Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-12-18
HOW TO ExEEEnINATE KU-KLUx.

eIE1lL : W L5lAAl4 AtAA Va
TIE Psris pro7s touches the R0ssel mur-
der very EinssEly. L'Avenir National
ventures to pronounce 10 fault, and pub
fishes TIE nauCs Of TIE court who com
lnitted it. Is Liberte Tebukes PAvsnir
Tor this csusure upOu the court. Le Peu-
uLe S1uvsrEiu enters mild protest, while
E'Ouinfnre NaliCnale does not hesitate TO
Justify R1ssel's execution. Ls Temps
enters into an elaborate argument 10 de-
feus8 of that mssEurs. To all which Is
Messszer FrsncO-Amerjcaia, the able ex-
pansut Of French g6publicsnism in this
country, replies thsL the United States
Wera never So strong IS since the release
Of Jefferson Dsvis.
It'll on the same principle that ku-
klu8ism is generated by the absurd
processes resorled to for its suppression.
The press OF the South, as soon as an
organization, originally harmless in
purpose, was perverted, made war on
it; but the intervention of armed
power; the espionage system Of Reeds
and WissleTs; the intervention Of
Rsdicalism, which mounted il as a
hobby horse; the consolidation of
blacks in loyal leagues, as lawless and
more dangerous than ku-kluXism,
because compacted in Ignorance and
led by knSyery-these facts silenced
the local press. 1t was the South that
slaughtered kn0W-nOthingism. The
people, If left free from restraint and
unthreatened by martial law and
suspension OF habeas corpus, would
nave left not a trace Of the ku-klux
organization. Its existence is not
even alleged in free States. Negroes
in Tennessee are as unrestrained in
political action ss in Massachusetts,
and ku-kluxism is asserted to exist
only where tyrants and thieves and
adventurers pIunder and harsss and
destroy. The evil is simply the pro-
duct Of intolersble wrongs, robber-
les and oppression, and agencies
emplo Zed to eXterminste it, are just
such as ars hest calculated to essHre
its perpetuatiOn. Send down Scots
and BOwens and Bullocks and Reeds
and negro soldiers and revenue cOllec-
tors whose business it is 70 consolidate
blacks against whites, that both may
be more effectUalIy robbed; defend
them because they are Radicals; rob
tax payers TO poverty; make their
lands valueless; 1orce them to send
their wealth abroad, and to eXpend
everything in lie assurance, be-
cause local investments are profit
less and unsafe; and there will
be revoIts until the spirit OF
American ireemen is utterly
crushed, until we are only fit to be
slaves and unworthy of political as
sociatiOn with fFeemen. Let Grant
withdraw his thieves from the South;
let people, known to the people, ill
public offices; recall countless sdven-
turers, sent hither solely for plunder;
and within q month correspondents Of
the Tribune, or Times, or Chronicle,
will find not a ghost OF q ku-klux in
any southern State. Wrong begets
wrong, and justice is self generative.
1t is a villainOus government Of vii
iains that makes people criminal, and
their misdeeds, when thus begotten,
are TO be cOndoned, not punished.
As the execution Of RCssel and pun
ishment inflicted upon helpless Com
munists sre confessed capital blum
ders OF ThieTs' government, even so
with military and rogue rule imposed
upon Southern States. The principle
which Grants organ applies 10 France
is equally applicable to the South. So
true is this that il Johnston's and
Sherman's treaty had been executed,
the Southerner who would have after
wards dared to whisper even regrets
that union was restored would have
been despised by his compatriots.