The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-03-21
MORE ABOUT THE KANAWHA
h.. u..r,-. KU.KLUXs XXI. rn'fia
Gideon's Band Excited,
Whnt q loharlestOn Paper says

Glueon'S BanQ EAcAteusI -,
What a Charleston Paper Says.
From 0s CaantttOn Journal ora 1BLh. m'
Tho publication lOf, % letter written 70
Hb ExcGllcncy, Gov IStevensonI by one
Of our citizens, relative 10 the condition Of
civil law IN parts Of this county. has Gre
atcd an excitement among the DemOcra-
Cy. hOrc, who belong, TO the secret prgani-
zhtion assaile a sin.t6e sletteF, scarcely. ever
seen before In Charleston. WCwould ask
no more proof of tho correctness, of the
letter, than flle actions of 'thos6 whom We
know to be members Of the Order. They
arc wild almost to distraction, while on
the other hand those members Of the
Democratic party Of the comfy, who
were too noble and manly 10 ally them
selves with this midnight organization,
are perfectly quiet and give us the as
surance that this "rlng' should BIO broken
asunder, and that its ffagments-the mem-
bers-shoull be liscountenAnccd and set
asIlc.by the honest yebmRnry Of the conn.
try because Il Is well known by all to be
inimical to free government and rcpug-
nant 10 every principle Of Republican In
stitutibns, W. N, +, N 10, ..,.f,
Wc inIorsse tllo article and arc satisfied
of its truth, except the charge that the So
called Ku Klux Klan released the prisO-
ncrs from our JUL. We know tllat they
escaped and were released by an armed
force, but We are Of the opinion that II
was tho tlccOlhpliCcs OF tile prisoners who
afforded them the assistance that procur-
ell their escape. They may have bcen ku
Klux and still they may have been honest
Democrats, ,Tor even Republic 6 From
what We Chn' learn OF tile release Of the
prisoners, We could not Justify ourselves in
ihe assertion that any political organiza.
tion procured their delivery from prison,
hut ON hhe contrary, believe that ltlloy
were released by acC0mpllccs In their pro-
iessional lawlcSs works.
The charge, however, in the COmmuni-
cation 10 the Governor, TINT our citizens
have become so largely disafcctcd hy the
aforesaid secret organization, that civil
process cannot be executed against them,
we believe TO lG substantially true. From
the fact that the organization Is so power
f(ll. and so many threats have been made
against civil officers, rGlatiSetb the.cxecu-
ton Of process, Cotlpled with the fact that
thelShefiF Can rely upon but very Itcw
men, us IL large number Of Republicans,
who arc still Republicans at heart, hive
been scduccd into this secret organization
on the Blind dogma Of the negro III poll
tics, and arC under oaths that they dare
r6S Sihl6tct which awhen taken together
render the Sheriff almost pOwerless, rs he
does not know his, ffimds, or who 70 call
upon to assist lin in executing the law.
Tint there is powerful secret organiIa-
tiofiin the county no one prctGnds 10 deny,
on the other hand they openly admit the
truth ofits existence. But they (lo deny
that II is u Ku.Klux organization. We re-
fer 70 the article written md signed by Qol.
Smith and DR. Summers and directed 10
the Wheeling INTELLIGENCER,w which was
publishcd In last weeks Republican,, in
which they admit that there b asecret pO-
liical Organization in Kauawlas but TINT
IL is not Ku.Klux. Now, we desire to deal
gently with honorable gentlemen, and We
Ask them candidly TO answer these ques-
tions: Ir"Gide0n's Band sOcalled, Il not
q branCIfOf Ku!K KlIxis1n, in what particu-
lar Is 1t better than tho Ku-Klux, and why
Is d that itisplMited upon the foundation
otsw6ril libstilityttO thenegr0, unlAmeri.
can citizen, for no other cause or reason
than he Is hIlck. True he Is black, and
God made him so, then why organize q
marty who requires It's adhcrcnts to. take
an oath thRtttey will DO all in their pow
a 30 ,f%ipe !, eyery.s NEGRO & in 9nr
county Ind State entirely ont 6fS6X-
istcnce, Mt least SO fir as civil law
andcivil Justice are concerned, Th6aku
Kux Klanlis organized solely upon that
basis, and a HGideon's Band has proved
itself In KahAwhA county to lave the sNmc
end in3viGY; therefore, We iQsS in what
particular is 1t better or even safer than
thc regular Ku KluXS
NeSSrs. Smith and Summers say lin De-
cemberb last there. was . Conflict In the
KapNwha Salincs between some Willie men
and negroes, not exceeding eight or ton on
tIthaE Sde,"H IwIicn, i1l truth, several cta'
kens, ttlIO dr6 not Elgp 'iicd1.S, and who rare
IN al GOOD moral and social standing in
the community as either the Hon. Col.
and Dr., and citizens, too, who have "re.
sided in tho county. over, forty ,ycpFss'
stated under their Bolcnn tOath, that tho
number Of whites connected with the riot
not only exceeded eight or ten, but ten
times that number. They further say
|Lho whites, &C., belonged to both parties,
and It Is not SO clearly Ascertaincd rs to
warrant US 10 determine To which party
they belonged" " 4 ug-s.i.. fItJlll