The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1898-04-13

oi.u&te.! &c It's requirements vas IN posses.
sion cftke governmen: When the civil war
came or.
The large slave owners and families Of
greatest prominence and wealth, by inter
marriage and other alliances, held absolute
sway in State politics, and the masses were
mere puppets 10 register their will. The
State was Democratic or orindependent in ma
tiouai politics, but il was aristocratic in To-
ca2 aiItirS. This aristocracy, be il said to
It's credit, gave the State as good govern
mept. so far as purity and honesty were
concerned, as any country ever had. But a
qrouder, more arrogant, or hot headed rU!-
ing class never existed. Under the recon
S;ructioa constitution Of SIS the ecuon OF
governor and State officers was gym to the
people hY direct vote, and the scheme OF
county government was decentrallzeG anu
placed IL charge OF Z beard Of county com
m!Ssioncr5 elected by the people.
During the eight years .. radica! misrule,
when the carpet-bagger5 aud their negro
iupes ;rampled the whites under loot III
way 30 ether English speaking community
ever endured since The saxon wore the
Norman collar, there was no opportunity
tgr growth along ;he lines OF true American
citizenship and genuiuc Democracy. To
define il more clearly, there was no such
thing as the rule Of the people, either whl;e
o. black When. ia 1876 the white people,
in desperation. rose and 0yer;hrew the re-
construction governmen; and drove out the
vaclu;re horde OF thieves and bribe takers,
they were confronted with this condition.
There was clear numerical majority OF ne
.roes Of voting age OF about $4,000, and 1t IS
se.i.eyiient proposition that white unity
was the battle cry that most appealed &c The
sense aud patriotism OF every white man IN
the State.
Aside from the condition Of semi-anarchy
and the burdensome taxation which had eX-
listed, the reconstruction government had
dissioated the assets Of the State bank
amounting 10 S$,0Q0,0C0, had sQuandered
the Safe interest in railroads TO an equal
amount, aei had issued boz ds increasing
the STA e debt from $4,000, 600 20 more than
20.0O0, 600, with nothing 10 show for it. 1t
IS small wonder, then, that the whites knew
and understood the needs of unity.
The political demarcation was color line,
pure and simple. Democracy meant white
supremacy; Repuhlicanism meant the rule OF
the African and arpetbagger, and native
scalawag. the most despised Of the threo.
The newly emancipated white man, who
stood erect in the consciousness OF being
ouce more citizens of South Carolina, aud
freeman as far as the State was concerned,
followed the leaders who had led in the fight
for that emancipation with almost blind idol
airy These leaders at once became almost
omnipotent in State politics: and the para
mount thought in the minds Of everyone was
how to retain control Of the State govern
ment
Prior to the war there had been little or
no division along party lines IN the State.
i, was said that when Calhoun took snuff,
the State sneezed:" and hero worship has
always been leading characteristic Of our
people. The lack of familiarity with partl-
san or party politics and the tota! lack OF
familiarity with the machinery for controlI-
ing and directing party politics were great
drawbacks In fact, the people knew almost
nothing about such things. The four years
ofwar and the eight years Of reconstruction,
during which there was paralysis OF citizen
ship had bred q tocpor which made 1t easy
for the old acistoc-atic families and those 10
alliance with them to resume control, and
the necessities Of the political situation, the
enforced white unity, made 1t easy to con-
t;nue that control.
Tho constitution had been changed, the
power vested in the people, but the condi-
iions were not favorable for its exercise.
Party nominations were made N convention
II mean as 10 State officers and Congress
men, and in many counties for all officers
from 1876 to 1890. From 1876 to 1880 there
were no causes of complimentary white
mau was satisfied with the management OF
affairs and everyone set about actively re-
building the State and advancing his indi-
vidual Interests. But in 1850 the poison
began TO work Ring rule is an cneTitable
growth where only one party exists. The
conventions were manipulated as they usu-
ally are by court house rings, and these
worked under the direction Of a statehouse
ring
While there were mutterings Of discomfort
which constantly grew il intensity with the
management Of local or State affairs and
with the way 10 which the people were ls-
nored in parceling out the offices, the thought
of "independentism division among the
whites was abhorent 10 every good CaroIl-
nian The nomination by the party conven-
tons was equivalent 10 e!cction, and he was
regarded as public enemy who dared to
RAISE his voice ii criticism or objection. One
or two spasmoiic efforts TO overthrow ring
rule were made il the Tountain counties,
where there was maj Jority OF white voters
and where the peop.c had not suffered so
much as in the negro counties, but the lead.
ers denounced all such efforts as unpa'riotic
and declared that ian independent wss
worse than radical, and, with the mem.
cry Of their expressions ranking in their
minds, the people re-echoed the sentiment
and acted upon it. Thus We're the conditions
produced and the mine laid for the explosion
which came in 1890
The ante5ellum conditions were ent rely
changed. The large fortunes Of the old slave
owners had been destroyed by the results
of the war and with them had been de-
stroyed, IL large measure, class distlnc
tiOns. The Confederate soldiers while fight
ing had also been going to school. There
was a quickened intelligence and more
thorough understanding of the correct prln-
ciples of government, and the demand for
popular government and equality ofprivilese
made rapid growth 1t was seen that GER
tain coteri. ot politicians were running
things il the interest OF themselves, their
kindred, and friends, and the people were
growing tired Of the inevitable answer TO
any of their complaints, "Hush, or you will
split the Democratic party.
The agitation which led TO the revolution
or explosion had begun in 1886, and it had
taken four years Of discussion ana of agita,
ton after six years Of dissatisfaction ever on
the increase to prepare the minds ofthe peo-
pie and TO organize them to overthrow the
oligarchy which had fallen heir 10 the power
TO the old antebellum aristocray. The State
was ruled during these ten years absolutely
By the two cities of Columbia and Charleston;
aod as they did this through their allies iiy-
ing in the othertowns Of the State, the agita-
ton for reform had assumed the complexion
of an agricultural movement, in which the
farmers or country people were embattled
against the cities and towns. 1t was not
q n orro~:,r rnnvnner,t IN onv SanCa of the