/ 35^ 
 
'^'^. m 
 
 OFCONGBESS 
 
 
 
 014 4A8 602 3' 
 
 Hollinger 
 
 pH 83 
 
 MiU Run R)3.2193 
 
F 274 
 
 .L353 
 Copy 1 
 
 Mir Til CAKOLINA. 
 
 '^Ilcr Wmims aiiil The KciikmIv. 
 
 ^- 
 
 RKM ARKS OF (OL. lUCllAHI) LMIIKHS, 
 
 nELIVEHEI) AT TIIH or/.MNc; (»F TUi: TAXl'A VKIJS' ( ( >N VKNTloN, 
 
 In Chlimima, S. ('., Ti i>i>ay, Ki;r.. 17. 1^74. 
 
 Mr. Prfsiiltul—.Kt tbc meeting of the fiPHt 
 Congress of the United Stnten. under our pren- 
 enf conhtitutioi). lield in New York, 17H!), a 
 HerieH of twelve itnuMKhnentH were jiroi>08ed to 
 tho States, ten of wliicli were nubHciiuently 
 adopted. t'nder tlie first of tbeso ameud- 
 nients, therefore, whicli insures "the right of 
 tlie peoj>le peaceaMy to assemble and to peti- 
 tion the governmeiit for a redress of griev- 
 ances," authorizes us, as American citizens, to 
 convene for this nuqwise: and surely the most 
 thoughtful of the statesmen of that time 
 could not have anticipated a case more urgent 
 tlian our own, or one so fully justifving an 
 earnest ap])Iicatiou of tho privilege. S'o peo- 
 jile have ever hern called upon to solve a juv 
 litical proV'lem such as tho people of this .State 
 have presented to them. A State govcninient, 
 constituted of tlie highest degree of fraud, 
 sustained by the greatest amount of ignorance, 
 and those twii factors of corruption and mis- 
 rule kept in i)Ower by the whole force of a re- 
 !-istless partisan ascendancy, in which tlie Na- 
 tional fiovernment itself, under a technical 
 construction of its functions, is constrained to 
 tolerate. 
 
 People have been jiunished for their sins, 
 political anil moral, their liberties have been 
 forfeited for fancy or real rebellion; but no 
 free (leonlo have ever, for any crime, been 
 subjected to tho absolute rule of diMhonest 
 strangers and the domination of their own 
 slaves. No Commonwealth has ever been so 
 prostrated as to elovato ignorant, uidettercd 
 slaves, witliout tho least preparation, to j>er- 
 form tho delicate dtities and functions of law- 
 makers, ami the free and uureMtiicted uso of 
 tho jtublic p\irse, as ilio rewanl of dishonest 
 a<lventurors. Tho future historian of this pe- 
 rio<l will have to deal with a philosophy of his- 
 tory raoro original tlian that of ( ribbon, and 
 will search in vain over the annals of the worl<l 
 for a parallel. 
 
 MKAS3 0¥ REPnE-HS. 
 
 Everything wliich we may now propound 
 to ourselves, lo king to m'-aH-rfa r.f relief 
 
 from this terrible and seemingly remediless 
 evil, will l>o received by the most hopeful with 
 misgivings, aiicl ought to be lu-ged with modes- 
 ty. ,\nd yet it is the duty of every goo<l citi/on 
 not to desjjair of the republic, but to use ever\- 
 element of power, which our intelligence shall 
 suggest, to solve tho problem in a peacable 
 manner, and, failing in that, make such new- 
 combinations, even outside of the domains of 
 )>cace. as revolutions juvseut to an oppressed 
 l^eoplc everywhere and at all times, limite<l 
 only by that prudent regard for success in tho 
 justice of our cause, through the sympathy 
 and support of our fellow-citizens of our owii 
 race, now so powerful as a nation, and who 
 have not yet become so degraded as to wish 
 tho black man and his dishonest allies to over- 
 throw the liberties of the white men of their 
 own blood and country. Judge Levi Wood- 
 bury, of New Hampshire, while delivering an 
 opinioif in tho Sunremo Court of the United 
 States, in tho Illio<le Icland coutroverwy, in 
 1HI2, in which ho denied the jurisdiction of tho 
 court in a mere political controversy, said : "It 
 is asked what redress have tho peojile, if 
 wronged in these matters, unless by resorting 
 to the judiciary ? The answer is. tliey have tlio 
 same as in all other political matters. In 
 those they go to the ballot-boxes, to tho Le- 
 gislature or Executive for redress of such 
 grievances, as are within tho jurisdictio.i of 
 each, and for such as are not, to convcntioDs 
 and amendments of tlio constitution. And 
 when the former fail, and these last arc for- 
 bidden by statutes, all that is left in extreme 
 cas(-s, whore the sufToriiiK is intolerable and 
 the jirospect is gotsl of relief by action of the 
 i)ooj>le without forms of law, is to do an (htl 
 HamjKleu and Wa.shington, and venture action 
 without thoso forms, aud abide the coaee- 
 quences.'' 
 
 This grave ojiinion, under the sanction of 
 tho very scat or justice, the court of lust resort 
 in our country, plainly tells you that the right 
 of revolution, wlien the ordinan.- mstniments 
 of government fail, is an inheritance and a 
 remedy which oppressors miist be tauglit to 
 
^3 
 
 u 
 
 reepcct, and brave men to exercise. And the 
 sooner that tliis lemedy ih contemphited, in 
 ease a more peaceful course faile. the better it 
 Avill be for our adversaries. 
 
 St. Domingo does not fui'nish so brilhant a 
 record as to entitle the colored man to domi- 
 nate over the Anglo-Saxon in this country, and 
 sooner or later thirty millions of white men 
 will hold him to strict accountability for the 
 use of the temporary power he now exercises 
 here. As a friend to the colored men of this 
 State, who fnlly concurs in their absolute rights 
 of political equality, and appreciate them for 
 their genial and friendly personal qiialities, 1 
 would caution them against the evil training, 
 to which their leaders are tending, in fraud and 
 misrule, which, in time, will meet with a retri- 
 bution, when their race wili find itself in a mi- 
 nority, or when the white race, determining to 
 submit no longer to such oppression to- 
 wards any of their brethren. The colored 
 race is on trial in this connection, and I trust 
 and believe that, freed from the malign influ- 
 ence of the adventurers which lead them, thej' 
 will escape the fearful examples of the race in 
 St. Domingo, by avoiding the errors and op- 
 pressions which has kept that beautiful island 
 in perpetual anarchy, and which now threat- 
 ens our own community with bankruptcy and 
 ruin. Our Northern brethren cannot escape the 
 retlex effect of this degradation. These men are 
 rex^resented in Gongrest}, and Congress is the 
 law-making power for them as well as for us. 
 Their educated and honest representatives 
 may be in part neutralized by the ignorant and 
 corrupt representatives which such a constitu- 
 ency may choose to send to the National Legis- 
 lature. What becomes of the dignity and con- 
 servative power of the Senate to protect the 
 North, when the South becomes the mart for 
 the sale of senatorships to the highest bidder 
 without regard to local qualifications, ability or 
 honesty .^ Pennsylvania already has virtually 
 three senatoi's in "that body by the exercise of 
 its moneyed power in this State, and these in- 
 fluences will nicrease as the South becomes im- 
 poverished and corrupted. 
 
 TYEAXXY OF A MAJOBITY. 
 
 De Tocqneville anticipated our case when he 
 wrote, nearly half a century ago. ''If the insti- 
 tutions of America are destroyed, that event 
 may be attributed to the unlimited authority 
 of the majority, which may, at some future 
 time, urge the minority to desperation, and 
 oblige them to have recourse to physical force. 
 Anarchy will then be the result; but it will 
 have been brought about by despotism." 
 
 How would he have intensified these remarks 
 could he have anticipated the existing state 
 of our political relations. Our own Calhouu 
 once wisely remarked "that nations had rarely 
 been disintegrated by civil war, but civil 
 liberty had been often sacrificed thereby." j 
 But the evils which we suffer under are be- 
 ginning to be appreciated at the North, and 
 when a Yankee wakes up to an evil and his 
 sympathies ave ai'Oused,he permits no sophistiy 
 or abstract theory to stand in the way of a 
 prompt and thorough reform in his own inter- 
 est and in the interest and vindication of bis 
 frieuds. I love that manly feature iu their 
 character, and it is mainly to this individual 
 earnestness as much as to their intelligent in- 
 dustry and enterprise we are so largely in- 
 
 debted for national power and productive 
 energy. After all, they love the South. 
 However much as Union men they deprecated 
 the unhappy war which for a time produced 
 mutual alienation, yet they, with true Ameri- 
 can pride, feel that the South maintained its 
 full measure of American gallantry in the field 
 and good faitli after the gage of war was 
 against it. '1 he carpef-bag governments have 
 long since been held in loathing by Northern 
 men in their own States, and by those living 
 amongst us, as a vile slander on the section 
 they represent. And the colored men, feeling 
 the disgrace, begin freely to propose driving 
 them from the State with their ill-gotten gain; 
 but, bad as they are. the white native who 
 joins them, to spoil his own oj)pressed ]3eople 
 with corruption and fraud, merits a deeper exe- 
 cration. \Ve have every encouragement in our 
 present non partisan movement for the co-ope- 
 ration of all parties, color and sections to rid 
 ourselves of these plunderers Hitherto they 
 have screened themselves and their frauds be- 
 hind their party lines, but now we deal witli 
 them as thieves &i\d plunderers, not as partisans: 
 their party aftiliations will be no protection to 
 their crimes, for every honest Kepublicau, in- 
 cluding the President of the United States, 
 leading senators and congressmen, as well as 
 leading Republicans of the North, freely de- 
 nounce them as making their partisanship a 
 cloak for their crimes, and desire to see them 
 punished, as the best service to the party as 
 well as a necessity for the safety of the best 
 interests of the people. 
 
 NORTHEllN FEELING. 
 
 I have recently spent a couple of weeks at 
 Washington, and after interviews with most of 
 the leading men in and out of Congress there, 
 and a large and varied correspondence with 
 leading men of New England, I have found an 
 unanimous sentiment of sympathy for South 
 Carolina, and an earnest desire for the suc- 
 cess of this Convention in procuring practical 
 remedies as far as Congress can extend them, 
 and the constantly-expressed hope that such 
 prompt and eftieieut measures should be taken 
 throughout the State, in the way of the prose- 
 cution of the crimes and such other persistent 
 measures against the thieves as will bring 
 them to punishment, and vindicate the power 
 of honest men to deal with fraud when all 
 parties shall concentrate for that puri)ose. 
 
