The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-08-22
THE STATUS OF THE FIGHT.
Orer the Registration Law in the U. )
Courts.

Courts.
The following letter has been made
public by ex-Congressman Geo. Wash
ington Murray, the black representa-
tive of the black district of South Car
Dlina in the last Congress. The letter
Is from the attorneys who have been
prosecuting the registration law test
oases in the United States Courts on
behalf of the negroes of the State, and
it now gives very fully and compre-
hensively the present status ofthe legal
sight. 1t tells the exact condition of
affairs in regard to the cases, and ex-
plains the course that the attorneys in
lend to pursue. Here is the letter,
however, to speak for itself:
Washington, D. c., Aug. 7, 1895.
Hon. Geo. W. Murray, Rembert, S.
c.:
Dear Sir: Our Mr.. Obear returned
yesterday afternoon from Richmond,
where he had been to argue the Gowdy
case. Judge Golf limited the argyll
ment to the question as to the material
ity of the differences between the two
cases; and after hearing full argument
filed the opinion, which I presume You
have, ere this, seen in the papers. Ha
found that the Gowdy case has tho
same scope and eff ct as the Mills case,
and is governed by the decision of TIE
Circuit Court of Appeals in the latter
cause. It is manifest that it will be
impossible to bring any suit in the
Federal courts touching the registra.
tion laws which would not have the
f'same scope and effect as the Mills
case; and the proper steps ncw are to
bend our energies toward getting, rs
speedily as possible, a decision upon
the questions involved from the SUI
preme Court of the United States; and
we are in better position to accom-
plish that end in the present condition
of things than We would have been if
Judge Goff had decided in orr favor.
Had he done SO, the State would, prob
ably, have adopted one of two courses:
either have disobeyed the injunction,
or have induced Mr.. Chief Justice
Fuller to call special term Of the Cir
cult Court of Appeals, appeal the case
to that court, and have the Injunction
dissolved as before. II they had dis
obeyed the injunction we wonld have
had the supervisor arrested, the State
authorities would have gotten habeas
corpus, returuable before the Circuit
Court of Appeals, induced the Chief
Justice to sit again, and have had that
court turn the supervisor loose. Had
this contingency happened we would
have been at the ''end OF our row,
because there lies no appeal to the ST.
preme Court from the Circuit Court
of Appeals in habeas corpus proceed
ings. Had the State authorities taken
the other course we would have had to
take our appeal from the Circuit Cont
of Appeals to the Supreme Court, and,
at best, the appeal from the Circuit
Court of Appeals is hampered by many
technical difficulties, which We need
not go into now--but which exist. But
as matters now stand, we will our
selves appeal the Gowdy decision di-
rectly to the Supreme Court Of the
United States, and so get the whole
case before them. The thing to do is
to get the appeal ready at once. The
expense Of getting it up will be COM
paratively very small. 1t will take
about $50 to print the record-not our
argument-that We can attend to
later, and then s25 more, the fee of the
clerk of the Supreme Court, for docket
ing. Have this much money raised for
this purpose and send to rs at once.
We herewith enclose you blank ap-
peal bond. Have it executed by Mr..
Gowdy and sureties as was done in the
Mills case, and send us as soon as
signed. We ourselves expect to get to
work today upon the assignments o:
errors" and if you will push at yo'ir
end we will have this appeal perfected
and docketed before this month has
passed.
We have received no money on &C
count of the balance of our fee and
the expenses we lave heretofore in
Cured. From what you said in your
last letter, we fully expected that by
this time we would have had remit
9ance from Beaufort, and are disap-
dolnted at neither receiving q remit
tance or nearing from you as to the
cause of the delay. We hope Won will
now give this, and the other equally
important matters mentioned in this
letter, your speedy attention. Having
embarked upon this sea of registrs-
tion litigation, let us not rest until we
reach the haven of full decision by
the Supreme Court of the United
States. Yours Truly,
Obear e. Douglass.