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Valuable Paper on Edgefield County in 1876^by Mr. Francis Simkins. (Continued from first page.) 1868 and attorney general under the retiring gov?rnor. Combined with his high gift of oratory and excellent education was a supreme faith in the efficacy of negro enfranchisement and willingness to compromise with realities in South Carolina. With such qualities political rise was easy. When he came into office with words of reform on ,his lips, black and white Republican corruptionists smiled, and Democrats mourned, for all were familiar with the habit of po licitians of even the Moses stamp, making promises that they had no idea of redeeming. Chamberlain rest ed under the shadow of some of the corrupt transactions of the Moses re gime; he had as his colleagues in of fice the same corrupt crew of adven turers; worst of all, the native mem bers of his race, he was an alien ad venturer with a New Englander's be lief in the salvation of the negro through an impartial application of the principals of the Declaration of Independence. Had South Carolina Democrats in 1874 had any faith in his words, so hopeless were their pros pects of victory, it is not probable that they would have offered any op position to his candidacy. Yet in spite of all handicaps, Cham berlain was true to his words; all his efforts, with partial success, were bent towards the accomplishment of reform. He recommended to his "black and tan" legislature the sol emn duty of reducing public expen ditures to their lowest level; of ad ministering the public funds honest ly in the public interest; and of elect ing competent public officials. Every subsequent utterance was but a com mentary on the foregoing concrete statement of abuse; every subsequent act so far as not handicapped by practical political expediency and his own vicious colleagues in govern-? ment, was but a vindication of the plighted word. For the details of the reforms accomplished-the reduction -of expenditures, the effective vetoes and lashing messages-I refer you to a more extended article of mine* and to the Acts of South Carolina, 1875 and 1876. Yet the reforms that Chamberlain attemped to accomplish were largely frustrated by the legislature domi nated as it were by the hardly less forceful and brilliant black speaker, R. B. Elliott. This legislature was as corrupt as its immediate predeces sors and only less evil because a will more determined was able at times to bring it to its senses. Good natur edly some corrupt scheme would be passed amii an outburst of African oratory, only to be nullified by the dramatic appearance of the governor before a committee or a dashing mes sage or an effective veto. The high water mark of the un blushing abandon of public interest was reached by this legislature, in the absence of the governor, in the election of ex-governor and W. J. Whipper, two self-confessed corrup tionists and defaulters to the judicial seats once held by O'Neal and Ward law on "black Thursday," December 16, 1875. Only the Democratic mi nority voted against them. 'Civiliza tion is at stake in some -of the de based democracies of the South," was a Northern opinion. The governor in a firm outburst of moral passion, hav ing as his pretext a flimsy technical ity of the law, refused to commission these men as judges. The legislature repented and Whipper's abusive speech against Chamberlain was ex punged from the journal. In openly denouncing the rascal ity of those who had put him in of fice, Chamberlain came dangerously near bringing about his own political doom, finding himself the despised ruler of a state divided into two hos tile racial factions. A mass meeting in Charleston called him "a traitor trying to sell out for social recogni tion." An agitation was started for . the founding of a newspaper to push the candidacy of Judge R. B. Car penter for governor. The Republicans of Charleston divided into two con ventions. Yet the white people of South Car olina ever anxious to catch some straw of political salvation, with the exception of Edgefield, flew to the rescue of the man attempting to save the civilization of the Puritan and Cavalier. This change of attitude on the part of the whites into that of open friendship for Chamberlain was first openly manifested at a meet ing held in Hibernian Hall, Charles ton, December 27, 1875, at which res olutions were passed condemning the legislature for the election of Whip- i per and Moses and commending Gov ernor Chamberlain for "his maniy ( and