 A distinguished Picpublican (colored) mem- 
 ber of Congress, from this State, impressed 
 with these views, and the sympathy exi)ressed 
 in the National capital by the most influential 
 of his own party, last night, at a jiublic meet- 
 ing iu this city, plai ily told his friends that 
 they must reform the abuses so universally 
 execrated, or be cut off from the Piepublican 
 party as tliseased and rotten branches, and 
 that, unless reformed, their representatives 
 would be ashamed of (hem, and that Frehng- 
 liuysen. Daws, Sumner, Butler, and every one 
 of their friends outside of the State, who kept 
 his eyes open, would hold the colored men re- 
 sponsible, they being in the majority and hav- 
 ing voted the corrupt element into power. 
 After eloquently deploring the frauds, and the 
 necessity of reform in the interest of his race, 
 as well as that of his party and country, he 
 remarked : 
 
 "Will you permit this state of things to con- 
 
tiiHie? It cannot \<n liiildpn, that llicre in 
 Honiethinj; rotten in Denmark. There nnint be 
 no nroiniHBcl reformation, Imt ])raoticMl reform. 
 If tlioro lio any one m tlie way of that reform 
 lie hIiomIiI 1>o at once removed out of llie palli. 
 and now in the time to do it. Tlio national 
 Hepublican imrty to-day wum ready to cut aloof 
 ujion the BJiKlitcht j^rovwation from tlio cor- 
 ruption now exis^tmj; in tlio .Soutli. ami itnleHH 
 youdoHomethniK. and that Mj)eo<iily. they will ho 
 comiielled to cut olT llio rotten hranchcH. lie 
 had warned them of this more than a year ago; 
 thin wart no new tiling. *'no tlunj,' he know, 
 that inctoad of hoinj; better it appears i«. bo 
 growing worse. Tlio (pjoBtion of tho Tax- 
 payerb' Convention iH no Hore-lioa<i movement. 
 Tlio people have a right to petition under tho 
 constitution, and when it eamo it would como 
 from hirt ooiiHtituentH, whether they voted for 
 him or not, and ho was bound to have it pro- 
 perly referre<l. 
 
 "That petition will be conHidered: and do not 
 allow your«elvea to bo nii»loa<l about it. The 
 only way you can jtrove that you Hymi>athi»e 
 witd an lioiiCHt adminiMtration of affairn in for 
 von to pivo iiotife to~thoHO who have mala<l- 
 "miniBtcreil affairs to (piif; for yuu to bring for- 
 ward a new set of men. It is your duty to 
 vindicale yourself, and prove to the world tliat 
 von are in sympathy with thoao who want an 
 Lonest povernmeut. He had no cause here to 
 announce, or chami)ion the cause of any partic- 
 ular set. But it wa.s his duty to point atten- 
 tion to errors that have nearly resulted in the 
 bankruptcy of the .State. It was time that tho 
 hands that had caused these enors were 
 stayed. It does not mean the a.scendenoy of 
 6ue paiticular set of men over another, but it 
 means order and pood poveniment. Tho op- 
 posite courno would breed revo'ution and 
 anarchy." 
 
 Nono of these adventurers arc dangerous as 
 individualH, bnt it is in the aggregate they are 
 destractivo and rosistlese, oecauso hitherto 
 they have been supported by the power of tho 
 National Government. Burke in his great im- 
 peachment speecli against Warren Hastings, 
 charging him with '•letting loose a band of 
 adventurers ainl robbers to humble and im- 
 poverish the Indias, and for setting aside their 
 original laws and usages and the well settled 
 rights of the nativee of intelligence and prop- 
 erty" — a case not without a suggestive parallel 
 to onr own — denouncing Hastings for his out- 
 rages, he remarks : " Ho has devastated coun- 
 tries by the same means that itlagues of his 
 deBcriplion have pro«luco<l similar desolation. 
 Wo know that a Bwami of locusts, although in- 
 dividually despicable, can render a countiy 
 more desolate than Tamerlane. When (kmI 
 .KlmiphtY chose to hiinnliate tho prido and 
 preaumption of I'liaraoh au'l to bring him to 
 ithame, Ho dnl not effect His puqioso with 
 lions and tigers, bnt Ho sent lice, mice, frops 
 &nd everything loathsome and contemntible to 
 pollute and destroy tho country:" and tho re- 
 construction policy of the country has unfortn- 
 natftly ihowe\er well intended) jiro<iuce<l a 
 political plague of this character in our devoted 
 State. The authority of the National (Jovern- 
 mcnt is now a.s ftjlly rccognizeil in this State 
 as waM that of the Almighty by IMiaraoh. when 
 the plagues in Kgj'pt were remove<l. May we 
 not, therefore, ]>e'tition the National (lovern- 
 ment with confidence for the same favor in the 
 
 removal of thcHO pests, or a mitigation of their 
 political ixjwer in persccutina us 'f 
 
 INTf:ilV;.ST8 ol' THF. niKKnJIEN. 
 
 It has boon urge<l in Justification of tho rc- 
 conslniction jm)Iicv that it was a measure dc- 
 sigiiod to |)rolect tiio newly ac<iuired rights of 
 tho froedmen. But all |)arti(!s now coiicodo 
 that tho remedy is worse than tho disease; 
 that while frood'mons rights ought to be pro- 
 tected and Becnre<l, yet no code of political 
 morals or economical wisdom will justify tho 
 tho sacrifice of tho rights and property of free 
 white mon to effect it, and the overthrow, to a 
 great extent, of the honesty of the freedmaii 
 himcelf. by forcing him into poniiions of trust 
 and power before his intellectual and moral 
 training had fitted him for the iliscliargc of tho 
 duties of statesmansbij) and to resist tho cor- 
 ruptions of suddenly acquired power. Tho 
 evidence of this position is so ])owerfully and 
 truthfully set forth in 'The I'rostrato Stato of 
 South CaVoliHa, ' under negro government, by 
 a distinguished Abolitionist, the Hon. James 
 S. I'ike, a former member of Congress from 
 the Stato of Maine and tho late minister to the 
 Hague under the appointment of Mr. Lincoln, 
 who visited this State, as the freedman's 
 friend, in February and March last, and saw 
 with his own eyes tho evils which he honestly 
 relates, and which but contirms the o])iiiioii of 
 every Northern gentleman who has taken the 
 pains to investigate the sul)ject for himself. I 
 would earnestly recommend this lM>ok for its 
 facts, which will not be disputed by any fair- 
 minded man, who looks into the fearfully 
 moral trial of elevating ignorance and fraud 
 over intelligence an.l honesty, an<l which tends 
 to produce a prejudice against the whole col- 
 ored race, because of their supposed responsi- 
 bility for tho dishonest and ignorant leaders 
 that now ropresent them in the State goveni- 
 meut. Mr. Pike says: "The rule of South 
 Carolina should not IJe dignified with the name 
 of government. It is the institution of a huge 
 system of brigandage. Tho men who haveha<l 
 it in control are tho jjicked villains of the com- 
 munity. They are tho highwaymen of tho 
 State. They are professed legislative robbers. 
 They are men who have studied and practice<l 
 tho "art of legalized theft. They are in no 
 sense different from, or better than, the men 
 who fill the prisons and pcnitontiarios of the 
 world. They are, in fact, precisely that class, 
 only more daring and audacious. They pick 
 your pockets by law. They rob the poor and 
 the rich alike bv law. They confiscate your 
 estate by law. 'I'hey do none of these things 
 under the tyrant's plea of the pubUc good or 
 the public necessity. They do all simply to 
 enricli therasel^s personally. Their solo base 
 object is to gorge the individual with public 
 j.lunder. Having done it they turn aroii:id and 
 i)uy immunity for their acts by sharing their 
 gains with the ignorant, jiauperzcd, besotted 
 crowd, who have chosen them to the stations 
 they fill, and which enables them to rob and 
 plunder." 
 
 Mr. Chamberlain, a native of Massachusetts, 
 a zealous Itepublican, feeling humiliated by 
 tho corruptions of tho State Goveniment while 
 ho was our attorney-general, in a published 
 lettar of great jwwer and candor in 1S71, in 
 which ho admits that the reconstniction meas- 
 ures have produced glaring evils, writes: "Three 
 
years have passed, and the result is — what ? 
 lucompeteucy, dishonesty, corruptions in all 
 its forms have 'advanced their miscreant 
 fronts,' have put to flight the small remnant 
 that opposed them, and now rules the party 
 M'hich rules the State. * * * i can never 
 be indifferent to anything which touches the 
 fair fame of the great national party to which 
 all my deepest convictions attach me, and I 
 repel the libel which the party bearing that 
 name in this State is pouring upon us. I am a 
 llepublican by habit, by conviction, by associa- 
 tion, but my llepublicanism is not, I trust, 
 composed solely of equal parts of ignorance 
 and rapacity. Such is the plain statement of 
 the present condition of the dominant party of 
 our State " 
 
 FRAUD FEOJI TUE BEGINNING. 
 
 This government of the State actually origi- 
 nated in a gross frau.1. Tiie Federal Govern- 
 ment, in a spirit of caaritable liberality, organ- 
 ized, through the Freednien's Bureau, a charity 
 for the aid of the colored people, whose desti- 
 tute condition after the war, especially among 
 the women and children and the aged of both 
 sexes, enlisted i3ublic sympathy. Food and 
 clothing were to be distributed under the direc- 
 tion of Gen. Howard, the head of the bureau 
 in Washington and in this State, ):ty his assist- 
 ant, Gen. Scott, who soon after became the 
 governor to the surprise of those not in the 
 secrete of the party organized under the aus- 
 pices of the Freedmen's Bureau and direction. 
 You will find, however, in the printed report, 
 No. 121, of the second session of the forty-sec- 
 ond Congress, this startling paragraph, as a 
 part of the secret history of carpet-bag rule in 
 this State, by which you will learn that this 
 charity intended for the indigent col- 
 ored men by the Federal Government 
 was diverted as a corruption fund to 
 initiate the fraudulent and corrupt govern- 
 ment which we now desire to be relieved of. 
 The report referred to is from an investigating 
 Congressional committee ^-into the alleged 
 frauds of Gen. Howard. "It was offered to be 
 proved that in South Carolina the assistant 
 commissioner, Scott, had been elected Gov- 
 ernor of that State by the corrupt use of 
 rations, provisions and transportation: that as 
 an officer of the bureau, and hiiviug the control 
 of this property, he, by and with the knowl- 
 edge and connivance of Howard, did use such 
 property to the extent of three hundred thous- 
 and dollars for this purpose. The names of the 
 witnesses were of high character, and members 
 of the Eepublican party were handed to the 
 committee, and subpienas asked for them, by 
 whom it was stated by respectable persons 
 these facts could be 8ubstanti»ted. The ma- 
 jority of the committee refused to allow them 
 to be summoned." This government, con- 
 ceived in fravid, has perpetuated itself in the 
 same manner by such legislative and official 
 measures and practices, in dei'ogation of the 
 plainest rights of the people, so that each 
 species of fraud and corruption, which other 
 communities have initiated in detail, have been 
 aggregated here, and culminated in a grand 
 repository of poUtical expedients to crush out 
 all opposition. 
 
 Mr. Corbin, a native of New England and 
 the United States district attorney for South 
 Cai'olina, and a llepublican senator of the 
 
 State, testifies before the congressional com- 
 mittee that the elective machiueiy of the State 
 was as follows : "Three commissioners were 
 appointed by the Governor: those three com- 
 missioners appointed managers in the several 
 precincts in the county, and were to furnish 
 those managers with ballot boxes, locked and 
 sealed, except an aperture through which to 
 drop the votes in the box. The managers were 
 to receive the votes on the day of election, keep 
 a poll-list, and return the poll-list and the box 
 to the commissioners of election, who were to 
 count the votes; they were to do that withui 
 three days after the election; they had three 
 days within which they were to return the 
 boxes and poll-lists, and the commissioners 
 were required within ten days to canvass the 
 vote and make a return to the State board of 
 canvassers; and the State board was to canvass 
 the result and declare it. 
 
