The weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1869-18??, 1870-04-27

nOIt OfeI tut rotomdC auu .OnAu Iifefb,
then tho hour for the now revolution sh all
have tolled its voice upon the bell OF
Time, and the fair structure of American
liberty will totter, reel and fall. We do not
exaggerate the picture. It was not over
drawn in 1860; and if there was no tongue
who couldtell the story Of future events 1t
that hour. there is none now 50 gifted with
the peesy Of prophecy to portray in all its
width and depth the coming scenes Of the
next decade Of American life. It may be
an era of peace, but the result is barely !
probably, If not an eraiof war it will be
the time wherein the seed of the dragon's |
teeth shall be planted; and we who are now
young, in grey hairs shall reap the result Of |
the harvest. fsyg Yrem aai,5dsesmss
senator Morton,s Speech--The Kuklux |
~ ,r Murders in the South. 81 81.
% We are gratifed to observe that Senator
Morton, Of Indiana, has raised his powerful |
voice in the Senate Of the United States, in
behalf of the Union people of the South and
in favor of such action by the General Cow
eminent as will ensure law, order and peace
in the reconstructed States. Senator Nor.
ton spoke on the 18th inst, He exposed,
in the first place, the Northern Democracy,
for their declarations, repeatedly made, that /
the reconstruction acts have led to military
dspotism and negro supremacy;n and, show
ed that this socalled Democracy, which pro-
fsssest 10 be nationaI;;and friendly to the gov
eminent is responsible for many outragcs' in
the South by the countenance it has given
ITO secret and reasonable organizations. esr,
pecraIly the Kuklux. Speaking Of the Ku-i
klux in the South he truly says ;: ~, sat
Throughout the Southern States tile Or
| ganized conspiracy existed for the purpose
Of breaking, down the Republican party by
| violence, by creating 8 reign of. terror that
shall compel Union men either to abandon
their principles or fly the country or pur-
consisted of the very dregs of the war and
was destined, if not abated, to corrupt the
whole moral atmosphere of the South. All
Democrats there might not be Kukluxes,
but all Kukluxes were Democrats it was an
organization inside the Democratic party in
| the South. 1ss 10 =
"In Tennessee the order was shown to
have been in full force in 1868, according to
the report of a committee of the Legislature
of that State, their assumption being that
the State government was illegal and un-
authorized, and that they had right to
overthrow it. Gov. Senter's recent applica-
ton to the President and his presence before
the House Reconstruction Committee proved
that affairs in Tennessee were daily growing
worse. The numbers of Kuklux there were
represented at 10000, and a reign of terror
existed in every part of the State, preventing
the possibility of free election.
"He then reviewed the outrages and lists
of political murders in Kentucky, Louisiana,
Texas, North Carolina, and other States, as
shown by the Freedmen's Bureau report and
the report of the House Reconstruction Com
mittee upon the testimony before them. In
Kentucky the prescription OF Union men
was shown to be universal, with 327 outrages
in short time, twenty seven of which were
murders. In Louisiana, within sixty days
before the last Presidential election, $50 po-
litical murders were committed, and there
was good reason to believe that the whole
number of murders would amount to from
$500 to 5000. Concerning Texas, he (Mr.
Morton) had the evidence of one of the
Senators from that State (Mr Hamilton)
that since the war there had been more than
5000 murders in that State. These facts
showed the Democracy to be Robespierre
Democracy-that they were fast coming to
propagate their faith, like Mahomet with the
sword, by bowie.knife and pistol, their plan
being to destroy the Union majority in the
4 South by "a reign of terror which would deter
men from going to the polls for fear Of their
4 lives or the loss Of their property. These
Kuklux entered the jury box, and were ever
Il present among the witnesses in every case
After detailing individual instances of per
secution of loyal men, mentioning the names
3 in each case, and reviewing affairs ID Ala
bama, where similar violence and outrage
had been eommitted,) Mr. Morton came to
the case Of Georgia. He showed that there
were 1856 murders in Georgia from April to
November l., 1868, and nearly all of them
after July A, 1S6S-another item to the credit
\ of the Democratic National Convention.
He then quoted from General TerTy's re
! | port, on August o, 1869, asserting that II
, many parts of the State there was practically
no government, that murders were and hac
been frequent detailing numerous instance
. of the existence of insurrectionary organiza
ton and their widespread influence, which
n pervaded all branches of society and all pub
| lie departments While Bullock's majorit,
, for Governor was 1000, the majority TO
Il Seymour-seven months later-was 46, 1000
Il making change of $1,000 votes. Tha
; change was not the result of a change IL
= public opinion, but was the direct result 0
that system of public terror which had beel
| inaugurated. This was established by tn
respective totals of votes for the Opposing
candidates in different counties, in one entir
+ county not single vote being cast for Gen
Grant. The remedy for all this was Law
of Congress authorizing the President of tn
United States to enter into and extend tt
the people of State all requisite protection
The authority should be so regulated as Il
require the President to act where dsloya
Governor refused to call upon him. Their
must be some protection for the Ives of loyd
: men in the rebel States !"
This is, indeed, bloody record for Texas
Tennessee aud Georgia In these State
not less than Jfue thousand peaceable cit
zens have been murdered by the Kuklrx
How many have been whipped and mutila
: ted how many churches and school house
: have been burned-how many citizens hav
:, been driven from their homes to seek peac
and safety in strange lands, does not appear
; If five thousand Republicans have thu
been murdered, it is safe to assume that no
less than twenty thousand have been whip
ped and driven from their homes. 1t is no
so bad in North Carolina as it is in tn
States we have mentioned, but we have nj
hesitation in saying that not less than .fftl
loyal persons have been murdered, and no
less than .tfpe hundred have been whipped
and otherwise outraged in North Carolina
since the passage of the reconstruction acts
Gov. Morton concluded his speech a
follows:
aThe time for action has come. There
! smell of blood in the air; it is sprinklet
, all along upon the pathway through whicl
| we are marching. The commission of on
|, murder BY a secret organization will terrif
! whole county. When men go to bed q
, night apprehensiye that before morning
+ they will be aroused by the smell of fire 9
/ summoned to the door by the hoarse voic
J, of the Kuklux Khan, all resistance and en-
!. durance give way-the father trembles 70
his family !; be must either surrender hi
!, principles or leave his property and fly to
, more hospitable cline No one has bee
!, punished-rlot one Not one for treason
, not one for murder, not one for all the name
! less crimes committed by the rebellion no
e one punished yet When before was sue
| weakness ever shown as we, have shown p
/ Mercy to the criminal has been cruelty an,
death to the;innocent. fthere is upon thi
Congress, one duty more sacred and solem
4 than another it is, sir, the duty Of protectiu