The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1894-11-14
THE FRAUDS. IN DARLING
TON.
Some Details of the Rascallties
Perpesrated There.
Special to the State.

80
Special to the State.
Darlington, Nov. 1.-THE State
board Of canvassers will have an
opportunity of seeing what practices
were indulged in to make Darlington
county, whether or not go for the
dominant element in the recent cleo
ton. When free men are delibe-
rately misunderstanding more
or less-it is not to be expected that
they should tamely submit. From
every precinct in our county where
the Conservatives had a majority the
crv of fraud comes and it is not even
singular that the frauds frauds were
everywhere of the same kind. At
Darlington the boxes were upstairs
and long, narrow passage led to
them. A small door, opened about
eighteen inches only, with desk
placed behind it, was the only way
10 enter and leave the room, this
arrangement crowding the voters
and retarding alike their entrance
and their exit. The managers were
snail Ike and it was almost an
impossibility for the work to have
been done any slower A Tillman-
ite stood at this narrow entrance
and gazed as long as be pleased at
simple little registration ticket be-
fore he decided whether or not he
would allow the voter to enter.
About 10 per cent of the voters here
were not allowed to vote after they
had been admitted into the presence
of the managers.
Any pretext was good enough to
suffice for their not allowing man
to cast his ballot, though it was
noticeable that this disposition ap-
piled entirely to anti Ringsters. In
many cases changes had been made
on the registration certificate, but
these changes had not been entered
ors The boks In some cases the
voter was not allowed to vote, be-
cause the titles to the property where
he lived had changed hands though
his resid@ee sNas ststedp TIE cefti
fcate. sanegin6gbsm citizen was
disfranchised because the managers
differed with him as to where ''his
place. ;as. stated on his certificate,
was.ss sSsS Sss ssfs
The only way to proceed in omar
derly and quiet manner waste sMll in
line and wait your tarn. and this was
quietly and resolntely done The
line was never oyer hanHed feet
lona aada Sc idsa1of some Of the1
metkods smp1aEed ean sbes gained
whea sheaitessI faet IS vtated thatI
men, at S:4a O'Clock, distant about
sixty feet from the polls, were at last
at halfpsst 2 O'Clock. allowed to cast
their vote or to be disfranchised, as
the managers saw 6t-to decide. AT
Society Hill and Mechanicsyille,
some Of the managers appeail upon
the scene armed With rifles At
Lydia and Lamar. two Tillmanite
precincts. the vote was about the
same as was voted here and was
three or four times as large as the
Society Hill vote. Leavensworth. is
small country precinct. With sone.
store, and yet about as many votes
were polled there as were allowed at
the fourishing town Of Darlington
One of the Tillmanite managers at
the Congressional box voted his
registration certificate aud time was
called long enough for to recover
what was almost useless article here
that day in the hands of an anti
Ringster. In this case, however, the
box was opened and the document
fshed out and then the little game
continued.
The whole business here was farci-
cal, Unfair, Infamous, and nothing will
be left undoue .tnat can show up the
methods that were practiced. The
whole thing will be contested and
the men who will make the afidavits
are among the best men OF our
county and come from various Sec
tions. The intolerable methods were
shown and disgrace enoug h of them,
selves, but the men here do not pro.
pose to be disfranchised by a set OF
demagogues and tamely submit.
If nothing else is accomplished,
cold facts will be made public and
the State and the rest of the world
can see fairly and impartially the
means employed to disgrace our
State and bring Offices to men whose
names are reproach and dishonor to
any people l. Z. n.
One of the most ancient examples OF
fiction in the world is manuscript oov
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