The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-05-22


politician who disgraces the judicial
ermine of the United States Court and
masquerading as Judge, they have
succeeded in having declared the reg
istration law unconstitutional, null
and void. The chief argument made
before him was the defamation of our
State, and insult, if insult could come
from such source, to your State
Officers. Under this decree the doors
have been thrown open and the ballot
again placed in the hands Of every
man, white or black, of the age Of 21
years. The abuse and slander heaped
upon the State by the counsel for the
plaintiffs was only surpassed by that
of the Judge in his document styled
decree in equity.
But the pity Of it, the humiliation
and the shame Of it is yet to be told.
Beside this Jefferies on the Bench sat
an old man, whose head was gray, who
had fought on the field Of battle for
States rights, who had been Speaker
of the House of Representatives of
South Carolina, and in whose hand
writing part of your registration laws
exist in our archives there he sat,
wearing alike the judicial ermine,
hearing his State DETAINED, his COM
rades in arms denounced as rebels, and
his own handiwork adjudged crime.
If the law was crime, was he not the
criminal ? Should his head have not
been bent and his eyes moist with
tears of humiliation ?
Alas they were not. With a Meph-
istophelean grin on his wrinkled face
he nodded assent to the most Infamous
document ever emanating from a Court
in equity, while the black audience
exclaimed: "a Daniel has come to
judgment; yea, a Dariel." The Ex-
Senator, who has been holding eau
cuses in Columbia at private houses,
having the ear of the Court and "hold-
ing the foot of the chancellor" re-
turned to his home, feeling that his
movements had not been detected, but
the responsibility shall rest where it
belongs. Let the people not blame
the poor, lean and hungry counsel,
who are barking merely for bone,
but visit the sin upon the heads OF
the arch oonspirators.
A crisis confronts us, an issue has
been thrust upon us without our will
or consent at time when peace was
lowering over the State. South Caro-
lima is enjoying an era Of industrial
improvement, factories are being built
in greater number than elsewhere in
the South. The credit Of the State
ranks higher than ever in the history,
our bonds not being purchasable at
premium of less than 10 per cent.
The march of progress is about to be
stopped; the black pail Of negro domi:
nation hovers over us; We must meet
the issue like South Carolinians.
There are only two flags, the white
and the black. Under which will you
enlist !? The one, the white peaceful
flag of Anglo-Saxon civilization and
progress, or the other, the black flag
of the debased and ignorant African,
with the white traitors, who are seek
ing to marshal the negroes, in order to
regain political power.
It is fortunate that the issue comes
at this time, when Constitution is to
be made guaranteeing white supremacy
once and forever. The Constitutional
Convention must be controlled by
white men, not with white men with
black hearts nor negroes. The world
must be shown that we are capable Of
governing ourselves and that Constitu-
tion or no Constitution, law or no law,
Court or no Court, the intelligent
white men of South Carolina intend to
govern her. Let the man who under
takes to lead the ignorant blacks
against you suffer as he did in 1876,
and remember that eternal vigilance is
the price of liberty.
I will not call the Legislature to-
gether. They could do nothing. An
appeal will be taken to the Supreme
Court of the United States, but under
the red tape and technicalities sur
rounding it decision cannot be had
in time to affect the election of dele
gates. 1t must be free open fight:
I appeal to the sovereign people of
South Carolina, the wisest and safest
and purest tribunal, to protect their
homes and liberties. They have never
failed to respond to duty. The Gov
ernment of the people must and shall
be perpetuated and we are ready to
lead the fight under the white mans
flag. Your obedient servant,
JOHN GARY EVANS,