 * * * "You can see what the opportuni- 
 ties were. The managers had the boxes at 
 their precincts remote from the county seat. 
 * * * Some of them had to carry them 
 thirty or forty miles to the county seat to de- 
 liver them to the commissioners. If they 
 chose to knock out the bottom and put in 
 other votes, or to change those that were in 
 there, they had the opportunity to do it. And 
 after the boxes were received by the commis- 
 sioners, they had the same opportunity to com- 
 mit frauds, because the boxes were in their 
 custody for ten days. Some very glaring frauds 
 were doubtlessly committed in some of the 
 lower counties. At the very last term of the 
 court I convicted three parties in Beaufort 
 County for abstracting ballots that had been 
 cast by the voters at the election, and substi- 
 tuting others for them, and also for erasing 
 the names of some of the candidates upon the 
 ballots cast and substituting others therefor." 
 
 Another witness before this committee testi- 
 fies that at a late election "women gave votes 
 for their husbands or their brothers who they 
 said were sick," and were not challenged, as 
 most of the commissioners and managers 
 were themselves candidates and all of the same 
 party, except in some precincts where as no 
 one of the party could read and write, they had 
 to resort to one of the Beform party for a 
 manager to make the record at such polls. 
 And he further testifies that in an election re- 
 ferred to the report gave "a round thousand 
 against everybody on our ticket, and a thous- 
 and in favor of everybody on the other ticket. 
 I do not think they ever counted the ballots." 
 
 TAX.\TION WITHOUT UEl'RESENTATION. 
 
 These facts demonstrate the hopelessness of 
 honest representation to protect the rights of 
 property, and demonstrate that the great 
 maxim of the llepublican governments, which 
 makes representation a condition of taxation, 
 is here suspended. Let us contemplate the 
 fruits of this departure from llepublican form of 
 government. Judge Carpenter testifies before 
 the Congressinal committee: 
 
 '■The property of South Carolina is assessed 
 in round numbers at ;J180,UOO.000. I do not 
 think it would sell in any market for ?<100,000,- 
 000, for South Carolina has vast tracts of poor 
 land. 1 think property is assessed there at 
 about twice its value. 
 
 "I will instance one case in Clarendon when a 
 tract of land had been offered two veara for 
 
•r5,flO0 and tlioy aHHewnod it at :?15.O0<). and the 
 owner ooiild not f^ot tlie e(iualuatiou board to 
 do anytliing about it. 
 
 "TaxcH Hoemod to be aMHe^Hed with a view to 
 the HuppoHcd iiccoHHiiiert of tlio State per 
 annum, ratlior tliun tlio vuhio of iho property. 
 Trior to tlio war llio property of tlie State warf 
 about .r js(),(i(i(i,()(Mi, agauiHt •■rlMO.OOd.Oud now. 
 and I tliink the taxcM niir»od for State puqwrnoij 
 before the war wuH about r 100,0(1(1. • » • 
 When I Hay that over t4,()0(),(mio iu levied tliie 
 year for State taxes, I mean to say tliat thev 
 are tryiuf; to collect two yearn" taxeH in one.^' 
 
 Whiii- on tluH Hubject I will cite aca^eof L'rcat 
 liaidHhip. known to inynelf, as one of a larj,'e 
 nunibi'r: The plantation of an iinfoitunatc 
 liliiutor wan HoI>l for debt lartt month. It 
 brought but i'Oi) at auction, and the taxeH ou 
 the Bamo being ¥2.50, loft the creditor but •'?450, 
 whilHt the State afHCHned the property for tax- 
 ation at •jlO.ODO. Is it any wonder that nearly 
 a million of ilollaiH of taxation its left unpaid 
 every year, and the land virtually conlisoated 
 for taxes, Icavinj; homeless miiny a family ? 
 
 I (]uote freely from Judge Caqienter's testi- 
 mony before the Congressional committee, be- 
 cauHO he is a Itepubhcan. originally a])pointed 
 by Chief Justice Chase as registrar in bank- 
 ruptcy in Charleston, and has been twice 
 elected by the Legislature as one of the judges 
 of the State, and im an ardent supporter of the 
 National and St;ito governments: "Another 
 cause of discontent (ho testities) was the char- 
 acter of persons appointed to till offices under 
 the Executive. The constitution of South Cai-- 
 oliua gives the Executive vast patronage, or at 
 leant the Legislature have assumed it, whether 
 the constitution gives it or not. All the county 
 auditors, county treasurers, tria' justices, and 
 most of the local otlicers, are appointed by the 
 (ioveruor. As a rule they are utterly incompe- 
 tent, and as a rule they are utterly corrujjt.'" 
 
 He further testifies that the Oovernor had 
 pardoned a large number of criminals just be- 
 fore his own second election. ''I saw several 
 i)ersous that I had myself sentenced to the 
 I'euiteutiary, who were pardoned just before 
 the election. I met them ou the streets, three 
 or four of a very ba<l description of men— men 
 who had been sentenced to the Penitentiary 
 for a series of years. I think the otticial state- 
 ment of pardons from October 1. IXG'J, to Octo- 
 ber 1. 1870, gives the number as two hundred 
 and live out of some four hundred and eighty 
 who were in the I'enitentiary. I think the 
 pardons were largely in excess of the convic- 
 tioiiH." And now, while ou the subject of ex- 
 ecutive interference with public justice, I will 
 relate cA«e« of legislative interference a8 a 
 sample of many which tend to overthrow the 
 independence of the judiciary: 
 
 THE iri)H lAI'.V. 
 
 Lant year, a case was tried in Charleston in- 
 volving a claim fordamageit against a railroa<l. 
 Tho |)Uintin"s attorney took exce])tion to the 
 charge of the judge and the tinding of the 
 jur)', who, it appears, found a verdict for the 
 defendant. This matter was taken up by the 
 Legislature, because it was alleged he had 
 made improper rollections ou a colored woman 
 of doubtful character. The judge was imme- 
 diately telegraphed for to appear before the 
 I^egisiature at Columbia, his court closed in 
 the meantime, and he only escaped impeach- 
 
 ment by tho lawyer explaining that the mem- 
 ber to whom ho ha<l compUine4l had given 
 moro force to his language than he liau iu- 
 tended. 
 
 Tho committee reported fully on tho cane, 
 aoiiuitting tlu; judge of any im|)roper action; 
 and the Siipromo Court, to wliich an appeal 
 was made, took no excejitioii to his ruIingH. 
 'i'lie lawyer admitted that he did not think tho 
 woman had sulTered by his remarks. Tho 
 committee cIoho<1 their report an follows : "In 
 conclusion your committee would remark that 
 the enacting of this farce, ex|)ensivo though it 
 be, will not fail of ]>roducing goo<l results, if 
 for the future it shall Htunii an a beacon light 
 to warn the ]{ouse of Kepresentativcs against 
 any investigation intonihngs of judges or the 
 verdict of juries. These matters of right be- 
 long to tho Circuit and Supreme CourtH, and 
 we may not touch them without infringing U|>on 
 the inde]>endeuce of the judicial de])artment 
 and weaken pubhc confidence iu tho adminis- 
 tration." 
 
 This rejiort saved the judge, and he waii 
 able to reoi>en his court again. Jlut of course 
 his tenure of office, he will feel, hangs ou the 
 jileasure of the Legislature, and his decibioiis 
 must be measurably affected thereby. 
 
 A few weeks ago, in Camden, a colored man 
 was i)roved guilty of larceny by three resi)ecta- 
 ble witnesses of his own color; no rebutting 
 testimony but that of the prisoner himself, who 
 denied tlie charge. The jurj- of colored men 
 aciiuitted him, but as none of them could 
 write, the verdict was signed by the foreman 
 for them, by making his mark. After the ver- 
 dict had been signed, some of the jurors de- 
 clared it was not their decision, and displayed 
 so much ignorance of their duties, that the 
 judge was constrained to discharge them aa in- 
 competent to tiT another case. A resolution was 
 immediately introduced into the Legislature 
 for im|)caching the judge, the latter portion of 
 which embodies tho alleged offence: "Now, 
 therefore, be it resolved, that the said K. B. 
 Carjjenter be imi>^:lied for conduct unbecom- 
 ing a judge, and for denying to citizens of this 
 State, ou account of color, the right to ser\'e 
 as jurors in and for the County of Kershaw." 
 The judge's friends, however, were able to 
 save him from impeachment by a small majori- 
 ty. Yet Iio is so popular among them as to 
 have been twice elected to the bench by the 
 Legislatu-e, but of course be now has notice 
 that ignorant colored juries must not bo dis- 
 chargeil in future. There seems to bo a con- 
 stant struggle for power here, and it has lately 
 develoi>ed a new phase of a dangerous States 
 rights character. A bank became insolvent 
 lately, and measures were taken by some of 
 the creditors in one of the State courts to deal 
 with its assets. Other creditors and tho offi- 
 cers of the bank j>referred to go into voluntary 
 bankruptcy in the I'liited .'states court, and 
 jilace the assets of the bank under that iiu-is- 
 diction, by the direction of the district judge 
 of the Federal court. This brought about a 
 controversy as to the jurisdiction tinder au 
 anpeal from the ilecision of the local I'nited 
 States judge, which decision was fully sus- 
 tained by the Federal circuit judge, it being 
 determined that the State courts had no jwwer 
 in such cases. The judge of tho State court, 
 however, does uot concur iu this questioning of 
 his power iu the premises, but has ruled the 
 
6 
 
 lawyers of the opposition for contempt of 
 court ill advis.ng their clients to seek justice 
 in a United States court, and actually "debars 
 some of them from practicing their profession 
 in the State courts. This personal injustice 
 acts as a menace to the whole bar, so that those 
 of us who have no confidence in the State 
 courts, while subjected to the interference of 
 the Legislature, are practically denied the right 
 to appeal to a more reliable court by the inter- 
 ference of the State judges. 
 
 TKINTING FRAUDS. 
 
 If time peiTuitted I could greatly enlarge on 
 this class of evils from authentic sources. The 
 coiuts are not only intimidated, but the press 
 is subsidized. Mr. Pike informs us that ''the 
 State government employs and pays them ad 
 libitum. An instalment of f 75,000 lately went 
 to about twenty-live papers, in sums ranging 
 from i*l,000 to' ^lM)ii a piece, a list of which 
 was published by order of a vote of the Legis- 
 lature a short time ago. Of course, none of 
 the deviltry of the State government is likely 
 to be exposed through them. The whole 
 amount of the printing bills of the State last 
 year as computed (for everything here has to 
 be in part guess work) aggregated the im- 
 mense sum of $600,000." I think his estimate 
 is too large, but I believe it is now known to 
 have exceeded $575,000— a sum which would 
 have more than disbursed the whole expenses 
 of the State before the war, and larger than 
 the aggregate printing bills of Iowa, Massa- 
 chusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland. 
 These States, containing an aggregate popula- 
 tion of over ten millions and a capital thirty 
 times larger than that of this State, a reading 
 people, and yet their public printing only 
 amounts to the aggregate yearly sum of $385,- 
 000. This enormous fraud enures to the ben- 
 fit of a printing ring in Columbia represented 
 by the clerk of the House and the clerk of the 
 Senate, who enjoy the monopoly and divide 
 the proceeds with leadiu" members of the 
 government and the Legnifeture. I am fur- 
 nished by a prominent and useful member of 
 the Legislature the following synopsis from 
 the report of the joint special "investigating 
 committee, ill their statement of grand totals 
 of cash expenditures for public printing in the 
 following years, by which it will be seen that 
 this fraud progresses in a yearly ratio so 
 startling as to render it difficult to conceive 
 how such public robberies were tolerated with- 
 out producing that degree of public incUgna- 
 tion which would have overleaped law-abiding 
 propriety in a tar-producing countiy, and where 
 feathers are not beyond the impoverished 
 purses of the victims, who have exhibited a 
 patience and a meekness worthy of Job and of 
 Moses. Five hundred and sev"enty-tive thous- 
 and dollars were actually paid last year for 
 public printing, whereas the first two years 
 expenditure for that puqjose, after the recon- 
 struction of the State, in honest hands, was 
 but $43,000, or less than $22,000 per annum, 
 and when the aggregate expenditure of sixty 
 years before the war for printing did not reach 
 $400,000: 
 
 Public Prlnilng. 
 
