Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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.