American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1866-08-08

ueT tne ihhueuce Vi thelr iIicnus, Hau
been broken up, the houses burned, and
in som instances the teachers murdered.
And all this without word of remon-
STRANGE from their "Moses" in the White
House Mutual suffering created mutu-
al sy mpathies and interests. Thus it
was that the best feelings prevailed be-
tween the loyal whites and blacks, who
compose clear majority of the people OF
the State. Twenty thousand, too, of
latter had served in the Union
army. Here was a clear majority of the
people Of the State, all loyal to the gov
ernment, without any influence in its
mauageme ut, while a small IN nority of
the people, who having failed in an effort
to dc stroy it. was nov, under 'my policy"
al lowed to control its destiny, to the in
jury, if not expatriation of oil who had
opposed their reasonable purposes =
How TO change this order of things
was, doubtless, the great problem
to be solved, aud as step in this direc.
tion, it was suggested that the constitu.
tlonal convention Of "a reassemble Ac.
cordingly Gov. Welles was asked to is.
sue a writ of election in districts where
vacancies had occurred, which he did,
and the co invention was called to meet on
the Both Of june ult.1,
As soon as the rebels discovered that
this course was being taken, they appeal
ell to the President, and strange to say,
he at once cspouses their cause by wri-
ting to Gov. Wclles to inquire, by what
authority and for what purpose the con.
eention of '64 were assembling. How
the President can justify this wanton in.
terferance in the affairs Of "Sovereign
! State" we are at loss TO know. He has
always assumed that these rebel States
are as much sovereign as Pennsylvania,
or New York in short, this is the rock
upon which he and Congress split
In obedience to the call, the Gonven-
tion met at noon on the 30th ult. 1t
seems to have been previously determin-
ed, both by the Mayor of :hc city, and
the Judiciary, to suppress it. For this
purpose the Chief of Police had sworn in
quite an accession to his police force-most
of. them of the rebel army. The negroes
seem to have had a progn ostication that
something favorable to their race wa s to
come from this movement Whoth er
they expected to be admitted to their
long dormant political rights-the equal.
ization of the school fund, and the prac-
tice protection of the law, or whether
their only hopo was that, through this
movement their friend ds would, in some
way, acquire the control of the State, to
the displacement of their ene.aies, the
late re bells, We are not advised One
thing seems certain, they looked with
hope to this convention. Many of them
wore yet wearing the uniform of the ma
tion. From one to two hundred of these
with the flag, for which they had fought
50 we'll at Port Hudson, and else where,
waving over them, and with band dcs-
canting national airs marched to the
Hall, where the convention was to assem-
Bile. Soon after the convention had con
vened, possy Of Monroe's police, enter
ed the building TO arrest its members
This was resisted by these present, inclu-
ding the negroes. A promiscuous con-
hict ensued, crowds of rioters who had al
ready assembled in vorious parts of the
city, at once surrounded the building.
Clubs and firearms were freely ued,-
Several members of the convention we're
brutaly murdered Especial pains seems
to have been taken to make iure work
with those who had been most prominent
as Union men during the war. 1t is be-
lieved that scarcely an individual escaped
from the Hall Those who were not
killed out right, were taken prisoners :
From here the riot spread to different
parts of the city. No loyal man
was spared, who came in contact with
the mob led on in many instances, as in
Memphis, by the Mayors Police. About
half-past three o'clock, Gen. Baird de-
clared martial law, and soon succeeded
in restoring order. But not, alas /! un-
til some of the noblest patriots of the
city had fallen prey to rebel malice !
1t is supposed that from forty to fifty
persons fell, the victims of this most
wanton baibarity. The simple reh ersal
of this most fendish massacre is, in
in itsel f heartrending, but when to this
we add the reflection that, in the main,
it must be laid at the foot of the Presi-
dent of the United States it is Lumilia-
ting in the extreme
No act of Mr.. Buchanan, with refer
ence to the Territory of Kansas, is to be