Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-10-27

the remnant Of their property left BY
the war and give 1t to the negroes and
camp followers of the army was in
troduced in the house Of Representa-
tives by Thaddeus Stevens, the res
ponsible leader Of the government, and
boldly championed by this great mar
with the audacity Of genius and the
faith of fanatic.
The negro had been made the ruler
Of his former master who was disfran-
chised and disarmed. The hand Of the
thief and ruffian clutched at every
mans throat. The negro controlled
the state, county. city and town gov
ernments. Their insolence grew apace
Their women were taught to insult
their old mistresses and mock their
poverty as they passed in their faded
dresses. A black driver in town near
mine, struck a white child Of six with
a whip, and when the mother pro-
tested she was arrested by a negro po-
liceman and fined ten dollars by ne
gro magistrate for insulting a freed
man! :,
Thieves looted the treasury of every
state and county. and taxes mounted
until as many as $500 homesteads OF
white men, many Of whom could not
vote, were sold for taxes in a single
county. .....
The negro and his ally the carpet
bag adventurer had attained undis-
puted control of society through the
secret oath-bound order known as
1.-The Union League"
The white people of the south at first
secuted the idea that the negroes, who
had been faithful through the war
could now be used as their deadliest
foes In the new order Of society. Blu:
for the signs, grip. passwords. the
mysterious blue flaming altar Of 1.-THE
Union League" the whites could have
held the friendship Of their former
slaves AS a rule the ties which bound
them were based on real affection. But
the League did its work we'll. BY
promises to the slaves Of forty acres of
the land of their former masters link
ed with the widest theories Of equal
ity and dominion over those who once
ruled them, by drill in arms and the
backing Of trained garrisons, a gulf
between the white man Of the south
and the negro was dug which time can
never bridge. It's passions have be-
come part of the very heart beat of
both races.
The Union League Of America was
organized in Cleveland, Ohio, during
the war by the friends Of Thaddeus
Stevens, the Radical leader Of con-
gress. It's prime object was the confis-
cation Of the property Of the south.
The chief obstacle to the program was
Abraham Lincoln. Hence the first
work Of the League was to form con-
spiracy to destroy Lincoln and prevent
his denomination for a second term.
They accordingly nominated John C.
Fremont for president before the con-
vention met in Baltimore to name Lin
coins successor. and boldly proclaimed
war to the knife against the president.
They figured on Fremont's prestige as
the first formidable candidate Of their
party. his record as a pathfinder and
his grievances against the adninistra-
ton. but they forgot that he was
born In South Carolina. Fremont him.
self gave the League a mortal blow In
its first political program by boldly
repudiating their platform Of venge-
ance and confiscation. They then turn
ed on their own candidate, cursed him
as fool. and helped nominate and
elect Lincoln as the lesser Of two evils
Upon the assassination Of the presi-
dent, Thaddeus Stevens suddenly be-
came dictator Of the nation. and the
Union League grew rapidly into a
restless power. Within two years al
most every negro in the south had been
admitted to membership, drilled in Its
anarchistic program and In the man
ual of arms.
When the time was ripe, Mr.. Stew
ems, In 1867, destroyed the state gov
ernments in the south which had been
established by President Johnson, per-
mitting the former slave to vote to en-
franchise himself and disfranchise his
master at the same election. He d.
vided the territory from the James to
the Rio Grande into five military sat-
rapies and sent the armies back into
the south to enforce compliance with
negro rule. In short he placed a ballot
in the hands of every negro and bay
onet at the breast Of every white
man.
The south felt that no people had
ever been so basely betrayed or so
wantonly humiliated.
Judge Albion w. Tourgee, author OF
"A Fools Errand." which is the car
pet-bagger's story Of the Klan, pays
tribute in this book to the organizers
of the Invisible Empire" which is
very remarkable, when we remember
that he was writing Of enemies who
had on more than one occasion sought
his life.
He says: Such however, was the
indomitable spirit Of the southern
people that they scorned to yield to
to what they deemed oppression, pro-
testing with indignation. denouncing
with rage and fiercely submitting al
most with tears. No conquered foe
ever passed under the yoke, which they
conceived to mean servitude and In
fanny with more unwilling step or
more deeply muttered curses. The Ku
Klux Order was daring conception
for a conquered people. Only a race
of warlike instincts and regal pride
could have conceived or executed IT.
Men, women and children must have
and be worthy Of implicit mutual trust
They must be trusted with the secrets
Of life and death without reserve and
without fear. It was magnificent
conception and in a sense deserved
success. It differed from all other at
tempts at revolution in the caution and
skill with which 1t required to be con-
Quoted. It was movement made ir
the face Of the enemy, and an enemy
Of overwhelming strength. Should II
.A h-tl1 tnr