VOL. 47
KIJ-KLU X .
SPEECH OF HON. JOHN SCOTT ,
OF PENNSYLVANIA,
Delivered in the United States Senate;
Hay 18, 1872.
The Senate, as in Committee of the
Whole, proceeded to consider the bill tS.
No. 656) to extend the provisions of the
fourth section of the act approved April
20, 1871.
Ir. SCOTT. I ask that the bill be
read.
The Chief Clerk read as follows
Be it enacted. dc., That the provisions of the
fourth section of the act approved April 20, 1871,
entitled "An act to enforce the provisions of the
fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, and for other purposes," shall con
tinue in force until the end of the next regular
session of Congress.
Mr. SCOTT. Mr. President, this bill
proposes to continue in force until the end
of the next regular session of Congress the
provisions of the fourth section of April
20, 1871, which I ask the Secretary to
read.
The Chief Clerk read as follows
"Sec. 4. That whenever in any State or part of
a State the unlawful combinations named in the
preceding section of this act shall be organized and
armed, and so numerous and powerful as to be able,
by violence, to either overthrow or set at defiance
the constitued authorities of such State, and of the
United States within such State, or when the con
stituted authorities are in complicity with, or shall
connive at the un lawful purposes of, such powerful
and armed combinations ; and whenever, by rea
son of either or all of the causes aforesaid, thecon
viction of such offenders and the preservation of
the public safety shall become in such district im
practicable, in every such case such combinations
shall be deemed a rebellion against the Govern
ment of the United States, and during the continu
ance of such rebellion, and within the limits of the
district which shall be so under the sway thereat;
such limits to be prescribed by proclamation, it
shall be lawful for the President of the United
States, when in his judgment the public safety
shall require it, to suspend the privileges of the
habeas corpus, to the end that such rebellion may
be overthrown : Provided, That all the provisions
of the second section of an act entitle& "An act
relating to habeas corpus, and regulating judicial
proceedings in certain cases," approved March 3,
1863, which relate to the discharge of prisoners
other than prisoners of war, and to the penalty for
refusing to obey the order of the court, shall be in
full force so far as the same are applicable to the
provisions of this section Provided further, That
the President shall first have made proclamation,
as now provided by law, commanding such insur
gents to disperse: And prodded also, That the
provisions of this section shall not be in force after
the end of the next regular session of Congress."
Mr. SCOTT. Mr. President, these pro
visions and the proposition to extend them
suggest the following inquiries :
First. Are there unlawful combinations
organized and armed in any State or parts
of any State?
Second. Are they so numerous and
powerful as to be able by violence to eith
er overthrow or set at defiance the consti
tuted authoriti, aof the State and of the
United States within such State?
Third. Are the constituted authorities in
complicity with or do they connive at the
unlawful purposes of such combinations?
Fourth: Is the conviction of offenders
or the preservation of the public safety
impracticable by reason of all or either of
these causes ?
Fifth. If the conviction of offenders and
the preservation of the public safety be
not at the present moment impracticable,
does the past give such reason to appre
hend such a state of affairs as will render
them impracticable, and as will require
this power to be lodged in the President
for the protcetion of the public welfare ?
These inquiries open a very wide field
of investigation; but I do not propose to
follow any of them at great length, nor
can I take them up in their order, as the
testimony which I shall consider will bear
upon them all. There was a time when
it might have been advisable to dwell upon
the evidence establishing the existence of
the Ku Klux Klan, the combination
against which principally it is well known
this legislation was directed; but that
time has passed. Its existence now stands
confessed. In speaking of South Caro
lina, in the xiew of the minority of the
committee upon the condition of the late
insurreetionry States, they say this :
" We pass, then, the negro testimony for what
ever it is worth. But while we do this, we do not
deny that in that portion of South Corolina com
monly known us the Piedmont region, embracing
the counties of Spartanburg, Laurens, Chester,
and York, a broken and somewhat mountainous
region of country, largely populated by an igno
rant, uneducated, and, when excited by wrong, a
lawless class of white people, there have been
within the last eighteen months or two years nu
merous instances of lawless outrage upon the
black population by disguised men known by
the name of Ka Klux; but that this state of things,
to any considerable extent grows out of politics,
in the ordinary partisan sense of the term, we do
most emphatically deny."
Passing from the consideration of a
single State to the condition of the States
generally the minority says :
" While we do not intend to deny that bodies
of disguised men have, in several of the States of
the South, been guilty of the most flagrant crimes,
crimes which we neither seek to palliate nor ex
cuse, for the commission of which the wrong doers
should, when ascertained and duly convicted, suf
fer speedy and condign punishment, we deny that
these men have any general organization, or any
political significance, or that their conduct is in
dorsed by any respectable number of the white
people in any State, on the contrary, the men and
the bands by which such outrages are perpetrated
are almost universally regarded by the intelligent
people of the several States as the worst enemies
of the South, as they furnish the men now in pow
er at Washington the only excuse left to maintain
war upon them, and to continue the system of rob
bery and oppression which they have inaugurated
—a system which is destructive not only of their
peace and prosperity, but is intended Is blacken
and malign their character as men before the
country and the world."
Then fdlows a mild admission that these
"disguised bands may have been found
operating in one-tenth part, or forty out
of the four hundred and twenty counties
in the States of North and South Caro
lina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and
Florida." Although the existence of these
bands is thus admitted, I desire without
going into repetition of the testimony, to
sketch briefly how long and in what States
they have existed.
- - -
General N. B. Forrest testified that the
Ku Klux were organized in Tennessee in
1866. To my mind his testimony is sat
isfactory evidence that, if not the origina
tor of the order, be was its chief executive
head. If I had him before a fair jury
upon trial for that offense I could convict
him at least of that upon his own testi
mony; and it would seem the minority of
the committee came to the same conclu
sion, qualified only with a "perhaps." They
say on page 449 :
"Perhaps the men who knew more about that
formation of what has come to be familiarly
known as t..e Ku Klux organization than any
others were General N. B. Forrest, of Tennessee,
and General John B. Gordon, of Georgie, extracts
from whose testimony we propose to incorporate
into this report,as illustrative of its origin, objects,
and dissolution."
Gordon and Forrest both declined to tell
all they knew. Gordon fixes 1865 or 1866
also as the date of the organization in
Georgia of which he was asked to become.
chief. Starting its existence at those dates,
I can but refer, without quoting, to the
citations in the report of the major
ity from pages 17 to 22 to show its con
tinned spread and operations through'
every insurractionary State from those
The Huntingdon Journal.
dates up to and including the year 1868.
