The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1901-03-15
& "a y r PLAIN 4 4 RECITAL OF FACTS

5ssS hose Guilty OF False
imprisonment and
33 OF BarbaritY.
The special committee Of the Ander-
& son County, Grand Jury appointed by
gs.J udge B6net to Investigate certain
charges againHt large land owners in
3 that county made its report last Thurs
day to tho court. s I. 5
The committee says that in tho case
of Magistrate j. j Gilmor wo find that
4 for somo time past ho has been in the
B habit OF issuing warrants and causing
4 arrests and fre quently committing ao-
4 oused persons to Jail without cvor ontor-
IL Ing tho case upon his docket. This is
Z especially true whore the easos have
been compromised aftor tho arrests
3 were mado. We find that from Sept
I6, 1899, to Jan. 12, 1901, no made
n payment to the county treasurer of a
5 number Of fnos and itoms Of costs col
/ looted by him, but that during that timo
ho collected through tho ehoriff's off 80
alone S34 80, which properly belongs
to the county and failed TO pay thom
! over to the county trt asuTSr as required
by law. He also oollo ,ted $l8 80, which
ho failed to turn over.
We find that Feb. 10, 1901, after this
4 investigation WAS begun, tho said j. j !.
! dilmor paid to tho county treasurer the
+ rum Of $500 to cover these amounts.
While wo have not been permitted, for
the lack Of time, to mako a full inves
tigation Of all the irregularities Of this
ofice, We are convinced ho has been
A guilty OF tho grossost Irregularities,
3 and. we would suggest that q complete
z investigation Of his books and accounts
h should no had and that he should be
J presented for misapnropriation Of the
SO collected by him.
THE FATE OF MILEHULL
Regarding tho arrest of tho Negro
Will Hull, which you wcro dire ctod by
the court to investigate, wo find that
d Q warrant was issued by Magistrate
4 Gilmor for the arrest Of this Negro
upon an affidavit Of A. L. Newoll,
charging him for violation Of labor
$ contract, and that w. s. Newell, a
brother of the prosecutor, was dopu-
tized by tho Magistrate to serve said
warrant; that tho constable 80 dopu
tized requested tho deputy ehoriff, j.
IA "A. Dillingham;, to 60 along with him
S and assist in making the said arrest
4 4 4 and representing that said Hull would
4 probably create trouble whom arrested
& and that the assistance of tho deputy
B sheriff would be needed.
,.IEhe arrest wes mado on Friday night
Sssnu Slo oaIo wac brought to Andnrsc.
8 on tho same night. The deputy fheriff
q d RySYgested that tho prisoner be taken to
iJail, but the Negro said that he would
prefer. to go on. with w. 8. Newell, and
that MIR. Nowell informed the deputy
\ that tho magistrate had instructed him
that he should carry tho prisoner on
home with him.
Subsequently tho magistrate was in
Il formed by tho prosecutor that tho oaso
mad been compromised and that the
Negro had agreed to ptay with him and
S work out his contract Tho rest Of the
facts woro brought out in open court.
We exonerate tho deputy sheriff from
all blame in the matter.
The principal work Of this commit
toe has been the investigation Of the
4 stookades Of the county and the abuses
I OF laborers under tyrannous contracts
3 that has grown out of the farming 9ut
OF oonviot1 and the working Of free
laborora with them. We have taken
the testimony Of moro than SO pc, sons
that Of tho landlords. thoir overs oors
and guards, together with iAyge
Z number OF laborers and fow othsr
citizens. In these investigation vo
have been treated with every courtesy
and gonerally we have found no dispo
sition to obstruot our work upou tho
/ part Of those whose farms and stock.
ades we visited.
a most careful inquiry failed to 70.
veal that any gonoral abuse of tho la
/. boring GLASS exists in this county, 80
that our work soon narrowed down to
those. places whore stockados existed
and free laborors were employed. Wo
visited the farms Of j. Bolton Watson,
Y a. q. Newell, P. B. Allon, j. r. Miller,
elias MoGee, w. @ Hammond and j.
u 8. Fowler.
THESE EXONERATED.
Wo were unable to find any abuses
& at tho farm of j. B. Watson. Ho has
& stockado and works FREQ laborers also,
1 but we found no tvidonoo that froo la
borers were put in tho rtoekadcs and
worked in line with tho conviots. or
subjected to any illegal restraint or
n abuse.
The same thing was truo at tho farm
.+of 7, B. Allen. We found that he had
taken two contracts in which tho la.
& borers agreed to work under gu ard and
bo looked up at night. but his own oy.
fdepce and that Of all tho laborcrs so
fer as no could ascertain, was that
these provisions had nevor boon on
q forced.
.g# A. T. Newell works State conviots
and has stookade, but no has worked
no free laborors along with tho con.
& victs recently, whom ho has taken two
contracts Of that sort. Ono of those
was the case Of tho unfortunate Negro
Will Hull, who wos killed by WIS
Nowoll o few weeks ago and whose
case 10 referred to above.
"FREE LABoRl' VI
y. X. Miller formerly worked con-
I y yiots, but they woro taken away by tho
State, and ho now employs only "froo''
labor, IL indeed we may uso tho word
9 treo to deaoribo those ]aborers who
u have signed his contracts and subj ectcd
themselves to tho conditions existing
3 on his farm. Ho has stookado which
was originally built FOR hia State onn.