Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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m SUMTER WATCHMAN. Kst*bliah?d April, 1SS0. "Be Just and Fear no:-Let all the Ends thou Aims't at, be thy Country's, thy God's and Truth's." TBK TRUE SOUTHRON, Established June 1?C6 Consolidated Aug. 2,1881. New Series-Vol. XX. So. 33 Pabllsi.81 Evory "WsdLiQsday, -Bi" J>3\ Gt-. Osteenj SUMTER, 8. C. TERMS : .50 per annum-io advance. ACV5aTI9IMIKT: Ooo Square first insertion.$1 00 ! ftverjr subsequent insertion. 50 . Contracts for three months, or longer wil j ba mide at reduced rates. All communications which subserve private tn-terests will be charged for a3 advertiements. Obituaries and tributes of respects will be Charged for. Tile Anderson Slavery. GRAND JURY MAKES PRE? SENTMENT-REPORT FACTS UNEARTHED BY INVESTIGA? TION. Direct Charges Against Promi? nent Men Who Have Im? prisoned and Mistreated Negroes. Anderson, S. C , March 7 -Fol? lowing is the text of the special com? mittee's report which was submitted by the grand jury to the court today : The special committee appointed by the graud jury to investigate the ?aatters to which your attention was directed by his honor, Judge Benet, at the February term of court respect folly report That we have mad? as close an ex? amination as our limited time would permit lu the case of Magistrate J J Gil mer we find that for some time past be has been m the habit of issuing warrants and causing arrests and fre? quently committing accused persons to jail without ever entering the case upon the docket This is especially trae where the cases have been com promised after the arrests were made We find that from Sept 16, 1899 to Jan 12, 1901, be made payment to the county treasurer of a number of fines and items of costs collected by him, bet that during that time he collected through the sheriff's office alone the following items of cost which properly belonged to the cotisty and failed to pay them over to the county treasurer as required by law * * * * Total, $34 ?0 The following items of cost were ?Iso collected by Magistrate Gilmer on the date mentioned and not turn ed over to the county treasurer as provided by law # $ * * Total, $18 80 We find that Feb. 19, 1901, after this investigation was begun, the .aid J. J Gilmer paid to the county treasurer the sum of $53 20 to cover these amounts While we have not been permitted, for the lack of time, to make a full investigation of all the irregularities of this office, we are convinced he baa been guilty of the grossest irregularities, and we would suggest that a complete investigation of his books and accounts shouid be bad and that he should be presented for misappropriation of the funds so collected by him Regarding the arrest of the negro. Will Hui!, which you were directed by the court to investigate, we find that a warrant waa issued by M agis Irate Gilmer for the arrest of this n*?gro up">n aa affidavit of A T Neweli. charging him for a violation of labor contract, and that W S. ?iewell, a brother of the prosecutor, waa deputized by the Magistrate to serve said warrant ; that the consta ble so deputed requested the dep aty sheriff, -J A Dillingham, to go along with nim and assist in making the said arrest and representing that said Hui! would probably create troubie when arrested and that the assistance of the deputy sheriff would be needed The arrest was made on Friday night and the negro was brought to Anderson on the same night Trie deputy sheriff suggested that the prisoner be taken to jail, but the negro said that he would prefer to go OK with VV S Newell, and that Mr Kewell informed the deputy tnat the mHgHtrnte. had instructed him that he should carry th*; prisoner on home w;th him Subsequently the magistrate w?? inform? d by the prosecutor that the Case had been compromised and that the negro h*il agreed to *i*y with him and work out inn contract The rest of the factrJ we;*- b'ought out in open court We exonerate the dep nty sheriff (n rn a'i blame in the mat ter The principal work of this commit tee ha? beer? the investigation of the stockades of the county and the abuses of laborers under tyrannous contracts that has grown out of the farming: out of convicts and the working of free laborers with them We have taken the testimony ol more than 50 persons-that of the landlords, their overseers and guards, together with a large number ol laborers and a few other citizens In