University of South Carolina Libraries
A HELL 0 By A. B. Williams, Form< News, in The Lon Th.. ea Iis not intended to be profanel. It is faithfully dertl criptiv'e. Novciber 7. It is he tlt eate for the electioli this year. It is. ly buri n In th :ikIlmories of ithose who were ill the I litek Belt state of the south ilt tl' 401uI.th in IS7640 ity-Six yeNrs ago. November 7 was the election day of that yea atd it was looked to with hopc and horror. it markeod thle timev When L'i, wiitt pouilation wotild be forct lien I roul at hol I becoiIn:, war:.-v dailly or wold ho established Inl It D'. litan IOvet'lilnttits 1111 Ieei re-elect-d in the statc; ol South ('ato Him, inulisianla, P-lorida and1 ( AlIiss i ipi, Nvetmbler 7, 1876, there twould ha ' 'n n1tothing for tle mass or tihe whi ;tpel Ic 10 but to (10, art swift V. 1m tby lt e' tn ited States arm1y, wthiK., a1 btast. would have been hon st 1 vently jlst w ile it was .1 lowt last. Tking South Carolina ty Aof th other states, tol - :l l" was not aI mere slogan t1 ' Cpai cry. It Was the Iel - \oier i, dec4larat ion of, thle clearly for01d1-pose of, the( weople. It mleant I lamn t> 0:1. the Iemocratic nOtuirI-t. veor' or such fralntic and wide re'ad disturhalce as .ould force tle fedIr. amIiitnist rIit Ionl to establish ifilitaItry law aild occupy ihe state with thdt army. \nk forI1*",41t now, or, fail to untder 5trai, that exact 13 what is being (one Itiin I. Wts undtaIlkein in these Ameican. states thiough tihe teln years from ! to la i;-rule of the pro letaria:. of those who 'Iarin little and po.-(.-s nothing;-' transfer of the landI from '11t);ce who owiled it to those who war.t d it: destructioni of tihe Iigh bred and the idlle clisses: shiftinlg of the hottO ail to flit top. And Cultured rich. conservtt Ive Now E-nglaid insti 1tdI an Ittetipted this work. Mas sachustits. .M1aine, Verimnont, furnished lie zealots. the fana1ticl avenigetrs, the eithusiastic uplifters and overturn- I e's: New Yourk 111d Pennsylvania the sordlid. gr'eely, coarse and coimton crCokls ald thieves. And crazed idolt ist antd thilet and thug workitng togeth er for the ruin of a civilization. . IThe sit ution just Iied the I tIradt, liadet dense the black ness. of the hor ror. showed hardly a gleam of hoite. \\'hile the Ku lux Klan rode abroad. HIlently and grimly pIicketed the cross oIds. introlled villages and town and elhi hiddenl and deadly terror over a1ll, 'ent res and soulrces of cile anti (11i ordI r, evel'y mia might feel that his familily and hiomei1 were' reasonably safe. The Invisible i-ire established and Imaintained law and protection where coii'ts denied both. But the Ku Klux liad ien inl ly Cu1lhed in 1874.1 Scores of its Imemibers had fled to Catn ada or -were in. nort hern penitentiaries. The white PIeople ,were unguarded, de fenseiless, desperai'te. In South Carwo l'ina the groupt in the legislature knowtn ias "The Forty Thiieves"' had elected Checking Ac< Is Business Recommenda' The best way to learn reliability is to inquil * they do business. Should someone inq arnd reputation of al * transact business, thi yourself-- and it maysi pay by check?" The m be as prompt and You Think First of Cheek. The check tial connection andi a Which man would you hi The-man with a bank acc one without that fore'thou and care? Laurens Na F A TIME 1r Editor of The Greenville don, Va., Mirror. Whipper and Moses circuit judges. Whipper wJys a gross, 'bestial black tuaii Iron Philadelphia, who traveled wvith Iin otilit of mulatto Women. \tos es had beei the "robber governor," w\ho as goverior p1eddled pardons to any criinials, however vicious or vile, w ho could offer money for them and had led ribald dances and spent thouls ands of dollars in it night in 'public brothels. These men on the bench l1u1cant usI ;e ot IIe law to persecute w hite and colored who would not or coutld not serve them politically or pay tleir prices. One of the three justices of the stiprl'e court was a drunken legro police court shyster, also from Philadelphia. The attorney general was another black main from the same city, venomous as a rattlesnake in Algust. all the more dangerous be callse anl orator of real power and it lawyer of talent ald actitirm(Ients. I' white men cooperating With thei wVe' te ( crazed theorists and dream e's who believed a mass of Iinorait