Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-05-22
UNION AND AMERICAN.
Q. aEIFFITT :. co.. PROPRIETOR
THE sOUTH.
Prevalence OF E.aw and Order-Testi-
mOnlaIs ola northern Journal.
.

"loyalists. One of the expelled
Georgia Legislators was asked
whether he considered his life safe
an that State, and he responded that
no mans life, who stands on the
loyal side, is safe in Georgia outside
Of the large cities. The question
wB presented in other forms, and
always with a omewhat similar re-
suit; the evident aim being TO pro
, duce an impression that Ku-Klux
and Rebels sill dominate in the
South, and that the staunch Repub-
lean, white or black, is all the time
in jeopardy. Mr. Wendell Phillips
likened the white Southerner to
1.-The bull dog that, having been
taught for twenty years TO spring
at every passer by, could moi change
his natare in a day." The ladies
were equally ferocious; colored
MFRS. Harper declaring that ''there
~ no civilized country in the world
where there has been so much muir
dering as has been going on re
Gently at the South" For the OBJ
ject of these representation We
have not far to seek. A case against
Georgia and the unreconstructed
StateSis desired as an eXcuse for
harsh action, and the story of muir
der fog political causes is the best
that can be concocted for the pur-
pose.
We are more than skeptical on
this subject. We do not believe
these tales of wholesale murder and
oppression, nor do we give credenee
to the allegations that ''loyalists"
are Systematically prosecuted and
hunted down. There was a time,
undoubtedly, when in some local
tiles hostile spirit ran high, and
whoa the assertion of Republican
opinion involved more or less peril
but trustworthy evidence seems-to
show that this state of things no
longer exists. So far as VIC can
Judge, life and property are quite as
secure at the South as at the North.
Taking Population into account, we
are convinced that the percentage
of crime is no greater anywhere in
the South, and certainly not in
Georgis, than i'll the North or West.
For every murder committed there
we will undertake to find a murder
here. For every outrage that admits
of verification in Georgia, we will
trace parallel outrage in Indiana
or New York Nay, we are per-
suaded that, all things considered,
there is less crime in Virginia, in
South Carolina, in Alabama, and
even in Georgia, than in this State
or in any other part of the North.
This city could easily supply a
chapter Of horrors, of recent date,
which, by a parity of reasoning,
Southern observers might cite as
proofs of savagery and demoraliz-
alton. Such an application of facts
would be unwarranted, but it weuld
he not less Legitimate than the en-
deavor of the anti-slavery society
fanatics TO arraign the whole South
for the acts of its criminal class. 1t
is absurd TO look for a greater aver
age of virtue, or greater immunity
from crime there than we are con-
tending with here. What Georgia
and its neighbors may fairly plead
is, that in respect of offences against
person and property, they have
nothing TO fear from comparison
with Massachusetts or Michigan.
Aud this is all We are entitled to
expect. -..
But, we are told, the Sol tE=a0es
not welcome loud-tongued loyalists
as cordially as they think they
should be welcomed. Mr.. Forney,
who has been spying out the naked>
ness of the land in company with Q
party like unto himself, publicly
complains that they went about
without being worshiped. He does
not allege that they were insulted
He does not pretend that they had
any apprehension as TO their per-
sonal safety. He does not deny
that homes await all who seek then
with a decent respect for the feel
ings and opinions Of the present
population. But he objects thai
athe entire South did not take hin
and his friends at their own valua
ton, and that it receives cOldll
- those who go there as professional
politicians, or who insist, when set
Iling, that they shall be esteemed
as the only loyal, the only right
eous, members of the community
s. These objections and complaint
are very foolish. In the first place
Southern citizens have as goo
a right as Northern citizens t
choose their company and friends
and may as properly discriminate il
their welcome to newcomers. i
the next place, the men who g
South expecting to make bushes
of politics, and who denounc
every one who refuse to vote thei
ticket, are a nuisance in any Local
ity, and are not entitled anywher
to courtesy or consideration.
The South should be Judged, nc
by its feeling toward demagogue
and adventures, but by its trea
ment of strangers of any n&tionalit
who go there in good faith, pr
pared to settle down and becom
useful citizens. In regard to tn
class we see no reason to doubt tn:
they are gladly received, or tn:
they share the protection of GOO
laws, administered impartially an
effectively. There may be exec
Sional localities, but so there are
= the West, Indeed, the condition
welcome in Virginia or Georgia {
not essentially differ from tho
which obtain in Kansas or MINI
sofa. And the supremacy Of Ia
and order is, as a rule, rs well 4
sured in the one case as in the othC
On the 3lst Of this month the Iri
Church disestablishment bill comes
L. Zeal action in tho Hnuoo of 10,