Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1882-03-30
Protecting the Ballot Box.
some FRIENDLY ooRREsroNDEN6E Be
TWEEN MIR. BREWSTER AND A DEMO-
0RAT.

GRAFT.
| WAsiiINGToN, Maroh 28-The follow
ing letter was written by Attorney Gcueral
Brewster to Dallas Sanders, Assistant Dis.
triot Attorney Of the United States OF
Charleston, s. c.:
WASHINGTON, March 18, 1882.
My Dear Mr.. Sanders:
have jast received short note from
you, together with passage cut from q
South Carolina paper. 1t was my iuten-
tion to day to have written to you. have
the most delightful reports about you, and
they havo given satisfaction to everybody
here. knew you would suit these people,
and the purpose had in sending you to
South Carolina, for your sense of honor aud
public duty and the appreciation Of the
obligations Of your profession would loud
you to live strictly up to the limo Of the
most rigid requirements Of official and
professional duty without regard to party;
aud on the other hand, your own pro :
uounosd position as Democrat would pre-.
vent the community 10 which you now arc
from questioning the motives of your &C
tions us they are said to have done in hypcr-
critical aud unfair way all who we're not Of
their thinking in politics.
By-tho by, | was upon the point Of
writing you d letter this very day upon a
subject that concerns inc very much aud 1
desire you to convey what I now write to
| NJ. Melton, aud read every word l do
write. If we're not about to write to you
| would write to Mr.. Melton himself. An
Investigation has been recently had here 10
Washington in tho contest between Smns
aud 1hlImau in the House. l send you
now forthwith by this mail printed copy
of tho proceedings aud testimony and argu.
mcnt that was sent to me ouly yesterday.
l desire your attention to it aud Mr. Mel
tons attention to it; aud expressly re-
quest you to say to Mr.. Melton that it is
my determination to have these matters
thoroughly investigated aud closely pursued
TIE right of suffrage must be protected, no
matter who suffers.
l wish MIR. Melton to bo tod by you
that expect that he will prosecute forth
with tho most important persons who have
been concerned in these attempts to dcfeot
houest elections by fraudulent or forcible
means. say tho highest and most rcspon.
sible people are those whom l desire to bo
first prosecuted and first pursued. There
persons are taken hold OF. Those who stand
high in the community and have thus ven
tured to violate the law and encourage oth-
crs to do it, are the very persons to DO first
prosecuted, aud, if convicted, punished in
signal way. Theu things will begin to
change, and the voters will be encouraged
to vote according to their convictions, and
those who do vote will feel satisfied that
their votes have been duly counted and sur.
render cheerfully to an honest result. I
am very much iu earnest about this, for |
have heard hero what carnot credit, that
it is currently said in South Carolina that
the only persons who will be prosecuted
will be few insignificant add obscure per-
sons. Such prosecutions tiwili not con-
slider as being those that jus,tcc requires to
be instituted and pursued. The criminal
Court House should not be used only for
the punishment Of the obscure. II must
not be tho poor mans court house. All
who violate tho law, and especially funda-
mental law, such as tho right of suffrage,
must be made to feel the tcrrors of that
law. The abuse of tho right of suffrage,
such as is charged to have been pcrpc,rated
in South Carolina, is practical treason
against the diguity of the people and the
fundamental principle of their power, and
it must be sigually punished
At this point have paused aud re read
my letter. l was about to send it of to
you, and as read it over | saw hot through
it ran pretty sharp tone of rcprohation Of
this supposed attempt to pursue tho poor
and obscure, and to permit the prosperous
and important to escape the prosecution that
they mcrted, the prosecution for the offeuce
they were charged with having committed
see nothing in my letter that ought to be
modified, for | am deeply in earnest about
all this. You ere Democrat and very
properly sympathlzc with your party, and
talk toyou with little more vigor be-
cause you are Democrat, and also, because
we enjoy such close personal and friendly
relations. l wish to express my Republican
convictions npon this subject; but, irre-
spective of my Republican convictions, l
intend more cmphaticaliy to indicate how
important all of this is to both sides, that
there should be fair play-fair play all
around. There is no just Judgment of
popular will in any election that is con.
trolled or biased by force or fraud, and 1
do insist that both Democrats aud Repub.
h''"' o"ou'o haVe theil laces seI hs Hnt
against any abuses against the free and fair
use of the ballot box
Col. Melton / desire shall read this, and I
would write directly to him upon this SUBJ
ject if it we're not that it would look like
an official admonition, that to- certain ex-
tent was prompted by belief in the rumor
that have before repeated, to wit that
the poor and obscure were to be pursued
and the conspicuous and prosperous wero to
| eRnana tho indunent nf tha luu I ,unnI