Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-02-26
FrOm the Macon (Ga.) Journal and Messenger
The Nee rO GnrriSOns.i, i

authorities. National AID state, to the eX-
treme impolicy of main taininS negro troops
for garrison duty in sucIl places. General
Grant recognized 1t, and recommended theil
removal. The friends of peace and the ful
restoration of sectional comfy T5gOleeo
when they saw his recommendation ap-
parently being carried into effect; but they
are panied beyond measure at the reaction
ary policy which is now in process Of IN
auguratiOn. .... ....
No matter upon what views negro troops
are assigned to this duty, to the ignorant
negro so employed, and to the whole race
within his influence, it has but one mean
ing. He Is armed and posted to dominate
over the white Inhabitants. The war has
reversed the position Of the races, and he
is armed and equipped with sword and
musket and glittering brass and waving
plume to carry ont tile decree of reversal
and assert the mastery of the blacks. In
this conception of his Office and his mission,
nothing can exceed the intolerance he fire.
quently displays and the contempt Of the
rights and dignity of the whites.
The Northern Radical press charge our
people with insubordination, but in our
candid judgment, the conduct Of these ne
gro troops in any Of the Northern cities,
would frequently breed riots of the most
desperate character. What may have been
the cause of the unhappy trouble at
Charleston, we are unable, at present, to
say;1but as a feeble Illustration of the force
and Justice of the remark we have made,
take the case of the colored troops now. in
Columbus. On the way to that post, ac-
cOrding to the Augusta papers, their CON
duct in that city was characterized by great
violence. They insulted the whites upon
the streets with impuDity, and broke iuto
and plundercd stores of merchants. In
Macon, where they stopped two or three
hours, they were extremely insolent. We
were told that they swept the sidewalks,
and negro man said ia squad of them, as
they passed him, were swearing that mo
damned white man should have the side
walk while, they were in, Macon" Our
witness, who ought to be good under the
negro testimony clause, was livid with
rage and Indignation at their insolence.-
He is a mulattO. . ...... ..s-
Arrived at Columbus they began their
pranks at'Once. We have published from
the Columbus papers reports of the most
unprOvOkcd insults of whites, male and fe-
male, including, a few days ago, the rob-
berry and gross insult of white lady of
much social distinction, in the streets at
monday. Their conduct, according tn the
account given, seems to have been utterly
insuppOrtable. They meet gentlemen
force them off the Sidewalk-open upon
| them voley of abuse, and when advised
to be peaceable, one Of them draws bay
onet OH the speaker and is shot. His com
rades rally and begin general retaliation
The enraged citizens prepare to fall back
upon their own manhood tor self pTOtec-
tiOn, and a general fight seems probable,
but the officers get their troops back to
| quarters aud the affair blows over. ..
The officers are not blamed by the pa
pers. On the contrary, they are compli-
mented, The fault is not in them, but in
their position. Their business and that OF
the troops is Incompatible. for while they
may seek only to maintain justice between
the races, the idea of the troops is to assert
| supremacy for their own; and they seek tO
do it in the readiest way which suggest;
| itself to their untutored intPllects. .r..,r.
Now, every sensible. white man in the
South feels that struggle between the
races for supremacy, is one of the most
hOrrid catastrOphes which can happen tC
both. 1t will not only be fatal to Southern
| prosperity for many years to come, but il
| will involve future of turbulence, inse-
curity, crime'and misery from the cOntem-
! platiOn of which every man who has his
home aud his heart in the South, shrinks
| with unUtterable dread. The sagaciOus
mind of the President Justly anticipates
| the danger of such calamity arising from
contests at the polls under a system of uni
| versal suffrage; but it seems to us every
thing which tends to excite animosity
between the races should be avoided with
equal care. ....... .-....... .--.-- .
We assert, with confidence, that no such
animOsity existed upon the part of the
whites up to the time of the suppression OF
the "rebelliOn," except in regard to those
of the black race who were arrayed in
arms against US; and it is now felt only in
relation TO those who, under arms, miscon.
ceive and misfepresent the purposes and
feelings OF the Government in asserting
! supremacy over The whites. Towards the
negroes who go about their daily business
and preserve a respectful and decent be-
| havior, the feeling is kindly-far more so
than exists in any portion of the North,
The whole assumption upon which
the Freedmen's Bureau is founded,
that the people of the South, if left tC
themselves, would impose upon and OPP
press the blacks, and therefore the special
intervention of third party is necessary
| for their protection, Is a grOuRdleSS assump-
tiOn; and both races would do far better il
| left to the Opera alton of local laws and gen.
eral principles to harmonic their Interests
| and establish and govern their mutual rela-
| tions and intercourse. But surely. if out.
| side intervention be necessary, Northern
| white officers and Northern white soldiers
may be safely entrusted to secure Justice tC
the emancipated blacks. Their substantial
| impartialty should not be called in ques
| tion--by even the Northern radicals. There
is no necessity to set on foo. by means OF
negro champions of negro supremacy 9
counter struggle in the white population
and thus keep up counterbalance by the
mutual assaults of angry and opposing
| forces. -t....E 80, r.l e-,flT. ~.
| The Legislature of Georgia, now in ses-
sion, has memorialized the President tC
withdraw all the military forces of the
| United States. now within our borders, but
we hope they will make a special and earn
est appeal that the negro troops, particu.
| larly, may be withdrawn, and, If necessary
their places filled with whites. Let the
Legislature send committee to represent
| the facts to the President, or Instruct the
Governor to correspond with the President
onthe subject. s ID 8le3 Jadp
Every days delay. increases public dan
/ ger-as 1t were, poises the peace of every
community on the precarious cbntingen.
cies ofthe good behavior of armedhegroes
bent upon showing the whites how far an
armed nigger is better than white man
and the forbearance of hot-hralued young
men. trained to resent uDprOyoked inso-
lence from any source, and especially sensi.
! tive to 1t from the mouth or hands of a ne.
gro. llE'''9Hoi q IlHH10of 4 10 NsG 5i,1
4 1t is impossible to foresee the extent and
/ disastrous CONSEQUENCES of Quarrels thus