 September, 1868, to October 31, 1870..$ 43,440 57 
 
 October, 1870. to October, 1871 134,151 44 
 
 October, 1871, to October, lS7'i 215,129 ss 
 
 October. 1S72, to October, 1S73 331,945 66) 
 
 Undrawn appropriation 1S73 118,0.54 34 - 
 
 Extra session appropriation 1873 125,000 ooj 
 
 S9n7,721 87 
 
 Deduct flrst two years— isfls to 1&70 . . 43,440 57 
 Cost of three years printing f 924,281 30 
 
 From October 31, 1872, to November li), 
 1873, the date of the act authorizing the issue 
 of certificates to the "Ilepublican Printing 
 Company," certificates of indebtedness receiva- 
 ble for taxes were actually pal'l for public 
 printing to that company to the enormous 
 amount of $575,000, whereas the total reve- 
 nues of the State the same fiscal year, accord- 
 ing to the State treasurer's report, was but 
 $1,719,728. 
 
 SWOLLEN EXPENSES. 
 
 The result of all these frauds first produce 
 over issues of bonds and then a repudiation of 
 them. Credit failing, the resort is to taxation, 
 or rather to confiscation of the private proper- 
 ty of the people. I should like to give you a 
 full comparison of the expenditures before and 
 after the war, and even year by year the com- 
 parison is instructive, as the "figures steadily 
 rise with each new administration, but time 
 will only permit a mere synopsis of the 
 more prominent: 
 
 Taxable propertv of the State before 
 
 tlie war $490,000,000 
 
 Taxable property now 170,000,000 
 
 Tax levies before the war, not over. . . 500,000 
 
 Tax levied this year 2,700,ooo 
 
 Legislative e.xpenses before the war . . 40,000 
 
 Legislative expenses this year 291, 000 
 
 Public printing before the war 5,000 
 
 Public printing this year, at least 450,000 
 
 Legislative expeusee reached the enormous 
 sum one year of over half a million. I under- 
 stand some four huudred employees were paid 
 as clerks, and other assistants to the members, 
 being more than two apiece; some of the clerks 
 signed the receipt for their salaries by their 
 mark as they could not write, and one was paid 
 for such services who had not been in the 
 State in two years. 
 
 We shall liave but limited reforms till the 
 people are educated. The ignorance of black 
 or white men is productive of the same evils. 
 In Massachusetts ninety-three per cent, of the 
 people, over ten years old, read and write, and 
 but seven out of every huudred are ignorant 
 below this standard. Yet eighty per cent, of 
 the criminals come from this ignorant class, 
 and only twenty per cent, from those who can 
 read and write. New York and Pennsylvania 
 stands seven to one, and the United States 
 stands ten to one in this relation. I have very 
 grave fears that unless active measures are 
 taken to educate the rising generation of the 
 colored race, and induce them to train their 
 children to habits of mdustry, that they will 
 degenerate as they have in San Domingo, and 
 become a set of mere camp-followers of politi- 
 cal leaders, or degenerate into pauperism. 
 
 While they were slaves they had the care of 
 masters whose interest it was to teach them 
 industry, and subject them to some degree of 
 moral discipline. Let me invoke the intelli- 
 gent men of the races to consider the necessity 
 of an active reform in this matter if they 
 would elevate their people, or, indeed, stay 
 their decadence as meu, by making them less 
 
the iiiMtrumeiilH of poliliciaim and more devo- 
 ted to their own true clovaliou au a race. 
 
 OCIl POLICY IN TIIK FTTVnE. 
 
 Much of the oviirt which iifflict our Comnioii- 
 wouUhaif) iiodoiilit chai>,'eal>lo to uii Ill-judKcd 
 and, i)erhai>H, a piirtiMau iiolicy on tho part of 
 Coiimx-MM, more or KiHH (hctntod hy an honcMl 
 behcf that thoHO rachcal rhan^cB in tho \n\\n 
 and iiHagCB of the State were noct-BMarj' for tlio 
 jtrotoction of colored nien'B rijjhtH at;ainHt the 
 projudicoH of thoir fonner inaisterH. Hard as 
 were tho conditions which rcverBod tho order 
 of the coinuuuiity liy elevating ignorance to 
 jihicpH of j)ower, aiid ij,'noiing tho claiuiH of in- 
 toUigcnco and prt)jierly to jirotootion and rej)- 
 rcKiMitation, yet thcBO cviU have hecoino intcn- 
 HJIicd and pon)otuated hy tlio neglect or refusal 
 of tho coninuuiily to accept tho condition and 
 utilize what little iniluonco and power for re- 
 HtrainiiiR tluH ignorance and corruption hy a 
 ready co-o])cration with the many honoMt and 
 intelligent men of hoth paitien and both raccH, 
 who have always deaired to reform thoir party. 
 Now. however, a dawning of good feeling on 
 the part of even tho most extreme Iladicalfl. 
 in and out of tho Klate, and an open and 
 pronounced Mvmpathy agaiuHt fraud and 
 corruption, clieerrt us on to do noine- 
 thing ourHclvoH, and to show ouraelveH 
 grateful for tliiw nynipathy as well aH willing to 
 help ourselvcB out of tho difticulty. We Hhould 
 ignore pai-ty linen, color or place of birth, and 
 co-operate iieartily with any man. and any race, 
 and any party wIiobo miHnion iH honcHty. and 
 we Hhoiild do it so heartily at* to leave no doubt 
 in the mind« of any one. Past ibsues Hhould 
 not only be forgotten, but even the'short-com- 
 ingu of'individualB Bhould be condoned in the 
 public mind towardrt thoHO who will now hearti- 
 ly join U8 to purge the .State. When one con- 
 IcmiilateB tho f rai'.tien of our own race, and tho 
 many weakneBHOH which attach themselvcB to 
 the best of our public men— when we further, 
 Mr. rresident, look into our own heartB, 
 and the hidden motives and even selfiah 
 actioiiB of our own lives, we must re- 
 joice that we are not cxpOBcd. and we should 
 bo ready to forgive much that we know of 
 others. " Many a good man has fallen beyond 
 redemi)tion because of tho rolentlessness of 
 the public towards one unfortunate political or 
 eocial error, and many a good man, by reason 
 of a single frailty or act of disloyalty to bis 
 party, has been driven into ojien and extreme 
 liostility by an undue and undiscriminatiiig 
 abuse. Lotus, therefore, forget the bad meas- 
 ures of the past, except as lessons to bo avoided 
 iu future, and tlio bad actions of men, ex- 
 cejit as beacon lights to be guarded against: 
 and while wo should altvays honor and repose 
 uiiipialiticd conlidenco in men whose probity 
 and juil^ment have never deceived us, yet pol- 
 itics is a web of mixed materials, and in the 
 weaving wo must not be too exclusive iu our 
 selection of the yarn, nor unwilling to use the 
 loo.'U because partly constituted of doubtful 
 metal. Let us, therefore, with contidence me- 
 inonalizc the tJongress of our great nation to 
 alTorcl us such relief as .Vmerican citi/cns have 
 a right to ask for. Wo have a constitutional 
 right to a ll<.-i)iiblican form of government, and 
 and now it is adnutted by every class and every 
 j)arly throughout bur common land that the 
 rights of property is entirely ignored, and that 
 
 there is no machinery within tho .State power- 
 ful enough to resist the fraud and corruptions 
 which itnpoveriHh and humiliate us. It would, 
 thoroforo, bo absurd to say that wo enjoyed that 
 — that fnnn of a itepublii-un government con- 
 templated bv tho I''edcral ( 'onstitution. .Julius 
 Ciisar overthrew the liberties of the people of 
 Homo in ancient times, and Louis Napoleon 
 suppressed those of I''raiico in ni(Klern times, 
 while conforming in the most explicit manner 
 to tho foriiis of tho republic; but no publicists, 
 economists, jurists or historians iiavo over 
 claHsitied these nations as republics, after the 
 overthrow of the rights of these i)eople, be- 
 ciuso the/(*r/;w wore maintained. 
 
 COSHTITUTIOSAL OUARANTEE.<4. 
 
 Wo are guaranteed by the fourth article of 
 our National Constitution altejiublican form of 
 government. This means the sul>stancc, not 
 the form only. The fonu must be the emana- 
 tioH from tho substance, as tho shadow follows 
 tho body. The earnest and astute IxkIv of 
 statesmen, who created a Ucpublican forin of 
 government and who designed that glohous 
 instrument for the security of themselves an<l 
 their jiosterity, disregarded fonns when they 
 counselled a separation from the mother coun- 
 try on the ground that, to freemen, taxation 
 without representation was a form without 
 substance, however much doctrinarians of that 
 ago might show up the bea<Uy of the IJritish 
 constitution. And when wo contemidate that 
 insalion irithonl ri'pr«srn/n/iiiii was the solo 
 cause of our separation from the crown of 
 Great Britain, aro we not inevitably brought to 
 the concluBion that tliat right of representation 
 as a condition precedent to taxation was the 
 very corner-stone of that Republican e<litic6 
 guaranteed to each State of the new confeder- 
 ate nation which Washington. JefTenjon. 
 Adams anil Hutledge intended to secure to us ? 
 
 In this .State, apart from the admitted frauds 
 and corruptions, of which the party in power 
 furnish the proofs themselves, that I have 
 laid before you in their own words, demon- 
 strating to every mind that taxation without 
 representation is the priiici])al cause which de- 
 prives ns of tho practical rights of Itepublicans, 
 and, indeed, of the simplest a;id universally 
 conceded rights of any i>eoplo. 
 
