Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-05-27

E
are in the South large number of
men who are doing all they possibly
can to bring upon the people the
horrors of military rule. They
scrupIe at propagating no report,
however monstrous The lie may be.
They do this under cover of respon-
sibiIity, for tho names of these vile
traducers are seldom made known.
But . noted exception has occurred.
For some time past an extraordi-
nary effort has been made TO Sc
cure Federal interference in Geor-
gia, and Gen. Grant and the Secre-
tary of War have been impertuned
to declare martial law in that State:
Correspondents of Radical newspa-
pers have represented that perfect
reign of terror existed in Georgia,
and that annihilation of the So
called Union men there seemed but
question Of time, if the gov
eminent did not interfere to
save their lives. The re-
ports of nameless individuals
and extracts from private letters
have been freely published to sub
stantiate these representations as to
the condition of Georgia. The
other day the Washington ChrOni-
Gle published a letter addressed to
Senator Sumner which conveyed
to that gentleman intelligence of SO
startling a character that he was
induced thus to make 1T public to
show the absolute necessity for mill
tary interference to protect the
Union men of Georgia from "Rebel
hate and malice" That letter was
from one Edwin Belcher, a negro,
recently appointed internal revenue
assessor for the Augusta ga dis
trict, and contained under date of
May IA, the following distinct state
4 ments:
1.-THE work of death continues in Geor>
4 gia. Since my last letter two more coli
ored men have fallen victims of Rebel
hate and treachery. A colored man that
knew the cowardly villain that killed
Senator Adkins was iRdiscreet enough
| to state that he knew the party, and ne
paid for it with his life last Tuesday
night, at Thompson, in Columbia county,
about thirty-seven miles from this city,
on the Georgia railroad.
"The other man, an expelled member
Of the Legislature by the name of AL
exander Stone, was killed at his home in
Jefferson county, where old man Benja-
min Aver was killed few weeks ago. l
have this from undoubted authority, and
yet we are told that Georgia is legally
reconstructed, and all is quiet from the
mountains to the sea-
j "If there is God in Israel, His yen-
geance cannot sleep forever. The blood
of men who were slaiR for no other
cause than that they were trying to eles
Fate a poor degraded race out of the
dark abyss in which an inhuman seryi-
tude had left them, cry out to the nation
for protection to the living Every
murder is saddled upon some poor igno.
rant eolored man. III
Congress does not interfere IN our behalf
every loyal man in Georgia that can get
away will become an exile.
What are we to do2 1 have no fears
about myself, but it is terrible in the
country"
| Itnow appears the author of this
letter never intended it should see
light, for Immediately upon its pub
LEGATION he addressed a note to the
| Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel,
published in that paper of the 23d
inst, Gin which he says:
| any attention has been called to a
private letter written by myself to Sena,
tor Sumner, and published in the WASH
ington Chronicle of May 18th. The LETT
ter was not intended for publication, but
believed the statements to be true
when it was written. have learned
since writing the letter that ] was mis-
Informed, and, believe willfuIly imposed
upon by certain persons In this city who
| knew that | sometimes correspondent with
Mr.. Sumner believed that Mr.. Stone
and the other party mentioned had been
killed, and incensed at the account of the
murder of these men, whom | supposed
had been killed for political reasons, !
wrote as did. i have been informed
to-day, by responsible gentleman, that
both Mr.. Stone and the Other person men,
toned are now alive"
| Belcher expresses "regret that
the letter was published but he
admits that both his representations
about the murdered negroes were
false, and attempts to excuse him
self on the ground that he was de-
ceived, willfully imposed upon, but
he does not expose the men who
thus sought TO bring trouble on
Georgia. In his letter to Sumner
he makes the charge direct and
positive for the murder of the two
negro men, knowing that his state
ment would be taken as the truth
and used against the white people
of that State. He further attempts
to excuse himself by saying that he
did not intend his letter for pubh-
cation. Still the object of the letter
was to excite the public mind
against the South in order that
the Federal government might
be induced to make further
aggressions upon the people.
Belcher and those villains who in
stigated him to write intended by
that letter to do harm. But they
were too precise in fixing and To-
eating the pretended outrages.
They have overleaped themselves,