The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1871-03-14
THE KU-KLUX-KLAN.
Report OF the, Minority OF the In
vestigatinx Committee OF the Sen

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Report OF the Minority OF the In
vestiSatinx Committee OF the Sen
ate.
Senators Blair and Bayard, constItu-
ting the minority Of the committee, find
themselves unable to agree with the
majority, and present their views at
length. They state that instantly upon
their appointment the committee or
ganized and proceeded without delay to
examine witnesses, who were apparently
all ready in waiting in the CITY OF
Washington, to wit: The son of Gov
ernor Holden, Colonel George w. Kirk,
and Bergen, his lieutenant colonel, g..
After protesting thatany and all action
ofan inquisitorial character in the in
ternal and domestic affairs OF the States,
such as called for by the resolution
under which the committee was ap.
pointed, or any attempt by Congress or
tie Executive to interfere with the State
governments or citizens individually as
TO matters not cognizable by the federal
government under the constitution, was
utterly unwarranted and subversive OF
our federal system Of State government,
the minority says;
There can no longer be urged the plea
Of military necessity The flag Of the
nation floats in placid security in every
part Of the Union, and there is no pre-,
tense of opposition in any quarter to the
peaceable operation of the civil authori-
ty."
After setting forth that the kind of
investigation pursued has simply given
an opportunity for any one to come
forward and assail the State and people
of North Carolina by any character OF
testimony and in any manner that
prejudice or animosity can suggest, the
minority continue: But all this is
manifestly the result OF plan cut and
dried by a conspiracy formed of disap-
pointed politicians who have lost the
confidence of their people, and have
been cast out of Office by the almost
unanimous voice of betrayed and in
iured constituency. At the head of the
conspiracy stands VIM. w. Holden,
the Governor of North Carolina, and
now undergoing trial by process of I'M.
parchment for high misdemeanors and
gross abuses OF his official power. He
has beggared the treasury Of the State
plundered, outraged and betrayed her
people, and now looks to the strong
arm OF the federal government as the
only means of rescuing him and his
followers from the just punishment due
their crimes. In furtherance of this
scheme the present measure was insti-
tuted and this committee raised. The
two Senators from North Carolina Alb
bott and PooD have efficiently aided it
Suggesting witnesses and supplying
interrogatories for their examination,
and sometimes escorting them in per-
son to the door Of the committee room.
And what is the character OF these wit
nesses, found ready in attendance for
examination
Joseph w. Holden, the son and ac-
complete of Governor w. w. Holden,
heads the list. He has been an Office
holder, fattening on the corruptions Of
his fathers administration; the editor
of his party organ, and even his testi-
mony is almost entirely hearSay in its
nature. and inadmissible in courts Of
justice.
George W.lKirk and George B. Ber-
gen come upon the scene, and to the
undersigned there seems a strange in
sensibility to the opinions Of mankind
in the production of two such attrocious
characters in the roll Of witnesses in
this case.
Neither of them were citizens Of
North Carolina, but were called from
abroad by Holden as fitting instru-
ments for his dark and bloody intent.
In violation of the Constitution OF his
State, he made these two strangers to
his people officers of militia, and, hav-
ing declaredtwo counties { Alamance and
CaswelD in a state OF insurrectlon, he
gave the unhappy residents over to the
tender mercies of these two rutfians.
The testimony discloses their absolute
denial of having insulted or maltreated
their prisoners in any way; and their
perjury in these statements is fully
proved by the testimony of Luclan ii.
Murray, Mr.. Kerr, Mr.. Turner and
others, who were their prisoners.
The minority proceed in the same
manner to review the testimony of VIM.
r. Albright, whom they term "a vio-
lent, INSCRIPTIONS man. and Of James
E. Boyd, upon whose sole testimony
they say the majority largely rely to
Justify them in their remarkable con-
illusions respecting the condition of
society in North Carolina. This wit
ness, the minority say, is very young
man, and by his own statement has
little or no personal knowledge OF the
matters whereof he speaks. They re-
view his evidence infinitely, and charac-
terize it as weak, corrupt and shambllng.
In the same manner they impeach the
reliability of the testimony OF the
remainder Of the witnesses, not one
Of whom, the minority assert, testi-
ties to facts within his own knowl-
edge tending TO prove North Carolina
to be less safe as a place of residence
than any portion Of the Union lying
north of her boundaries. The minorl-
ty then enter upon an extensive argu-
ment to show that the disorders which
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