New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-06-13

party. said no more than Cen Slckles mao su III
substance four years earlier, when he was Military
Governor of South Carolina, and declared that he was
crippled and enfeebled in his efforts =, to
govern that State wen by the Gf m 1Gat
her most consdeTate and conservative men,
were not available to him as magistrates, because of
an exclusion whereof Andrew johnson was the au-
thor. fle'sad, Il cannot govern South Carolina as
well as could if were able to choose the best men
to help me, instead of the second-best." l am en-
hTely OF that conviction. believe it was mistake
when you allowed million Confederates to vote for
Members of Congress, to deny them the right to
vote for just such men they preferred. i believe
therefore, most would he safer and useful
in Congress than their second-rate men-better for
us and better for their Country. lApplanse.l SO
argued. because i so believed; and still | say that,
if the men allowed to represent the South who
express the sentiment of the Souhif the Toombses,
Wises and Wade Hamptons had been al
lowed to go TO Congress, and had been sent
there four years ago, the Republican party would
have been great deal stronger and Reconstruction
very much further advanced and more certain nan
il is to-day ICres of Bravo" and applause.l Why,
gentlemen whenever one of these extreme men say
anything you see it caught mp and carried an over
the Union in the very journals that insist on Keeping
those out of Congress and IN positions wneIe
their words carry with them the least possible
weight. If their words are so benehGal ana gLeY-
nant to us, why not let them speak where me whole
country VIII hear them. lCries Of Bravo and APP
plause.
But have been asked, Are there any Ku-klux
down South 7" tIaughter.l Yes, Gentlemen,
they were Ku-Klux very often. [Laughter.l They
did MT undertake to perform their delicate operations
upon me. | should have had very much more re-
spect for them if they had IGreat laughter.
! am moved with profound disgust when i think
of these men, covering themselves mp with second
rate Calico masking their faces aiming themselves
to the teeth, and riding around to the CABINS OF
poor harmless negroes, dragging them from thelr
are compelled TO swear they viii never again vote
the Republican ticket. hold that TO be very
cowardly procedure as well as very base one; and
| hold it TO be the duty of the Government OF the
Union to oppose with all its power and all ITS force
every sucl xecrable procedure as this. DO you tell
that those men are liable to the State laws Tor
the assault and batteries they have committedf
don't doubt f. but say they are are also In sub
stance and IMPOSE traitors to the Governments
rebels agaus It's authority, and the most cOwaldly
skulllng Iei-'s ever known to tins OF any other
country. "a lause.
l hold our Government bound, by its duty of pro
tecting our citizens i'll their fundamental rights, TO
pass and enforce laws for the eXtlrpatlon OF the
eXecrable ku- Klux conspiracy: and, if 1t has not
power to do il, then | say our Government is no
Government. but n sham. ! therefore, on every
proper occasion, advocated and justified the ku-
KluX act | hold it es, acally desirable for the
Sput! and, if it does not prove strong enough to
effect its purpose, hope II viii be made stronger
and stronger IApplauscI
Why. fcllow-ctiZcns, these very men that asked
me if | saw any Ku-kluX-thesc very men have
themselves read the returns of the election in Louis
iauia when that State, with 3OCO0 Black majority
ON its registers, made 20 vote for seymour ana
Blair by more than 5000 majority: counties which
had 5000 negro voters alone giving three, two. one
and il several instances no vote at all for Grant ana
ColfaX. Now, friends, You and they know perfectly
well that this result was secured by terror and by
violence by telling those Black men, You shall
vote for Seymour and Blair the enemies OF your fun
danental li-hts. or you shall not vote at
Oh. or YOU shall he killed. That was the
way L0uisiani4 was made Democrats. II
tust she viii never he made TO vote so again.
Therefore | uphold and Justify the ku-klnXS law
Feiiow-citixens, the ku-kluX are no myth, although
q. ci,. in
titting ghosts; they are baneIul reality. Ihey
have paTayzcd the Right of Suffrage in many coun-
that they ought not to have carried but they are
not the only enemies 10 Republican ascendancy IN
the South
THE THIEyNG CARPET-BiGGERs WORSE THAN KU-
KLUN.
There is another influence equally injurious with
theirs and a great deal more detrimental to the
fame and character of the Republican party. l
allude TO what are known as the " thievng carpet
baegers" [Applause.l Fellow Citizens do not mis-
take me. All the Northern men i'll 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 il 10 be their duty.
Next 10 the noble and tine women, who have gone
down South To teach Black children how to read
nOblcr there not on the earth than these, whom
/ a stupid, malignant, dilapidatod arstogacy often
secs ft to crowd into negro novels TO i've, not al
lowing them TO enter any White society because
/ they ar, teaching negro childTen-neXt to these,
who rank as the nOblest women IN the South, are
| the honest and worthy Northern men. who. in the
face of social prescription and general OblOqdy anu
sc0rn, stand firmly by the Republican cause.
| The unIlic is often hoedlrssly unjust. Let Gov
pruunUt have 1900 official suhOTdluatcs IN power,
OF whom $500 are honest and true men who do their
duty faithfully, while hardly 100 are robbers ana
sWmdlCrs the public VIII hear great deal more
about tnc 100 robbers than about the y9JO true men.
Nh, 100 stand out IN the public cye-thcy are always
Go;un ethiDp which cyuosnS them 10 the scOrn-
/ ful gaze of the multitudc-vhile the honest and
/ true men pass along silent and unObseryed, and
nothing is said, very little is thought of them. All
attention is concentrated upon be 100. VINO are de-
iaulting and stealing, and forging ana running
/ We'll gentlemen. the thieving carpet-bacgers are
q mournful fact they do exist there, and have
seen them. lLauchtcrI They are fellows VINO
crawlcd down South IN the track OF our ailnles:
generally very safe distance IN the rear; some OF
them on suffers wagons; some bearing cotton per
| 1nts some Of them looking sharply to sec what
/ nav turn MP; and they remain there. They at
once inTatiated Themselves with the Blacks, simple,
! cIedulOus, ignorant men, very glad toweleome aud
to follow any Whites who proiessed to be the cham
! pons Of their rights Some of these got elected
Senator's other Representatives some SheTiiis,
! Judges, and so Aud there they stand, right in
! The public eye. stealing aud plunderng, many of
! them with both arms around negroes, and their
hands in their pockets, seeing III they cannot
| pick paltry dollar out of them; and the public
looks at them does moi regard the honest Northern
men, but calls every carpet Dagger" thief, which
! is not the truth by a good deal But these fellows
| many of them lOng-faced, and with eyes rolled up
| are greatly concerned for the education Of the
Blacks. and for the salvation of their souls Great
! laughter.l "Let us pray" they say But they
spell pray with e," and thus spelled they obey
the apostolic Injunction 10 pray without ceasing.p
Fellow citlzens, the time has been and still is
when it was perlous to bc known as a Republican
or an Abotionst in the South, but it never called
| the blush of shame To any mans cheek TO be so
called, until these thieving carpet-bageers went
there-never! lApplause.l They got into the Legis
latuTe they went to issuing State bonds; they pre-
tended TO use them in aid of railroads and other I'M
provements. But the improvements were not made
and the bonds stuck in the issuers' pockets
Laughter.l That is the pity of it..
well" some say son have just such thieves at
the North Yes we do-too many of them
lApplauseJ But, the South was already i'm
povershed-was NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. money, with
,ritnnt fnnl mud thnsn tnllnNDs