The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-08
ABUSES IN THE STOCKADEs.
The Anderson County, $. c., Grand
Jury's startling Report,

| htport.
| ANDERSON, $. c.. March 7.-After
reading the secret evidence that accom-
panied the startling report of the grand
jury today. Judge Benet said: 1T con-
tains pitiful details. to stories of long i'm
prisonment. without even the mockery of
a trial. whippings. kidnapings from other
counties. and even from Georgia The
| most pitiful is the testimony of some ne
Sroes pretending to be satisfied with their
condition.
After three sveeks of work the grand
Jury made its report. the court room be-
| ing denseiy packed with whites and
| racks. Their findings showed that the
shocking conditions alleged to have ex-
| isteo In this county did in fact. exist at
| the time the j:dge ordered the investie1-
tion The extent of the lawiess contract
| system was not great. so far as the rYan1
| Jury could find, but twenty farmers and
their overseers so employed negroes AMI
| these were all presented. They will be in
dicted and tried at the June term of
court. the officers of this court having to
he in another county on Monday.
The grand jury's report deals in detail
with cases in half dozen stockades,
some of them employing convicts with
contract labor. while at two only free"
Gee. w. o. hammond. and J. s. Fowler
are the proprietors of the four planta-
tions or which the worst abuses were
found to exist. These men had guards
and overseers
The first two had no convicts hired from
the State. but they conducted- regular
convict camps and treated their labor
ers exactly like convicts. AT all of them
the free" laborers Were whipped, and the
jury found where several had been beaten
severely and cruelty one man being
given one hundred lashes at one time.
Besides being guarded. they were locked
UP at Eight and on Sundays and wore
ball and chain at all times. The case of
Warren Sloan presents features of kid
mapping He was arrested in Pickens
County by J. r. Miller and another white
man with a warrant, taken to bIillers
stockade. and worked there till this in
vestigation began. John Clink Scales
seems to have been transferred for a
consideration by Elias MCGEE to ]. o.
Hammond.
lie was arrested by MCGEE on the
charge of stealing corn, handcufed and
turned over to hammond, who sent him
to work in mis- stockade. j. A. Rice. a
negro. described weakminded, was ar
rested by an agent of hammond in
Georgia and was brought here on the
charge of being an escaped convict. 1t
was proved on arrival that he was the
wrong man but he was held in the stock
AIDE till he signed d contract and had been
Kept imprisoned for months.
A batch OF young negroes arrested last
fall for playing craps were taken out of
Jail by Fowler, who gave bonds for them
and worked them on his stockade until
the investigation began, when he returned
them to the sheriff.
The grand jury found a man crippled
with rheumatism. His disability. he as
serted. had been caused from being forced
to work in ice cold water waist deep
Several guards are specially reported for
shooting at free laborers and cruelty
the system of compromising cases one of |
the chief abuses of the law that has
made this contract system possible The !
report says:
ABUSES will grow up till the criminal |
courts are degraded into machines Tor |
private gain and often for extortion and |
oppression In our Judgment it should be /
a crime to compromise for private gain |
Any case after indictment is found.
Nor can we condemn too severely that |
other fruitful source, in fact the origin of
the abuses herein reported, the leasing out
of convicts to work on private farms
Evils already detailed are too eloquent to
neceSsitate a discussion to prove this.
Such u system should not be tolerated |
after its results have been exposed, as in |
this county.
This investigation has been brought
about because of the oppression and abuse
of men who were too poor, too friendless.
too ignorant. and often too degraded to
act for themselves, but who are, never
theless. entitled to the full protection of |
the law and who because of their weak
ness have peculiar claim to our protec-
ton
Judge Benet told the jury their present
ment gave him profound satisfaction.
They had done their duty fearlessly, fair
". and thoroughly. He deprecated at
temptS to make this a race or political |
question. Such ill-advised criticism rs
had been made by our Northern friends
does harm. 1t never did the negro any |
linen to wash she will not put 1t through |
a Federal laundry. We are competent |
to enforce the law and do our duty with
out the aid of Congressional busybodies.
editors, or anyone else from beyond the
borders of the State"
He thanked the jury in the name of
South Carolina and of Anderson County.
and would thank them for wiping out the
stain put upon her by few misguided
The Illegal contract system, he
was already dead It could not
stand exposure
The DaperS were turned over to the
solicitor. with instructions to prepare in
iictments against all the men presented.
fudge Benet said 1t remained for the petit |
uries to do their duty. The evidence
showed that the men presented were
guilty of false imprisonment and assault
md battery. and they were also liable to |
suit for damages by all those persons
who had been ill-used and Illegally de- |
aimed.