The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-03-13

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&c force all lawful contracts. and th
Is negroes should not make the mistal
l. OF believing the investigation mear
. mat all contracts were void.
laklnS up the presCntment, judo
} Bcnet read the names mentioned an
SAD that some of them at least Ia
peen prosecuted for false imprisO,
, meht, willie others were liable i'm dam
:, ages civilly as well as for criminal prc
y secutlon. The solicitor, he sad, wi
, 90 ms duty, and it will be left TO th
pctlt jurors to do theirs. Good worI
iiad already been done, and the evil |
almost stamped out; public scntimer
Is practically solid against the system
III winch only a few men have partlci
patcd.
. Judge Benct declared that the prc
sentiment brought pitiful details. g f
told OF illegal arrests and imprison
ment, OF cruel whipping, of prolonged
imprisonment without even the farce
OF trial, Of kidnapping negroes from
other counties, and even from Georgia
OF tear to give testimony, refusal To
testify, and, most pitiful of all, of roor
negroes processing TO being satisfied
and contcnted.n
Ills honor warned the Jurors that
they must not divulge any of the testi-
mohy, which he turned over 10 The clerk
OF court and ordered him not to make
IL puDlc. The presentment he turned
over TO the solicitor for his helm and
guidance i'll preparing the cases.
lie then referred to the iury's re-
| marks tn thn
TEN, and said he was clad the Jurors
concurred with him. The Legislature
mad already taken steps to stop this
system. "There is no likelihood that
thls stockadc slavery, with its sbacklCs.
'whlppinSs and armed guards will ever
be seen again in this or any other
county" In closing, Judge BcncL
said
thank you, gentlemen, most sim
cerely for the excellent work YOU have
done. South Carolina thanks Won
Anderson County especially Will thank
you Tor having relieved her of this
shameful burden and freed her good
name from the stigma that a few of
hcr mlsauide citizens placed on it.
our county has cause to be proud of
her grand jury. You certainly have
amply Justified The confidence | re-
posed IN you when | ordered you to
make this investigations
Al the conclusion Of his honor's re-
marks the jury was dismissed, and the
court proceeded with other business.
The crowd filed out of the court room
ami the men gathered in groups on the
streets TO discuss the affair.
1t is undeniablc that the revelations
OF the last few weeks have created a
serious situation III Anderson County.
III Is also true that there are two sides
TO the question which the situation
presents. AS shown so clearly by the
prescntmcnt, there has been in Justice
and cruelty practlccd upon ignc rant, if
not innocent, negroes. The practical
enslavement, the cruel whipping, the
illegal imprisonment of neglocs does
not meet with undcservcd defence from
any quarter. Those who excuse the |
contractors do SO by saying that the |
system has been carried too far They |
present the other side, which is that |
some negroes as lab0rcrs cannot be |
except by show of force
and power; that some negroes were |
taken from Jail under promise to work
according TO the now famous contract;
that they were in many cases well |
treated and cOntcnted-better OF than |
they would have been under other cir |
cumstanccs.
Today heard good men, as good as
there are anywhere, express this view.
They dcprccatc abuses and agree tlat
cruelty and illegality must be stopped,
but they say that the men who started
the system intended no harm, and
would have done none. They point
out that Jud" Fowler, " Press "
Allen and COUNT Hammond, the
three largest farmers concerned, are
all good citizens, reliable business men,
lacking in crl"lty or inhumanc in
stncts. You could search Anderson
County over and not find another three
men more influential than Fowler,
Hammond and Allen.
Knowing this fact, one can realize
the bravery, the devotion to duty
which prompted jury of eighteen
men to make such prcsenlmcnt as
was handed in. 1t is courageous
paper, and the grand jury is deserving
of all honor for 1t. 1t is only fair to
state that the prcsentmcnt was written
by Capt. II. III. Watkins, of the law firm
of Bonham ~ Watkins. The facts
were gathered by committee of Jurors
consisting of Foreman r.. a. Sullivan,
j. B. Lcverctt folmcrly representa-
tivc), }. $. McFall, j. II. Milford ana
E. b. Hall. Foreman Sullivan is a
substantial farmer of thc H Fork
section," and of the eighteen there are
| fourteen farmers, men who know the
conditions with which they were deal
ing.
The effect of the paper will be to
abolish the system. There can be no
doubt about that. 1t has been aban-
doned already by some of the farmers
who practiced it, and it will go out of
existence altogether very soon. Solici-
tor Boggs has the papers and the cvi.
dcnce, and what he will do no one
knows, for julie Boggs is essentially
conservative. He will say nothing
except that the matter will not b,
brought up again in court until the
June term.
The rehas been another, an unintcn-
tional, effect of the agitation. The
negroes have conceived that because
: Judge Bcnct declared these stockad,
contracts illegal, all labor contracts ar,
, void. The result has been more o
q less general decentralization of ncur