The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-08-02
The New Orleans Riot.


Northern papers, could hardly fail to
convince unprejudiced minds, that
the Infamous and murderous proceed
ings in New Orleans were but the
Memphis outrages repeated. The
murdered were always negroes or
those regarded as their friends. The
blacks were armed, insolent, and
blood thirsty, but somehow or other
they never killed anybody in their
fighting, but were invariably left on
the sidewalk dead, as the result of
their lawIess conduct All this we
say is apparent from careful reading
of the reports already published The
evident desire to screen the rioters
and throw as much blame as possible
upon the negroes, was every where
manifest.
A correspondent of the New York
Times confirms the correctness of this
impression. It seems that the terri
BILE Convention, which so excited and
stirred up the chivalry, met at g.
o'clock on the Both, with only twenty
six members present. 1t at once ad-
journed to call in absentees. In the
meantime, as negro procession was
marching through the streets, some
whites attempted to take away their
flags, but were repulsed. Several pistol
shots were fired in the melee.
The Mechanics Institute, where the
Convention was in session, was after
wards besieged by a mob, of which the
city police constituted a prominent
part. As the report graphically has
it, several negroes were killed.
Dead negroes are lying on the side
walk" Gov. WELLS tried to get Gen.
BAIRD to order out the military, but
that officer was slow to act The
Times correspondent, in a third dis
patch, informs us that several arrests
of members of the Convention have
been made by the city police.
"But few negroes are being arrested as
they are being killed. The police will soon
attempt to storm the Institute building,
which the Gonventioniare yet holding w.
r. Fisk, prominent ultra Unionist men,
Der Of the Convention, has Just been ar
rested. An attempt was made to lynch
him, which the police prevented. q II is
Memphis on the Freedmen"
% Among others, Gov HAHN was
wounded and arrested by the police.
DIR. A. p. DosTI, formerly State
Treasurer, and the most prominent of
the equal rights mem in the State, was
killed by the mob, in attempting to
escape from the building in which the
Convention was held. About one
hundred negroes were killed and
wounded, and about twenty five
whites. bl
1t remains to- be seen whetherspun-
ishment is ever to follow the commits
sion of such crimes in the, Southern
States. Had not the streets of New
Orleans been cleared by the military
at last, it is questionable whether any
man who had made himself conspicu-
Gus as a Union man, would have been
left alive in the city, and the negroes
would have been slain by thousands
instead Of hundreds. IF these riots
are permitted to recur regularly, and
no one implicated in them is ever
brought to justice, peace and prosper
! ity will abandon the South, and it will
! become a pandemonium for the dis
! play of the most brutal passions.
In Georgia the freedmen are grant
ed no protection by the civil authori-
ties, and martial law has been pro-
claimed in some Of the counties in
consequence In Stewart County a
Judge, named ROBERT MOTION, actu-
ally killed with his own hands a freed
man who had been arrested and
bound over by the Sheriff of the
County on a warrant issued by the
Judge. MOTION was suffered to &C
unpunished by the civil authorities
The only offense of the murdered ne
gro was that he had defended hi
home against gang of robbers wht
came upon the plantation where b,
was living for the purpose of plum
dering.
TIE Union State Central Commit