The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1894-04-10
GENERAL BUTLER'S REVIEW.
The Senator Tells What He Woulu
Have Done.

,,,ode yesterday TO a correspondent OF The
News and Courier touching the unhappy
condition of affairs in South Caroilna anu
explaining the cause of the recent bloody
work in Darlington county. 1t is true re-
view of the whole trouble and is suillcleht
answer to the misrepresentation mace ny
Governor Tillman in his speech az Coiuiii-
bia yesterday. Senator Butler SAY W. evan-
Il came down from Darlington inns even
ing. where l have been the past twenty
four hours. AS far as L could learn, every
ties are prepared to discharge their duty.
1t seems that a number CT state cHi,sit.
beS, or spies they are calleu ndu peei
in Darlington for the purpose of ascertain
ing if there was cOntraband whisky tnere.
In the searches which they MADE d t c1,y
authorities of Darlington ana there was
not the slightest resistance to the enforce
ment of the dispensary law. on the con,
trarv the people of Darlington cO-operateu
With the enforcement ~ oo.,
'"This vas prior to Thursday, March 18th;
1t appears that the force Of conStabieS, or
spies, was increased on that day ny a re,
enforcement of about eighteen men dTiIei
with Winchester rifles ana plstols. " h ny
this reinforcement of armed men should pc
sent into a peacable, law-abiding communi-
ty. where there had been no resistance TO
law. / cannot understand 1t also appears
that this armed band were about TO Tetlre
from that community, where they hao , nUt
sonaI difficulty arose between two young
men at the railroad station "hefe tne"e
spies We're: am ,eorp
was an entirely personal matter between
the parties engaged, and in no way connect
law one of these armed constables. Nc C.
Lendon by name, interfered IN thlS pllVate
difficulty citizen NE F. ma Ec S1Te ra
mark and there was an exchange of cpl
thets between him and this constable,
whereupon the constable opened IRE on
Mr.. Norment with the remark: God Damn
it. BOYS let 'er roll The firing then be-
came general between the armed consta-
nd DprSOnS
have been at the station by accident or on
business.
"The result of this firing was that two
young unoffending citizens were slain; enc
constable killed, and this man McLer1on
badly wounded; several other citizens were
shot and the chief of police, who was try
ing to preserve ORDER several times
Pursuit of the ConstabIes.
''The people of Darlington were naturally
Indignant at the extraordinary ana 'ent
measures adopted by the authorities OF we
state, and, upon the information Oh TINS
emeute at the station, they turne6 out and
pursued the men who they rlShttNuy
thought had committed a wanton ana I'M
provoked murder upon two OF their pest
citizens They pursued these men, | take
it, as long as there was prospect OF ar
resting them and We must assume OF trlng-
inc them to Justice for what they consider
ed an uuproVoked homicide. AS PROOF OF
their conservatism, the wounded man. Nc
Tendon who had shot Mr.. NOrment, was
taken to the Jail and there protected rom
further injury although the people OF the
town were greatly infuriated at his con-
20 duct. I think it may be safely asserted
that there is not a more laW-abidnG, in
telligent community anywhere in the Gnlted
states than in the two counties OF Darllng-
Now, it weuld seem to me that if had
been governor of the state of south Caro-
lima / would have felt it to be my duty
up0n being Informed of the occurrences at
Darlington, to have gone promptly to the
scene of the disturbance and assured the
neople of that hitherto laW-abiding c0n1mu-
ntv that they should have fair play, |
think if Governor Tillman had done this
matters could have been composed N tWen-
tv-fcur hours, and whoever should have
been proven to be at fault would haVe been
made amenable to the law. Instead of that
he issued a proclamation denouncinS the
good people of these two counties as in
surgents and insurrectionists, and ordered
the military Of the state to camp upon
'During my stay at Darlington I was
deeply impressed with the anxiety of both
the citizens and the military to keep within
the limits of the law. / advised, as FAR as
] bad the. right to advise, that under 9Tr
tary should be subordinated to
the ciYil power, and The M, use ~, of Of
The arX h6 |2 Wa &n nroVed to be W nnW
erless and paralyZed. And; think II COY
ernor Tillman had. or would recognize this
government. he would avoid many of the
mistakes which he has made.
Two ways to Execute Law.
There are two ways to execute any law
the one by wisdom and conservatism and
firmness; and the other by harshness, VIC
leuce and unreaSoning disregard OF the
feelings of the citizens
Il need not now express my opinion in
regard to the dispensary law, but may say
that in my judgment, the governor IS at
tempting to enforce it in harsh, violent
and ill-advsed manner. He ought to know
that the AnSlo-S Saxon, particularly in our
day and generation, VIII not submit beyond
q certain point to be harried, repreSsed
and pursued. The constitution of the Unit
ed States and of the state guarantee the
oft pcr1in hIp q
there is nothing in the diSpenSarY law
that | know of which justiiies an invasion
must not imagine, from the patience and
submission OF the people III the city OF
Charleston, where he seems 10 have prdcti-
cally unchallenged sway IN the harsh eX-
ecuton of this law, that the people outside
of that city, less accustomed TO the re
straints of the municipal government, Will
quietly submit to his invasion of their
rights and 1t would be the part OF pru-
dence on his part to go slow in the rigid
enforcement Of an unpopular step.
Il would not be understood as encOurag-
ing, in the slightest degree, laWlesSness or
resistance in any form to lawful authori-
ties. The people of Darlington and Flor
ence, as a rule, have not resisted the lawful
authority There may be exceptional in
stances. as there are in every community
but they do not justify the wholesale de-
nuncation which he seems to have put
upon them. From what | observed in both
of these counties, there has not been the
least excuse or Justification for ordering
the military to these points He has done
so at an enormous expense to the taXpay-
erS of the state, and, of course he will have
to look out for that.
while in Darlington I advised, as far
as | had the right to advise, that the
friends of the deceased who We're killed i'll
the emeute at the railroad station, go
before the trial justices, make affidavit
charging the accused parties of the offense
which they thought they were guilty of,
demand the issuance of warrant, let the
same be placed in the hands of a duly au
thOrlZed constable or citizen, and whore
the accused has fed the jurisdiction of
warrant. that it be sent to the sheriff of
the county where they are found, endorsed
and served by him, so that the parties
might be arrested according to law, and re-
70 the charges in the due course of jul
dlclal Administrations If resistance should be
made to the constable of the trial justice and
ne should fail to make the arrest, he
should be required to endorse such failure
on the warrant, and then, and then only,
the civil authorities should call on the
Inllltary to act as posse for the arrest Of
the accused
illegal Orders Should Not BE Obcyed.
4 see by the papers that Governor Till
man, IN a note to Captain McCauShney, OF
the military company, has stated that the
duty of soldiers-and the militia are soldiers
called into service is blind obedience to
orders from their superiors, and not to
question them in any way
TO my mind this proposition is simply
monstrous, and is not true. No officer is
when the order issued is Illegal. Nothing
is better settled in military law than that.
Suppose the governor had ordered Captain
McCaughney to fire into a church filled
with women and children; suppose he had
ordered him to set fire to the town of Co