Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-12-22

necessary to aid the civil authorities with the
armed force of the nation in putting down this |
second rebellion and i'll bringing its leaders 10
speedy punishment
In the first place, it is false that 1t has
been = db%OIuieIy necessary to retain about
one-sixth # the army, or any portion OF
tl,e army. IN the SoUth,-unless upon the
plea OF necessity" to over-awe the people
of those States in the interests of the Radi-
cal Dalty and to secure Grants re-nOmlna-
ton and reelection. There IS as much
peace and GOOD order and observance Of
law. this day. in the States OF Virginia,
Tcuncssce, Georgia, Alabama, Mis- sissippl
and North Carolina as in any State OF the
North. In,Gcd, in most of the States men
toned, tlieto is less disorder and lawless
ness, and Yet al the States g East OF the
Mississippi, are embraced in the defama-
tory and malevOlent denunCiatiOn OF the
Secretary Ct War.
In the next place, it is fou'ly libcllous
that. in ..somc portions Of the South free
dom Of opinion is not tolerated, if expressed
in olpO.itinn to the dOctTihcS trhtch o17gti-
ufcF fLc H,'c ,rbclIiOu." Those doctrines"
in Radical estimation, are understood to be
= RECOGNITION of the rights Of secession and
devotion to slavery as an institution. we
assert that in no quarter OF the South Is
there other tllaa entire acquiescence III the
practical results Of the war, and that so tar
from any mans being prosecuted for such
4 n wOnI me count
ed crazy enthusiast, who would dispute
fI,c Iocic Of events, and UiRk: Of attempting
to undo them.
And a-ain, it is false that any merely
political organization-u unless, perhaps,
the Union League,--has existed in the
South whose object it has been to punish
and oppless men for their merely political
sentiments. That secret organizations have
prevailed and perhaps still continue in some
localities. that undertake to redress grleV-
ances. suppress crime and punish offender
in Il criminal and lawlcss manner, is true
That in nine cases out Of ten those who
have been punished deScrted what they
got. is 10 justification of the manner
in which the punishment was in
fictcd, for We believe profoundly anC
unrcselvedIy in the majesty of Lar. Blu
it is, unfortunately, some palliation, II eX-
, tenuation there be, for these outrages, tina
: the Federal Government, as organized b.
the Radical party, bdyOnetted system
local governments and a class Of official
upon the South, that generated crime, trau
and yillainy and offered immunity t
sc0tndrels 1t was Radical partisan Gre
construction that gave us ignorant and col
> rtpt legislators, venal and incOmpeteI
Judges packed juries, spies, detectives, IL
form.rs-aud these were the Pandora S box
whence al the evils now SO Justify and just
= " complained Of have escaped. We ha
occasion, some time since, to quote tn
language uf Sir WALTER SCOTT, that pre-
found and philosophical thinker, i'll eNpl'
- nation Of the origin and sway Of the famor
! Velmique institution of the middle age
. and we reproduce it as strikingly applicab
, to our own times
" ..,5uch an institution could only prevail !
. time when ordinary means Of justice wei
excluded by the hand Of power. In L
other country than one exposed to evel
species OF feudal tyranny, and deprived
: every ordinary mode of obtaining justice
redress, could such a system have take
root and liotWished.'
And, finally, it is ali meXcusably gro
and malicious SANDER to stigmatize OF
:, people as engaged i'll Il ''Second rebellion
(so-c;tllcd)
1t 5 hardest Of all tC feel and know tn
there are men in our own midst who glo
with liendish eXultation over such misre
. reservations, and who roll, as sWe
morsel under the tongue, this defamation
- their own people. Nay, men who instiga
the ISLANDERS, and rejoice i'll their iniquity
Such creatures we would not tolerate
personally or socially, even though it shou
wake the anathemas Of the doughty Seer
tarv of War. Rather we would pla
(metaphorically, for we be ''law-abidi
> meil,'D a whip of scorpions in every hone
mans hand,
Ito lash the SCOundrclS.
he Naked round the world -