Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1866-11-08
Northern Men in the
South.

journals to exasperate the North
ern mind against the South are
but too successful. 1t is the east
est thing in the world for lying
Bohemian, paid to villify, to send
off the most absurd and slanderous
stories, say from Nashville, as has
very often been done, and North
ern papers will print them under
head lines, and Radical
readers devour them as gospel
truths. 1t is not SO easy, howev-
er, to establish the real truth, and
counteract the pernicious ISLANDERS
of these hireling pennyaliners. So
glaringly false and unjust have
these Radical stories become of
late, that a number of Northern
men, living in Mississippi, have
come out in a formal card address
ed to the New York Evening
Post, emphatically denying, as far
as they are concerned, any injus-
tice from their Southern neighbor-
hoods. The document is so much
to the point, that we give it in
full, with the names attached
Here it is:
awe, the undersigned, North
ern men and new settlers, have
bought and leased plantations in
the county of Madison, Mlssissip-
pi, since the close Of the war, en-
ploying freedmen, and tilling our
ground with their work. We
have noticed many letters in the
Northern papers, which, SO far as
our locality is concerned, we con-
slider defamatory, exaggerated, and
uncalled for; and, should we re-
main silent to misapprehensions of
our locality and its old citizens, it
would be unjust to those who have
received US Hospitality and treated
us with civility.
"In our neighborhoods are ma
ny who have suffered losses of
mules and horses-among them
some of the undersigned. But
old residents have suffered from
such losses more severely than
new settlers; thus proving that
mule thieves viii steal mules, no
matter where found. With our
neighbors we have had no Difficult
ties, and none but satisfactory bu-
siness relations.
'"Fhe freedmen work for whom
they please to contract with, in
the same manner as farm labor
ers at the North; in numerous in
stances are employed by Northern
men who are their old masters
nearest neighbors. We think cur
lives and property as safe as those
of old residents; that we can OBJ
tain justice in the courts, if OBJ
liged to take that course: and that
new corners can feel as safe here
as in any spaTsely settled agricul-
tural community of our Western
States.
"Signed by Col. J. Bingham, of
St. Louis, formerly First Pennsyl-
vania cavalry; Frederick A. Bill
ings, Jr., formerly of Worcester,
Mass; f. B. Pratt, formerly Of
Worcester, Mass; L. B. Smith,
formerly of Grafton, Mass. Jno.
Humphreys, formerly of England;
Arthur Mathewson, late Surgeon
United States navy; George Lyons,
formerly of Ireland; J. B. Rich
ardson, formerly of Boston, Mass;
r. J. Ross, late Captain .. S. Vol
unteers, formerly West Pennsyl-
vania; G. III. Smith, late of Trum-
bull county, Ohio; FL. K. Austin,
late of Borden, New Jersey;
Chauucey Tyler, late of Connect
icut; Mark Prime, late Assistant
Quartermaster United States Vol
unteers, Maine; J. W. Deering,
late CT Maine"
The difference between the
signers of this letter and the wan
dering Arabs who represent the
Northern press in the South, is
just the difference between men
who know whereof they affirm,
and fellows who manufacture
events to suit their employers
who are, in short, paid for lying.
There are doubtless occasional ca