Newspaper Page Text
F. IF FILDES, Editor.
VOL. VII.
,jLET US HAVE PEACE.”
CHANT’S STATE I’ltbOMUlS
Interview ing Ilie Kti-Klnx.
Victims in tl»e Albany 'l’cuiteu
tlary.
A TVoi-tH Carolina XB<l i t <»r-
Gives hi Experience.
A s] ecial correspondent of the New
Y<-rk World has been visiting the Ku~
Kins prisoners confined in the Ob iny
penitentiary, by our paternal President,
and gives a most interesting account of
what ho saw and heard. Wo extract
the aa’ient points of his narrative :
Albany, August 1. I rodo out this
morning to the penitentiary at this p *Ce.
Mv object in going there was to gel at
the facts it; relation to the prisoners
from the Southern States, confined under
sentences inflicted under thp operation
of the so-called Kti-Khix laws. The fact
that sixty-five men were languishing
here in thb prison, far from their native
State, friendless and probably well-nigh
hopeless, the strong probability that
some of them might be entirety innocent
of any infraction of the law, the c rtaio
t} - that all of them, whether guilty or
innocent, had been unfairly tiied—that
is, tried before a court and jury bound
to convict if conviction was possible—
was sufficient incentive to me, and I de
termined to spare no pains, to shrink at
no trouble, to be deterred by no difficul
ty, in my efforts to asceitu n tie whole
exact truth al out these men, and to
phieo their case before the p ■ pie, and
endeavor to enlist a public sentiment in
their behalf that should prove strong
enough to force the government to.lib
erate such of them as were deserving of
clemency, if any such there were, and
restore them to their homes, their f,uni
lies, and to the communities entitled in
their labor. I uheudy knew something
cl the state ol affairs in the South dur
ing the time that these off-i.e. s wore al
leged to have been committed. I knew
that in the chaotic condition of tail gs
in which the war left the Southern com
munities the wcuder w . > that
disorders sprang up> in the I mly p <•
here and there, but that the whole fabii
diil not go into endless eoi.fu-dou. The
negroes freed by the war, deprived ol
the support they had always received
from the whites, were helph-.-s and in
want, the whites, impoverished by tbe
conflict, had hardly the no am to sup
port themselves, and the natural conse
quence was the negro secured that by
theft which was necessary to Id-, exis
tence, and hands of plt!ud"rers weu; or
ganized, to which fl eked all the idle, 11 j,-
viscious, the dissolute of the idack race,
And no property was safe against their
ravages. Nor was this all; the n groos,
hesitated not ifi the ltiwlt s« s 1 ate of a
- which then prevailed to commit
outrages on white women. That this
tendency to lawlessness was not nuiver
sal among the negroi-5 is true enough;
that the majority of them were (print and
inoffensive is very probabT; but ti nt it
existed to an alarming extent and de
manded immediate and strongly re pres
give measures is undoubtedly true. Nor
was the evil alone confined to t o Id. o k
race. There was ahu ge body -f whin
shiftless, good-for-nothing bcVrc the
war, and still more corrupted during its
continuance. When thrown upon their I
Awn resources after the army was dis
banded they took naturally t., pilin ',
and license, and became a terror which ,
the feeble efforts of tire law < fib ers were
not able to suppress. All ties led to the
formation of the loyal leagu-s, c imposed
of the best of the white and the black rn
ces, for mutual protection To search j
out of these pests of society, black and
white, and see that they were punished;
to ratal lisb habits of industry, thrift, and
order among the blacks; to provide them :
with schools and to relieve, as far as 1
might be possible, all distress and pov
erty that existed among them. These
wore the first objects, but designing run
soon found that these bands, firmly kuit I
together ail through the State with their
seen.. passwords and signs and blindly
obedient to their leaders, might be made
a sort of political machine, through the
control of which the party in power
might be secure in office forever. With
soff. age granted to the negro, ti.e Radi
cal leaders rn .de sure that they had se
cured the control if the Southern States
for ail time. When this object became
apparent the most of the white m-n
withdrew at once from the leagues, and
alarmed a! the prospect of negro rule,
which seemed imminent, they banded
