National Republican., 1882-09-21
The Fires of 1870.

men, with flags Of 1876 lying and breathing enthu-
siasm in spite Of every difficulty made hand
some spectacle and cheering one.
According to the same authority Col
onel Hugh S. Thompson, the red-shirt
candidate for governor, said:
lie felt nowhere the spirit of 1876 more manifest
thnn in Newberry If anywhere the Democracy
were n I'm, united, aggressive, IL was In this grand
old county. No fear for them.
On tho next day meeting was held at
Laurensville. Colonel b. w. Ball, county
chairman, in introducing Colonel Thomp-
son to the Bourbons as their guberna-
torial candidate, is reported by the cor
respondent above referred to to have
said:
In 1876 South Carolina achieved her freedom
Since then she has enjoyed a full measure of good
government. This campaign is begun to perpetu-
ate 1t. Tho fires of 1876 among the Laurens De-
mocracy never go out.
Colonel Thompson, after the bursts of
applause that greeted these remarks had
subsidized, then went on to say that
He had heard sound in this campaign
more like 70 The chairman had voiced tho
iment of the people. that the power of the State
should never pass from the hands of the true and
honest men of South Carolina. While we believe
that the time had come when the race issue
should be blotted out Of politics in South Carolina
and the only question was good and honest rule,
he considered that the Anglo-Saxon hnd come to
these hills and valleys with law in one hand and
order in the other, had feed the forests and made
the country blossom, and all tho>o who stood be-
tween them and their righteous purposes for the
government of their heritage would, in this coming
free and fair election, go to the wall.
There are, to thoughtful mind, sew
eral very suggestive passages contained
i'll the brief extracts above given. In
each the bloody campaign of 1875, as
waged by the red-shirted chivalry
against their Republican antagonists, is
referred to with evident pride. The
Hamburg massacre is not directly
alluded to, but must have been in the
minds of each one of the speakers, for
that was the distinguishing feature, the
grand event of the campai gn of 1876 in
South Carolina. The Red Shirts were
| there to slay, and plenty of negroes were
there to be slaughtered. There the free
men with dusky skins were wounded,
scourged, and killed, and there, where the
| Democracy, as in Newberry, was firm.
united, and aggresSire," the crowning
villainy of Bourbonism was perpetrated
upon the colored people.
The freedmen have never in this coun-
try been guilty of wreaking such devilish
vengeance upon the whites MS the wealth
and intelli gence, which ,cW have its way
in South Carolina, wrought upon their
former chattels in that State in the cam
paign of 1876, and the Bourbons who pre-
cipitated those atrocious outrages now
look back to that year and congratulate
each other over what the whole civilized
world shuddered at then, and which,
among Christian people, is to-day held up
as a crowning deed of barbarity commit
ted by vol unteer savages upon inoffensive
citizens. And the South Carolina Bour-
bons declare that the fires of 1876 are to
be relighted; which means that, if need
be, in order to secure success, blood must
flow in 1882 as it did six years ago. No
wonder that with these threats ringing
in their ears few weak-hearted men of
color should purchase immunity from
har m by donning the red shirts and vot-
ing beneath instead of dying battling
against the bloody flag of 1876. They
may have learned wisdom, after their
manner of thinking, and professed differ
ent views; they cannot be sincere in
their convictions if they are reasonable
creatures.
"The chairman had voiced the senti-
ment of the people that the power of the
State should mever pass from the hands
of the true and honest men of South
Carolina" said the Bourbon candidate
for governor. "True and honest men y
Tissue ballots, stuffed ballot-boxes
scourgings, woundings, and murders
are these the attributes of "true and
honest men?" Can any Bourbon be true
and honest in matters of politics
"While he believed" cont nued this
representative Of the fierce and
hateful spirit of Bourbonism, who
hopes to be governor of his red.
shirted followers, that the time had
come when the race issue should be
blotted out of politics in South Carolina
(it was nearly blotted out in 1876 by
|
ents ofthe speaker), "he considered that
the Anglo-Saxon had come to these hills
and valleys with law in one hand and
order in the other, had felled the forests
and made the country blossom, and al
those Who Stood bet,veen them and their riqht.
eouS purposes for the government of hei,
heritage uouM, an this coming free and .fai,
election, go TO the 1CaH."
"Free and fair election "-who car
expect it after such an open threat tha
opposi ton against Bourbonism will no
be tolerated? Is any one foolish enough
to suppose that, so far as necessary, tn,
Bourbons will not re-enact the scenes O
1876 in order to carry out their avowet
purpose Of maintaining control of tn,
State government at all hazards? Ger
tainly not. They will not give up tn,
heritage built up for them before the wa
by ytherfaithfula and patient slaves withou
a struggle. They have raised the bloody
shirt and hoisted the black flag agains
liberalism in ev cry form and under every
guise. The liberal Democrat who be
lieves in equal rights, honest govern
ment, and a free ballot and fair count, i
hated just rs violently as the most ultri
Repub lican, whether he be white O
black, a so-called carpet-bagger, or nativ,
to the manor born.
Such being the case, all, without regart
to previous party affiliations or race, wht
| h aliauo in nbeplnfa franIoD, of u, - a