The Citations referred to shOw that in
Texas, Kentucky, Virginia, North Caro
linia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Ar
kansas, and Louisiana, up to 1868, scenes
similar to those described in Tennessee were
enacted. In some of these States they
were of more limited extent than in Ten
nessee. In Louisiana they were far worse,
the testimony taken in 1869 showing that
over two thousand persons were killed,
wounded, and otherwise injured in that
State within a few weeks prior to the
presidential election, and that half the
State was overrun by violence.
General Fotrest alleges that be disband
ed the order in Tennessee in 1868. How
unreliable his dates are will be ascertained
by an examination of his testimony and
the correspondence referred to in it. He
was at first of the impression that it was
early in 1868 he had disbanded it, but
he has finally brought to the recollection
that it was after his return from the Dem
ocratic national convention, in 1868, that
he was interviewed at Memphis; that the
interview was published in the Cincinnati
papers; that he wrote a letter on the 3d
of September, 1868, correcting the cor
respondent in what he considered errone
ous in his statement. These facts brought
him to the conclusion that it must have
been in the latter part o 1868 that it was
disbanded ; but the bloody history
since 1868 shows it was not disbanded.
His own testimony shows it had extended
into Alabama, Mississippi, and North
Carolina in that year. General Gordon's
testimony shows that it was in Georgia.
The testimony taken by the joint com
mittee clearly establishes that the same or
ganization, pursuing ‘he same purposes
and seeking to accomplish them by the
same means, has existed, and been active
since 1868, in the States of North and
South Carolina. Georgia, Florida, Alabama,
and Mississippi. There can be no reason
able doubt of its existence still in Tennes
see and in most of the other States where
it is for the present quiet but ready to act
whenever it may be deemed necessary or
prudent to do so. Its recent character is
better fixed, however, by the evidence
furnished from the organization itself,
evidence which stamps it as one of the
foulest blots upon the civilization of this
century. At the trials in Columbia, South
Carolina, the constitution of the Ku Klux
in that State was given in evidence, having
been found in possession of one Samuel
Brown, Esq., a man of wealth and stand
ing in York county, who was chief of a
Klan, and is now expiating his offence in
the Albany penitentiary, sentenced upon
his own confession. The same constitu
tion governed the order in North Carolina,
as is shown by the testimony of David
Schenck, Esq., a leading lawyer of Lin
colton, in that State, who became a mem
ber of the order it. 1868. and says that in
doing so he considered that he was-swear
ing to support the platform of the conven
tion that nominated Seymour and Blair in
New York. It is printed in the North
Carolina testimony as an appendix to his
evidence, page 414, and eta there he con
sulted. Without quoting at large from it,
several points will be observed in that
constitution and in the by-laws.
First, article three, section one, provides
that among the duties of the secretary is
the following: "to . notify other Klans
when their assistance is needed," "give
notice when any member has to suffer the
penalty for violating his oath." What
that penalty is, article six, section one,
shows : “any member who shall betray or
divulge any of the matters of the order
shall suffer death." That the intercourse
of the Klaus with each other is kept up
through the organization is shown by arti
cle two, section two, of the by-laws : "a
brother of the Klan wishing to become a
member of this order, shall present his ap
plication with the properpapers of a trans
fer from the order of which he was a mem
ber formerly, shall be admitted to the order
only by a unanimous vote of the members
present." That this intercourse extends
through State and national organizations
is apparent from article six, section six, of
the by-laws : "the person, through the
Cyclops of the order of which he is a mem
ber, can make application for pardon to
the Great Grand Cyclops, of Nashville,
Tennessee; in which case execution of the
sentence can be stayed until pardoning
power is heard from."
Among the duties of the Cyclops, the
chief officer, he is required to "inspect the
arms and dress of each member on special
occasions." (Article three, section one,
of the constitution.) And article five, sec
tion one, of the by-laws provides : "each
member shall provide himself with a pistol,
Ku Klux gown, and signal instruments."
The by-laws show the political character
when taken in connection with the oath.
Section three of article one of the by-laws :
"the C" [Cyclops] "shall have power to
appoint such members of the order to at
tend to the sick, the needy, and those dis
tressed, and those suffering from Radical
misrule as the case may require." The
oath administered was as follows:
Obligation.
"I, (name,) before the immaculate Judge of
heaven and earth, and upon the holy Evangelists
of Almighty God, do, of my own free will and ac
cord, subscribe to the following sacredly binding
obligation :
"1. We are on the side ofjustice, humanity, and
constitutional liberty, as bequeathed to us in its
purity by our forefathers.
"2. We oppose and reject the principles of the
Radical party.
"3. We pledge mutual aid to each other in sick
ness, distress, and pecuniary embarrassment.
"4. Female friends, widows, and their households
shall ever be special objects of our regard and pro
tection.
"Any member divulging, or causing to be divul
ged, any of the foregoing obligations shall meet
the fearful penalty and traitor's doom, which is
death, death, death."
Organised under such a constitution and
bound by such an oath the proceedings of its
members in the northern counties of South
Carolina after the election of 1870 and un
til the spring and summer of 1871, as well
as in the southern portion of North Caro
lina, were of the most lawless and despe
rate character. Ido not propose to at
tempt a recital of them. They embrace
indignity, oetrage, and murder. They
were inflicted principally upon the negroes,
but in many instances also upon white men,
and of the highest respectability. I give
several instances as showing the character
of all.
Elias Hill, formerly of York county,
South Carolina, is a remarkable character.
He is crippled in both legs and arms, which
are shriveled by rheumatism; he cannot
walk, cannot help himself, has to be fed
and cared for personally by others. He
was in early life a slave whose freedom was
purchased, his father buying his mother
and getting Elias along with her as a bur.
den of which his master was glad to be
rid. Stricken at seven years old with dis
ease, he never was afterward able to walk,
and he presents the appearance of a dwarf;
with the limbs of a child, the body of a
man, and a finely developed intellectual
head. He learned his letters and to read
by calling the school children into the
cabin as they passed, and also learned to
write. He became a Baptist preacher, and
after the war engaged in teaching colored
children and conducting the business cor
respondence of many of his colored neigh
bors. He is a man of blameless character,
of unusual intelligence, and is so well edu
cated that be speaks very good English.
