Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-05-24

making progress through the Soutb
speaking at various places with all the free
dom of q Radical zealot; but nowhere else
have there been the slightest symptoms OF
disturbance. Senator Wilson, another free
spokerf Republican who has said many Gis-
| tasteful things, is on his second stumpipc
tour in the South, and in all the numerou%
meetings he has addressed he has met w;sb
treatment as attentive and respectful as no
received last autumn during the political
canvass in Maine. Horace Greeley AMI
Gerritt Smith, two lifelong and most M.
ted abolitionists, made speeches in RirL.
mond on Sunday evening, and were lis
tened to with cordial good feeling by whites
as we'll as blacks. 1t is manifest, therefore
that Judge kelleys reception at Mobile
was exceptional an exception to the treat
ment bestowed on other speakers of the
same party, and an exception to that re.
ceived by Judge Kelley himself until he
reached the EXTREMIST Southern city on the
Gulf.
As the treatment received by Judge Kel-
ley at Mobile was peculiar and exceptional
it is natural to inquire whether his bearing
and language were not exceptional also
1t is not customary with the American peo-
pie, i'll any part of the country, to listen TO
political speeches with the same quiet de
corum which they observe i'll their church
| eS III respect to sermons. They applaud
they hiss, they ask questions, they utter
| calculations of scOrn, contempt, dissent
| irony, appreciation, mirth, or Appreciation
! just as the humor takes them /; and with
skillful speakers who can command their
| temper, much of the life and interest OF
! such meetings is made to consist IN the
adroit turn given to such interruptions
! Not even the President Of the United States
was protected by the dignity Of his Office
from interruptions of the same kind in his
noted tour last year in the free North, which
| his enemies called in derisiOn swinging
round the circle" Nobody can have forgot
ten the offensive rudeness which he eDcoun-
tered at Cleveland and otherplacGs, although
on one occasion, heseemed, for II moment, to
lose his temper, he was hurried no farther by
his feelings than TO handy words with the
! diSturbcT; COndeScanslOn which some
thought undgniiied, bnt which WAS cry
tainly in far better taste than the insolen
threats INDUCED in by Judge Kelley ut No
bile Although the prOvOcation was much
greater, nobody would have thought the
President justified III threatening his audi
tors with military vengeance II they refused
to hear him. He was sometimes, like judge
Kelley, unable to proceed with his intend
ed remarks; but nobody affected to consld
er it as an evidence that free speech is not
tolerated in the North. The Radicals did
not like his remarks, and they drowned
his voice in confusion; but if he had been
foolish and insOlent enough to threaten
to bring the whole Army of the United
States to compel them to listen, he would
doubtless have stirred up as much Ola riot
as Judge Kelley did at Mobile. Up 10 the
moment Of Mr.. Kelleys passionate threat,
nothing occurred but what is usual in pD-
litical meetings everywhere when there is
"a CT into iV4J1 IF IiecantiBC, yI,,'i-
tors. Even in England celebrated as the
country of free speech, Henry Ward Beech
er encountered q storm Of hostile tunult at
the beginning of his speeches; but his
practiccd deXterity enabled him to humor
his audiences and get the control of them,
as he would easily have done at Mobile
had he stood in Judge Kelleys place. We
therefore conclude that Judge Kelley Is
more chargeable with blame than anybody
else for the Mobile riot.
We are in favor OF the widest latitude OF
free speech in the South, in the North and
everywhere. But let the utterance of opiu-
ion be alike free to all II is not freedom
but intolerance for the military authority
to be used, as it is by the reconstruction
sat1aps, to warn and suppress dissenting
newspapers while bitter Radicals like
,, Judge Kelley boast that the Army will back
, them in every insOlent and insulting strain
of remark their envenOmed breath can Mt
ter. Nor is it consistent with freedom 10
suppress such manifestations of the feeling
and temper of political audiences as pre-
vail in all countries where political discus
sion is tolerated, and is constantly eXhib-
tied even in the British Parliament.
We have no doubt that the speeches OF
Wilson and Kelley, and the attempts that
are making to array the black population
of the South in political hostility to Tn"
whites, are unfortunate and mischieyou,,
although the sacred right of free speech
requires that they should be tolerated..
The incipient negro riots in Richmond at
! the close of the last week are their natural
fruit. Let it be borne in mind that it is TO
prevent greater outbreaks of negro violence
! that troops are encamped permanently
= within the city; that it was the negroS that
: Judge Underwood found it necessary t.
= warn, on Sunday, that, If they carried ont
their projected riot the next day. cannon
would be planted to sweep the streets ; that
it was the negro Mounted Guards that Gen
eral Schofield disbanded on Monday, g.
dangerous to the public peace. The fac
that the negroes came armed to the NIObi
meeting, is of q similar color Such Dc
monstrations betoken consequences of the
Radical agitation which every patriot,
which every friend of the South, and every
well-wisher of the negro race, should most
sincerely deprecate and depiore.
SEEDING have received the folio ring letter
informing our citizens that General ESTES is in
receipt of quantity Of vegetable seed for disIi-
button. We hope many will avail themselves %
this opt ortuGity to secure them:
, | COLLECTORS OFFICE, UNITED STATES INrEESALI
REVENUE, ID DISTRICT, NORTH CAROLINA,
Wilmington, May 22d, 1867.
Editors Journal:
Sirs Il have the honor to inform you that tie