farm hands could be transformed into capable Cndti righteous rulers in a year aid the seum aid offscouriligs of nottern citeis ieli t ( It n uaItking heIavy anld <(iuck hatis anld get-Ivays. IRobbery was jtll an1d shamlieless. State taxes OI (Coulitry property were fromli three to six dollars oR ihe huitin dred with Coinlty taxes un! Iiliited and hotI conlstanltly incrleasilng. Corn fleld ilIborers 80R!t. to the legislattre spat illto white chiina liid-pailited cispi ors for which the taxpayers were charged $25 eachl. Every o11ce was used for plulder, from highest to low est. The corOIner of ole couility made his job pay $25,000 a year. State bonds were issued recklessly and hawked ill atiAibling houses anld crooked stock broker oflices at the iorith at any pric. Tle glimpses we get suggest like Con ditions ill Russia today. There was in 'South Carolina a clear negro majority of 50,000. The election laws had been framed carefully by the Repblicablicns to iiakp fraud easy. The ma1lljolity of the judges at every polling place were Republicans, usually the silartest, -bitterest and most determin ed of the neighborhood. With the elec tion IIM chiIery and all the forces of tho law an(d of the state alid federal g'overnments against them, the white PeolIe had set themselves to wini or die-literally. :If they had lost that election in 1876 thousands of thei would have gone to the penitentiary, many of them, probably, the gal lows, unless they could h, - fled to safety. Ilampton, 1Iagoov, Butler, Ga.ry, generals of the Confederacy, practically all the leading men of the state, .would have 'been subject to crim inal prosecution f* direct or indirect part in what hostile courts would have made crime. Deadly and secret things Were done. Somebody at 'Washington, somiehow, 'got from the war depart-( ment stores 2,000 Remilngtoni rifles, with bayonets and amimulnition and shipped them by sea to !Oharleston for :ount tion i a person's standing and re of those with whom uire about the character mother with whom you a first question you. ask abconsciously is, "Does he an who pays by cash may all that, but, somehow, The Man Who 'Pays By shows a certain substani ssociation. re first; ount or ght - tional Ban EO. H.-BLAKELY, Cashier the negro militia. Whites were for bidden' by law to have arms and 4by proclamation of 'President Grant to as semble or organize. The rifles and am munition were taken mysteriously from the steaishi> wharf at dead of night and ultimately found their way to the Democratic white rifle cils. Nobody dared a protest, probably be cause the arms 'hiad been taken unlaw fuilly at W'ashington. The incident was one of many. Perllaps no newspaper in al' aese forty-six years has -men tioled it until now. Republicans stole the guns from the government, un doubtedly with the connivance of' high er offlcials, and a band of young white ml1en stole them from the Republicans. Considering the facts, ve enn real ize why November 7, 1876, was looked to almost, as a (lay of final judgment and comprehend something of the fluc tuations of hope and dread -with which it was grected. The negroes believed t1hey would be returned to slavery if the whites ivon. The whites knew that defeat for them meant coifiscation of their property, ruin, destruction, exile. No record tells how many votes were cast. Both sides took full advantage o1' file opportunity for fraud the law gave. The 11lampton Red Shirt had succeeded tle Ku Klux. Boys whose voices 'were yet piping trebles and'bid m11en1 whose voices had become treble again donned the red shirts the women toiled day and night to make, mounted and rode from poll to poll, voting ev erywhere, with six-shooters forcing the judwgi to accept, their votes. Over the Cataw ba river, from North Carblina, and the -Savannah frotu Georgia, white Illell rode in platoons to vote for Hampton in South Ot-oi:n... In the rice field districts, wlieie the negroes were one hundred and '."o hui;e'l tir one white, th.'y voted their women aA boys. The whit es had the advantage of organization, horses and wempons. Out of the mess and tangle of fraud, :pro test, destroyed and stuffed ballot lboxes, I iampton was given a -majority of 1,200 anid layes, 'Republican nominee for president, a small majority. Some ne groes had been induced, by one means or another; to vote for -iampton and hayes and probably a few iwhite men also voted so. Then came six fearful months of doubt, of threat, of danger of Civil war over the disputed presiden tial election, between Hlayes and Til rien. In Soutli Carolina were two state governments and t'wo legislature,s b)oth claiming authority, peril of -hor rible internal conflict every hour, men walking stiff-gaited because Winches ter rifles were tfhrust down the legs !f their breeches. Finally, the com promise. The three states were sur rendered to* their white people to gov arn and the presidency went to Hayes. 