That man was brought before the com
mittee and the narration of his testimony
was a scene which would have been worthy
of the painter's pencil, and which will nev
er be forgotten by any man who witnessed
it. Carried into the room set up in a chair,
for the purpose of giving his testimony,
he went on to tell us how, on the 6th of
May. 1871, but a few weeks before this
committee visited that place, after the pas
sage of the bill denouncing penalties against
these offenses, a body of masked and dis
guised men came to his lowly cabin at
midnight, took him from his bed, searched
his house fbr his papers, alleging that he
had been in correspondence with Mr. Wal
lace, the member of Congress, in reference
to the business of the colored people of the'
district. They took him out, and that de
crepit body which I have described was
laid upon the ground, and he was there
scourged with a horse whip, and after be
ing thus reourged they put a halter around
his neck and threatened to drag him to the
river and drown him, telling him, "You
must no longer teach these children; you
must no longer preach the gospel here; you
must no longer permit meetings of the col
ored people to be held at your house ; you
must quit writing to Wallace, quit taking
a Republican newspaper; you must come
out in the newspaper of the county and
declare that you renounce.your Republican
principles; and unless you do these things
we will come back and kill you."
The voice in which he gave this state
ment was one of peculiar strength and mel
ody, that kind of a voice which those wno
were accustomed to hear his preaching said
to me melted down his audience with more
power than that of any man in South Car
olina. He was examined at length, and
after giving his evidence in chief—it is
worth any Senator's while to turn to it in
the testimony and read it—the following
was elicited by a member of the commit,
tee. He having been charged by the Ku
Klux, while whipping him, with preaching
political sermons, that subject was thus
brought to his notice :
"By Mr. Van Trump
"Question. You do not feel very kindly toward
the white race?
"Answer. lam afraid of them now.
"Question. Frightened at them ?
"Answer. Yes, sir. I have good will, love, and
affection toward them, but I fear them.
"Question. Is that because you are a Baptist,
or why ?
"Answer. I know it is my duty as a human be
ing to respect all the human race, and also the
grace of Clod teaches me to say so.
"Question. When yon get to preaching, do you
sot show up the wrongs and oppressions suffered
From these white people ?
"Answer. Yes, sir.
"Question. Is that what you generally preach
ibout /
"Answer. Yes, sir; love universal.
"Question. Ido not wish to misleadyou or have
you answer without fully understandingsty ques
4im.
“Answer. Please to ask it again.
"Question. I ask you if the subject-matter of
your sermons is the wrongs and cruelties inflicted
by these white people?
"Answer. No, sir; not at all. I was accused
of that on the night when they beat me; but that
is not the subject on which I preach ; it is scriptu
ral salvation;
"Question. You have the idea that these white
people are determined to put you black people
down?
"Answer. Yes, sir; I have that idea very strong
ly. They are determined to keep us front using
any influence for republicanism, which we believe
is God's will. I do believe it comes nearer to God's
will and universal love and friendship in this world
than any other.
"Question. You mean republican government?
"Answer. Yes, sir.
"Question. Do you also mean the Republican
party
"Answer. Yes, sir. I believe the Republican
party advoeates what is nearer the laws of God
than any other party, and therefore I feel that it
is right.
"Question. When you are preaching, do you
preach republicanism in your sermons?
"Answer. No, sir ; I preach the Gospel, repent
ance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ.
"Question. Do you never preach about poli
tics?
"Answer. No, sir.
"Question. Then these Ku Klux were wrong in
their accusation ?
"Answer. Yes, sir; they. were."
I wish, Mr. President, that every man
in the nation who has ever felt disposed to
palliate the crimes of Ku Klux, could see
that remarkable man and hear his narra
tive of his wrongs. What was the effect
of it upon this man, an American citizen,
a better one than thousands who have been
engaged in scourging his race ? He wish
ed to live under our institutions; he loved
them as you see; but he felt so well satis
fied that the animosity of the people of
that portion of South Carolina against the
colored race would not permit him to re
main that he entered into correspondence
with the secretary of the Colonization So
ciety, and made an arrangement to go to
Liberia, unknown to most of those who
surrounded him. When that was learned
the whole neighborhood rose up and pro.
tested against this man, their counselor,
their friend, their preacher, their teacher,
leaving them; but he had made up his
mind that he could not live where he
wanted to live, and he went, followed, ac
cording to my information, by some twen
ty or thirty families from the region in
which he lived ; and to-day—l read not
long since in one of the religious periodi
cals of the country a description of his ar
rival in Liberia—to-day Elias Hill is ban
ished from the Republic of the United
States, living in Liberia against his will,
because he cannot live in South Carolina
for fear of the Ku Klux.
John Genobles, ofSpartanburg county,
sixty-nine years of age, a respectable white
wan, who had been in the county since
1827, acted last year as an election officer.
Disguised men took him from his bed on
the night of the 22d of April, 1870, strip.
ped him, beat him with hickory withes,
and concluded by saying to him, "If you
will agree to go to the court house and get
on the steps and there declare yourself a
Democrat, and say that you have quit this
partyisrn or this Radicalism, we will let
you go; but if you do not, we will come
back and kill you." He proceeds, "There
fore, of course I did it."
"Question. You promised to do so ?
"Answer. Yes, sir ; I prwmised to do .so if they
would let me off, for I wasnearly dead, almost fro-
Sen. The toes of my right foot have not a good
feeling in them yet, and I don't know as.l'll ever
have the feeling in my right foot as before, for I
was almost chilled to death in that eoldrain."
In pursuance of that promise he went to
Spartanburg, the county town, and thus
relates what he did on the day of the
Sheriff sales at the county court :
• "I
-got up—the sheriff was then done selling his
property—l got up on the steps, and said that I
was no longer a partisan man and was not in fa
vor of a black Republican government ; that I
thought that a white man was somewhat superior
to 'a blackman. That is pretty much all that I
said ; also, that I was a member of the church so
long—semis forty-three years." •
"Question. Was this statement made by you
because of you belief in truth of what you said,
or was it to save your life 1
"It was to save my life."
HUNTINGDON, PA., MAY 29, 1872.
Dr. John Winsmith, a native of tin
same county, sixty-eight years of age, a
man who had been fur filteen A lears in the
sonate and house of repress Wives of
South Caralina before the war, of irre
proachable character, and who considers
himself a Conservative, decided in the late
elections to support Governor Scott, be
cause, as he states, the opposing candidates
declared themselves better Republican:
than Scott, and Scott was Republican
enough for him. Some forty or fifty dis
guised men visited his house, occupied b 3
himself and wife, at night and saluted him
as a "damned rascal." The brave old man
immediately got his pistol and fired at them.