these investigations we have been treated with every courtesy and gen ; erally we have found no disposition i to obstruct our work upon the pari I of those whose farms arid stockades ' we visited A most careful inquiry failed tc i reveal that any general abuse ol the laboring class exists in this county, j so that our work soon narrowed down to those places where stock? ades existed and free laboren were employed We visited the farms of J Belton Watson, A T Newell, P B Allen, J R Miller, Elias McGee, W Q, [lammond and J rf Fowler We were unable to find any abuse* at the farm of J B Watson He nae a stockade and works free laborer? also, but we found no evidence thal free laborers were put in the stock ades and worked in line with the convicts, or subjected to any illegal restraint or abuse. The same thing was true at the fat m of P B Allen We found thai he h.3d taken two contracts in which the laborers agreed to work undei guard and be locked up at night, bm his own evidence and that of ai! th? laborers 69 far as we could ascertain was that these provisions had nevei been enforced A T Newell works State convicts and has a stockade, but be ha( worked no free laborers along wit!, the convicts recently, when he haf taken two contracts of that sort O-ii of these was the case of the unfortu? nate negro, Will Hull, who wai killed by W S Neweli, a few weeke ago and whose case is reierred tc ?bove J R Miller formerly worked cou victs. but they were taken away bj the State, and he now employs on\y "free" labor, if indeed we may use the word free '.o describe those la borers who have signed his contracte and subjected themselves to the con ditions existing on his farm He haf a stockade wh'ch was originally bu'lt for his State convicts and hi* contracts provide that the 1 free' laborers will work under guard aud will allow themselves locked up ai night. Our first investigations at this place were met by a statement from the negroes that they were satisfied with their treatment, but their man ner indicated coercion and subse quently we made further investiga tiou8 wbicG convinced us that J R Miller and his overseer. J A Emer son, had been guilty of whipping negroes, looking them up at night, working them under guard and put ting shackles upon them Among these unfortunates were John Harri son, Will Wright, Warren Sloan a?d Lige Jones We found several ol Mr. Miller's contracts left blank aw as to the time of service and amount to be paid, though the contracts were duly signed and witnessed. In the case of Warren Sloan, he seemed to hsve been arrested by J R Miller and another man. whose name we could not ascertain, near Central, in Pickens county There is testimony that no warrant was ex? hibited, if any existed, but he was handcuffed and taken to Miller's stockade and kept there until this'in vestigation bega? Since our first visit to this stockade he was turned loose and allowed to go home Ir) our judgment, the said J R * Miller and J A Emerson should be present ed by the grand jury for the offenses above mentioned, and we so recom mend In many respects the most remark able case coming under our notice is that of Elias McGee, who has never employed State convicts, but who built a stockade and prepared to treat his laborers as convicts His contracts provide that the laborers shall be worked under guard and locked up at night and there was abundant evidence to sh >w that he had locked up in the stockade, work ed under guard and whipped his laborers Among th"gp who suffered a part or all of thepp abuees were Wesley Norman, Handy Earle Yance j Smith, (george Tilley, John (Mink j scalt-s, Clarence Gailliard, Evins j Wood, Louis Alexander, Morrie Jor ; dan. Some of these negroes had j been arrested and signed contracts I after b . g put under arrest John Clinksctties wa? accused by Elias Mc Gee of -teai ng corn, wan \ rought to Anderson handcuffed and after lie had signed a contract, but without an\ trial WHH tun ed over to W Q Ham? mond, wno oatried him to the latter's . stoekade We think th" gr ind jury should mak" present agai"*' K has McGee;, and we so recommend W Q Hammond run- a iar?o* farm in thi* county and employ* a consider ! able oumb?r b>fh of State convicts and "free" laborerp. His contracts provide ! that the "free" laborers shall be work i ed under guard and locked up at night, and they suffr tbi*? iilegal imprison? ment aud mort', for the evidence chow* that a number of these unfortunates ha?e been worked under guard and gun, have been locked up af night and on Sundays and have been shackled and whipped Among those wh<> suffered these things at the hands of Mr Ham mood and his overseers. Wm Bailey. James Martin and D*y. are the fo'lowing : l?bam Abercrombie, P:ok Roger?. James Clinton, John Hewey. Tom Parks, Charley Johnson aod Jobo Ciinkscales Several of these were io j%il at the time of our examioation They had been indicted last fall for gambling, bad beeo takeo out of jail oo bond by Mr Hammond and kept at bia farm without trial until the investiga tion began, when he ?