Yorkville Enquirer

THE ELECTION OF JUDGES,

On Thursday last, the legislature of South Carolina, in joint assembly, elected an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and eight Circuit Judges. From the Charleston News and Courier we gather the following particulars:

"For associate justice, J. J. Wright, S. J. Lee, Speaker of the House under Moses' administration, and Macon B. Allen, ex-judge of the notorious Inferior Court of Charleston, (all of them colored) were nominated. Wright was elected on the first ballot, receiving 128 out of the 138 votes cast."

THE FIRST CIRCUIT.

For the First Circuit, composed of the counties of Charleston and Orangeburg, W. J. Whipper, E. B. Seabrook and Hon. H. A. Meetze were nominated. Whipper was elected on the first ballot, which resulted as follows:

Whole number of votes cast,......138
Whipper 83
Meetze 32
Seabrook, 22
Scattering 1

The members from York county voted as follows: Col. Beatty for Meetze, a white Conservative; White, Davies, Bates and Steele for Whipper.

THE SECOND CIRCUIT.

Nominations were called for the second circuit bench. Judge Maher, the present incumbent, Solicitor P. L. Wiggins, of the same circuit, and Macon B. Allen were nominated. Wiggins was elected on the first ballot, as per programme, the vote standing as follows:

Whole number of votes cast,......143
Wiggins 85
Maher 34
Allen, 23
Scattering, 1

This circuit is composed of the counties of Beaufort, Colleton, Barnwell and Aiken.

THE THIRD CIRCUIT.

F. J. Moses, Jr., the ex-Governor, and Judge Shaw, the present incumbent, were the only nominees. Only one ballot was held, with the following result:

Whole number of votes cast,.... 135
Moses 76
Shaw, 47
Scattering, 12

This circuit is composed of the counties of Sumter, Clarendon, Williamsburg, Georgetown, Horry and Marion.

Of the York delegation, Col. Beatty voted for Judge Shaw; Bates, Steele, Davies and White voted for F. J. Moses, jr.

THE FOURTH CIRCUIT.

Judge Townsend, the present incumbent, was the only candidate nominated for this circuit, and was elected unanimously. The circuit is composed of the counties of Chesterfield, Marlboro and Darlington.

THE FIFTH CIRCUIT.

Judge R. B. Carpenter, the present incumbent, was the only candidate nominated for this circuit, and was elected unanimously. The counties of Richland, Kershaw, Lexington and Edgefield compose the circuit.

THE SIXTH CIRCUIT.

Judge T. J. Mackey, the present incumbent, and A. B. Knowlton, of Orangeburg were nominated for this circuit. The ballot resulted as follows:

Whole number of votes cast .131
Mackey 90
Knowlton 41

The circuit is composed of the counties of Lancaster, Chester, Fairfield and York.

THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT

Lucius C. Northrop, of Columbia, and Gen. W. H. Wallace, of Union, were nominated. Northrop was elected on the first ballot, which resulted as follows:

Whole number of votes cast ......131
Northrop 78
Wallace 53

The circuit is composed of the following counties: Union, Newberry, Laurens and Spartanburg.

THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT.

Judge Cooke, the present incumbent, and Mr. Thos. Thompson were nominated. The ballot resulted as follows:

Whole number of votes cast... 136
Cooke 93
Thompson 43

The circuit is composed of the counties of Anderson, Oconee, Greenville, Abbeville and Pickens.

The Columbia correspondent of the News and Courier says:

"Over the elections for the first, second and third circuits, the chief fights were made, and the wildest enthusiasm prevailed upon the announcement of the election of each of the Plunder candidates. In the nominating speeches it was clearly given out by the leaders that the party was on the brink of a precipice, and its only salvation was to elect none but tried Republicans of the stamp of Whipper, Moses and Wiggins. In the remaining circuits the Republican candidates went in easily.

"A characteristic scene of the wildest confusion prevailed throughout the elections. Hats were thrown up and whoops and yells and hammering on the desks in the House echoed from the lobby and from the hall outside. It is impossible to convey an idea of the intense feeling of indignation and condemnation prevalent in town over the election of Moses, Whipper and Wiggins. Some think the Legislature has builded better than it knew, and has by its action to-day dealt the Republican party a blow from which it will not easily recover."

Commenting on the elections, the News and Courier says, editorially:

"WHIPPER, THE BLACK JUDGE!—The result of the election for Judge of the Charleston circuit is appalling. It means nothing less than insecurity of life and property, the destruction of freedom of elections, and persecution, to the death, of those who have stood, or stand, in the way of the gang, by whose agency Whipper is elected. In fine, it means the triumph, in a most aggravated and dangerous form, of the worst elements of negro Radicalism over the integrity, the intelligence and property of the State.

"It matters little how the election of Whipper actually came about; although it is evident that the failure of the House, on Wednesday, to concur in the Senate resolution for an election yesterday was only a blind, intended to throw the opponents of Whipper off their guard and leave them no opportunity for consultation or organization. The black cohort was well drilled; the resolution which was tabled on Wednesday was concurred in yesterday morning, and, an hour or two later, by an overwhelming majority, a full-blooded negro, who is known to be ignorant and malignant, and is believed to be utterly corrupt, was chosen as Judge of the most important circuit in South Carolina, and endowed with prospective power, almost without limit, over the fortunes and liberties of the people.

"It is not forgotten who and what Whipper is! From the beginning of the Reconstruction period he has held a prominent place in South Carolina politics, and always as the associate and companion of the scum of his party. Is he corrupt? Let this fact answer! While a member of the Legislature, with a small salary, he accumulated a fortune, and gambled away that fortune in one night in Columbia. Is he honest? By Republicans and Conservatives he has repeatedly been charged with embezzling the moneys of the Sinking Fund Commission; and again and again has he been threatened with prosecution on that account. Is he faithful and capable? Let it be remembered that, last winter, when Whipper was first a candidate for the Charleston Judgeship, then vacant by reason of the death of Judge Graham, it became necessary for Governor Chamberlain to declare, in a public gathering of the members of the General Assembly, that Whipper was neither capable nor honest, and that his election would disgrace, if it did not ruin, the Republican party.

What, then, are his qualifications? We know of none save the color of his skin, and his presumed readiness to play into the hands of the faction whose candidate he was. That faction is made up of those who desire negro rule, pure and simple, in South Carolina, who desire to prevent any future co-operation of Conservatives with Republicans, who desire to continue in office, next November, the people who have lorded it over us so long, and whose reign, Whipper wanting, would have speedily come to an end. Their platform is, Plunder and Revenge! Upon it they and theirs stand, and stand fast!

"Nor do Charleston and Orangeburg alone suffer. Judges Maher and Shaw, in the second and third circuits, are succeeded by P. L. Wiggins and ex-Gov. F. J. Moses, Jr. On the Southern bench there were no Judges more upright, more fair or more competent than they who have been thus displaced." Of Wiggins we know very little. The fact that he was the candidate of ex-Land Commissioner Leslie and the Black Ring damns him. But F. J. Moses, Jr., is known throughout the length and breadth of the land as the Robber Governor, as a man whose rascality is equalled only by his audacity. The election of Whipper, Wiggins and Moses unites the State in a common cause. War is declared upon the honest people of South Carolina, whether Conservatives or Republicans.

As such a declaration must yesterday's work be understood. As such must it be faced. And if the issue be met squarely, if the people stand together, on a platform broad enough and strong enough to hold every citizen whose wishes and interests are on the side of judicial purity, and consequently of private and public justice, the fight can yet be won. Nay! it must be won, or South Carolina, and all that we inherit is lost beyond recall!