patriotic efforts for reform and J j ?South Atlantic Quarterly, Octo- ' J>er, 1921 and January, 1922. ] 4% the preservation of law and ordei The prime mover of this pro-Cha berlain agitation was Captain F. 1 Dawson, editor of the conservati daily, the News and Courier. Daws from this time until the second Den eratic Convention used all the em gies of a resourceful publicist to cc struct a master defense of his son time idol, Chamberlain. Curious once the Democratic party, to whi he was always in spirit loyal, adopt a policy contrary to that which he i vocated. With equal zest he spent t remainder of the time of the ca paign of 1876 in tearing down the i guments that he had advanced in s port of Chamberlain. In using t governor as a wedge through whi Republicans might be made refor ers, Dawson and his coadjutor, Ge eral James Conner, received the e thusiastic backing of the articula majority of white opinion. The fi! of the News and Courier contain ceaseless number of resolutions e dorsing Chamberlain from' aime every county of the state exce Edgefield. I shall not take time read them as I have gleaned the from the files of the News and Cou ier. Important in consequence of tl new stand of Chamberlain and tl Democrats, was the changing atl tude of the Northern opinion as i lustrated by the Northern press, e: cepting Grant's Journal, the Was! ington National Republican. The Bo ton Weekly, the Springfield Repu Hean, all joined the chorus again Whipper and Moses, and in commei dation of Chamberlain and the Soul Carolina whites. Briefly summarized the argument advanced by Dawson in favor of coa ition were: First, the positive ev dence of Chamberlain's reforms ? advanced in the editorial columns c the News and Courier. Second, th apparent helplessness of recor.cilin Northern opinion on any basis othe that .a plan through which fifteen o twenty thousand of the estimate black majority could be converted t vote for a reformer. Third, the ma chinery of election was in the hand of Chamberlain's radical board o canvassers, Federal troops and Unite States deputy marshals, who, it wa believed, stood ready to intimid?t all whites. . Yet there was a determined minor ity of the Democratic party bent oi complete Democratic success or com plete failure. To them all Republican bidding for the negro vote looked tb same. They put Chamberlain in th' same class as Moses. The rule o property and white skin came first reform second. They believed that tb Anglo-Saxon could rule regardless o the black majority by dint of super ior intelligence and powers of initia tive and the negroes' inherited ten dency to submit. By strong armei tactics and brave words the negri could be made to vote Democrats or stay away from the polls. Northen public opinion, slowly reverting fron the abnormal war enthusiasm to th( traditional Anglo-Saxon contempt foi the colored race, could be placated bi specious words. This movement, known as thc Straight-Out-Movement naturally hac its origin in the upper counties of the state where the smaller black majori ty was less likely to bring despair of success. The first determined move against the policy of Dawson was the refusal of a white mass meeting held in Edgefield Court House, January 6, 1878, to endorse Chamberlain along with the usual condemnation of Whipper and Moses. General M. C. Butler, Colonel H. D. Capers and J. C. Sheppard, there voiced their oppo sition to compromise and the desire that the policy of the Democratic Party be determined by convention instead of public expression. This meeting was followed by a like meet ing in Aiken county. The Edgefield Advertiser called for a "local ticket as straight as a gun-barrel." This was followed by equally determined statements from such papers as the Abbeville Medium, the Rock Hill Grange, and Greenville News. An derson, the first county to complete Democratic organization, favored no further attempts to compromise with the Republicans. Such was the voice of a considerable element of upper South Carolina. Evidently there was to be a clash on the floor of the con vention of the Democratic Party, called to meet in Columbia, May 5, by the executive committee for the purpose of settling differences and sending delegates to the national con vention. Accordingly the State Democratic Convention met. in Columbia. Its ros ter was composed of names identified with the planting and commercial in terests of the state and formally with Confederate and slave history. A no table absence was the future leader Df the party, General Wade