Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-05-31
THE WILMINGTON JOURNAL
Disturbances in the South.

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Of view shout the disturbances that have occur
red in the South and the politicians have tried to
make political capital out OF them we near
much more, however, about rlots ana olstur zee
Inv the white people than about negro riots anc
outrages The white man Is condemned IN the
ercest style, the negro treated tend2rlE ana apol
ogetically. Yesterday we published an account
of barbarous attack on and ROBBERY or FAMILY
near Beaufort North Carolina, by q band OF negro
desperadoes. Every few days We receive accounts
of similar or other outrages IN different parts OF
the ESouth by the blacks :; but no further notice
is taken of them than of the murders and robbie
ries daily occurring at the North. If any OF these
ordinary incidents OF crime, which occur every
where are the work of white men, the9 tney are
made the subject of denunciatIon and pohtlcal
agitation. The wonder is, not that there are us
furbances in the South, but that there are so feW
Tookinc at the dreadful ordeal that section of the
country has passed through, at the complete dis
rntiOn Of the old order OF things, and at the con-
seduent social and political decentralization there,
we are really surprised at the general order and
general good conduct of the people OF both races.
1t is unjust to condemn one race more than an
other for the crimes and especially Is 1t I'M
Just to make these exceptional cases, which occur
in the North, as well as in the South, the ground
-'- 0'l'' '''-'l-9 New York Herald
We have had occasion before to remark
that without exception nj the respectable
organs of the Radicals at the North, with
all their TRADE against rebels and their
abuse OF " rebel papers" when laying
aside their party bitterness and forgetting
their sectional prejudice, have always given
opinions in unison with the respectable
papers of the South upon the effect, If not
the cause, of present national political
troubles. The He7al}, from which we quote
the above sensible and true paragraph, was
one of the leaders in The Vindlctlve abuse
heaped upon Southern whites last year, in
order to influence the elections then pend
ing. No paper did more to bring upon
the South the present condition OF affairs,
the natural and legitimate result Of the re-
cent Neutrality-suspicious. excused and
justified by that and other papers by max
ing any ordinary incident of crime, which
occurs everywhere, if white men were truly
or falsely charged Herewith, the "sublect
of denunciation and political agitation. -
Fol party purposes every ordinary trans
action was magnified into q riot isolated
incidents were heralded rs the prevailing
conduct of whole districts the ordinary
frailties of ar7aite human nature were distor-
exploits of black murderers and thieves
excused or modified into peculiar eccen-
tricities Of the race: the white man was
condemned in the fiercest style, the negro
treated tenderly and alphabetically"
Now, that all these misrepresentation
have brought about the present deplorable
condition of affairs, fearing the certain and
quick ruin Of the country, these very jour
nails stop their terrible noise or " aggravate
their voices so, that they roar you rs gently
rs any sucking dove" They now begin to
admit that the Southern qrhHeS are not so
black: Us they have been painted, and rice
reTSu: or if unwilling to go so far in their
admissions, certain irregularity Of conduct
and extraordinary decentralization in this
section is to he expected, possibly excused,
in view of the dreadful ordeal through
which we have passed, Of the complete dis
ruption of the old order of things, and of
the social and political revolution which
has taken place.
This is true of the more respectable or
gans only Of the party; those who really
take an honest interest in the welfare of the
country, and are not mOrtgaged, body and
soul, for the success of the party. There are
papers, even in North Carolina, that see
nothing to be deplored in the Richmond
riots, but are terribly alarmed for the peace
and quiet of the country, on account of the
wonderful leniency of General SwAYNE and
Col SHEPHERD in their management of the
''rebel riot at Mobile; that invoke the wrath
of Congressupon State governments because
Regulators" are permitted to roam at
large, but do not even publish as matter
of news, The outra9es committed by organ
lied bands of cred Strings" in the West
or negroes in the East.
1t is matter for regret that IN many
portions of the South, rs one Of the many
legacies of the war, there exist bands of
desperadoes, white and black, Federal and
Confederate, who defy all laws, civil and
military, and by indiscriminate plumber,
often by violence and murder, prove ter
TOR to the peaceful and industrious citizens,
numbers of whom, of both sexes and races,
have become victims of their crimes. We
have yet to learn, however, of the first or
ganized body of whites, whose purpose is
to make war upon blacks, or CT the exis-
tence of any political organization of per,
sons, who were formerly Confederate sol
diers, to punish or iniure others who may
have differed from them in the past. But
on the contrary, we have heard of bands
of "loyalists" who have defed all laws
and have sought and are visiting upon for,
mer Confederates all the terrors of Lynch
law.
When it is considered what an ordeal this
Southern country has passed through the
great political revolution which has made
former slaves citizens the poverty of the
present and the unpromising uncertainties
of the future, the general good conduct of
our people is truly surprising, and there is
not an honest, intelligent man, North or
South, who will not acknowledge it. 1t
may be well enough for politicians, whose
waning fortunes warned them to risk all on