 Sui)ix)so every State in tho Union bad such a 
 foitn and practice of goveniment, and the 
 same principle of action should extend itself 
 (as it surely would) to the Federal Govern- 
 ment, how long would tho constitution con- 
 tinue to guarantee a Republican form to itself ? 
 liut wo have tho testimony of the wise framers 
 and commentators on tlio constitution itself 
 on this subject. Mr. Hamilton, in his No. 51 
 of the Federalist, while defending the consti- 
 tution to insure its adoptiou by tho States, 
 writes as follows: 
 
 "It is of great im|X)rtanco in a Republic, not 
 only to guard society against tho opjuession of 
 rulers, liut to guard one jmrt of society against 
 tho injustice of the other part. Jn.slirt'i.i tin mil 
 of ijnr'Thinin/: it is the end of civil society: it 
 eser haM been and ever will be nurbued mitil it 
 be obtained, or until lil>erty be lost in the pur- 
 suit. In a society under tho forms of wuich 
 the stronger factions can readily unit© and 
 oppress the weaker, anarchy may as truly be 
 said to roign as iu a state of nature, when 
 
the weaker individual is not secured against 
 the violence of the stronger." 
 
 Is not this the acknowledged condition of 
 this community by the evidence I have already 
 adduced from leading and otttcial men who 
 direct its affairs at present ? 
 
 THE FATHERS OF THE REPUBLIC. 
 
 Jefferson, in a letter to Madisou, says : The 
 executive power in our government is not the 
 only, perhaps not even the principal object of 
 my solicitude. The tyranny of the legislature 
 is really the danger most to be feared." 
 
 And, of course, a tyrannical Legislature is one 
 of the elements which the power of the Fede- 
 ral government was intended to guard against 
 under the guarantee of the fourth article of 
 the constitution. Madison remarked in the 
 convention : "An increase of population will of 
 necessity increase the proportion of those who 
 will labor under all the hardships of life and 
 secretly sigh for a more equal distribution of 
 its blessings. These may in time outnumber 
 those who are placed above feelings of indi- 
 gence. According to the equal laws of suf- 
 frage, the power will slide into the hands of 
 the former: no agrarian attempts have yet been 
 made in this country, but symptoms of a level- 
 ling spirit, as we have understood, have suffi- 
 ciently appeared in a certain quarter to give 
 notice of the future danger. How is this dan- 
 ger to be guarded against on llepublicau prin- 
 ciples ? How is the danger in all cases of in- 
 terested coalitions to o])press the minority to 
 be guarded against Y^ The guaranty clause of 
 the Federal Constitution answers the question, 
 and it has been reserved to the present time 
 to justify the wisdom of that provision. Mr. 
 Gerry, in his reply to this, said : "He did not 
 deny the position of Mr. Madison that the ma- 
 jority will generally violate justice where they 
 have an interest in doing so, but did not think 
 there was any such temptation in this coun- 
 try." But Mr. Gerry could not anticipate the 
 possibility of a government in the hands 
 of a set of dishonest adventurers, supported 
 by an overwhelming number of emancipated 
 slaves, perfectly resistless in point of numbers, 
 ignorant of their own interest as they are reck- 
 less of the rights, of the pi-operty and the per- 
 sons they supersede. With a few favorable 
 exceptions, the intelligent and honest colored 
 men are wholly disregarded and without intlu- 
 ence, aud their efforts for reform or even to 
 educate and elevate their race, to tit them for 
 the sacred duties of American citizens, meets 
 with no favorable response, and, therefore, 
 renders reform nearly hopeless without the 
 sympathy and co-operation of our fellow-citi- 
 zens outside of the State and through the 
 National Government in the protection of the 
 rights of the minority. 
 
 iMontesquieu, and other distinguished piibli- 
 cists, had suggested the importance of fednra- 
 tive republics as a practical means of extending 
 the sphere of popular governments with safety 
 to the permanency of the liepublican principle 
 in even great nations, because not only were 
 these smaller members of the confederacy pro- 
 tected against foreign conquest aud domestic 
 violence, but should abuses crop out into one 
 part they are reformed by those that remain 
 sound; and the section of the constiiution 
 under discussion, which guarantees to every 
 State a Kepublican fonn of government, is the 
 
 logical conclusion of the above premises. The 
 evils to be thus guarded against, then only 
 "cropping" out to the immaginatiou of these 
 writers, are now developed here in full into 
 exaggerated maturity and fruitfulness, and 
 hence we petition the sound portion of our 
 confederacy to grant us the remedies re- 
 ferred to. 
 
 Mr. Madison, the greatest authority on our 
 form of government, again remarks : "It will 
 bo found, indeed, on a candid review of our 
 situation, that some of the distresses under 
 which we labor have been erroneously charged 
 on the operations of our goverument, but it 
 will be found, at the same time, that other 
 causes will alone account for many of our 
 heaviest misfortunes, and particularly for that 
 prevailing aud increasing distrust of public en- 
 gagements and alarm for private rights, which 
 are echoed from one end of the continent to 
 the other. These must be chiefly, if not wholly, 
 effects of the unsteadiness and injustice with 
 which a factious s])irit has tainted our public 
 administrations. By a faction I understand a 
 number of citizens, whether amounting to a 
 majority or a minority." After discussing the 
 dangers to the equality of interests and the 
 public weal, arising from the predominance of 
 powerful factions, who become masters of the 
 situation, he further remarks : 
 
 "But the most common andduralile source of 
 faction has been the vai'ious and unequal dis- 
 tribution of property, those who hold and 
 those who are without property. * * * The 
 apportionment of taxes on the various de- 
 scriptions of property is an act which seems 
 to require the most exact impartiality, yet 
 there is perhaps no legislative act in which 
 greater opportunity and temptation are given 
 to a predominant party to trample on tke rules 
 of justice. Every shilling with which they 
 overburden the inferior number is a shilling 
 saved to their pockets. * * * rpo secure 
 the public good and private rights against the 
 danger of such a faction, and at the same time 
 preserve the spirit and form of popular gov- 
 ernment, is then the great object to which our 
 inquiries are directed. Let mo add that it is 
 the great desideratum by which alone this form 
 of goverument can be rescued from the op- 
 pi'obrium under which it has so long labored." 
 Hei-e again you perceive how pointedly his ai'- 
 guments tend to show the necessity of the 
 federal guaranty to each State. 
 
 Hamilton, on the same subject says: "With- 
 out a guarantee, the assistance to be derived 
 from the Union in repelling those domestic 
 dangers which may sometimes threaten the 
 existence of the State constitutions must be 
 renounced. Usurpation may rear its crest in 
 each State and trample upon the liberties of 
 the people, while the national government 
 could legally do nothing more than behold its 
 encroachments with indignation and regret. 
 * * * * rjjjg inordinate pride of State 
 importance has suggested to some minds an 
 objection to the principle of a guaranty in the 
 Federal government as involving an^ofticious 
 interference in the domestic concerns of the 
 members. A scruple of this kind would de- 
 prive us of one of the principal advantages to 
 be exxjected from the Union, and can only flow 
 from a misapprehension of the nature of the 
 provision itself. It could be no impediment 
 to reforms of the State constitution by a ma- 
 
9 
 
 jority of the p<'ople. In a legal and peacealde 
 inoil'i thiH rigltt woiiKl remain undimininheJ. 
 A miarmitPf l)y the nationiil initbority woiiM lif 
 aH nnn-!i dii'octod uKainht the ut<ur])aticin of 
 rulerHaH a)<:iinHt the fcmientu imd oiitragCB of 
 faction and sedition in the coininunitv." 
 
 Calhoun, too. the inoHt advanced advcjcate of 
 conBtitntional State riKhtn, held that the guar- 
 antee clftUf<o nmler diccusHion wuh intended 
 to be more a correctionary measure against tho 
 UHurpation or misrule of State governments 
 than for protection aguinnt domeBtic violence. 
 And I would liere remark, that the Hacred C'on- 
 nervutivo views of that great HtateHman, who 
 valued the Union next to the ConHtitution, and 
 regarded them ah ncceHBaiT to the exintenee of 
 each other, have heen too often TOiMa])]irehend- 
 ed, and too often miBrei)reHenteil. hy opposite 
 clai<aes of jMjliticianH. who, citing what they be- 
 lieve to be tho logical con(<e<iueuce8 of hiH 
 opinions rather than thoee of his exemplified 
 views and avowed jirinciples. In diBCUSsing 
 the fourth article of the constitution, he writes 
 as followH : 
 
 "I come now." he eays, '"to the last, in the 
 order in which I am considering them: but tho 
 first as they stand in the section: and the one 
 immediately involved in the question under 
 consideration. — I mean the guarantee of a re- 
 publican form of government to every State in 
 the Union. 
 
 "I hold that, according to its true constrnc- 
 tiou, its ohJKl is the kevehse of (hat of prolec- 
 timi against (Unnestic violence: and that, instead 
 of being intended to protect the gorrniwents of 
 the States it is intended to protect each State 
 (I use the term as defined) against its govern- 
 uu-}U: or. more strictly, against the ambition or 
 usurpation of its rulers. That the objects of 
 the constitution to which the guarantees refer 
 — and liberty more especially — may be en- 
 dangered or destroyed by rulers, will not bo 
 denied. But, if admitted, it follows as a con- 
 sequence, that it must bo embraced in the 
 g^iarantees. if not inconsistent with the lan- 
 guage of the section. But if embraced, must 
 be in the guarantee under consideration, as it 
 is not in the other two. If it be added that, 
 without this construction, the guarantees 
 would utterly fail to protect the States 
 against the attempts of ambition and 
 \i8urpalion on tho part of rulers, to change 
 tho form.s of their governments and de- 
 stroy their liberty — the danger above all others 
 to which free and popular govennnents are 
 'most exposed, i— it would seem to follow irre- 
 sistibly, under the rule I have laid down, that 
 the construction I have placed upon tho provi- 
 sion as to tlio object of the guarantees is tho 
 true one. But if doubts should still remain, 
 the fact that it fully explains why tlie provi- 
 sion requires tlio aiiplication of the Slate in 
 cane of the puaranteo against domestic \io- 
 lence, is omitted, would place it beyoml con- 
 troversy: for it would be a perfect absurdity to 
 require that the party against which the 
 guarantee is intended to protect, should make 
 an application to bo protected against itself," 
 
 (•ONoni>S AND THE STATES. 
 
 Time forbids further citations from these 
 valuable sources of information as to the ob- 
 jects of the constitution and the intended use 
 of Federal power to insure the rights in .States 
 of property and pei-sons against factions of 
 
 majorities or minorities, or even tho State au- 
 thorities themselves. •Benublican forms woro 
 not only to bo required, Vnt tho substantial 
 securities to everj- citi/en which that form in 
 Bubstance nroduccs. I am a DemfH-rat of the old 
 school, ana consequently regard State rights 
 with the reverence duo to that great Now Kng- 
 land principle of local self-govenimcnt. limit- 
 ed only by ilie constitution as the organic law of 
 I the Union. I huvo not regarded some rjf the 
 \ constitutional amendments as wise, and much 
 , of tho reconstruction policy a« not only contra- 
 I rj- to the spirit of tho constitution, but the cause 
 j of most of the evils j.revailing in tho South, 
 j which I but do justice to the great jiarty in 
 , jKiwer in Baying 1 know that they now de- 
 plore alao, and are ready to correct. Wo 
 liavo not tho government of the iK-oplc in tho 
 BOnse of our original coni])act with tho Union, 
 nor of the colored man. as many gooil men in 
 the llepublicau party desired, but wo have a 
 faction who kept themselves in power for pur- 
 poses of personal gain only, entirely regardless 
 of the interest of either race or even tlie ])artv 
 whoso name they disgrace and use as a cloak 
 to cover fraud and corruption. As a goo<l 
 citizen I accei>t the changes in the organic law 
 and those m.odo by Congress in conformity 
 thereto, and so far as these centralize the power 
 of tho Federal Ciovemment, I accejjt them 
 with regret: but while conforming fully to their 
 changes and accepting the hard conditions 
 which they enforce in the South. I also desire 
 to reap the advantages for the South wliich 
 centralization implies, and I invoke, therefore, 
 the representatives of the white race in Con- 
 gress to give us here, in South Carolina, a gov- 
 ernment worthy of the race and one where a 
 New Ent,land man may send his eon to settle 
 without degradation. 
 
