Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-06-23


address before the Republican Association
of New York. npon bis return from Texas
deserves the attention of all candid minds
THE THIEvING CARPET-BAGGERs WORSE THAN
| KU-KLUx.
| There is another influence equally in
furious with theirs. and great deal more
detrimental to the fame and character OF
the Republican party. I allude to what
are known as the "thieving carpet-bag-
gers" LAppiause. Fellow citizens, do
not mistake me. All the Northern men in
the South are not thieves. The larger
part OF them are honest and good men,
some of whom stay there at the peril of
| their lives, because they believe it to be
! their duty. Next to the noble and true
women, who have gone down South to
teach black children how to read-nobler
| there are not on earth than these, whom
| stupid, malignant, dilapidated aristoc-
| racy often sees fit to crowd into negro
novels to live, not allowing them to enter
any white society, because they are teach
ing negro children-next 10 these, who
rank as the n0bles5 women in the South,
are the honest and worthy Northern men,
who, in the face of social prescription and
general obloquy and scorn, stand firmly by
the Republican cause.
The public is often heediessly unjust
Let a Government have 10, 900 official
subordinates in power. of whom 8. 900 are
honest and true men, wEo do their duty
faithfully, while hardly 100 are robbers
and swindlers, the public will hear a great
deal moro about the 100 robbers than
about the 1900 trus men. The 100 nd
out in the public eye; they are always do
ing something which exposes them to the
scornfnl gsze of the mu titude; while the
honest and true men pass along silent and
unObsGrved, and nothing is said, very lit
tie is thought, of ihem. All attention is
concentrated upon the 100, who are de-
faultlng and stealing, ard forging and run
ming away.
Well. gentleneu. the thieving carpet
baggers are monrnful fast; they do exist
there, and I have seen them. Laughter.
They are fellows who crawled down
South in tie track of our armies, generally
very safe distance In the rear; some OF
them on suffers wagons; some bearing
cotton permits; some cf them looking
sharply to see what may turn up; and
they remain there. They at once ingratia-
ted themselves with the blacks-simple,
oredulons, Ignorant men-very glad to vel
come and to follow any whites who profess
sad to be the champions of their right. Some
Of these got elected Senators, others Repre-
sentstives, some Sheriffs, some judges and
so on. And there they stand, right in the
public eye, stealing and plundering, many
of them with both arms around negroes,
and their handsin their rear pockets, see
ing if they cannot pick paltry dollar out
of them; and the public looks at them, does
not regard the honest Northern men, but
calls every ''carpet-bagger" thief, which
is not the truth by good deal. But these
fellows-many of them with long faces
and eyes rolled up-are greatly concerned
for the education of the blacks. and for
the salvation of their souls. [Great laugh
ter "Let us pray" they say. But they
spell pray with an &C." and thus spelled,
they obey the apostolic Injunction to
''pray without ceasing."
Fellow citizens, the time has been, and
still is, when it was perilous to be known
as Republican or an Abolitioniss at the
South, but it never called the blush OF
shame to any mans cheek to be so called,
until these thieving carpet-baggers went
there-never. Appla1se.] They got into
the Legislature, they went to issuing State
bonds; they pretended to use them in aid
of railroads and other improvements; but
the improvements were never made, and
the bonds stuck in the issuer's pockets.
[Laughter.l That is the pity of it.
"Well." some say. ,.'you have just such
thieves at the Nor5h'" Yes, We do-too
many of them. Applause. But the South
was already lmpoVerlshed-was bankrupt
without money, without thrift, almost
without focd; and these fellows went there
robbing and ewindling, when there was
very little to steal. and taking the last ten
cent shinplaster off the dead mans eyes.
They were recognized by the late aristoc-
racy, not merely as thieves, but as enc.
mics. Says Byron's Greek Minstrel,
ga tyrant-but our masters then
We're still at least our countrymen."