They put seven balls in him, endangering
his life, and entering the room where hi:
wife was, said to her :
"We came after this man Winsmith, this Radi
cal." She said to him. "If you are after my hus
band, and say he is Radical, I tell you what, per
haps I ought not to say, but you tell a lie ; he is
no Radical ; he is a Conservative And not a Radi
cal in anything. Said he, "Why does bract with
the Radicals, then ?" She did not reply. Said he.
'lf he is not, why don't he come out in the news
paper and say so ?'"
This is freedom of opinion in South Car
olina. I come now to a case which has
excited considerable attention. On Satur
day evening, the 31st of December, 1870,
a company of negro militia left Unionville,
and when a short distance from the town
met A man named Stevens coming in with
a barrel of illicit whisky for one of the
hotels. He was a drayman, had lost a leg
in the confederate service, and was accom
pained in his dray by another man. The
purpose with which the militia went out
is not clearly ascertained ; one statement
being that they said they were going out to
"mug a man," and another that they were
going out to "guard Budd Williams," a
negro from being Ku Kluxed. Whatever
was their purpose, upon meeting Stereos
they demanded whisky from him, and he
gave them what he had in flask.. They
asked for more, and upon his starting from
them they fired at him ; he jumped from
hie wagon and ran ; they followed, caught,
and killed him. It would seem to have
been a creel, unprovoked murder, one for
which all who participated in it certainly
deserved to be convicted, and to suffer the
extreme penalty of the law. It excited
great feeling in Unionville, the white pop
ulation believing, as expressed by a wit
ness, "that the entire negro community
were in sympathy with murderers."
Moved by that feeling, they proceeded to
disarm the negroes who composed the mil
itia company, as a measure of self-protec
tion. The people turned out on Sunday
morning and arrested quite a number of
the negroes charged with the offense, and
lodged them in jail. On the following
Wednesday night, the 4th of January,
some forty or fifty Ku Klux rode into the
town, surrounded the jail, entered it, took
out five of these prisoners, proceeded a
short distance from the town, where they
killed two of them, the other three mak
ing their escape after being shot at and
wounded. They were recaptured and
again lodged in jail in a few days, and
with some eight or ten others who were
01...- 8 01 with tivo Oftlaie orient. roulainod
there until the night of Sunday, the 12th
of February.
Judge Thomas, the presiding judge of
Ihat circuit, apprehending that these per
sons might also be taken out and disposed
of as the others had been, under a statute
of the State authorizing him so to do, is
sued a writ of babes corpus for the purpose
of bringing them before him at Columbia
and committing them to prison there. It is
well to consider thesefacts when those who
clamor for the sacredness of the writ of
habeas corpus come to look at the result
in this case.
This writ was delivered to the sheriff
at Unionville on Thursday evening, the 9th
of February. The train would return to
Columbia Friday morning, and not again
i until Monday. After the train left Fri
, day morning the sheriff called a conference
of lawyers to determine whether he ought
.to obey the writ. They thought it was
informal, but all recognized "the well
known signature of Judge Thomas," and
"advised the sheriff to keep the matter
secret and communicate with Judge Thom
as, and ask him whether it was genuine."
Subsequently this advice was reconsidered,
and on Friday evening the sheriff was ad
vised to obey the writ on Monday morn-
ing.
On Sunday night a body of armed and
disguised. Ku Klux, variously estimated at
from four to eight hundred, rode into the
town, took possession of the jail, took out
eight of the prisoners charged with the
murder of Stevens and hung them.
If this intention to remove them on
Monday was kept a secret until Friday
evening, it will strike every one forcibly
that this organization must, in that coun
ty or the adjoining ones, be not only nu
merous, but under wonderfully strict mili
tary discipline, when from four to eight
hundred disguised, mounted, and armed
men could be asseinbled in that time, es
pecially when it is retthempered that Union
county had in 1870 but 8,718 white popu
lation, and the village itself not over four
hundred. It may not appear so strange,
however, when the prevailing sentiment is
ascertained from the testimony and inci
dents revealed by it.
It seems that one man, Thomas Hughes,
when he heard the firing which shot the
prisoners on the first raid, supposed it was
by negroes on the way to rescue the pris
oners. He says he immediately got his
gun and traveled hastily three-quarters of
a mile into town, to defend the jail against
the negroes. Ile went in, aroused a ma
gistrate, and informed him of his suspi
cions. Although the magistrate slept
within one hundred and fifty yards of the
jail, the operation of taking out the pris
oners had been so noiselessly performed
that his slumbers had not been disturbed.
He directed Hughes to go up street, ring
the bell, and arouse the citizens. Hughes
went, and in the hotel found members of a
special citizens' police which had been
guarding the town, who informed him that
the negroes were not coming to the jail;
that the Ku Klux had been there, and had
taken the prisoners out. Upon hearing
this, hie ardor subsided ; he rang no bell;
the citizens were not aroused, and Hughes
went home with his gun. He was Ste
vens' brother-in-law. Some days after that
he was selected as the jailor, and was in
charge of the jail when the second raid
was made. On neither occasion were the
citizens aroused, although the special po
lice, who had been raised from apprehen
sion of a negro rescue, were on duty.
Upon the trial of two men in court sub
sequently for another offense growing out
of this, a leading lawyer—and a Democrat
--at that bar, R. W. Shand, esq., took
notes; and he testifies that the evidence
disclosed that one of the men who were
hanged by the Ku Klux, Walker, a trial
jpstice, arrested on suspicion, was not with
the militia at all, and that the testimony
did not justify the suspicion.
This, Mr. President, is a statement of a
_time against criminals who were entitled to
trial by law. I come now to the statement
of a case involving an officer of the law.
In the county of Greene, Alabama, there
occurred in March, 1870, the murder of
Alexander Boyd, the prosecuting attorney
of the county, a case strongly illustrating
the power of this organization to execute
As decrees even upon an officer of the law.
Ind to paralyze the public voice and the
authorities, a full corroboration of Chan
cellor Clark's statement, that "they keep
quiet, for they might be conversing with
one of them in the street and not know it,"
and that "grand juries have been power
less to bring any one of that organization
to justice."
