Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-07-09
YORKVILLE, S. C. I:
THURSDAY MORNING, JULY 8, 1885.
THE REPUBLICAN PROGRAMME.

be confirmed"
go. That in case any Democratic 'parti-
SAN causes the removal of an efficient he
publican and receives as his reward for caus-
ing such removal the nomination as sue
cessor to the decapitated official-that such
nomination will not be confirmed"
The Critic maintains that the Republi-
can Senators will adhere to these resolu-
tions and that the "offensive partisan'
question may loom up into some proper
tions, but for all that Mr.. Cleveland has the
inside track, and will continue in the line he
has chalked out. The mistake the offensive
partisans make is in remaining in till they
are invited to step out.
THE SOUTH CAROLINA CONVICT SYSTEM.
A most violent article recently appeared
in the Cleveland, Ohio, Leader, on the SUBJ
ject of the treatment of convicts in South
Carolina The article was most unjust to
the people of the State, and contemporaries
outside of South Cardinals limits have even
pronounced the language brutal. There
had been case of whipping convict, it
seems, but an investigation was ordered as
soon as news of it reached the ears of the
authorities, and the person responsible for
the cruelty was discharged. The facts in
this case, however, did not justify the harsh
ness of language referred to, and it is graft
flying to find rebuke administered by an
Ohio man, Gen. R. Brinkerhoff, who has
lately visited the Southern States for the
express purpose of inspecting their prisons
and asylums. He replies to the article in
the Leader, and in the course of what he
writes makes the following reference to the
South Carolina penal institution:
''Now it has so happened thatI have been
missionary, or more properly, an investiga-
tor, in several Southern States upon this
and other subjects, and three weeks ago l
visited the South Carolina penitentiary at
Columbia. I found penitentiary, now
rapidly approaching completion, which,
pontments to the average of Northern pris-
ons, and certainly will be superior to our
own in Ohio. The south wing is already
occupied and the north wing will be ready
for use in few months. The grounds upon
which the prison and shops are located con-
sists of fourteen acres, and is enclosed by a
substantial wall already completed.
"The superintendent, Col. Thos. j. Lips
comb, will compare favorably with our best
prison wardens at the North, and the whole
tone of the prison was elevated and humane,
and I am willing to guarantee in advance
that an investigation by him will not be q
whitewashing process by any means. The
total number of prisoners is about 1000 !;
of these about 800 are leased out, and the re-
mainder are inside of the prison walls, and
mostly employed upon contract labor, the
same as in Northern prisons, and have no
doubt are as kindly treated. So far as the
| lease system is concerned | did not find a
man in South Carolina who approved it, and
everybody seemed delighted at the near
prospect of it's entire abolition in the State.
The same can be said of North Carolina and
Virginia, and within year or two it will
cease to exist in all three of the States named.
"The truth is, the South is rapidly ad-
vancing in all directions, and nowhere more
noticeably than in its methods of its dealing
with the dependent, defective, and criminal
classes. Because slavery has existed, it does
not follow that the Southern people are sim
ners beyond all others. Let US remember
that for twenty-five years after Ohio was
settled our criminal code authorized whip
ping posts, stocks, pillories and ear-crop-
pings as civiliZing institutions, and for a
longer period the poor were sold out to the
lowest bidder, and yet it would hardly be
fair to claim that our fathers were inhuman
monsters"
Gen. Brinkerhoff has taken several other
occasions than this to correct erroneous i'm
pressions existing in his State relative to
the Southern people and the condition of
affairs in the South.