The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1902-05-06

&46G0O@ law
That was the uniform. He rode
about the State with anywhere from
two to six thousand red shirt men
behind him. Forbidden to form or
ganizations-Grant was President
and issued a special proclamation on
the subject-they formed mounted
baseball clubs and Young Mems
Christian Associations on horseback
and rode forth, merrlly defiant OF
the law and the Constitution, the
United States Government and the
consequences; carrying Winchester
rifles for bats and enormous revolv-
ers to represent hymn, books.
There was shooting and fighting
and rioting, of our Occasionally
q squadron of this red shirt cavalry
would p~reoipitate itself into a Re-
publican open air meeting with gen.
orally disastrous and confusing
consequences. Ballot-boxes we're
smashed and burned and shot up
and spoiled when their results we're
not satisfactory. The white men
used the facilities the law gave for
repeating by riding from one end of
a county to the other and voting at
every precinct in squads of a hun
dred or more-and everything that
could get a thigh grip on a horse was
in the saddle and voting that seventh
of November, 1875, from twelve
years old to ninety.
Nobody ever did know, o. ever
will know, how that election really
resulted or who would have been
elected with a fair count. In the
lower counties where the negroes
were ten and twenty TO one they
took the same tactics-voted women
and boys in droves and chased the
Democratic negroes and some white
people from the polls. Undoubtedly
there were a number of colored
Democratic votes gotes got in one
way or another. General Hampton
always firmly believed that he was
elected on q full and fair count.
Then came the troops and the
Federal Government and a trying
six months in which both Chamber.
lain and Hampton were claiming to be
Governor and two Legislatures sat in
the same hall for q time and there
was prospect every minute of a des-
perate fight among armed men in a
looked hall with the troops TO come
in and settle it against the whites.
Hampton's leadership was superb
He had TO keep within bounds 80, 900
armed and desperate white men of
his own following on one side, TO
hold the Federal Administration off
on the other side, to meet the per-
plexities of a dual government in the
State. From November TO March
these conditions continued. He
never lost his head an instant. He
made no mistakes. He dared Grant,
he held his grip on Chamberlsin's
throat, he kept order among his
own furious people, he prevented
negro uprisings, he worked diplo.
macy with the National Democratic
leaders who we're trying to seat Til
den as President in the face of the
returns. Of course he had advisers
and supporters and the solid, loving,
dauntless masses of the white people
of his State with him, but the fact
remained that no man on earth but
him could have done what he did.
His personality, his dash, his oour,
age, his invincible common sense
were all in service and they made
South Carolina a State instead of a
province. Her people oar never
build for Wade Hampton q non
ment high enough to express what
he did for them or what they and
their country owe him.
Perfectly cool, entirely loyal, there
was no chance too desperate for him
to take in following out the line he
had marked out for himself. He had
made up his mind that the people of
his State were determined that they
would submit to no more radical
government, such as had robbed
them of millions of dollars every
year and oppressed and degraded
them unspeakably. He deliberately
determined that South Carolina
would fight the United States single
handed if it was necessary to hold
her clear of radical rule and that he