Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1871-03-22
NEW SERIES--VOL. IL, NO. IL.

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tho opinions of mankind In the prt
duction Of two such atrocious charac
lers in the role OF witnesses in thi
case. Neither were citizens of Mort
0 Carolina, but they were called fror
. abroad by Holden as fitting instrc
G menis for his dark and bloody intent
4 In violation Of the Constitution of hi
state, be made these two strangers /
, his people officers of militia, and has
] ing declared two counties (Alamanc
, and Caswell in state ofinsurrectio,
no gave the unhappy residents ovo
to the tender mercies OF these twl
rufiians. Tho testimony disclose
their absolute denial of having insult
ed or maltreated their prisoners II
any way, and their perjury in thes,
statements Is iully proved by the tes
timony Of Bucian H. Murray, Mr.
Kerr Mr.. Turner and others, wht
were theirprisoncrs. The testimony
quoted at length showing variou.
kinds Of maltreatment and torture tc
extort confessions, etc, and the mi
nority proceed in tho same manner t.
review the testimony VIM. Albright
whom they term violent, unscrupu.
lous man, and of James f. Boyd, upon
whose sole testimony they say The
majority largely rely 10 Justify them
in their remarkable conclusions re.
specting the condition of society in
North Carolina. This witnesa, the
minority say, is very young man,
and by his own statements has little
or no personal knowledge of the mat
ters whereof he speaks. They review
his evidence minutely, and character
ize il as weak, corrupt and shamblng.
ln the same manner they impcach the
reliability of the testimony OF the re-
mainder Of the witnesses, not one of
whom the minority assert testifos 10
facts within his own knowledge, tend.
ing to prove North Carolina TO be less
safe as a place of residence than any
portion Of the Union lying north Of
her boundaries. Tho minority then
enter upon an extensive argument to
show that the disorders which have
existed in North Carolina arc attrib.
utable 10 misrnle of the so called car.
pet bag State officers, the un wise leg.
islation Of Congress, and The macbina.
tons of the Loyal League melting and
instigating the negroes to idIcness,
disafi'ection and lawlessnoss. In sup.
port of these propositions the minori.
ty quote very largely from the tesli-
mony Of the Hon. John Kerr, ex.mcm-
ber Of Congress from North Carolina.
n A. Ramsey, and others. and II
number Of other witnesses who were
examined ana cross examined before
the committee. The minority say il
will be seen from the above statement
that there has been no resistance to
the execution of process Of tho courts,
no obstrnciinns ~ afiiaar- IN tho excr
else Of their functions. The report OF
the majority seeks 10 evade the force
of this fact, thus admitting the fact by
asserting that the ku klax organiza
tion is SO banded together as to defeat
the ends Of justice, by intimidating
witnesses, packing juries and procur-
ing witnesses to swear falsely 10 favor
of the accused If he belongs TO that
order. The reply to this is easy aud
complete. The statute law of the
State gives the solicitor and the Judge
tho power TO remove causes from any
locality in the State to any other 10.
cality, at the option Of the prosecu.
ton. Every judge and every solici-
tor in the State was a Radical; there
were localities in the state 10 which
the radicals prcdominatcd overwhclm.
ingly, and If the crime was committed
where the influence of the ku klux
prevented a conviction. it was only
necessary for the solicitor TO make
motion ard the Judge would order the
removal of the cause from county TO
ceunty until satisfactory venue was
reached !. is perfectly evident from
the evidence that the process Of the
courts could be executed without mill.
tary force, and that no resistance was
offered to Its execution. 1t is also
clear that the causes could Lave been
removed from any place TO some
county in which fair trial might
have been had Why, then, did the
governor prefer to resort to the ex-
treme measure Of proclaiming the |
counties Of Alamance and Caswell in |
insurrection rather than use the rene.
dies ready to his hand Of removing |
the causes TO the counties in which |
might have been obtain /
edY Why did he call on the President
for troops, set on foot his negro mill. |
tia, led by ruflians imported into the
State on account Of their oxtraordina.
ry brutality, and proceed to seize, i'm
prison, insult and torture his prison
ers There is but ono explanation
His object was to strike terror TO the
people and drive them from the polls, |
and thus carry the district and main
taiu himself ani his mlscreanis In I
power,and thus be enabled to continue
TO plumber and tyrannize over the IN
happy people who had been subjected I
to his sway by the direct action of the
Congress Of the United States. This I
is the only explanation which can be
given for conduct so utterly unneces
sary. Who ever heard before Of the /
Of martial law in a
country where the process Of civil |
courts could be exercised without re. |
sisiance. IL he had caused the law to |
be executed in the ordinary way /
through the courts, the charge which ,
had risen against him and his allies |
for pillaging tho State, and giving /
away millions Of dollars to the despe- /
rate adventurers who infested The 1
State like vcrmin, would have contin-
ed, and carried the election against
him. lie therefore meditated bis coup |
d ctdt, and his grand military stroke /
OF policy which was to strike horror
TO the hearts Of the people. He call
ed the Presidentto bis assistance, and |
10 whom he already looked as his fu-
ture emDeror. who did not fail him in /