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or four thousand majority, I think. Now, judging from a very active and thorough canvass of the whole country, and from information of men of all parties generally, I do not think he could have been beaten there by less than six or seven thousand votes.  In the county of Chesterfield, where the white population largely predominates, where the Reform senator was elected by a handsome majority, the commissioners returned to the lower house two members as elected who were friends of Governor Scott, and the house seated them. I think it was universal with the Republican papers in the State that they denounced it as an outrage; these men never could have and never did have a majority.  The Charleston Republican and the Republican paper of Columbia both very severely denounced the action of the house, particularly the Charleston Republican.

"I do not pretend to state what the opinion of the people was as to the real result of the canvass; but it was the general opinion throughout the State, after the election, that the ballot-boxes had been tampered with throughout the State, and the will of the people entirely disregarded.  The Legislature elected in that canvass then took their seats, and they proceeded at once to follow out the line of their predecessors. Bribery was the general order of the day to secure the passage of anything. They had some very large jobs in relation to railroads that were carried out very much to the disgust of the people who have to pay the taxes, and who have any regard for public morality. The first Legislature passed an act guarantying $4,000,000 of bonds for the Blue Ridge railroad, and reserving a statutory lien upon the road and its franchises, and its running stock and everything of the sort, for the payment of the $4,000,000. The same Legislature passed an act guarantying about two million dollars of bonds for the Greenville and Columbia railroad, a road already running. Last winter the Legislature passed an act relieving both of these roads from their liability, so far as a mortgage was concerned, canceling the mortgage in favor of the State; and authorizing them to put a first mortgage bond upon their road.
"Question. Thus releasing the lien of the State?
"Answer. Thus releasing the lien of the State entirely upon the two roads. Those two liens amount to about six million dollars. The Blue Ridge railroad had only about twenty-nine or thirty miles of road constructed. The estimates of the engineers are that it will require, in addition to the $4,000,000 guarantied by the State, some four or five millions more to complete it. It runs through a mountainous country from Anderson, South Carolina, to Knoxville, Tennessee. That of course is assuming the debt by the State, for it is impossible that the road can pay it and finish the road. The State for two years has been paying the interest on the bonds of the road guarantied by her, is doing so now, and has been doing so since the war, and I think she did so before. That has been the general character of the legislation of South Carolina. In addition to that there have been a great many outrages perpetrated in South Carolina other than by Ku Klux, as they are called. Last summer the Loyal League, headed by those persons who controlled the State government, were very efficient in mischief. During my canvass I suppose that half a dozen meetings were broken up by hostilities commenced in every instance by colored persons, and, as I believe, being on the ground at the instigation of certain white people.
"Question. Do you mean meetings of your political friends?
" Answer. Yes, sir; I mean meetings where I was advertised to speak, and some meetings where both parties were advertised to speak and had agreed upon a joint debate. We agreed upon a joint debate at Chester Court-House. Mr. Attorney General Chamberlain made a speech and I was to follow: other speakers had preceded; I was to conclude the debate. There was known to be a great deal of feeling and excitement there, and it was agreed between the different committees there that there should be no disturbance; that no speaker should be interrupted; for there was some fear of bad blood, I had not been speaking five minutes, and certainly was saying nothing offensive to anybody, when I was interrupted by the chairman of the Scott committee with a question that I answered. Immediately he and two or three others began to throw rocks. One of them came up on the stand and knocked down a man who was standing by my side; I was not hurt. There was a general scrimmage, the people trying to get out of the way. I saw no white man strike back, nor throw anything back. There was a man shot the same day by a colored man. Substantially the same thing occurred in three or four other places. I never saw a white man arrested; they did not arrest at all. I think that the cause of the operations of these secret organizations is simply and purely the bad local government, where life and property are insecure. As I have stated, I traveled last summer over the entire State of South Carolina, with the exception of a single county. I was entertained by prominent gentlemen in different parts of the State. I was in full and confidential intercourse with them; social intercourse sometimes; sometimes convivial intercourse. From the commencement of my campaign until the end I never heard any gentlemen anywhere express any hostility to the Government of the United States. The trouble of which everybody complained was the incapacity and venality of the administration of South Carolina in all its departments and branches; that was the cause of all the complaints. During the campaign several men were killed in different parts of the State; two colored men were killed in Barnwell county. I never heard that charged to the Ku Klux organization; nobody ever supposed it was done by them. In more than one place during the canvass it was proclaimed publicly that if any colored man dared to vote the Reform ticket the order had gone forth from the League that he was to be shot. I do not pretend to say there were any such orders, but I certainly heard the threat made by several prominent colored men, and the colored men, undoubtedly, were very much afraid. And on the day of election, in my immediate neighborhood, upon the islands below Charleston and around Charleston, the military companies were out armed, with their rifles loaded, and when a colored man came up who was suspected to be a Reformer the companies were ordered to fall into line. Indeed, they had no chance to vote our ticket, because the moment that the challengers came upon the ground with our tickets for distribution they were seized and the tickets taken away from them, and some of them were very roughly used. On John's Island, Wardmalaw, and Edisto, that took place. The same thing occurred in Christ Church parish, in the county of Charleston, and in St. John Berkley, and in other places.

"Question. You stated a moment ago that the colored people were evidently much afraid; be kind enough to explain whether you meant the colored men who thought of voting the Reform ticket?

"Answer. Yes, sir; that is what I meant. Large numbers of them in every county of the State where I was, at different times came to me and told me that they thought I was right; that in our platform we had provisions protecting their rights, and they believed, from their acquaintance with me and my conduct in the State, that I would carry out the pledges made; that they believed we were right, but they feared to vote our ticket.

"Question. They so told you?

"Answer. Yes, sir; as respectable colored people as there are in South Carolina told me that in every county of the State - that they dared not vote for our ticket. The killing of two men who were very well known in Barnwell county especially, and the violence that occurred during the meetings in other places, struck perfect terror among the black population. These men who were talking to me said, 'We can and we will stay away from the polls, for if we are not there we will not be hurt; but we dare not go there and vote the Reform ticket.' I may as well say that the Reform movement had no national significance. 

"Question. I was about to ask that question: