ish the validity of the facts upon which the
proposed bill was founded. Little difficulty, indeed, was experienced
in bringing forward convincing evidence. There were presented before
the House numerous editorials from Southern newspapers showing the
animus of the enemies of the Negro; the report of the partisan
committees of Charleston in 1868; communications appearing in the
Newberry, South Carolina, _Herald_ of July 17 in 1868; the Ku Klux
Klan order appearing in the Charleston _News_ of January 31, 1871; and
the printed allegements of leading unreconstructed Southerners, all of
which tended to indicate to what extent violence had superseded law,
and exactly how unsafe were the lives and property of the loyal people
of the South. Elliott quite properly affirmed, therefore, the urgent
need for the passage of the bill as a measure of relief and protection
to those in the South, whose liberties had been assailed.

On the political conditions in the South during the decline of the
Reconstruction regime many Congressmen spoke with seeming authority.
Two speeches of note on Southern conditions were made, during the
Forty-second Congress, by Robert Brown Elliott. On May 30, 1872, he
addressed the House on the subject of the Ku Klux Klan. In this
speech, he exposed the whole scheme of domination by violence as
effected by that element of the Southern whites who would either
"rule[71] or ruin the governments of the several States." The second
speech followed remarks by Voorhees, of Indiana, on the misconduct in
financial matters of the administration of South Carolina. Replying to
the specific charge that his party had been guilty of an over-issue of
bonds, Elliott reviewed briefly the financial history of his State for
the period in question and, in conclusion, pointed out, first, that
"in a legal sense an over-issue of bonds is an issue made in excess of
such issue authorized by law," and second, that no act of the General
Assembly of South Carolina had limited the extent of bonds to be
issued in that State.[72]

An unceasing interest in the political conditions of the South was
manifested by John R. Lynch of Mississippi throughout his three terms
in Congress. He was quite active in proposing legislation relating to
the Southern judicial districts of Mississippi, and he offered also an
amendment to the federal election laws.[73] Remarks made by him
comprehended discussions of such subjects as the political affairs of
the