 The citizen owes allegiance to the govern- 
 ment; the government owes protection to the 
 people. Any form or practice which fails in 
 these mutual conditions cannot be considered 
 as a government of the people, and. therefore, 
 not a Jicpublican form of government. I>o you 
 suppose that the white people of the United 
 States intended to fix a pei-petual government 
 of fraud on their race as a condition of safety 
 to colored freedmen ? 
 
 The duties and rights that grow out of gov- 
 ernments and people are reciprocal. If tho 
 citizen makes war on the government, it is 
 treason. If the government violater< the trust, 
 it abilicates its power. And I can hardly be- 
 hove that Congress will ai<l in fixing an evil on 
 the people of this State, liy any refinement of 
 State rights or abstract construction of the or- 
 ganic law. to aid a government in which it is 
 acknowledged that invention seems to be ex- 
 hausted in contriving abuses. Precedents can- 
 not be relied upon to guide us, because history 
 does not furnish a parallel to the power anil 
 efTroutery of the present nilo existing without 
 restraint in this devoted State. 
 
 THE WORK BEFORE CS. 
 
 Let us, therefore, join hands with even,- "ood 
 and true man of any party, and of any clans. 
 The State is the common heritage of all. and 
 let us work together to save it from robberv- 
 and disgrace. Let us give full and free coun- 
 sel and supi>ort to such members of the Legis- 
 lature, ami the ofWcinls of the State and comity 
 governments, as like ourselves desire to rein- 
 
10 
 
 state an honest admiuiatration of our affairs. 
 Let us, while holding bur reepective political 
 views and as meinberH of our own political or- 
 ganisms, hold them all in abeyance to the great 
 end of all political purposes, viz., an honest 
 government and a code of laws equally for the 
 pi'otectiou of the property and persona of 
 evei-y kind and shade of opinion or lawful in- 
 terest. 
 
 To this end, let us organize in every county 
 on this basis to guard the public purse, and to 
 deal with fraud and misrule by energetic pros- 
 ecutions and exposures of fraud and coiTup- 
 tion, and let us give a ready and efhcient sup- 
 port to every reform which the llepublican 
 party or the Legislature shall originate. 
 
 At the battle of Waterloo it is well known 
 that the fortunes of the day were clearly 
 against the English till Blucher came to the re- 
 lief of Wellington, and threw the balance in his 
 favor at the latter part of the conflict. A 
 desponding officer, whose command had not 
 been engaged during the whole battle, but 
 was rather preparing for a retreat under the 
 demoralizing influences around it, was sudden- 
 ly ordered by Wellington in person: "Come, 
 sir, get your troops m motion." The timid of- 
 ficer, counselled by his fears, hesitatingly asked, 
 "Which way?" Wellington, with justitiable in- 
 dignation and a pardonable irreverence, roared 
 out, '•Forward, b;j God!"' Audi would say 
 to every Carolinian, to-day, who takes counsel 
 from his fears, but with reverence towards the 
 just centre of all good government, and His 
 providence towards them that help themselves, 
 "Forward, by God. 
 
 THE FIXASCES. 
 
 I have already furnished the fullest evidence 
 of the conuption, ignorance and oppressive 
 nature of the rule and its personnel in this State, 
 as cited from the speeches, reports or other 
 written evidence of leading and respected Re 
 publicans, most of them now connected with 
 the active government which they so honestly 
 denounce as disgracing their own party as well 
 the age i?i which they live. I now propose to 
 show by the same authority the pi'actical work- 
 ing of such a form of government, and you 
 can then judge if these fruits are the products 
 contemplated by the advocates of a llepubli- 
 can government, which the constitution guar- 
 antees to every State in the Union. It ap- 
 pears by a report of a joint special investi- 
 gating committee of the Legislature, dated, 
 December 20, 1871, page 808, that, becoming 
 alarmed at the ''ijrvat dlscrej'iancieft existing be- 
 tiveen the Stale treasurers, coiiqitrollvr-fjeneraVs 
 andjinnncial agrnCs printed reports," they de- 
 termined to go to New York and overhaul Mr. 
 Kimptou's books. Mr. Kimpton requested 
 time to go out of the city and ruralize for the 
 benefit of his overtaxed energies during the 
 past three years in behalf of the financial in- 
 terests of the State, which remedy and relax- 
 ation his physician had prescribed against the 
 fatal effectsof his impaired constitution and 
 ruined health. The ^'coimniltee hoI wishing the 
 responsihililij of the death of any ote resting on 
 ihem," (to use their own words,) consented, 
 hut when the term of recreation had expired, 
 "Mr. Kimpton thereupon stated that soon af- 
 ter j'our committee had accorded him time, for 
 the recreation ho had previously asked for, the 
 ^uancial board requested his preseuco in Co- 
 
 lumbia. * * * * Your committee not 
 wanting to oppress him, granted him still fur- 
 ther time." 
 
 After this the report sets forth the difficulty 
 of making the examination, and their industry 
 in occupying their time in acquiring informa- 
 tion, and "state the startling fact that, owing to 
 the manner of borrowing money by Kimpton, 
 in small amounts and for short time, with the 
 frecjuency of the renewals and large commis- 
 sions on each transaction, the interest, com- 
 missions and stamps paid, on short loans made 
 in Nein York atnounled to nearly as much as 
 the entire interest on the State debt," and that 
 there must accrue a large commission account 
 in favor of Kimpton, whose services of com'se 
 must be paid for. 
 
 In a subsequent report of this financial inves- 
 tigating committee to the Legislature, they set 
 forth that it had been given out to the public 
 that '■out of the ahundatice of carefulness for 
 the interest of the Slate, on the part of the Gov- 
 ernor," the financial agent had been compelled, 
 to make an instrument in writing, with good 
 and sufficient security, for the faithful dis- 
 charge of his duties and the security of the 
 State, in the penal sum of a large amount, and 
 that one of the most prominent and skilful 
 banking firms in the country had signed his 
 bond, viz : Henry CUews & Co. The bond, 
 however, was signed by Kimpton, and the rich 
 firm signed as a witness. The indignant com- 
 mittee therefore remarks: "But it will be 
 seen, by a copy of the bond he executed, that 
 the State has no security, and that her agent 
 commenced his official life under the counte- 
 nance and connivance of the financial board, 
 with deception covering his stexw and irrespon- 
 sibility his acts." (Page 42, second part.) 
 
 This committee, after giving a gi'eat array of 
 figures, which they find in the agent's books, 
 informing us that they aie full of discrepan- 
 cies, as compared with his previous reports 
 and the books of the treasurer; among other 
 items showing that he charges for expenses in 
 excess of vouchers or former reports, the 
 large item of ¥243,980 58, (page 245, 2d part.) 
 remarks: "The committee are compelled to 
 say that the financial agent has acknowledged 
 to them the incorrectness of his accounts, and 
 admitted that he was directed, by the financial 
 board, not to make real, but fictitious, entries. 
 So frightfully large were the expenses of the 
 transactions of the agency in negotiations of 
 loans, Ac, the board thought it best to keep 
 the true amount in disguise;" and part of the 
 <tc., appears to be the land commissioners' 
 fluids, 'which were passed through his books, 
 although the treasurer paid in Columbia the 
 bills, so that fictitious sums were entered in 
 his books, as the treasurer advised, from time 
 to time, in the fraudulent operations connect- 
 ed with that transaction, amounting to over 
 m700,000. said to be paid for lands not worth 
 over $100,000 to-day. 
 
 The committee very judiciously remark fur- 
 ther: "Beside this admission of the agent, the 
 manner in which his books and accounts have 
 been kept justifies suspicion of their accu- 
 racy." * * * * What, however, is our as- 
 tonishment and indignation when we are told, 
 on finding specific charges, that they are not 
 correct; that even detail in payments is no 
 assurance of accuracy ! And what our hu- 
 miliation, when we are told that the financial 
 
11 
 
 board of tbo State havo roniininMiclf-d tiic oov- 
 eriiig up and withli'ildiiifr of t lie real liiihiuoHM 
 trauHactioue of tlie agency ! 
 
 TUK KU-KI-UX. 
 
 Su mucii for tho character of thin financial 
 board anJ ilH itgent'M caiiacjly aH a bookkeeper 
 and negotiator. Let nn ciinueni]>latc tlio cele- 
 brated Kun contract pa^'o U 17 -looking back 
 to the histoiy of the Kii-Kliix diHtiirbancos 
 which disgraced our Stiite, originatiiiK. an they 
 did, from tho htupiil and jiartiMan action of the 
 8tato governiuent, wIiobo appointmentu of 
 ignorant and corrupt trial juHticcR and consta- 
 biee, and even tliin Bourco of protection of the 
 rights of property fo HjjarHely throughout the 
 State that maramling j>HrticM were often able 
 to drive awiiy a farmer'n cattle, liogH and hoi"HOH 
 before a proper otiicial could be found to utop 
 the robber. becauHe a constable and trial jus- 
 tice were often twenty miles a]>art; and such 
 was the corruption on one hand, or the prej- 
 udice of race on the other, that freipiently a 
 colored jjrlsoner after arroist and i)roof of his 
 guilt by white men would bo discharged on his 
 own testimony to the contrary, and in a few 
 days the poor follow who had lost his property 
 ■would be arrested for false imprisonment, and 
 subjected to inconvenience ana expense. This 
 outrage against justice produced, at first, or- 
 ganisms for mutual protection on tho ])art of 
 the white men in tho disturbed districts, and 
 as usual when men undertake to vindicate even 
 their acknowledged rights, and civil law can- 
 not bo relied upon, such organisms are apt to 
 degenerate into violence and injustice, pro- 
 ducing revolution or brigandage, according to 
 relative numbers, intelligence or morality par- 
 ticipating iu it. 
 
 In the case under discussion the Kn-Klux 
 appears to have been mainly a body of igno- 
 rant men, as devoid of justice as they were of 
 judgment iu applying the remedy for which, 
 no aoubt, they were induced to organize, and 
 bad they dealt with the white persons that or- 
 ganized the frauds and violence of which they 
 justly complained and made an example in 
 high quarters in Columbia, instead of descend- 
 ing to outrage and abuses of the colored men, 
 the ignorant instruments of these public j'ob- 
 bers. much more sympathy might have been 
 felt for them, and the government, iu my judg- 
 ment, would iiave sooner exercised its clem- 
 ency in consideration of the provocation. 
 
 THE ARMS FR.\UD. 
 
