Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1900-05-24

AZ they were not in many instances.
The people were wrought up to such
pitch Of desperation that life was
not worth having upon the condi-
tons which existed. 1t was openly
declared to be the purpose to have a
white m ans government or mill
tary government, and in those coun.
ties where the troops were stationed
the Democratic majority was great
est. At the election Hampton had
most votes and was declared elected;
but Grant sustained Chamberlain's
claim, and the troops held the State
House from the first week in Deccm-
Der until after Hayes was inaugu-
rated in March, following.
There was dual government and
a dual legislature but IIampton's
goycrnmc alone received any
money from the taxpayers, and the
settlement of Ilaycs's title to the
Presidency by the Electoral Com
mission carried with it the agree
ment to Withdraw the troops. Then
the carpct-bag government collapsed
in night, and each thief who could
get away hurricdly left the State.
The work Of rehabilitation and res
toration was slow. The States
credit was for the time ruined but
with labor and patience order soon
came out Of chaos, the debt was re-
funded, and all legal obligations met !;
honest Judges took the place of
bribc- takers who had disgraccd the
bench. There were 80 many indict-
mcnts in the State Courts against
the county officers, legislators, and
other Republicans, that by arrests
and designations nearly all the Offices
were soon in the hands of decent
white men. There were hundreds
of indictments in the United States
Courts for riot, murder, intimida-
tlon, etc, and finally an understand
ing was reached that the whites
would make an exchange Of prison
cs, so to speak, and all prosecutions
on both sides were dropped
In the campaign of 1873 there
was a more or less determined effort
ON the part of the negroes to regain
their lost power but the whites
swept everything by the same meth
ods used in 1876 in a modified de-
gree. 1t did not require such Lras-
tIc measures TO hoid the State as it.
had to capture it. In 1880 the ne
grocs made feeble spasmodc at
tempt, and then with the enactment
OF a registration law and the "Eipht
box law" which was a modified
form Of educational qualification, all
organized efforts to overthrow the
white or Democratic party ceased
and from that time until 1893, when
the new Constitution requiring an
educational qualification for suffrage
was adopted, the negro vote ceased
to be factor in South Carolina pol
itics. Very many Of them never
took she trouble to go to the polls ut
all, and when they did 60 it made
no difference. Iii 1876 the whites
had voted, along with the negroes,
Tor constitutional tw0-mills school
tax. In 1898 the convention, com
posed l54 whites and six negroes,
increased this to three mills. South
Carolina now leads the South i'm cd
ucation and manufactures. Its
credit is such that its lI per cent
bonds are at l2O. Its negro popu-
lallon ls as happy and contcntcd and
as prosperous as that in any other
State in the Union.
The suppression of the colorcd
vote, first by force and fraud and
later by constitutional methods, has
been the subject Of much adverse
criticism by those who knew nothing
about the horrors Of carpct-bau
rule; but those who participated in
the struggle to wrcst the State from
the band OF robbers who had used
the lgno"ant and dcbascd negro vote
to waste our substance and destroy
our civilization, have no apologies TO
make, and will leave to the Impair
tal historian Of the future the uucs-
ton as to whether the end justified
the means. The people Of South
Carolina do not doubt what the vcr
dict will be, neither do they care.
BENJAMIN Il. TuIMAh.
Scnor Silvcla, Spf - premier,
will ask his country II. great
sacrifice to build n new navy.