theiiiselvca together into what was
known at first as the while man's party, ]
and which afterwards became the Kukhix
We have heard much of its horrors. All;
its deeds have been magnified tenfold,
because an excuse was wanted by the 1
Radical leaders for putting the South
practically under martial law; but we
j have heard nothing of the provocation,
j Sari Francisco would never have been :
! purified but for her vigilance committee,
I and that, although condemned at the
! lime, is acknowledged by all now to,
have been a necessary 'measure; and so 1
i er! ups ti.e time will come when it will
be shewn that the Ku-Klux was lion s- 1
! snry. At any rate, with the existence
| of the Union League the other organiza
tion was n necessity. Whether neces-]
! snvy or not, however, or whether guilty
iol atrocities or not, nothing can excuse I
• the Radical leaders for the use they j
made of it to perpetuate theii power, ami j
to get complete control of the S mthern j
States. The doings of the Klan were
a agniti. and into tales of li rror too rnlicii-1
hms for belief, while not a word won ,
said ol the equally infamous doing of:
the League. i
j Rut the cry had gone forth, tho Kti
i Klux, the terrible Ku-Klux, and in older ;
j t<. sustain it some Kn-Klux must be'
| found and must be punished. Then was
! let loo.a.: upon the State* of Hie South a
1 plague more terrible than the locusts of
I Ig.-ypi. A horde of detectives were sent
'down to hunt Kn-Klux, paid to tied Ku
; IvltlX, whose very reputation and po.-ri
l tiou in the forco depend 'd upon their
convicting some Kn-Klux, and so these
| blond hounds commenced their work, and
| its result is here in the Albany ]’< niten
j tury to-day. All these thoughts passed
] through my mind this morning as 1
slowly drove e ver to the prison. The ]
| prison is he .nt ifuliy situated on an emi
i noncej ist back of the city, in the midst j
j of the g rounds, part of which are under]
! cultivation. The prison itself mu lung!
two story brick building, in the centre j
lof which is the main entrance, leudirg j
io ti.e visitors reeeptiou room on the]
i right of the hall, and the < flic -of the 1
I superintendent on llm left, immediate
!ly in front of the main entrance is a
; hinnitilul sloping lawn, planted* with j
double rows of tie s, the inlet veiling j
-pace being fi:led with flowers. .In Re
nat of Hits main building ere the wink-;
j sleq.g wliere tee prisoners are employed]
during the day arid the cells m Which
they are h eked up at night.
i'mietually at 2 o’clock I prest tiled
! mysell, and Was very politely receiv'd
by Mr. Louis 1), I’iUrbnry, ltie Deputy
Superb tendefit mid son of Mr. Amos
Fil'.-burv, the Sap rinti nilent, who is in
Kiirope atb ml tig the e/ nfeicnee on the
: subject of prison reform. On making
known my Wish to this gentleman he at.
I once inf .i miai me that 1 was at liberty
Ito inti t view any or jail of the Ku-Klux
prisoners as I might chon- p.
m .W’UISi Nut's HT.vn MI NT.
T' e first one cubed was Randolph A.
Shot-,veil, a sight built, short, daik
comp'exioned young man, about thirty
veal.; oid apparently, but the prison
dr< :n made him appear older than ‘he
really was, for I aft't wards ascertained
that he war but twenty-eight, and in
answer to mV questions he said : “1 am
a native of Virginia, hut have lived in]
Untbeifoid Township, Rutherford conn-)
tv, N. C-; ran not married, hut have pa* ]
iKi'ti-i stilt living In that phifte; my father
is a Presbyterian minister.’’
“Wert* you connected with what is
called the Kn-Klux?"
“I was; I w as one of the comity chiefs *
of the clan; it was composed ol several
sccicties.”
“Wont were the causes which led to
its formation?”
We con-ider that the general organi
zasion is the legitimate offspring of the ]
Freedman’s Bureau and the Internal j
reVeouo department of tho South; it is j
! difficult for any one not a resident of the i
1 South at that time to have the least wlea ]
of the condition of things lor a rnnmber
iof years afur the war, nr even now.
i The chief features of reconstruction, the
military aiid provisional governments,
; with till the r attendant train of evils,
me well known, but the malicious ex
actions, the petty persecutions and an
noyances put upon the Southern people
liy the sharpers and adventurers that
oettied upon the land under the auspices
of the Freedman’s Bureau and the In
ternal revenue D< parturient can ouly be
realized by those that experienced them.