The facts are these : a man named Snod
dy was killed, and three negroes were ar
rested for the murder, named Henry Mil
ler, Sam Caldwell, and Sam Colvin. Col.
Jolly, who defended them on the prelimi
nary healing,
(page 265,) says that Miller
and Caldwell were committed for trial,
and Colvin was discharged. Miller and
Caldwell escaped from jail, and it was un
derstood that in some way Miller had been
taken and killed. Colvin, who was the fath
er of Caldwell, (Caldwell being his former
master's name,) was taken and killed by
disguised men.
It was asserted that Mr. Boyd made dec
larations to the effect that he had evidence
in his possession to show wbo were the
murderers of Colvin. and that he intended
at the then approaching term of court to
prosecute them vigorously, and to hold
over the grand jury for the purpose of do
inn.° so. He was a single man, and board
ed andlodged in a hotel on the public
square in Eutaw, the county town. About
eleven o'clock on the night of the 31st of
March a band of disguised men, estimated
generally at twenty-five, rode into the
town, formed in front of the hotel, detach
ed a squad who went in, compelled the
clerk to show then& Boyd's room, and
there deliberately murdered him, putting
two balls through his forehead. and sever
al through other parts of his body, (page
298.)
At the time this was done there were in
the town the ministers and elders of a
presbytery then holding its sessions, (page
258). The sheriff was at the hotel a very
short time after Boyd was killed. There
were yet persons on the stied. The town
contains, according to the census, a popu
lation of 1,920 ; but no alarm was given.
The sheriff made no effort to call a posse,
offered no reward, took no steps then or af
terward to follow or detect the murderers.
The people remained in their beds unaware
of the occurrence until the next morning,
and when communicated to one witness,
Mr. Pierce, a member of the bar and after
ward mayor of the town, it was in such
manner that he supposed his informant
was seeking to make an April-fool of him,
(page 298-)
Boyd was buried the next day after he
was killed. No meeting of the bar was
called, and not a member of it attended his
funeral, (page 300.) So fixed and so cer
tain is it that be was a victim of the Ka
Mu. that Mr. Pierce states his friends
had placed upon his tombstone, "Murder
ed by the Ku Klux," (page 301.) At the
next court the grand jury investigated the
case, and their finding was, that they were
unable to identify anybody connected with it
but that the parties who committed the
murder were traced on their way home to
Pickens county. The impression seams al
most universal that the men who did it
came from some other county, some even
stating that they came from Mississippi ;
and, strange as it may seem, it is also con
ceded, in the face of this, that the causeof
his murder was the declaration of his in
tention to prosecute the murderers of Col
vin, which could affect only persons in
Green County.
Showing that the organization in Mis
sissippi is in full sympathy and communi
cation with the organization in Alabama.
The occurences in South Carolina to which
I have referred bad taken place before the
sub-committee visited that State. When
there, ascertaining the fearful extent to
which these lawless acts had been perpe
trated with impunity, members of that sub
committee were impressed with the belief
that if, after the community was made
aware of them, there was any recurrence
of violence, no other remedy than the most
stringent one would suffice to bring the
perpetrators to justice, and to prevent
scenes of bloody retaliation.
Subsequently, after being apprised of
an outrage occuring,
as was alleged, in
Spartanburg county, which afterward prov
ed to have been in Union county near the
line of Spartanburg,
and of the destruction
of a school-house in York county, the Pres
ident's attention was called to the fact de
veloped before the committee and to these
renewals of violence after their visit, and
to the necessity of exercising the power
vested in him by the act of April2o. 1871.
Instead of at once acting on this informa
tion, as we now learn from the President's
message communicated to the House of
Representatives, he instituted further in
quiry through the Attorney General, and
upon information obtained through that
inquiry, he did exercise that power, and
after proclamation suspended the privilege
of the writ in the counties of Spartanburg.
Union, York, Lancaster, Chester, Fairfield,
Laurens and Newberry, in South Carolina.
This was after a term of court had been
held in York county and the subject given
in charge of the grand jury. The presid
ing judge of that circuit, Judge Thomas,
had requested of me as the chairman of the
committee the information communicated
to the President as to York county. I re
ferred him to Major Merrill, the comman
der of the United States troops at York
ville, and requested him to give all the
aid in his power to any investigation di
rected by the court. I regret that I can
not incorporate here the whole report of
Major Merrill made to his superior officer,
bat his account of the proceedings of the
court, of the suspension of the writ, and of
the scenes which followded it, gives a bet
ter idea of the true state of facts than any
words of mine can give.
•
At the session of the U. S. Court true
bills were found against seven hundred
and eighty-five defendants, there being
about five hundred defendants in all, as
some of them were named in several bills..
Of these, five were convicted upon trial ;
fifty-three pleaded guilty, and the others
could not be tried and were held over.
Several of them have since been tried and
others have pleaded guilty, as I am inform
ed, in Charleston at the circuit court. The
evidence elicited at those trials -leaves no
doubt of the existence of the order, and
its purposes as elsewhere described, and al
so of the intercourse of its members through
the several States. Let me quote from
the testimany of Kirkland L. Gunn, a wit
ness who was examined in these trials in
Columbia, South Carolina :
"Kirkland L. Gunn.
"By Mr. Corbin. We have no objection to ask
ing the general question: First, what was the ob•
ligation and purpose of the Klan?
"Answer. The• obligation, air, that I took wa:
that I should not divulge any part of the secret:
of the Klan that I had joined, and it was for thi
purpose of putting down Radical rulo and new,
suffrage."
By - air. Corbin. Mr. Gunn, you have statod th,
general purposes of the order. Now, will you
please state to the jury, how those purposes wee
to be carried into effect 7
"Answer. Well, sir, that is known, I think ; but
the way I was told that they were going to cam
this into effect was by killing off the white Radi•
cats, and by whipping and intimidating the ne
gross so as to keep them from voting for any men
who held Radical offices.
"By the Court. State what was done in pursu
ance of the object of the order? What was clone
pursuant to the purposa of the order as you have
stated it according to your knowledge?
"Answer. Their principle was to whip such
men as they called Radicals, and men who were
running the negro population, &c., and they mur
dered some.
"Question. Well, Mr. Gunn, when did they do
this ; night-time or dap-time?
"Answer• In the night sir.
•'Question. Whether the organization was arm
ed according to the by-laws?
"Answer. Yes sir; they were armed.
"Question. What were their arms?
"Answer. Most generally pistols; sometimes
shot guns, muskets, &c.