>urrenderei th^m back to the sheriff The negro. Tom Parks, whose case ! was oalled to the attention of the grand ?jury by the presiding judge, was i released almost immediately ttereafter j He was taken forcibly and without I 'ria! under one of the labor contract above referred to and oonfined in the isrookad1. worked with the convicts i and suffered the other abuses above mentioned until this investigation was I bosun We learn that perhaps a soore \ nf other laborers held under similar \ contracts have left this farm during the j past few wi-eks One of them. Pink Rogers, stare-5 that be wa* giv^n a whipping of 50 lashes by Wm Bailey at 'he stockade We think that the fact* disclosed ; demand thar W Q Hammond. James i Martin. Wm Bailey and-D<y j ?bould be presented by the grand jury ; for the violation of law above mennoo j ed ar,d we so recommend j J. S Fowler, who first u?ed rh:? : contract providing for free laborers to I be treatad as convict?, worked uodt-r i guard, locked up etc . employs a con I siderable number of convict? and aUo i of the so called "free laborers He oas two stockades, one of which is j under the supervision rf James Cook j and which was formerly managed by ; Witiis McGee. The ocher is under the j charge of Levi Thoma* At these farms the convict? and 4,free" laborers have been worked together under a guard who carries a gun, they have been locked up at night and some or ! them whipped There was no evidence ! of any of them hav* been shackled j Some of them had been accused of ! trivial effeoses aod were put under j contract to work out debts or to repay j money advanced for them James Evans, Baylis Arter, Alonzo Lark, Frank Bowlan. John Bell, Robert j Brown, Foster Butler. Dan Hill, Willis Harper, Joe Whitfield. Jim Rice, John Gilliam, Turner Walker, Andrew Dobbs, Doek Freeley and Drayton Wheeler are some of the negroes who have been confined io Mr Fowler's stockade Willis McGee, James Coofc, Levi J Thomas, George Thomas and Mike Robbies should bave presentments made against them by the grand jory for whipping different ones of these negroes. Wil?9 McGee w?s especially erse! It was testified that he had Itiveo the negro Baylis Arter 100 j lashes on one occasion and that be whipped Robert Browo most severely j and cruelly aod oo one occisi?n shot j five tiroes at Drayton Wheeler, one of I the ballets passing through Wheeler's ; bat The testimony goes to show that ; George Thomas 9hot at Dook Feeeley j and that be was also ready at the whippings Andrew Dobbs was found to be suffering from rheumatism whteh he ! says was brought on by beiog ooopell ! ed to stand almo?t waist deep io mod I and water in enid weathpr ditching I He was arrested by A. M. Bailey, who j has been arcing as a sort of ooostahle for J S Fowler, but wan nevrr tried j J A. Rice is a negro of rather weak i mind who wa? captured somewhere io ! Georgia and charged with bavrog ! escaped from J S. Fowler's stockade j to this eounty Upon beiog brought j here it wa? found that he was oot the : man he was ?uspeoted of being b?t ! nevertheless after being kept for j several days in the stockadehe entered j into one of the iabor contracts and ba? ! been in the ttookade for several ! months, though unwillingly there A ; number of "free" laborers have left ? Mr Fowler'* farm since these investiga rions were first begun but some unwill? ing on?s were still tn the stookades ' when we vi?ited them We fnord no evidence to connect Mr Fowler in any way with the whip pings of these laborers, but be was a party to these contracts which provided for the illegal imprisonment and work og under guard of rfce laborers a'd i? re?pon?iole. for rhe?e provi&ion? h-ing enforced and thar presentment should b made against him therefor VVe . nhuit her"wirh th?