The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1871-03-24

unanimously In contradiction Of the ex.
istence of any organized body of dis.
loyal and evil disposed persons in the
State OF North Carolina, which have
In view or threaten resistance to the ac-
tions of the laws Of the United States,
or the denial to the citizens of the
United States Of equal protection of the
cause, etc. The minority say that the
concurrent testimony Of the United
States officers ought alone, and of its
own force, to be sufficient to satisfy tho
Senateand the country how li>tle found
alton there is for the charge of organ
lied resistance TO the government or its
laws in the State of North Carolina;
and how the President of the United
States could have considered It as tend.
ing to prove the existence of disloyalty
in North Carolina, the undersigned are
unable to conceive. An examination of
the deposition5 taken before the com
mittee, and their comparison with the
documents appended TO the messages of
the President on these subjects, will ex-.
| hibit mere repetition of the same facts
by the same witnesses, thus making
each case of outrage do frequent service
IN the way of exciting new horrors and
arousing additional animosities. Again,
it is observed that different witnesses
recount the same cause of outrage, with
such variations as their imaginations
may create. An examination of this
mass of testimony will disclose the fact
that no outrages have proven to have
occurred In more than six or eight
counties. all OF which are named, and
Of those counties Alamance and Cas-
well were chiefly alleged to be the
scenes Of such lawlessness. These were
the counties selected by Holden as the
! peculiar objects of his vengeance and
which were committed to the mercies
of Kirk and Bergen; and yet the suf-
ferer, whose case has been recited by
every witness called from that region,
one Caswell Holt, q colorcd man, who
had been most cruelty beaten bya band
of disguised men, and subsequently
wounded severely, was brought before
|
His personal knowledge of all the cases
in that county was limited to six, and
four of these outrages had been COM
mitted by band of disguised colored
men, whose leader confessed it to CAS-.
well. The number of these outrages,
detestable and wicked as they are, Is
nevertheless grossly and widely exag-
gerated and this no one can doubt who
will examine the testimony, and who
has had any knowledge of the creduli
, ty and inaccuracy Of statements charac
, teristic Of our well-meaning colore(
, people. North Carolina is one of thu
r largest States territorially in the Unior
and is divided into eighty-seven coun
ties and contains nearly one and hal
, millions Of people. No act OF lawless
ness is actually proven to have boen
committed, except in one or the other
3 of six, perhaps eight Of these counties
and yet it is proposed to employ strin'
gent and violent measures of coersion
and repression to the remaining nine.
tenths of the State against which nC
, |
ness has ever been adduced, but which
on the contrary, exhibits a condition O
quiet almostsuggesting the insensibility
of despair. What cause can be alleged
what justification to the American peo
, pie can be be used, for this renewed and
wanton invasion of peaceful commu
nifty? The statement that anarchy
there exists is absurdly untrue, and tes
timony now laid before the Senate
overwhelmingly establishes its untruth.
If aggressive laws are to be enacted, let
all disguise be cast off and the true rea,
son avowcd. 1t will not be less violent
or wrong, but it will be less hypocriti
cal and more manly. To any fair
minded man we confidently commit
the proofs contained in the testimony
now presented by the committee, and
aver that such wrongs ~ have been in.
flietcd upon our unfortunate and
crushed people by thr rulers placed
over them, not by thr'r own consent
but by the exercise Of ,espotic powers
by tho Congress of tie United States
no example of equal ubmissiveness and
patient endurance can be found in his
tory as is now pre.ented by the people
OF the State of North Carolina. This is
the truth in a nutshell, that Holder
and his official supporters have failed
to maintain themselves by any means
foul, as well as fair in their State. They
have appealed to popular elections and
We're rejected with something uear 9
unanimity by every taxpayer in the
State, and now Congress is asked tC
step in and force North Carolina dowr
again under the feet of her radica
masters, and we fear that Congress will
attempt to do this unwise and wicked
thing. Will the people of the North,
iree as yet, see this thing done and sus
tam its promoters? We hope not, VIZ
pray not. When will the men now il
power learn the truth of what the grea
statesmen of our country said so wisely
ana well, when similar attempts were
made to govern British India? 1t il
, the nature of tyranny and rapacity
never to learn moderation from the il
success of first oppres ON the con
/ trary all men are thinking highly o
the methods dictated by their nature
, attribute the Illustration of their de
sires to the want of sufficient vigor ,anc
then they redouble the efforts of thei
t impatient cruelty, which are producinl
, as they must produce, new disappoint
f ments; they grow irate against the ob
. Jects OF their rapacity, and then vagu
} fury and malice implacable, because un
, provoked, recruiting and reinforcin
, their avarice, their vices are no longe
) human. From cruel men they ar
5 transformed into savage beasts, with N
S other vestiges of reason left but wha
\ serves to furnish the incentives and re
9 tinements Of ferocious sublety for whic
beasts are incapable, and at whic
hends would blush. Signed,
S FRANK p. BLAIR,
a II, +. BAYARD.
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