"Question. What is the Ku Klux gown gener
ally referred to in the by-laws ?
"Answer. It is a large gown made—all that
ever I saw was made of some solid colored goods ;
I don't know what the color was ; it looked dark
in the night; I never saw a gown in daylight.
"Question. What were these gowns worn for?
"Answer. To disguise the person, sir.
"Question. Where the purposes of the order to
be carried out with the disguise on?
"Answer. Yes air.
"Question. When the Klan was assembled to
prosecute any of its purposes, such as whipping
and killing, where they disguised or not?
"Answer. Always, sir.
"Question. Now, Mr. Gunn, can you tell us
anything about the extent of this general con
spiracy, this organization, not only in York coun
ty, but beyond the limits of York county, or be
yond the limits of this State?
"Answer. I met the same order in Georgia, sir.
I don't know anything about it beyond York coun
ty. in this State.
"Question. You met it in Georgia whatcounties
in Georgia.
"Answer. I found it in Whitefield county, and
Catoosa.
"Question. What counties ?
"Answer. The first meeting was Catoosa coun•
"Question. What were they doing ever in Geor
gia to carry out this conspiracy ?
"Answer. The meeting that I was at last was
to miss money for the purpose of sending to South
Carolina, they told me.
"Question. For what purpose ?
"Answer. For paying lawyers' fees and paying
witnesses to go to court. [Laughter.]
"Mr. Johnson, (auto core) I hope they raised it.
"Mr. Stanbery, (solo toes.) That is encouraging.
Mr. Corbin. (sots core.) I should think that
would be comforting information to you.
"Question. The wholematter dis Cussed in the
meeting ? _ .
"An;wer. Yes sir.
"Question. Taking care of the Ku Klux breth•
ren in this State, were they ?
Yes, sir.
`Answer.
Was money enised
'Question
"Answer thero was, sir.
Question. Raised it for sending on here ?
"Answer. They told me that was the purpose.
"Question. Money paid in ?
"Answer. Yes, sir."
The cases I have given and this testi
mony show the effect of this organization
upon its victims. Now, I desire very
briefly to call attention to the effect upon
its members, and I do it in but one case ;
but it will I think, satisfy any one that it
is idle to talk about demorilization and
corruption in the southern States among
the negroes or in any party, when it is ap
parent that in South Carolina and in a
number of these States there is an organi
zation which in its consequences would
lead every man to distrust his neighbor
and destroy all congdence in every judi
cial tribunal. I refer to the printed tes
timony on page 1342 for the purpose of
making two or three very brief extracts
from the evidence of a Dr. Bratton, let me
state, who was the leading physician in York
county, South Carolina. He had the lar
gest practice of any physician in the coun
ty ; a man of culture, a man of intelli
gence, a man probably, according to my
recollection of his appearance, from forty
to forty-five years of age. He was called
before the committee when they were in
York, and I will now read a few brief ex
tracts from his testimony for the purpose
of quoting afterward the truth in regard
to him. The first question that is read is
this :
"Our purpose is to inquire into the security of
life, person, and property through this county,
and the manner in which the laws are executed.
Have you any knowledge of any offenses against
the law, or against the security of person and
pro' erty, that have not been redressed in the or
dinary courts of justice?
"Answer. I have no personal knowledge of
anything of the kind. I merely hear rumors and
reports. Personally, I know nothing about it.
Passing to page 1344, I read the fol
lowing :
"Question. Do you know of an organization in
this county intended to prevent negroes from vo
ting as they eaw proper?
"Answer. I don't and that has not been the
"Question. Do you know anything of this or•
ganlzation commonly called Ku Klux?
"Answer. lam no member of the Ku Klux,
and know nothing of their proceedings."
He was examined at very considerable
length. I will remember the testimony.
After referring him to some publications
made in the newspapers, he altered
his opinion as to there being no Ku Klux
organization, and said, in answer to a ques
tion, (page 1348 :)
"Question. Yon do believe now that there is a
Ku Klux organization?
. . .
"Answer. From that article there must have
been at the time ; whether there is now I do not
know."
On page 1350
"Question. Now Doctor having stated your be
lief that there is aKu Klux organization, since
you saw this notice in the paper, state who in
your belief compose it.
"Answer. I cannot tell you that, sir.
"Question. What class of peopli;, sir ;
"Answer. I cannot tell you who compose that
organization. I know nothing about them. Ido
not belong, and have no means of knowing.
"Question. Have you no idea who compose it ?
"Answer. No, sir ; I have no means of •know
ing."
Bear in mind he denied all personal
knowledge of a single Ku Klux outrag e in
that county, in which there were elven
murders and.over six hundred whippings.
He denied that he knew anything of the
organization. He denied all knowledge,
in short, of its operations except what he
gathered from common rumor. Bear in
mind the character of the man. Bear in
mind that it is said that no man of respect.
ability or character had any part in these
outrages, much less countenanced them.—
Now, sir, when the proclamation was made
that the writ of habeas corpus wculd be
suspended, Dr. Bratton fled, and my infor
mation is that he has never been back in
York county since. Several of the men
who hanged a man named Jim Williams ;
a militia captain, were arraigned and tried
at Colembia for that offense, and the tes
timony upon that occasion proved that this
Dr. Bratton, who thus swore, was the lead
er of the band; that he provided himself
with a rope in the town of Yorkville and
carried it on his saddle-bow out to the cab
in of that man, Jim Williams, and with
his own hand put the rope around Wil
liams' neck and hanged him. Sir, I do
not wish to leave this factto my statement,
but I quote from the address of Hon. Mr.
Stanberry, the counsel of the defendants
in that case, and let him speak of Dr. Brat
ton, so that the character of this organiza
tion and its effect upon its members may
be apparent. Let it be remembered that
this was on the trial of one of the young
men who accompanied Dr. Bratton on that
occasion. Mr. Stanbcry says :
"How in God's name, gentlemen, can you mak,
him responsible for the horrid outrage that follow
ed. Why gentlemen, did not the men that wen
detailed to go down here end seize the man, sop.
posed they were going for his arms 1 They wen
absent about an hour or less than an hour, whet
hey returned they were silent ; the question was.
'Rave you got the arms ?' No response whatever,
but some showed guns ; in a little while Dr. Bret
ton, in answer to a question put to him by some
man where William- was, said 'he is now in hell.'