- memoranda of testimony which we hav- taken which will >-h w to the court and solici? tor rn re lully rh" facr? whioh w? h-ivo reporffd arid will enab'e th rn f,. get the nanr's nf the witnessrs to prove snch fact*. lr i? proper that w rh on ld add that much nf tho abu?-e his already been o ?rrected as a result nf thi? in ves ligation and that some of tne parties have been to a? with the assurance that they would immediately correet the evih exisnog uo rb . ir farms to wbicl we have called ?ttentioo Owing to the widespread ir.8uenc j and effect that fi.Mows any public dis cushion of the question of farm labo; in this State and the result that caa] follow a presentment *uob as we pro j pose it is proper that we should it I closing thia report enter into a brie j discussion of tbe influences that bavi j brought about the evils reported aoc ; make suggestions as to the remedir j therefor We have heard rumors tba fhis investigation baa already createc a widespread interest and that th< conditions have beeo discussed wit! ?orne feel io ff but we h?vo aa far a: possibly avoided reading anything pub lisbed or said io tbis respect in orde: that we might pursue nar investigation! b?jwitul any influence or bias from aoy quarter Tbe questioa nf farm iaboi tn thia State is a very difficult one aoc 'be presen! laws regulating the saan are insufficient. Tbe negroes whom we found coo fined in tbe stockade were coojpo.xec largely of a class of shiftless debtor who are subject to indictment for pett] offense,- and who could not be success fully worked under ordinary contracts They are men who have no property and men wbo evade their debts unlesi compelled to piy them. Against thea tbe proce;a of a civ? court is worthless : tbat cf tbe criminal court U"der exist ing laws H inadequate Sometbiog should be dooe by tbe legislature t: grade tbe pucishmcnts of this dasi according to the eff-.-nce Bur the worsr troubl" has nor ber-n m the defvc of the provisions of the law so much a; its enforcement It has come ro be t settled policy in this county that in dictmeor for violation of contract an: for dispneog of property uoder lie' should be ormDromisrd. and not tried We are convinced that rbis i? wroog i: principle ar;d dangerous in oractice Whatever injustice may be done ai: individual by disposing of property o: which he has lien, or by the violador, of a contract by one of his employes and whatevar force might be given t. 1 the etfeot of pnnai statutes to induci j payment, of debts or fulfillment of coo j tracts that never has been the true io tent and purpose of the penal statute.' They are enacted to prevent publii wrong, r.nd when a prosecution ba? once be>jn instituted and the power o the criminal court invoked, th? ques? tion of private recompense shouid dis appear, and the public interest alon? should ba considered While this maj result in occasional hardships, it is tb? only safe policy Abuses will otber wise grow up until the criminal courti are degraded into machines for privat? gaio, and often for extortion and op pression. In our judgment it sboulc be a crime to compromise any cas< after tndictmeat found with a view o i private gain. Nor can we condemn too severely that otber fruitful source-in fact, th( origin of the abuses herein reported the leasing out of convicts to work or private farms. Evils already detailed are too eloquent to necessitate a dis cu'siou to prove this Such a System should not be tolerated after its results have naen exposed as in this county. We have beard "it intimated that oat investigations aud exposures would disturb the tabor -conditions to sach an extent as to create trouble in this State WTe do not believe that it is tm?, but if it were we would not hestitate to de clare tbe evils we find aod to demand that they should be abolished Tbe duty of this body is plaio : We mu9t stop the violations of law that now exist, and if others begin on the part of the laborers themselves, theo we will unite with tbe law-abiding citisens of the county in punishing aod termin?t tog these evils The result of o^r investigations show i hat the system of wnrkiog laborers under guard aod confining them io stockades dues oot exi*c io, this county further than we have reposed Prob ably not as macy as tweoty meo, either as principal or agent, either directly or indireetly, have beeo eogag I ed tn this abase (ja th- ether hand, i the numbers of laborers aod lieoora : who have violated the law will doubie ' that number maoy ticses ? We therefore reiterate that the