The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1867-12-31
= From the Montgomery Gala Mail.1
Negro Outrages--Terrible Scene al
an Alabama Election.

A lady at Kingston, Alabama, ha
written an appeal to the "Christian wo
men Of the North, to use their inAuenc
to save the women of the South from tn,
terrible perils which the Radical polic1
of reconstruction is forcing upon them
Large numbers Of families in the Soutl
are left without any male head, and tn,
females have to work and toll in tht
field, and are there, as everywhere else
constantly subjected to the insults ant
outrages Of half-civilized negroes, VIII
know no law but their own lusts and de
sires. After these women have worked
in the open fields and produced their lit
tie crops, they are not unfrequently sto
len by the negroes at night She assert,
that large numbers Of the freedmen who
we're three years ago industrious ant
honest, have, under the new order Of
things, become drunkards and vagabonds
Here is an election scene which she re.
cites, which will prove instructive to cul
people in regard to the beauties of negro
elections in the South:
"We will give slight sketch Of one
scene only, among the hundreds that
Southern women have 70 encounter. Our
recent elections have been awful. Always,
heretofore, the white men have voted at
eight or ten precincts in each county; but
our military monarch ordered that al!
should vote at the Court House, thereby
in some counties, collecting together sew
eral thousand negroes, to create riots with
the whites. May God forgive US if We
judge him wrongfully, but we can see no
reason for the order. Our Court House
is situated in sparsely settled section,
only four or FIVE families in the village,
mostly women and children, more than
twenty five miles from military post
Well, the night before the election, be-
tween one and two thousand negroes com
menced coming in. All armed with guns,
pistols and bowie knives, they were yell
ing, firing guns and tearing around as if
all the demons from the lower regions
had been let loose on earth to walk to and
fro. The din continued for three days,
and we did not see a dozen white men
during the time. The military order was
for all groceries to be closed;iit was done
here, but whisky was handed out at back
windows as much as was wanted. Dur
ing the time one white man attempted to
vote; negro guard knocked him down;
ha had the spirit to fire at him; he made
his escape, and no one was hurt. But
language cannot portray the uproar Of a
thousand half-drunken negroes in purs nit,
The firing, screeching, swearing and OBJ
scene language were horrible. None that
Witnessed the scene can forget it while
life lasts. We thought then and think
yet, itlwould have been a deed of mercy
if Congress had sent old Brownlow with
his torch and turpentinc, exterminated
the women and children South, if he
would have laid our bodies beneath our
bloody soil, with our loved ones gone be-
fore. The most of US have been reduced
from afluencs to poverty; but we do not
ask aid, and are willing to toll for our
living. Our young sons work manfully
to support their aged parents, and hum
dreds of women in Alabama work daily
in the fields to support their children
Then the lazy, prewling negroes rob our
fields at night! Oh! the iron heel Of cp-
preston is truly on our necks, and life is
a curse to many at the South to-day. But
this is only the beginning of the drama.
God alone knows the sequel