 But. be this as it may, this Ku-Klux organism, 
 apart from their outrages on the good order 
 and the fair name of tJie State, were also the 
 cause of a heavy fraud on the same. Joint 
 resolutions were iiaH-ed by the T^egislature in 
 1869, empowering the (lovemor to employ an 
 armed force of one huudred men for the pres- 
 ervation of the jJCace, and to piirrh/tsr tiro 
 lliiniaand stawLf uf amvi of the idoM approved 
 I'lern, provvU-d that a i»TvireattU' and sadsfac- 
 /•'/ anil cannot t)e prncnred from tfie United 
 elates." In the graphic words and classic allu- 
 eions of the committee, which I continue to 
 quote, I page 2JH, ) "The Governor's (Scott) 
 hrst lieutenant, the atljutant-general. (Moses,) 
 ■was regarded as the j>ropor and best ambassa- 
 dor for the State in this emergency. He came 
 to Washington, he sa>D the secretary, he con- 
 
 iptrred all objections, doubts, contingencies' 
 obstacles." 
 
 The Becrotar\- telograi^jod. von can liavc ten 
 thousand stanils of Snringfield rauskotH. The 
 mission of the gfneral wana succeHs, and Soutli 
 Carolina j>rocured a serviceable arm from tho 
 United States, sntticient to equipan army of ten 
 thousand men. There was, therefore, no nee<l 
 of the exercise of tho authority of March IfUh, 
 ISC'J; in fact, tho authority was nulli- 
 fiodby the generous munificent grant of the 
 national government, "and our young Cusar, 
 like his great Itoman prototype, had 
 his triumjih on his retiini to Columbia. 
 lUit this ruthless committee, like another 
 Cassius, seems disposed to question hia 
 financial capacity and liis honesty; occupying 
 ten pages of their report show tlie most un- 
 blushing and enormous frauds in imrchaHing 
 arms and altering them, not only without au- 
 thority of law, but by a division of the plun- 
 der with various agents, wliich far outstrips 
 the ingenuity of tho New York ring in cheat- 
 ing the jniblic trcasurj- and dividing the pro- 
 ceeds with their fncnils. By which it ajipears 
 that the (iovernor. without warrant of law, em- 
 powered his adjutant-gencsah Moses ito proceed 
 to the North and purchase one thousand Win- 
 chester rifies, with ammunition, Ac, for which 
 he paid ¥38, 781)— less tho largo commissions 
 which all these contracts afforded tho agents — 
 and also contracted with certain parties there 
 to alter the guns to breech-loaders, which the 
 United States had given the State in perfect 
 order, rea<ly for use, which alteration costing 
 the State 8105,000, or .*1() 5G per gun— a price 
 greater (the committee informs us) than a per- 
 fect and new arm could be purchased for of the 
 same kind in every particular from the veri- per- 
 sons that made the alteration, and to bo deliv- 
 ered fresh from their salesrooms in Broadway, 
 New York. But it appears by this same report 
 that 5^40.000 was retunied as commissions 
 to one of these zealous patriots for arm- 
 ing the State, and, we aie further informed 
 by the same committee, that ouo of the 
 contracting parties only received fifty cents 
 per gun, instead of the contract price for the 
 alterations. -rS 35 ])er gun. which large dis- 
 count they had to make or get nothing, as they 
 informed the committee. But it further ap- 
 pears that the agent was less grasping in an- 
 other case, as he only exacted a discount of 
 two dollars per gun for his services in procuring 
 these valuable contracts. The report does not 
 advise us how tliis fund thus stolen from the 
 State was divided, except as shown by the latter 
 portion of the following quotation, which seems 
 also to concentrate the fraud : "But did these 
 charges consume the wholo amount charged on 
 the books of tho financial agent to the 'arms 
 account,' which was 8'202,r.(f2 Ct; ■• Not at all; 
 the whole amount paid the Roberts .\rms Com- 
 jiany. Providence Tool Company, Bemington 
 Arms Company, and tho American Metallic 
 Ammunition Compa:iy. was, in the aggregate, 
 not over .*lUfi.250, so that there remains yet to 
 be accounted for ■*7f),872 CO, less 81,088 paid 
 iiiHurauco, which has lieen paid by the finan- 
 cial agent to C. II. Bond, tho only person, \\\\- 
 loss we except tho assurances of tho financial 
 agent and his confiilcntial clerk, viz : that 820,- 
 000 of this amount was paid to N. C. Parker, 
 then treasurer of the State. • • " To say 
 that the Governor (.Scott) or the adjutant-gen- 
 
12 
 
 eral (]Mose.si could have known notbinp; of 
 these iufamoUH robberies is no longer posBil^le. 
 The Governor in alone the authority, on the 
 part of the State, to make such a contract, and 
 he gave that authority, with general instruc- 
 tions, to the adjutant-general (Moses.) * * 
 * No such transaction could have transpired 
 without such sums, in thousands, have Ijeen 
 paid even by the huaucial agent, without the 
 instructions or directions of the (lovernor or 
 the financial board." 
 
 If this is not high authority against Govern- 
 or Moses, Mr. Kimptou and the financial board, 
 where can better be found ? This report is 
 from a most reliable source as to intelligence, 
 iudustiy, and zealous supporters of the gov- 
 ernment, whose gross dishonesty fills them 
 with dismay, and against which they most re- 
 luctantly testify. 
 
 FURNISHING TUE STATEHODSE. 
 
 I find in this connection, in this same report 
 to the Leglislature, that Mr. Woodbury, a mer- 
 chant of New York and the treasurer of one of 
 the arms companies above referred to, testified 
 that F. J. Moses, Jr., adjutant-general of the 
 State, and now the Governor, made contracts 
 for altering the guns for .¥41,250 with the 
 KobertsArms Company, and when Mr. Wood- 
 huiy was asked how much the company re- 
 ceived in payment, replied but •*2.50U, and an- 
 other contract for cartridges to the amount of 
 $37,000, in another company, and received for 
 the same but >r21,G27. Yet these companies 
 were requested to give receipts for the full 
 amount, viz: •'«81,400, on pain of not being paid 
 at all. These frauds fully account for the pov- 
 ertj' of the taxpayers, and the large accumula- 
 tious or the profligate expenditures of the 
 men who rule the State, and the conviction of 
 such criminals ought not to tax very heavily 
 the professional skill of our learned' judiciary 
 with proofs largely documentaiy, and coming 
 from official som-ces so direct and respect- 
 able, and whose political sympathy is entirely 
 with the party in power. Furnisliing the State- 
 house, in which the most glaring frauds were 
 exposed before a congressional committee, has 
 been already ventilated, but it may not be 
 known that there was charged an item of two 
 hundred line porcelain spittoons at eight dollars 
 apiece, for one hundred and twenty-tour mem- 
 bers, most of whom used the fioor or spat out 
 of the window, or into the fire. 
 
 The actual bill, at extravagant prices, was 
 $50,000, but the bill presented to the Legisla- 
 ture was raised to ^9.5,000. A committee was 
 constituted to investigate the matter, and their 
 expenses reached the modest sum of over •$60,- 
 000, $7,. 500 of which was charged for lawyer's 
 fees and services, but the lawyer credited with 
 this large fee came forward and denied that he 
 had ever received a cent of the inoney, and 
 had never (he said) even been consulted in the 
 case. The attorney-general was instructed to 
 take steps to indict the member for embezzling 
 the public money. The culprit came before 
 the investigating committee, and told them that 
 he did not intend to answer any questions that 
 would criminate himself, and when he was 
 threatened with indictment, ho defied them, 
 and said that they did not dare to do it; that 
 they would first have to make an application 
 to enlarge the penitentiary, for he would have 
 half of them in there. One of the investiga- 
 
 ting committee of Congress, on hearing this 
 teslim(:>ny. asked the witness. What, did he 
 mean half of the Legislature .' Answer: The 
 whole concern connected with the government, 
 I suppose. 
 
 We are informed that these bills were paid, 
 and that the excess of Wilton and Brussels 
 carpets, mirrors, sofas and other articles oi" 
 furniture charged to the Statehouse were 
 really used for the private lodgings of the 
 members or in their own houses — exactly the 
 same kind of fraud for which Genet was con- 
 victed in New York who used building mate- 
 rials in his own houses, which the city had jjtir- 
 chased for a coiu'thouse. Can we not follow 
 this example, and have this braggart robber 
 convicted, and have our penitentiaiy en- 
 larged for the accommodation of such other 
 members of the Legislature and government 
 whose frauds and corruption we so patiently 
 endure ? I have thus adduced a few examples 
 of the practical frauds of the State govern- 
 ment as certified to by official reports. I have 
 purposely confined myself to these examples 
 as they sufficiently illustrate the morals and 
 ])ractice of the government and the Legislature 
 of the State, wlio being in overwhelming ma- 
 jority, practically ignore the honest minority of 
 both parties in the Legislature: disregarding 
 the principles of common honesty and of com- 
 mon decency, their affroutery has become pro- 
 verbial, and we are practically askedby their con- 
 tempt for us, "What will you do about it?" Crews 
 and Tweed are representative men in Colum- 
 bia and New York, and the question is, have we 
 a committee of seventy among us, and have 
 we an earnest lawyer like Charles O'Connor, 
 and an astute investigator like Samuel Tilden. 
 and have we an independent, self-sacrificing 
 and brave body of citizens in every county in 
 the State who will do as the honest and earnest 
 men of New York did — band together, regard- 
 less of ail differences, polical or otherwise, and 
 determine to drive these thieves out of power 
 and out of the State, or into the penitentiary ? 
 
 PUBLIC .JUSTICE. 
 
 Jefferson has well said that the price of lib- 
 erty is eternal vigilance, and we must now veri- 
 fy the practical nature of the expression. I 
 have confidence that we have every one of 
 these qualifications among our people, and 
 that the exercise of them will save the State. 
 I am not insensible to the prevailing opinion 
 that the j udges are corrupt and the juries ig- 
 norant and prejudiced. The open charges of 
 corruption made in the Legislature of the 
 State against the judges of the highest court, 
 and the frequent interference of the Legislattu^e 
 with the independent discharge of the functions 
 of the individual judges, are well calculated to 
 overthrow confidence in their honesty, and ut- 
 terly to destroy that judicial independence and 
 confidence so necessary for the ends of jus- 
 tice. But this ])hase of our public grievances 
 must be accepted as one of the unfortunate 
 elements which calls for revision: and yet 
 there are individual exceptions, both as to 
 judges and juiies, which can be relied upon for 
 public justice in the State, and before whom 
 convictions for fraud and corruption can bo 
 had if properly and zealously brought before 
 them. Take the most corrupt of these men 
 and place him on the bench, in presence of a 
 court filled with men of probity and position. 
 
13 
 
 put the |>Iuntlci'Gr in the criminal bos. I<^t <lir4- 
 tiiiRainlu'<l moinbei-H of tho bar prove by cuni- 
 poteiit witiiPCHCH tlio nlic'j^ed criiuoM, and tho 
 judge will bo an cxtraordiiiarj" man wlio will 
 d&ro to outrage jniblic juMtico by Hiding with 
 the criminal. We have had a .lelTrioH in Eng- 
 land whoHo dcciMiouM dJHgraced liiH judicial ac- 
 tion, but ho criminated the innocent to norv*- 
 the government, and gooH down execrated by 
 poHterity an a ningular cane, a moiiHtor of in- 
 iijuity; but wo have no record uf any judge 
 o/x-d'y defying public jnntice Viy diHcharging 
 criminalM in the intercut of government. TheBO 
 acts of corruption on the part of jiidgeM are 
 conlined to focrct j^ractico when the i)ublic 
 eye is not on them, and juricH too are not in- 
 £enuible of public watchf uluena in wuch cases. 
 