Gentlemen, I do not stand here tojustify Dr. Bret
ton, but to defend this young man ; let Dr. Brat
ton answer for himself, anddo not hold this young
man guilty on account of his misdeeds, I do nut
justify that horrid outrage that was committed
there that night. It make; my blood run cold to
listen to the relation of it ; atter they had got his
guns, to take him out from hi+ family, and without
a moment's time to make his peace with God, to
launch him into the other world, and upon their
return to speak of it in the impious manner which
has been detailed !
"Gentlemen, the right man is not here; you hive
he proof, but not the offender. When he or they.
whoever they may be, shall be arraigned, then will
se the time to mete out the just measurement of
web a crime ; but, gentlemen; I beg of you not to
sonfound the just with the guilty."
That is not my language; that is the
language of Hon. Henry Stanbery, who
was taken from Cincinnati to defend these
men, and he is speaking of a man who
stood socially and professionally at the head
of society in York county. South Carolina,
and who swore before the committee that
he knew nothing at all of that outrage.—
Talk about corruption; talk about demor
alization in Legislatures under the negroes,
when the leaders of society are not only
themselves murderers, but come before the
country and deny it by perjury !
I have thus given in some detail the
proceedings )1) South Carolina, because
There the evidenceof the existence of the
organization and its purposes and acts is
beyond controversy, and it is only necessa
ry to apply the same evidence to other lo
odities infested by the organization to ap
preciate the condition of the poor and de
fenceless, who are the objects of its attacks,
and to show the necessity of the exercise
of power by the strong arm of the Federal
Government to suppress this monstrous
conspiracy. _ _ _
Now, sir, as to the extent to which this
organization has prevailed : it is stated in
the views of the minority that it does not
prevail in more than forty counties in these
States of North and South Carolina, Geor
gia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi.—
Let me give you the names of the counties
in these States in which these offenses have
been committed. Outrages have been com
mitted in North Carolina in the counties
of Orange, Chatham, Alamance, Lenoir,
Harnett, Sampson, Caswell, Guilford, Gas
ton, Lincoln, Moore, Rutherford, Cleve
land, and Catawba.
South Carolina.—ln the counties of
Spartanburg, York, Union, Chester, Ab
beville, Lauren; Fairview, Newbery, and
Lancaster.
Georgia.—ln the counties of Jasper,
Walton, White, Morgan, Jackson, Han
cock, Wilkinson, Washington, Cherokee,
Greene, Madison, Pike, Whitetield, Haber
sham, Putnam, Haralson, Warren, Rich
mond, Gwinnett, Floyd, Glasscock, Chat
tooga, Dade, Clark, Jefferson, Oglethrope,
Walker, Appling, and Columbia.
Alabama.—ln the counties of Blount,
Calhoun, Chambers, Choctaw, Fayette,
Greene, Hale, Jackson, Jefferson, Law
rence, Limestone, Macon, Madison, Mar
shall, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, Sumter,
Tuscaloosa, St. Clair, Cherokee, Coosa,
Lauderdale, Marengo, Tallapoosa, and
Walton.
Mississippi.—ln the counties of Chick
asaw, Kemper, Itawamba, Tishemingo,
Prentiss, Lee, Leake, Tippah, Union, Al
corn, Kemper, Lauderdale, Lincoln, Lown
des, Marshall, Monroe, Noxubee, Oktib
beha, Pontotoc, and Winston.
Florida.—ln the county of Jackson
alone the evidence shows that within the
last five years there have been one hun
dred and fifty-three homicides.
Here we have ninety-nine counties in
all, and this in all probability falls below
the number. I have not had time to make
a careful examination of that part of the
testimony at the taking of which I was
not personally present, and have only in
serted here the names of those counties
where offenses are clearly shown to have
been committed. I have no doubt there
are more. I shall give presently a sum
mary of the offenses committed in these
counties.
These facts bear upon the denial made
in the views of the minority of the extent
of the organization, of its political signifi
cance, or of its having the countenance of
any of the respectable white people of the
South. Each of these may require a pass
ing notice.
— As to the members of the organization,
the fact that in York county the number
was almost equal to the white voting pop
ulation is of itself startling, and when it
is remembered that about the same "state
of affairs existed in the two adjoining
counties, and to a large extent in other
counties, it is evident that nothing but the
power of the General Government is suffi
cient to restrain that organization in that
State.
Again, after the concession that Gen
eral 'Forrest knows so much more about
the origin of the organization than any
other person, his statement as to its num
bers becomes important. In 1868 he said
there were forty thousand in Tennessee
and five hundred thousand in the South
ern States. The only correction he made
of that statement in his letter written to
correct errors was that he believed there
wire those numbers. His belief as the
head of that organization is significant.
and equiva!ent to the knowledge of other
people.
The allegation that the order does not
exist in more than forty counties is met
by the names of the counties of the several
States which I have already given.
1 will now give the summary to which
I have referred. In North Carolina four
teen counties are shown in which outrages
occurred, and in them there occurred
eighteen homicides and three hundred and
fifteen whippings. In South Carolina.
nine counties in which the testimony taken
by the committee shows there were thirty
five homicides and two hundred and sev
enty-six other outrages. The presentment
of the grand jury says there were forty
homicides in these counties, and over two
thousand cases of other outrages. In
Georgia there are twenty-nine counties
shown, in which seventy-two homicides
and one hundred and twenty-six cases of
whippings are disclosed by the testimony.
In Alabama there arc twenty-six counties,
in which two hundred and fifteen homi
cides are shown to have occurred, and one
hundred and sixteen cases of other out
rages. In Mississippi there are twenty
counties in which there are twenty-three
homicides, and seventy-six cases of out
rages by this testimony; and in Florida.
in one county of Jackson—l have
not had time to look through the other por- ,
tions of the testimony—one hundred and
fifty-three homicides have occurred in that
NO. 22.
county alone since the war; and let it be
supposed that these even are all. These
foot up ninety-nine counties, five hundred
and twenty-six homicides and twenty-nine
hundred and nine cases of other outrages
shown in this testimony, and by th s find
ing of the grand jury.
Now, let us go further. At Columbia
there are true bills found against five hun
dred and onedefendants. In the northern
district of Mississippi there were bilis
found against four hundred and ninety
defendants, and in the southern district
against one hundred and fifty-two defen
dants. In North Carolina there are bills
found against nine hundred and eighty
one defendants. I have not the returns
of those that have been found in Alabama,
but I knon a number of bills have been
found there and that there have been a
number of trials and convictions.
