Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1901-03-13
JUDGE BEnEr GIVES AN INTERVIEW
Anent tho North Americans Statements a.
to the Action oi lhe Anderson Grand Jury. I.

JuuRo Benot WAS seen at his room at
the hotol last night after the adjourn
ment Of court and kindly consented to
be Interviewed as to the statement Of
the North American in reference to the
report and presentment of the grand
jury. The interview is as follows:
Editor-"Ifayo you seen The North
American OF yesterday, Friday, March
81" g..
Judge Benet-"Yes, / have looked
over it and have seen it's sensational
pictures and Its misleading headlines
and scareheads about the presentment
of the Anderson grand jury and the
stockade scandal.''
slow do they impress your"
"Well, they very clearly show that
The North American is incorrigible. In
spite of what the grand jury said that
paper still poses as tho great champion
Of the negro and claims tho credit Of all
the good that has been done. Here is
one scare head In typo half inch tall
North American Charges Sustained ?
Here is another-'The North Americana 8
Expose of Slavery Upheld by South
Carolina Grand Jury That paper
knows that those statements are not
true. That paper made many charges
which the grand jury's presentment
either contradicts or says nothing about.
For instance the charge that at least a
thousand negroes were held in contract
slavery in Anderson county. That is
contradicted That paper told it's
readers that tho slavery system was vir-
tually rc-cstabished in this State. Tho
grand jury shows that only somo 20 mon
in the county had been directly or indi-
rcctly engaged In it.
81 might refer to other instances.
But what's houscp The North American
docs not want the truth of the matter.
1t is determined to occupy the position
of tho champion of the negro, the new
libcrator, n sort of miniature Abraham
Lincoln. And yet it knows that the
grand jury work of breaking up this
deplorable contract slavery was begun,
continued and ended here in Anderson
county without any, the slightest out
side help.
ut does not even inform it's readers
that the grand jury stated in their pre-.
sentiment that they had refraincd from
reading tho newspapers during their in.
vestigation-a very wise thing for tlieni
to do-so as to do their duty uninflu.
enced by any undue excitement. The
consequence is that the readers of that
paper arc kept in the dark and not per-
mittcd to know the truth-that all this
investigation with all it's happy results
is entirely duo to tho white men of this
country and South Carolina. Several
letters in thisvery paper under the title
Northern Negroes Plead for their
Southern Brethren in Slavery prove
how successfully those readers are kept
in ignorance Of tho real facts. Not one
of them shows that thoy have even
heard of tho work that South Carolina
white mon and South Carolina news.
papers have done. All is ascribed tc
The North American. Fair play is q
jewel, and that paper should, in n matter
as serious as this, play fair. But sup.
pose it cannot afford to lot it's Ropubli
can and negro readers know tho truth
All this shows how much truth there is
in the statement of President Mckinley
in his inaugural address that sectional
l e i.