 THE STATE DEBT. 
 
 It ia impostsiblo to CBlimate the State debt, 
 the falsitied otMcial Htatementn which have 
 tfo frequently misled the jiublic. Each one ex- 
 posing the discrepancy of the other, have com- 
 jdetely defied investigation: we only know that 
 i)Ouds, certificates of indebtedness and other 
 forms of State obligations have been issued 
 not only in most cases without fomi of laxv, 
 but without the least attempt to hmit theiiuan- 
 tity or eveu to keep auy exact record of the 
 issues. The Hon. D. T. ('orbin, United States 
 district attorney, and (as I have already meu- 
 tioned) a leading Republican State senator, m 
 his able speech favoring the re-electiou of Geu. 
 Grant to the presidency. July 4. 1872, was con- 
 straiued. in referring to State politics, with hon- 
 est indignation, to denounce the frauds of the 
 officials, even while, as he remarked some of 
 them were his personal friends. He there in- 
 forms us, "That under Gov. On-, (the Qret 
 Governor after the reconstruction, Hhe bonded 
 debt amounted to «5,500,l)00, and a floating 
 debt of -il. ,500, 00(1 more, and now, in the short 
 period of four vears we fmd the State burden- 
 ed with a bonded debt of about > 10,000.000, 
 and a floating debt of two or three millions 
 more." 
 
 After a clear and detailed account of the 
 origin and purpose of each act of the Legisla- 
 ture authorizing the issue of bonds, he says : 
 '•The amount authorized by tho Legislature, 
 as already showu you, is *4. 389. 400: substract 
 this amount from the actual increase of the 
 debt ( 10,000. 000. 1 and you will find that, with- 
 out the authority of law. there has been 
 added to tlio State" debt over .*5.500.000." He 
 further informs us that, "Probably one of the 
 most startling facts in connection with this 
 brief financial statement, is that our financial 
 board have permitted to be soM ujion tho mar- 
 ket ••5'10.,"ji)0,000 of bonds for about .*2.38'2,000. 
 * * * iJut, in looking through all those 
 various approjiriation acts, you will find by 
 compeering thciu with the expenditures subse- 
 quently made, that the State oflicers have been 
 governed by no law in tho expenditure of 
 money. • • • They have spout your money 
 lawleisly, wastefully and. in my judgment, 
 criminally." Mr. C'orbin. after showing the 
 frauds connected with tho land commisflion, 
 in which he demonstrates that but $500,000 
 were actually paiil for the land even after 
 covering the immense frauds in the price 
 to be paid by collusion, aa shown by the 
 deeds of i)urcha«eH, he says : "Now, if you 
 will look into Treasurer's Parker's report of 
 
 the moneys paid out on behalf of the land 
 commission, you will find he charges to the 
 State about •rT.'jO.CMH) in ca«h." leaving un- 
 accountod for a quarter of a million of dollars. 
 He gives us one example of the details of 
 these piirchaMes by the a4Nphsition of a tract of 
 land called "Hell-Hole Swamp:" a suggoHtivo 
 name for a pliu-o of burial of tho laud commis- 
 sion as tho ('avo of Marpaloh is suggestive 
 of the good i)atriarch of the old dispensation. 
 Ho says : "These lands, constituting tho 
 swamps and forests about it. |)urcha«cd for 
 •i-ljn.OOli. • ♦ ♦ Now. I learn from reliable 
 sources that the money actually paiil for this 
 tract was about ■■j3u,00()." leaving some one or 
 all of the gjntlomen of the aiivisory board 
 and laud commission to net the haudaomo sum 
 of *90,000. 
 
 THE SIXKIXO KUND. 
 
 After treating of the sinking fund fraud and 
 that of the Blue Kidge Kailroad and other 
 frauds amounting to millions of dollars, he 
 turns to the oflicial conduct of tho present fiov- 
 ernor. while filling the double oflices of adju- 
 tant-general and speaker of the House of llep- 
 reseutatives of the State, accusing him of 
 having reported an expenditure of rllO.oOO for 
 services in enrolling the militia, while, in most 
 instances, these organizations had been efTectod 
 through private enteqjrise, and, therefore, 
 without expense to the State. That no one 
 knows of any of the labor done, and no oflicial 
 report even confirms his proper official apj)lica- 
 tion of tho money, he further informs ua 
 that as speaker of the House of P>epro8euta- 
 tives it became his duty to issue imycertitiLates 
 to defray the salaries of the members and con- 
 tingent expenses, which he gives in detail as 
 amounting to but .*143,808 iu the aggregate. 
 He says : "Now, fellow-citizens, tho number 
 and amount of pay certificates, i ma « . & by 
 Mr. M jses. I am credibly informed, exceeds the 
 sum of one million dollars.'' Surely here are 
 cases for criminal prosecution, and evidence of 
 the most tangible and respectable character. 
 Republican judges and juries will not dispute 
 llejiublican witnesses. 
 
 The report of the Senate Investigating Com- 
 mittee in the sinking fund fraud is now before 
 the Legislature. The president of that board, 
 ex-Gov. Scott, refuses to attou'l the commit- 
 tee, "declaring he would be bothered with no 
 more investigations: "two other prominent mem- 
 bers decline to appear on the technical groiuid 
 that the committee, having been api)ointed by 
 the .Senate only, had no i)ower to compel their 
 attendance. The committee, however, report 
 that property which cost the State nearly 
 iJ2. 000,000 was disposed of for .■i'123.000, and 
 that even this sum has been so manijiulated 
 l>y tho New York financial agent by various 
 speculative operations for himself and the 
 members of the board, as to bo entirely lost to 
 tho State. They close their report as follows: 
 "It is apparent from what tho committee has 
 stated that the proceedings of the sinking 
 fund commission since the time of its apptiint- 
 mcnt, have resulted in nothing but loss to the 
 State: that the commissioners of the sinking 
 fund have sold a large amount of iiroperty be- 
 longing to tho State for the purpose- of extin- 
 guishing the public debt, ami have not extin- 
 guished the public debt to the amount of a 
 single dollar. " I cannot delay you with a full 
 
 iU.Utt 
 
u 
 
 review of this fraud. The management of 
 it by the report Bhows that the pro- 
 ertv was principally Hold to agents 
 of the prominent members of the commission 
 themselves, privately, the day after the 
 passage of the act authorizing them to sell the 
 property and constituting them the trustees of 
 the same: 13,100 shares, which controlled the 
 franchise of the companv. of the Blue lUdge 
 Eailroad, which cost the State $1,310,000 was 
 sold for one dollar a share, or .$13,100 to a Mr. 
 Moore, who testifies to the committee as fol- 
 lows : "I bought for myself and others, to wit, 
 Mr. Kimpton, (New York financial agent,) Gov. 
 Scott, Mr. Waterman. (Gov. Scott's brother- 
 in-law,) John J. Patterson, (present United 
 States senator,) Timothy Hurley, Jos. Crews, 
 Dr. Neagle, the comptroller-general. Mr. Par- 
 ker, State treasurer, and three or four others, 
 whose names I do not now recall. I think Les- 
 lie, State senator, was one of them. * * * 
 I think Mr. Chamberlain, attorney-general, 
 was one of the parties for whom I have men- 
 tioned I have bought the stock. That is to say 
 the three leading commissioners, who sold the 
 stock under those questionable circumstances, 
 were themselves parties to the purchase." 
 And this operation has also cost the State mil- 
 lions in addition in the way of fraudulent 
 issues of scrip for bogus indebtedness assumed 
 by the Legislature. 
 
 EAILROAD FRAUDS. 
 
 The Greenville and Columbia Railroad 
 stock was disposed of in the same 
 manner, and with the stock passed the 
 franchise and management in the same 
 manner and degree as in the former case. 
 The sale was made the day after the 
 bill was passed authorizing it, with no one 
 permitted to compete. Mr. Moore again appears 
 to be-the pm-chasing agent f or the ofticiafs, who 
 informs the committee that Mr. Kimpton, the 
 linaucial agent, was indebted to him on pre- 
 vious accounts, and for that reason I was in- 
 duced to go into the purchase. I did not put 
 in any ready money at the time of this pur- 
 chase. I Ijeheve the purchase money was 
 raised by the sale of the bonds of the State. 
 The sale of the bonds were made bv Mr. Kimp- 
 ton, so he informs me. I understand the bonds 
 he sold were some of those he held as financial 
 agent of the State." This statement ia fully 
 corroborated by Kimpton's receipt and Mr. 
 Guhck's statement to the committee. 
 
 The effect of this transfer in fraud of the 
 
 State, resulted in a greater fraud against the 
 other stockholders of the company, who have 
 for some time been engaged in contesting, I 
 think, over a million of dollars of indebted- 
 ness, which these now have fraudulently issued 
 for their own private purposes. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 These statements, verified as they are 
 by official reports, are yet but meagre 
 representations of the variety and mag- 
 nitude of the frauds which these State 
 ofticials are connected with to arouse 
 the indignation of even more stolid tax- 
 payers than we have been. I have often 
 thought that the stupendous n«,ture of them 
 and their cool effrontery had measurably para- 
 lyzed our indignation Many yeai's agoa very 
 erasible farmer in one of our Western States, 
 who was celebrated for his eloquent but irreve- 
 rent use of language when he was excited, was 
 seen driving his wagon into town with what 
 had been a load of shelled corn, but which had 
 nearly all escaped through a hole whijh some 
 miscliievous person had bored in the bottom. 
 Tlie villagers, seeing that the farmer had not 
 yet discovered that a long train of the shelled 
 com had marked the line of his wagon track, 
 and expecting a rich treat when he should diB- 
 cover his loss, in the explosion of his wrathful 
 profanity, followed him to the store-door, at 
 which, to his surpise, he first observed the loss 
 of his corn and the eager crowd which sm'- 
 rouuded him. Sensible of his situation, and 
 fully comprehending what was expected of 
 him, he mounted on the wagon seat and said, 
 with bated breath. "Gentlemen, I can't do jus- 
 tice to the occasion." 
 
 Gentlemen of the convention, with many 
 thanks for your courtesy and patience in listen- 
 ing to my rather extended rem.arks, I close by 
 reading the form of a proposed memorial to 
 the Congress of the United States, which I 
 shall ask you to refer to the proper committee, 
 hoping for its favorable consideration by the 
 committee and its adoption by the convention; 
 and after being signed by the officers and mem- 
 bers of this convention, and the other taxpay- 
 ers in the different counties of the State, to bo 
 forwarded to Congress for presentation by a 
 formal committee of this body, who shall be 
 charged also with the duty of presenting our 
 grievances to the President of the United 
 States, and asking his official sympathy and co- 
 operation against the frauds and misriiJe which 
 deprives us of the rights of American citizens. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 014 418 602 3 
 
 I 
 
HBB^R'' 
 
 00 
 
UBBA^"^ 
 
 OFCONGBESS 
 
 
 4 4A8 602 3- 
 
 HoUbger 
 
 pH S3 
 
 MiU Run F03-2193