Hamp ton. Only two colored men, delegates from Sumter, appeared on the list. Wyatt Aiken, on nomination of M. C. j Butler, was elected chairman. ! The first main clash was part: pated by the introduction by Gene Johnston Hagood of a resolution signed to lay down as the only nu of the convention the election of d egates to the coming St. Louis G vention and the election of an exe tive committee to carry on the w< of the party until a new convent was called. Butler, and Lipscomb, Newberry, tried to frustrate t plan by the introduction of a si stitute plan of action. On the seco day of the convention occurred a i bate between the forces of immedi; action, led by Butler and Mar Bary, and the forces of inaction, ] by the elder statesmen of the c< vention, Kennedy, Kershaw, Mi ning and Conner. Two resolutic were submitted to the executive co mittee. The first of these was Cc ner's Charleston resolution setti forth inaction; the second, a com nation of Lipscomb's Newberry rei lution and Sheppard's Edgefield rei lution, purported to pledge the pai the support of none but Democra After a lengthy session of the co: mittee, Kennedy,-Butler, the cha man dissenting-presented the ni jority report favoring Conner's po cy. Gary immediately introduced substitute resolution providing "th the Democratic party shall non nate none but straight out Democra for state offices." In a passionate a tempt to convert the convention his views the Edgefield orator ? cused the majority of timidity ai the Charleston delegation of conr vance with Chamberlain, "The mi who dares, wins; not he who hol< back," cried the South Carolina Dai ton. Butler, with more moderatic stigmatized those Vho defend? Chamberlain : "The only possible wa to win the state is to nominate a tn: liberal native ticket-and carry tl war into Africa." Gary and Butlc were defeated by a vote of seventy two to forty-two, the policy of pos ponement being victorious. From the May convention until Ai gust a virulent word battle went o between the advocates of the Straigr. Out policy and those in favor o compromise, the radicals (many froi Edgefield) at times becoming so bil ter that the more moderate friend of Democratic union feared a dh ruption of the party. The Edgefiel Advertiser took Chamberlain to tas for a letter rebuking Northern Rc publican extremists. It regarded "al the beautiful resolutions and news paper puffs that South Carolina pee pie hay^ showered on this Chamber lain lately to the end that he migo keep South Carolina surely Republi can." Bacon, its editor, accused tb owners of the News and Courier o being "northerners and Radicals,1 and of having "no more understand ing of the feelings, hopes and aspira tions of the people of South Carolin! than a hog in Heaven." The Green ville News served notice that it woulc break away from the dominant ele ment in the party in case the Straigh Out policy did not prevail. Colone A. C. Haskell denounced the News and Courier as the newspaper "thal had the shameless audacity to clain the fidelity of the people of Soutl Carolina." But towards the middle of summei other and more effective means than newspaper tactics began to be used "by those accustomed to long habits of command and self assertion to strike terror into the hearts of the recently emancipated race, which still exhibits the effects of their long slavery;" and other means began to be used to arouse the apathy of the white race; strong arm tactics began to be used to fan the flame of racial antagonism which, once aroused, would obviously lead to the victory of the race that was stronger in ev ery test except that of the democrat ic ballot. The first of these events, taken ad vantage of to bring about unity of the white race in opposition to Cham berlain and the blacks, was the lynch ing of several negroes in Norris township, Edgefield County, March 7, which was followed by a procla mation from the governor demanding punishment of the lynchers. The Edgefield people bitterly resented the interference of the governor. This was followed by the lynching of sev eral negroes implicated in the mur der of Judson Harmon and his wife at Winterseat, Edgefield County (now Greenwood). The governor's inter ference made the whites very angry. The next serious disturbance was in the Combahee section of Colleton County. There the negro rice-field workors participated in riotous strikes growing out of wage dsiputes. Quiet was not there restored until after the fall harvest. But on July 4, in the Edgefield section of Aiken County occurred an event that