SOUTH CAEOLINA. 



701 



tia force as would be competent to suppress 

 them, nor means to place and maintain such 

 a force in the field. A month later the Gov- 

 ernor called upon the President for United 

 States troops to suppress outrages in the coun- 

 ties of Union and York, where he reported men 

 were murdered, or driven from their homes 

 nightly, because of their political opinion ; and 

 at the same time forwarded to Washington 

 a similar request from the majority in the 

 General Assembly. The request was tempo- 

 rarily granted, and the condition of affairs in 

 South Carolina was made the subject of con- 

 gressional investigation. 



In July, the "Ku-klux committee" of Con- 

 gress, consisting of Senator Scott, of Pennsyl- 

 vania, and Representatives Stevenson and Van 

 Trump, of Ohio, the first two Republicans, and 

 the latter a Democrat, visited portions of the 

 alleged insurrectionary districts, and examined 

 several witnesses. It was reprepresented to 

 Congress that the "Ku-klux" bands in the 

 State were but part of a stupendous whole, 

 having a broader scope than the redress of mere 

 local grievances ; and Senator Scott wrote to the 

 President that there was no hope but from the 

 strong arm of the Government under the new 

 law of Congress, approved April 12, 1871, en- 

 titled " An act to enforce the provisions of the 

 fourteenth amendment." On the 17th day 

 of October the President issued his proclama- 

 tion, suspending the writ of habeas corpus in 

 certain counties, as follows : 



By the President of the United States of America : 



Whereas, Unlawful combinations and conspiracies 

 have long existed, and do still exist, in the State of 

 South Carolina, for the purpose of depriving certain 

 portions and classes of the people of that State of the 

 rights, privileges, immunities, and protection named 

 in the Constitution of the United States, and secured 

 by the act of Congress approved April the twentieth, 

 one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, en- 

 titled " An act to enforce the provisions of the four- 

 teenth amendment to the Constitution of the United 

 States;" 



And whereas, In certain parts of said State to wit, 

 in the counties of Spartanburg, York, Marion, Ches- 

 ter, Laurens, Newberry, Fairfield, Lancaster, and 

 Chesterfield such combinations and conspiracies do 

 so obstruct and hinder the execution of the laws of 

 said State and of the United States as to deprive the 

 people aforesaid of the rights, privileges, and im- 

 munities, and protection aforesaid, and do oppose 

 and obstruct the laws of the United States and their 

 due execution, and impede and obstruct the due 

 course of justice under the same ; 



And. whereas, The constituted authorities of^said 

 State are unable to protect the people aforesaid in 

 such rights within the said counties ; 



And whereas, The combinations and conspiracies 

 aforesaid, within, the counties aforesaid, are organ- 

 ized and armed, and are so numerous and powerful 

 as to be able to defy the constituted authorities of 

 said State and of the United States within the said 

 State, and. by reason of said causes, the conviction 

 of such oifenders and the preservation of the public 

 peace and safety have become impracticable in said 

 counties : 



Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of 

 the United States of ^America, do hereby command 

 all persons composing the unlawful combinations 

 and conspiracies aforesaid to disperse and to retire 



of the date 



aereof, and to deliver, either to the Marshal of the 

 United States for the District of South Carolina, or 

 to any^of his deputies, or to any military officer of 

 the United States within said counties, all arms, am- 

 munition, uniforms, disguises, and other means and 

 implements used, kept, possessed, or controlled by 

 them, for carrying out the unlawful purposes lor 

 which the combinations and conspiracies are or- 

 ganized. 



In witness thereof I have hereunto set my hand, 

 and caused the seal of the United States to be 

 affixed. 

 Done at the city of "Washington this twelfth day 



of Octoberj in the year of our Lord one 

 [SEAL.] thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, 



and the independence of the United States 



of America the ninety-sixth. 

 By the President : U. S. GKANT. 



HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State. 



Subsequently a supplementary proclamation 

 was issued excepting the county of Marion 

 from the list of counties, and substituting for 

 it the county of Union. A large force of the 

 United States troops was stationed in the 

 State, and all persons suspected of connection 

 with the " Ku-klux " were arrested. At the 

 close of the year about six hundred arrests 

 had been made. The trials took place in the 

 United States Court in Columbia. Many were 

 found guilty, and sentenced to pay fines from 

 twenty to a thousand dollars, and to be im- 

 prisoned for terms varying from one month to 

 five years. The opponents in the State of the 

 national Administration insisted that the acts 

 were unwarrantable, and that the reports of 

 the troubles were in every instance exagger- 

 ated. They acknowledged that some serious 

 trouble had occurred, but they declared that it 

 was caused by the corruption of the State 

 administration, its action in organizing the 

 negroes as a State militia and arming them, in 

 creating new offices and placing ignorant ne- 

 groes in them, and allowing bad men to rob 

 the Treasury and squander the public money, 

 and in imposing onerous burdens of taxation. 



The people of the State are slowing acquir- 

 ing an interest in the cause of public^school 

 education. The whole number of free schools 

 in operation during the year was 1,639 ; these 

 were attended by 67,098 children, only about 

 one-third of the whole number between the 

 ages of six and sixteen in the State ; but more 

 than double the number attending during 

 1870. The number of teachers employed was 

 1,855, of which 1,150 were males and 705 

 females. The average salary paid to teachers 

 was $35 per month. The following is an ex- 

 hibit of the school-funds of the State for the 

 fiscal year ending October 31, 1871 : 



Regular legislative appropriation $150,000 



Amount of poll-tax collected, estimated at 50,000 



Deficiency appropriation 40,000 



Total $240,000 



The school-districts of the State number 462. 

 A majority of these have voted a school-tax. 

 A large majority of the children attending the 

 free schools were colored. The act of 1870 to 

 establish and maintain a system of free com- 