Every tc wa and village bad its petty au
tociat in uniform, whose maadates were
HERE SHALE THE PRESS THE PEOPLE'S EI3HTS MAINTAIN, tWAWED BY FEAR AND UNBRIBED BY GAIN.
QUITM AN, GEO., AUGUST 23, 1872.
to bo law to tho surrounding country, ]
and whose ill-will was more to be dread
ed than the presence of a hostile army, j
At this day,” Mr. ShotwoU continued, I
smiling, ‘ it sounds laughable to tell of,
marshals with drawn swords chasing a ]
lot of wretched countrymen to cut a few ■
Confederate button's off their jaeke'S, or]
sending a file ol bayonets to arrest a re
spectable lady because-her little daugh
ter had been seen playing with some
thing that resembled a Confederate flag.
Yet such exploits ns these were common
even ns late as I SGI. From the time
that slavery was first abolished it seem
ed to he the design ot all Federal officials
to create an antagonism of races. No
opportunity was lost to alienate the late
slave from his late master while farmers
were compelled by lack of bands to re-
I Alice the number ot acres under cultiva
tion. To give an illustintinn, the city
of Newborn, N. C., wilti a population ot
about 0,000 hands, had in 1860 and ISG7
a floating population of about 10,000 ne
groes; while only a few miles in an ad
jacent county farm, set vants could not
be hired at any price. As might have
- been expected, crime and disorder was
fi-arfufly frequent. 1 was at that time,
the associate editor of the Newborn Jour
,nal of Commerce, and 1 have had to
chronicle no less than ad. zti muiders
in half as many months. Burglary and
highway robbery were common morning
news items. It lias long been foreseen
that negro suffrage was inevitable, and
the early battles of the Republican par
ty under the editorship of Holden, begun
to scheme for it in the political elements.
Them were two Radical secret societies
in the State, the‘Heroes of America’and
tho “Red Strings,’ but the negro bail
not been taken into them. The first
votes cast by the freedmen were seven
in number, far Major John Hughes, ol
Newbrni, HTently elected LiiuUuant
(iovernof, a life-long Democrat; which
ii veill so alarmed the UoldeniU'S, that
j they speedily enlisted tho whole power
of the government in favor of the League,
mil with such success that in a few
; months there were not 100 negro voters
in the rilate, and hardly so many in the,
entile Gotilli, unbound by a fearful oath
to vote for tho Radical candidates, Bc-
I sides t e negrms, large numbers ol il
] literate whites were driven into this
League by threats of confiscation of loss
1 0l privileges, it being openly assorted
by League orators on the stump and
through the press that the government
ib- rigned to take, away the ballot from
ail who refused to register in the League
I will state that I was a Conservative
] candidate for the Constitutional Convcn
] lion in Rutherford arid Folk counties,
and I was told weeks beforehand that 1
would bo beaten a pteciso number of
] votes, and the result justified the predic
tion exactly. My opponent was a [man
who it was said could not write his own
| name. No wonder that a convention
i formed of such material should have
framed a constitution that lias ruined lhe
: ctate. In a few months the State was
I rriundcrefl of over thirty millions, her
credit was wasted, her hoods dishonor
ed, her treasury prostrated, her fair t une
blackened,,and her internal quiet dis
turbed by pulitical scoundrels of the
most disgraceful sort. The judiciary
was most incompetent. Theie were two
of the judges that were common drunk
ards; two luorb were proved to have re
ceived targe tribes. All were violent
partisans, and Democrats wore made to
fuel that they had no rights which were
'o mod to he protected. Democrat law
yers frequently confess! and that they could
do only so much, owing to the partisan
ship of the judges, while negroes impli
cated in crimes would mem to have au
Understanding with the judgo, as if they
bad Said, "Now, Judge, remember that
I am a worker on election day, and yon
must let me off with a light sentence;’
and this was the common result.’ ,
“And it was this state of things that
produced the Ku-Klux?” said I, wishing
to get Air. Shotwell to talk of his own
case.
“It was this state of things, which did
not belong alone to North Carolina or to
South Carolina, but was common to all
the Southern States, and the feeling had
become universal that there should be
tonne organization among good men fur
ti.e suppression of crime, and to counter
act the baleful teaching of the league.