'here was general exchange of prison 'Prosecutions of Republicans who had robbed ami plundered -and of Dem >crats whio had bulldozed and killed Ind stuffed ballot boxes were dropped >y some kind of secret arrangement. Plh reconstruction experiment, tile 'antastic dream of an empire of the )lack prolhtariat and the fool's errand mded. The -members of reconstruction ~overnments vanishled 'between suns. l'he day that meant doom or deliver in1ce had( given deliverance at last. l'hose wpho lived through it never can Forget it nor what it meant, It is wvell to. recall the story somel( times. Its teaching is that the zealot, the intense fana~tic, the :progressive Lhinker who thinks navay from facts, are more'avngerous as leaders than the sordid cr'ooks and thieves for whom, Invarialbly and inevitably, they make r:.+portunity. The one safe guidance for any government or 'people is the ifolid common sense of those who ac (luire it by continuing iftruiggle and work with the practical and tihe hulman natur'e of daily life. BUSINE"S IJETTERt IN~ SIXTH DISTRIuCT Monthly Statement Indicates Condi tions A bove Any Period in 'T w Years. Atlanta, Oct. 129.--Business condi tions ina tile sixth Federal Reserve dis trict at 'csent are botter than at any other time during the spast two years, according to the .monttily review of the federal reserve bank of 'Atlanta, is-. sued ton-ight. TIs situation exists-despite tile fact that effects of the recent coal and rail strikes still are 'being -felt, the reviewv said, stating also that high coal prices are retarding business to some extent. Retail business was better in Sep temlber than in the same month last year, Six -of the 'wiolesale ling~s in vestigated sho~w larger trade figures' than those of hdt~ month, it was stated. The final 'fianclal returns fromn ag ricultural cropa o'f tile 'district this year will exceed those of last year by a substantial amount, although in sonme sections some of the crops produced have n-ot equalled . those of .last year in actual volum0, said the.- report. Odorgia, Alabiama, Florida and iart of Tennessee, Mhississippi at& Tuis.. lana are in the 8ixth district,\ l000 Rod Goos64tta a~ fooks.Fe to Scihool Clhildre. J, G. Pavat- A o Honor Roll-Bailey School * 'Seventh Gradc: Mary Templeton, Robert Martin. Sixth Grade: Ada Benjamin, Eugene Brown. Pifth Grade: izzle Fuller, Joel Fil ler. Pourth Grade: Evelyn Rtaliamge, lt. telle Fuller. Third Grade: 'Rebecca Milam, Roy Jerry. Second Grade: Jack Templeton, Lil-. lie 'lae Shockley, Wil Lou 'Morrion. F'irst Grade: Augustus Ramago, Min nie Adair. The packag Your taste c The sales pr Over 7 billioi LIGG-rr & MYERS ToBACCO CO. You can settle p You can. come ir models and finishe arda lastirng app PFfes Csrd in' 6- to' f4 Days. Mhoggstorefund mone if PAZO OINTMdNT falls cure Itchl I Bin Bloedini- or' Protrudinbi: 1 s.1 ns6ta y relieves Itchibg Plies, and- Y can geos etfuI sleop- after- firs appilcation.. DIG THiE CROP Dig sweet potatoes be in storage. The Clinton Potato sweet poiatoes for stora Saturday last day. Clintor Potato suggests it. onfirms it. ove it. I sold yearly C IGARE'] NOVE MBE ON TUE WE Tt: 2526272 Tune1 to~ ..ta(h viTR~ 'tegf qeto4nwbc 1 ri , nwadrs u a wla ,Fe gft ea d erl an o and IN gathe h i n O80 I C' et ade t and ofad of C iGA frEa V e ilailieo yo gae aOVEMBEC Colds Caude Otipablifluesa LAXATIVE DROMO QUINE Tabet remove the ause. There Is only one "bonmo QuiLtaO." L W. GROVt'S. dignature on ot,. \ LREAD MADE fore frost a d put them Warehouse will receive ge through this week Warehouse Co. e. CTIES1 ~ y77 F fo10/ choose ima 0 L coo segaVitoa e's from the many such an inclusive Ricords. Yoijni them equally. hat now lacks the ood musie, M~ark ctrola, sute, ahis niyt seasywhere, II