ioflu ; ene?? of this graod jf.rr. and we do not j hesitate to s*y of ?he eoarr also, will j not be extended to er ak!? any mao to ! avoid a just contrae', and that we have foo nd that most of the labor oootrae's of tie county are legal aod just If violations of just, contract* begin as a resat* of the investigations we bav* made, we suggest that warrants be sworn out and prompt pani-hment ! g'vnn. We have nor undertaken to assume the responsibility of pr?.securing tbe laborers who have violated their I contracts, because the position and ?irfluenee of rhe landlord makes them ? fully able ro do that without assistance 'MUD ti- This special r> port has been brought a:-? ?ur because of the oppressioo nr.-! abuse of mea who were too poor, too friendless, too ignorant and often j too degraded to act for themselves, bu-' who are invert heles*; entitled to the ; . fall protection of ibo Uw. and who because of '.hoir weakness have a peculiar claim to our protection AM of wbiob is respectfully sob- ! mined. Hie Anderson Slavery. What SO Thought by Citizens and What Judge Benet Has Done. The man who first publicly called attention to the abuses was Mr. D ll. Russell, editor of The Daily Mail. Today I called on Mr. Russell and asked him if he thought a stop had now been put to the system lie said that he did think so ; th?t the agitation and the court's investiga? tion had forced the men involved to give up their system, and be did Dot believe it wuuld be resumed Another gentleman who was pre sent said be would not be at ali sur? prised to see the system resumed ; that the men who had practiced it are reckless and bold, and do not care for consequences It was his opin? ion that as soon as public interest, died down the abuses would crop up Judge Benet at ?east has no inten ! tion of letting the matter drop To day he took the last step possible tor him to take in bringing the guilty men to justice Ile signed au order rf quiring the presentment to be i served on several magistrates in ; whose jurisdiction the men named j live, ?nd ordering them to issue* war I rants for the 4 slave holders " I Magistrate 8 li Hoan is ordered j to issue a warrant charging J R. I Miller and J A Emmerson with as ? sault and battery and false imprison ment Magistrate J II Morgan is j ordered to issue warrants agaiust Elias McGee for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and ? false imprisonment. The same ac? tion is to be taken in regard to W. Q. Hammond, William Bailey, Wiliis McGee, James Cook. Len Thomas, I George Thomas. Mike Robbins and i J S Fowler. All of these are to be bound over for appearance at the next term of court In the case of Magistrate Giimer, an order was given requiring him to show cause at the next term of court why he should not be indicted for misappropriation ! of funds Gilmer would have been indicted forthwith, but the other mat ter presented by the grand jury caus? ed a postponement The evidence which the grand jury gathered was turned over to Solid? tor Bogga. What it contains no ene knows What Mr. Bogga intends to do may be considered as forecasted in the latest order by the judge. I A great many have professed to be lieve that the matter would never again be aired in court. Tney say that if the solicitor should bring in dictmeuts against the men named the lawyers would fight (ff the trial of the cases Some of them have al ready engaged attorneys to represent them, and as they have plenty of money, there is no doubt of their abil Hy to contest the matteno the last Presto!. B. Alien Dies Suddenly. One of Wealthiest Farmers in Anderson County Who Was Named by Grand Jury. Anderson, March 8 -Is there a Nemesis hunting down the men who have been responsible for "the stock? ade slavery'' in Anderson ? Today Mr P. B Allen, one of the men named by the grand jury as ex j tensively engaged in that business, died suddenly. Mr Allen came to town in his buggy, driving the 10 I miles from his home at Starr on the the Columbia, Newberry and Laurens railroad He went, as was his cus* tom, to the ?table of Mr J S. Fow? ler, another of the "slave owners," with whom Mr Allen was connected in a business way He complained of fee?Dg unwell and a physician gave him some medicine and told him to lie down "Press," Allen, as he was called, owned the largest contiguous farm in this county if not in the Piedmont section Ile was a fine busings man and a splendid farmer, generally getting the first bale of cotton to the Anderson market He was a large, heavily built man and an occasional hard drinker His sudden death the tiny after the exposure of his connection with the slavery system ha-< led the negroes, always superstitious, to say there in something supernatural about it ! They don't know Nemesis, but have the idea, especially since there oc? curred a few days ago. last week, the death of acother farmer implicated. Iiis name was not mentioned in the presentment, bul it would have been had he lived. --mm*- -?