In East Tennessee a seer t protective
association bad long existed among the
returned rangers, who were in danger of
■ thuir lives. Subsequently, when Browu
- low was at the height of bis power, with
bands of negroes all over the State, this
nucleus' was reorganized as the Consti
tutional Union Guard of Tennessee, and
this movement spread with great rapid
ity through the entire South. The chief
features of this organization were that
there was a supremo head of the South,
and under him there were ch'efs ot
States, chiefs of congressional districts,
and from this to chiefs of counties. The
oath had five principal clauses first, to
uphold tho Constitution of tho United
States as-handed down by our forefath
ers, slavery excepted; second, to oppose
the Radaical party in all its measures,
and endeavor to maintain for the inlelli
geut white men the privilege of govern
ing this country; third, to aid and assist
each other in distress according to our
pecuniary circumstances; fourth, to have
care of widows and lone females, and to
protect them at all times; the fifth clause
bound tho neophyte to secrecy and obe
dience, and invoked death upon him if ho
turned traitor.”
“Before whom wore you tried ?”
“Before Judge M, L. Bond, at Raicigiq
in September, 1871,”
“Did you have a fair trial?”
"I did not. There was nothing fair
either about the arrest or the trial. 1
was arrested on the sth of July of the
same year on my father's plantation in
Green River, Folk county, by a hand ol
mongrels and Federal soldiers.’
“Who do you call mongrels?”
“Well, scalawags, poor whites, trait
ors, etc. I (demanded their authority,
and iny fattier al»o demanded their au
thority ; but both requests were refused,
and I was carried to the county jail and
thrust into a cage six feet long by twelve
feet wide, in which were seven others al
ready, including three negroes and three
murderers. Wo suffered greatly for
water, whieli the jailor would tint let us
have, although there was a spring with
in a stone’s throw . After being kept
there for two months, we were taken out
one Sunday at a moment’s notice, hand
cuffed and carried in wagons to a town
thirty miles distant. There was not the
slightest necessity for handcuffing us,
lor there were an armed guard of thirty
or forty mongrels in attendance, anil we
were well known to be gentlemen of re
ap. ctibility at least, who would have
appeared at any time if notified. Re
member that I had not at this time had
even a preliminary examination, al
though 1 was thus treated like a felon.
At Merlin 1 was put into another cage.
I there saw Col.. Can ow, United States
Marshal, and ask‘d him for the warrant
for my arrest, and ho admitted that lie
had not the capias, but had sent h ick
for ,«, and expected to receive it shortly.
Recollect that this was two months after
my arrest. 1 was then carried to Ra
lidmil, In the course of time the Court
met. Kx-Guvennir Bragg and others,
ely counsel, oft red evidence that the ju
ry were packed, and it was admitted by
the counsel for the ptoseeution, S. F.
Phillips, ami United States District At
torney, Ackerman, who was also present,
that t;e 1,5.1 advised the Marshal as to
ttie mariner of selecting a jury. I was
tried in the same court with nine others,
not one of whom I had ever seen to my
knowledge before my arrest.”
“What was the specific charge against
yon?’’
“1 was charged with having ordered
an assault to be made upon J. M. Jus
tice, Republican member of the Legisla
ture. Ho vv: s taken from his house j
one rainy night by a b ind of eighty or
ninety men, taken some distance-from j
town, and rather roughly used, although j
not whipped, as stated by the Judge. |
After promising to behave himself and j
cease, bin piloting of mongrels after mem
bers of the Ku Klux, he was sent back
Ito town under a guard. Judge Brooks;
who was associated with .Judge Baud
'on the trial, in his slump Speech to lh&
1 jury, when imposing sentence upou me,
j stated that Justice has been whipped
(or no other cause than because he wan
1 a Republican; this is untrue. He was
! maltreated because he had prosecuted
: some of tho leaders of the Ku Klux. 1
! bitw nothing of tho raid until a few
! days previous to its occurrence, and 1
d.d all in toy power to prevent it. 'lbis
was the charge against no*. Os those
tried with me, one or two wore innocent
of any participation iu this matter at
nIL Two of them were old men, seized
m South Carolina and carried three ban
died miles to Raleigh, in North Carolina,
without money, witbuut advice, without
Counsel or witnesses, and simply charg
ed with having been os that raid. One
old man, David Collins, sixly-livo years
old, was taken from his home, leaving
Ilia wife sick in bed, without any help,
and although the judge admitted that
the only evidence against him was that
he loaned Lis mule and gun to a patty
of Ku Klux, ho was sentenced to four
years at hard labor in this penitentiary.