was destined to forever estrange from Chamberlain the meas ured support that white South Caro lina had given him. This event was the Hamburg Riot. What was the re sult of the detention of Henry Gert-j Me-o-my, how y< a pipe Before you're a day you want to let the ide; under your hat that is the open season to something with a j( jimmy pipe - and Prince Albert! *. Because, a pipe p; with Prince Albert a man as he was nejM fied before-and ?E satisfied! And,^W prove it! Why - P. flavor and fragrance coolness and its fre the na sen and Thomas Butler by the com pany front parade of the militia com pany of Doc Adams, the subsequent appeal to Trial Justice Prince Rivers and General M. C. Butler, and by the battle, is an old story to you. But for the effect of this action of Edgefield citizens at Hamburg the disturbance would deserve scant mention as like ?yents are too commonplace through out the United States. Chamberlain and his attorney general became en raged. A letter of Chamberlain to the President, Grant, and Grant's re ply indicated that both believed that after civil processes were exhausted the employ of Federal troops would be necessary to suppress "the cam paign of rapine and violence" inaug urated at Hamburg. Chamberlain's words brought from Butler a chal lenge for an investigation of the af fair and the punishment of the guilty. Additional heat was added by the be lated coroner's jury, which had been charged by Attorney General Stone with an investigation of the affair. Seven white men were accused of murder of the first degree; sixty-sev en others, among whom were Gen eral Butler and B. R. Tillman, were charged with being accessories to the fact. The entire Aiken bar volunteer ed for the defense; that disturbed conditions of affairs in the state and the subsequent political revolution prevented prosecution to the finish. While the excitement incident upon the Hamburg affair was at its height, the execution committee of the Dem ocratic party, over the protest of the News and Courier and conservative sentiment and under the stress of the strong anti-Chamberlain sentiment now moulded into race feeling-is sued a call for a Democratic conven tion to assemble in Columbia, Au gust 15. The News and Courier, which, under the brilliant editorship of Dawson exerted more influence upon affairs in South Carolina than has since or before been the pleasure of any newspaper, now began to apol ogize for its harsh words against the participants in the Hamburg affair. The Democrats began to look for a suitable candidate for governor. Among those suggested were G. W. Williams and Generals Kershaw and McGowan. Finally General Wade Hampton from his summer home in the mountains of North Caroda, published in the Columbia Register, a letter of acceptance of the offer of nomination generously tendered him by his comrade in arms, M. C. But ler. Here, for the first time the name and influence of Hampton was thrown into the fight largely begun and de veloped by the Straight-Outs of Edgefield. Now the conservative Democratic-papers prepared to "turn the required sommersault and tear ap their editorials for the next day," (Continued on third page.) older a slip this start >y'us some emil take to -and P.A.! from bite and parch (cut out by our exclusive pat ented process) are a reve lation to the man who never could get acquainted with a pipe! P. A. has made a pipe a thing of joy to four men where one was smoked before! Ever roll up a cigarette with Prince Albert? Man, man-but you've got a party coming your way! Talk about a cigarette smoke; we tell you it's a peach! E ALBERT tiona! joy smoke Prince Albert la told in toppy red boga, tidy red tine, handsome pound and half pound tin humid OT s and in the pound crystal glacs humidor with sponge moistener top. Copy-right 1921 by R- J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Wbuton-S&lem, N.C. We Can Give You Prompt Service on Mill Work and Interior Finish Large stock of Rough and Dressed Lamber on hand for Immediate Delivery. Woodward Lumber Go. QUALITY-SERVICE Corner Roberts and Dugas Sts., Augusta, Ga, EAGLE "MIKADO" '^Pencil No. 174 For Sale at your Dealer Made in five grades ASK FOR THE YELLOW PENCIL WITH THE RED BAND EAGLE MIKADO EAGLE PENCIL COMPANY, NEW YORK ARRINGTON BROS. & CO. Wholesale Grocers and Dealers in Corn, Oats. Hay and all Kinds of Feeds Gloria Flour and Dan Patch Horse|Feed Our Leaders Corner Cumming and Fenwick Streets On Georgia R. R. Tracks Augusta, Ga. YOUR PATRONAGE SOLICITED ?89" See our representative, C. E. May.