-??? mm GOULD'S IMPRESSIONS. Kansas Oity, Mo , March T. , George J. Goold, on hie trip of in? spection of bis railroad properties, left today with hie party for Coffey? ville. Kan Talking to a newspaper man of his trip through Texas, Mr. Gould said : "I was amazed, at the many changes which have taken place in ; the Southwest since my visit to that part of the country nearly three years ago The prosperity of the Southwest is marvellous and I be ; lieve that the same statement will 1 apply to the West generally On ; every hand I saw the material proofs I of prosperity, not booms, but the '. solid, substantial prosperity that lasts. The banks in even the small j towns in Texas and other South western States are filled with money, j Cotton at ten cents and high price for cotton seed, the otbeir good crops ; and the great values of all products I tell the story." j THE EVENING NEWS j PAPER. Some explanation :8 accessary ta I satisfactorily account for the rapid ? strides which, during tho past four or ! fi^e years, have be<-n made by the I eveniog newspaper pree9 in the United j S'ates 0.: course, it is easy to allege that ? improved macninery, extetdtd methods ; of transportation, the concentration of porulaiion in large cities, speed io the transmission of intelligence by tele graph and telephone and the cheapeL ing of ty pesetr i og and other forms of civilized progress account for the tremendous favor into which eveniog newspapers are coming, as well as the consequent immense increase observed ? m their circulation everywhere ; bul wben all these are cited and considered ? they still fall short of accoaoting for tbe faot that the people are rapidly 1 te^'inning to read evening newspapers exclusively. . ; We think the real source of the wonderful progress made by the evening press during the past fonr or five years, ; and which indicates that in the near futare it is certain to take circulation and \ nusioess entirely away from the morn inz press is due to a combination of aU ' these circumstances. Improvement ?D ; machinery and speed in picture making ! and typesetting have enabled tho even ; ing papers to progress morally, iotei j lectually and new6ily. This haa j developed and satisfied a natural desire j among the people Most men ?ike tc* I take a paper home and read it by thc \ fireside at night, when tba family is ic I repose and time is ampio. A morning ! paper, on the contrary, mu.-t necei ; sarily be perused hastily and .brown I away. So it appears to os that just ir? i proportion as the evening p?p rs satisfy j the demand of the people for ?PWS anc literature, they will take circulation and business away from tho morning papors In nearly.every )ar?? city ot I the Uuioo they have ?hown a tendency ! recently to enlarge on iheso line*. Readers and advertisers are everywhere preparing for the change -San Francisco Post THE SE A RLE'S FAILURE. New York, March 0.-The finar. I cial em harassment of John F< ^purlo* I one ot the organizers of the Ameri j can Sugar Refining company, anc j until yesterday president of the 1 American Cottow company, it wa-* ! said today, is purely personal an? : will not involve any of the 18 cor ! porations with which he ii connect \ ed either as president, treasurer, ? secretary or trustee Mr Searle** ? liabilities, it is believed, will react' I about $4.300,000 and art1 coveret! i bv his assets, which, however, ar< ; mainly unlisted stocks, and are there ! fore not readily mai fee? able or of ? I negotiable character If net presse: . by the creditors and sefficint time is i gi anted, Assignee Dwight t xpects ; : be able io pay MF Searles' <. bl???> j lions in ful! ; Albion, N. Y . M aron fi - Joh;; Pratt a woaiihy farmer, has given o fnor of ?and tn BTU did College a Colombia. S C . to f^ot.d a hospita; and training school for negro r-tudeots &AKIN6 POWDER Makes the food more delicious and wholesome IK>vAl BAKING POWDER CO., ?Ew YOflR.