Now, sir, when you remember that there
were twenty-nine hundred and nine out
rages and five hundred and twenty-six
homicides, and that these offences have
been shown to have been committed by
men in bands ranging from five up to
seventy-five and a hundred and sometimes
as many as four to eight hundred, it does
not require much. arithmetic to show that
this is a formidable organization. When
you hate over three thousand victims,
victims to violence committed by bodies
of men in an organization, who need doubt
as to the character and the extent and the
power of theorganization ?
It is alleged that in all these proceed
ings the men are of that class in society
who have no countenance. Sir, let me call
your attention to two or three facts. The
minority of the committee have admitted—
it is an admission—thct General Napoleon
B. Forrest and General John B. Gordon
were the first men who were at the organ
ization of this Klan. Whoare N. B. For
rest and J. B. Gordon ? I suppose that for
political purposes I could give them no
higher indorsement than to state that they
were both delegates at large from their res
pective States of Tennessee and Georgia
in the Democratic national convention of
1868 ; and taking the testimony of
Schenck, of North Carolina, that he con
sidered he was swearing when he was ini
tiated in the Ku Klux organization to sup
port the platform of that convention, it is
not much to be wondered at that the plat
form was so constructed when two men
who are admitted to have organized the
Ku Klux were delegates at large in that
convention, and their position ought to
rank them as respectable men. In addi
tion to that, J, B. Gordon was the com
mander of the left wing of Lee's army at
the time of the surrender.
We have here, then, the Ku Klux in
its beginning. Where is it in its ending?
When these men were arraigned in South
Carolina for the enormities which I have
described, what was witnessed ? Did the
white people of that State accept the pro
ceedings of the General Government
against the Ku Klux as a relief from the
terrible scourage which the minority of
the committee say they are to them? In
stead of that, we find in the public papers
an appeal by Wade Hampton and others
asking contributions from the community
to defend such men as those who were as
sociated with Dr. Bratton. This circular
has already been read in the Senate, but I
present it again in this connection:
[Circular.]
Eminent counsel from the North have been employed to
defend the men prosecuted under the Ku Klux acts of
Congress. This has been undertaken in order that ample
Justice may be done, and to the end that the constitutional
questions involved mey be considered. This is deemed a
public duty. In order to carry out this purpose, it is ne
cessary to raise tho stun of 515.000 Your county has been
assessed $2,000, which you will please ralso and trunsmat
to Columbia to the committee In charge.
WADE HAMPTON,
M. C. BUTLER,
J. B. PALMER,
J. P. THOMAS,
8. L. LEAPIIART,
W. B. STANLEY,
JOHN McKENZIE.
Cteamittes.
Colonel C. Joxis, Rock liVll,Sadle Chrolina.
My Dam Sin Mr. Stanbery, Reverdy Johnson, and
Judge Barrett or New York, hare consented to come, and
we shall need $15,000. Do raise what you can.
Yours, truly, WADE HAMPTON.
Subscription bets haro been placed in the hand. of
Jam. Mason, W. H. McCorkle, and W. B. Matta, of York
ville, and of J. M. Icy, and W. 1.. Reddey, of Rock Hill.
C. JONES.
Accompanying this circular in the York
ville Inquirer, of November 30, 1871, is
the following editorial showing how that
appeal was responded to :
"The Ku Klux Trials—We dire t tho attention of our
readers to the circular in another column, with tile ap
pended notes, in relation to the trim' of the persons pros
ecuted under the Ku Klux acts of Congress. Eminent
northern lawyers have been retained Outdid iu the man
agement of the eases for the defense, with the special pur
pose in view of fully arguing the constitutionality of these
laws under which citizens of ltd, State have been de
prived of their personal liberty. In order to meet the
expenses incurred by this movement, the committee state
that the sum of 515,000 la necessary, and that York county
is assessed for $2,010 of the amount. Col. W. H. McCorkle,
and Messrs. Jam. Mason and W. B. Matta have been ap
pointed to receive subscriptions at Yorkville; and 31essm.
.1. M. Ivy and W. L. Roddley, at Rock Hill.
"Charleston has beau assessed $3,000, and the citizens of
that city have gone to work with a will to raise the re
nuired amount. Committees were appointed io the city
and throughout the county to solicit subscriptions, and
even before any concerted action had been taken, four cit
zees stepped forward and subscribed and paid *jon. The
Courier, in relation to the movement, says
"'The cause is one which must appeal strongly to our
people. It is the canoe of civil liberty. This movement aims
to secure a fair trial and the voice of the counsel who will
be heard with respect by the court and by the country in
derense of the accused, who are victims of martial law.
Our fellow-citizens of the up-country are the present suf
ferers. It may be our turn next.'"
Thus we have Gordon and Forrest at
the organization of the Ku Klux, who in
fused into it its spirit and its life; we find
Gordon and Forrest and Wade Nampton
all in the Democratic national convention
in 1868; and then we have Wade Hamp
ton and his associates demanding public
contributions to defend the assassins whom
Forrest and Gordon organized, and who
went forth upon their work of murder and
of outrage.
Mr. NORWOOD. I was ont at the
moment, and if the Senator will pardon
me, I should like to inquire whether he
stated, as I have been informed, that Gen.
John B. Gordon is at the head of the Ku
Klux organization in Georgia?
Mr. SCOTT. That there may be no
misapprehension on that subject, I will
turn the Senator from Georgia to what I
did say. I quoted from the views of the
minority of the committee, who say this:
'Perhape the men who knew more about the
formation of what has come to befamiliarly known
as the Ka Klux organisation than any others wore
General N. B. Forrest, of Tennessee, and General
John B. Gordon, of Georgia, extract. from whose
testimony we propose to incorporate into this re
port as Illustrative of ile origin, objects, antldisso
lotion."
General John B. Gordon was examined
before the committee, and I commend his
testimony to the study of the Senator from
Georgia, and if he is in doubt after read
ing it that General John B. Gordon was
the head of just such an organization as is
shown to have operated from that time
down to the present, I am very much mis
taken in the clearness of his perception.
Mr. BLAIR. With the permission of
the Senator I will state that General Gor
don disclaimed having connection with
any organization for the purpose assigned
to it by the Senator in his speech. The
minority of the committee argue that
they state what were the real purposes of
the organization at its inception but dis
tinctly state that it had been departed from
in many instances by persons who had
gone into it; that in its origin General