One of the party, Depricst, to try knowl
edge was not in iho raid and probably
knew nothing about it, and lie was sen
tenced to three years in this prison. 1
was Sentenced I" six years at hard labor
ami a fine of $5,000. 1 feel that I urn an
innocent and wronged man, ami. that 1
have been persecuted for political effect.
Just before I was aricste'd I was tho ed
itor ol the Ashville Citizen, and made a
great many enemies by my omirso on
paper. There arc men in this prison
who were not members of the Klan at
all. Numbers of them have actually
confessed to participation in acts of dis
] order of which they were not' guilty ,dnr
the Government held out the idea that
persons confessing would bo let off'with
light Sentences, and many of them were
conduced that they would ho convicted
if they stood their trial on account of’
the partisan character of the court and
jury, and so at tho suggestion of their
lawyers, they plead guilty. It has
been said that wo intended tu violate the
law; this is not so; will'd not under
stand it so. Our object was to assist
in the execution of the law and to pun
ish crime, and most of us entered the
Klan from conscientious motives, think
ing this the best way’ to restore order
and prosperity to the country.”
This ended the interview, although
Mr. Shotwell was by no means tired of
‘talking, but expressed bis ability to go
on for hours upon the same topic. But
thiritime would not admit, as I wished .
to get the statement of others.
ANO'rriKii pkiaonkr’s statkmext.
Samuel G. BroVn, of tho town of
York, York county, S. C, was tin: next
one interviewed, and to him I said:
“Toll mo of your case, how you came
(0 be here jind what you have to com
plain o’?
“The greatest haidship which I com
plain of is being arrested fir bring a
Ku Klux, when I never belonged to the
order at all. My family are left in r.
vot'v destitute condition.”
'VVliat family have yon?’
‘I have ii wife and three daughters and
two sou's. My wife arid daughters have
no one to lo ik after them; and there is
toy stock and (arm left to ruin without
attendance.’
‘When was you arrested?’
‘I was arrested on tho lfith of Octo
ber, 1811, and by the advice of my conn.
| sol f plead guilty, which was a very ibo'.
! ish thing to do, ultlioHgh a gentleman
here yesterday—Colonel YVhilcloy—told
me lie did not believe me when I said i
was innocent, yet such is the fact. It
Was on the 25th of December, 1811, that
my counsel plead guilty for me, and I
am sentenced to five years.'
'Did you have no connection with the
Klan?’
‘J knew of tho order and T attended
one meeting of the Klan, and that was
the hold they had on me, and was the
reason I plead guilty.'
‘For what purpose did you attend that
meeting; did you intend to join the
Klan?’
‘No, not at all. I had a double pur
pnfln it, going itil-l'O; 1 wanted to nave
j the 1 so of a young man who bad in a
drunken frolic let some of tho secrets of
order, and also to induce my sou to re
sign his position ns chief of the klan.’
1 ‘]),d yen succeed?’
! ‘I did in both objects. My son re
signed, and I saved the young man’s
‘That was all the connection you had j
with- the Kluu?'
•That was all. I never belonged to it; !
never approved of it. I had two sous,
both members of it, hut I never was.’
‘Were your sons arrested?'
‘No; they got off; they felt the State.’
‘Where are they' now?’
*1 don’t know where .they are now. I
think they have left the United States.’
‘Were there many outrages by the
Kian in your part of the country.’
‘N'>, not many; there was one negro
killed a mile and a half from my bouse,
But the Klan that did it crossed the riv
er from another district; it was not done
by the Klan of my district; and there
was very little whipping done, not more
than two or three cases in my immediate
neighborhood, and they were previous
1 to the passage Os the Ku K UX act.’
| $2.00 nor Annum
NO. 34
'Mr. Brown is a fine, halo- and lieurtyU
j old gentleman, about fifty fivo years old,
and was a magistrate of the county at
the time of bis arrest. There is no
doubt but that he speaks the truth in his
statement, and that lie nevet lias bad!
