Daily Republican., 1882-06-13
TUESDAY. .JUNEI3, 1882
Elections in the Palmetto Stat


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TUESDAY. JUNE l3, 1882
Elections In the Palmetto state.
The contested election case of Small
sgainst Tillmar from the Fifth South
of the Democracy in holding elections
which Senator Bayard has not ventured
publicly to re commend to the Delaware
Democracy, but which if he does not
recommend and carry out soon he will
surely pay for his neglect in the loss of
his seat in the Senate. 1t will be recoi-
lected that the Senator and other dis.
tinguished Democratic lights from our
State were down in the Palmetto State
q short time before the late Presiden-
tial election and that they came home
with glowing eulogies of the fair and
impartial manner in which the cam
paign was being conducted in that
State. How it was conducted is shown
by the committee on contested elections
in Congress having agreed upon re-
port which will be offered declaring
that Tillman, who was returned elected
by 8,03S majority, was not elected at
all, but that Mr.. Smalls, the Republi.
can contestant, was elected by a ma.
jority of 1,46S, with one third of the
Republican vote of the District kept
away from the polls by the most out
rageous intimidation.
In Akin County 6,447 tickets were
counted out of the ballot boxes, while
according to the census returns of the
same year, the entire male population
of the county twenty-one years aud up
wards was only 5,985, and the number
Of white males OF voting age only 1878.
Nevertheless the Democratic election
managers made out to give Tillman
1880 votes in that county and nobody
pretended to claim that any considera.
Bile number of colored men voted the
Democratic ticket In 1876 the same
county gave Hayes 2,21S and Tilden
2,90l votes.
Edgefeld County contained 1858
white and 5,64S colored voters, yet Till
man was returned as having received
6,467 votes. At Edgefeld Court House
The vote returned was 763 for Tillman
and II for Smalls. Here Democratic
tactics were put into full play and ap-
peared to the greatest advantage. On
the evening before the election mounted
white men to the number of 300 or 400,
wearing red shirts and armed with
shot guns, poured into the town and
took possession of the Court House. In
the night guns and pistols were fre.
guently fred from the porch to signify
that the South Carolina Democracy
were on the alert. The next morning
soon after the polls opened, 1000 or
more colored men were on the ground
anxious to vote the Republican ticket.
OF the election the committee says:
''The poll was held up stairs in the
court room, and one of the double doors
was securely closed, while the other, 1S
inches wide, was kept ty a Democratic
guard, SO that those Republicans who
succeeded in running the gauntlet of the
one hundred Democrats, who thronged
and crowded the staircase, were held |
there and subjected to further insults |
and violence, until they could struggle
out with their clothes cut, while the |
gallery or porch over the outside en-
trance was filed with Demo Gratis armed |
with brick bats, and the Masonic Hall |
opposite was occupied by military |
company, the Edgetield Rifles. To call
this an election is aretieCtion on Ameri. |
can institutions"
A witness testified that dead line"
was established in front of the Court
House, and red shirted Sentines paced |
the line and warned the Colored Repub. |
licans not to CROSS it. The United |
States Supervisor testified that immedi-
ately before tie polls opened there were
inside the room forty or fifty Democrats
in the red shirt uniform, armed with |
shot guns and pistols. Double barreled
ehot guns were piled up about foot
from the ballot boz for the use Of the
election managers, and remained there
until they were taken out late in the
day to use in driving Republicans
away from the town. The same wit. |
ness swore that he saw great many
white men vote more than once and
some as high as eight times. 1t sounds
like fairy tale to read the accounts of
the intimidations of Republicans at nu.
nerous other places in the same dis
trict. The election at Edge6eld is but
a sample of the elections held else
w here. Bands of armed white men
rode from district to district chasing |
away Republican voters, and voting
themselves at every polling place.
What Is humiliating in politics is |
that to keep man elected by such out
rageous frauds in his seat, the Demo.
Gratis in Congress bowling to the behests
of the red shirt leaders, are willing to
block the wheels of Congress and pre-.
vent the transaction of legitimate and
pressing business. 1t is a sincere mat
ter Of regret that men elected as Till
man was, should be allowed to remain
q single aay in Congress.
The DeA0croey's Choice for COrO.
mOf.
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