief in the rumol
that I have before repeated, to wit
that the poor and obscure were to b'
pursued and the conspicuous ant
.,a.-, =.