The weekly standard., 1870-08-24
From Harper's Weskly.l lar
The n oTth Carolina Troubles.

l
TusnE has been in certain quarters, nota
rious for sympathy with the late rrbels and
| rebellion, such a vehement denunciatina q
| Governor HOLDEN, of North Carolina, as b
| pecuiarly malignant "satrlp.' who wak
wagpg fiendish war upon " the people d
North Carolina, that 1t Is well "a undef-
| stand the facts. Tie organization Of the Kp
| k,ux khan has been especially vigilant In that
| State, where the com parativc ssnallncss Of
the colored population promised thft h
| rigorous system ofurror and coercion would
practically annul their vote To this end the
| efforts of the Ku klux klan have been direct
| ed OF the existence and operations Of this
body there is no question. We have OUT
selves rrocivcl details Of its proccedIngs
| from the most conservative" Authority, Il
Is the natual result ofihe war. It is suck4r
from the rout OF the rebellion. 2 nnt
That tliere must be disturbances OF al
kinds in the States Of the Icbcllion thctc
was, of course, no question. That great cafe
and forbtarance would be necessary upon
the part of the civil authorities WINS evident !;
and that it was very desirable to restore the
normal condition Of society rs soon as
practicable was unqrestioDable from. the
frat, II was the duty OF Tic civil officers Of
those States to postpone appeals to miliiafy
l.inA.,leence ta the last possible moment /:
and tbs was m1sr tsrza sbsu. 10. .....,y. II
itself and upon general principles, but, for
tlic Republican party, upon partisan grounds.
For it was clear that an appeal 10 force
would iyurc the party in two ways frs',
It would suggest the sual licion that ii was,
us has boon alleged of III, present difficulty
in North Carolina, oppression for party pur-
poses AMI, in the second place, it would be
cited us pfoof Of the inefticiOncy Of Republi-
natrtctinn H.. tl.r.,
lore, it was most desirable that tue civil
authority should be every where paramount.
But it was equally evident that in;the con
dition of society which the war lett in the
States of tho rebellion there must necessarily
bc such occasional disturbances of the peace,
so organized, so persistent so formida Jlc,
that the ordinary civil processes would mt
avail 1t was unreasonable to expect THAT
the disordcred States would he restored to
normal situation without very serious
troubles, in which military interference
wonli be wholly justified. And precisely
this il the case In North Corolina. The
crimes oi Tie Ku Klux .leficd the civil means
OF repression Tho Governor, who is the
responsible executive officer, states as a fact,
what all the probabilities confirm, that the
organized rufiians and assassins laughed at
proclamations, celebrations and the civil
process, and hc was compelled either to
solerato anarchy in the State or TO use mill.
tury force. He decided not to surrender TO
tho rcbels, and placed certain counties
under martial law, and invoking, as the Con-
stitution authorizes, the assistance of tho
national power, which was promptly grnnt-
cd Governor HOLDEN did what Governor
KING, of Rhode Island, did in the "DoRR
war" in that State in 1Si2. .4 . a. p.
Ofcoursc, "A Governor is to bchcld reSppn-
siblc II he invokcs national aid before IL is
necessary it he docs'not exhaust the lawful
resources of the State buioro this final ap.
peal ; and ii he permits any abuse of the
military Interference when i, becomes indis-
pensablc But the passionate aNcr''on OF
his partisan opponents cannot be accepted
rs evidence OF his guilt. We have tho tcsti-
mory VI tho Chief Justice ot the State, that
the power ofthe civil process was exhausted.
And while there is unqucstionhbly eSagger
alton in all the reports, no one who has been
u iritllul student oi the spigit and methods
Of the Kuklux Klnn will believe that the Ac
ton of the Governor has been merely par
tisnn trick to carry the election. ..