Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1866-01-11

as oppressed white men whould manifest under
like circumstances, their guilty conscience led
them to anticipate bloody retribution for the un-
provoked wrongs they had inflicted upon those
helpless people. We refer to the brutes who have
driven the frecmen from their humble homes,
which they have earned, many times over, by the
unpaid toll Of years. but from which they were
heartlessly elected because the Government Of the
Usited States declared them free. To that other
cVhss of like brutality, who have formed combin,-
tions to reduce the pay Of labor to q point SO low
that the laborers could not subsst it, and refuse
10 employ willing hands, even at starvation prices,
without the written consent Of their former mas
ter, or last employer which might be Withheld at
pleasure. And to that other class OF nuisances,
the white loafers who hang around grog shops, too
lazy TO work, vicious in disposition and pauperizec
in purse; who make q pastme OF numbering ne
groes, and 60 unwhipt Of justice. except as they
fall into the clutches of the officers Of the Freed
mems Bureau.
A few weeks ago We had accounts ola negro in
surrection in northern Mississippi but when the
facts became known it appeared that squad OF
militia had been detailed to rob the negroes oil
their pistols and guns; some of which belonged %
discharged soldiers who had paid the Gov
ernment for the very arms thus lawlessly taken
from them. No resistance was offered, but a ne.
gro man who wa, hunting squirrels in the woods
was shot down by the valiant militia from whom
he fled. This was the extent of the in,urrection
There is no danger Of difficulties with the negroes
if they receive treatment from the whitesha is at
all ehdurable; but unless the good and fair minded
of the South restrain the reckless despersdoes
who look upon killing negroes as an amusement,
the time may come when outraged humanity will
avenge its wrongs in blood. In a recent interview
with veteran officer who has been two years or
more in the South. he informed us that he had
converscd with a Union General lately stationed
In Georgia, who expresses the opinion that the
outrages inflicted upon the freedmen OF that State
would. if not soon checked, inevitably result in a
wrr Of races. However such contest might ter
inmate, the South would be ruined, and the entire
country would suffer. The treatment ofthe freed.
men is. therefore, question Of national interes
and Importance, and. il necessary, must be regu-
lated by national authority. If self interest and
the dictates of humanity not strong enough in
centyes to the white people OF the South to insure
protection of person and property to the enfran-
chised blacks, the Government Of the United
States must exert its power to save them from the
consequence, of their own follics, and the blacks
from oppression, until such time reason, not
passion shall be the guide of the white race of the
South in the treatment of the late slaves.
Touching the stories OF contemplated negro in.
surrections and le obligations of the South to the
colorcd people, We copy the following just and
temperate remarks Of the Nashville Press:
but lnls question mas anOtner aspect, anu MS IL
concerns so many millions of the people of the
South, We will briefly touch upon it. 1t should be
remembered that these tales of nsurrectiOn come
up from States where white men have had meet
inss and tried to compel freedmen to work for fix
ed and mcager wages; SO very meager, indeed ths,
il would be impossible for the laborer TO save 4
single cent, BY the most rigid economy; fro m
States whose citizens have plsdged themselves to
refuse to suffer the freedmen 10 buy homes OF their
| own; where they have tried to force them into
grancy, and then punished them for vagabondism
We assert, without fear of contradiction, that, il
the German, or Irish, or English aborers were so
oppressed and sligmaized, in any State where they
exist in half the number of the freedmen OF any
Southern State, there would be q white revolt in a
very short time. The forbearance and patience o!
the freedmen, and their disposition to wait for ul
innate justice from the laws, are as admirable as
they are praiseworthy. They fully merit the
glowing eulogv pronounced upon them by Cover
nor Jenkins of Georgia. We greatly need their
labor, and it is 20 interest and security, well
TO theirs, to take from them all pretext for com
plaint by treating them fairly and justly. But
some will say that the South is under no obiga
| tion to take care of the freedmen, since theil
emancipation. We answer that they have work ed
for us two centuries without compensation, and we
are bound by every consideration of gratitude to
treat them justly, since they have been set free
Tie United States is under no more obligation to
feed and clothe freedmen than it is to feed and
ciothe the poor of Massachusetts,. The best secu-
rity State have against isurrection and scdl-
ton is justice, justice JUSTICE. This is the strong
pillar which will securely uphold tho fabric of gov
crnmcnt, and make iDsurrsction impossible.