The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1871-10-12

my friend here, and about the first thing
they did was TO enact black code,
which practically reduced the colored
people to more ahject bondage than
that from which our arms had delivered
item, A malignant and unjust DISPOSE
ton was carly disclosed, and it became
very soon apparent that DO security could
be gwen the colo:ed man unless wea
pom was placed IN his hands That wea
pom was the ballot
A weapon surer yet,
And better than the bayOnet,
weapon that comes down as still
AS snoWlakes fall upon the sod,
And executes a peoples will
AS lightning doth the will of God.
No sooner was this done than the Ku
Klux Klans, as ecrct organization.
formed bysecret oaths ana pass
words, re commenced their damnable
|outrages. Riding at night, clad in
the ha5iliments Of thegrave the
work Of scounging, murder and
assassination went On.-Union white men
were warned 10 leave the country, and
If they did not promptly obey they were
taken out Of their beds at the dead hour
OF night, whipped, and then hanged. Col
Ored men were warned that they must not
60 to the polls, and if they did they were
waited upon and served the same way
The object was to lntimidate the Repub-
! lican voters, and control those states. In
this they succeeded to a great extent.
Still, as the cOl0red and white republi
cans were in q majority it was necessary
TO the preservation Of their power that
Intimidation should continue. The local
authorities were either powerless $40 stop
the evil, or C nnived at its continuance
A bitter vail came uD tH congress from
many parts Of the>south. Thousands OF
innocent men, white and black, were
murdered for no Other cause than being
Union men The cry for help was heard
at Washington Congress would have
been false to humanity had it not listened
to the wall Of despair that was borne to
them on everywind from the south
Acuon vas long delayed, and II was
hoped that The Democrats Of the north
would urge upon their friends in The
south the necessity of dlsbanding the Ku-
AluX and obeylng the laws. But they
waited in vain. Up to this time no word
OF oenSure OF the assaSsins had fallen from
| the lips Of Judge Doollttlc. On the con
trary, he has paIliated if not justified
them. EmboldeDed by their success,
they have grown from bad to worse. No
union man retired to his bed ar night
but what felt that hc was liable to be
called out at any moment, unmercifully
whipped and then hanged 1t was upon
tins state Of facts that cannot be disputed,
tnat the ku KluX bill was passed. Il was
esteemed as an extreme remedy for q most
/ desperate disease, and is only temporary
IN IT'S character, expiring with the next
session Of Congress.
/ The bill was reported by the very
liable Judiciary fcommittee, of the senate,
IsentiDg ALI the rest believed the Bill
to be constitutional and demanded by
the necessities of The hour
Now, did we owe that proper protec
tion and haC we the right to give 1t ?
| Fortunately, l am not compelled to go
beyond my friend to find satisfactory
reply. In 1861, Judge D. as d member
Of q special committee Of the senate of
Is members, voted for the following
resolutions:
Resolved, That under the fourth sec
ton Of the fourth article or the c0nstitu-
ton, congress should pass an efficient law
for the punishment of all persons en-
gagged i'll the armed inVasiOns Of any
state from another by combination Of
individuals, and furnishing all persons in
completely Herewith on trial and CON
viction in the state and district where
those acts of completely were committed
in the Federal courts"
1bI,c
then was, my friend in the interest Of
slavery, declared that congress should
pass an efficient law for punishment IL
} the Federal courts. of all persons in any
state who should be in completely with
invaders from another state | submit
thathe is now forecloscd from Directing
to the passage of a law in the interest OF
life, liberty and public justice, which
gives similar power to the Federal courts
Again, in 1864, in speech in the senate
he said, while speaking OF the helpless
p oplc of the rebel states:
w no have been trampled nnder feet
by military despotic power to whom we
as government, owe protection, in
whose states We are bound to maintain a
Republican form Of government and de-
fend them against this very despotic
power which IS trampling them in the
dust, Go feel and entertain sympathy
and am not afraid or ashamed TO &C
knowledge it here or elsewhere or any
where.
This argument for the protection of the PEG
pie in the states then would be good argu
ment Tor the protection against the Ku Klu1
now. be was not ashamed then to be in favor
Of protecting the weak and lowly from crue
n land despotic power. 1t is sad to think he ii
ashamed OF it now. But to show still further
the departure of my friend from the humane
i doctrines he once entertained, and how utter,
ly inconsistent his present state right theorie,
are with those he entertained when he Wae