The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-10-24
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n.-o,.p ARMY FRlFNps--AAN"'"
NV nAvs' AcorAINTASek. r,,,.,.,
TIM n,ence OF the Richmond pispa'cI
C"rreS'"s .,ox GA. October IS. 1871.
orrrsnondent has visited various
.;n,s of Che " Empire stat r,. ,,,nnb
,e', letter, and seen and hesru w. ,e have not
which has interested n,.r ont orr welcome
'houshs ~ letters. All that we nave
hE 100 i,SS Saord confirms our previous re-
seen anu at the people Of Georgia VIII moi
porls I ,,';s season over half crop OF cot
MN ,,,t that they will be better OH Una.
on" 'n,'vear for the reason that tncy nave iio'
rnne in debt for fertilizers 10 the saIne T
Tent. have paid lrss ,0a | resSmced prices
chaser n ,i allie 10 hold their cotton for
and are beitei ''p'' w
h'T WAR ,s ycrv general complaint All
.,n,,,,h tho state that Cuffee will not work,
nI there il no way Of making him do so.
The PLANTERS seem not to expect iu,i "o,n,
and Ia be chiefly solicitous 10 n,ahe s"nn
ARRANGEMENTS rs that they shai' noa "
romn1lled 10 bear in full the loss OF tue ne-
,,rn'i iazincss. The most Intelligent ar
ranoemcut we have heard OF Is to employ
moro hands than would be ordinarily ne
ress,,y To cultivate a given amount OF lana,
and nay them in part Of the crop, thus m
creaSinc the share Of the owner ana iettihs
the negroes bear the loss from their iazi-
ness. But, then, the planter has TO pear
the increased amount Of stcalage. when IS
usually in proportion 10 the NUMBER u
idle negroes on his premises.
Very few of the women Work out ho"
and if il impossible for the men TO support
them in idleness unless they are lnduslri-
We have had opportunity of seeing some
of the finest plantations III the state, anu
were interested and gratltied 10 see ,no
comfortable provision which was maze Ior
the negroes under the Old regime. ine
neat. comfortable quarters would compare
most f,yorably with the residences OF any
olhrr class OF iaborers in the world ana not
:, f.w of the poor darkies who now nave 10
procure everything for themselves sign ior
the comforts OF other days which 'ole
massa' SO freely provided.
Kut the negroes have on the whole been
behaving themselves very wen since Tue
Ruirsu was Withdrawn and they became
convinced that it was all hoax about their
relieving from the Government I" forty
acres OF land and mule" We have not
seen in all of our travels in Georgia san
lie case of misbehavior Oh the part OF
negro. :.
nor, on the other hand, have we wit
messed un "outrage" on the part OF
white man towards u negro, or discovered
The slightest disposition to 90 him injustice.
We have seen evidences of the most kindly
relations between the whites and blacks
especially between an old master and his
former Siaves-and were gratitied TO learn
that this kind feeling is decidedly on The
increase, as the reign OF scalawags anu car
net baggers is being broken. We heard OF
eases i'm which numbers Of negroes would
refuse to vote until sole massa" could
Inspect their tickets and see that they were
All right.
,fe have not seen any kukluX or met
with any one who has seen any, although
we have visited both Wilkes and Lincoln
counties, which are reported TO be the
headquarters OF kukluXism. Upon the
most diligent inquiry we learned that tho
strongest cases that could be made out
were the following In Wilkes county a
most highly.respected citizen was muir
,lcr,d in cold blood aud his person robbed.
All efforts at discovering the perpetrators
had failed Tor, mt least, all efforts to find
testimony sufficient to convict), when one
night An armed band of men {" kukluX "
worked up the case, got the testimony, AZ
rested the negro murderers, and turned
them oUer to the civil authorities, by whom
they were afterwards tried and convicted.
The cnse in Lincoln county was that OF
the present United States Attorney General
(Akerman). This fellow had lived and
made money in this section before the war,
and during the war had served in the Con-
I,dcraic army. When the work OF recon-
~irurlon begun this miserable creature
rcIjured lilnsclfby taking the "iron.clad"
OATH, and at once became the ringleadcr
OF the swain of vcrmin who afflicted the
state, fattencd hy robbing the treasury,
and kept themselves III office by Slandcriny
the whites and pandering to the vilest pas
sions Of the negroes. The people did not,
of course, l0rc Mr.. Alderman for this vile
change of base, but no personal violence
was offered him. or intended to be offered.
One day, however, on driving up to the
little town of Lincolnton, 4 crowd of
youths gathered around and began to al.
mire his equipage-one saying he would
have spoke of his buggy wheel another,
that lie would take the spatter-board; an
other, the bride, or traces, or other parts OF
the harness, and so OH, dividing out between
them the buggy and harness, and taking
out their knives US il to make the partition
then and there. Akcrman grew pale WITH
fear, and when, Il few moments later, the
bows were attracted by fight in another
part of the town and left him alone, he
Jumped into his buggy and made rapid
tracks, reporting that the kukluX were
after him. About an hour after he left,
twenty-five men disguised, and mounted
on schite horses,) were seen riding at break
neck speed on his track. They did not
overiake him but Alderman has never been
seen i'll those parts since (Which was doubt
Tess just what the people wanted), aud has
from that day been, at safe distance, in
dustrlonsly manufacturing to order ku-
kluX stories in reference to that section.
We arc fully satisfied from diligent in
Quiries OF intelligent and reliable citizens
many OF them old Confederate soldiers,
who would certainly know Of the exist
ence OF such IN organization, that there il
ITO such thing as the "kukluX klan !" In
Georgia, but that there are in few of the
counties rglance committees, who pun.
lsh crime by whomsoever committed As
ii matter oil fact, the criminals are usually
scalawags, carpet-baggers, or negroes and
the operations OF these bands are thus.
with some color of truth. represented ~
aimed against "loyal Republicans" The
people of Georgia are rs u body more
quiet, orderly, and Iaw-abdlng than those
Of New York.
There is some difference of opinion among
the Conservatives Of the State as to wha
course the incoming Legislature should
pursue. Some 20 tor the immediate i'm
peachment of "Governor Bullock, ant
the most summary punishment Of the
band OF thieves he has had around hin
to aid in pl9nderlng the State treasury il
the thousand ingenious forms that theil
cunning has devised. But others think tha,
itwould be better policy to stop the pillsge
and let the rogues 10 free, lest their sympa
thizing friends in Congress should make {
preteXt to reconstruct the State again.
In travelling through Georgia we meet
everywhere some Of the veterans who fol.
lowed Cobb, Gordon, Evans, Benning,
Dole, Anderson, and others, in the cam.
paign in Virginia, and contributed so
largely to make the glorious record of the