' any connection with the lvfau other than
lie admits.
STATEMENT OP D.lVin COLLIN’S,
The next prisoner called was David
Collins, a tall, raw-boned specimen,'with
■ ‘ fa a as simple and innocent—looking
a child's, lie said: "I was born
and raia al in Lincoln county’, North'
Carolina, but 1 lived at the time of my
wrest in Spartanburg, S m'th Carolina..
I was ent here as a Ku klux. I dia
not belong to the order; I bud belonged*
to it, but .1 had quit it.
‘I laid loaned a mule and an old shot!
gun to a parly that came along. You
sac, tla v had made a rule when they
caihc along to press things, and if they
were not given up willingly the party
[Owning them was (fried fl'vo dollars 64*
' fifteen lushes.’
‘Where was yen tried?’
‘At Kulo'gli, before Judges Brooks and*
Ford.’
'Who was a witness against you?
‘Tom Tate,’
‘Where is he now?’
‘They write to me that lie has left tub'
count ry.’
‘Did he belong io the Rian?’
‘Yes; ho was one of the loaders, l!
think. They call him Ihe monarch, or
night hawk, or something of that sort.
1 s..on left the Klan. 1 was opposed to'
it from the first; but I bad to' join. It
was reported that they whipped* me and*
made me join, but that ain’t so. 'ihero
was a party came to my bouse and stop
ped, bul afterwards they passed on alia
did not do anything.’’
‘llow were yon arrested?’
'.Just this way; I did nut know of any
charge against me until I got to Rnlher*
ford. They drew me ov. ? the HWo #ftk«
out any-orders. Lcander Jolly, a depo- *
ty marshall, arretted rue without
warrant, lie came to my house and*
a, ii.l lie wanted me to go found to 'tout
Lute's and show him the road and tlieu
I come back home again. That was”
over the lino and in North Carolina, and 1
as sooft an he got me ot)ei there he kepi!
uie.’
'How long are you sentenced for?’
'Tor four years; And, oh, I do to'
want to get away. You don't know
how sorry Tam If I once get! out of*
here you can never fool me a J gain, never.'
1 want to get home with my family so’
much, you can’t tell.’
A ( mi/ O.Ni .—Ever since the Morris'
P ’ - dilh ally in Atlanta, the members”
of the Legislature have been permitted*
to do just what they pleased without
any It ar of being disturbed by the city'
police. A gentleman who lias just re
turned from Atlanta tells the following
m ! living actually occurred in thatffityf '
V I nights ago a man was afecn ill a‘
avia; way” by a policeman, leaning
lin.st a lamp post, with his head down*
wards as if in the act of “casting tipi’
i its.” Stepping up to him, the of
r tapped him on the shoulder and*
asked what lie was doing.
“I'-in s-i-c-k a-n-d w.a-u-t to v-o mV
; ;t.”
“ i'ois is too public a place,” said* the
* policeman. ‘‘Como with mo and' I*’ll'
' talre von to a place where you cart' fe
ll) Ln all right, (taking hold* o/liiin) aild*
I’ll let you out in the moniiiig.”
| Looking the officer in the face the
j man replied : “I’m a ni-e-ni-di-o-r o^
| the L- c g-i-s-l-a-t-li-f.e.”
“T.ien you may upeiv all over Atlanta',"
replied the officer, and left him.
'I lie Evansville Courier has a‘ sens*'-.”
fiotial report from Southern f.linoisj to'
the i fleet that a few dayo ago the cater-*
pillnis near Krctorvilld blockaded thd
railroad, stopped 1 lie train, and caught
and hung the engine r, conductor add*
train bey.
An editor having engaged a' new re-'
porter, received the following as his first*
report: ‘We are informed that tlie gerlF
go'ii.an who stood on his head under tbs
pile L iver for the purpose of having a
figi i nail of boots dmv on, shortly after*
wards feiind himself in Anstrallia, per—
feclly naked,- and without a fa'rtbiug in'
: bis pocket.’
“Can yon 101 l die how the old devil is?*
asked an irrevereut fellow of a clergy
man . ‘My friend, you must keep your
own family r«*brd,’ was the reply.