Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-12-25
Too Late.

Too Late
Petitions are being circulated IN various Tor.
tions of the State, praying the Legislature 10 ue
crease the current expenses OF me government'.
gone" The people were told during the late can
Yass, the profigacy and extravaganza OF the men
in power, and the enormous taxes that would De
accumulated upon them under Radical rule, and
yet majority voted to continue these men IN
place, and virtually sanctioned their policy. Re
pentance comes too late, and, were 1t not that
the innocent are involved in the common calaml-
ty, we should say that the guilty deserve to suf-
fer.-RaLeigh Sentinel.
This is what We expected. It is what we
proclaimed through our columns and upon
the stump. But it, indeed, comes too late.
And if it be SO in the green, what will it be
in the yellow leaf The expenses of the
government have only begun. The new
machinery has just been put to work, and
our people may well cry out at the result
ted and draw full salaries until all the
appropriations are completed and the
special tares levied until they are called
upon to foot the bills for bribery and cor
ruption contracted by the present Legisla-
ture, and then they may begin to realize
something of their real situation. Petitions,
indeed They may as well bay the moon,
as to try to turn these men away from the
public treasury. They should have pro-
tested at the ballot-box, when it would
have commanded obedience, and not waste
their breath in idle appeals to men who
will laugh at their difficulties and troubles.
1t is indeed too late to petition, but too
soon to complain. The time will come
when petitions may avail, but the thieves
who are now plundering the State must be
satiated before there can be any reform.
And then, too, appeals will be more elo
quent and feeling, for relief will be more
needed, and our ability to help ourselves
less potent. Bound hand and foot to the
chariot-wheels of taxes, we can hope but
little from the malignant drivers, who our
fears and Indifference placed in power.
Our future is not promising, but wesmust
meet it with stout hearts. Our petitions,
like our sufferings in the meantime, will
only produce smiles of scorn and derision
from "our" rulers. Therefore. let US ap-
proach them not with prayers nor with
threats, but demanding justice as our right.
Let us appeal rather to the sober second
thought of the people than to heartless ad-
venturers who fatten upon our misfortunes.
The Charlotte Tragedy.
It appears now that the murder of Mr..
J. A. Gleason in Charlotte, Friday evening
last, was even more unprovoked and cold
blooded than is usually the case. The
whole affair originated from a difficulty
occurring in the street, caused by the at
tempt of negro policeman to arrest white
man. A crowd naturally gathered, and
among them Mr.. Gleason, who suffered
some violence at the hands Of negro. He
then turned upon him and the fellow ran.
For this Mr.. Gleason was afterwards arrest
ed and taken before the acting Mayor, and
while in the Office, his case undergoing in
vestigation, he was shot and killed by one
of the most vicious and violent negroes in
that section, known as Lee Dunlap.
These facts we gather from the Charlotte
Times, which paper regards it as the legit-
innate result of Radical teaching. The fol-
lowing day the negroes seemed much Ella
ted st the occurrence. A negro policeman,
named Schenck, struck Mr.. Gleason with
his baton while he was in the act of falling
when shot. The mark left on the head of
the deceased showed that the blow was a
severe one. This fellow Schenck, and two
other negroes implicated, were arrested
and confined in Jail. There is no informa-
ton of the arrest of the murderer
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